Ma-Ha-Suchi

The filtration baffles on his helmet hissed as they released, and Leaf Shakes the Wind appeared in the middle of the campsite as if from nowhere. "The monastary's closed for the night."

Storm of Amber jumped to his feet, unable to hide his surprise. Nearby, the sash of the Third-Arm Glaive snaked towards his arm, but relaxed when the Zenith recognized his circle-mate. "You can try again in the morning," he said as he settled back down.

Leaf sat across the small fire from his friend and began to remove his armor for the night. Despite the suit's bulk, the delicate lightness of the attuned jade and the skill of its construction made it a quick process. Nevertheless, the Night took his time out of respect for his tools. "You don't mind the wait?"

Storm of Amber shook his head. "Not at all. The Wood Aspect Dude is still our best hope for curing the city's constructs of their madness. Besides, the trip is giving me time to read." The Zenith lifted an ancient scroll from the forest floor, where it had fallen when Leaf surprised him.

"From the Halls of Jupiter?"

"A book of strategy from the First Age, penned by Ma-Ha-Suchi."

Leaf folded a corner of oiled cloth over one of the armor's vambraces. "I'd heard rumors that he was that old, but wasn't sure I should believe them. He seems too savage to have fit into so civilized a time; he's fallen far."

"I'm not so sure. He writes of the war machines of his day, wonders that we have not seen in Lookshy or even the vaults of the Infinite City, and he speaks only of how they make men weak. He mentions Luna constantly, but calls her only the Bloody Huntress..." Storm of Amber shrugged. "Reading his works I feel that he was always savagery, barely contained by the power of the Deliberative. It may just be the easy vanage of today, but I wonder if the solars of the First Age did not know what he would become."

"And he lead armies filled with wonders that he hated?"

"It's hard to say. He doesn't write about the armies he fields so much as how to deal with war machines. His specialty is fighting the armies of a civilized nation." Storm of Amber wrapped the scroll closed and held it out to the air. "Without the knowledge in this scroll, I tell you that Lookshy would not stand against his armies for even a week."

Leaf held his armor's helmet in his hands; by the fire's dim light it seemed a bloody skull, stripped of all flesh. "Do we then doom ourselves by outfitting our armies with shock pikes and ashigaru armor?"

"Without them, we would never have the raw strength to stand against his beastmen. We need those tools, no matter the counters Ma-Ha-Suchi can use against them. Let him come, thinking his knowledge is fine. He will find that this is a new age, and that I have written a new book of strategy." With that, Storm of Amber cast the book into the fire.

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Heaven's Mandate