Ubagai Wakuno leapt to the side of from the throne, bloody blade clenched victoriously in his hand. Several of the Imperial Guard shouted in rage, surging forth weapons raised in their own pursuit of the Emperors’ killer. Wakuno was swift, too swift, and easily outmaneuvered his would-be pursuers. He dashed between his brothers who were all rushing for the destroyed doorway, parrying away the swords and spears of the guards. With the Emperor dead all that was left was for them to escape. Wakuno was among the first to reach the doors and scurried down the great stairs after passing by the splintered frame. The city of Bianwei was captured in an orange, ominous glow as the flames of battle consumed all, the stars above obscured by black clouds of smoke. Wakuno and his brethren vaulted over wreckage and danced around guards who would chase them all the way over the stone walls of the city, never stopping even as they burst through the forests and hurtled into the Emerald River. All that was left was to return to their betters and speak of their success to which Wakuno looked forward.

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[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/wvrPONR.jpg[/img][/center]

[b]And so it was Emperor Xiao Shang was dead, murdered sitting upon his throne as the capital burned - all at the hands of an army of zealots who set upon the city amid what was to be an eve of celebration and kinship. The fires lasted all through the night consuming entire districts amid the chaos. As smoke blotted the night sky blood painted the streets, the blood of the hundreds cruelly cut down in the attack, the attackers scattering from the city and vanishing into the darkness their foul deeds committed in full. Men and women spent the night desperately searching for friends and family members harrowing the smoke and fires while children screamed in the streets for their mothers and fathers.

As the sun rose on the next morn the body of Emperor Xiao Shang lay cold and the terrible truth of the matter finally set in; the last emperor was dead and the throne for the first time in history was empty. As the people scraped through the charred wreckage of Bianwei they looked to the guard, they looked to the Imperial Council - neither had comfort or answers to be given. The Council hesitated to send word across the land of the emperors’ death for fear of the panic it would cause as well as the possible sundering of Yongcun. With no known heir to the throne many feared what may come next. The Imperial Guard and Free Wardens rushed to keep order but found this easier said than done. 

Regent Jia Chong declared martial law later that day in Bianwei and ordered that no official word be sent to the surrounding cities confirming Xiao Shang’s death, not yet. If the Empire was to survive this devastating tragedy there would need to be order and proper planning, though even Jia Chong found himself filled with doubt. Uncertainty wracked all those who had survived that perilous night before and a shroud of hopelessness seemed to be descending from above.

A single phrase that filled the streets resonated with all those in Bianwei, “Dark days are upon us.” It will be seen just who will survive the coming darkness.[/b]