In the year 73, the Tsefo had grown into one of the central entities present in the Duskland, the core of the group remained strictly religious, yet, it was observable that its rich environment of learning had attracted a diverse crowd. In this time period in particular, as many clan chieftains either aligned with them out of need or were truly converted, the military studies within the Tsefo started to flourish after being previously ignored by Mavadzugji.

Though, with the influence of the clans and the new priesthood of the Tsefo, not many of those who studied about the warriors of old and the generals of the sunlands believed in Mavadzugji's latest work, many believed the priest had already finished his purpose and was now too radical in his call for a new social order. Yet, some stayed aligned to him.

Tsilluhan Dyetzu, younger brother of Llapur Dyetzu, was one of them. The young man, who had lived in his brother shadow, distanced himself from his brother when it became clear that they had opposing opinions when it came to the Tsefo. Llapur wanted the old order, why would he not? He was very much at its lead, the world could be his in the near future as no family was in a better position to take over if Mutaraka's federation of clans died with its founder. Tsilluhan, however, was a radicalized believer, he read Mavadzugji's words on how the Dusklands had been usurped, and he believed it, beyond what Mavadzugji himself would ever believe, to him, the Dusklanders, the Dzanya, were the bastion of true mankind.

It was natural that among the young generals studying with the help of the Tsefo, he would be the one to form a clique of those who wanted to follow all of Mavadzugji's work, even the controversial Dzanya text. At such time, however, Tsilluhan did not believe in bringing it by using force against others of his own ethnicity, though he fully believed some force would need to be used against someone, after all, if the priest's words had failed to spread its truth, it was time for the warriors to bring their swords out.

His main line of thought was to emulate Tihtzin, Mavadzugji's father and local hero, who in the past took over a sunlander village and formed an independent government after the locals failed to pay the mercenary for his services. To take over a fort or border town and try to shape into the new society Mavadzugji had proposed.

Such thoughts were far away from his reality at the moment, his main line of work had been to keep writing down any sort of military theory or practical strategical advice he could find. This had been his line of work since the Tsoti had been published in 68. The other important aspect was to recruit like-minded and skilled members into the clique, Tsilluhan had a high opinion of himself, but he was not a fool to think he could do it all alone.

Rofotzan of the Tsir clan, a man from beyond the mountains, from a clan in the Papuratsura, the desolate gravel shores of the Dusklands, was one of the first who showed interest. To Tsilluhan it was a surprise, he, by all means, hated the man, about his age, the heir to the Tsir clan was a smug idiot in his view, nothing like the image of hardened no-nonsense warrior his people had, but if he saw the value in Mavadzugji's Dzanya work, he had to be at least somewhat wise.

Llor of the Tzemeh clan was a person who took active discussion to get on his side, Tsilluhan didn't like long discussions, typically, he preferred to assert opinions and be done with it, but he knew the value the Tzemeh brought. The clan was one of the prime providers of obsidian weaponry in the region and one of the main traders of sunlander goods, including smuggled bronze and copper equipment. Llor was a valuable asset, and although the man wasn't the sharpest student, he was not a total failure either.

Funmih of the Huro clan was a surprise. The Huro were an important family in the past, they were to the Tsefo Valley what the Dyetzu are to the coalition, in fact, the Dyetzu clan once was nothing but a minor banner serving them, but time had passed, the Tsefo Valley had been lost to the oddlands, and the Huro had lost almost everything. Most of their members did nothing but demand the past glory as if anyone would give it to them freely, but not Funmih, he knew glory and prestige were won, and he had spent the last five years, since Mavadzugji works started to be published, to study foreign military though, to refine his skill, and to prepare for whatever would come once the exodus was inevitable.

Finally, there was Pihati. The man had invited himself into the clique, which was impressive, all of the group was quite young, as it was expected of anyone chasing revolutionary thought, but not him, he was the old guard, the younger brother of the hero Tzeba, who fought with Tihtzin and who helped Mutaraka to establish the confederacy. Simply put, he felt in debt to Tihtzin, and since the man was gone, the next best thing was to help his son, and he knew the military group was the most direct way to safekeep Mavadzugji's ideas. Tsilluhan suspected he was keeping an eye on them by orders of Mutaraka, but he did not mind, Mutaraka was a man he respected and Pihati brought some needed first-hand experience into a group formed by young men.

---

Meetings of the group became commonplace, the Vallora, "The Endless Banner", as they named themselves, didn't seek to influence others, not at this moment, all of them brought a great amount of experience and theory, and much of the first meetings had been uniting this information into something cohesive.

Tsilluhan had just finished an important talk on how his brother had perfect the typical skirmish tactics preferred by the people of the swampier regions of the Dusklands, and during the whole time, he could not help but feel Rofotzan had not paid a single second of attention to anything he said. Was it pride in the traditions of his people in his area? He doubted.

"You keep staring towards that window, Rofotzan. What is the issue? Did you decide being a general is too hard and is now aiming to be a bird and learn how to fly?"

The long-haired warrior looked back at Tsilluhan with a look of distraction, he could clearly read how bothered the pale looking, short-haired man was, but he could not bring himself to care. "I was just noticing that this window moved, and yet, there is no wind."

This made the Dyetzu student curious, he too, paid attention to the window, moving towards it and looking out, observing the street. Nothing in sight. Seeing this, the whole clique got up and followed suit, not that the likes of Llor would find something new, but it seemed like a valid thing to be concerned about.

"Did anyone talk about our meetings? We made a vow of secrecy, did we not?" Funmih asked, ready to accuse someone, anyone.

