Tatterdemalion

Masks: Resurrection Roundabout

POTENTIAL 2

Let’s get one thing out of the way first, okay?

Yes, her hair’s turquoise now. And, yes, she is rocking the shaved sides and back, with fashionably spiky bangs. It’s eye-catching and stylish, and combined with the dangling chain earrings, the aviators and the grav-biker jacket with GODDESS emblazoned across the back? She’s leaning hard into her image as the cool @SARAHPHIM. Untouchable.

Sure, she vanished. Sure, there’s tabloid gossip about What Exactly Happened. Sure, the shipping wars are burning fast and furious in her more casual fan base, as the True Ending faction (Ferraphim) unloads full salvo against the Tragic Duelist faction (Eunaphim), while being stabbed in the metaphorical back by the newly resurgent Wincest faction (Sarastorm).

And Sara does not give a shit.

It’s refreshing as hell. She’s established! She doesn’t have to pander to them. She’s receiving so many franchising offers, her agent is having to compile them into a daily update. As long as she doesn’t shit the bed in public so bad that nobody trusts her to be the hero this city deserves, she doesn’t have to worry about the future.

Isn’t that amazing?

But blowing up this cafe is not a good look. So she sighs, startling the Shiny, Sharply-Dressed Representative of Asmodeus Fashions (worth your very soul) sitting across from her.

“It’s not you, chill,” she says, rolling her eyes behind the tinted lenses. “It’s... hero stuff. Just sit tight and I’ll be right back. Don’t spill coffee on your tablet or anything, and I promise I’ll think it over while I work.”

Hot swig of her vanilla double caramel flavor-blasted cappuccino. Stand up, collar pop, stride confidently out the door to the sound of phone cameras, click click click.

Hands on hips, look up at the sky, ears sharp, muscles tense. Game face on.

“Look, can we reschedule?” Her voice has to carry, so that the alternate dimension version of herself can hear, wherever she lurks. Probably drawing a bead on her right now. Her hardlight generator flares to life under her shirt. “I’m kind of in the middle of a business meeting, but I’d be happy to pencil you in around 3:30?”

A pregnant silence. She stretches her fingers and visualizes her new Prydwen defense matrix, a spinning whirlwind around a fixed point, silver as Euna’s... well, now her tips. But silver’s Euna’s color. A quiet way to say she’s serious. She really is.

“Hell, I’ll even get you a coffee. You take yours molten black, right?”

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

Alina!

Your mother's hand is calloused. This isn't Rider's work, mind you; she's just had to do a lot with those hands. The two of you were apart for so long! She's had strange and wonderful and painful adventures without you, and hurt for them, too. Maybe she knows better than Halcyon what your life has been like ever since the day you poured water over a stranger's head with a joyful laugh and an invitation to come and dance. Your mother's hand is calloused, and it is holding yours so carefully that she might never let you go.

"Of course," she says, and gives you a reassuring squeeze, even as (your shoulders shuddering with the weight) Gold dissipates and returns to your crown once more. She stops to whip a gauzy tablecloth off an abandoned table, not even disturbing the curry bowls abandoned when the square cleared in a panic, and ties it around her shoulders. Not the most dignified look, but she pulls it off.

[King Isolde has joined your party, with the stat Mysterious Wanderings!]

And together, you leap up after your friends, your Red flaring powerfully, and Rita charges in alongside you. Into the depths of the Time Dragon's clock. Into Hyperborea's time, compressed and filtered and gone strange under the influence of Eupheria...

***

Kazelia!

"Tch. Worthless."

You drive your heel harder into the back of the sniveling elf under your boot. He deserves to be punished if his observatory doesn't have anything for Azora, your teacher and your superior. Let the others strive and scrape to try and surpass her in father's eyes: you know where your place is, you and your entire flight. Your soldiers rip books and hinges off walls, wherever Azora's eye falls, in an attempt to find anything of worth here.

But there isn't. And this elf has wasted your time.

How dare he?

***

Adila!

Time twists strange, pulling and stretching at itself. Even you cannot remain unmuddled as all of the time of Hyperborea runs through you like a sieve, and it is so much worse for you than it will have been for your friends, whose fates are entwined with yours, you see clearly for a moment, a flash in the torrent pouring through you.

Damage your Sense, then tell us: where you do find yourself, as your mind slips away into more familiar times to escape the crushing weight of history?

***

Alina!

