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Burning Empires: Boldaq
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<blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 3996203" data-attributes="member: 386"><p><strong>Scene. Interstitial, GM FoN Kofer Pyatt.</strong></p><p></p><p>Open the new issue of the "graphic novel" and you'll see the first page is a splash of rust colours. A harsh land, arid mountains, forboding plateaus.</p><p></p><p>We see a small figure moving through it.</p><p></p><p>He climbs the mountain to the Pali Edrene's mountain demense. No armour, rifle strapped to his back. A thick Korean-ish man watches him through binoculars.</p><p></p><p>The man reaches the monestary. He is strong and vital and not just in body. He has the Taab Assar and the Corvus and Crucius of ancient warlords.</p><p></p><p>"Hand over you weapons," Bortei, the watcher, the Shield of the Pali, says. The man complies. Bortei escorts him to the Pali Edrene.</p><p></p><p>Edrene waves away the Pakthas he is training to walk the Path of Fire. He greets the pilgrim.</p><p></p><p>"Pali Edrene, I am Kofer Pyatt. I have been given rule over this planet by the right of my birth - by the blood of my ancestors spilt over this land and by the Taab Assar."</p><p></p><p>"We embrace you. What do you seek here?"</p><p></p><p>"I seek knowledge. I hear rumours among the Pakthas, the Ahmek Zai, that you are the prophet predicted by prophecy. But you are an outworlder. I would learn the truth of it."</p><p></p><p>"I am as my ancestors made me."</p><p></p><p>"As am I. But my ancestors ruled this planet, and you claim this land for yourself. It is mine by right. Swear fealty to me and I will embrace you among the righteous."</p><p></p><p>"The Pali swears to none but the Tir-Kahn!" Bortei shouts.</p><p></p><p>"My servant speaks the truth," Edrene says. "I have sworn an oath and I cannot swear another."</p><p></p><p>"Then let this matter be settled by Petrus Shir Dil and the Jirga council. We shall both be tested in the Fire."</p><p></p><p><strong>Scene. Lord Tovol, Colour.</strong></p><p></p><p>Space. A hammer assault shuttle races through space. Plasma arcs trail the shuttle. A hit! The shuttle shudders. A massive hammer cruiser descends upon it.</p><p></p><p>Cut to: The bridge of Lord Tovol. A door slides open. He spins in his captain's throne at the two pirates thrown before him.</p><p></p><p>One bears the painted-on blue bright mark of the Pali Edrene's men.</p><p></p><p>"I must speak with Edrene about this," he thinks. "He must stop the natives from aiding the Gonzagin pirates."</p><p></p><p>Standing at his side, a beautiful woman, skin as white as burning fire, nods to his thoughts.</p><p></p><p><strong>Scene. Interstitial. Lord Tovol.</strong></p><p></p><p>A holographic image of the Hammer Lord springs to life in the Pali Surene Vachir Edrene's psychohistory lab.</p><p></p><p>"Pali Edrene," he begins, "I have reason to believe your men are working for the Gonzagin pirates - for Fat Chaz."</p><p></p><p>"It may be so. I have little control over these people of yet."</p><p></p><p>"Put a stop to this!"</p><p></p><p>"I will do what I can. And I may have access to people among these pirates."</p><p></p><p><strong>Scene. Colour. Fat Chaz, GM FoN.</strong></p><p></p><p>A yeoman sits wailing in a corner of the space station. "The eye, the web!"</p><p></p><p>"What the <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> is wrong with him? He's really messed up."</p><p></p><p>"He took some of those Janat drugs the smugglers brought in."</p><p></p><p>"Don't look like something I want to try."</p><p></p><p>Scene. Colour. Surene Vachir Edrene.</p><p></p><p>Edrene sits cross-legged amid a constant flow of holograms, a tattered parchment before him. Generations of faces flash by him. He reaches into his robes and pulls out a fist-sized chunk of Lazuli and places it into the projector.</p><p></p><p>A blue light envelops him and he dissolves.</p><p></p><p><strong>Scene. Building. Fat Chaz, GM FoN.</strong></p><p></p><p>A smuggling vessel lights down on a dark plateau. Out comes Fat Chaz.</p><p></p><p>Bodi, an Ahmek Zai and favoured of the Pali, greets him. Fat Chaz draws a CEBW and jams it into Bodi's temple.</p><p></p><p>"Those drugs you sold us - they were <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />. Are you trying to <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> with me?"</p><p></p><p>"They are the best we have." He subtlely waves off the other ghazi who have Fat Chaz in their rifle's sights.