The winds kicked up in the desert letting out a shrill scream. A clap like thunder could be heard as the ground shook loose its sand giving sudden birth to a storm. The mass of sand scoured over leagues of the tablelands at an incredible pace. Winds kicked up all around. Looking at it from the walls it appeared as a three hundred foot wall of darkness moving towards the city. A bell rang out. Three solid rings from an iron bell and people moved for cover. You stood your ground, eyes peeled for some hint of movement outside the walls. Four, three, two, one... and then you swung down your rope. As the sandstorm hit the great hundred foot tall stone walls surrounding the city a great thud could be heard and it seemed as if, for just a second, the city shuddered. Here was the part that annoyed you the most. More than the fear of seeing such a beast of nature appear out of nowhere, more than the tiny wonder if the walls would hold this next time, it was the sand. The storm was much larger than the walls. When it hit the immovable rock it was as if a giant had stumbled over a boulder. The storm gave up its fury, and the part that was higher than the walls rushed over in a torrent of soft, yet heavy, sand. You could be buried if you swung too close to the walls.

But that seldom happened. Training was hard here. Lord Soothra insisted that all know the drills by heart, that they be able to do them in their sleep. The training was as much a part of being good at your job as it was a part of survival. That training became part of the daily habits of life here in Babylon. Yes, it was tough, having to mete it out in the harshest of nature’s climes. The scorching hot days, the warm nights. It was never cold. And then there was the water, or lack thereof. How long had it been since you’ve tasted water? Felt it pouring down your throat? It was in church though, that you know. They always provided those little things you missed most. Stiletto Jim provided the rest...

It wasn’t so bad though. Kank Nectar, secreted from the abdomen of a six-foot desert insect, was strange at first but actually tasted quite good. And it was refreshing enough. Almost more so than water. A lot more so if you consider the risk you were taking by just opening a vessel of water. Here, that meant a one in twenty chance of death. Spontaneous combustion of something you could not see that burned and burned just like fire. And there was nothing the mages, or the clerics could do about it. So, perhaps missing the water was for the best. After all, to be in this great city, to be a warrior Here—where the last stand was made against the Dark One. Where Ishtar herself gave her life for the simple reason she loved humanity and all life. Here, where the Dark One was defeated, at least for a century. Here where the stones of Tovag Baragu were once keyed to open a doorway into the past of our oldest ancestors. Here, where a great Church was founded to be a beacon to mankind and a bastion against the Dark One’s evil. A place of enlightenment and learning, to save humanity’s knowledge, and protect it for later, when we need it. And the wonders: the Archbishop Al’vere had found and planted the Tree of Life, a mystical and magical thing of nature to be revered and protected. There are The Ways, great alabaster bridges reaching down from the very skies and the Cathedral with a ceiling painted with the story of the final battle, the swords of power and the lessons the gods would have us learn from it—at least our god, the one that cares for us not for her own power and advancement, but for us and for love. Those seeing it for the first time, even those who lost their religion in the mysteries of the Dark Times, kneel in wonder and walk away capable of wonders of their own. They say a thousand of the most faithful went to the temple to pray before they forged the Lord Soothra’s great sword, a gift from the Archbishop, his love. But then, all the weapons that we make here for our fight against the Dark One in times to come are about love. So we can fight and protect the ones we love. Protect our children. All these things made it worth it. Yes, the people of Babylon have hardships but we are fighters. Warriors. At least in our hearts.

Lord Soothra and Archbishop Al’Vere made sure that was not all in our hearts. The many laws, like requiring an Oath of Chivalry be taken before a sword could be carried openly in the city—even by travelers—put as much the idea of fairness and justice in our hearts as it did respect for the craft of the Warrior Goddess Ishtar. Lord Soothra had always been known for his concern with justice. The stories say as a lad he chased down a Lordling twice his age and bested him in battle only to bring him to the town authorities for thievery. He and his wife, the ArchBishop make a good pair. The people—not only here but as far away as the Theocracy and even the Great Kingdom—who were Nyrond’s enemies conceded they had never seen anyone with so much self-sacrifice and desire to help others as the Priestess Al’vere. Although, tough by herself, there isn’t a man woman or even child in Babylon that wouldn’t die to protect her. The ‘Heart of The City’ is what somebody called her. She hates the term and won’t have it said around her but the people feel it. Some even say that the reason Ishtar so loved humanity was because of the beauty in Al’vere’s soul. To think that the Theocracy tried to behead her for heresy and that people actually stoned her on the way to her trial! That was before people knew what the Swords of Power were all about. When they believed St. Rhavin was good and thought the swords were sent by all the pantheons of gods in some sort of game to see which gods would reign supreme on Oerth. That’s when they fought ‘the Holy Wars’. Such a savage time. It’s so hard to believe it was only 7 years ago. How many lives were lost to humans fighting against each other when the armies of evil were amassing and getting stronger? St. Rhavin had Al’vere and Soothra excommunicated and hunted for saying that wasn’t what the swords were here for. Of course, as a Forsaken, he didn’t want anyone to know that they had really been sent by the gods to fight his master, the Dark One.

As the few people awake during the hot daylight hours started to return to the streets, the Watch is already back on the walls. These are dangerous times—Babylon declared war on the Sulemen in the desert—some part of Ishtar’s mysterious plans. The Sulemen are tough, a whole race who lived in this desert since the Reign of Colorless Fire a thousand years ago. Ruled and enslaved by dragons, toughened by the heartless desert, they are formidable. The war has not reached the walls of Babylon yet, but it will come.

As you turn your back on the walls, on the setting sun that made day watches so exhausting, your mind already starts to fill with excitement that the few hours of night you would get to see before sleep would bring. Day watch for a month straight meant a free trip to partake in the sacraments of the goddess of love—in the brothels. The extra coins would go far at Stiletto Jim’s, the most famous casino/tavern/house of entertainment on Oerth (well, if more people knew about it anyway).....