When you wake up, Mommy is playing with your hair. Her fingers run through your violet locks slowly, carefully, the way you would stroke the fur of a cat if you wanted to make sure she wouldn't be disturbed from her nap. For a moment, you close your eyes and snuggle closer, trying to ignore the light beginning to shine through the windows.

You're in the headquarters of the Iluminan Resistance, in the biggest bed that could be found. None of the rooms in the castle felt right, even now; there is so much cleaning that still needs to be done. But Freesia knows how to make a house feel like home, and more important than having any of the beds at home is having this. It's been a very long time since you got to sleep over with Mommy; you've all been such big, grown-up girls, after all. But not even wild horses could have dragged you away, not now. Not now that she's back.

The blankets are warm, and heavy, and slightly fuzzy. Jessamine is draped awkwardly over Mommy's legs and, on the other side of her, Freesia is snoring. You are cuddled up so close, so warm. The moment opens up into forever. Then Mommy shifts, and cups her hand against the back of your head.

"Thank you, Lina," she says, so softly. She leans in and kisses the top of your head, so carefully. Ever since she was unthawed, she's moved like she was made of glass, trying not to stumble and break into pieces. But she has nothing to fear. You've buried the bed in pillows and stuffed animals and blankets, and there's nothing here that could possibly harm her. Not with her three brave girls here to protect her.

But you can't keep the moment, can you? Not forever. Eska's out there, with both Dandy and Adila in her clutches. After all you went through to be held one more time by your mother... it's almost time to say goodbye again.

But almost isn't hardly the same as is, is it? You have this. You have now. You have your Mommy. You have the soft light shining through the window, and her hand on your head, and her heartbeat going thump, thump thump, thump next to yours. You have this. You have now, this now, and nobody can take it from you.

Masks: Resurrection Roundabout

Sara takes the tablet, uncharacteristically careful. If she touches Euna's hand, the spell will break. The princess will turn, hike up her skirts, and book it down the street with her awesome cyberlegs. If she does everything right, if she respects Euna's space, if she doesn't do anything stupid, please don't do anything stupid... if she is good, if she is worthy, she might be allowed to have this moment go right. Please. Let this moment go right.

She signs an illegible squiggle at the bottom of the form with her finger. She could carve her name perfectly in a wall, barely a centimeter deep, and in cursive, but tablets? Tablets defeat her finger every time.

"Requisition approved, your highness." She salutes, and hears Angel-IKA's muffled squeal behind her. When she smiles, she can feel hot pricking tears in her eyes. Don't you worry. It's relief. Relief that she hasn't fucked everything up this time. That this time, she gets a second chance. That Euna is willing to stay, at least a little longer. "I will report to your quarters at 0655 hours." She clasps her hands behind her back and bows, really milking the servile angle, and there's a soft thump behind her as Angel-IKA just straight up passes out.

***

Three kids sit at a table together, lunchboxes sitting in front of them. They're wearing school uniforms, naturally, studded with buttons and self-applied holologos.

KID #1: Are you kidding me? There's no way that Djinniphim doesn't win. She's wearing the least, so she's got the most flexibility, perfect for acrobatic dodges and air cancels!
KID #2: Technically, the Tigerphim is wearing the least.
KID #3: Yeah, but Ninjaphim? She's mastered both the shadows and the light! Her tormented soul is torn in two, between honor and desire, her duty to her murdered clan and her love of the noble samurai who is the bodyguard of her nemesis...
KID #1: You wish! The Desert Sands will scourge away all who stand before Djinniphim!
KID #3: Just wait until their rematch!
KID #2: There's no reason to wait, actually...

NINJAPHIM, DJINNIPHIM and SARRRRRRAPHIM drop down onto the table, doing dramatic poses. The kids gasp, and then the three superheroes lunge at the camera.

Cut to game footage!

PHIMMY bending and bouncing her way through one of SWEET SARA'S candy-themed barrages, giggling the whole way!
SARRRRRRAPHIM's GLORIOUS GALLEON unleashing a hardlight broadside!
WITCHERPHIM dashing forward with her SILVER AND STEEL HARDLIGHT BLADES, carving through bullets!
TIGERPHIM using her TIGER PAW CRUSH on an unlucky DOCTORPHIM, scattering hardlight syringes everywhere on impact.
@SARAHPHIM CLASSIC doing the iconic hair shot before punching out @SARAHPHIM, AGENT OF A.E.G.I.S.!
And finally...
DJINNIPHIM uses her LIGHT LASH to cut straight through NINJAPHIM... who disappears in a puff of darkness, leaving behind a perfectly cut log. DJINNIPHIM spins around, the SOLOMON'S SEAL swirling around her, as NINJAPHIM throws three of her hardlight shuriken. As they impact the seal, cut to white, and then fade in the title:

@SARAHPHIM DIMENSIONS!!

