As the blistering sun sets behind the shimmering mountains, beyond the walls of Leki’s Blade a lone sentinel begins her nightly watch. Betwixt arid trance and tavern rumour, she has heard the stories and whispered fears of the ancestors risen, and how the Ansei’s bright wards have dulled ‘gainst the nefarious magics of the corpse-singers. And she too has heard the low voices of disquietude and resentment that whilst his people suffer, the Forebear King cowers beneath the opulent domes of the Samaruik. Yet each night the sentinel holds resolute to her duty to keep watch over the ever shifting sands of the desolate wastes, because she believes in Yaghoub’s dream, she believes in Tu’whacca’s promise, and she believes the Ra Gada will soon ride again.

S.K