Storm of Amber

Storm of Amber, in early battle-dress

"I will never forget the first I saw of him. He was a true horselord, all pride and bright colors; his hanfu cut in the fashion of his people and colored a bold red, with a darker green pattern embroidered into the cloth and a gold sash tied around his waist. He was handsome, with a broad face and high cheekbones, and was tall and strong as a pennon in the breeze. He had only just grown in the short goatee and mustache that dot his chin and upper lip and bristle when he smiles. His hair was long and dark as fresh soil; he did not tell me until later that the braids were to guard against knots while he rode. The gold pinfeathers we now tie into our hair, those were yet a day in his future.

"He was fresh in his glory and smelled of a summer afternoon. I had never seen one of the Solars before; I wasn't born until they were long gone. All the same, I recognized him instantly; I'd only heard one other speak with such clarity, and she lived still in Yu Shan. When I heard his voice, I knew the vulgar thunder would never win his heart and I knew that I was saved."

-- Sweet Voice of Brass and Glory, Lesser Goddess, Once Eastern Captain of the Trumpets of War, Currently Unemployed

Dreams of the First Age

Intimacies I am a true horselord of the Marukan, wild and unrestrained. My word is quickly given, and never broken. A leader must have strength enough to ride and to carry those who follow. The Mandate of Heaven falls to the Solars, so long as they are righteous. I love the Sweet Voice of Brass and Glory, for she is the mirror I hold to see my virtue. The Nameless Ravine is the good sword that strikes down the unrighteous, but his blade is double-edged. Leaf Shakes the Wind is my eyes, and as deserving of my trust as they. The Mask of Winters' way is slavery, and there is no fate worse. Vaults the Moon carries me through fire and death; as his health, so mine. Rivers Between Us sacrifices much to be my brother, as I must sacrifice for him in turn.

"Of course I was there when the others came for my lord, blessed be his mercy. I was his seneschal: head of his household and keeper of his records. I carried his maps, may their ink never fade, as he led his armies against the foes of Creation. I copied his words, may they echo through eternity, as he delivered the judgements of the Deliberative. I would do no less than witness his end.

"Understand that my lord, honor be upon him, is not to blame for what happened. The Lawgivers were proud in their glory and would brook no interference in their affairs, even from one of their own. And my lord's heart, may it ever be praised, had grown so big by then; I once saw him throw a man to the side rather than see him trod upon a flower, and then weep for days at the sight of that man's artlessly broken neck. Can you imagine how much worse it was when he saw the Twilights twist a man's bones into starlight, the man screaming in pain all the while? A city fell, that day.

"So they came for him, in all their glory and rage, and my master, peace be his prize, could not steel his heart enough to cut his brothers down. When he was no more they built for him a far-off tomb, they sealed away his great spear, stinging be its strikes, they tore apart his servants and erased the memory of his name. I alone they overlooked, as is a seneschal's lot.

"His Essence returned, of course. Right into the heart of the Usurpation. He died before I could seek him out; he was again but new to his power and never really stood a chance. I will miss him, for he was kind to me, but I do not think I will ever see him again."

-- Nabu, Ifrit, Servant of a Nameless Zenith

Records of a Floating Life

"Though he was oldest, Storm of Amber was never our father's favorite son. He was never a disappointment, it's just that father loved Walking Leaf more. Maybe it was for the memory of Willow, Leaf's mother; she died when I was young, so I don't remember her, but our cousins told me that father loved her dearly. In any case, father doted on Leaf and left Storm mostly to fend for himself.

"It's lucky that's what Storm was good at. He taught himself to ride like no other could. He taught himself to hunt and to fight, with only a little help from our cousins. He made friends easily. But we all knew he had no future on our ranch. When father sent Storm to Lookshy with that year's training mission, it was almost a relief. At least that way he would have proper training and a future at home.

"Storm came back from Lookshy with a gleam in his eye, a vision of what Marukan could be. That's about when father died. Leaf got everything, of course. We could have stayed, but Storm wasn't content to be Leaf's hired hand and Leaf had full sisters to care for before he could look to me. So Storm became a circuit rider, brought mother back to her father's house and married me to Song of the Silver Wind. Storm got Vaults the Moon as bride price, but I think that I got the best part of the trade.

"My husband and Storm were like true brothers after that, I think because Storm had never been able to be close to Walking Leaf. They rode together often, and called on each other for help in tough spots. The time everyone talks about the most, the time with the ghosts, was the only time I was ever really scared. The men from a nearby range town had driven off some bandits earlier that year, but the bandits had died, hurt and starving, in a ravine not far away. No one knew it, but their ghosts were angry at going unburied and they rode in every night seeking revenge. My husband spoke with the townsmen and Storm with the ghosts - they got the ghosts to lay down their arms in exchange for a proper burial and having their names added to the rolls of honored ancestors. When Storm and my husband returned from that trip they were changed, glowing with their great accomplishment and the power of the sun."

-- Gentle Rain, Sister to Storm of Amber, Wife to Song of the Silver Wind

A Tale Writ By Lightning

"When I set my power against the weak cities of men that lined the lower banks of the Yellow River I came against the city-state of Chebam and found them ready for me. They had hired a mercenary company, one whose banner flew seven spears, to stand against us. They would have been as nothing before my greatness, but there was something else stood among them. The long-faded scent of her ambrosia was a heady perfume. She did not fight alongside the Seven Spears' troop; she stood on the battlements with a banner and a trumpet, but she was with them yet. Her strength was not greater than my own, yet still my warriors fell before her. There was nothing I could do.

"That was when the Solar arrived, and I thought of my plan. I called to him as if I were an agent of his law, trying to break a goddess who defied the will of Heaven by interfering with the affairs of Creation. I called for his support. But his ears had heard already a softer music, and he drove my tribe away like chattel. In his arrogance, he claimed four of my pinfeathers as his own before sending me away. But after four hundred years my tribe would not abandon me so swift as that. I met them again in the hills and here we wait and plan. One day, this prince of the earth will fall."

-- Shouting With Iron, Elder Thunderbird, god-king of the Grinning Tempest tribe of Hill People

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Heaven's Mandate