</p><p></p><p>"<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />. I know you have better quality. I want to speak with the man you supply with the good stuff."</p><p></p><p>"Great sir, we have given you nothing but the best."</p><p></p><p>Fat Chaz grunts. "Well, give me more of that Lazuli. I know that won't go bad." He turns back to his ship.</p><p></p><p>Bodi walks off. "These pirates are no better than the pal-wan butanah of the city, weak and driven by avarice."</p><p></p><p><strong>Scene. Building. Surene Vachir Edrene.</strong></p><p></p><p>Fat Chaz appears in a thousand different holograms, every stage of his life laid bare. The battle at Deep Nebula, his rise to power in the battles against the Vaylen worms - Edrene takes all these in.</p><p></p><p>He contacts Lord Tovol. "I have unlocked the desires of the Margrave Chazovic. He knows you, as you know him. The way to defeat him is to be what he does not know."</p><p></p><p>Edrene heads out to a balcony and looks over his lands lit up by the stars. Cut to: Bodi, standing guard over a fire of softly glowing coals. Edrene's Bright Mark flares. "My Pali," Bodi whispers in the night.</p><p></p><p>"Tell me, Bodi, are your men working with the smugglers?"</p><p></p><p>"We are. They sell us the weapons we need to fight the pal-wan butanah in the marshes and the cities." Images flash through Bodi's mind and reach Edrene.</p><p></p><p>"You are a good man, Bodi."</p><p></p><p>"My Pali! I wish to be your shield, your death commando!"</p><p></p><p>"You are my Arrow, Bodi, to be loosed into my foes."</p><p></p><p>Bodi cuts the silences of the night with cries of ecstasy.</p><p></p><p><strong>Scene. Conflict. Lord Tovol.</strong></p><p></p><p>"We have picked up a number of strong signatures from this asteroid, here." The Hammer lieutenant points to a hologram of a hollowed-out asteroid. "Missile silos are his main defense, here and here."</p><p></p><p>Lord Tovol stares at the hologram with his cold blue eyes. His consort, Keili the White, questions the lieutenant for him. "You have deep scans of this base? We know what we are headed into?"</p><p></p><p>"Yes, my Lord," he says to Lord Tovol. "We have them."</p><p></p><p>Cut to: Fat Chaz, sitting at the control and command on the asteroid base. "Tovol, that idiot. He's walking right into my trap."</p><p></p><p>We see blast doors open on the exterior of the asteroid and a hidden heavy plasma battery cycle up.</p><p></p><p>Lord Tovol's hammer strike fleet, a near dozen destroyers providing picket for his flagship, advance from out of the sun. To his left, Edrene's landing craft race toward the asteroid.</p><p></p><p>Missiles light up the void. They strike each other creating a great wall of flame. Some break through, destroying hammer and crashing into the pirate base.</p><p></p><p>Edrene's shuttles race by, harrassing the asteroid, unable to close for fear of the destructive power of the missile salvos.</p><p></p><p>Fat Chaz: "Lock on to them! Cycle up that cannon!"</p><p></p><p>"Locked!"</p><p></p><p>Another salvo of missiles from each side fire. They destroy naught but each other.</p><p></p><p>"Reload those missiles! Where is my cannon!"</p><p></p><p>"It will be up soon!"</p><p></p><p>But it's too late. Edrene's shuttles rain fire on the missile silos. A blast of plasma cuts the cannon in half. Soon his men are among the pirate, vaporising them with their fusors.</p><p></p><p>"Abandon base! Every man for himself!" Fat Chaz slips out on his private shuttle, watching his precious hammer be picked off by Lord Tovol's fleet and his asteroid base fall to Edrene's men.</p><p></p><p><strong>Scene. Colour. Duke von Zágaš.</strong></p><p></p><p>Empty space.</p><p></p><p>A flash of light. A message becon appears from nowhere. It whines as it transmits data to Boldaq's space station.</p><p></p><p><strong>Scene. Intersitial. Duke von Zágaš.</strong></p><p></p><p>Archcotare Sibil rushes into his personal comm room. He tries to make himself presentable to his Duke.</p><p></p><p>"You Eminence," he says as the Duke flickers in a hologram. "What may I do for you?"</p><p></p><p>"Tell me, what has my son been up to?"</p><p></p><p>"He has allied himself with the Karsan heretic Surene Vachir Edrene. He focuses all his efforts on the Gonzagin pirates and neglects his duties on-world. He has not even set up a proper church for the change!"