This is intended to be the conclusion of the serial live action role-playing game component of the history of Mourn, as begun in December 1998 and last played in January 2003. In reading this conclusion, it is important to recognize several assumptions made by the authors:
First, this fiction is intended to bring together plot threads in the setting to create a satisfying conclusion for the players. As such, it principally focuses on the actions of the player characters and their effects upon the history of Komaru. In that the adversaries of the player characters are often non-player characters, it is inevitable that these individuals be mentioned. However, their presence within this work is defined by how they maneuvered in response to the actions of the players and their characters. While there is a school of thought that suggests the most satisfying experiences are created when player characters are in continuous direct conflict with each other, in practice the authors found that this school of thought was ruinous to most players’ enjoyment of the game. Instead, this piece, and From Light to Darkness as a whole often describes the activities of non-player character foils and antagonists, present to give the player characters something to oppose.
Second, because we are concluding the game with a piece of fiction, rather than a game session, we are forced to make some small number of assumptions about player character actions. In all cases, we attempted to choose actions that would be, to use a colloquialism, “the coolest.” At the same time, the authors’ goal in this work was not to orchestrate a lengthy series of assumed actions performed by player characters: the conclusion principally concerns itself with one player-character-created problem, how the player characters could possibly have worked their way to a satisfying solution, and what the ramifications of that solution would be. In some cases, we will undoubtedly have chosen a course of action contrary to the player’s belief as to their character’s response, or else will neglect to fully describe the incredible deviousness or planning a character would have demonstrated in pulling off some marvelous feat. For this, we beg forgiveness, and offer as our apology the desire to produce a final product that satisfies the most people possible, including the authors, while at long last bringing the game to a close.
Third, a specific note on enjoying this work: the authors intended this piece to serve as a conclusion to From Light to Darkness, not an introduction. As such, the amount of introductory material is limited; to serve as a refresher and an aid for identifying the characters, a Dramatis Personae is included, and the authors have attempted to include historical context where appropriate. The authors have constructed this piece in the hope that both before and after reading it, it will allow those players who have enjoyed the game to rekindle some of their pleasant memories of From Light to Darkness, have some questions answered, and perhaps even come up with some new questions to discuss with their friends and fellow players. However, if the reader’s memory of From Light to Darkness has declined to vague recollection of Prestige points being important, and something going on with some magic cards, then the initial pass through this fiction may be less than satisfying. In the event that the game has faded to a distant recollection, the authors sincerely encourage the reader to spend a few minutes visiting web sites such as http://www.wolfandweasel.com/fltd/ or http://www.fltd.org/, or reviewing their character binders, to restore some context to the events presented within.
Without further ado, we present the end of From Light to Darkness.
Athel Bellatrix (Barry Eynon), a Bellatrix count and general.
Laurent Bellatrix (Cy Myers), a Bellatrix rebel and inheritor of Charlotte Bellatrix and Thierry Smith’s legacies.
Leda Bellatrix (Susannah Paletz), a Bellatrix countess and heiress to Sachiko Yuasa’s estate.
Leroix Bellatrix (Jacob Butcher), a Bellatrix count and Church Luminance.
Dominic d’Varise (Benjamin Last Name Never Disclosed), a merchant with revolutionary leanings.
Nikolai Issorat (Ken Shields), recently deceased, an Issorat count and lover of Komaru Kiseki .
Jerome Jitani (Tony Monroe), a merchant and Jitani, with vast wealth and underworld connections.
Kodacha Daisuke (William Cesarotti), a Veiled Guard scholar and inheritor of Aldemar Yuasa’s legacy.
Kodacha Tosha/Tanaka Tosha (Dave Oberholzer), a Veiled Guard swordsmaster and heir to Roberto de Flourent.
Alessandro Komaru/Mourn (Jeff Gates), a Komaru noble and explorer.
Komaru Kiseki (Cera Kruger), a Komaru duchess and reputed lover of the recently deceased Nikolai Issorat.
Komaru Mikomi (Rebecca Borgstrom), a Komaru duchess and playwright; under the sway of the Hierarchs.
Seraphine Komaru (Megan O’Neil), a Komaru marquess and mother .
Aya Minamet (Alison Laughlin), a Minamet countess and politician.
Ieyasu Minamet/Isaac Soro (Raymond Wood), a Minamet count and gunsmith for the Dawning Star.
Misharu Minamet (
Ruriko Minamet (Stacy Laughlin), a Veiled Guard and Minamet viscountess.
Minamet Tarano (T Godeau), recently deceased, a Minamet noble and former mercenary.
Radha (Christy Bertani), a physician, archer, and bandit.