(Available EXCLUSIVELY on the AEGEAN GAMES STORE)

Monster Hearts: Sleepshy Rise

[X] SECOND PLACE
[X] WEREWOLF MAGNET

Oh, please. Like that’s the takeaway of poor little Timmy’s tale of woe. No, the problem is that he has suffered terrible trauma from the trashiest, most terrible girl ever to walk the earth! Elodie’s blood seethes in her veins and she punches a sweater. Her little Timmy, betrayed in love? No. Oh no no no. This will not be borne.

Whatever’s going through Timmy’s head right now, Elodie is studiously ignoring it, because she’s scheming in the depths of the closet she’s hiding in. The pits of Tartarus are too good for her! But that’s where she’ll send this two-timing heartbreaker, oh, yes! She’ll dangle her over the Pit and let Timmy vent at her until he’s managed to find closure, and then she’ll push that bullying two-faced jerk inside and let the furies figure out a proper punishment for breaking little Timmy’s heart!

Ha! Ha ha! Hahaha! Muahahahahahaha! Muahahahahahaha!!

(Every now and then, one should be reminded that Elodie is here for a reason. This is one of those reminders.)

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

Eska Glinteye!

These blasted Hyperboreans! You’re dangling the crybaby’s mother over a perilous drop, and instead of falling on her knees and pleading, here she is charging at you, glowing with that same terrible radiance. The one that makes all your arrows useless against her. Well, she’ll have to choose between dealing with you and saving her mother, and no Princess would ever—

+I have reason to believe that Princess Azora Howl has hypnotized you.+

Gah! Your train of thought derails completely. This stupid dragon! Every time you think she’s been as unhelpful as possible, she finds a new way to screw things up. Well, you’ll show her. You wheel around, furious, intending to order her in no uncertain terms, as her “friend” (blech) that she needs to go back to Azora now, and that’s how the little cat princess manages to hammer you right in the sternum.

You go down. Hard. The scaffolding sways dangerously underneath you. You need a little more time. You need Adila to be useful for once. You need to shut up this stupidly cheerful little cat. You need—

Then the clocks begin to chime. Every last one of them.

Damage your Sniper stat, clap your hands over your ears, and run for it.

***

Alina!

It’s close. Too close. For a moment, you have the panicked thought that you’re not going to make it. You have to make it. Your world narrows down to the way Momma twists in the air, looking up at you, her scanty silks fluttering in that terrible rush of air.

Then you wrap your arms around her, and you wrap Gold around her, and when the two of you hit the ground a second later it’s like falling onto goosefeather pillows. You bounce out, Eska’s nasty little bots still shooting at you uselessly, and end up rolling into a small cactus garden. Each little spine pokes your skin, but refuses to pierce; it feels like being hugged by hedgehogs.

You reach up and tug down the black silk over her mouth, and the first thing that comes out of Momma’s mouth is filled with so much pride.

“You’ve grown so much.”

Then the clocktower starts to chime. Gold muffles the sound, stops it from being deafening, but you can still feel the vibrations of the tiles underneath you. Your Momma’s face goes slack with dread.

“Lina,” she says, hoarsely, “you can’t let her open the tomb.”

***

Adila!

Eska is saying something at you, but you can’t hear her. Your head is bells. +WHAT?+ She yells louder, as Rita covers her ears and opens her mouth in a soundless yowl. There is a bell and it is trying to crack your skull open. +I CAN’T HEAR YOU!+

Eska rolls her eyes, her hands clapped over her ears, and then rolls easily to her feet and runs up the scaffolding, to where you can see Azora Howl dragging Dandy into the clock to help save her, the two of them vanishing from sight as they pass inside.

Unless... Azora Howl hypnotized Eska into telling you that she could help Dandy and really she’s going to go hypnotize her! Oh no!!

You have to save Dandy, Adila!!

***

Kazelia!

