Nersei Calmemunis comes to an accommodation with the Emperor, and convinces his fellows to
sign the Imperial Indenture. Once provisioned, most of those gathered march, even though their
lords and a greater part of the Holy War have yet to arrive. Because the host consists primarily of
lordless rabble, it comes to be called the Vulgar Holy War.
Despite Maithanet’s attempts to bring the makeshift host to heel, it continues marching
southward, and passes into heathen lands, where—precisely as the Emperor had planned—the
Fanim destroy it utterly.
Xerius knows that in military terms the loss of the Vulgar Holy War is insignificant, since the
rabble that largely constituted it would have proven more a liability than an advantage in battle. In
political terms, however, the Vulgar Holy War’s destruction is invaluable, because it has shown
Maithanet and the Men of the Tusk the true mettle of their adversary. The Fanim, as the Nansur
well know, are not to be trifled with, even with the God’s favour. Only an outstanding general,
Xerius claims, can assure the Holy War’s victory—a man like his nephew, Ikurei Conphas, who after
his recent victory over the dread Scylvendi at the Battle of Kiyuth has been hailed as the greatest
tactician of his age. The leaders of the Holy War need only sign the Imperial Indenture and
Conphas’s preternatural skill and insight will be theirs.
Maithanet, it seems, now finds himself in a dilemma. As Shriah, he can compel the Emperor to
provision the Holy War, but he cannot compel him to send Ikurei Conphas, his only living heir. In the
midst of this controversy arrive the first truly great Inrithi potentates of the Holy War: Prince Nersei
Proyas of Conriya, Prince Coithus Saubon of Galeoth, Earl Hoga Gothyelk of Ce Tydonn, and King‐
Regent Chepheramunni of High Ainon. The Holy War amasses new strength, though it remains in
effect a hostage, bound by the scarcity of food to the walls of Momemn and the Emperor’s
granaries. To a man, the caste‐nobles repudiate Xerius’s Indenture and demand that he provision
them. The Men of the Tusk begin raiding the surrounding countryside. In retaliation, the Emperor
calls in elements of the Imperial Army. Pitched battles are fought.
In an effort to forestall disaster Maithanet calls a Council of Great and Lesser Names, and all
the leaders of the Holy War gather in the Emperor’s palace, the Andiamine Heights, to make their
arguments. Here Nersei Proyas shocks the assembly by offering a many‐scarred Scylvendi Chieftain,
a veteran of past wars against the Fanim, as a surrogate for the famed Ikurei Conphas. The
Scylvendi, Cnaiür urs Skiötha, shares hard words with both the Emperor and his nephew, and the
leaders of the Holy War are impressed. The Shriah’s Envoy, however, remains undecided: the
Scylvendi are as apostate as the Fanim, after all. Only the wise words of Prince Anasûrimbor Kellhus
of Atrithau settle the matter. The Envoy reads the decree demanding that the Emperor, under pain
of Shrial Censure, provision the Men of the Tusk.
The Holy War will march.
Drusas Achamian is a sorcerer sent by the School of Mandate to investigate Maithanet and his
Holy War. Though he no longer believes in his School’s ancient mission, he travels to Sumna, where
the Thousand Temples is based, in the hopes of learning more about the mysterious Shriah, whom
the Mandate fears could be an agent of the Consult. In the course of his probe, he resumes an old
love affair with a harlot named Esmenet, and despite his misgivings, he recruits a former student of
his, a Shrial Priest named Inrau, to report on Maithanet’s activities. During this time, his nightmares
of the Apocalypse intensify, particularly those involving the so‐called “Celmomian Prophecy,” which
foretells the return of a descendant of Anasûrimbor Celmomas before the Second Apocalypse.
Then Inrau dies under mysterious circumstances. Overcome by guilt and heartbroken by
Esmenet’s refusal to cease taking custom, Achamian flees Sumna and travels to Momemn, where
the Holy War gathers under the Emperor’s covetous and uneasy eyes. A powerful rival of the
Mandate, a School called the Scarlet Spires, has joined the Holy War to prosecute their long contest
with the sorcerer‐priests of the Cishaurim, who reside in Shimeh. Nautzera, Achamian’s Mandate
handler, has ordered him to observe them and the Holy War. When he reaches the encampment,
Achamian joins the fire of Xinemus, an old friend of his from Conriya.
Pursuing his investigation of Inrau’s death, Achamian convinces Xinemus to take him to see
another old student of his, Prince Nersei Proyas of Conriya, who’s become a confidant of the
enigmatic Shriah. When Proyas scoffs at his suspicions and repudiates him as a blasphemer,