</p><p></p><p>"Edrene, that bastard. You must make sure that Edrene has no power over this world. I must take it - I must! The Primarchy and the Throne are in my reach. Drive a wedge between the two - ensure that Boldaq belongs to none but the Zágaš."</p><p></p><p><strong>Scene. Conflict. Kofer Pyatt.</strong></p><p></p><p>A full moon rises above the caves that house the Jirga council of Boldaq. Ahmek Zai gather to watch the trial of the Pali. Talk among the Ahmek Zai: Can Edrene be the one? Could it be Kofer Pyatt? Petrus Shir Dil will answer all.</p><p></p><p>A ship lights down - the Chaz Bucket. Fat Chaz emerges.</p><p></p><p>Cut to: the court of Petrus Shir Dil, Jigra and spiritual leader of the Ahmek Zai. The wizened man sits cross-legged on a simple cloth blanket, flanked by his Ghazi warriors.</p><p></p><p>Kofer Pyatt enters, dressed in Iron, escorted by his wife, a woman who is all hard edges. Fat Chaz follows behind him.</p><p></p><p>Edrene enters. Gongs ring out.</p><p></p><p>Bodi cries out in ecstacy. "It is the legend! My Pali!" Petrus Shir Dil looks at Bodi - once a man, now a fanatic.</p><p></p><p>"You see, my Lord," Kofer Pyatt says to Shir Dil, "this out-worlder has stirred up the legends. But why? To turn us all into meek pal-wan butanah to do his will. He is the false prophet."</p><p></p><p>"Is not the sky blue, and the Lazuli green?" Edrene says, reciting the holy word.</p><p></p><p>Shir Dil nods.</p><p></p><p>"I know the holy words," Edrene says. "I know the face of the serpent. This man is the servant of the devil! He comes to steal all our souls!"</p><p></p><p>"Remeber you place, outworlder!" the woman at Kofer Pyatt's side shouts.</p><p></p><p>"Yes, my Lord," Kofer Pyatt says to Petrus Shir Dil, "you see how he disregards custom? He is an outworlder. He is unknown, untested. Until he submits to the Lar ta Largi, how can we know him?"</p><p></p><p>"You speak of the Path of Fire. I walk it every day. Do you, who consorts with these smugglers and pirates?"</p><p></p><p>"He tries to teach us our own ways? I have said what must be done. Decide, now." He crosses his arms and waits for the verdict.</p><p></p><p>Petrus Shir Dil meditates. His bright mark flares. Two brutal ghazi warriors grab the Pali Surene Vachir Edrene.</p><p></p><p>Shir Dil speaks, a rare thing: "Kofer Pyatt speaks truth. He is known to us. You are not. You must be tested in the Lar ta Largi. Steel yourself."</p><p></p><p>Bodi screams and rushes out into the night. He draws his curved blade and makes a blood oath, witnessed by his clan. "The Pali is my prophet and I will die for him!" Men covered in shadow nod their heads.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maneuver. Human Assess vs. Vaylen Gambit.</strong> </p><p></p><p>Montage: smugglers work alongside the Ahmek Zai. Bodi spreads the word of his Pali, the prophet, to a growing cult. Edrene meditates in his cell. Kofer Pyatt and Fat Chaz smile. The Pali's mountain fortress lies empty.</p><p></p><p>Cut to: Edrene's psychohistory lab. Holograms of Fat Chaz in every stage of his life from skinny street-youth to obese Gonzagin pirate. A dossier on his ways and means lies waiting to be read.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="LostSoul, post: 3996203, member: 386"] [b]Scene. Interstitial, GM FoN Kofer Pyatt.[/b] Open the new issue of the "graphic novel" and you'll see the first page is a splash of rust colours. A harsh land, arid mountains, forboding plateaus. We see a small figure moving through it. He climbs the mountain to the Pali Edrene's mountain demense. No armour, rifle strapped to his back. A thick Korean-ish man watches him through binoculars. The man reaches the monestary. He is strong and vital and not just in body. He has the Taab Assar and the Corvus and Crucius of ancient warlords. "Hand over you weapons," Bortei, the watcher, the Shield of the Pali, says. The man complies. Bortei escorts him to the Pali Edrene. Edrene waves away the Pakthas he is training to walk the Path of Fire. He greets the pilgrim. "Pali Edrene, I am Kofer Pyatt. I have been given rule over this planet by the right of my birth - by the blood of my ancestors spilt over this land and by the Taab Assar." "We embrace you. What do you seek here?" "I seek knowledge. I hear rumours among the Pakthas, the Ahmek Zai, that you are the prophet predicted by prophecy. But you are an outworlder. I would learn the truth of it." "I am as my ancestors made me." "As am I. But my ancestors ruled this planet, and you claim this land for yourself. It is mine by right. Swear fealty to me and I will embrace you among the righteous." "The Pali swears to none but the Tir-Kahn!" Bortei shouts. "My servant speaks the truth," Edrene says. "I have sworn an oath and I cannot swear another." "Then let this matter be settled by Petrus Shir Dil and the Jirga council. We shall both be tested in the Fire." [b]Scene. Lord Tovol, Colour.