| abstract
| - The Dog walkers were two people who had been walking their dogs - a man and a woman - in a nameless, badly run-down, strangely nebulous town. The man had once been a priest, while the woman had once been wealthy, but both were now clad in ragged clothing - they didn't know why. Their dogs got into a vicious fight with each other, but neither dog walker seemed particularly concerned or interested - even when the man's dog (which had not been leashed) managed to kill the dog of the woman (which had broken free of its leash). While the man and the woman chatted casually about their confusion about their pasts, about whether or not they, themselves, were dead, and about exactly where they might actually be - a small group of individuals began to gather nearby: Edgewalker, Hood (who had called on Edgewalker to be present to 'mitigate'), Shadowthrone (with five Hounds of Shadow) and, finally, a fourth individual, who was just arriving and who caused the hackles of the Shadow Hounds to rise. The two dog walkers were completely ignored by this gathering of Ascendants - whose meeting the man and the woman were going to be in a position to witness. In the meanwhile, thunder resounded in the surrounding hills, presaging a coming storm, and where 'jade rain' could be seen to be slashing down in the distance.
|