[Music]

let that be your last battlefield

the walls of the ancient fortress

groaned that groan became a wine and the

wine rose to a tortured keening as

cracks some the size of emma's arms

blossomed upon the silvery marbling of

the white granite walls

explosions of rockshards and choking

dust rained down and the screech of the

dying enchantments woven into

marigladia's fastness was suddenly

joined with the whales of rebels and

denizens alike

they have reached the walls move move to

the inner gate house go

severless voice the voice of a plenimo

carried above the din even here even now

it carried an authority that demanded

attention emma raised her pelter

instinctively to shield herself as the

reign of stone grew more intense the

fist-sized missiles sloughing from the

widening strain on the battlemen to dash

themselves on the pavement far below

above the morning sun blinded her to the

struggle on the walls but not to the

limp bodies tumbling street wood among

the marble

one of her contebernium screamed their

face split by falling rubble it took all

of them as courage not to cast down her

javelin to help him leave them emma with

me get moving move

selva's face or what she could see of it

within the narrow space between the

bronze cheeks of his helm seemed to

mouth the words

everything was happening so slowly the

pool of blood spreading from andrea's

ruined head her worn through sandals

against the cobblestones all too slow

too slow blurring at the edges

the gatehouse now she was before it its

bands of green iron and mithril corroded

by a hero's age of defiance against the

briny caress of the sea wind

the flood of people pressing struggling

towards the imagined safety within some

were like her clinging to weapons they

barely knew how to wield with nothing

but their breech cloths and tunics to

turn aside nemourian blades

others too young too old or with too

much to lose in choosing to fight

emma was no soldier but she could sense

that her contubernium was close to

breaking only their loyalty to selvus

was keeping them here to the noble who

would die with slaves to make them free

her heart swelled with pride

through virtue all is possible

disorientation again the outer wall

distant now being pushed apart like a

child among ripe grain by a titan of

obsidian and fire

her heart quailed at the sight of the

false god given form but then it is gone

the wall instead crumbling beneath

boulders sent raining down from afar

hold get as many through as we can keep

the gate open until the last moment

selves again why did she not speak

she had to warn him the enemy was

already here

the heat of summer oppressed emma's

senses but she and the other four who

still lived stood fast whether out of

fear or courage he did not know

selvus was signaling now arms cast wide

to the gatehouse low as a bracket seal

the gate

she remembered him calling calling to

guards who were already dead

far along the western concourse men and

women in every sort of armor and garb

with many flags many banners poured

through the fresh rift in the seawood

wall they bore heraldry unlike any in a

surveyor strange beasts symbols of the

virtues foreign runes

it took all of her might to tear her

eyes away from those advancing foes and

face what she knows comes next what she

has seen every night since seeing those

flags anew among the tents of anvil

troops press interview behind the

crenellations of the gatehouse and

selvus selvus rivero reaches for his

shield too slow

always too slow

the mercenaries with their feathered

helms and queer asses of steel with

their roughed sleeves and their

mechanical bows

the imperials do not hesitate and with a

chorus of oiled triggers

selvus

selvus rivero

sarah the serving girl nicolaso from the

fields kajla the tutor and josefo who

sang opinion to the ground by mithril

fangs

on cue emma obliges the memory and

screams

screams for her lost eye and her lost

friends

screams them through the labyrinth of

return but to her shame

she cannot scream herself back to their

side

the chamber is dark

and her chest aches from the very real

scream that had pulled her from the

dream

she shivers clutching the pendant of

ashes at her neck and dimly registers

the sound of yeoman gandry fumbling in

his chambers to light a candle

woken at yet another early hour by his

guest

beyond the window kaya falcon sleeps and

the sigh of ripe grain in the autumn

wind sounds like the sea

finally

there in the darkness of a foreign land

emma pride closes her eye

and mourns

overview

at the summer equinox the imperial synod

passed several judgments relating to the

three folk as anvil played host to these

eager foreigners as they sought to share

their prosperity and loyalty to the way

with the heroes of the empire

the summit was also the anniversary of

the arrival of these people upon the

shores of their spiritual home the

birthplace of the way responses have

varied from the cryptic to the curious

and contained calls for tolerance

tempered with caution

but those that have resonated the

greatest with the laity have been

invitations to share stories and engage

in dialogue

as crops all across the empire have

ripened and the days have begun to grow

shorter once again

the free folk have returned to their

diligent work wherever they are welcomed

