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Character: Grieve
Direction: east

Well, she certainly couldn’t ********’ fault Tempesti for telling them all to roam and loot her city at will. It was the sort of thing that most other times would have her carousing with a few likeminded (or at least easily bullied) fellows and figuring out the best way to make the host regret their generosity. Instead, she sauntered slowly along the road toward the docks.

Grieve didn’t need spirits to guide her way, it was familiar enough. Tempesti hadn’t been a second home or anything, but she’d been by a few times and had liked the appreciation for craft and beauty that the people had built into near every aspect of the city. Though she preferred the more natural and down to earth sort she saw around her now, to the haughty and delicate aesthetics from her last visit here. But then again, docks in most places were where Grieve, constant traveler, felt most at ease.

The places where peoples came together, learned to make deals and just plain deal with one another. Minds and pockets stayed open, and what folks wanted was a lot more ******** real and earnest than anyone gazing down from some high a** tower could muster. People wanted money. They wanted adventure. They longed for something new, or so ********’ old it might as well be.

Memories of the lively markets and steady ebb and flow of bodies to the docks wove through the quiet reality of the present. Did you really need the grace of spirits when you could summon world upon world of the dead and gone with a ******** thought? With a grimace, grieve turned her gaze away from a stand that the best ********’ fish stew, and she’d gotten in a whole brawl over some sturdy who’d knocked her bowl over.

The salt smell of the sea intensified on the air and the deep, gentle knock of hollow wood upon wood sounded a solemn beat as the docks themselves came into sight. The shore and all its accompanying creatures had begun to creep up and over, new life taking the place of the old, or maybe just taking back what had been their inheritance long before the people of Tempesti had set their claim. It was a peaceful thought of sorts, allowing the cycle of Rise and Collapse to make its wellworn path through the ancient tangle of Grieve’s emotions and being.

Tempesti had Fallen, collapsing in on itself as all worlds had and would. As all things have and would.

And now, with a flourish of battles against revived guardians and the earnest research of its senshi, Tempesti was Rising.

The docks were still in pretty s**t repair though, Grieve curled her lip and nudged a piece of broken stone with her shoe. Not gonna be any more fishing off these for a while, eh? But not without some worth, apparently. The bright fabric of a little bag peeked out from the mouth of an overturned jug. Carefully placed to be both hidden and seen, Grieve couldn’t help but find the world’s senshi pretty ********’ cute for all her efforts with this festival.

Glancing up, she caught sight of a lively gang of the shiny, striped whatever ******** their names were, and called out over the water, “I’ll catch you ******** next time!”

Character: Muri +1 (Article of Clarity)
Direction: East

With his, Yuki’s, and Tianyi’s flower crowns chosen, Murikabushi was eager to get a better look around Tempesti’s world. While his own world probably only interested him so much because it was his, not because it was anything anyone else would’ve cared for in any capacity (a sentiment that Murikabushi had come up with in his own mind, based on nothing but his own feelings, and proceeded to fact-checked with no one), everyone else’s worlds held infinite fascination for him. All of the stories that had to be out there amidst the buildings, or even outside of the cities, waiting to be found.

Fortunately for Murikabushi and his endless curiosity about space, space history, and anything tied to those subjects, finding those old stories seemed to be the entire point of the next activity that Tempesti had for them. Muri hummed as he looked over the map, then looked up and around at the places where they could go, then back to the map. With his long, long hair and pouty lips—Murikabushi took a look toward the north, tilting his head in consideration—cute little butt and sexy hips—and then to the west, with its fancy-looking buildings and a large one in particular that drew the eye. The way he moves has me inspired—next, he looked toward the docks in the east, which had to have all kinds of interesting stuff waiting for someone to find it.

He’s the boy that I require—finally, Muri glanced off to the south, and audibly cringed, allowing himself to pull a face along with it.

“What’cha thinkin’, ********>” Yuki asked, gently nudging his shoulder into Murikabushi’s. “Because humming Pansy Division could mean pretty much anything, but I did not like that ick-ing sound?”

“I mean, in fairness, it might not be anything? Or at least nothing worth making a fuss over,” Murikabushi said, being careful not to disturb the flower crown too much as he nudged some hair off his face. “And like, I’m really interested in that big tower down to the South? But Grieve’s girlfriend is going off down that way, y’know?”

Although Muri tried not to be too obvious, lest he draw any unwanted attention onto Yuki or Tianyi (neither of whom deserved it), he did try to gesture in the direction of the short, curvy Earth Knight in the blonde hair and fancy digs, whom Muri personally only knew as “Grieve’s Girlfriend” (Joy). As long as Yuki and Tianyi saw enough of her to know who he was talking about, Muri would live and make it work.

“We really didn’t get off on the right foot when I met her back at Christmas, while I was trying to pay Grieve’s tab at the 7-11,” he explained, wincing at the memory. Looking to Tianyi, he added, “Somebody I knew from when I was with the Dark Mirror Court was at the 7-11 with a different Earth Knight—or Squire, I guess, technically? They both messed each other up in a fight, and I know Lete, so I ask her what happened first. And even though I’m calling her out for lying to me by omission about how she’d started the fight, because I know she does this a lot and she’s not being subtle? Grieve’s girlfriend and her Squire friend didn’t take it super well that I was, like? Talking to Lete at all instead of just hurting her or something.”

