You draw the Dragon of Lamps, highest card of the Lamps suite.
REFLECTION: "See how he coils around his flame? The Dragon of Lamps is mighty, but, unlike the General, temperate. He shepherds the fire, and dwells in the world of anticipation. The clouds, subconscious distractions, retreat before him. The mountains, material desire, are far beneath his notice."
Her hands click and reshape as her overlong fingers place the Dragon of Lamps next to the Lightning Bolt in the indeterminate space between you.
REFLECTION: "A picture begins to form, perhaps? For what do you wait? Do you fear your completion? Is the cost of enlightenment too high for you to bear, in your fallen state?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
REFLECTION: "Ignorance. Ignorance to be remedied. Ask another question."
[ ] Who are you?
[ ] What did you mean when you said I did something to Fincher and Logris?
[ ] How can I make this stop, please?
[ ] What is the nature of the Five Part World?
[ ] No, I'm done with this.
The Reflection pauses, recedes. She shifts thoughtfully, streamers of dry flesh shuddering against each other over the suppurating darkness like the scales of a coiling serpent.
She reaches up and touches the second card, the Dragon of Lamps.
REFLECTION: "He dwells in the world of anticipation. To dwell in one world is glory."
"That doesn't really answer my question."
REFLECTION: "Many states comprise the world. Its elements. Its virtues. Its boundaries and constraints. Most of all, its perspectives. It was the insight of Sulidan to identify the five worlds. The windows into which the true Creation is cut, facets of a gemstone. Most dross live within the boundaries of the five-part world. A truly refined state of being must reconcile one."
"That sounds cool and makes sense." you lie.
REFLECTION: "You mock. We glimpsed one such world."
"Was it the world of anticipation? That one sounds boring."
The reflection laughs that wheezing laugh again. Something black and viscous drips into the white void.
REFLECTION: "The world of intention. The state of supreme violence."
"Oh, that doesn't sound good at all."
REFLECTION: "To dwell in one world is glory. Our self has grown strong, enriched beyond the vicissitudes of meat."
"You lost me again."
The buzzing intensifies. Bony, insectoid digits without number hold forth the pack.
REFLECTION: "Then draw one more card. To guide you."
[ ] The Wolf
[ ] The General of Ewers
[ ] The Matriarch of Flowers
[ ] The Ace of Banners
[ ] Creation, Inverted
[ ] Refuse
REFLECTION: "See its path, speckled with blood? It looks back, beckoning you to follow, yes? Into the snow, into the darkness. It will always be there. The path will always be there, waiting."
The Reflection is expanding now, uncoiling her flesh into floating streamers, putrescent black tendons and wet, tar-stained bones snapping and rearticulating. Brackish water spills from her split joints, forming a swirling vortex around her.
REFLECTION: "It drains all that is good in the world until all that exists is the path and its beckoning. The Wolf is the quiet end. The unregarded death. The forgotten suicide. It tempts you, does it not? It tempts you beyond reason."
You do not reply.
REFLECTION: "You can be honest. With yourself."
"I thought I got to ask a question after each card."
The Reflection buzzes in response and lays The Wolf alongside the first two cards.
REFLECTION: "A picture is formed. A most inasupicious hand. You will resist until death, it seems? It is unfortunate. We could have found true purpose at last. Our life might have meant something, to be spent in such a way."
The vortex of black water pools wider, staining the void. Something terrible moves in its depths.
REFLECTION: "Ask your question."
You know you won't get another.
[ ] Who are you?
[ ] What do you want?
[ ] Fuck you.
The buzzing rises to a crescendo, almost drowning out the Reflection's voice.
REFLECTION: "Resist until death, yes! We will simply send one to collect our corpse. It is better this way. I will always hurt you."
The thing moving in the depths shivers and opens. It is an eye, vast beyond your ability to scale, staring down at you. The cards of the deck scatter before it like leaves in an autumn storm.
SAGACITY: It would seem to be human, if not for the size. Pale blue at one point. See here that the green-yellow sheen indicates the early stages of saltwater putrefaction.
Wait, Sagacity is here?
SAGACITY: Yes. We are all here.
INTEGRITY: Always with you.
AWARENESS: Always watching.
INTEGRITY: Keep it talking. This thing, it is still part of us, even if it is connected to something else. We can learn from it.
"Send one? Send one what?"
The Reflection hisses.
REFLECTION: "We would have been first among its servants, a soul grown rich and strong on blood. Now we must send one our lesser to complete the process. For a husk such as you, it will be sufficient."
