Before the Battle of Antium Pass, the Legion's Test of Resolve had a different basis. It began with Liatrelle, the General's oldest friend. When Tarsis first raised an army against the urgoth, Liatrelle was with her. They hadn't yet found Arden Vassa. No lancers, no Arcanists, no javelins, no weapons, no fortress. Not even a good hiding place. Nothing but the vision of Helena Tarsis, and Liatrelle's unbreakable will.
The two set out to find the urgoth. The plan was simple. Follow the raiders, and warn villages in their path. At first, they succeeded in getting word of the coming urgoth to people in time. Villagers fled to safety. But the longer the urgoth went without prey, the faster it spurred their hunt. Finally, Tarsis and Liatrelle arrived at a village with the urgoth close behind. Flight was impossible. So, they stood and fought.
Tarsis hoped to slow the urgoth enough that some villagers could escape. The two fought alone, armed with simple weapons, and were little more than an annoyance to the enemy. But they fought. Despite greater numbers, strength, and weapons, the urgoth could not subdue them. Finally, with Tarsis wounded and Liatrelle exhausted, the two prepared for the end. But then, the villagers rallied. With tools and improvised weapons, they joined the battle and routed the enemy. Many innocents were taken that night, but not all of them. That night, people fought the inevitable.

— As told by the Bard

This is the story of how the Legion endured its own destruction.
While Arden Vassa and Stral argued about the remaining Legion's path, Liatrelle prepared. She prepared her oldest friend and other fallen for burial. And she prepared the way for those still to come. She took Garred's Volumes of the Legion from the Fortress of Dawn before it was sealed. She left Helena's signet in the General's tomb so it could someday be claimed again.
Liatrelle would not abandon her friend, or her path, even though the battles were over. The world would always need Tarsis. And Tarsis would always need Legionnaires. She followed Vassa to Antium for a time, and left the Legion's records with trusted lancers to be maintained and passed down by generations.
Once her preparations were complete, her plans in motion, Liatrelle walked out of Antium and vanished.

— As told by the Bard

Magna Stral came to the Legion of Dawn as a young girl. Her village was raided and her family taken by urgoth. She was so small, she hid inside a basket. The urgoth surely caught her scent, but considered her too weak to bother taking. Alone, unarmed, she followed the secret Arcanist signs to Sanctuary, where the rebels hid and plotted. There, Stral begged General Tarsis to let her to join the Legion, to grant her vengeance. But, the General refused. Stral wasn't ready, Tarsis said.
Stral couldn't accept that. So she went out alone to fight the urgoth. She set traps and ambushes. She poisoned spears and knives. Any small advantage she could take against a superior enemy, she gladly took. She nearly died dozens of times, but vengeance drove her onward. She carried urgoth trophies to the Sanctuary. Day after day. Week after week. Finally, General Tarsis spoke with her.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“I want to join the Legion of Dawn.” Magna replied.
Tarsis looked at Stral's many urgoth trophies.
“Why? You already have your revenge.”
At first, Stral had no answer. Then, she said, “It's where I belong.”
“Then you're finally ready to join us,” Tarsis said.

— As told by the Bard

Let me tell you the final tale of Magna Stral.
When General Tarsis fell, those closest to her mourned. Each carried grief in their own way. For Stral, the loss of her friend and leader summoned rage. She couldn't rest while a single urgoth lived. They were already broken by the Sword of Fulminous, terrified, fleeing to the dark corners of the world. But Stral followed, hard on their heels. When at last her scouts found no more enemies, she returned to the Fortress of Dawn. There she found the doors sealed. The Legionnaires were preparing to leave it forever.
While Stral eased her grief with battle, Arden Vassa fixated on his duty. With her final breath, Tarsis made him swear Antium would not fall... no matter the cost. At her command, Vassa prepared to take the Legion of Dawn south to guard Antium.
Outraged at this perceived desertion, Stral ordered the lancers to halt. And they obeyed. Her General secured a future for all people, not just Antium. She called for the Legion to follow her, to battle the enemy in the darkness where they'd fled. Stral was admired—some say revered—by many, and they gladly joined her cause.
Vassa called them traitors. Stral declared those who stayed behind were cowards. And the Legion broke. Those who followed Magna Stral called themselves Paladins, and went north to pursue the enemies of man. They vanished into darkness, and were never heard from again.