Mother Void eats the sound of the bells. For a moment, you can hear the great and terrible sound of the bells, and then— silence. You can see the vibrations, see people reacting to the awful sound— behind you, Kyouko is caterwauling and curling up into a silky fluffy ball— but it’s gone. It’s just gone.

Which means you can see, clearly, Azora dragging Dandy into the swirling portal that has opened in the clocktower, the face of the clock she was enchanting having folded neatly to either side. That looks ominous. Deeply, deeply ominous.

And Mother Void, inside you, doesn’t seem to know a thing about what that is. So it’s not a doorway into her. It’s a doorway to somewhere else.

(Or, given what you saw of Eska’s notes... somewhen else...)

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

Adila!

You have your orders! They’re good orders, which you are good at. You are to protect Azora and make sure nobody interrupts her while she opens the clocktower.

It’s difficult work! For her, that is. Somebody made this face of the clock very difficult to access, and the mystic lock is taking all of her concentration. You are sitting next to her on a lawfully commandeered Clock Restoration and Preservation Society gondola lift, trying not to take up the whole thing. The wind ruffles your pretty, lacy headdress that Eska helped tie on just behind your horns.

Something deep inside you is screaming, but all that’s coming out is a weird little tap tap tap you’re doing with your claws.

Dandy sits next to you, still struggling to break free and unleash her Iluminan-inspired treachery. Don’t let her interrupt all those mystic sigils and wheels Azora is carving into the very air, crackling with energy as she tries to align the energy of her spell-key just so.

Even a dragon as stupid and clumsy as you can be trustworthy and look after both Dandy and Azora. You’re going to do your very, very best. That’s what Eska trusts you to do! And for her sake, and for Dandy’s, you’re going to be the goodest little dragon in the whole wide world and not push Azora off the gondola on accident on purpose.

***

Alina!

You expected the arrow. It comes hurtling out at you the minute you hit the Via Tempora, and you catch it effortlessly with your lights. Really, Eska? Really? You’re getting predictable.

Then there’s a puff of confetti and the scroll unwinds from around the shaft. It’s Eska’s looping, swooping cursive.

“Isolde says hello.”

Damage your Sense.

***

Kazelia!

“I wouldn’t come any closer if I were you.”

The space around the clock itself is a wide, decorated plaza, full of tourists and visitors and cafes. And, unfortunately, a lot of innocent people gasping at the sight of Eska Glinteye dangling an Iluminan dancing-girl off the clock’s scaffolding by her wrists, her boot on the knife placed precariously next to the ropes holding her up.

“We don’t want to make a scene, after all,” she yells at you. “Just stay out of this and nobody needs to get hurt!”

Nobody needs to get hurt. Knowing Eska, she’s not just talking about her hostage: she’s hidden her backup and prepped some nasty traps for anyone trying to follow her up, and she does not care about any of the civilians in the plaza below.

But also, making a scene like this? She’s going to bring both the Watch reserves and the King of the Bazaar down on her head. So she’s either got another escape plan ready, or a backup plan, or she’s got some scheme unfolding and this is all a trap.

***

[Kazelia]

Kazelia felt like she’d barely had time to warm her skin in the hot desert sun. It felt different than before. She wasn’t sitting on the deck of a ship slipping on ice of her own accidental creation; she was letting the midday sun warm her and actually feeling it. She thought that she might even get sunburned if she stayed out long enough. She even had the distinct impression of Mother, appearing like nothing so much as a fat, lazy cat curling up in a sunbeam beneath a window and it was a truly sublime vision.

But that wasn’t to be at all. Instead it was Eska up to her old tricks: taunting Alina, holding Adila hostage, and probably setting a million traps. It was anyone’s guess whether her goal here was to spur Kazelia and Alina into sudden action only to spring something on them before reinforcements arrived, or if her whole goal was merely to stall for time.

“Alina do you see anything odd? Something here isn’t as it seems” Kazelia says. She’s standing, summoning a sandy wind to blow across Eska’s position and divert any immediate arrows shot straight at them as she looks for a sign of what’s out of place.

[Rolling Look Closely, with the help of some magical wind and sand to maybe reveal or trigger something safely. I rolled with hope on the assumption that Alina will help at least enough to count as working together, whatever else she might do as well in her post. I’m also assuming Kazelia had the chance to share a meal on the way over and heal her stats.

5+6+0=11.
1. Is there something hidden or out of place? If so, what looks suspicious?
2. Tell me about Eska here. What’s she doing? What will she do next?
3. What will happen if I jump in and start a fight to free Isolde?]

