[b]Heavenly Cytherean Machi![/b]

There is an aching knot of Fate entangled in Turtlehead. The first building here was erected by a hunter of tigers, and these he would trade to travelers going up and down the Spearwort. Others stayed with him over time: friends, members of his family, a clever witch who saw the value of the surrounding marshes. Stories heaped heavily upon themselves here for generations, but still you know the very house where first a man looked upon the land that would become Turtlewort and desired it without knowing it.

[i]What a fool! As if muddy bogs are better than the glories of worked stone and the shining treasures of Mount Fang! Steal, kiss, and laugh without remorse![/i]

Kalaya is coming here. Look! Here she comes with a heart full of joy, tended to carefully by an obedient shrine maiden! Her heartstring drags her towards Turtlehead, following in the footsteps of an old friend. And here she must learn that her true nemesis is the N’yari raider!

But so too comes a daughter of dragons, raging and furious, her anger threatening to boil. She, too, is being dragged along by her heartstring. She aches with her loss. An easy tool.

And here, too, you stumble upon two witches on their way to Turtlehead, accompanied by a fearful and terrible knight. One sees you for who you are, but she seems deeply troubled by her own thoughts, her heart’s string tangled up frightfully.

How do you present yourself to her?

***

[b]Giriel![/b]

Following your heartstrings, as it turns out, was the way back to your bodies. They shine in all the colors of blue, and it is fortune that the General managed not to sever them. That would have been a terrible wound. They are things to be kept careful.

But when you got back, Peregrine’s eyes burned. And [i]she[/i] was the one who told Uusha, and that’s why the three of you have been on a grueling march for two days with half-a-dozen of Uusha’s best followers. At Turtlehead, you will rest and sleep for hours, and from there you will seek out Kingeater Castle, the path to which is occluded from mortal eyes. The Stag Knight is loyal to the Flower Kingdoms first in all matters, after all.

Which has made it all the trickier that a heavenly spirit has revealed herself in the form of a N’yari. It’s the blue of her eyes that gives her away. (If Peregrine recognizes her, she gives no clue, merely raises an eyebrow.) As a witch, you need to acknowledge you are at her disposal, but you would be disrespecting her if you revealed her identity to Uusha.

How clever are you, Giriel? And though it’s been a few days, you can be honest: does the memory of Hell still haunt you?

[You, clever witch, may take a String on Zhaojun, but may not reveal her identity— yet.]

***

[b]Kalaya![/b]

“You’re not [i]really[/i] a knight until you’ve won your first Branch War,” Petony says, not unkindly, as she buckles her gauntlets. “Don’t worry, though. I won’t go [i]too[/i] hard on you.”

You are a knight in training, and therefore you are in need of a retinue. In the trading town of Turtlehead, then, you are holding a Branch War: using wooden weapons, you and glory-seeking volunteers will stage a mock battle over flags against Petony’s retinue. It’s not just a test of your sword skills, but your ability to inspire and lead fresh recruits against a superior foe. Your problem isn’t finding people to fight alongside you, however.

It’s the fact that Victorious Vixen of Violets has somehow convinced half the town to volunteer to join your side. This has spiraled very quickly out of control from a fun event for the young and restless to [i]the[/i] event of the day, with the other half of town planning to watch and eat fried noodles on the sidelines. You’re going to outnumber Petony ten to one, at least, if you don’t figure out some way of winnowing the ranks.

Is that what you want? It’d be more glorious if you overcame Petony with a smaller retinue, and your knightly skills will be difficult to display when you can just overwhelm her defenses with bodies and sticks. But if you try, you’ll have to be clever to avoid causing offense to Victorious Vixen and the townspeople you reject from your ranks.

After all, you can’t just lead half of an entire town into battle against the N’yari, right? Right? It’d be like trying to hit a mosquito with a battle axe! Forget the guilt of leading so many people away from their town, just think of the logistics! Okay, maybe some of them are just volunteering for the day, but you’re still running the risk of having too many people want to join you— and if you’re leading a horde, how will any of them stand out?

***

[b]Han![/b]

Do you have a plan?

Do you even know where you’re going?

Your feet are leading you to Turtlehead, but is that intentional or simply the providence of Heaven?

What will you do to that duplicitous pilgrim with her stupid coin when you find her?

Questions. Many questions. All that is certain is that right now, you can see the wooden walls of Turtlehead rising up out of the marshes, hung with colorful reed mats.

(And that, perhaps, if anyone could help you now, it would be a witch.)

***

[b]Piripiri![/b]

Messages and missives pile up for Prince Ven while she is absent. It takes time for you to assemble a report out of each one (which is reported to the scribe-demon, each in turn, by hissing serpents), but two narratives emerge: one set of reports deal with challenges to an infernal assault, places where the Flower Kingdoms are weak, and ways in which it can be subverted and turned to Ven’s dominion.

But the second has to deal with the fallen kingdom of Snapdragon. After its fall, its royals were banished to the highlands, it seems, and Ven craves to know their movements, their health, and to have demons work to their good— unseen, by her orders, but even so. A narrative suggests itself: that she has offered herself to the very kings of Hell for the sake of her family. No, you decide after some further consideration: she made the deal for herself, but some small all-too-human part of her wants them to be awed and proud when she reunites the Flower Kingdoms under a green sun banner. So what if they would be horrified? She can keep lying to herself until that day comes. Then, her heart touched by Hell, she would likely lash out terribly, and do things that everyone would regret.

And therein lies the second problem: Ven will not let you go if you do not have leverage. And the trick is that information she would try to torture or bewitch out of you, possessions you clearly do not have on you (and information of where you have them, well, as above), and you have nothing you can meaningfully threaten.

It’s a question that gnaws at you. You’ve been in no-win scenarios before, but this one is particularly vexing. How can you force Ven to let you go short of somehow ambushing her and taking her hostage?

The solution, however, comes from an unexpected quarter.

“Prisoner!” It is one of the daughters of the Laema, having pushed her way through the Wrack-doll guards. “You have done [i]such[/i] a good job in here that you will be required to do it [i]elsewhere[/i] in the castle! After all, when the Prince arrives with the great prize of Hell in her grasp, she must be received in cleaned halls!” Her tail twitches, and her performance is just a bit too broad: she is trying to deceive anyone who might report to Ven. Maybe this is one of Hell’s intrigues, on behalf of an infernal rival of the Prince or her own mother; maybe she simply cannot bear to see such a good maid face a terrible fate. Maybe she wants to sneak you into a side-passage and seduce you for her own satisfaction.

Maybe she is enough like a human simply to pity you.

But that is not the only thing that you must address. For you have been watched this whole time, haven’t you? By such clever eyes. Tell us what Ven will soon know: [i]how could Ven get you to submit to her?[/i]