This episode carries content warnings for imprisonment, forced starvation, human body parts used as tools, bones breaking through skin, unwilling bodily transformation, and bodily disfigurement.
With the party of Open Gates off to a start above, the Blackwick Group's Es, Marn, and Pickman begin to delve into the Interred Citadel of Callix, The Aquiline Marquis. Somewhere, there in the dark, Chine claws their way towards freedom. But before he can be free, and before anyone can return home to Blackwick, there is much work to be done in the decrepit ruins below…
This week on Sangfielle: Hark! The Citadel Beneath Pt. 2
The Almanac of the Heartland Rider
Places
Sapodilla: One of, if not the, largest city inside of the walls of Concentus. Sapodilla rests on the western shore of the vast lake that takes up much of southeastern Sangfielle, and prizes itself as the rare hub of culture in the bloodfields. In recent years, the powerful witch hunting organization called the Glim Macula has grown in power there, owing to the city's focus on furthering "civilization."
Facts and Figures
Dyre Ode (he/they): When an agent of the almanac pressed this mysterious, masked figure for more information about him, they only repeated their name, as if to ensure we'd print it right, adding "Dyre with Y but Ode as you'd like, a poem said in praise or a debt gone unpaid. It bothers me little, how you spell that name." The Blackwick Group first encountered this myterious figure during their investigation into Roseroot Hall, where they helped him recover his skull.
Emma Serchilde (she/her): One of the most successful investigators in Glim Macula's history, Serchilde made her name ferreting out a group of heritrixes who allegedly served a god of slaughter. Where other witch hunters lean on deductive reasoning or evidence collection, Serchilde's technique is simple: Intimidate witnesses through sheer force of will, using her loyal underlings--Janis, Aztel, and Nelzo--if it becomes necessary to prove that silence will be met with blood. Which isn't to say that she's afraid to get her own hands dirty.
William Blick (he/him): Head of the Macula's Honorguard, once a ceremonial unit with ties to the rituals of Sapodilla's liberation, now little more than a bunch of door-kicking bullies.
Felix Hollowfield (he/him): In many ways, brilliant inventor Felix Hollowfield is the reason for the recent surge in Glim Macula activity. Though the group has stalked the streets of Sapodilla for decades, it was Hollowfield's collection of tools that both allowed the Macula to face down truly powerful supernatural foes and put a deep and singular fear in the hearts of Sapodillans. His weapons reveal the hidden, nullify the mystical, and ground the transcendent. Where could he have found such ideas as these?
Alaway (varies): Last seen as the waxy, vampiric minister of Yellowfield, Regan, whose generations-long study of technology led him to dream of (and work towards creating) "The City of Lights," a place of flameless fire, energetic implements, and the safety and freedom to live as one wants. Disposed of, for now at least. But the dream yet lives.
Mabriella du Feza (she/her): Among the Glim Macula, it is said that Mabriella du Feza is an accomplished interrogator, brilliant scholar, and malicious commander. What goes unsaid, because it is not widely known, is her role as a 'liaison' from another, even more sinister organization.
Organizations
The Shape Knights: It took people with clear minds, great ingenuity, and implacable spirit to face down and defeat one of the living trains of Sangfielle. In the time since, they've crafted armor from their slain foe, and with that have come to be experts of all things train. They herd, they breach, they redirect. But they haven't yet killed a second.
Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)
Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)
Produced by Ali Acampora
Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)
Text by Austin Walker
Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)
A transcription is available for this episode here.
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