[caeso]

A SCOURGE UPON THE GOLDEN SANDS

2060 AC

War has never been a kind mistress. In the wake of battle, civilians and soldiers are ridden down under hooves and skewered on long spears. Homes are put to the torch with residents still inside. There is no measured attempt at Humanity; only wanton conquest. In the wake of it, the Horde's encirclement around Audhild resumes, with campfires burning bright in the night sky, and the scent of cooked meat and the howl of distant screams on the evening breeze. With the fall of Audhild's governor and the burning of Langley, the final words of the Khan of the Horde are the only answer offered to outsiders or any who question them.

"Your Dauntless cannot protect you.
Kneel and pay fealty to the Horde.
I alone can keep your homes standing, and safeguard you."

Soldiers still prowl the burnt out battlefield, taking away survivors for their own purposes.
The sandstorm that followed them does not seem so quick to diminish. This siege seems as if it shall last quite some time by all outsider measurements, with the Horde firmly entrenched in their positions and fat off the successes of their feasts.. Oftentimes, soldiers from either side may report seeing strange things in the fugue of smoke and sand: the watchful, hungry eyes of Spirits that have been drawn closer to the living world by the abundance of offered sacrifice. 

 

• In the wake of their victory, there is an open invitation for foreign dignitaries to approach and be offered the chance to talk under the protection of the Khan. This offer has been extended to whatever remains of Audhild's leadership and any foreign factions who have not yet brought themselves to journey west underneath the harsh sun of the Silent Expanse, and is barred to none. Safety is offered under observation of the Spirits, and sworn on the ink of the Khan's contract.  THOSE WHO SEEK AUDIENCE OR TO SPEAK ARE OFFERED PROTECTION.
   
  
• Conscription still readily comes. Captives and any stray Tribals who cross their path will be offered the opportunity to serve. The example of Darius is touted as a success: an opportunity for peace for the Batkin who have engaged in a blood feud. Any of the former scattered kind of Nyth'hjem are invited to speak with said Darius, and safeguard themselves from retribution. This is touted as an act of endless mercy for the hostility that once brewed between the Batkin and the Horde, though the truth is clear: any who take it will find themselves working for once forsworn enemies.
  
  
• Belatedly: word spreads of the selection of their Khan, who had been seen at the forefront of the battlefield - one Arpad Hunyati. One assumes that any interested in broaching the mass of tribals would be best off appearing before him or sending correspondence if there is something to be said. 
  

DISPOSITION

 
MERANTHE: TRIBUTE OR CONQUEST