THE QUEEN OF FANGS Raksi rules Mahalanka with an iron fi st, but in a manner both baffl ing and frustrating to her colleagues in the Silver Pact. Obviously, Mahalanka is a treasure trove of ancient lore. It is only fi tting that a Lunar of Raksi’s genius should rule over it. However, the Queen of Fangs shows little support for the goals of the Silver Pact; the society she built has little purpose save venerating Raksi herself. The Crossroads Society, an alliance of Lunar sorcerers, counts Raksi as one of its members, and 108 she seems to show greater patience for scholarly Lunars than others of their society. However, she refuses every entreaty to make Mahalanka’s resources—especially the legendary Book of Three Circles—freely available to the Society or to any other Lunar faction. Some younger Lunar scholars argue that in view of Raksi’s evident madness, the Silver Pact should seize the city and its mystical resources for the good of all Lunars. The Lunar elders thus far reject such arguments for three reasons. First, the elders respect Raksi for her personal renown. She played a crucial role in devising the moonsilver tattoos that saved the entire Lunar host from being lost to the Wyld during their long exile. All Lunars therefore owe her a debt of gratitude they can never repay. Second, the general precepts of the Thousand Streams River project, to which most Lunar elders sub- scribe, give all Lunars wide latitude in how they shape the societies they choose to guide. While Mahalanka obviously does not work well as a functioning society, it is not such a failure that it demands the unprecedented step of replacing its Lunar mistress by force. The third reason for ignoring Mahalanka goes un- spoken, even though it is probably the most valid: fear. By the time of the Contagion, Raksi was already the most powerful Lunar sorcerer still alive. Since then, she spent seven centuries honing her powers and mastering the secrets of the Book of Three Circles. Mahalanka’s de- fenses include no less than four Second Circle demons permanently bound to defend the city from any who would attack it or its mistress. The Sidereals know what goes on in Mahalanka, and they make no moves against Raksi. The Lunars, whose position in Creation is far more precarious, simply have no realistic hope of supplanting her at this time. And so, the elders wait, watch and hope the Queen of Fangs never discovers the fi nal, ultimate secret that still eludes her: mastery of Solar Circle Sorcery.