Shudaya (Danielle Nichols), Principal Light of one branch of a divided Church. Formerly Kaliska Soieko.
Elisabet Sone (Leigh Ann Melloy), a Sone countess and well-respected hostess.
Hiroko Sone (Laura Burchard), a Sone marquess with no small amount of magical talent.
Kimiko Sone (Angie Clough), a Sone duchess and past Princess Consort and Regent; mother to Crown Princess Adriana Komaru.
Paloma Sone/Paloma Jitani (Sarah Palmero), recently deceased, a former Sone marquess and Jitani duchess slain at Castle Dedication.
Equanimity
Innocence
Jasper
Kaolinite
Purity
Dante Yuasa (David Argent), a Yuasa duke converted into a Lythrex, a strange group from the North.
Sophia Yuasa (Mel Giffords), a Yuasa duchess and traditionalist.
Historical
Issora Bella: An Issora noblewoman during Setsuna’s Age (~400 years ago).
Setsuna Komaru: Elder sister of Tomikazu Komaru. Single-handedly turned Kiyosawa’s Age to Setsuna’s Age, without a Consort’s assistance. Circa end of Kiyosawa’s Age (~500 years ago).
Tomikazu Komaru: last king of Komaru with a true Consort, before Adriana Komaru. Circa end of Kiyosawa’s Age (~500 years ago).
Komaru Tori: Queen of Komaru in early Setsuna’s Age (~450 years ago). Largely regarded as ineffectual.
Komaru Tsuruki: Reunited Komaru after committing regicide against Komaru Tori and taking the Crown, ending the Blood Wars during early Setsuna’s Age (~400 years ago).
Komaru Zachariah: Consort (non-magical) to Komaru Tori, queen of Komaru in early Setsuna’s Age (~450 years ago).
Paraceln: spiritual leader who had Paraceln’s Dream and created the modern age of Komaru. Circa end of Setsuna’s Age (~250 years ago).
Verity
The Kakera, also
known as the Elder Jitani
Celestino Jitani, the Unbinder: Attendant to the Queen’s Consort during Setsuna’s Age (~400 years ago); present day, supernatural
muscle supporting Alcasta, one of two Principal
Lights for the divided
The Crone: A previously unencountered kakera.
Damienne: Mysterious girl with a rumored connection to Sachiko Yuasa.
The Black Wind: Present day ally of the Ninth Desire.
Seriah Jitani, the Ninth Desire: Jitani foremost Omoehime no Miko during Setsuna’s Age (~400 years ago); present day, in the company of Lucien Skye Komaru.
Silvano Jitani, the Griever: A Jitani duke during Setsuna’s Age (~400 years ago); present day, master of the undead army advancing towards the Royal Capital.
Tomasino Jitani/Asrae Jitani, the Devourer: murderous apparent teenager; frequent visitor to the Royal Capital with psychotic intent.
Others, Modern Day
Alcasta: Principal Light of one division of the Church of Inner Light, favoring conservative approaches to magic and an alliance with the Kakera.
Edwin Bellatrix: Prince Consort and recent husband to Adriana Komaru; a widower.
Adriana Komaru, Crown Princess of Komaru: Sovereign of Komaru.
Alessa Skye Komaru: daughter of Lucien Komaru and wife of Dante Yuasa; regarded as one of the court’s preeminent beauties.
Glory Skye Komaru: Lucien Komaru’s youngest daughter; gifted with an exceptional knack for rebellion.
The Lion: A Lion Pharaoh, master of an Aten army across the eastern desert. Enemy of the Minamet.
Lucien d’Aramis
Skye Komaru: Half-brother to Adriana Komaru’s father, ambitious merchant prince and former
master of the Twilight Crux, now allied to the Jitani
armies marching on the Royal Capital. Also the lord of
Hideo Sone, Consort to the End: Twin brother to Adriana Komaru and supernatural entity destined to play a role in the End Times.
Melisande Sone: Sone viscountess and cousin to Kimiko Sone. Secretly in league with the Hierarchs, a society of wizards who seek to control the End Times.
Glory
Iolite
Patience
Soleil Yuasa: Yuasa viscountess, secretly once an assassin.
The Conclusion
Two hundred and thirty-eight years ago, a man named Paraceln, in the company of a prince, the woman who loved him, and a handful of scholar-warriors once sworn to oppose him, entered the Heart of Komaru and ended an Age. Through his sacrifice, Komaru was transformed; the magic granted to its people, a birthright given by Komaru’s founders, was all but sealed away. Yet there were places where even Paraceln’s Dream could not close off Komaru’s legacy, and in those places, the fate of the land would be decided.
