Ten days of heavy mid-winter snowfall settled over the liberated peaks of the Kurogane Mountain Range, burying the scorched siege trenches outside the Eastern Iron-Cloud Citadel under a pristine blanket of white.
With Commander Ii Naomasa and the surviving remnants of the Rising Sun expeditionary army driven across the freezing eastern sea, the clang of weapons along the border passes gave way to the rhythmic ring of mason's hammers and the rumble of supply carts. Thirty thousand soldiers of the Fierce Tiger Unit and the Thunder-Spear Relief Force rotated into the warm stone barracks of the twin citadels, while the main garrison in Azure Fall City settled into an orderly winter routine.
On the morning of the tenth day, inside the high-walled courtyard of Archmage Alaric Steele's private estate in the upper district of Azure Fall City, General Cui Hao stood at the foot of the veranda steps in his silver-inlaid border commander armor.
