[b]Chen![/b]

On the horizon red lights blink in sequence. Radio towers rise to the heavens like saplings in the shadow of the space elevators. The wreckage of a forgotten internet lies up there, a garden walled so high that not even the rain could get inside. One day it finally shucked its transitional role as a communications platform and finally became what the burrowers had always desired: a modernized television network, smoothing away the inconvenience of having to pick up the phone to dial the number in the infomercials.

And across it is shooting a media-geist, launched from the blue steel phone of the Technomancer, off to fetch Princess Kikil.

"Well, that's all sorted then," said the Technomancer, starting to chop pumpkins and white radish. "Rescue is on the way. Or alternative kidnapping. Either way, it should at least be more graceful than getting captured than that old robot. Did you hear that there's an ancient tomb near here with a water connection straight down to a major undercity? Heard it was taken over by some old machines for a while, but Princess Yin came by and drove them off, bless her. You know she's in town right now? Looks exhausted. Hey, maybe you'll have some company on the ride back to the Hive."

[b]Rose![/b]

There are signs by which you can read the nature of a falling god and separate it from a rising devil. There is weariness in the way the figure shoulders his spear, disappointment in the lack of teeth at his throat. Once this man was the emperor of all of Heaven, as every soul has at some point been. Now the wheel turns and responsibilities weigh heavy, the weight of ten thousand compassionate deeds bearing down on the god like buckets of water. This path leads him to wickedness, inevitably, until he stands at last as the foremost princess of Hell and realizes again there is no satisfaction there either. 

A story as old as life. He seeks, and not knowing for what he seeks, will find only whatever it is he does not currently possess.

"I thank you for my life," said the god, bowing. And there, perhaps, is excitement in his voice - and an affectionate glance at his master as he inches the car through the departing herd. "Let us know if there is anything we can do to thank you."

He looks at you and your need for nails, and he does [i]not[/i] help you unasked. He sees you as an aspect of the life he is leaving, one built of meritorious deeds and compassionate responsibility. He sees you as a creature limited and bound, nothing like his master who is teaching him the new fascinations of vice and theft - new bindings in old ways. This, he thinks, is freedom. This, he thinks, is what he is here to learn. This is exciting!

"But. Perhaps." the god said stiffly, this way of thinking still novel to him. "You are here for a different reason. Do you, too, have a wish to make from the fox spirit? What would you wish for?"

[His question to you: how could he get you to indulge in your vices?]

[b]Yue![/b]

"Great!" and oh wow you're being hugged. "Oh, I'm so glad! I knew I could count on you!" With the same deftness with which she navigated the lizard's biting jaws, so the kitsune pulls back at the perfect point where Hyra's growl starts to rise. "My name is Cyanis! Ah! It's so wonderful that you're giving me a chance! I promise you won't forget it!"

She walks away down the forest path with a spring in her step, tugging you along by the red thread of fate. "Come on! I've got just the thing!"


This is not just a shrine, this is a tomb. Some ancient heroine was buried here and it was expected that dozens would mourn her at once. Great stone channels filled with stagnant water and terrible garbage from deep beneath the earth spread out in front of the structure and trees have torn themselves up through gaps in the marble tiles. More lizards dwell in the sunlight, but here too is a flock of galas - pink feathered birds with grey wings who rummage through the grass in their hundreds and bobble away from you and the fox as you approach. 

"Ta da!" said Cyanis. "As you can see, it's a bit of a mess. But I've got plans! I'm going to turn this place around! Clear out the trash, dust off the marble, brighten up this stuffy old pile of stones! But there's one itsy-bitsy little problem I need your help with - I need to get inside and clear out the old ghost who used to live here. It'll be easy though! It's just the lower ghost, the higher soul has definitely moved on already. Otherwise anyone I try to help might just wind up getting haunted instead! Definitely neither of us want [i]that[/i]!"