"Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come."
Aries: An empire of cathedrals and smoke. Gold frescos of saints ensconsed within ramparts of stone and iron. Priests walk the streets disguised in sack-cloth cloaks.
Taurus: An empire of scales and stars. The citadels to an avatar of war now blooming, overflowing with the summer harvest. Winged serpents bask in the shade.
Gemini: An empire of chisels and wind. A road carved through the high mountain spine of the world. Agile horned steeds race across paths too narrow for any horse.
Cancer: An empire of rivers and marble. Reeds grow between the tiles of old mosaics. Fresh spring thaw running clean and clear through what were once grand courtyards.
Leo: An empire of earth and sunlight. A forest of spears left thust into the soil. Grand wooden halls now rotting, planted like a seed to sprout after this long winter.
Virgo: An empire of cotton and bone. Colossal stone lamassu patrol the dune sea, guardians built by the ancestors. None remember what they guard against.
Libra: An empire of roots and waves. A palace nestled in the great banyan, its roots stretching for leagues, nurturing the woven throne. Veins to a heart.
Scorpio: An empire of stories and song. A crown tattooed into the flesh of a ruler. A palace built by the gods, and left duly untouched.
Ophiuchus: An empire of salt and sound. A capital built where the arc wrecked upon the shore. Images of non-existent sea creatures embossed on salt-eaten armor.
Sagittarius: An empire swallowed by the earth. Divine punishment turned to worship. Temples built in reverse, dug, carved, into holy darkness. A blind priesthood. An embrace.
Capricorn: An empire of memories and time. Effigies of gardens and flowers, now buried under rime. The rivers here used to run warm.
Aquarius: An empire of brass and conquest. Patchwork regalia of all the empires before it, no understanding of their meaning. A pretender to every throne.
Pisces: An empire in name only. Pieces of the old world assembled as best they can into the shape of a home. Banners of war stretched over awnings to keep the rain off.