You see a cloud of oily black smoke, running, feral, leaving burning footprints across the grey plains. The image is indistinct, incomplete, it is hard to focus.
NAVIGATE: Wait, do we recognize this place?
NAVIGATE: VERY DIFFICULT
CHECK PASSED
You focus on the hills, the sun just threatening to slip over the horizon to the east. You mentally cross-reference the position to the map Logris briefly showed you earlier. You calculate the length of the gait, the speed of the run, the direction of Sulco Camp.
This thing is approaching under the cover of the western forest. At its present pace it will arrive a little under three hours after dawn.
"Thank you for that."
The buzzing gnashes and thrums. The eye stares.
REFLECTION: "There is no reprieve. There is no escape. The one beneath sees all.The Last Demiurge will rise to part the clouds and still the waters. Its will is-"
The buzzing has almost drowned out the Reflection's ranting. You are no longer listening. You are staring at the eye.
AWARENESS: There is one thing left to see. Look closer.
AWARENESS: INCREDIBLE CHECK PASSED
"Shut up." you say, cutting the Reflection off in mid-rhapsody. "I am detecting."
You stare through the oily water into the depths of the pupil. You apprehend it in its totality. Does it hold the image of its death? Does it hold a window to the soul?
No, it contains something else. Glittering like a tiny inclusion in the depths of the pupil is the gleam of blue jade.
OBJECTIVE COMPLETE: FIND YOUR DAIKLAVE
REFLECTION: "The eye of the one below is upon us. We will yet fulfil its designs."
You start to laugh.
You remember the miraculous sword in your hand. You feel the motion of plunging it into the unblinking eye as its cobalt lightning blossoms to illuminate the depths.
"The last time this eye was upon us we stabbed it, didn't we?"
The Reflection is silent.
"I think we're done here."
The Reflection reaches for you, formless limbs expanding and multiplying. But this place is a bridge, a tether. It is linked to both of you, and it is within your power to break it. The void expands until the spreading darkness is once again a speck against the light. Then, like a thread stretched beyond limit, it snaps.
Your first real sensation of the day is scent. You smell floral perfume, incense, antiseptic paste.
You open your eyes and see the sky. At last, the true sky. Blue, endless, omnipresent. It will never leave you.
But it's not the sky. The way the colour shifts is a little off. It takes a long moment of your stupor-laden waking process to understand that you are staring at a blue cloth. A banner? No, a tent cieling.
You try to sit up and realize you can't move. Your shoulder is pinned down under some weight. Are you tied up again?
You lick your dry lips experimentally. Well, you aren't gagged.
[ ] Wait.
[ ] Call for help.
[ ] Plan your escape.
You are in a blue tent, enclosed by a white cotton divider on which has been stiched some floral, lacy pattern. The fabric of the tent is heavy, but not so heavy to blot out the daylight.
The last waking memory you can muster is standing with Logris and Fincher. Talking about a tree, for some reason? That was before dusk. Is it possible the sun has not set?
No, you are certain time has passed. It's after sunrise. You may not have much time left, you have to escape.
The thing sent to kill you will arrive three hours after dawn.
You look down at your body. The red tunic Fincher loaned you is torn on the right side and has numerous small holes in it. You feel a stab of regret. Also, you have a lot of bandages. They criss-cross your torso intermittantly over the tunic. Your right arm is entirely bound with linen bandages and set with a wooden splint. It's been afixed to a stake so you don't damage it by rolling around.
You don't really feel anything about that.
INTEGRITY: You should probably examine why you care less about your broken arm than Fincher's tunic.
CRAFT: It was a nice tunic.
SAGACITY: Well, at least you have accounted for the presence of the antiseptic paste.
AWARENESS: What about the rest of the olfactory landscape? There's an incense burner over there. Agarwood. What about the perfume? I cannot detect a source.
WAR: Who would wear perfume in a war camp anyway?
CRAFT: The tent is blue.
So?
CRAFT: EASY CHECK PASSED
CRAFT: Only Logris and Usamir have blue tents, remember? The rest are red or plain canvas. It has to be one of those.
Oh, that makes sense.
CRAFT: Also the sea chest we had delivered to Logris' tent is over there, so that also narrows it down.
Good call.
STEALTH: Is there anything we can use to escape? Maybe we could use the incense burner to set fire to the tent as a distraction.
PHYSIQUE: I'm pretty sure we could just pull the stake free. Not sure what that would do to the arm, though.
You were asleep, sort of, but you forgot to review your thought cabinet! You need to be asleep to change the thought cabinet.
