Friends at the Table
Cenn, City of Chains shakes and rumbles. A threat once only felt through the tremors of the ground emerges, claws long, hide scaled, and sharp… sharp all over. Even whiskers sharp. A master of the earth. A being that digs not only through the earth, but through—or around, or perhaps outside of—time itself! The Draco-Mole appears! This week on Perpetua: A Roar Across Cenn 04 Perpetua Guide [In Progress v.05] NPCs & Monsters [PNMS] Rotten Draco-Mole [NMGNS] Traits: Frenzied, Confused, Furious, Single-Minded Stats: DEX 6, INS 6, MIG 12, WLP 8 Attacks: Stone Cage, Heavy Claw, Plate...
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All across the Elevana League, pilgrims leave their homes and travel over great distances towards the city of Cenn, determined to meet with the only member of the Ennead who deigns to walk amongst their worshippers. As a matter of propriety and faith, what transpires between Castine and his believers is largely kept between the embodiment of metal and his visitors. But it is not uncommon to see echoes of the conversations in the life that follows. Greater confidence. Lesser cruelty. A new found curiosity. When you walk your lap with the Living Metal, it is said, you may find yourself newly...
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After an ominous meeting with Thereus Aegir, leader of the Hexcloaks, Caoimhe Wake regroups with Brontë Adelvys and Antistrophe Landrace, fresh from their victorious Beachminton showdown in Seawalk. Caoimhe shares the ultimatum she received from Aegir: Find out whether the recent earthquakes are tied to Castine, Living Metal. Which raises the question: How does one go about investigating a member of the Ennead while he is surrounded by his most loyal followers? This week on Perpetua: A Roar Across Cenn 02 Perpetua Guide [In Progress v.05] NPCs & Monsters [PNMS] I’ve been waiting...
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Called to Cenn, City of Iron Chains, Caiomhe Wake, Antistrophe Landrace, Brontë Adelvys (and his two attendants), arrive to find crisis rumbling in burg. The Hexcloaks have quietly taken over town governance, while outside, tremors have turned to quakes, even bringing harm to the Ironclad Parade—the statuary whose inhabitants were once devotees to Castine, Living Metal. Perhaps such devotion is earned in part by the curious community that Castine has built here in Cenn since his arrival a century ago. While the archeological dig that gave Cenn its full moniker continues, the city is now...
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After escaping one ambush in their hotel room and a second aboard the Buzzard Black, the crew of the Little Snail is finally preparing themselves for their climactic showdown with the deadly hitman, Genuine Sincere. They’ll need the right location, the right gear, and the right magical protection. And then, of course, they’ll need a little luck. This week on Perpetua: Sizzling Rivalry, Crashing Waves! 04 Perpetua Guide [In Progress v.04] NPCs & Monsters [PNMS] Genuine Sincere [NMGNS] Traits: Cold-Blooded, Bought, Veteran. Eagle-eyed Stats: DEX 10, INS 6, MIG 8, WLP 6 Attacks:...
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After being taken under the wing of Commodore Onyx, the crew of the Little Snail were brought up to date on the situation in Calstega Bay and beyond—learning for the first time details about a larger conflict between light and dark. But soon, they’ll learn just how limited the protection of this “protective custody” is. As Genuine Sincere begins to pull tight his snare, will Elena, Jonathan, Nicky, and Veile escape the hotel, or will they find their destiny cut short? This week on Perpetua: Sizzling Rivalry, Crashing Waves! 03 Perpetua Guide [In Progress v.04] Some Feedback [Page 15 of...
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Many are the questions that run through the heads of the Little Snail’s award-winning chefs as they are paraded through the streets of Calstega Bay. Some are quite philosophical: When is a victory a failure, and when might imprisonment be protection? Others are more mundane in nature: What is wrong with this Commodore, and how much trouble are we in? They will find answers to some of these questions, certainly, but some answers are only doors to new mysteries and new visions of the world… This week on Perpetua: Sizzling Rivalry, Crashing Waves! 02 Perpetua Guide [In Progress v.04] NPCs...
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Elena. Jonathan. Nicky. Veile. Four would-be adventurers, drawn together by circumstance yet bound by fate. At the helm of the Little Snail, they’ve driven full speed towards the glint of an assassin’s scope, believing that sometimes, the safest place to hide from a killer is right under his nose. Whether or not it will work, this tactic has brought them to new sights, and a new city: Calstega Bay. This industrious burg was once ruled by a tyrannical limb of the Adelvys Dynasty, Grand Sonnerian royalty and masters of the Manakin, doll-like beings brought to life by powerful,...
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Aboard the Argent Wind, Caoimhe Wake, Antistrophe Landrace, and Brontë Adelvys settle in for a peaceful journey east. But to live the life of the traveler is to dare fate, as all journeys are invitations to encounter the forgotten and the unexpected both. And for this group of adventurers, they find themselves faced with one and then the other: First, the sudden appearance of a childhood friend. Next, a rumbling of what might be amiss in the City of Iron Chains… This week on Perpetua: On Track to Iron Chains Pt. 03 Perpetua Guide [In Progress v.03] Town Maps [TNMP] Cenn, City of Iron Chains...
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From the roof of the restricted Hexcloak train station, Caoimhe Wake, Antistrophe Landrace, and Brontë Adelvys can hear the approach of a train. It is a train that will take them east, towards the coastline, towards Cenn, City of Iron Chains, and towards a brush with deity and destiny both. But if they are to board this train, they must first overcome a foe equal parts cryptic and cunning: The Fleggus! This week on Perpetua: On Track to Iron Chains Pt. 02 Perpetua Guide [In Progress v.03] NPCs & Monsters [PNMS] Fleggus [NMFG] Typical Traits: Territorial, Cackling, Experimental Stats:...
info_outlineSometimes, AuDy had found, people asked them to wait. This was transparently an exercise of power. Sit in there. I’ll be right through. Flat silence as minutes passed. There existed a line of tension between one human and another and as one person wound it tauter and tauter - with distance, or silence, or an enforced period of waiting - certain useful anxieties would be sure to emerge in the other. The logic of this seemed sound to AuDy.
On the other side of the room was a framed print of a man in the snow. He was lying on his back. A wire ran from the ceiling down to an outlet just above the floor, painted pale green. The top pin in the outlet carried electricity and the hexagonal grey one beneath it was a mesh hookup. For cleaning robots, and the like. The room was very quiet.
What the people who asked AuDy to wait failed to understand was that the line they wound as they brewed coffee in a neighbouring room would never grow taut. They could wind and wind and AuDy, silent in the waiting room, tracing the wire up the wall, would unspool their patience with an easy comfort. One minute was one hour was one month was one second.
Years later, just before the door opened, they remembered the man in the snow. He was lying on his back.
This week on COUNTER/Weight 0.2: Valuable Connections
What’s your lucky number, Aria?
Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)
Featuring Keith J Carberry (@KeithJCarberry), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), and Art Tebbel (@atebbel)
Produced by Ali Acampora
Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)
Music by Jack de Quidt