<div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/c0B9cDP.png)</div><hr/><br/>"Are you certain they can be trusted?"<br/><br/>"Of course they can't, but what difference would it make?"<br/><br/>"I see your point.  Check on your brother and find a suitable healer in the meantime.  I'll make arrangements for the<em>monks</em>."<br/><br/>Somewhere in the midst of the walled city of Kamthahar the pair of figures go their separate ways as tensions within the empire of Prasad continue to grow.  All eyes are now on the capital of the wayward Satrapy where the Dragon-Blood Gods rule.<br/><br/>In the years since the Scarlet Empress's disappearance the Satrapy has grown bolder in its defiance of the Immaculate Order and it's philosophy.  Preferring to live as gods instead of as caretakers of the Realm's interests, the two Dragon-Blooded clans of the empire have kicked out a recent arrival of Immaculate Monks with a contingent of their guards.  While no one spoke of Wyld Hunt, it seemed a likely explanation for the group having been there.<br/><br/>Shortly after the Monks had arrived it was said that one of the Dragon-Blooded rulers had suffered a curse, though what the source or effect of it has been no one seems to know.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 24pt;">The Transit of Sol, Chapter 1:<br/>          The Space Between</span></span></div><br/><hr/><br/><strong>Small Plantation, approximately 8 miles North of Kamthahar, Early Morning:</strong><br/><br/>The plantation is bustling with activity, cotton being the primary product of this particular home has been left in order to focus on other priorities.  Food is being gathered from a small, but plentiful farm, a butcher is working on the hanging meat of a cow, and other slaves are cleaning and decorating the building in preparation for some sort of arrival.  The building is large, having quarters for at least two-score slaves or servants.  A handful of detached buildings suggest possible quarters for important guests who would appreciate more privacy.  They are all sandstone buildings, expertly crafted from large bricks of the material and hollowed out.  Beams of wood in key locations support the structure.  Decorations are few and far between, giving it a more spartan appearance, but in a certain angle of light subtle carvings in the stone are revealed--in the early morning hours it seems like the flowing waves of the etchings are meant to resemble that of a flame.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><strong>Clan Girin's section of Kamthahr, Early Morning:</strong><br/><br/>Clan Girin boasts the important role of healing and tending to the wounded.  They also maintain some minor priest-like duties in the caring for the dead, but the Sijanese arts would be as advanced to them as a warship to a river fisherman.  Perhaps through some strange twist of fate they have ended up one of the less-noble houses, though perhaps being closer to the Casteless outside the walls has suited them.  A private trader now throws himself upon their mercy after one of his sons has been recovered from a cave to the northeast.  Claw-like marks mar his body in several places, the blood loss has been severe but nothing is truly known of the origin of the wounds.  The healers of the Clan know it will take a distinct talent to save the boy and so they have enlisted the help of something of a prodigy--at least to their estimation.<br/><br/><hr/>