to apply their labour prosperously

their heads full of thoughts

increasingly on the future

they have not as some may have hoped

ceased speaking of figures from their

culture in terms that style them as

paragons or exemplars but when pressed

they are clear and direct that they have

been asked to call them such

not to call them divines a request that

they have apparently taken to heart

given in their words

the word as other meanings in the empire

but increasingly there is a sense of

finality to their demeanor an

unwillingness to denounce their beliefs

or smother their pride edged with a

restraint that seems to ill-fit them

like a thin cloak draped over their

bullies love they hold for the nation

whose lands they live in

it seems inevitable that they will seek

to find a place where they can be free

of its chafing and live true to

themselves

stories from the west

wherever the three folk travel they are

tireless in seeking work and paying

their way

as the seasons have passed they have

been found gutting the catch from cyroc

taming the undergrowth in the forests of

high rod fixing walls and digging

ditches in world and now helping reap

the autumn harvest all across asterlat

and semehome

the wages they receive are no sooner in

their palms than spent

with that not used for food and lodging

being left as offerings at statuary of

the paragons used to make paper flowers

to adorn the tombs of empresses and

emperors

and increasingly to make and distribute

handwritten pamphlets

these take the form of stories of the

free folks ancestors a surveying slaves

and the lives they led

while the pamphlets describe the actions

of these forebears in terms of the

virtues they do not claim that they are

paragons exemplars or gods

less widely circulated only being given

to priests or those who ask for it

directly is an attempt to mark as signs

of the paragons and exemplar some of the

qualities these ancestors have shown

participation

any character with a farm forest or herb

garden personal resource is free to role

play that they have interacted with or

employed some of the free folk to help

bring in the harvest especially in the

marches and dawn their imperial is

generally quite good and they are

scrupulously respectful polite and

honest in their dealings with imperial

citizens

their character is marked by a strong

work ethic balanced by an apparently

genuine joy at the freedoms they

experience and the marvels they see as

they travel the empire

many are very interested in the imperial

nations they know the most about dawn

and the brass coast but are excited to

learn more about the other imperial

nations

they freely share of their love and

loyalty to the way and by extension the

empire but are less certain about their

future in either

a situation they describe as being at a

crossroads

they speak freely about their faith with

anyone who asks them first and they are

always happy to hear stories of imperial

paragons exemplars heroes and champions

they are unfamiliar with

if your character employed the free folk

or was passing through the marches at

any point then you may choose to have

encountered one or more of these

pamphlets

the following files may be downloaded

and printed for use on the field

the first three are given freely to

anyone who can pay a ring or two while

the fourth is only given to someone who

says they are a priest

the speaker for the dead

sajah tailora the wise tailor

verma alexiso also called truthful

alexander

and the signs of the divine

the relic of kaya falcon

the greatest concentration of the free

folk can be found in the farmlands

surrounding kaya falcon asterlat

having begun their lives in the empire

under the sanctuary of the lady of the

prophet hand

it is within the grounds of that house

that a supposed relic has been housed

little more than a collection of old

unspun wool the dried limbs of a sapling

and a mishmash of oddments it is an

effigy of a human figure a strangely

assembled scarecrow that would likely do

little to dissuade the jackdaws of comb

however despite the best efforts of the

house's attendance

it has become a gathering place for the

free folk with every one of their number

having visited the out of the way alcove

where it has been set amidst the

regularly cleared by disapproving house

attendance collection of coins paper

flowers and candles

those who live locally visit once a week

to worship with their scattered peers

between hard days in the fields

when questioned by curious yo folk or

suspicious members of the nobility the

free folk excitedly describe a figure

from their history known as la para

lonto de morto the speaker for the dead

in imperial

apparently as they celebrated an annual

tradition of inviting an effigy la mal

grande parallento

the little speaker to a feast they

experienced a miraculous sense of

belonging of their shared pride

they claim that those who are wise in

such things have called this miracle a

spontaneous hallowing

access to the effigy has been restricted

but those who have touched the tattered

cloth report experiencing an unusual

aura

foreigners still

the free folk have been foreigners in

the empire for almost a year

upon first arriving they ravenously

devoured every scrap of knowledge they

could about citizenship and how an

individual lives in the empire

