One by one, each for their own reasons, the eight Dragons stepped forward, consumed the bitter contents of the Jade Vial, and placed their palms upon The Jade Tablet. When it was done, The Vagabond smashed the tablet against a stone and it broke into nine perfect pieces. He handed to each Dragon the piece whose name was inscribed upon. “This is your bond, the bond of your clan, and the essence of all that you are. Should you survive this duel, these artifacts will stand as testament to all that is about to occur.”

“A question,” Hu Shanshan of The League of Beggars asked. “We are still only eight. Where is The Thunder Emperor?”

As if in response, the sound of thundering hoofbeats was heard in the distance. The Vagabond chuckled. “And so we begin our series of duels. I suggest you ready your weapons, my Dragon Lords and Ladies.”

I can see that your mind is quite busy with questions, my friend. Foremost among them, I suspect, is: What happened during The Duel of Nine Dragons? Well, that is a tale in itself, and I see that your bottle of spirits has run dry. But this I shall tell you: when The Duel was over, some Dragons were dead, and the rest have not been heard from these past ten years. As promised, each of those who were defeated had the clans they represented seal their doors to new disciples. As you know, no war may continue without new soldiers to replace those fallen, and thus The War did end.

However, after ten years of relative peace, it is rumored that a piece of The Jade Tablet was recently uncovered by The Imperial Emperor, and the clans have opened their gates to once more accept new disciples. What this means for The Land we must wait and see, but if you would choose a clan and enter this ongoing story, I hope my tale will be instructive to you.

Perhaps we shall meet again. But for now, I’ll wish you safe travels, wherever The Road to The Dragon may lead you.