Okay, let's get that over with first. You visualize flowing water...
SAGACITY: Wait, no, don't-
...and poke yourself in the cerebellum. You briefly black out.
You have gained an additional slot in your Thought Cabinet. Please select one of the following Thoughts to equip.
Diamond and Thunderbolt
The highest calling of any Dragon-Blood is to fight the Anathema. They are some of the few adversaries in the world who can outmatch you in single combat, and a material and spiritual threat to the order of the world. Those who have slain one of these terrible creatures have a unique place of respect anywhere the Realm or the relicts of the Dragon-Blooded Shogunate hold sway. Could you be one of these heroes? Is your secret mission to slay the human demons that haunt this island?
War -1 (Personal Deeds Only)
24 hours.
The Dweller in Chaos
You had a daiklave. How did you obtain this precious treasure? What is its history? Where did it go? Is there any chance you might be able to get it back? Probably not, honestly, but surely an outside chance of having a cool sword is better than nothing.
Craft +1 (Contemplate the Material)
Integrity -1 (Memory Hole)
6 hours. (Halved after figuring out where it went)
Mysterious Stranger
Someone has changed the numbers. What does it mean? You have to know. Someone is here today who wasn't yesterday. Do you remember their face from before they were here? Will you remember them tomorrow? Why are they here, what are they planning? You have to know.
Integrity +1 (Someone Has Changed The Numbers)
Presence -2 (Wild-Eyed Paranoia)
10 hours.
The Prisoner's Dilemma
You asked for the gag back. Why? Did you derive some value from it? Was it the joy of violence? The warm satisfaction of eating well? The exhilaration of surviving danger? Was it perhaps that it was just funny? Is it possible that it might be some other, mysterious, fifth thing, heretofore unknown to you? Take some time to ponder the gag thing. Then talk to Fincher about it.
Integrity +1 (Do You Know What You Want?)
Sagacity -1 (Obviously Irrelevant)
8 hours.
The Rivers Feed the Land
You're not happy, and it seems like you haven't been for a while. Have you ever been happy? Could you ever be happy again? You hadn't thought about it, and maybe you should start. There has to be something good buried in your past, something that made you feel whole. Maybe you could find that thing again, or use that memory to make something new. You deserve that much.
Integrity -1 (There Is No Path)
Those Jagged Peaks
The Realm sucks pretty bad, just generally. The Dynasty in particular sucks dick. But why does it suck dick? What destructive incentive structures are at play? What about its systems of power perpetuate inequity and injustice? Is it possible that it actually sucks dick for everyone, including those that ostensibly benefit from it? Formulate a structural critique of imperialism and aristocratic power structures. Then talk to Logris about it.
Embassy +1 (Systems Are Important)
Presence -1 (Thought Over Action)
Physique -1 (Enervating Nerd Energies)
12 hours.
The Wolf and the Falcon
Why did you introduce yourself as the Wolf of Sibun? Did you have something to do with the disaster that destroyed the winter palace thirty years ago? Did you once know what happened there, and why? Is it at all possible that you secretly an Anathema? To the last one, no, you are absolutely not, but have a good think about that other stuff.
Embassy -1 (Revel in Infamy)
10 hours. (Halved for completing Maker, Builder, Breaker)
Maker, Builder, Breaker (Complete)
You almost died. Perhaps you almost died many times. You never knew the name or face of your mysterious saviour, but they left you with words to remember them by.
Physique: +2 (Survival is Fury)
Sagacity: +1 (Trust in your fate)
Embassy: -1 (It is not done)
Special: Remember the words.
The New Black Jade (Complete)
You are definitely not Yonris, so I hope you didn't waste too much time thinking about that. Still, it was interesting to contemplate. The other stuff you learned might be important later. And maybe you have some connection to this island. Maybe.
Navigate: +2 (I Know This Place)
Craft: +1 (I Know Its Works)
Sagacity: -1 (Still Can't Believe You Thought About This)
Special: Gain additional dialogue options about your possible ancestry.
The Opening Gate (Complete)
It turns out Opening Gate isn't actually a very good sword style, but you are very good at it. You are also very good at making sword nerds depressed. Suck it, sword nerds.
Athletics: +3 When Using Opening Gate (I Studied The Blade)
Integrity +1 (No Introspection)
Special: Use Techniques of Opening Gate.
Unbroken Rushes (Complete)
The Realm has taken everything from you, and it has done it more than once. Then you were made to visit its horrors on others. What could you have been, if not for this? The memories remain hazy, but the lesson is clear. Never let go of the hate.