— As told by the Bard

Icetide Means it's Time For Ice Smash!

This week the season kicks off with the traditional Fort Tarsis Ice Sculpture Smash! Participation is free but those taking part must bring their own tools. Please gather at the south wall at sunrise to claim your block of ice. Come and show off your artistic skill to your fellow citizens by creating an effigy in ice. The traditional flinging of the sculptures off the wall begins just before sundown on the same day.

Note: This season, after much debate, images of the Royal Family of Antium will still be permitted to be carved, however, those sculptures will not be permitted to be thrown off of the wall and smashed when that time comes.

Citizens in Tarsis are once again invited to the Freelancer Enclave tomorrow for shaved ice treats. Freelancer Jak will act as Honorary Frost Fellow for the festivities this year. The cyphers will be running games of chance with the proceeds going to the Tarsis Cypher Scholarship which sends altered children from underprivileged families to a satomi.

Congratulations to our resident Bard who recently returned from Antium with a trophy as the top dramatist in Bastion this season.

His winning dramatization of General Tarsis and the Ice Titan held the assembled crowd rapt for an entire afternoon, while the encores continued for almost a day more. Notably, near the end of his performance, he had everyone on the edge of their seats recounting the story of our recent fire during the Season of Skulls.

Midderon was the son of Arcanists. He lived his entire life hiding in a cavern underground. At ten years old, he'd never seen the sky, or an urgoth, or any beast but humans. The world was utterly unknown to him, except for tales of horror and woe. But among stories warning children to hide and obey, Midderon heard one other. A whispered tale of a rebellion against the urgoth, and a Legion rising to free all people. So, the young Midderon left the safety of the Arcanists to find the Legion of Dawn.
Raised to be a scholar, he could read the secret signs of the Arcanists. He followed them through the wilds toward the Legion of Dawn. The chimera... had a different plan. Midderon had never seen a chimera. He'd never even seen a grabbit, but he was a very good student. He learned all the warning signs that he was being hunted, and remembered stories about laying false trails. He led the chimera on a winding path through the rocks. Back and forth. He could never shake the creature, but it could never find him. Then, other hunters came.
General Tarsis discovered the chimera stalking the boy while she wore the first javelin built by Arden Vassa. The General was just learning to use her javelin. No one knew what it could do—not even the man who made it. Not trusting her suit's strength in a direct fight with a chimera, Tarsis lured it into chasing her instead. While it ran after Tarsis, Liatrelle found the boy and spirited him away to safety.
Liatrelle took him to the Legion's camp. When Tarsis asked where he lived and who his people were, Midderon replied, “You're my people.”
The others tried to persuade him to return home, but Tarsis said, “He is home.”
Midderon then served as a page in the Legion of Dawn.

— As told by the Bard

It's time to tell you how the Freelancers began.
Midderon was raised by the Legion of Dawn. He witnessed Tarsis testing the first javelin. He was at the General's side when the Fortress was built, earned his own javelin, and eventually fought beside her. Of those that stood with Tarsis and held back the urgoth at Antium Pass, only Midderon survived. In grief, the Legion tore itself in two. Half went with Magna Stral. Half with Arden Vassa. And one Legionnaire who went with no one.
Midderon remained at the Fortress of Dawn, even though the gates were sealed and the lancers gone for good. Alone in the courtyard, Midderon heard a distant roar. It was a sound he remembered, for it haunted his dreams. The roar of the chimera Cindermaw. The monster that stalked him long ago. It had vanished for more than a decade, but returned upon the General's death.
Though Midderon stood no chance alone, he saw that the village of Anshar lay helpless in the creature's path. He found the chimera's trail and followed it—not to the monster, but to its lair. If he silenced the relic that created it, Cindermaw would be defeated. Midderon found the relic, though the monster lurked nearby. Midderon remembered his childhood of laying false trails. He woke the chimera and it chased his false tracks while he slipped past, silenced the relic, and defeated the beast that stalked him long ago.
Cindermaw fell. In that moment, Midderon knew his calling was to walk the Path of Valor, even if he walked it alone.

— As told by the Bard