[/b] Space. A hammer assault shuttle races through space. Plasma arcs trail the shuttle. A hit! The shuttle shudders. A massive hammer cruiser descends upon it. Cut to: The bridge of Lord Tovol. A door slides open. He spins in his captain's throne at the two pirates thrown before him. One bears the painted-on blue bright mark of the Pali Edrene's men. "I must speak with Edrene about this," he thinks. "He must stop the natives from aiding the Gonzagin pirates." Standing at his side, a beautiful woman, skin as white as burning fire, nods to his thoughts. [b]Scene. Interstitial. Lord Tovol.[/b] A holographic image of the Hammer Lord springs to life in the Pali Surene Vachir Edrene's psychohistory lab. "Pali Edrene," he begins, "I have reason to believe your men are working for the Gonzagin pirates - for Fat Chaz." "It may be so. I have little control over these people of yet." "Put a stop to this!" "I will do what I can. And I may have access to people among these pirates." [b]Scene. Colour. Fat Chaz, GM FoN.[/b] A yeoman sits wailing in a corner of the space station. "The eye, the web!" "What the :):):):) is wrong with him? He's really messed up." "He took some of those Janat drugs the smugglers brought in." "Don't look like something I want to try." Scene. Colour. Surene Vachir Edrene. Edrene sits cross-legged amid a constant flow of holograms, a tattered parchment before him. Generations of faces flash by him. He reaches into his robes and pulls out a fist-sized chunk of Lazuli and places it into the projector. A blue light envelops him and he dissolves. [b]Scene. Building. Fat Chaz, GM FoN.[/b] A smuggling vessel lights down on a dark plateau. Out comes Fat Chaz. Bodi, an Ahmek Zai and favoured of the Pali, greets him. Fat Chaz draws a CEBW and jams it into Bodi's temple. "Those drugs you sold us - they were :):):):). Are you trying to :):):):) with me?" "They are the best we have." He subtlely waves off the other ghazi who have Fat Chaz in their rifle's sights. ":):):):):):):):). I know you have better quality. I want to speak with the man you supply with the good stuff." "Great sir, we have given you nothing but the best." Fat Chaz grunts. "Well, give me more of that Lazuli. I know that won't go bad." He turns back to his ship. Bodi walks off. "These pirates are no better than the pal-wan butanah of the city, weak and driven by avarice." [b]Scene. Building. Surene Vachir Edrene.[/b] Fat Chaz appears in a thousand different holograms, every stage of his life laid bare. The battle at Deep Nebula, his rise to power in the battles against the Vaylen worms - Edrene takes all these in. He contacts Lord Tovol. "I have unlocked the desires of the Margrave Chazovic. He knows you, as you know him. The way to defeat him is to be what he does not know." Edrene heads out to a balcony and looks over his lands lit up by the stars. Cut to: Bodi, standing guard over a fire of softly glowing coals. Edrene's Bright Mark flares. "My Pali," Bodi whispers in the night. "Tell me, Bodi, are your men working with the smugglers?" "We are. They sell us the weapons we need to fight the pal-wan butanah in the marshes and the cities." Images flash through Bodi's mind and reach Edrene. "You are a good man, Bodi." "My Pali! I wish to be your shield, your death commando!" "You are my Arrow, Bodi, to be loosed into my foes." Bodi cuts the silences of the night with cries of ecstasy. [b]Scene. Conflict. Lord Tovol.[/b] "We have picked up a number of strong signatures from this asteroid, here." The Hammer lieutenant points to a hologram of a hollowed-out asteroid. "Missile silos are his main defense, here and here." Lord Tovol stares at the hologram with his cold blue eyes. His consort, Keili the White, questions the lieutenant for him. "You have deep scans of this base? We know what we are headed into?" "Yes, my Lord," he says to Lord Tovol. "We have them." Cut to: Fat Chaz, sitting at the control and command on the asteroid base. "Tovol, that idiot. He's walking right into my trap." We see blast doors open on the exterior of the asteroid and a hidden heavy plasma battery cycle up. Lord Tovol's hammer strike fleet, a near dozen destroyers providing picket for his