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\title{The Sunrise Prophesy}
\author{\copyright1990 Mary K. Kuhner}
\date{mkkuhner@enzyme.berkeley.edu}
\maketitle
\setcounter{page}{80}

My Sunrise War game, which lasted for several years playing nearly 
every week, was loosely based around a prophecy which I wrote and stuck
on the front of the rules-revisions packet I gave my players.  (``What's
this?" \ \ \  ``Your character used to jump rope to it when she was little.")
People looked at it, puzzled a little, then went on with their lives.
Then later, a few things started to click, and they thought seriously about
what it might mean and what they could do about it.  They never got all
the pieces put together, though they did fulfill some of the parts (and
others were done by NPCs).  Usually they realized that the prophecy was
relevant only after the events predicted had already occurred.\\

I didn't have to do much of anything to make this happen; it was a nice,
vague prophecy, and the only specific events in it (the death of the 
Moonchild) were mostly out of PC control.  They did in fact bring back
the Moonchild from the land of the dead, though, rather to my surprise.

\begin{description}
\item[Background:]  The campaign setting, the world of Kyris, is in the process
of being invaded by powers from beyond the Southern Sea, the realm of the
Purple Sun, Amaoiqua, which changes all it shines upon.  The invaders hope
to bring Amaoiqua to shine on Kyris, freeing the Kyrisi from their isolation,
darkness and despair.  Unfortunately the Kyrisi don't see it that way.

Amaoiqua awakens spirits of the land, and gives the souls of men and beasts
into their keeping; which may or may not be a good thing depending on your
point of view, but is certainly very scary.  Even brief exposure to the 
light can corrupt (transform) the weak.

The powers of Kyris declared war on the Amaoi invaders.  The prophecy appears
to describe certain events of what has come to be called the Sunrise War.
\end{description}

Herein follows the Sunrise Prophesy with an analysis by Lord Shien of Maraket,
Advisor to the Emperor.\\

What if the coral ring should break,$^{1}$

Where would we$^{2}$ find to run?

\ \  A shadow's rest,$^{3}$

\ \  An eagle's nest,$^{4}$

\ \  A hilltop in the sun.$^{5}$\\

And if the Sun rose in the South$^{6}$

What would you give$^{7}$ to me?

\ \  A purple jewel,$^{8}$

\ \  The High King's fool,

\ \  An island in the sea.\\

And if the Sea should rise and fill

The streets with foam and fear?$^{9}$

\ \  A star will fall,

\ \  The Phoenix call,$^{10}$

\ \  The rising moon appear.\\

Where shall the Moonchild lay his head

When Bloodfire$^{11}$ stains the land?

\ \  Where shadows lie,

\ \  Where eagles die,

\ \  Where mountains silent stand.$^{12}$\\

And in the Land Beyond The Moon

Will you still know my name?

\ \  I'll call to you,

\ \  I'll search for you,$^{13}$

\ \  I'll come to you again.\\

Who shall there be to bring to me

My father's crown to wear?

\ \  From winter's field,$^{14}$

\ \  The Exile's shield,

\ \  The children of the bear.$^{15}$\\

And when the Sunrise King$^{16}$ is crowned

Is all then lost or won?

\ \  No mortal knows$^{17}$

\ \  Nor gods disclose

\ \  Till all our battle's done.

