Bloody Dusk¶

And so it was planned that we would meet in the Nexus and we quickly formed our ranks. The Kami and the Karavan, the allies of Hominkind against the Kitin, had each called on their homin supporters to find a mysterious artifact. We were in a deadly race that we could not afford to lose.

I trembled as I followed my companions, fighting off a desperate sense of isolation despite the crowd. The mood was electric and spirits high as we found ourselves being led into danger. We knew that we would do battle with the Kitin in our mission to reach our objective. Our help was needed and this expedition would likely cost us our lives... what could be so important?

We marched on, axes on our shoulders, proud to fight for a worthy cause. I was about to enter my first great battle!

We joined with the main camp in preparation for the fight. Soon we found some kitin and the battle was on. The first skirmishes were well-fought and boosted our confidence, but these kitin seemed different... I'm no expert, but these did not behave normally. They appeared to be hypnotized perhaps, possibly by the very artifact we were sent out to retrieve. We wondered about this but the Kami told us not to concern ourselves and urged us on.

Our concern about the kitin was quickly forgotten. The sound of Karavan troops, our competitors, could be heard in the distance and we had to hurry. Still in our ranks, we headed out towards the distant lights at the center of the Nexus. We broke through far more easily than I had imagined we could and I knew that it was only because of the many experienced soldiers around me.

I felt myself becoming more and more confident and my swings became more accurate, more deadly. In my excitement, I even charged ahead on my own! I knew that I was being rash, but it was then, in that moment, that I felt the other soldiers had accepted me. I was no longer just a follower, but a warrior! I was one of them!

We fought long and hard. Rage and blood lust took over and we fought relentlessly until we encountered something new: a strange Kitin, beautiful and deadly, with wonderful blazing colors. She slaughtered the men around me and I was hard-pressed to avoid her attacks. Even in the heat of battle, I could not help but admire her terrifying beauty. She was huge, far larger than the other kitin and far more powerful. Her screams were deafening. We fought as best as we could but it was in vain. We could not win. We attacked relentlessly and yet we fell, one after another, to her vicious onslaught.

And then it was over.

I do not know how I got here. Clearly it was a miracle of Atys and the will of Ma'Duk that I survived at all.

It was a bloody night, a battle against death itself, but it was the Karavan, not us, who emerged victorious. Our efforts, those of the Kami and the friends of the Kami, had been in vain. The Karavan, those foreign traitors to Atys, had remained and recovered the artifact. All our efforts, all those lives ruined and lost, were for nothing.

The Karavan had stolen the artifact from the Kami and we would make them pay. It would not be long before open war was declared, but in the end, the only victims would be the homins of Atys.