Sangfielle 41: Just Returns Pt. 5

This episode carries content warnings for insect infestation of a human body, description of wax skin, description of bodies smothered in wax and entrapment inside of a wax-flesh covered space, depiction of gun violence, blood and depiction of bleeding, description of wax and wax-body disfigurement, lack of bodily control, mention of real life sleep paralysis, imprisonment and kidnapping, violent bodily transformation, humanoid liquidification.

Now I know it's passé to talk about how people may be the real monsters, but look at this situation the Blackwick Group have found themselves in. Sure, they've found themselves across from an ever-expanding waxen beast. And yes, the township has been overrun by a rambling sort of candle zombie. And neither of those things are good. But when push comes to shove, what's the thing that's making this so complicated? Well, it's the magistrates ain't it? By laying siege to the town, they primed the city for chaos, readied it to go up in flames, burst, and boil. And now the Blackwick Group's gotta bring things back to a simmer. Only problem is, they're just people too...

This week on Sangfielle: Just Returns Pt. 5

The Almanac of the Heartland Rider

Places

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

Rebek Semm, Justice Bringer (she/her): Leader of the pack of Magistrates laying siege to Blackwick. Oh, and the late Ezek Semm's older sister.

Gren Voznik, the Silent Hatchet (he/him): Big, quiet, and driven to solve problems axe-blade first.

Ennib Lee, the Wildcat (she/her): Named for her custom ammo, this sniper is the only human in Rebek Semm's crew of Magistrates. A crack shot, a smart mouth, and a chip on her shoulder.

Lejune Borr of Paper Faith (she/her): Priest of Fulmina and former disciple of the Prophet Calvin III, who the Kay'van agent Polyte killed many months ago now. A master of applied prayer.

Dr. Kerr Kern (she/her): A Telluricist on loan to the Magistrates, where she works on final preparations for her Keen exam. While she's grown close to the group over the last year, their methods do trouble her. Currently holding Marn's research on Zevunzolia, nullstuff, the Wrights of the Seventh Sun, and the fundamental nature of curses.

Organizations

The Second Canton, aka The Pale Magistratum (ma-juh-strah-tuhm): The Second Canton has ordered itself around its Magistrates—holy marshals given weapons blessed by Fulmina, goddess of immediate justice, and the right to use that power as they see it.

Wrights of the Seventh Sun: A secret society dedicated to the construction of Zevunzolia, whatever the cost. Their motivations are many: Some believe that the Devils ought to have continued climbing whent hey escaped hell, that this was not the paradise earned. Otherse believe that Zevunzolia is telos of telos, the end-cause of all end-causes, and thus will inevitably bring itself into being. And given that, to do anything but aid it is to risk exclusion from it, or worse.

The Shape Knights: It took people with clear minds, great ingenuity, and implacable spirit to face down and defeat one of the living trains of Sangfielle. In the time since, they've crafted armor from their slain foe, and with that have come to be experts of all things train. They herd, they breach, they redirect. But they haven't yet killed a second.

The Disciples of the Triadic Pyre: Appropriately devoted to a trio of gods, the Triadic Pyre believe that entropy is the only certain thing in this world, and as such aim to master it. Recently began to mark workers willing to do their tasks in the mines with their brand.

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)

Featuring Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart), and Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Produced by Ali Acampora

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

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