flagship, advance from out of the sun. To his left, Edrene's landing craft race toward the asteroid. Missiles light up the void. They strike each other creating a great wall of flame. Some break through, destroying hammer and crashing into the pirate base. Edrene's shuttles race by, harrassing the asteroid, unable to close for fear of the destructive power of the missile salvos. Fat Chaz: "Lock on to them! Cycle up that cannon!" "Locked!" Another salvo of missiles from each side fire. They destroy naught but each other. "Reload those missiles! Where is my cannon!" "It will be up soon!" But it's too late. Edrene's shuttles rain fire on the missile silos. A blast of plasma cuts the cannon in half. Soon his men are among the pirate, vaporising them with their fusors. "Abandon base! Every man for himself!" Fat Chaz slips out on his private shuttle, watching his precious hammer be picked off by Lord Tovol's fleet and his asteroid base fall to Edrene's men. [b]Scene. Colour. Duke von Zágaš.[/b] Empty space. A flash of light. A message becon appears from nowhere. It whines as it transmits data to Boldaq's space station. [b]Scene. Intersitial. Duke von Zágaš.[/b] Archcotare Sibil rushes into his personal comm room. He tries to make himself presentable to his Duke. "You Eminence," he says as the Duke flickers in a hologram. "What may I do for you?" "Tell me, what has my son been up to?" "He has allied himself with the Karsan heretic Surene Vachir Edrene. He focuses all his efforts on the Gonzagin pirates and neglects his duties on-world. He has not even set up a proper church for the change!" "Edrene, that bastard. You must make sure that Edrene has no power over this world. I must take it - I must! The Primarchy and the Throne are in my reach. Drive a wedge between the two - ensure that Boldaq belongs to none but the Zágaš." [b]Scene. Conflict. Kofer Pyatt.[/b] A full moon rises above the caves that house the Jirga council of Boldaq. Ahmek Zai gather to watch the trial of the Pali. Talk among the Ahmek Zai: Can Edrene be the one? Could it be Kofer Pyatt? Petrus Shir Dil will answer all. A ship lights down - the Chaz Bucket. Fat Chaz emerges. Cut to: the court of Petrus Shir Dil, Jigra and spiritual leader of the Ahmek Zai. The wizened man sits cross-legged on a simple cloth blanket, flanked by his Ghazi warriors. Kofer Pyatt enters, dressed in Iron, escorted by his wife, a woman who is all hard edges. Fat Chaz follows behind him. Edrene enters. Gongs ring out. Bodi cries out in ecstacy. "It is the legend! My Pali!" Petrus Shir Dil looks at Bodi - once a man, now a fanatic. "You see, my Lord," Kofer Pyatt says to Shir Dil, "this out-worlder has stirred up the legends. But why? To turn us all into meek pal-wan butanah to do his will. He is the false prophet." "Is not the sky blue, and the Lazuli green?" Edrene says, reciting the holy word. Shir Dil nods. "I know the holy words," Edrene says. "I know the face of the serpent. This man is the servant of the devil! He comes to steal all our souls!" "Remeber you place, outworlder!" the woman at Kofer Pyatt's side shouts. "Yes, my Lord," Kofer Pyatt says to Petrus Shir Dil, "you see how he disregards custom? He is an outworlder. He is unknown, untested. Until he submits to the Lar ta Largi, how can we know him?" "You speak of the Path of Fire. I walk it every day. Do you, who consorts with these smugglers and pirates?" "He tries to teach us our own ways? I have said what must be done. Decide, now." He crosses his arms and waits for the verdict. Petrus Shir Dil meditates. His bright mark flares. Two brutal ghazi warriors grab the Pali Surene Vachir Edrene. Shir Dil speaks, a rare thing: "Kofer Pyatt speaks truth. He is known to us. You are not. You must be tested in the Lar ta Largi. Steel yourself." Bodi screams and rushes out into the night. He draws his curved blade and makes a blood oath, witnessed by his clan. "The Pali is my prophet and I will die for him!" Men covered in shadow nod their heads. [b]Maneuver. Human Assess vs. Vaylen Gambit.[/b] Montage: smugglers work alongside the Ahmek Zai. Bodi spreads the word of his Pali, the prophet, to a growing cult. Edrene meditates in his cell. Kofer Pyatt and Fat Chaz smile. The Pali's mountain fortress lies empty. Cut to: Edrene's psychohistory lab. Holograms of Fat Chaz in every stage of his life from skinny street-youth to obese Gonzagin pirate. A dossier on his ways and means lies waiting to be read. [/QUOTE]
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