Ascomanni
Fá's Ascomanni allies reveal their invasion's human cost by turning Heraklion's evacuation into a hunt for slaves, skins, and loot.
Story so far
The Ascomanni are the Obsidian-descended raiders of the Far Ink, a people whose survival culture is built on adaptive violence and slavery. Their alliance with Fá has already transformed a scattered threat to Rim industry into a force capable of threatening the Garter and Europa.
At Heraklion, they are no longer only a strategic prospect. Berserkers emerge across the panicked sealift crowd, kill Blues and lowColors, and accompany the shipborne assault that removes the city's sky shield. In the acropolis, lean First Ring warriors with dark-red-painted skin and armor claim the city as loot, threaten to skin Sigurd, and assume Lyria is a slave to be taken. Their language of rank and Names gives Fenrir a narrow way to bluff them aside, but their behavior confirms that civilian conquest is part of the invasion rather than collateral damage.
Appearance
The invaders seen in Heraklion are lean, tall warriors carrying long spears, their skin and armor painted dark red. Other berserkers wear darkness-clad armor, while their larger military force arrives in ships from sea and orbit.
Role
The Ascomanni are Fá's predatory allies, making the Rim invasion a campaign of systematic terror, enslavement, and plunder.
Relationships
Earlier in this series
Also appears in books you've already read — spoiler-safe to their endings:
- Iron GoldBook 4
Sources — 2 recorded facts, by chapter
- A far-dark Obsidian-descended people of ruthless slavers and survivors, the Ascomanni have joined Fá with unfamiliar ships and threaten the Rim's Jovian heartland.
- Fá's Ascomanni allies reveal their invasion's human cost by turning Heraklion's evacuation into a hunt for slaves, skins, and loot.