One of those places was Castle
Dedication, in the foothills west of the ancient town of
“I am called Damienne,” she told Kimiko, “and I am here for two reasons. The first is to give you this,” she placed a black plaque in Kimiko’s hand, the warmth of her fingers surprising the duchess. “It is what remains of the lady Paloma Sone, who I am told was a friend of yours. I have heard that Paloma was a good woman who found herself in dark places, and I would like to believe that makes her and I alike. Guard that well, for I think that with it, you may yet find a way to avenge her.” Kimiko turned the dark card over in her hands, and saw its name: DEVOURER.
“Second,” Damienne continued, “I wish to give you and your family an apology.” She knelt before the duchess. “You cannot know what I have experienced, but I should have known better than to assume the world I awoke to was the same as the one I left. I have caused your family needless pain, and I have been made to suffer the same. The only fruits of that pain are madness and destruction. My ‘mother’ told me this, and I have paid my own price to come to understand it. I would have your forgiveness.”
She bowed her head and waited, and after Kimiko answered her, Damienne murmured, “I do not believe we will see each other again. May the stars watch over you, Your Highness, and may you make what you can of this shattered age.” Wind disturbed candle flame, and in the dance of shadows, Damienne reached out for a partner and let it carry her away.
The black card felt sticky and foul in Kimiko’s hand. She put it away and sought for water and soap, her thoughts following Damienne into the night.
-//-
Far to the north, two others who would soon join Kimiko at Dedication were spending a sleepless night in the libraries of the Minamet. After two seasons of research, Ruriko Minamet and Kodacha Daisuke had at last penetrated a three-century-old mystery. Starting from three names, the Veiled Guard slowly revealed a terrible conspiracy of corruption and betrayal among the greatest nobles of Komaru.
As Kiyosawa’s Age approached its end, the young king of Komaru, Tomikazu Komaru, rebelled against his destined role and refused to turn the Age, choosing to die by the Consort’s hand instead. His elder sister Setsuna was forced to turn the Age in Tomikazu’s place, alone and unaccompanied by a Consort. To the surprise of many sorcerers of the time, Setsuna succeeded. Afterwards, two young Komaru twins were named King and Queen, and a Regency led by the surviving sorcerers of the prior age took control of the kingdom. According to the Regency’s research, in prior Ages when the Consort was lost, a pair of twins would soon be born, one of whom would bear the marks of the Shepherd. But, twenty-five years into Setsuna’s Age, no Shepherd had been found. Furthermore, there were indications that Setsuna’s sacrifice had not been entirely successful, and that new, dangerous magics had become possible in her Age. For a time, the Regency, now formalized into a Council of Regents, attempted to cover this up. Their efforts could not hide the truth for long. With the legitimacy of the kingdom’s rule in doubt, Komaru’s peace collapsed, and the Blood Wars erupted between the realm’s great families.
Three primary factions emerged
in Komaru during the Blood Wars: the Royalist
faction, representing the King and Queen and backed by the Komaru
and Minamet families, with support from the Bellatrix witch-hunter clans; the alliance of the Jitani and the
The final piece of information the Veiled Guard gathered related to Jitani Celestino, who proved to be a courtier in the Royal Capital, and an associate of the consort Komaru Zachariah. Though the consort had long been believed slain in the coup that removed Komaru Tori, the Veiled Guard discovered circumstantial evidence suggesting that when its initiates assisted Komaru Tsuruki in his regicide, Komaru Zachariah might have escaped in the company of a number of Jitani, including Celestino. Furthermore, they discovered a fragment of Zachariah’s private writings:
This is the Age of the
Orphan Queen, but it may also be the Orphan Age. There is no true Consort, and
the Powers themselves grow distant. How can we know that the cycle of ages
remains intact? The sacrifice of Setsuna may not have
been enough. What if the world demands more?
If it were within my
power, I would give all I had to remake the world.
With the data they gathered, the Veiled Guard put together a new picture of the Jitani in Setsuna’s Age: bedeviled and betrayed by the man who would be king, rescuers of the murdered queen’s husband, and perhaps parties to his fears and ambitions in the face of Setsuna’s apparent failure. What they found did not exonerate the elder Jitani for the Excrescence, but it reminded the Veiled Guard to consider the nature of their foes.
Finally, they learned one more thing: how to destroy them.