just as eagerly they spread out to

satisfy their long-suppressed desire to

see and experience all that the world

and the way had to offer

as time passed and many set down what

might pass for roots among their travel

loving kind

beginning to study the skills of a

priest and what one is expected to know

before they pledge an oath to an

agrigore it seemed inevitable that these

people would join the empire if not

settling within dawn where they received

their first welcome as distant kin then

perhaps in the marches where they had

received a warm welcome and appreciation

for their hard work

however

this has not happened

those who have settled have upped sticks

those who had studied have set aside

their learning

all have turned to hard work and saving

increasingly the folk travel in larger

gatherings and work and share in common

when asked they share a truism they have

learned from their time in the marches

a phrase they seem to have taken a

liking to and have adapted

the empire will have all of us or none

of us

this statement is never made with

overtures of finality or undue pride and

the folk are quick to explain that if

the first empress recognized the wisdom

that a people are a people when embraced

in their entirety then their loyalty to

one another and their pride in their

culture demands the same

but that is not to say that the free

folks see this expectation falling on

the empire to satisfy

more and more the folks share that they

have a strong desire to speak with as

many people of the empire as they can

and to make their case plainly

they will make themselves understood to

each nation and accept whatever decision

comes from that

in the abbeys

queries in the cathedrals

the imperial synod has indicated that

investigation into the free folk

interpretation of the way will take time

unfortunately priests in many parts of

the empire are faced with groups of

enthusiastic free folk wanting to talk

about their beliefs and congregations

looking to them for guidance

in the absence of a definitive statement

from the imperial synod priests with

different opinions on the situation are

sharing their views and further muddying

the waters

some question whether there is any

heresy or blasphemy in the words of the

free folk

others point out that there are any

number of schisms and heresies among

those who claim to follow the way and

the synod is not required to tolerate

any of them

some highborn wayfarers of shimi's

orchard chapter have probed the stories

of free folk paragons and exemplars in

much the same way as they have

investigated countless other foreign

figures

they claimed to have found a few

oddities outside of imperial doctrine

but nothing overtly dangerous in these

tales

essai of shimmy's orchard writes it is

true that the three folks speak of

paragons and exemplars outside of

imperial doctrine but the suma also have

paragons and exemplars we are unfamiliar

with

regardless of one's opinions on

universalism surely we cannot approach

free folk religious figures differently

to the paragons and exemplars recognized

in sumer based on differences of

nationality alone
on the other hand bishop yago heshel di

temeschwa head of the church of the

golden orator in temeshwar takes a

different approach

while the suma may recognize different

paragons and exemplars we are broadly

united in what that means

the free folk claim there is a divine

family and seem to believe that the

paragons are interventionalist godlike

figures

there is no place for that in our

understanding of the way

bishop heshel likens what he has read of

the free folk beliefs to those that led

to the alien schism

even if we accept the free folk beliefs

they are still at odds with the

doctrines of the way

there are plenty of peculiar beliefs

about the way and when those who hold

them visit the empire we ask them to

either hold their tongues or leave

the general assembly must take action

of course the existence of exemplars or

even paragons outside of imperial

doctrine

is far from the only controversial claim

made by free folk

one conviction held by the free folk

that is particularly difficult to

reconcile is intervention paragons

reaching back through the labyrinth to

cause effects in the mundane world this

has not been a concept well received by

imperial priests despite not

contradicting imperial doctrine

however a few urazeni questors have

called for reason from the synod

if the way is an unfinished work they

insist there must always be space to

investigate potential limitations of

existing doctrine

more practical in their approach some

navarre guides say that regardless of

the specificities of free folk beliefs

everyone has a place in the great dance

this means that there is a home for the

free folk without a need for them to

change themselves

of course these guides accept that such

a home may not be within the empire but

they argue that this doesn't stop it

from being their responsibility to help

the free folk to reach it

nor to at least explore the idea that

there is a place in imperial doctrine

for free folk practices

then there are friars of the marches who

have perhaps the most direct experience

of engaging with the free folk thanks to

the aid they offered during the recent

harvest season

several of them simply wish to remind

priests of the doctrine of the labyrinth

