erased even this, leaving the Seventh Legion the sole custodians <strong>of</strong> this military legacy. But the First <strong>and</strong> Forsaken Lion remembers, <strong>and</strong> he dreams <strong>of</strong> comm<strong>and</strong>ing that power again. The core <strong>of</strong> this dream lies half completed in its Underworld hangar near the Deathlord’s citadel. It has no counterpart among the living or in history, but hearkens back to the elegant designs <strong>of</strong> the First Age. The prized Juggernaut <strong>of</strong> the Mask <strong>of</strong> Winters stretches three times its length, but the Final Maelstrom still dwarfs the flagships <strong>of</strong> Lookshy to insignificance. Its hull is glossy black as if grown from organic obsidian, the hollowed carapace <strong>of</strong> a behemoth that stumbled into the Underworld through some shadowl<strong>and</strong> ages past <strong>and</strong> died forgotten. To that ovoid, insectile shell, the Deathlord has affixed vast struts <strong>and</strong> plating <strong>of</strong> jade <strong>and</strong> soulsteel, building according to inauspicious geomantic principles that should allow the vessel to tap the power <strong>of</strong> the Underworld — even within Creation. The First <strong>and</strong> Forsaken Lion has spared no expense to import components from the living world <strong>and</strong> incorporate only those elements <strong>of</strong> the Underworld that can endure the light <strong>of</strong> 115 CHAPTER FOUR • CREATIONS OF BONE THE GRAVEST THREAT Much is made <strong>of</strong> the Mask <strong>of</strong> Winters’ invasion <strong>of</strong> Thorns. For those who are even aware <strong>of</strong> the event (news does not travel across Creation all that efficiently), the Mask <strong>of</strong> Winters is the only one <strong>of</strong> his kind, <strong>and</strong> if he’s not the only one, surely he’s the most powerful. Regrettably, they are wrong. There are only a h<strong>and</strong>ful <strong>of</strong> truly great, truly epic generals in all <strong>of</strong> Creation or beyond. Fewer still <strong>of</strong> these comm<strong>and</strong> forces capable <strong>of</strong> fulfilling their comm<strong>and</strong>er’s vision. The First <strong>and</strong> Forsaken Lion, the oldest <strong>of</strong> the Deathlords, is one <strong>of</strong> these. Armed with immortality, mastery <strong>of</strong> necromancy <strong>and</strong> unmatched martial prowess, this Deathlord’s hunger for power <strong>and</strong> vengeance has assembled one <strong>of</strong> the mightiest <strong>and</strong> most terrifying battle forces the Underworld has ever seen. The First <strong>and</strong> Forsaken Lion is megalomaniacal <strong>and</strong> arrogant, a dread tyrant who even dared to challenge his masters once. Like all <strong>of</strong> his ilk, he is insane, but his insanity does not in the least diminish his cold genius. Unlike some <strong>of</strong> the other Deathlords, the Lion has little <strong>of</strong> the showman about him. He does not simply capitalize on a few spectacular necromantic marvels (a charge he <strong>of</strong>ten levels at the Mask <strong>of</strong> Winters). On the contrary, in addition to his armies, he has assembled a vast <strong>and</strong> highly integrated force <strong>of</strong> necromantic war machines supported by legions <strong>of</strong> ghosts skilled in combat Arcanoi, siege engine repair <strong>and</strong> necrosurgery. His tactics are not the children’s swarm tactics <strong>of</strong> the Realm’s degraded Dragon-Blooded, neither does he stoop to using the glorified guerilla tactics popular among Creation’s ragtag Exalted warlords. The First <strong>and</strong> Forsaken Lion is a general from the First Age, intimately familiar with the details <strong>of</strong> military science. He is a scientific general, <strong>and</strong> only the Seventh Legion can match his stores <strong>of</strong> magical weaponry, but not for long. With every passing year, the irreplaceable arsenals <strong>of</strong> Lookshy dwindle. Meanwhile, the General <strong>of</strong> the Legion Sanguinary only grows in might. Despite being the most ancient <strong>of</strong> the Deathlords, the First <strong>and</strong> Forsaken Lion remains unknown in Creation only because his Malfean lord has relegated him, for whatever reason, to the Thous<strong>and</strong>, far from the nearest shadowl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> farther still from the nearest useful shadowl<strong>and</strong>. The Lion is entertaining several different schemes for ripping his way into Creation, most <strong>of</strong> which include making his own shadowl<strong>and</strong>. For the moment, the First <strong>and</strong> Forsaken Lion trains his ghostly armies, plots his strategies <strong>and</strong> bides his time. He has options. He can afford to be patient. When he does make his move, his deeds will be far more infamous across the face <strong>of</strong> Creation than anything the Mask <strong>of</strong> Winters has ever done. the Unconquered Sun <strong>and</strong> remain solid outside the l<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> the dead. The enormity <strong>and</strong> complexity <strong>of</strong> this task has slowed the construction effort to a crawl. The First <strong>and</strong> Forsaken Lion commissioned the Final Maelstrom nearly a century ago, <strong>and</strong> he did not anticipate completion for several more decades. Of late, he has grown more optimistic, using the skills <strong>and</strong> power <strong>of</strong> his deathknights to hasten the project. The Deathlord now believes he can finish within nine years, perhaps less. He has learned much watching the Mask <strong>of</strong> Winters <strong>and</strong> his clumsy use <strong>of</strong> Juggernaut. When the Final Maelstrom flies at last, bristling with spires <strong>of</strong> pyre flame lances <strong>and</strong> entropic implosion bows, its master will not depend upon the ship as a crutch. First <strong>and</strong> foremost, the earth will shake beneath the warstriders <strong>and</strong> terrible machines <strong>of</strong> his army, while the dead <strong>of</strong> the Legion Sanguinary conscript to their ranks through unrelenting massacre. The Final Maelstrom is only a piece <strong>of</strong> the First <strong>and</strong> Forsaken Lion’s strategy, but it is a significant piece. For now, it remains a secret, even from the other Deathlords, a surprise he will unveil in due time to the collective horror <strong>of</strong> all.
EXALTED • BOOK OF BONE AND EBONY 116