-//-
At the gathering at Castle
Dedication, the inheritors of Verity
First to be tested were the Bellatrix, whose armies were turned against themselves in the south as the forces led by the Prince Consort
Edwin Bellatrix faced the Principal Light Alcasta and her Church loyalists, backed by the might of
the Jitani elder Celestino,
the Unbinder. Since the Interregnum, the Bellatrix family faced a crisis of identity: were they
soldiers of the Church, or soldiers of Komaru? At the
Battle of Prophet’s Hope, Athel and Edwin Bellatrix chose their family’s destiny: guided by Laurent
and Leda Bellatrix, they raised Castle Aria, attuned
their forces, and sent them against the walls of Prophet’s Hope. When Celestino Jitani appeared, an
answer was waiting: the Veiled Guard Kodacha Tosha, bearing a witchblade with
a dark card as its core, its name UNBINDER. Their battle was brief and
decisive: with a thrust, Tosha drove his blade
through Celestino’s chest and spoke his name. The
ensuing pyrotechnics left little doubt as to Celestino’s
fate. With the Unbinder’s death, Alcasta
and her faithful chose the Light over surrender; that night, no darkness
enveloped the devastated city of
-//-
In the west, the armies of Prince Lucien Skye Komaru marched under the banner of the Wandering Star, beside the walking corpses and theurges of the Jitani. The approach of the enemy army, combined with the devastation wrought by the Jitani destruction of the Royal Council, brought panic to the city long before the arrival of true enemies. Streams of panicked nobles and tradesmen began to flee the city, clogging the city’s byways and triggering several small riots. Kimiko Sone, returned to the city, found many of her resources occupied with maintaining order rather than preparing for the Jitani assault.
Meanwhile, on the western coast,
a different army began to move. The
-//-
It was said that Lucien knew the
moment his wife died, and given the powers he demonstrated over the years,
there is little reason to doubt it. The armies of the Jitani
redoubled their pace as they marched to the Royal Capital. In the city, another
of Lucien’s daughters had her own problems: Alessa
Skye Komaru, wife of Dante Yuasa, sought news of the
fate of her youngest sister Glory, lost when the rest of her family fled the
capital to the false safety of Skye. After days of hunting, Alessa
found her sister in a brothel in the worst part of the docks district, and
brought her to the safety of her husband’s manor. At the time, the meeting of
Dante Yuasa and Glory
Five days later, the hammer would fall: the armies of the Wandering Star drew up their battle lines three miles from the barricades surrounding the Tanner’s District of Komaru City. Kimiko Sone faced an army nearly as large as her own, with the sure knowledge that as her forces fell, the magics of the Jitani elder known as the Griever would cause them to rise against her. Twilight fell on the camps of both armies.
At midnight, Kimiko awoke to her aide’s call. A messenger had come through the darkness to deliver an invitation to parley: the terms indicated the message was from Lucien himself, and that he wished to meet with Kimiko, and would be waiting in the Whiteshear Mill with one other. His note indicated that he did not care if Kimiko came armed, but that she should bring no more than one other.
“You should take me,” whistled Melisande Sone as she read the note over Kimiko’s shoulder.
After a moment of surprise at the other’s unexpected appearance, Kimiko said, “Is this what you’re here for? Is this why you wanted the card?”
Melisande shrugged. “It may just be. There’s only one way to find out. Let’s go, cousin.”
Together, they set out for the mill. Approaching it, they saw Lucien seated by the water, in the company of a dark-haired woman, a bright ruby glimmering between her breasts. Both were unarmed, and at their approach Lucien rose and bowed. “Your Grace, thank you for coming. My companion is Seriah, and I know your cousin from long ago. Before we speak, I wish to tell you that my wife is dead.”
Kimiko
murmured in surprise, and Melisande frowned, but
Lucien raised his hand to bid them to listen. He took a deep breath, and spoke,
“We have had many conflicts over the years, but I believe you know that my love
for Glory
He held her gaze while Melisande and Seriah studied each other, Melisande fingering a blade at her hip. Seriah answered the gesture with a tiny smile and a shake of her head, the silvery bells ringing once more.
Kimiko gave her answer, and rode back to her camp.
In the morning, a third banner rose over one of the enemy camps: the standard of Komaru.
-//-
The battle of Whiteshear Mill would be remembered as the first conflict of elder Jitani versus elder Jitani, but it was the preparations made at Castle Dedication that would win the day. The defection of the Black Wind and the Ninth Desire to the side of the Royal Army stymied the two remaining kakera, the elder Jitani’s name for themselves, but the dead and theurges under the command of the Griever and the Devourer would be beaten by force of arms, not magic alone. The showdown between the Black Wind and the Devourer would linger for years in the memories of those who watched it, but in the end Melisande Sone’s dark blade would send the Devourer down the same path the Unbinder followed. The forces of Komaru had proven that the strength of the Jitani could be broken. His army in disarray, the Griever retreated to the southwest, his forces harried by Komaran cavalry deep into conquered lands.