***

[Adila]

Princess Adila leaps from the gondola.

It's a terrifying sight when a dragon comes right at you, especially if you're a former-Rider and were raised on bedtime stories of terrifying monsters of judgement who can smell a Princess who hasn't eaten her broccoli from ten miles away. Those wings, that speed, all that strength and power and worst of all, it's not your friend behind those eyes any more...

+Princess Kazelia!+ Adila says, swooping down and pulling her friend into a hug. +I've missed you! Oh, I am so glad you came, your sister is absolutely wonderful. I can't believe you never told me about her!+

Okay, maybe it is Adila back there still.

+I'm so glad you caught up with us - I'm sorry I left without saying anything but we were in a really big hurry - Dandy is in danger, you see. I sent you a letter explaining everything! Did it arrive? Oh, hey Alina! Wow, you look amazing in that armour!+

You did, in fact, receive a letter from Princess Adila right before you entered the city. It read like the diary page of the recently smitten, with hearts everywhere, and full of incredibly detailed little observations about Princess Eska, how cool she was, and all of her plans.

[Princess Adila is using teamwork to give Princess Kazelia Hope on her Look Closely roll]

***

[Alina]

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I take it back! Let me take it back! I’m sorry!!”

Little Alina had never been this desperate in her entire life. She’d tried everything she could think of, and none of it was working. She checked every room in the castle. Then she checked them all again in case she’d missed one. She’d run to every single person she could find and told them she was sorry, but nobody would accept her apology. They wouldn’t even tell her she was being silly and that Momma was on a trip to Axonia or anything like that! Freesia slammed the door in her face, Jessamine was too young to be any help, Lexi didn’t know what was happening, even Mommy wouldn’t fix it!

Mommy stroked her hair and made soft noises and said a lot of stuff, but all of it was wrong. She said this wasn’t Lina’s fault, she said that Momma loved her very much. She said that everything was gonna be ok. But it wasn’t! And it was all her fault!! Momma was gone and nobody knew where and she wasn’t coming back and it! Was! All! Her! Fault!

She didn’t mean it! She didn’t! Good princesses aren’t supposed to think that one mom is prettier than the other one. They’re not supposed to like getting snuggles from one more, they’re not supposed to turn to turn to the other when the first one says no. She didn’t mean to do any of it! She didn’t mean to fall asleep during her glass blowing lesson! She was a bad girl who didn’t love her Momma enough and now she was gone forever and she just wanted everyone to believe that she was sorry!

Alina buried her face in Momma’s pillow and cried the entire day away. It took hours for Mommy to find her and hold her until she ran out of tears. And it wasn’t until she saw the tears in Mommy’s eyes that she realized she needed to be brave and strong and beautiful for everybody that was still there.

Over time, even the shape of Momma’s face had started to fade from Alina’s memory. It wasn’t gone, but it wasn’t sharp and clear the way that Freesia’s still was. And she’d guessed that meant it wasn’t supposed to happen. When even Ourania had refused to say anything about King Isolde, Alina had completely given up hope on ever finding her. She’d told herself that it was ok; the long years with just the one mother had taught her how to handle the disappointment. Wherever Momma was, if she was even still alive, she must have at least been happy, and that was enough. Alina had a big important mission now and an entire Kingdom counting on its Princess-Promised much more than the return of its King.

And now… and now… Momma! Momma!! Alina’s eyes are glassy and unfocused, and she doesn’t so much as flinch when Adila came swooping down to join them. The only thing that’s in her sight is that clocktower, is Eska, is the hostage being dangled in front of them. If Eska meant to keep her away like this, then she’d outsmarted herself for sure. If she meant to trick Alina into jumping up through some gauntlet of genius traps, well… that was pretty short sighted of her too. Gold burns atop her tiara and fills her breastplate with its light.

Momma! Your daughter loves you, Momma! Just wait, just one more minute, and she’ll finally show you how much.

***

Kazelia!

