aoishe@brokenworld.chaosdeathfish.com

Aoishe doesn't speak of her clan much - while she is on H'takath (a rite of passage) she has little to do with them - indeed, she cannot return until her H'takath is complete. She is restless and always eager to understand more of the world.

Like a shadow, Aoishe fled from the home of the Glorious People's Republic. For now, the compound is peaceful and untroubled; a smile crossed her mouth as she pictured the chaos, grief and panic that would seize them in the morning, as they realised that their oh-so-precious leader was dead. It had been so easy to sneak in; the patrols had gone somewhat lax without Maxim's rigorous drilling of them, and in any case she had memorised the compound's layout many years previously. Once in, the daggers and the tailor-made poison applied to them had done their work, ending the tyrant's life before he could raise the alarm. Now, she made her way to the rendezvous point of the few Confederate operatives still willing and able to fight the GPC. God knows there was bad blood enough to settle; they had killed Harkon and Takhai, and massacred most of the Storm Knights with some horrific runic weapon. Tonight's assassination should serve as a warning and a rallying call, summoning all still-loyal, still-independent people and striking fear into the GPR's heart.

Speaking the passphrase, Aoishe made her way into the deserted warehouse that was serving as their headquarters for the time being. Immediately she noticed newcomers among the scarred, weary veterans; chatting familiarly and being generally cheerful there were the three temple representatives of the Circus. As Jill Sparks continued fiddling with some strange device, Bezeth stood up and waved with both right arms. Hurrying over to them, Aoishe's mind was awhirl with possibilities, of all the things they could do now the Circus was on board. She quickly shook hands with Bezeth. “Great to have you with us!”

“You too. We were worried you'd been killed. That'd have been awful. Imogene would have been heartbroken.”

At this Imogene gave a little nod, then went back to looking around the room. Jill twisted a little knob on her handheld device, and a tiny whine started to build. Bezeth continued.

“You see, the Circus sticks by their friends. Especially when we haven't finished having fun with them yet. Especially when they have that combination of strength and innocence that makes them so fun to tease.” Bezeth's eyes started to harden, her smile turning into a grimace revealing her fangs. “Especially when they're so trusting, so good they'd walk onto a great big X just to show the world that they can rise above suspicion. Especially when they're like Catequil.”

Suddenly Bezeth had blades in all four hands. Jill levelled two contraptions at some of the revolutionaries, while Imogene just gazed intently at those near her.

“Another thing about the Circus; when you kill our friends, we return the favour.”

Aoishe backed away, realising the trouble she was in, and tried to muster what little fighting skill she had to fight off Bezeth, complemented with her own Storm magic. Bezeth knocked her attacks aside, wincing only slightly at the lightning discharge. While her compatriots were cut down by energy from Jill's guns, and others are sliced apart by what seemed to be holes in reality rended by Imogene, Bezeth advanced on Aoishe, cutting her down and knocking her to the floor. The last thing Aoishe saw was Bezeth smiling above her.

“Say hello to Death for me!”

Then the last Storm Knight died.