In the wake of the battle of Whiteshear Mill, Lucien Skye Komaru was received by the Crown Princess, who thanked him for his efforts on behalf of the kingdom and exhorted him to remember that all, be they soldier or prince, had given up much in service to the kingdom and its people. Neither the Ninth Desire nor the Black Wind were invited before Adriana Komaru, but a letter of cautious appreciation was sent to both, bearing the Royal Seal. Lucien’s reunion with his daughters Alessa and Glory included an unwelcome surprise for the prince: Alessa’s news that Dante had forged an alliance with the northern creatures known as the Lythrex, was followed by Glory defiantly revealing the Lythrex tattoos she has accepted from the Duke of Alban. Aware that the armies of the Crown Princess still surrounded his camp, Lucien diligently prepared his forces to return to Skye. When Lucien left the city, Alessa accompanied him, while Glory remained behind, declaring that her place was with the Duke of Alban.
The battle at Whiteshear Mill marked a decisive turning point in the
conflict with the kakera.
The prince’s armies returned to Skye to find it razed; Lucien divided his
forces, sending his daughter Alessa south in the
company of the Black Wind, while he marched north against the
The arrival of the Yuasa ended the stalemate at the edge of the Plains. Dante and Glory had taken full advantage of their time among the demoralized Yuasa troops, introducing them to the mysteries of the Lythrex ways. When the Yuasa reached the Plains, they raised a Lythrex hive. Two days march into the Plains, they raised a Lythrex hive. Every two days, they brought forth another tumescent, featureless silo-hive, until, ten days into the Plains, they found a land of cloud and jungle. Once more, they raised a fortress, and from there, the armies of Komaru began their assault on the sanctuary of the renegade Jitani.
Ultimately, the Yuasa hive-fortresses proved to be the key to an invasion of the cloudland at the heart of the Plains of Crystal, and as such, it was perceived as just that the Crown Princess would give this land to the surviving Yuasa. That those remaining Yuasa would be, at least publicly, entirely all non-Lythrex is considered a testament to the role played by Sophia and Soleil Yuasa in inspiring the family to embrace its heritage, not that of the alien Lythrex. The sudden disappearance of Dante Yuasa and Glory Skye Komaru would also be noted as a key factor by historians in the decade to come.
The desperation of the renegade Jitani became clear in 240, when the Crone, a kakera previously active only within the cloudland, traveled to the East, where a great Lion Pharaoh held sway over the Aten river valley. The Minamet, embroiled in fending off the advances of the Lion, soon found His armies reinforced by strange fusions of Jitani and Aten sorcery. The fate of the Crone remained a mystery: the Ninth Desire and Black Wind could only say that the Crone, as she had once existed, was no more.
At the same time the Minamet found themselves pressed
by the armies of the Lion, the Hierarchs executed their promised assault on the
geomantic castles outside their control. At Sunset, the
The war with the elder Jitani came to its ultimate conclusion with the destruction of the Spillspire, well after the final decisive battle in the cloudland. With the Spillspire broken, the kakera caged within it were trapped forever, and those yet free lost much of their reserve of power. While the Consort still spoke of the kakera as a blight upon the face of Mourn, even he conceded that there were more pressing matters as the End Times drew nigh and the Veiled Guard and Hierarch conflict erupted ever more openly across Komaru.
The remaining Jitani sued for peace, and begged the Crown for lands to
call their own. Supported by the persuasive negotiations of the Ninth Desire,
the Jitani were granted the southern half of what
were once
With the conclusion of the
offensive against the Jitani, Lucien Skye Komaru turned his attention to his vow to avenge his lost
wife. His first step, raising Castle Glory in the ruins of Skye, marked the
prince’s declaration of intent to master High Magic. Under the tutelage of the
Ninth Desire, he assimilated the secrets of sorcery at an astonishing rate, and
put them to use as he launched a brutal offensive against the
As the white steam plumes of the
The Herald had arrived.
It was time for the End.
It is impossible for Neil, as the author, to entirely predict the events of Isseimatsu, the End Times, from the state of the game after episode 25’s conclusion. However, because I believe many players are interested, I will share my thoughts on what might possibly happen. Afterwards, I will add some observations on the fates of player characters, based on where I saw them headed at the game’s conclusion.
