The Wandering Isles: Session 47
The search for Eldrin led the group deep into the underbelly of Saigo no Toshi.
Following faint traces, they found discarded clothes and the tell-tale reek of the sewers. Entry was a struggle—between the grime, the confusion, and the hidden mechanisms, progress was slow. It was Amaedrianna who spotted the strange discolouration on the wall, hinting at a hidden magnetic handle. With careful work, they pried open a concealed door.
What they found chilled them.
Inside, a body had been cruelly crucified, framed by wings painted in blood across the stone walls. The image was haunting, raw, and deeply wrong. Eos stepped forward, burning the body in a solemn act of mercy. As the flames touched the remains, an otherworldly glow enveloped them—a light that spoke of more than just death.
Shaken but resolute, the group made their way back to the surface, cleaning themselves as best they could. At the temple district, Remington awaited them, listening intently to their findings and concerns. It was there he revealed a truth wrapped in myth: Eldrin’s bloodline was said to trace back to the gods themselves—a lineage rare and powerful.
Connections formed. The woman they found, the symbols, Eldrin’s strange affinity—it all began to weave together.
Amid these revelations, Dash confessed to the group’s earlier act in the alleyway, explaining how he and Amaedrianna had taken violent action against two men from Palperroth. Remington’s reaction was clear: shock, disappointment, and a deep, gnawing concern about what had been set in motion.
As midday approached, the Zenith Bell tolled, marking the beginning of the Kensai Trials of Reflection. The city's energy shifted, the air thick with unspoken omens. Petals—beautiful, delicate sakura leaves—began to fall...but not down. They floated upward, defying gravity in a surreal, almost sacred display.
Hatsu noticed it first. Strange lights gleamed in the distance, artificial yet crafted to mimic the warmth of fire. Amaedrianna scouted carefully but found no signs of Eldrin, no hidden trails among the festival’s illusions. Hatsu, determined, dispatched guards to search the sewers and find Ayame for added support.
Dash, sensing something more personal in the day’s chaos, sent up a small request in the form of a lantern for the New Year. But when the fifth bell rang, they all watched in eerie silence as one final lantern shot far too fast into the sky—only to burn out in a flash. An omen, perhaps. An unanswered question left hanging in the heavens.
The group pressed onward, gathering at the graveyard where Ayame and Lysa were waiting. As the sixth bell rang, signalling the solemn ritual to whisper the names of the dead, tensions simmered beneath the surface—especially between Lysa and Dash after the earlier bloodshed.
Together, they honoured the tradition. Each member whispered a name for the departed: Dash whispered his own name, Eos spoke a name in the celestial tones of Seraphic, Hatsu honoured his family, and Amaedrianna—ever conflicted—spoke for her father, a man she plans to see among the dead by her own hand.
As they whispered, the wind stirred. Leaves from the great sakura trees above turned a deep crimson as they fell.
A few scarlet leaves landed on Dash, Amaedrianna, and Hatsu. More fell on Eos. But Slate… Slate was showered with them.
Everyone watched, the graveyard growing silent, as the crimson leaves settled onto him like a shroud.
And with that haunting image, the session came to a close.
