Tiding 08: Sharrow

## Content Warnings

Death, trauma

*"Realise this. Realise that despite your training, killing a Remnant will not be easy. They are living gods. Even if your sword strikes true, their wounds will heal, their hearts mend. You must do things right.
These are the steps, commit them to memory."*

 *Show more/less*

*One: Recite the litany. Its words will begin to break its strength. Let them also steal you.

Two: Separate it from its land. Do what you can to disrupt its hold. If its domain is peaceful, sow chaos. If it prospers from misery, spread joy. Don't flinch from your purpose: a corrupted Remnant will cause more damage than you ever could.

Three: Strike down the Remnant. Watch, plan, and prepare. Strike only when you have a clear opening.

Four: Find its heart. Prepare the Remnant for its death. Ensure it doesn't suffer unduly. We are Tenders; we do this because we have to.

Five: Hunt its Envoys. They are its ideals made flesh; seeds sent into the winds. Only when thy are all struck down can the Remnant die. Remember, they too are deadly. Don't underestimate their strength.

Finally: As the Remnant passes, take what you can of their essence. By doing this, we strengthen not only ourselves; we allow their ideals to live on through us. This is the greatest respect we can show our adversary.*"

―Crooner Cassis

## Summary

Venz and Shu reach the Northern edge of the Sharrow. There they find the missing remnant, and some unwanted company. Venz discovers Sharrow’s fate.

## Synopsis

A few hours have passes since Venz and Shu left Cast's house. It is snowing as they pass through the meadowy landscape near the northern edge of the Sharrow, as the storm has overtaken the whole territory. Shu asks Venz what he's expecting to find, and Venz replies that it's been a long time since he's gone all the way to see Sharrow, and he's worried something really bad has happened to it.

Shu asks him how he came to end up serving a Remnant, and he tells Shu that when he was around seven or eight years old, he discovered that he had powers. His family didn't know what to do with him and asked for help from a local shaman, who got in contact with some people from outside. They showed Venz how to control the power, and how to connect with a Remnant. The cost of this control and connection was dear: he had to leave his home and family for their safety. He travelled in the decades after, serving a string of Remnants; moving on when he had done all they asked. Sharrow is his longest-running connection to date- he can't remember how long he's been with Sharrow, but he guesses at around twenty years. As long as Sharrow has a task for him to complete, he'll stick around.

Shu can't see what Venz gets out of the relationship. He can see the pull of serving something bigger than oneself, but without the additional community connection, he can't see the joy in such a life. Venz says that he sees what he does as a profession, in the same way that people become hunters or trackers, and that the thrill of being so small but able to effect so much change is what he gets from it emotionally. On the practical side, he needs a Remnant's help to avoid becoming corrupted and Unravelled by his powers as so many others are. Shu asks why Venz never went back to his village to use his powers to improve their lives, but Venz is circumspect. He has made countless others' lives better through his travelling, and doesn't even know if his family is still alive or in that place given how long it took him to learn his craft. Shu can see that Venz is a very different person from him, although he respects Venz nonetheless.

They reach the edge of the sparse, coniferous forest and come upon the deep canyon carved by Sharrow over many years. To the east is a small stream in a frozen waterfall over the chasm's edge by some mossy boulders. Across the chasm to the north is a thicker forest, belonging to the Territory of Irravence. Shu drops back, giving Venz space as they approach. Venz is apprehensive, both for himself- he hasn't met with Sharrow in a while- but also for Sharrow. Along the canyon to the east lies a large, snow-covered figure: thick-skinned, lumbering, pock-marked Sharrow, no longer plodding along but slumped on the ground and against the canyon wall. Birds are circling around it and perching on the snow on its back. Venz hears Shu gasp.

For the next hour, Shu leads Venz down the canyon wall along the safest path. Sharrow, a few hundred metres away, hasn't moved at all in this time, and is showing no signs of life. Venz approaches Sharrow, but when he's no more than 6 m (20 ft) away, he sees movement from on top of its head: a person sits atop a ridge on its jaw.

Venz calls out, asking who they are and what they're doing here. The figure, who has been watching their progress while sharpening their sword, lifts their head in resignation and introduces themself as Rowl Estvelryn. She is a very tall woman (2.1 m, almost 7 ft) with grey skin, green-marbled hair with shaven sides, and is wearing full armour. Shu introduces himself to her, but Venz presses her further about the Sharrow. She replies that the Sharrow is sick, and that they did what was necessary, according to what the Yield told them. It is clear to Venz that she is working out how much of the truth to tell. He is angry, telling her that she's taken not just the Sharrow's life, but has taken from the lives of everyone who lives there. Rowl replies that the Yield, which is the tool the Tenders of the Dawn's Embers (or Jackals) use to find corrupted Remnants, has told them that this is where the next Remnant would fail. She is remaining respectfully with Sharrow as it dies, to ensure it gets a good death.