that the labyrinth is explicitly beyond

comprehension for all but paragons

they encourage their fellow priests to

look within the empire's own stories and

practices rather than focusing on those

of the free folks simply because they

seem strange and unfamiliar

they point particularly to the story of

kethry who shows that it is proud not to

give up your traditions in the face of

adversity

again

their opinions do not go uncontested

sometimes controversial scholar of

religion and constitutional matters

theodora bezavina of delev argues that

there is no requirement for the general

assembly to accept heresy or blasphemy

simply because it is customary

otherwise the empire would be forced to

allow assaveans to openly worship their

gods or to allow the wittle folk to

spread their hatred wherever they wished

the synod is charged by the constitution

that they shall ensure the virtuous

behavior of the empire after all

if the synod believes this talk of a

divine family and the peculiar qualities

ascribed to them by the free folk is

dangerous or spiritually misleading

then as the final authority on the

matter they have a duty to take steps

some priests who wish to discuss these

points and more are intending to visit

anvil together this autumn equinox they

wish where possible to speak with their

national assemblies and with any other

imperial priests willing to debate the

free folk interpretation of the way and

what it means for the synod

they will be found outside the hub at 1

30 on the saturday of the summit

resolve

the arguments are civil for the moment

but as with other major questions of

doctrine heresy blasphemy and idolatry

in recent years there is potential for

disruption

one thing is very clear

there are no circumstances under which

the free folk will abandon their deeply

held faith

there is absolutely no doubt to their

sincerity

their beliefs have helped them endure

centuries of oppression by the assaveans

while the empire is encountering the

divine family for the first time for the

free folk the inspirations of their

paragons and exemplars are fundamental

to their identity and entwined

inextricably with their history

if the situation is allowed to continue

as it is

the presence of the free folk cannot

help to become disruptive

they are hard workers but their customs

and practices are odd compared to those

of the imperial citizens they labour

alongside

eventually however things will come to a

head

the only question will be whether the

disruption is caused by imperial

citizens eager to learn more about the

define family and embrace the pageantry

of the free folk religious practices or

whether it is caused by orthodox

pilgrims of the way reacting poorly to

perceived blasphemy heresy and idolatry

there seem to be only three ways that

this can go that does not lead to chaos

and it falls on the general assembly of

the imperial synod to decide which path

is taken

the imperial synod might find a way to

integrate the free folk beliefs making a

clear statement of principle accepting

their religion and explaining to the

people of the empire that while strange

it is not blasphemous

individual paragons and exemplars might

be recognized indeed the free folk are

likely to immediately begin pushing for

this

but as at least one urazen priest has

pointed out there is some precedence for

inspirational figures who are not

recognized by the synod

this will defuse the situation but will

categorically lead to more interest in

their stories and potentially lead to

more heterodoxy within the empire

the synod might make it clear to the

free folk that their beliefs are not

welcome in the empire they are heretical

blasphemous idolatrous or some

combination of all three

while they can believe what they like in

private they must stop proselytizing and

must stop practicing their peculiar

ceremonies in public
some of the actual paragons and

exemplars might be recognized but they

will have to be shorn of all trappings

of the free folks allegedly idolatrous

faith

this will likely remove any enthusiasm

the free folk have for becoming imperial

citizens and will see a shift in

attitudes to idolatry in that arguments

that reverence of human spirits is

acceptable will be undermined

it will encourage foreigners and

imperial citizens with beliefs that

might not be considered orthodox to be

much more circumspect about making those

beliefs known publicly

finally the synod could declare that the

free folk are blasphemers idolaters or

heretics that they cannot continue to

remain in the empire and must leave

if that happens the free folk will

depart the empire on mass

it will send a clear message that the

synod is not prepared to tolerate

foreigners with unorthodox beliefs

reducing the likelihood that such people

will seek a home in the empire in the

future

it will likely influence attitudes to

organizations such as the house of the

prophet hand and the house of guerra

the expectation will be that any

foreigner seeking to become part of the

empire will need to convert to the way

before they can become an imperial

citizen

regardless of what they choose

the synods position must be clear or it

will simply contribute to the confusion

if the synod does not act then the

situation will certainly deteriorate in

the coming months

[Music]

you