From Light to Darkness was initially intended to conclude with the End Times. High Magic was intended to be the magic system that would grant player characters the ability to participate in the End Times with substantial degrees of influence. However, as the game progressed, it became clear that High Magic was two things: a) sufficiently complicated that many players believed they would never understand it, b) sufficiently politically charged that it was difficult or impossible to organize the player base to advance as a whole. While somewhat disappointing to the author-as-mechanics-designer, the phenomenon was absolutely fascinating to the author-as-student-of-human-behavior. In my efforts to make a system that made players think about it, I feel I was a success.
However, the down side is that the player characters as a whole body were probably not up to making it their End Times, and efforts to change that would have produced too many plot-imposed deadlines, planning meetings, bruised egos, and repeated explanations of how things work to accomplish another goal of the game: being enjoyable to play.
Thus, at the game’s conclusion, the player characters find themselves in a condition where some possess the skills and knowledge necessary to play a role in the End Times, but the group as a whole is not strong enough to get them there. That does not, however, mean that the PCs are excluded from Isseimatsu – far from it! There are many groups in the setting that have that power, and many of the PCs have the chance to harness them as allies and take their place in the stars.
The King and the Consort
The preeminent position in the Turning of the Age is, of course, the ‘King.’ The PCs have firmly established that Adriana Komaru should have this role, accompanied by the Consort of the End, Hideo Sone. Together, these two can create Adriana’s Age, and make of it what they will.
The Sorcerers
The eight sorcerers who survive the Age are in a unique position: they retain worldly power, but surrender the opportunity for deification represented by being a foremost miko. Within the PC group, any character with a third-level attunement and a close alliance with a group who can push them farther along the path of attunement has a reasonable chance at being a Foremost Sorcerer. The two groups with the best chance of supporting the Foremost Sorcerers are, of course, the Hierarchs and the Veiled Guard.
The Miko, Case by Case
The foremost miko positions are, cosmologically speaking, the real prizes in the End Times. A foremost miko becomes a Power – a god, inasmuch as gods exist within Mourn’s universe. They create a Cosmos card, and their bloodline is retied to the world, strengthening an existing bloodline or creating one from nothing. In Paraceln’s Age, the prize of bloodlines is particularly critical:
v The Yuasa line is tainted by its enslavement to the Aten.
v The Asawa line is poisoned by the death of the Naga Queen.
v The Skye line is ambition incarnate, and could be created as a true family.
v The “Komaru” line is a fraud, a hybrid lineage of the true Komaru and the Bellatrix.
All four bloodlines have a tremendous amount to gain if one of their number secures a place among the foremost miko and ascends to the stars.
That said, who are likely to be the miko?
Belisama no Miko
Belisama no Miko is empowered by her lover’s death. No strong candidates exist at the game’s conclusion: this one is wide open.
Eratohime no Miko
Eratohime no Miko is empowered by time spent without telling lies. The Hierarchs have a well-qualified but fragile candidate; if the Hierarchs have a strong position entering Isseimatsu, it is likely their traumatized, tongueless Eratohime no Miko candidate will become another alien, insane Power.
Nephthys no Miko
Nephthys no Miko is the chooser of the slain, empowered by collecting the spirits of the dead and preserving them for direct delivery to the Cosmos. Misharu Minamet is foremost here, and barring a massive slaughter to create a new candidate (something neither the Hierarchs nor the Veiled Guard considers desirable), has enough support from the Minamet and the Naga to make it through Isseimatsu. However, the Minamet have another wish: see the Asawa family reborn. If Misharu surrenders her Nephthys no Miko strength to an Asawa, the Minamet dream could be made real. However, there’s only one way to transfer Nephthys no Miko status…
Omoehime no Miko
Omoehime no Miko is the creator of passion, and its denier. Katarina Issorat, white witch of the Hierarchy, is foremost, and possesses tremendous magical power. However, she also has a vulnerability: she has enchanted Komaru Mikomi, turning Mikomi into her weakness. Were Mikomi to choose to seek Katarina’s destruction, Omoehime no Miko could be seized by nearly anyone. Zoe Komaru, another dedicated candidate for the role, suffers from a basic weakness: she does not have the inherent strength to resist being broken.
Tennut no Miko
Tennut no Miko guards the world against the Cosmos. The Hierarch “Damien,” Lucien Skye Komaru’s half brother, is foremost, but has a challenge: the destruction of a kakera creates an alternate form of Tennut no Miko candidate, of tremendous power. As the kakera fall, Damien’s power becomes threatened; if the slayer of a kakera can survive Damien’s blade, one of the most powerful Hierarchs may see his ambition turn to dust.
Thalassa no Miko
Thalassa
no Miko is created as she is destroyed by the Mer.
