
1 chapter • 3 scenes
A dying general, stripped of her ability to command cavalry by illness, must defend her kingdom's last free city from an overwhelming imperial fleet by transforming humble river folk into an unconventional navy that turns intimate knowledge of water and currents into their deadliest weapon.





A crumbling stone fortress overlooking the river's narrowest point, its walls scarred by generations of conflict. Lirien's sickroom occupies the upper chamber where tactical maps compete for space with medicine bottles.

Where the mighty river compresses to barely a kilometer wide, water accelerates through hidden channels and treacherous currents. Surface appears placid while deadly forces churn beneath.
Lirien transforms from a dying general clinging to past glory into a revolutionary leader who pioneers riverine warfare, empowering marginalized river folk to defeat an overwhelming imperial fleet at the decisive Battle of Saraighat Narrows.
Lirien transforms from a bedridden general consumed by shame into a revolutionary leader who pioneers riverine warfare, training marginalized river folk to decisively defeat Admiral Corvain's imperial fleet at Saraighat Narrows.
Kael Riversong risks execution by entering Lirien's sickroom to propose revolutionary riverine tactics, transforming the dying general's despair into strategic possibility.

Over desperate weeks, Lirien trains fisher folk and smugglers in coordinated naval tactics, bridging military discipline with river wisdom through Tovin the Fisher's pragmatic leadership.

Lirien commands the decisive river battle from her sickbed, using currents and intimate local knowledge to defeat Admiral Corvain's superior fleet before succumbing to her illness with transcendent peace.
