New Covenant

From The Whereabouts

Covenant, before the revolution

History

Distant Past to Recent Past

What began as a small mining town would someday end up being the capital of the Second Age's first Solar-ruled empire. In the earliest days of the Dynasty, a small group of barbarians struck feathersteel. Although they used it at first only to augment their own weaponry, they eventually established a primitive commerce which revolved around the lightweight, durable metal. Within a few years the camp had become a full-fledged mining settlement, and this impressive organization of barbarian tribes did not go unnoticed. Later that year, the people of the settlement were approached by a man claiming to represent the House of Salim, a trading organization interested in expanding its influence into the mining industry. What transpired in the next year is not well known - through force or generosity, the House of Salim obtained ownership of the settlement, having renamed it to Covenant. Using their added resources, they excavated much deeper into the neighboring mountain range - much deeper, some noted, than feathersteel was likely to be found. Even if the House of Salim traders running the city didn't know this, the miners they employed certainly did. Although this began to arouse suspicion from nearby tribes, far-off speculators, and citizens of Covenant itself, debate on the issue was cut short when the Scarlet Empress took action. After making a fair, but far from generous offer to the traders who owned the land and being turned down, the Empress kindly informed them that their city's fate was mired in fire and brimstone rained down from the Realm Defense Grid if they chose not to accept her offer. Having little choice, they sold Covenant to the Realm. The Empress initially sent many sorcerers and Legion troops to the region, securing several nearby cities and forging the satrapy known as Frostgate. Her fervor in attaining the land suggested that she must have known something about the frozen plains that others did not - after all, there were perfectly sufficient mining territories much closer to the Blessed Isle. Once again, speculation became a moot point when the Empress disappeared. From there, things went downhill.

Satrap Ragara Dawendae was a former Dragonlord and king-maker in the Realm whose underhanded politics had backfired on him. He was given the closest punishment to exile a loyal noble could receive - he was made satrap of the now-defunct Frostgate. Nevertheless, Dawendae and his mistress Ragara Kitono, who had accompanied him as an advisor, remained enterprising. They quickly turned the satrapy into a profit-loading scheme, taxing their subjects into poverty and enforcing their rules under near-martial law. This continued this way for sometime and showed no sign of changing following the Empress's disappearance. Although the devastation of the Tepet Legions by the Bull of the North left the satrapy somewhat undefended, Dawendae was quick to protect the small measure of power he had left - he hired the crack mercenary Ferem Haraku, a Cheraki mercenary who left Cherak's military for reasons unknown, to protect Covenant and uphold law in Covenant. Despite the harsh conditions, almost nobody tried to leave Covenant; where would they go? Things were bad, but they were far worse elsewhere - at least the people of Covenant had roofs over their heads. Eventually, the Lunar duo Adamant Frost Lord and Karina came to Covenant, settling there under the cover anonymity and making it their base of operations. A dirge of Exalts followed - notably, Severnaya among them seemed the most bent on stirring up trouble.

The Revolution Begins

To say the least, things escalated quickly. What began as petty theft and trespassing quickly became an encounter with the head of the city's organized crime circles - the enigmatic Kaliph. It became apparent that Kaliph was something far more sinister than a simple criminal - he was motived by something darker than greed. Given his constant funerary garb and ominous demeanor, it was not necessarily surprising to find he was increasingly connected to the underworld. What was surprising is that as the Exalts' interactions with Kaliph continued, it appeared Kaliph and Satrap had some sort of alliance between them. Knowing the time to act was the present, the Exalts slowly began their takeover, beginning with the destruction of Kitono's tax collection racket. Her street-level thugs were dispatched first by Azriel Hawke, a Solar thief and vigilante who'd joined Frost and Karina shortly after their arrival. The head of the organiation, Nunaho Klecht eventually became sympathetic to the Exalts' cause after speaking at length with Severnaya. Hawk also managed to spoil the Talonlord Tepet Seljuk's arrival parade - this possessed the benefit of weakening the Talonlord's trust in the Satrap's ability to control his city.

The group witnessed its next real triumph by defeating Covenant's Immaculate abbot. Their victory came at a price, however. One of the Exalts helping to overturn the Satrap's rule, Jitara, found her honor broken by her inability to defeat the abbot in a one-on-one duel (the group participated in his eventual defeat). Realizing she was not ready to fully assume the duties she'd taken upon herself, she left Covenant after the battle to continue her training. The vacancy she left behind was quickly filled, this time by a Solar Exalt who would figure very prominently in Covenant's revolution, the sorcerer Mnemon Chronus. At first, Chronus's presence in the city went unnoticed by the group of Celestial Exalts spearheading the revolution.

