Hell is real. To what extent is unclear, but the church needn’t have fables of fiends when they came unbidden all too real cackling in the night. There were holes that the Cathars knew about, gaping mouths of flame and sulphur. They dispensed the biddings of chaos and torment, crazed devils in seemingly infinite amounts and scheming demons to never truly be slain. They were portals to so much malign. And from a young age, Lady Wachter was enchanted.

It was one trip on an urgent journey that her mercantile father took her through the Needle’s Eye, her seat in the carriage barely raising her eyes above the draped windowsill. It was there she saw its activity: The Ashmouth, the maw of stygian forces glowing with an ambient menace. It lit the darkening earth in a warm and consuming radiance that felt as though it threatened to draw her off the teetering peaks. Only her father’s shouts roused her from her encompassing focus, as he bellowed at the teamster to move them faster away from the leathery sounds of wings.

She never forgot that feeling. She swore to find it again. There was so much out there. And she needed it all.
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The yoriki get to work straight away, with their plans to salvage Kakita Yoshitaka’s meal expected to take up the entire night and most of the next morning. Sailors have to be paid, noodles need to be sourced. And who would have a bottle of the famous Daidoji Umeshu available at this unforunate hour at a reasonable price? On the one hand, success means the favor of the powerful Lady Doji Mika and the fulfillment of their mission, but failure may mean becoming victims seven through twelve of Seppun Takashi’s brutal need for obeisance.Continue Reading

Ireena Kolyana was surviving. She had always, and would never stop doing so. But now, today, left in this building she felt so small. She propped her cushioning better against the wood of the wall, and looked down at her book of nature lit by the flickering lantern light that managed to reach her. The words she hoped would sweep her away for now, from this subtly warmed cell and dark of the night and paranoia. She was wrong.

She didn’t hear those few words muttered from the other end of the structure, starting with “Excuse me why are you-”, before the guard’s voice vanished with a thick gurgling sigh. She didn’t smell his red black blood the color of her hair as it spilled across the planks. And she didn’t hear the approach of the tall blonde woman that walked up to the door. But she did hear when she spoke.

“Hello miss Kolyana.” she spoke, in an even and sweet tone that Ireena had not expected coming from the visage before her. “I think it’s time we get you out of that cell.”

Ireena struck to her feet to gaze across at this woman she had seen before, but who seemed so oddly elegant now standing outside her bars. “Grimhild?”

The woman smiled. “Not quite.” she said in a devilish whisper as Ireena took in more of the scene, the scent of blood and the reddening spots on this woman’s dress. She waited until the quivering gaze and stiff chin of the proud Stensian looked back up before speaking again.
“But you’ll find we have something in common. We both wish to protect you from the beasts that lurk out there. The only difference,” she paused, as if savoring the taste upon her tongue, “Is that I know the game they’re playing. And I know how to win.”
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The Crane city of Mura Sabishii Toshi is once again a seat of growing prosperity after being ravaged in a Crab/Crane border conflict. It’s governess is an important figure, whose opinion carries a lot of weight even in the courts of the Capital, and her favor is desired by the Emerald Bureaucracy.

It should have been a simple, even boring social visit, but an impossible-to-please noble and a ruined meal put Magistrate Torokai’s assembled team in a much more interesting position, with surprisingly high stakes.

Note from the GM: These one-shots are being posted slightly out of order, there’s no direct causal relationship between any of them, but the previous one is mentioned in the intro.Continue Reading

She could feel them watching her. We see the Inquisitor, Seeta Venliss, hat off her head staring out the window. She had sealed her letters, the burning sensation of heated wax remaining on her hands reminding her of every word and failure. This town was dying. It had been for a long time, but she refused tooth and nail- Though the sentiment had come back to bite her. When she closed her eyes she could hear them, the screams, the crackling of buildings as she saw them casting harsh orange across her face and the streaks of blood and tears across the people. Her people. She awoke with a start, no time for that. No time for sleep.

The vampires had to fall. Or everything else would. His madness was contagious, and she was certain that this town would buckle under the weight of his ego. If it hadn’t already.
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