Several reasonable candidates, PC and NPC, exist, but one PC has an unexplored
advantage. Equanimity
Troian no Miko
Troian no Miko vanishes from the world into the stars. Any sorcerer of great attunement to the Night has a good chance at this; Troian no Miko, by definition, goes to the candidate who has made herself least vulnerable.
Urania no Miko
Urania no Miko is chosen by the stars. This is another wide-open position; Komaru Kiseki has the skills necessary to take it, if she can keep the stars aligned as she wishes, but the long years between 238 and the End Times in 256 may impose more of a burden than she wishes to bear.
These are not going to be lengthy, but where I had ideas of where character plot was headed, I wanted to be sure to share them.
The Bellatrix: Athel,
Laurent, and Leda
As mentioned above, the Bellatrix family’s problem is that they don’t know if they’re the Soldiers of the Church or the Soldiers of Komaru. Athel, Laurent, and Leda have the pieces they need to understand what the two choices mean, and take the correct path. The history above assumes they find it.
That Other Bellatrix: Leroix
For years (literally), Xavior Yuasa was regarded as the pinnacle of scheming treachery. Man, Xavior could’ve learned something from Leroix Bellatrix. His schemes embroiled the Jitani, the Church, and the Bellatrix in much of the chaos of the last few games. His promised and withheld support for Shudaya as Principal Light caused a dead tie between the two candidates. Leroix, you win the prize as the reigning master of chaos!
The Church: Shudaya and Innocence
I can’t really say much here. Do you think the PCs would ever entirely grasp that the Church was an institution dedicated to burning up the souls of Komarans? I’d like to think so! With Alcasta destroyed, Shudaya gets the Church, with Innocence to help her. I can barely guess at what trouble the two will get into!
The Issorat: Nikolai and, surprisingly, Mikomi Komaru
The Issorat family, devastated in the prior age, has a surprisingly good chance of being restored in Paraceln’s Age. Between Nikolai’s relationship with Kiseki Komaru, and Mikomi Komaru’s efforts to single-handedly create the next Issorat generation, the Issorat could well be reborn as a Great Family in Adriana’s Age.
The Jitani: Paloma
and Jerome
Paloma’s death, discussed above, combined with the tragedy of Sachiko Yuasa to set the stage for the redemption of the Shroud, the kakera dwelling in the body of Sachiko’s daughter Damienne. Poor Paloma! It was uncanny how many times she took the blame for crimes committed by other Jitani PCs. Jerome, for his part, faces a challenge to his survival: as a Jitani and a merchant with criminal ties, he is about to go head-to-head with the Lythrex as they establish themselves as the underworld syndicate in Komaru City. Jerome will have some hard choices ahead of him.
The Komaru: Kiseki,
Mikomi, and Seraphine
The Komaru have a big collective problem: they’re fakes. Their bloodline is impure, composed of a blend of the ‘Sone’ Royal Golden Line and the Bellatrix Red Line, and maintained by an age-long conspiracy of Church physicians. By 238, the Sone have pretty much managed to push the “Komaru” out of the Royal Succession. The Royal Council is broken, Adriana Komaru’s son and probable Royal Heir has the Sone bloodline, and the Sone Royal Physician is diligently ensuring that the children of all the highly-placed Komaru are actually Sone. It’s only a matter of time until the “Komaru” realize they’re a house of cards, and the Sone reclaim their place as the Royal Family – unless, that is, a Komaru takes a place as a foremost miko in Isseimatsu.
The PC candidates for that are interesting to consider:
Kiseki Komaru is part of one of the saddest and most powerful tragedies of From Light to Darkness. When Nikolai Issorat agreed to serve as bait for the Pale, he did so having consciously refused to accept the power that would have shielded him from the Pale’s control and destroyed his love for Kiseki. Nikolai’s decision, and his subsequent death at the Pale’s hands, sets him apart from generations of Issora who defined strength as the ability to be loved without having to give love in return. His death is a powerful symbol that could be used to change the identity of the Issorat family. Kiseki is a skilled sorceress, but it remained to be seen how she would change with Nikolai’s death. I for one would love to know what her player saw in Kiseki’s future.
Mikomi Komaru’s purpose for some time has been rebuilding the Issorat family, and she has been mother to a prodigious number of Issorat children. She is also magically bound to Katarina Issorat, with consequences discussed in the section on Omoehime no Miko. Were she to switch her purposes, she could break Omoehime no Miko open for anyone… perhaps even herself.
Seraphine Komaru has an excellent grasp of High Magic, among the best at Castle Dedication. However, her ambition appears to be fulfilled joyously by her marriage to Aleron Komaru, and barring some unplanned terrible fate for young Aleron, it seems likely that Seraphine lives out her days until the End Times happily enjoying motherhood.
