The year is TR (True Reckoning) 431, the fourth year of Kyros's Conquest of the Tiers, the final conquest before he controls all of the continent of Terratus. In 430, three separate Edicts of Kyros were laid upon the Tiers, in three places which were still resisting the Overlord in various ways. But this year, the main conflict in in none of those places.

It is in Vendrien's Well, formerly known as Apex, which on parchment conceded and surrendered to Kyros in 429. In practice? There was some disagreement on that point.

A number of captains in the Queen's Own Army of Vendrien evaded the officers accepting the surrender and hid in the hills of Apex. After most of a year of planning, and some months of quietly gathering forces from Apex and the remnants of the armies of neighboring Azure, Haven, Stalwart, and others, they rose in rebellion in the fall of 430 as the Vendrien Guard, recapturing Ascension Hall, the citadel and capital of Apex at the base of the Mountain Spire.

As the summer campaigns ended in victory, Edict, or both, the two armies carrying out the Conquest - the Disfavored, an elite legion of iron-clad soldiers under the command of General Graven Ashe, Archon of War; and the Scarlet Chorus, a vast horde of conscripts, killers, spies, and mages, in flexible gangs held together by strength and the threat of their Archon, the Voices of Nerat, Archon of Secrets - moved their forces and their commanders back to Vendrien's Well to put down the rebellion.

The armies do not work well together, so when three span* had passed without control reestablished, the Overlord (and his chief deputy, Tunon the Adjudicator, Archon of Justice, holding court in the Bastard Tier to the north of Haven and Apex since the first year of the Conquest) were unsurprised. But it has passed six span*; spring is here, and no real progress has been made. An Edict has been written, and Tunon has selected one of his youngest Fatebinders to proclaim the Edict; Fatebinder Ophelia, previously the proclaimer of the Edict of Stone that turned Azure into the Stone Sea. She is being sent both to force the campaign to a conclusion, and to resolve any other disputes according to Kyros's Law.

The pass into Vendrien's Well closes itself with stone sliding into place across the gap. The Fatebinder who has just stepped through is the last person to enter the valley for the near future, and no one will be leaving this valley this span either. Today is Smith's Day, 3rd Fist of the Span of Swords, 431. Within 11 days, Vendrien's Well will fall.

*One span is five fists of five days each, plus Kyros's Day at the end of the span. By their own calendar, they started a month after the equinox; by Kyros's calendar, this was 4th Smith's Day of Ruin, and the remainder of the year was the 5th Fist of Ruin, Kyros's Day of Ruin, the spans of Feasting, Shadow, and Frostfall, and then Year's End Day. The next year begins with the spans of Forgefire, Tempering, Storms, and Swords.