\--==Official Submission==-- FROM: General Debinani Rahl RE: Chapter Eighteen - Silent''s Story Silent's Story Kishara is not the kindest of mistresses. The recall of the Five Armies so many millennia ago was not the end of their stories. Even after Spirit's entombment in Westergard, many of The Sackcloth Rose returned to the island of Tablenhelm to wait until their time would come again. This is where my story begins. I was born into The Sackcloth Rose. Or perhaps I should say I was born because of it. You see, to build the armies, the strongest and fastest of the soldiers are sent to the slave pens to pass their seed. The children then become the soldiers and the support staff of the future. I was one of these children. My father was a Lieutenant in the army, my mother a nameless face in the pens. I never saw either. I was raised by Stranglers...The Priests of Kishara, those who do the ceremonial killings to bring about The Age. They taught me all about Kishara, about how the wonderful mistress locked up on the tower that looms over us all will soon be free and the world will be ours. I don't particularly know why, but I never really bought into it. Because of my genes, I had been selected to become one of The Sackcloth Rose's teith-ambul, commonly known as the Shadowalkers. We were some of the best archers, woodsmen and assassins that Kishara had to field. Thus training became my life. Day after day we worked. My Sergeant always believed that one day we would march again just as we had in the Age of Legends. The Stranglers always reminded us of those days. Early in my childhood, when Spirit returned to Tablenhelm there was much rejoicing. Everyone believed the prophecies would come true with Spirit's leadership. I really began to fear for that enigmatic world that lay beyond the mists. But that world was not Spirit's primary target. He wanted The Black Rose Society. Every day he would curse the traitor Mengst and all who came after him. I suppose I should go into some greater detail in case this ever becomes tactically necessary. Tablenhelm resides on a volcanic island approximately one hundred and thirty square miles in size. The entire pace is surrounded by Kishara's Shroud, which makes it impossible for anyone besides the Ringbearers and a few select Stranglers to even find the place from the outside. About half of the island is used to grow foodstuffs, the other half used to house its inhabitants. Eighty percent of the population of Tablenhelm is composed of soldiers, all constantly in training, another five percent of priests, and the rest support personnel. It is not a great place to live. I think the priests use some sort of drugs on the population to keep everyone in line, but I don't know that for a fact. The center of the island is taken up by the Tower. This thing is probably the most defensible structure ever built. There are no windows lower than the clouds, only a few doors and battlements for more traditional defenses. It's incredible. It looms over the lives and deaths of every person on that island. And we all know that at its peak above the clouds sits The Lady...waiting.... My story isn't a very exciting one. I went through the motions like every other soldier, but I've come to believe that the drugs that the priests may or may not have been using on the population don't work on me. I was never content. I never grew complacent with the atrocities that were commonplace there. It wasn't until much later after Cyan Marinetta, the Ringwielder of Water slaughtered her army and left the island that my role in the grand scheme of things became important. One day my unit was brought before Spirit for a mission assignment. He instructed us that we were to kill the current Captain of the Black Rose, one Debinani Rahl. Simple enough. As Spirit guided our boat through the mists and across the ocean, I began to wonder. We had engaged The Black Rose Society before, and defeated them several times over; Tablenhelm resides between the shards after all, and Spirit did not like those soldiers at all. But what if this was the last? What if these guys were the last chance the world had to defeat Kishara? I wasn't sure I wanted to see what The Age of Reckoning would be like. I sure as hell didn't want to cause it. When we landed, my unit moved to find this Society. We did with little or no trouble. We sat on that block of ice watching that smithy for days just seeing who went in and out. When the time finally came to take out Rahl we moved on the cabin. I took up the rear. Well, I don't much like talking about so all I'll say is I neutralized my comrades and went to the house unarmed. The Captain answered the door. I said I wanted to join. Hell, I figured if Spirit hated these guys so much it had to be the best place I could hide right? Rahl stared at me for a moment. Then he leaned over and wiped a drop of my comrade's blood off my face. He had to notice my wince. He looked at me for a while longer and then invited me in. And there I've been ever since. Things have been acting up lately. Marinetta dead. That rat Daithomir dead. Stonehand talking to Shade and saying he's stayin' out of it. Looks like Kishara's not doing too good. But we still have her two greatest champions to take care of. I hope we're up to it.