Episode description
You might wonder where the rest of the erstwhile Blackwick Group might be headed after their fracture in Blackwick. But deep down inside, you probably know exactly where Lye Lychen is headed, don’t you? That man has unfinished business, and he is nothing if not someone committed to getting straight to the task at hand.
This week on Sangfielle: Six Travelers: Lyke
Contents
Opening
“
The so-called Junk Mage, Lye Lychen, has had quite an arc, hasn’t he? Or perhaps that’s the wrong word, arc. He calls to mind the bend of a rainbow, or the dramatic curve of a tragic protagonist’s rise and fall. See, I know culture. I’ve been to the theater. But the word is wrong for Lyke, isn’t it? Lyke is all build. I’m not saying that there hasn’t been setback or comeuppance, I’m just saying that the intensity has yet to give up. It keeps rising. There has been no denouement, not for Lye Lychen. The man makes me think of an old saying ‘round the way: “if you absolutely got to spit into the wind, learn to do it at an angle.””
Plot
Following the Ichor-Drowned Delve Draw rules, Austin and Keith draw a card for their first challenge, a Joker, which asks them to involve the Heart into the game, bringing in aspects to make this game unusual or strange. The game lists several options, and Keith and Austin decide on switching games to Anamnesis, a solo game played with tarot cards about a person with memory loss slowly learning who they were.
After the events in Blackwick, Lyke searches for Aterika’Kaal and Alaway, stumbling onto them much earlier than expected in a cabin slowly being overtaken by vines. Lyke realizes that he is not actually ready to face them, but goes in anyway to find Alaway watering Aterika’Kaal with the blood of gods from the Boundless Conclave. Alaway invites Lyke in, and Lyke tries to attack him, to no avail. The two talk and Alaway works some kind of magic on Lyke, but as he begins to pass out Lyke uses his ritual knife to give a blood sacrifice to Aterika’Kaal.
Lyke wakes up in an unknown town with no memory of how he got there or who he is. His first thoughts are of dirt and that he is missing his things, though he doesn’t know what they are. When Lyke goes to leave he encounters Fendleton, who found him on the mountain “awake but unfeeling” and brought him to Marrowcreek. Lyke finds his home, opening the door with a key from his pocket; inside is an amalgamation of his study at the university, the Blackwick Group’s headquarters, and various other places he’s lived. The walls are adorned with his possessions (including Tombo) and the collection of every resource he’s ever picked up. He finds a jar containing what looks like the cutting Aterika’Kaal he first found, but this time it is linked with his own blood.
Lyke tries to find someone who can help him understand who he is and interrogate his own actions, but is intercepted by Karston Leberge who confronts Lyke with weapons and accusations. Lyke denies wrongdoing, and Karston quickly realizes that Lyke doesn’t remember who he is, and starts taunting him with fake information as the situation escalates. Lyke whites out again, and finds himself in his room writing an inconsequential letter to someone he knew back in University, but is interrupted and can’t remember who it was for. Lyke leaves Marrowcreek to continue his adventures.
For the final step of the game, Keith is asked to pick one final Tarot card to represent who Lyke will be going forward. Keith and Austin deliberate between The Fool, The Hanged Man, and The Magician as options. They ultimately deciding on The Hanged Man, though admit that The Fool and The Magician come into play for Lyke as well, depending on the roll of the dice.
Cast
Other Characters
- Alaway
- Aterika’Kaal
- Fendleton
- Karston Leberge
- Doctor Yersa Mallow (mentioned)
- Zofina (mentioned)
- The Ravening Beast (mentioned)
- Dayward YVE (mentioned)
- Uno Riscano (mentioned)