Sighing softly, Muri allowed himself to roll his eyes and shake his head. Truly, that night had not been the best first impression he’d ever made on anybody—which did suck, actually! He wanted to be on at least civil terms with Grieve’s Girlfriend, y’know? And not have her and her Squire friend calling him “turncoat” or accusing him of aiding and abetting the enemy just because he didn’t think Lete deserved to die for the crime of being annoying, shameless, and ill-mannered.

But for the time being, Muri didn’t know how to prove that he wasn’t……whatever all Grieve’s Girlfriend had taken him for that night, and he also didn’t want to apologize for a situation when he knew he hadn’t been in the wrong. So, all things considered, maybe it was better to avoid getting too close to Grieve’s Girlfriend (or in this case, going south)?

Noir xx Songbird

As you reach a bridge to cross the canal, a puff of colorful sparkles materializes in front of you with a loud squawk. Hildegard the Horrible Fairy Chicken eyes you briefly before pecking around the base of a post beside the bridgehead. Her nosiness draws the eye to a gap where a stone is missing, in which you spot a brightly colored bag.

A glance into the canal below would reveal a school of large, almost translucent flying fish leaping out of the water. Their scales flash iridescent in the light until they disappear into the distance.


Upon opening the bag, Edam finds a small figurine delicately carved to resemble a weasel-like animal with a curious, mischievous face. Its fur is carefully stained in a rainbow gradient.

In the center of a plaza surrounded by the guildhalls you see an inactive fountain with a sculpture of a large, elegant water bird in the center. Hanging from its open beak you see a colorful bag.


Upon opening the bag, Creedence finds a small stained glass figurine in the form of a squirrel-like animal with brightly colored fur.

At the edge of a walkway before a row of market stalls you see a patch of brush. Flitting in and out of the pale greenery you see animals resembling fat leopard geckos with metallic scales and feathered wings. Though they scatter at your approach, they watch from a distance as you retrieve a bag from among the plants.

Upon opening the bag, Yuki finds a small wooden puzzle box. Upon solving it, he will find a figure of an eagle-like bird carved in iridescent white stone.

As you pass a small flower patch lined with stones, Hildegard the Horrible Fairy chicken appears in a riot of enthusiastic squawks and colorful sparkles before landing among the flowers, beside her you see a colorful bag. Flitting around the flowers you see tiny insects resembling bumblebees in a rainbow of colors. They show little interest in you, focusing instead on the blossoms.

Upon opening his bag, Blarney finds small stained glass figurine in the form of a plump white bird with a black beak and black feet. Its black head plume and tail feathers are each tipped with red.

Character: Tianyi
Direction: East

Tianyi felt far more comfortable sticking with Muri and Yuki; the more knowns, the easier this all seemed. He didn't think he'd been to anything quite so...anxiety-inducing; the other times he had found himself in big gatherings, there was an enemy to focus on, something to fight and therefore something to sublimate his fears into. But this was just...a lot of people...who all might want to talk to him, or ask him questions, or...

If he was with people he knew, maybe he could avoid all that.

Anyway, a hidden object game sounded fun. Tianyi couldn't help but like the idea of exploring and seeking out whatever Tempesti had hidden for them to find; he'd played games like that with his family, once, and he'd been quite good at it. He could put those skills to use again, and maybe reminisce a little at the same time.

Haoran would have loved this. He'd always gotten especially intense and competitive about these sorts of games. It had been annoying at the time, but now, Tianyi sort of longed to hear his brother's taunts about lagging behind and how Haoran would surely have all of whatever their fathers or teachers had hidden before Junkai or Xiulan even got started looking.

He was quiet while Yuki and Murikabushi debated where exactly to go; Tianyi himself didn't have much in the way of decisive opinions. Everything looked nice enough, and while he was getting better about standing up for himself, it wasn't exactly worth it when he didn't....have much of an opinion.

"That does sound like it would be awkward," he acknowledged, glancing in the direction Muri pointed. "And it was very rude to assume that you were helping Chaos just because you didn't jump to violence." Tianyi was, frankly, glad he hadn't dealt with that; he was sure there were people who would look at his choices to be kind to people like Jet and Ilmari and see that as suspicious and perhaps even "treasonous," however people defined betrayal in these sorts of circumstances. But that was, to Tianyi's mind, their problem, not his.

At least that would be people hating him for something he'd actually done. A novel experience.

"The docks look lovely," he said. "I'd be happy to look around over there, especially because...I can climb that cliff? But I don't think I really want to." He scuffed his foot, a little. "I don't really feel like getting all sweaty, you know?"

At the center of the pier stands a large boathouse. Unlike the rest of the buildings along the docks, this one is clearly some kind of defensive structure. Large, salt-pocked bronze doors bear the image of a winged woman holding a sword aloft against a starry sky.

Its purpose, it seems, is irrelevant to the wildlife of the city, as evidenced by the abandoned burrow just beside one of the doors. Upon closer inspection you spot a brightly colored bag just inside.


Inside, Tianyi finds a small figurine delicately carved to resemble a hummingbird-like animal. Its feathers are carefully stained in shades of teal and red.