The Minamet: Aya,
Isaac, Misharu, Ruriko, and
Tarano
First, a simple revelation of fact: Minamet shrines do not produce Prestige. Never did, never would have. Whoever started that rumor is a very naughty person and should feel profoundly guilty for the amount of grief and confusion they created! Ten lashes with a wet noodle for you!
That said, the Minamet do what the Minamet do: they have a line in the sand, and they defend it. If they can do this until the End Times, and they can make an Asawa foremost miko, they restore the other half of the Minamet family. They have three pieces to do this: a Minamet foremost Nephthys no Miko, a pool of young Asawa children from mothers such as Ruriko and Aya, and the support of the unleashed Naga armies. The Asawa would return to the Minamet a reason to perform their duty until the end of the world.
Oh, Isaac: your wife Irina is a Veiled Guard paladin, and if you build her a good enough gun and armor, she shoots her way into Isseimatsu.
The Sone: Elisabet
and Hiroko
Elisabet and Hiroko would have inherited a difficult position as the NPC Sone family pushes the NPC Komaru family down in a game where the PC Komaru dramatically outnumber the PC Sone. Elisabet makes me wish I could have run the game in a way that would let her be a proper hostess. Hiroko has one of the better sets of magical comprehension in the game; were she to make an alliance with a support group, she could parley her knowledge into a prominent role in the End Times.
The Sone: Kimiko
Kimiko, your goal was to protect your children. If it’s their destiny to turn the age, then I believe you have done what you needed to for them to get there.
The
With the Collegium
and Kaolinite’s researches, it’s only a matter of
time before the
The
For Equanimity’s fate, or at
least one path thereof, see Thalassa no Miko, above. One way or another, her marriage to Hideo Sone, Consort to the End, makes her life exactly the sort a
Purity’s ambition, revealed late
in the game, was to have a child of every family. She was inches from
discovering Iolite
The Veiled Guard: Daisuke, Ruriko, and Tosha
Tosha slays the Unbinder, qualifying himself for Tennut no Miko, sort of.
Daisuke finally gets a play performed at Castle Dedication, a heroic effort that should be recognized despite the amount of bitterness it doubtless produces.
Ruriko’s ambition of becoming an ancestral spirit is open to her at any time. Perhaps with the Veiled Guard she can survive the age and become a foremost sorcerer, but even if she does not, it’s within her power to see that her wisdom remains on Komaru to guide its people until the end of the world.
The Yuasa: Dante and Sophia
Dante becomes a Lythrex, and is married to Alessa Skye Komaru, who wants nothing to do with the Lythrex. However, Dante has an ambition, and Alessa has a sister with an ambition of her own. When Dante meets Glory Skye Komaru, he gets a unique opportunity to take over Lucien Skye Komaru’s underworld syndicate and make them loyal to him: he turns Glory, and then all the seedy criminal types she knows about, into Lythrex. He also turns bunches of Yuasa into the Lythrex. This is good in that it makes the Yuasa useful in the war with the Jitani, but bad in that it makes the Yuasa no longer Yuasa.
Ultimately, if the Yuasa want to survive in Komaru, they can’t do so as part of the Lythrex hive mind. Sophia Yuasa’s destiny, successfully executed, is to save the Yuasa. Dante, for his part, wants to be remembered as a hero and then disappear quietly into the heart of a great crime web that, one tattooed body at a time, twists itself deeper and deeper into Komaru.
The Independents: Alessandro Mourn, Dominic d’Varise,
and Bandit Radha
The problem with the independent PCs, with no strong ties to anything within the game, is that it’s almost impossible for me to figure out how to predict what they’ll do next!
Alessandro Mourn’s goal is to go East, which is interesting but likely stymied by the Crone and the Lion colliding. If he learns to appreciate glaciers, he may find something interesting across the Plains of Crystal to the south.
Dominic d’Varise is a bourgeois revolutionary rebelling against the age’s foremost bourgeois revolutionary, Prince Lucien. It’s a bold position to take! You know you’ve made it as a revolutionary when you have radical revolutionaries accusing you of selling out.
Radha, bandit, lives a life unconcerned with matters of cosmology and government. A bandit’s life is one of freedom and independence, living day to day by one’s own skills. If this is the life Radha seeks, then there is no doubt that as the End Times approach, Komaru affords her the room she needs to be her own woman, beholden to no higher powers.
One final question should remain: do Adriana and Hideo break Paraceln’s seals and return High Magic to Komaru?
Look inside yourself, and tell me the answer.
That is the journey from Light to Darkness.