Sangfielle 06: The Hymn of the Mother-Beast Pt. 2

The Hymn of the Mother-Beast Pt. 2
Episode information
Episode	06
Release Date	April 15, 2021
Length	1 hour 21 minutes
Content Warnings	A corpse An animal feeding on flesh Claustrophobia Broken bones Death from immobility Implied starvation Fingernails A body in a sack Animal sacrifice Burning A severed limb Animal slaughter Dissociation Mental confusion
Meta
Game	Heart: The City Beneath
Score	Sangfielle
Episode guide
Previous	The Hymn of the Mother-Beast Pt. 1
Previous	The Hymn of the Mother-Beast Pt. 1
Next	The Hymn of the Mother-Beast Pt. 3
Next	The Hymn of the Mother-Beast Pt. 3
Links
Episode Page	friendsatthetable.net
Transcript	Google Docs

Episode description

Having found their way through the chapel beneath Blackwick’s ruined abbey, the Blackwick Group continue their search for Janek Polyte and the mysterious magistrate who seems to be with him. From the bottom of a pit of salt, the group must find a way up a cliff face and back onto their prey’s tail—all while making sense of the strange new place they’ve found themselves in. In the distance, a bell rings, and a ritual begins.

This week on Sangfielle: The Hymn of the Mother-Beast Pt. 2\

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.
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.
Free Seas of Kay’va, formerly the Fourth Canton (kai-vah): First established after Cecile Cartine’s revolution over 300 years ago, today Kay’va is home to a collection of aligned communes who swear that the only way to prosperity is through the defense of equality.
The Residuum:  A realm of vibrant color, where the things of the world go when their time in the material world fades away. A plane of death, but rendered in glorious light.

Facts and Figures

Janek Polyte (he/him): A Drakkan member of Blackwick County’s youth community, and a member of the group who went beneath the Abbey’s ruins a year ago. Quiet in public, and little kept in his humble home.
The Shape: Are the trains that run across the Heartland bound to the Structure, or do they direct it? Is the overlap between the two even real at all, or might two machinic forces be at work here in Sangfielle?

Organizations

The Telluricist Union: Made up by a mix of peoples driven to the hills by Aldomina, this group of knife sharpeners, herbalists, geologists, and all around investigators have made it their job to keep their old wisdom and see it used to help those in need. The best among them are called Keen.
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.

Contents

Plot

The party arrives in the doorway of a large cathedral, looking out the doorway into the salt-canyon of the hymn. In the distance they see the magistrate and Janek struggle on a bridge. Janek's compass falls off and Chine picks it up.

The party delves into a tunnel (slowly, due to the size of Pickman's armor). They encounter a bat, around 3' (91 cm) tall, that is gnawing on a human skeleton. Chine successfully asks it to let the party pass, but the tunnel narrows further and becomes too tight for Pickman's armor. Marn chisels some of the walls to let Pickman pass and discovers it is made of a strange savory salt. As the party continues forward, they hear the rumbling of vast worm-like creatures down here, so Virtue helps dig the rest of the way out with her hands.

The party emerges on a plateau near the bridge and sees that, although they've been underground for a few hours, the time of day has not changed. They follow two sets of footprints through a mostly-dried river bed, with Pickman shielding the others with her shadow. In the distance is the Priory of the Mother-Beast.

Cast

• Austin Walker
• Ali Acampora (as Marn Ancura)
• Andrew Lee Swan (as Chine)
• Jack de Quidt (as Pickman)
• Sylvia Clare (as Virtue Mondegreen)

Other Characters

• Janek Polyte (briefly seen)
• Pale Magistrate (seen, unnamed)