The Red Cloud of War

Smoke rises southeast of Cothon-Gadeed, from the burning villages and vineyards of the Iqta' al Zaytun--clouds of smoke stained red with the light of the great red sun. The people of the Dual Cities tell each other on the streets, this must be the reason for his name--the Red Cloud, newly risen warlord of the Kzinti, master of Heroes, destroyer of Peace. Or so they tell each other as they meet in the streets, shaking their heads.

And all look to the strong walls of both Cothon and Gadeed, the masterwork fortifications of both klackon and human hands--and the great turrets that stand above, manned by retainers of the Guilds and the Bani-Houses, and the elite Knights Pylaea--and all hope and pray that it will not come to such War as it once did, between Man and Kzin, when the very walls shook under the fury of the Kzinti and their engines. But those days are over--those are the days of legend, of history--such days cannot now come!

And too, people whisper about the Souffets--after their refusal to join with the Hanse in their campaign against the pirates of the eastern seas; after their recall and snubbing of the great general Dalinar al Khalid, and suspicions against him--given all this, can Khosroa and Fadhlan be expected to muster any real resistance against the Red Cloud in this, their final lunar year in office? And they've already dithered these two months!

(

"Gadeed will fall!"

There will be an upcoming post detailing a way for player-characters to explain just what they have been up to in the "downtime" between January and now (going into April), given that the life of the Dual-Cities has been somewhat on hold during that time.)

Such is the talk in the streets these days, as refugees straggle in from al Zaytun with tales of Kzinti coming in out of the night, burning everything with their peculiar yowling hunting cries, cutting men down with claw, fang, and wtsai ... How could the Red Cloud of gathered such strength to himself already, to feel ready to challenge Cothon-Gadeed so directly?? The Iqta' al Zaytun is a breadbasket of the Cities, supplying olives, wine, oil, and all manner of corn and other foodstuffs. How could this upstart warlord already have mustered such force?

[Even the referee is surprised at this turn of events!--how indeed could the Red Cloud of come into such power? Well, it is "convenient" at least for the Scribes ... who can thus claim their lack of proper chronicling has been due more to their duties regarding this sudden onslaught, rather than having to attend to a greater number of personal matters in these last few months ...

... And rest assured, this is no moment like the apocryphal event in Dave Arneson's Blackmoor game when, after the players had spent too many sessions delving in the dungeons and neglecting the wargame proper, the cackling Arneson gleefully told his players that the baddies had won--no, the Red Cloud has not won in any sense! But perhaps he has at least shown himself to be a force to be reckoned with ...]