Hawksong. The surface-scum of this world call it a “shining city on the hill”. It is the pinnacle of civilization in the current era, if one measures civilization by population, by cosmopolitanism, by trade, by martial merit. Even now, made more paranoid and insular by the actions of you and your predecessors, it remains undeniably brilliant. Even at night, it is a sight to behold. You survey it now by way of monochromatic Darkvision, broken up by pockets of warm yellow-red where the lamp-lighters have recently done their work. Your vantage point makes all the difference: you are leaning over the balcony of a room in the palatial complex of Hawksong’s Paladin King, Archos.

To the royal family, you are an ill-begotten guest: Long Wang, an Easterling barbarian, of slanted eyes, slat face, and bronze hide. As far as they know, you hail from some unknown barbarous waste, and have come to make trouble for them. You arrived on the arm of a local noble, Heinrcih Yosef (in reality, possessed by your demonic companion Irinnile the Succubus). You made a name for yourself by slaying a hidden enemy (Irinnile’s incubus rival). You come to render aid against their enemies, who seem to mass all around them: demons, Southern sorcerers, and worst of all the dreaded subterranean ‘Reptoid’ menace! You are a scarcely-civilized, disrespectful vagrant, yes, but you are a skilled exorcist, and good with a sword—a valuable ally, potentially.

Ha. FOOLS!