\newpage

{\small
\begin{enumerate}
\item{The sinking of the coral-rimmed island of Darsul was the first blow
struck by the Amaoi in the war.}
\item {Three different people are referred to here as {\em we}.}
\item{{\em A shadow's rest} refers to Kimkiriador Moonchild, the Emperor's
son, whose mother sent him to Merys-isle to keep him from the danger she
foresaw; Merys-isle is one of the last refuges of the Dark Goddesses.}
\item{{\em An eagle's nest} refers to the Pathactrici nomads, whom a survivor from
Darsul rallied for war.}
\item{{\em A hilltop in the sun} refers to myself, another survivor
of Darsul; I went to Maraket, to the city of the Sun Emperor, and offered
my services to him.}
\item{Amaoiqua {\em rose in the South}, first over ruined Darsul, then much of
South Kyris.  This stanza and the next refer to the fall of Merys-isle
and the near capture of Kimkiriador.}
\item{{\em give} is ironic; the Sunstone
and the Harlequin troupes of the invaders fell upon Merys-isle in force
to break its opposition and secure the boy, of whom they, too, apparently
had prophecies.}
\item{The {\em purple jewel} is the Sunstone carried by the invasion fleet.}
\item{Merys-isle was destroyed by tsunami, but cultists on the island, realizing
Kimkiriador's importance ({\em the rising moon appear}) sent him and his
closest companion away on the star-chariot given them by the Lady of Night
long ago.}
\item{{\em Phoenix call} refers to the Moonchild's escape into death
described in the next stanza, which was apparently prophesied on Merys-isle;
Renate Wildfire, the Phoenix Goddess, represents death, rebirth and
the purification of fire.}
\item{The Bloodfire cults of Salu allied with the invaders, and would have
captured Kimkiriador had he not been ritually slain, sent to the Land
Beyond the Moon to keep him from capture.}
\item{The Land Beyond the Moon is generally described as
a land of barren and terrible mountains, without sun or water.}
\item{Northerners {\em (the PCs)}, bearing
a staff of Amaoi iron and Kyrisi wood which could
bind the powers of Amaoiqua, sought Kimkiriador in the Land beyond the
moon and brought him back, though at the price of binding a Phoenix forever
to the powers of death, a terrible deed.}
\item{Another reference to the Northerners, who came from the lands of the 
exiled Imperial noble Justinian, and who were allies of Kyris-cult,
shapeshifters and beast-worshippers.}
\item{A Great Bear had apparently sent the Northerners to the struggle.
Having rescued Kimkiriador, they took him to his father in Maraket.}
\item{His father, the Sun Emperor and a remarkable man (not many know that he
was a Black Magician as well as being the
Sun incarnate), summoned the First Dragons, Kyris and Peresthi, powers of
the North and of the South; and demanded a compromise, a balance
between North and South, to be ruled over by his son.  The Dragons agreed,
and it was decreed that all of South Kyris and all of North Amaoiqua would
become a new realm, the Sunrise Domain, in which Amaoiqua would regularly
rise and set. Its people could be freed of the compulsions of Amaoiqua and
the isolation of Kyris if they would worship Kimkiriador and accept his
blessing.}
\item{I found later that the Northerners could have prevented this turn of events,
though at terrible risk to themselves; but they chose not to, for reasons which they
have not explained to me. They returned north of the boundaries of the
Sunrise Domain, beyond the Wall of Fire, and set themselves to opposing
Amaoiqua's further spread; all but one, who joined Kimkiriador and became
his diplomatic envoy. They were later involved in a plot to destroy the Sunrise
compromise, but apparently they failed.  For moral ambiguity. I know not
whether to be glad or sorry.
I am not myself a follower of Kimkiriador, having enough power
of my own to protect myself from the light; and I am not sure I like what
the Emperor, my master, has done, though I now believe it is beyond all undoing.}
\end{enumerate}}

\begin{center}
{\Large Fragile Butterfly}

\copyright1990 Todd Groner (Foxx)

%{\em tgroner@jarthur.claremont.edu}

\end{center}

I have chased the fragile butterfly

With wings of brilliant hue,

But now that I have captured it

I know not what to do.\\

For near two years I've tracked it,

Through times of sun and rain,

But now that I have captured it,

I fear I'll cause it pain.\\

I know that I may hurt it

If I don't let it go,

But now that I have captured it,

I've grown to love it so.\\

I've heard that if you love something

Then you should set it free,

But now that I have captured it,

It means so much to me.\\

I love this fragile butterfly.

I wonder \ldots could it be?

Did I truly capture it,

Or did it capture me?

\end{document}
