Tarhos Warmonger skin?

DO NOT OPENLY DISCUSS THIS STUFF WITHOUT ADDING THE SPOILER TAG! Some people would prefer having this as a surprise.

A banner was leaked for dbd depicting Tarhos 'The Knight' clashing with a lawbringer in some sort of knight ruin.

This likely means that the halloween event and skins are likely a dbd throwback, at the very least there will be a small throwback with just the cosmetics and no skins, I expect this to be in sometime S3TU2.

The Scorched Herald's Tabard has 3 beasts on it, a Gryphon, Unicorn and Dragon.
It is pointed in his story by Holden:

>'A Gryphon, dragon, and unicorn adorned the tabard, but the stranger merely chuckled when asked about their significance. They told Gryphon that this was just the first step in something bigger. Though it remained unclear if they shared the same understanding of what that meant.'

https://preview.redd.it/5w7udpix1sxg1.png?width=1190&format=png&auto=webp&s=1fc03cdb5ed6491f02102a5469fc1bbac2a566ac

They clearly have great significance for the future. At first I didn't know how a unicorn could fit into Samurai culture, so I automatically assumed that it had to be a viking/knight thing, but there aren't any unicorns in viking culture, folklore or mythos, I then believed that maybe it was something Celtic, so a Highlander skin? It felt a little bit like a stretch but why not right? Maybe one of the knight skins or even the hero is going to be Unicorn themed, referencing more of the cavalry & purity aspect of knighthood, again a bit of a loose fit but it's something. Which left the dragon to be samurai related and Japan definitely has distinct Dragons with great importance and reverence in their mythology, so slam dunk right?

But upon researching further, I discovered that there very much is a unicorn in Japanese mythology and it's actually quite telling for what we might get in the near future.

Meet the Kirin.

https://preview.redd.it/nzbal35u3sxg1.png?width=1905&format=png&auto=webp&s=ab780327f89a85e158fb1cd3b6495e59360a8bb8

https://preview.redd.it/8poyf8ay3sxg1.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=7fb00922edcd4a2aa80681eb884fba2949a6f313

Kirin are mythical creatures, with a name derived from a chinese mythical creature that you may have already seen in game, the Qilin.

Sun Da's Gambit Qilin

In Japan, these revered creatures only appear when a benevolent, wise and/or just ruler is in power. They are gentle creatures who can turn fierce in order to protect the innocent, a trait they share with the Chinese Qilin, is a sense of Justice, breathing fire at those who harm the innocent or commit acts of great injustice. Their statues can be found at temples as a form of guardian/protector. They can be seen decorating not only architecture but weapons and armour as well, probably to associate or imbue it with the Kirin's sense of justice.

Japanese Kirin differ in appearance from Chinese Qilin slightly, they are a bit more slender and delicate, they don't have the features of a robust lion dragon like the Qilin, but rather a deer dragon, if that makes sense.

Now that's great and all but how does this correlate to the coming Samurai season?

The Scorching Herald is inspiring warrior's again with tales of old legends, all the while the Khatun hold dominion over Heathmoor, the Juren in Qiang Pass being the only big shakeup to their stranglehold over the factions.

Given the associations with Great Rulers, we could be seeing some kind of Samurai ruler in the form of the first hero skin coming in TU1 of season 2, we might see an Emperor/Empress, an Ayu skin, she was the runner up to lead the Samurai after the Emperor died in the campaign and all the clans fell or joined under her banner, she was definitely a strong ruler who believed in the good of her people and she strived for peace in the epilogue, she fits the criteria for the Kirin to appear, but it doesn't necessarily have to be her. Then to accompany this skin we also have the hero.

We know it's a female genderlocked samurai hero with a type of weapon we have never seen before, something very unique. I believe this hero to be our Kirin, maybe a royal guard assembled by the Emperor, maybe a unit made to strike back against the Khatun who mistreated the local civilians. The Kirin are graceful and breathe fire on their enemies, so perhaps this unique weapon could be based on one of these traits, it could be a warrior wielding war fans, perhaps she fans flames... or... the option that feels a bit more fitting, it's a warrior unit that uses the Teppo/Tanegashima, aka matchlock rifles.

https://preview.redd.it/wqtfdcde9sxg1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=5af88534e092811341ed5c0000d514c809748e4d

Definitely unique and fits the whole theme of the Kirin, they will come and shoot down the mongol invaders to help the benevolent ruler protect the people of the Myre.

These matchlock rifles were famously used by the Ashigaru or foot soldiers in the warring states period. In desperate times, especially when having to defend their home, women were known to partake in battle as Ashigaru. Given the context of a Mongol takeover of the Myre, it would make sense for the female genderlock inspiration.

I didn't know where to put this, but there is a cheeky little nod to unicorns in the most recent den which might be nothing or could be indicating that the unicorn truly is coming soon. Which might indicate to us that the other hero is dragon related.

So we have:

• A tie to the Unicorn adjacent Kirin in both the lore and weapon for the hero.
• Some historical basis especially fitting of what is happening in the lore.
• The weapon and gender fit the criteria for what we know for certain about this coming hero.
• The bonus of an Emperor/Empress hero skin, potentially being Ayu herself.

So yeah, I can confidently proclaim that the next samurai hero is a unicorn with a strap.

Awesome mongol couple vs Evil and Intimidating Unicorn