With a grunt, Pihati moved forward, shoving the smaller Tsilluhan out of his way, he now looked outside, but he was more seasoned, and observed areas the other two could be missing. Looking down, he reached into a nearby basket and took a string out of it. It was not rope or flax, it was a hairstring, and the color denounced its owner.

---

Fernya was a bastard child in a society that valued family a lot, with all the adoptions and polygamy the concept of family in the Dusklands was much different than the more private ones of the sunlands, this did not mean however that it made being a bastard easier, on the contrary, since the bar was so low, falling off the system had a greater stigma.

Nevertheless, Fernya persevered, she had fought against poverty, she had found work to do and excelled at it, she even had managed to get herself a proper education, something many clan lords did not provide their children out of pride and suspicion, after she befriended Batsami, the Manyadjir of the Tsefo.

Now she walked among others in the Tsefo, and although most there did not see her as their equal, she still felt like she had won. Times were changing, she knew, and soon the very order that had caused her trouble would start to fray and vanish. This was the time when she would strike... somehow. She was not a revolutionary, on the contrary, she was a young woman who preferred things to be simple, but she cared about her survival and prosperity, and she would be as ruthless as she needed to be to guarantee her life and the life of the family she wanted to start.

In many places of the world, Fernya would have a muted presence, she was lean and wore simple clothing, if only because she could not afford better, but in the dusklands, one aspect of her stood out, she had colored hair. The locals' hair only ranged from shimmering silver to grey to raven black, anyone with hints of gold, brown or, as it was her case, red, was clearly someone who was half sunlander. Fully colored hair was somewhat seen as exotic to the locals, but the pale mix of dusklander grey and the sunlander colors was not prestigious at all and always attracted stares from the more close-minded locals. Mavadzugji had not made it any easier for those like her, with his talk of Dusklander exceptionalism the act of mixing your heritage with someone from outside the dusklands was seen in an even worse light. Though Fernya did not blame the priest too much, he had his mind in high places, he probably didn't even consider the existence of people like her while looking upward.

"You!" a voice boomed behind her, even when yelling, a dusklander would call others through their proper names, it took a lot of disdain to use a simple 'you', so she knew it was likely directed at her.

"Yes?" she turned, facing a group she knew well, Tsilluhan's little club, who discussed some very interesting matters in secrecy.

"You have been spying on us." he said in a much lower tone, looking at her with a stern and furious eyes.

"Spying? Spying on what?" she smiled. "Is there any sort of event happening in secret for one like me to spy on? It shouldn't be the case, here in the Tsefo we value sharing knowledge, so I doubt any of us would be holding secret classes..."

"It is not a secret, but it is limited to a select group, a street rogue such as you do not need to learn about..."

The woman shook her head. "Who will judge if your group is valid or not will be the crowd, should you keep making such matters public. I have no ill-will towards you, and usually, I would recommend that we move to a more private location, albeit, in my situation, I fear for my safety so I would rather stay in the public view. Still, you should calm your tempers and speak in a lower tone should you value privacy."

This disarmed Tsilluhan for a moment, the young general simply staring at her with an angered expression before deciding he would have to concede that she was right. "Let's avoid unnecessary words then, just tell me who you work for, it's simple."

Playing with her light orange hair, Fernya, the bastard with no social footing, could not help but to smugly grin at the noble boy from a prestigious clan. "Oh, its this very smart and, dare I say, beautiful person. Goes by Fer... something, you will know when you see her, an unusual looking girl really."

This caused Tsilluhan to sigh. "Are you saying you work for yourself? What use do you have of the topics we discuss? As a woman and a clanless..."

"Yes yes, I know, I have nothing, perhaps, that is why I want something. And why, with enough sharp stone, even someone like me can carve up a name."

The young noble missed it, but Pihati understood the implication, the veteran stepping forward. "You plan on getting an army?"

"Well... army might be a strong word for it, but I believe I could afford a small band of five or six. Not a lot, but, there are plenty of refugees leaving our land that needs protection, there are plenty of villages of the sunlands which could use a hand in readying themselves up for any possible chaos, I don't want something big, I just want something."

Funmih shook his head. "Using the knowledge of the Tsefo for personal gain, how pitiful, but understandable."

Before Fernya could antagonize Funmih, Pihati intervened. "I thought you were one of the most Mavadzugji aligned people, Fernya, what gives? Starting a clan of your own goes against his objective of a unified society."

The girl groaned. "Well... The problem is that it really isn't happening, is it? The clans are as strong as ever, and while some confederacies might rise following the guideline of his works, there is no promise they will be stable, or that I will be accepted in them. Why, just look at yourselves, probably the most promising Mavadzugji following group, and you made sure to keep it all in secret, to keep the likes of me out. I am better off if I have something of my own, I cannot afford idealism like the wealthy gentleman before me."

"You should just give up nevertheless, your plan is asinine, mercenaries require resources to be kept, and even if you pay then, what reason they have to not just take over?"

"Its, what do you all say, momentum, the mercenaries are necessary to get the boulder rolling downhill, from there onward I just need to play games, get warriors to align to me because others are already following me, create some justification for it all, make people fear a world without me. Maybe I can marry one of them and co-rule. There is a reason why I spy your classes, you know?"

"And hey, while your plans are boring in their objective, you do seem to hold some wit," Rofotzan said, clapping his hand. "You should properly join Vallora, perhaps then you could do more."

"Did you forget to wake up this morning? You want to recruit her? There is a reason why its called a circle of trust, you might as well invite a dog if you are willing to accept this woman."

The Tsir clansmen simply shrugged. "I mean, she already knows about it, furthermore, in case you didn't notice, she has had you cornered from the start. You cannot make her stop doing it because most actions would expose the existence of the meetings in the first place."