Know thy enemy

"It is a shame for a man to grow old, without seeing the beauty of the Pillars and the strength which his body is capable at war."
Margrave Otho in Manus Dei codex.

Bootleggers' Pier
Otho washed his hand in a copper basin, staining the clear liquid scarlet as he cleaned his digits from the blood of his prisoner.

~How much easier our holy work would be if the Gods had marked these animals with green blood.~ he mused not for the first time wondering why the Gods had created these abominations that held powers beyond normal men.

He knew why of course. Many of his early theological treatiseshad been on the subject.
The Pillars judged the faithful through hardship, through challenges. It was the only way to test one's mettle. Money, power, status, it all paled in the eyes of the Gods. Conviction, belief, ideology, those were the real standards by which men were judged.

This last week since arriving had been very educational for the Purger. Magik was very much alive in this new continent. And after the Inquisition had almost completely extinguished the Maleficium in Helias, and men were starting to ponder if the toils the gods placed on their path were over, lo and behold, the Pillars see fit to send them a new Crusade. A new continent to conquer and break

He looked at the man kneeling in his own waste and blood. Broken almost beyond recognition. Just a bag of ruined flesh and bones. His mind now gone, under the ministrations of The Purger for the last few days.

A Bonecasterhe had called himself. Capable of seeing events in his dreams, to communicate over long distances and to reach into Zin's Realm and commune with the dead. Blood magik. The kind of which they had not witnessed in Helias in a long time. And Otho Malgrave suspected that this particular man wasn't event that adept at weaving his powers.

Part of him wished that the man had cried his pain and despair into the mind of others of his kind. So that they knew their doom was upon them. He looked at the two silent brothers standing guard over his work. He signalled to them to take the man, and feed the remains to the pit dogs.

Patience was a virtue. And while the troops gathered and prepared for war, Otho Margrave would learn as much about his enemies as he possibly could. Sealed letters had already been dispatched back to Mizar and the High Office requesting further re-enforcements.

His men had informed him that the Craven Pack, the sappers, were on a mission in the Plains and the Purple Legion had been dispatched to the North. Their allies, the Odonine clans, had been massing at the foothills of their impressive mountain range. The Purger was not too pleased with the alliance with infidel savages but would raise his concerns with Duke Stoneshade.

But he was more interested in meeting Arbiter Voah Sahnsuur. He had sent a message by pigeon to Ostiarium asking for her presence, but had learned the woman was chasing the remnants of the Creed of Slivikhi at Aquilo.

He looked at the scarlet stained water, Cambena's portent that surely the land would be covered in the blood of their enemies.