After defeating the abbot, the group turned its attention to the other threat they faced in the city - Kaliph's criminal organization. Kaliph proved to be a keen deal-maker, however, and was able to persuade Severnaya to aid him in exchange for providing support for the uprising against the satrap. Severnaya accepted the offer with the group's tentative blessing, in the hope that she would be able to undermine Kaliph's organization from within. Chronus, meanwhile, had also sought out Kaliph, hoping that the renowned criminal overlord would have some idea as to the truth underlying the mysteries of Covenant. Although Kalpih had less information than Chronus was hoping for, Kaliph did reveal the existence of a legendary necromantic artifact located somewhere in the area, and admitted that he was attempting to recover it. Acknowledging that they must eventually kill one another, they agreed to collaborate for the time being, that they may find the artifact more quickly. With Severnaya and Chronus now loose allies of Kaliph, it was only a matter of time before the two met and discovered their mutual Solar Exalted natures. Through Severnaya, Chronus was also introduced to Frost and Karina. The group began to cooperate simply out of a perceived obligation to their fellow Celestial Exalts, but this alliance would turn out to be short-lived.

Chronus, an adept literary analyst and occult scholar, quickly pieced together many truths about Covenant's past that mortal scholar had toiled away at for years. His investigations turned up something far darker, however. Chronus discovered evidence that Kaliph himself served a master, and with some probing, was able to elicit from Kaliph an admission of the existence of his Abyssal handler. Tired of dealing with what Chronus now knew was a middle man, he pressed for a meeting with this deathknight. Meanwhile, the group became increasingly concerned that overturning the Satrap was the least of their worries.

Throughout their stay in the city, the group had butted heads and crossed blades with Haraku an almost countless number of times. Through persistence (and certainly not tact), the group was slowly beginning to convince Haraku, formerly a staunch Immaculate and loyal employee, that the Anathema may not be the unceasingly evil beings they were made out to be, and also that his master may be tyrannical enough to be worth betraying. This was largely due to the efforts of Frost, who had presented himself as a reputable mortal hunter residing in Covenant and a close friend of the mercenary company. From this created role, Frost often offered Haraku advice on a wide array of matters, covertly guiding the city toward acceptance of the Celestial Exalted and its eventual independence from behind the scenes. Knowing now that a deathknight was among them, Frost and Severnaya agreed (despite Severnaya's growing allegiance to Kaliph and frequent disagreement on almost everything else) that Haraku could not remain an enemy any longer if their plans were to succeed. After being arrested by Haraku, Severnaya broke the news of their discovery of a deathknight, offering up Chronus's name to corroborate the story. Eventually, a meeting was arranged between Chronus, Frost, Severnaya and Haraku. Here, a still-frustrated Haraku was persuaded to lend his assistance to the characters, agreeing at least to help them rid the city of the deathknight, if not yet fully agreeing to dethrone the Satrap.

The Revolution Takes an Unexpected Turn

For the time being, the Satrap was put on hold - the group turned its attention to Kaliph, relentlessly pursuing members of his organization and attempting to procure whatever information they could about the enigmatic crimelord. Things came to a a head when the group, fed up, confronted Kaliph directly at his newly-purchased headquarters in the Temple District. A dangerous battle ensued the basement of the Chrysalis restaurant, wherein the Celestial Exalted revolutionaries managed to knock Kaliph unconscious and pull off a narrow escape through the city's underground water-tunnels. The group had seen several individuals claiming to be "Kaliph", united in appearance only by the plague doctor mask which they wore. Because of this, they had long suspected that the mask, not the individual, was truly the medium for the thoughts and actions of this Kaliph.

Removing the mask from the man they'd knocked out, by and large, confirmed their suspicions - he seemed completely ignorant of the fact that he'd ever been Kaliph, and seemed to have only a cursory familiarity with the organization. Realizing he was not the key to unraveling the mystery, he was dispatched and the group continued their search, mask in tow. The group quickly noticed that holding the mask induced a certain... temptation... to don it, and as a result, all of them treated the item with extreme caution. It was only a matter of time, however, before temptation would get the better of someone...

It was Severnaya who donned the Mask. Instantly, she was overcome with confidence, with power. She understood intricacies of the occult that she had previously failed to grasp and spoke languages dead to Creation. She found herself able to visualize ghosts and other facets of the underworld. But there was a cost. Although she resisted the efforts she felt to dominate her will, a voice called to her. A voice steeped in darkness and in insanity. This was the true Kaliph - a far off entity speaking through the mask and carrying out its will through the dominated psyches of its lowly servants. Although she quickly took the mask off the first time she put it on, having been startled and frightened by the foreboding presence in her mind, she soon discovered that such a gruesome visage could also have its benefits. Over the coming weeks, Severnaya would use the mask to infiltrate Kaliph's criminal organization and gain influence over those connected to it. It was also her acquiring of the mask that led to the eventual meeting with Kaliph's foul master - The End of All Ivories.

Districts

  • Diamond District
  • Vorpal District
  • Tempest Plaza
  • Pyramid Square
  • Scytheholde District
  • Telban
  • Malandra District
  • Feathertown

Important People in New Covenant

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