Back to 'Fist index This page has backstory info only. For rarity distributions and similar info on the various sets, see my For the Collecter page. In Shadowfist, the expansions are centered around particular events in the Secret War. Each expansion has a few cards that represent the people and places that play important roles in these events. Standard Netherworld Flashpoint Throne War Year of the Dragon Netherworld II Between the Limited Edition and Standard Edition, the Ascended execute Operation: Killdeer. The purpose of this operation is to impress two Monarchs: the Fire King and the Darkness Queen. With the help of these two, the Ascended intend to create a device called the Molten Heart (see the Netherworld story, below). The operation comes together in 1850 Canton. The Ascended have tricked the Lotus into making an assault on the Red Lantern Tavern. Jeuding Shelun and the Thing with a 1000 Tongues make a direct attack on it, with a little help from some Vassals of the Lotus. A group of Dragons consisting of Iala Mané, Jack Donovan, Mad Dog McCroun, and some Friends of the Dragon come to the defense of the tavern. Sun Chen and Nirmal Yadav both show up to observe the fight, but get drawn into the fray. Adrienne Hart, who is also present for observation, sees her childhood friend McCroun and comes to his defense. When it is all over, eight heroes from 5 factions lay dead in the street outside the Red Lantern Tavern. They are Nirmal Yadav, Adrienne Hart, Iala Mané, Jack Donovan, Mad Dog McCroun, Jeuding Shelun, the Thing With a 1000 Tongues, and Sun Chen. The only survivors in this battle are Mr. X and the two Monarchs he has met here. They are impressed with this display of the Ascended's power, and go on to help them construct the Molten Heart. But that is another story... (Darkblade's Fortress has the full Operation Killdeer story, by Robin Laws.) Back to the Top In the Netherworld set, we see the rise of the Triumvirate. This is a group made up of members of three factions: the Four Monarchs, the Jammers, and the Ascended. They are working together to build the Molten Heart. The Operation: Killdeer story shows the lead-in to this. The Molten Heart is a device that utilizes a new mix of technology and magic. The Heart will give them the ability to open and close portals at will. If completed, this will give them a huge advantage in the Secret War: they will completely control access between all of the junctures and the Netherworld. There are three other Triumvirate edges- one for each participating faction. One effect of the Molten Heart is to generate 1 power each turn for each Triumvirate edge its controller controls. Since the Heart counts as 1, that means that with 1 of each of the others in play the Heart generates a whopping 4 power per turn. Of course, this requires playing an awkward mix of 3 factions- you are very likely to have serious resource problems when playing such a deck. Enter the Fire and Darkness Pavilion. When in play, this site allows you to ignore the resource conditions on certain cards. Namely, cards that either have the designator "Triumvirate" or cards having both designators "Netherworld" and "Mercenary". This makes it easier to play all of the Triumvirate edges (and a few other cards), and makes doing so possible in an otherwise straight Monarch deck. Back to the Top The central focus of Flashpoint is a battle between the Architects and the Dragons in the 1990's juncture. The Architects are attempting to grow an Arcanotower in the jungles of Brazil. This tower is a living artifact whose dark purpose is to reinforce Arcanowave pulses in our current era. This will give Architect operatives here great power and allow the Buro to gain a very solid staging ground for attacks against Feng Shui sites here. Their new Arcanotower is similar to the one that takes up a huge chunk of real estate in the middle of their capital city in the 2056 juncture. However, the current one is much younger, smaller, and a lot easier to deal with. The evil plot of the Architects is discovered by Dirk Wisely, who reports this to his Dragon buddies. They won't stand idly by while those futuristic psycho scientists are loose! In the raid on the Arcanotower complex, Jason X makes a valiant attempt to buy his friends time to escape. He stays behind and holds onto his last grenade to drop at Homo Omega's mutant feet. While the burly Omega seems undamaged by the blast, that appears to be the end of Jason X... Back to the Top The emperor is slowly dying. Gao Zhang, the leader of the Eaters of the Lotus, needs to be sure that the next emperor will also be his pawn. If not, he will lose political control of the AD 69 juncture. But Gao Zhang isn't the only one trying to get a pawn onto the throne. Each faction has sensed that this is their chance to gain a solid hold on ancient China. Each faction will do whatever they can to ensure that they control the throne. Will China be ruled by a demon? A sorcerer? A monkey? A Shaolin monk? More shocking still, will it be ruled by a woman? Only you can determine who will be victorious. Fight on, secret warriors! Back to the Top Kowloon will never be the same after the return of the Secret War- the five main factions make their way through the embattled city, fighting their way to...? Homo Omega is back, stronger than ever and accompanied by more CHAR units. The Thing with a 1000 Tongues appears to be unscathed by his previous activities in the Secret War. A number of other players have returned with new abilities, including Wong Fei Hong, Draco, and the beautiful new incarnation of Sting of the Scorpion. There are some new recruits in there too, of course, with Tricia Kwok, Four Burning Fists, and The Iron Monkey paving the way. Kowloon will never be the same after the return of the Secret War- the five main factions make their way through the embattled city, fighting their way to...? Homo Omega is back, stronger than ever and accompanied by more CHAR units. The Thing with a 1000 Tongues appears to be unscathed by his previous activities in the Secret War. A number of other players have returned with new abilities, including Wong Fei Hong, Draco, and the beautiful new incarnation of Sting of the Scorpion. There are some new recruits in there too, of course, with Tricia Kwok, Four Burning Fists, and The Iron Monkey paving the way. Back to the Top ©1999-2001, Tony Hafner