City of Sinister Angles

The Secret of the Lotus Fields

Play the song after the first dinkus (series of three asterisks).

The strange wing, an ugly little bat-like dinosaur, soared over the skies of Ubar, bound for its twin Iram on the other side of the river.

Ubar with her domed buildings hiding in the shade, Iram with her lofty pillars glistening in the sun. All around them violet fields of black lotus flowers grew in some of the most fertile farmland in Zerzura. The twin cities retained much of their former beauty, if none of their former power.

Centuries ago, in the time of the Spice Crusades, the dual city-state of Ubar and Iram had been the greatest rival of Thule. Now it was the puppet state of one of their middling merchant concerns.

The strange wing dove down and flew through the open window leading to the gubernatorial rookery. It flopped over to the perch its painstaking training compelled it to seek out. In a few days the the little beast, and the official letter rolled up and attached to its leg, would be discovered by the inattentive staff.

The letter was from the Ghulzhan Council of Directors. The request the governess had made a little over two months ago, to deploy the Stormguard against whatever demon was stalking the lotus fields and killing farmers in the most gruesome of ways, was officially authorized.

Governess Perkins remembered to do so after lunch the next day. She had spicy egg rice, cold lamb, sugarcakes, and a very nice Gewürztraminer imported from Silvam.

* * *

The Ghulzhan Stormguard rode into the small farming village on sandy colored desert runners, the Zerzuran riding dinosaurs used in places horses couldn't go. The destitute farmers, half-naked and fly-bitten, watched the procession with wary, suspicious eyes. The few who had official positions ran in abject terror to fetch the village elder.

The Ghulzhan Stormguard were the elite veterans of the Ghulzhan army. The twelve currently mounted on desert runners were the only Stormguard in Zerzura, and there were less than 100 worldwide.

The guards had a long brown coats and fur shakos, emblazoned with a silver House Ghulzhan insignia (a highly stylized shape that, centuries ago, was supposed to be two crossed scimitars). Their faces were covered with scarves that bore patterns resembling the mouths of skulls or the teeth of predators.

Each had a sword crafted by the master swordsmith family the Hildebrands, long time vassals of House Ghulzhan. The fact that the family were able to keep its smithing techniques a secret in a city like Thule was a testament to the strength of both their steel and their sword arms.

Rather than swordsmen, however, the Stormguard were riflemen. They were masters of all aspects of gunplay, and constructed their own rifles. Each was customized to take into account every quirk and nuance of the aim of it's intended user, and in the right hands they were the finest firearms in the world.

The Stormguard uniform was not designed for the desert heat of Zerzura. It was, however, the duty of every true Stormguard to endure any hardship in the name of propriety and ceremony. They wore the complete uniforms, and battled through the heatstroke.

Eventually the panicked local officials brought an old man, hurrying as best as he was able, up to the procession of mounted soldiers. They were all speaking Zerzurabic.

"They're insisting they've paid the taxes for this month," said Cooper "This must be a mistake, they say."

Cooper's parents were from Thule but he had been born in Iram so he spoke both Lemruian and Zerzurabic. He was the only one.

Corporal Lambkin rolled his eyes.

"Tell them we're here about the demon," he said.

Cooper translated.