Stealth: +2 (We Act in the Shadows)
Navigate: +1 (Know the Better World)
Presence: +1 (Revolutionary Fervor)
Embassy: -1 to Dynasts and Realm patriots only. (Offputting Intensity)
Presence: -2 to Dynasts and Realm patriots only. (Misplaced Loyalties)
Special: Gain additional subversive dialogue options.
You are currently thinking about Unbroken Rushes (Complete), Maker, Builder, Breaker (Complete), and The Opening Gate (Complete). You can change your thoughts when you sleep.
Choose a new thought to equip:
[ ] Diamond and Thunderbolt
[ ] The Dweller in Chaos
[ ] Mysterious Stranger
[ ] The Prisoner's Dilemma
[ ] The Rivers Feed the Land
[ ] Those Jagged Peaks
[ ] The Wolf and the Falcon
Also, choose whether or not to equip a current thought:
[ ] Unequip a current thought.
[ ] Don't unequip a current thought.
Voting to unequip a current thought will trigger a second round of voting on specifics.
The room returns to focus by degrees, gray outlines and garish color-shadows coalescing into a coherent image. The tinnitus whine of the blackout fades.
Right, we were going to escape! How are we going to do that?
You hear a subtle metal-on-metal clink from beyond the dividing curtain. A weapon? You had better think fast.
[ ] Pretend you are still asleep and surprise your attacker.
[ ] Pull the stake free and use it as an improvised weapon.
[ ] Kick over the incense and start a fire as a distraction.
[ ] Pretend to be sick to catch your jailor off-guard.
PRESENCE: This is an intolerable misstep. You must convince this teenager you are cool.
"No, I'm fine," you explain, rallying quickly, "I was just trying to confuse my attacker."
CINNAMON: "Oh, I see."
She looks around the tent, cautiously.
CINNAMON: "Did it work?"
"Yes, I thinks so."
She nods, satisfied.
PRESENCE: Okay, good save.
CINNAMON: "Would you, um, like some tea?"
CRAFT: It's ginseng.
"Yes please."
[ ] So, what happened to my arm?
[ ] What are you doing here?
[ ] Where's Logris?
[ ] Where's Fincher?
[ ] What time is it?
[ ] Actually, I need to get out of here right now.
Cinnamon pauses in pouring the tea. She looks sheepishly at you.
CINNAMON: "Oh, uh... miss Fincher said you, er..."
She mumbles something and finishes pouring the tea.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that."
AWARENESS: We heard it, she just didn't say anything that was a word.
She clears her throat.
CINNAMON: "Miss Fincher said you punched a tree?"
"Wow, that's so weird."
CINNAMON: "I, uh, I might have misheard her, there was, um, a lot of shouting."
She passes you the metal cup with your tea. It's hot, and you can't quite sit up properly to sip it with your right arm fixed in place, but you make do.
[ ] Why would I punch a tree? That doesn't sound like something I would do.
[ ] Who was Fincher shouting at?
[ ] Isn't this Logris' tent?
[ ] I think I have an appointment somewhere.
EMBASSY: Not even Cinnamon is going to call Mei "miss".
"Oh, huh."
CINNAMON: "They were shouting at each other quite a lot."
You sip your tea, thoughtfully.
"Are you sure they weren't shouting at me? That's how it usually goes."
CINNAMON: "I don't think so? You were comatose at the time. Miss Fincher was helping carry you on a stretcher. Well, uh, dragging you, really."
PHYSIQUE: I bet Logris was there. Logris is not going to be any help carrying anything.
"Hah, yeah, that sounds like me. Wait, what were they shouting about?"
CINNAMON: "I'm, uh, I don't know, I didn't follow a lot of it. I think Miss Fincher was in trouble for doing something she shouldn't have? And she was shouting at Dragonlord Mei for something else."
"Wait, what kind of trouble?"
CINNAMON: "I'm sorry, I don't know. I think she got taken away by camp guards, though, so it was probably pretty bad."
PRESENCE: Maybe Fincher was lying about getting permission to accompany you?
WAR: Detaining an officer doesn't happen that often in imperial camps, but disobeying direct orders is one thing that they can't really let go. Or maybe it was just the insubordination of arguing. Mei seems to have a low tolerance for that.
PHYSIQUE: Maybe Mei was angry because you got your arm broken and missed your duel.
[ ] Say, do you know where they keep detained officers in this camp?
[ ] Do you have any lockpicks that I can use one-handed?
[ ] Can I have my sword back?
[ ] Thanks for the tea, I have to go.
[ ] Who are you, again?