”Eska is a mechanical genius and I am honored to be in her presence. She’s just like Hornet! Instead of making her machines look like you again, though, she’s made them look very non-representational. They have lots of legs and self defense crossbows, and all the bolts have a proprietary poison blend on them! Get hit and you’re going down peacefully! I wonder if she’ll consider selling them to the watch? I really hope she will! <3”

There they are, just like Adila described them. The clockwork marvels look like a cross between a scorpion and a gecko, clinging to wherever they could find a shadow. The wind and sand, of course, are intended to clog up their workings and make it harder for them to target you, but charging forward into the kill zone? You’re going to get shot by a bunch of bolts, you’re going to get bystanders hit by bolts, and while it won’t kill anyone... it’ll cause a lot of panic and, also, you’ll end up flat on your face with your muscles all slack, drooling onto the tiles while Eska grinds her heel into your back and Azora claims the Caduceus. That’s bad.

“I know you have fought Eska a lot, but she told me that if you don’t try to attack her sister, she’d be happy to leave you alone! In fact, if you really wanted to make her happy, which you should, because she’s really amazing, you could just go see the House of the Zodiac and let her claim whatever’s inside the clocktower. If I was as smart as Eska and wasn’t a dumb, useless ditz, I’d guess that this has something to do with figuring out where the tomb of Princess Eupheria is and disturbing her forever resting place and claiming the dark power of the Devil staff which consumed her when she fell and I did nothing!!! And Eska says that’s a good thing and I shouldn’t worry about it at all, so you shouldn’t either!”

You should probably do the opposite of that. The trick’s going to be getting height, right? Eska has the high ground, and she has the advantage in both range and time. All she needs to do is pin you down or buy time, and then she can whistle for Adila and fly off with her and Azora.

Adila!

“Adila!” Eska sounds angry. Did you do something wrong? “What did I say? I trusted you to do one thing! Don’t you trust me, too?”

Look after Azora and Dandy. You can do that and be with your friends, right? Just don’t let them interfere and you can hang out with them as much as you like!

Alina!

You’re not alone. Rita is making her war yowl next to you. If you dive forward, she’ll follow right behind you. If Eska tries to drop Momma, she’ll be right there helping you catch her. You are a team, and nobody can defeat the magic of kiss buddies. Nobody!

Go. You can do it. Go save Momma and punch Eska in the face and, as a finishing trick, stop Oberon’s daughters from disturbing the tomb of Eupheria, wherever her final resting place truly is.

***

[Kazelia]

Kazelia’s attention is suddenly torn in several directions all at once.

“Oh Adila! Hi! We were...” she’s looking at Alina charging in, remembering Adila’s letter and all the robots that Eska had set up here, that would only have their aim slightly slowed by the wind she’d kicked up.

“...were uh coming to find you. And I think my other sister Azora might do something really bad if we don’t reach her first. And Eska...” think Kazelia! You need to not start a fight with Adila right now and you need to do something about all those robots. Her hand, which was waving to Adila, suddenly crackles with an arcing, almost electrical white light and the wind quickly picks up much harder, scouring from rooftop to sparkling, gem-studded Jedadi rooftop. At this speed it will pick up the sand that naturally collects among market stalls and desert roads. It will fill gears with sand, send bolts off course, and generally stop up the clockwork things with grit. It won’t completely stop them, but if she’s lucky, it will damage them and weaken their bolts.

[Doom roll 1+6+2=9. Damage one stat in trying to drive off the robots, lose current advantage.]

“...Eska doesn’t know! Yeah. She’s very smart, but she’s used to doing whatever Azora tells her. I was too. Azora is the oldest and she’s always liked ordering people around. Oberon has been giving her the best magic for years too, and she’d probably try and turn Eska into a ferret or something if they argued...” okay there’s Alina diving forward, Rita hot on her heels. Hopefully, she’d slowed the robots enough to help.

“...a-anyway we uh, we need to go down there and uh, help Alina free her Momma and tell Eska she’s in danger from Azora right away!”

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

That's right, SAVED BY THE NETWORK, we have Princess-Champions of Hyperborea back on the air, baby. And just in time, too. We're all on the edge of our seats wondering whether Princess Alina Cascade can save her mother, King Isolde, from the clutches of Eska Glinteye; whether Princess Adila can break free from the hypnotic spell Eska has weaved over her; and whether Princess Kazelia, formerly of the Riders, can stop her sister, Azora Howl, from opening the prison of Wicked Queen Eupheria in the Clocktower of the Bazaar. Keep watching, gentle viewers!

(If you're wondering what in the world you just walked into: we're refugees from some recently downed forums looking to finish a game of Fellowship here, thank you kindly for your hospitality.)

Eventually, I'll be able to transfer some of our old data here, but for now, I'll leave you with, once again, some of the best art I've ever commissioned.