Annals: Year 18
A story fragment and codex entry from the Dustsong Cycle—and more
From the Annals of the Vaporous Realms
A chiliad of Livyat's minions spawned from the sea at the heart of the Upper Fangs. These children of chaos crawled along the mountains, traversing ridge and pass and hollow in search of the Wright's garden. So the wardens of the heaven-bridge called upon their kin and met Livyat's host in a vicious battle upon the slopes. The scions of the Wright bested those of Livyat, hunting and destroying their foes to the last in the rocks and creeks. Wherever her minions fell, a pool of water formed. And at the site of their last stand, overlooking the western end of the valley, a mountain lake sprang from scores of vanquished chaos-spawn.
Codex: Chiliad
A chiliad was a unit of one thousand warriors, more or less, in the armies of the late first epoch in the Elder World. The city of Danoh fielded thirteen chiliads at the height of its power.
In the Fledgling World, the southern Redeemed kingdoms of Shihreh, Pehtos, and Gwohď maintained the tradition of the chiliad. However, during the conflicts of the fourth epoch, the southern kingdoms devised a system for ad hoc augmentation of units, which swelled the size of a chiliad to three thousand warriors or more in some instances.
Author Note
Happy New Year, y’all! I doff my cap to anyone who was awake to greet 2025. I’m sure I was fast asleep—I’d blame age, but really I’m just a morning person. (If the tales of the Vaporous Realms are to be told, I have to be up and moving before the crack of dawn.)
Delfii the Clever of the Southrons, our beloved cat-riding Amazon–Viking captain, closed out 2024 in Vaporous Realms at War tabletop profiles.
To each of you, godspeed and happy reading this year!