Round 6
The Shá
Sands of Shá (307)
Revered Triad of Sani, Yeitso, & Tiba

Newly prepared to answer threats from within the city, the appearance of the Ashir at their gates throws both Yeitso and Tiba off balance. Locked in opposite wings of the Solstice Solarium behind rings of armed fanatics, neither elder has the courage to move to the gates in person. Instead, they send runners to act as their eyes, each of which fixes their opposite number with an icy glare. That is, until they hear the declaration of Zidan, and all thought of enmity melts beneath the fire of his fury. Both runners sprint to recount the ultimatum to their chosen patron, even as a woman garbed in the finery of the watch but unknown to any in that number loosed a fateful arrow over the battlements. She died with a smile on her lips, glazed eyes alight with feverish expectation, and at once confusion reigned. Agents sent ahead of the Ashir with gifts of spice and silver bought their way into the gatehouses, throwing open the great portals of Dzah and allowing Zidan's reprisal to stream unfettered down ancient streets.

Yet the city was large, its avenues narrow to the bulk of cavalry, and the van of the Ashir was still thundering its approach when Yeitso and Tiba emerged to seek amnesty. With no knowledge of the attempt on Zidan's life, they pressed their rings of bodyguards scant paced from each other as they rushed with all the speed their old legs could muster. Sworn above all to the preservation of their remaining triumvars, the armies of the Shá gave greater thought to the shield than the sword, eyeing their fellows with the cool certainty that they would not be the first to break the peace. So assured, they filtered together through the main thoroughfare of the city, past shadowed alleys where unseen eyes waited. The first splatter of blood came from a spear-bearer at Tiba's side, the second from a swordsman on Yeitso's outer rank, and in a moment all was chaos. None saw the black stones carved with blasphemed prayers to the True Sun before they were trampled, all evidence of the hidden slingers vanishing in the brutal melee. It was then that the first forces of the Ashir arrived, to witness a desperate brawl in the streets where moments before ordered columns had marched.

In the chaos, none realized that Yeitso and Tiba had vanished.

Actions - Yeitso's Faction
  1. Battle Tiba's Faction and the invading Ashir (2 Units, Mil 3 Subcommander, +1 City)

Actions - Tiba's Faction
  1. Battle Yeitso's Faction and the invading Ashir (2 Units, Mil 3 Subcommander, +1 City)

Actions - True Sun
  1. Imbue the victor with the first and last Miracle of the Shá

Actions - Unknown
  1. Attempt murder upon Zidan of the Ashir
  2. Provoke the armies of the Shá to civil war