This episode carries content warnings for disorientation, hallucinations/distortions of reality, death, humanoid corpses, knives, stabbing, blood, and the mention of animal death/slaughterhouses.
Hazard, Lye Lychen, and the cleaver Chine arrived to Marrowcreek together, but now they find themselves separated and spread to the extremities of the mysterious town. To the north, the card dealer and erstwhile caravaneer finds herself face to face with their quarry in the most unlikely of places. To the south, the junk mage confronts questions he'd thus far denied he was interested in. And to the east, the hunter sees a reflection of themself and is pulled ever closer towards it.
This week on Sangfielle: Marrow in the Bone
The Almanac of the Heartland Rider
Places
Marrowcreek: Quite a ways west of Blackwick, the maps say there is a town called Marrowcreek. Never been myself, but I've heard about it (often in the sort of hypotheticals people pose to you to "make conversations" at parties.)
Unschola Republica, formerly the Third Canton (oon-skoh-la): For a millenia, the alchemists, mage-practitioners, and cryptotheological scholars of the Third Canton complained in secret about the leash kept on them by Aldomina's distant leaders. They've since slipped that leash, and whether that's for better or worse, time will tell.
Blackwick County: From the mines to the lake, the hills to the flats, the town once called Eastern Folly has felt a little more expansive now that it's out of the hard grip of the old curse. It's people aren't perfect, but they've made it through some dark times, and that's more than most can say.
Zevunzolia: Who the hell knows. A miraculous city waiting to be built? A utopian dimension adjacent our own? "The Seventh Sun Itself," I think I heard one of those fools call it. All I know is, however prime and pristine it is in promise, the pricetag keeps going conveniently unmentioned...
Facts and Figures
Doctor Yersa Mallow (she/her): According to at least some of the locals, Marrowreek is named for Mallow, who led a group of the ill here to perform the sort of medicine that even the Unschola Republica forbids. Personally, I just don't think it adds up.
Katonya (she/her): A cleaver near the end of her career, Katonya's body bears all the marks of years in service to the Heartland. Loyal to those who employ her, and a walking catastrophe to those she opposes.
Reuben (he/him): A kind and hard-working fisherman who's lived in Marrowcreek for a while now, per his own telling.
Uno Riscano (he/him): 🂿
Zofina (she/her): An apothecary and witch in Marrowcreek, whose shop you might confuse for a house if you paid it no second glance.
Delian (he/him): A new arrival to Marrowcreek and its slaughterhouse. Staying at the midtown Hotel.
Erlin, the Tactful God of Lakes (he/him): People don't often think of "lakeness," and that's because Erlin does the thinking for you. He embodies the relaxing, if humid, depths of Sangfielle's many lakes. His temple is in the southwestern quadrant of the heartland.
The Ojan: To call it "The Ojan River" is not only to misspeak but to advertise your distance from knowledge. Ojan itself means "running water," and in Ojantani it is the word you attach to other words to mark them as rivers--each just an faint echo of this paragon of waterways.
The Jade Moon: A luxurious vessel, the Jade Moon glides up and down the Ojan. You have to work to find its exterior wooden hull, so covered is it in silken, green banners and curtains. Dining, Dancing, Gambling, Live Music, plush living. An engine that churns below. 250 feet long, 50 feet wide. It's a beast, but in the width of the Ojan--in some places over 2 miles wide--it pales.
Teak: First mate of the Jade Moon.
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.
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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