This episode carries content warnings for description of people bound and gagged, doppelgangers, mention of major bodily transformation, and decapitation. With the Ravening Beast dealt with—at least for now—Lye Lychen, Hazard, and the Cleaver Chine continue to track their way towards the nearest settlement. There, they hope to find supplies, a good night of sleep, and a quick passage northward to Blackwich (which is in sore need of their skills and support at the moment). But before they reach the quarry in the distance, they come across a too-familiar trio with a problem of their own.

This week on Sangfielle: Two Kinds of Quarry Pt. 2

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

The Residuum:  A realm of vibrant color, where the things of the world go when their time in the material world fades away. A plane of death, but rendered in glorious light.

Bluerock Quarry: Bluestone is what you might guess from the name, a quarry for digging up stones of various qualities and makes, but all of which is blue in nature. While slate and limestone and granite all serve their ends, the real find is welkin, a stone as light as air but tough as the hardest metal. Now who could be on the lookout for something like that?

Facts and Figures

The Course: There is debate about the true nature of the Heartland’s Truth, the power that turned Sangfielle into what it is today. But the Cleavers call it the Course. Part river, part lesson, part direction traveled. Entirely beyond the grasp of mortal minds. 

Uno Riscano (he/him): The so-called “Count of Cards,” this devil is the leader of one of the “six suits” that make up the Wrights of the Seventh Sun. Target of Hazard’s ire due to an ill-handed card game.

Aterika’Kaal (it/its): An ambivalent and ancient spirit. Offers the sweet smell and sublime beauty of roses and the sturdy foundation of a root structure. In exchange: Feed it.

The Ravening Beast (it/its): A howl in the mind of Lye Lyken. A beast on the hunt. It haunts through the course of time, the shape of mind. An echo of a possible future?

Chantilly Scathe (she/her): The signs and barkers rarely say her name alone. She ain’t Chantilly, or even Ms. Scathe, she’s always “Ms. Chantilly Scathe and Her Shackled Engine.” Don’t let her showmanship and ringmaster garb fool you though: She seems to have done what no Shape Knight could: Make a train of the Shape, The Grand Cormorant Limited, her very own pet.

Organizations

The Caravan of the Coin:  Cursed by Ribbadon, Frog God of Wealth, these traveling merchant-clerics never arrive at a destination carrying what they expect.  

Wrights of the Seventh Sun: A secret society dedicated to the construction of Zevunzolia, whatever the cost. Their motivations are many: Some believe that the Devils ought to have continued climbing whent hey escaped hell, that this was not the paradise earned. Otherse believe that Zevunzolia is telos of telos, the end-cause of all end-causes, and thus will inevitably bring itself into being. And given that, to do anything but aid it is to risk exclusion from it, or worse.

The Toll Collectors: Made up of the devil Agdeline (she/her), drakkan Ettel (he/him), and human Larch (he/him), this trio once spent time mining in the hills of Blackwick. Recently, they’ve been spotted as bandits, hired thieves, and paid escorts—sometimes (strangely) holding down multiple jobs in multiple places at the same time. In any case, rumor has it that they fly a new banner now…

The Bell Metal Band: Once, the Bell Metal Band used their base of operations to capture Shape parts for study and re-use. But a tragic betrayal has sent them spiraling in unexpected ways. Now, a new structure rises atop their home...

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Sylvi Clare (@sylvibullet), Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry)

Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

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