Venz is furious with her, and also with himself for not being there for Sharrow. As Venz loses his temper, the wind rises and Rowl is pitched sideways off Sharrow, but her sword is left behind. She picks herself up from the ground, sighing and saying she's not his enemy. Venz reiterates that now the Sharrow has lost its Remnant, the people living there would be vulnerable to another coming to claim the Territory. Rowl is adamant that it was foretold that something dark was coming here and that by killing Sharrow, this was prevented. Venz retorts that Sharrow's death was what opened the door for that dark thing to come, thus activating the prophecy. That something else has already formed here, perhaps the one thing that she wanted to stop.

Rowl is thrown, and asks what has happened. Venz describes what's going on outside the canyon- that people are fleeing their villages and towns to escape a giant storm- it doesn't always snow like this in the Sharrow. Rowl says that she was told there was something 'worse than usual' going on here, and that they wouldn't have killed Sharrow if she'd known that it might have been the storm, or something else as yet unknown. Venz tells them to leave the Sharrow as they've done enough damage here; that damage won't be undone by killing something else.

Rowl is adamant that they'll fix the situation by heading into the storm, but Venz can't have that. He holds out his arm with his hand in a claw trying to drain her spirit, but as he does so, a pink diamond-shaped gem that Rowl is wearing as a choker flashes, and Venz feels its protective powers lash back at him. She warns him that this is his last chance to let her go, and as she does so, Venz hears a crunch behind him. A person is standing there, with very pink skin, vertical dyed-blue hair curled at the top, and a pure white birthmark down the side of their face, neck, and up through their hair. They carry an axe and wear a thick fur coat, and have a dead eagle slung over one shoulder. He asks Rowl who Venz and Shu are, and Venz can see a look of panic in her eyes as he does so. Rowl tells the newcomer that they are friends, stepping forward protectively as Venz and Shu edge backwards.

The newcomer barges past Rowl and demands to know if Venz and Shu are friends and who they are, and to give a reason why he shouldn't kill them now. Venz tries to intimidate the newcomer by amplifying his voice using the wind, but he realises that this is drawing energy from an already-weak Sharrow, and from his mouth comes silence. Venz staggers slightly, unused to Weaving without the power of a Remnant behind him. The newcomer Dorish kicks Venz to the floor, and Rowl scolds him. Shu rushes over to help Venz. Venz is feeling weak and bereft and focuses on getting to the Sharrow. Rowl offers him a hand up, which he refuses. She apologises again, and re-iterates that its death had no cruelty in it. Rowl lets them go to Sharrow.

Venz rests a palm on its head. Its breaths are shallow and final, but it does move with a little gratitude at Venz' touch. The Sharrow gives Venz a vision as he syncs his breathing with it. *It is a view of itself from the outside, wounded and dying, but from a little earlier. Rowl sits atop it in a little campsite with a fire... Rowl walks in circles atop it, singing songs... Rowl sings songs into its ear... Rowl is setting up strings, tying bells and ribbons to them... Rowl feeds some of the birds sat on Sharrow...* The Sharrow projects peace, and shows moments of kindness from Rowl. Dorish doesn't feature much, occasionally helping Rowl out, but mostly absent. It also shows Venz images of himself, from moments when he was unaware of its gaze; from moments when it has seen and acknowledged him. It projects feelings of thanks.

At this point, Venz has tears in his eyes as the loss and the thanks, the acknowledgement and the grief all swirl together. Shu says it's time for him to come and protect the village, and Venz protests that without the Sharrow he's only a man. At this, Shu retorts that *he's* only a man too, but he still does his best to protect those he loves. Shu agrees to wait with Venz while he comforts the Sharrow in its last moments. Rowl and Dorish emerge with packs, and Venz lets them go. They start to climb the cliff as Shu sets up camp.

## Quotes

**Venz**: "Why are you here? What happened to the Sharrow? Are you responsible for this?"
**Rowl**: "The Sharrow is sick. We- we did what was necessary, only that. Are weresponsible for this? Yes, we are. That is a reluctant yes, a sad yes, but... We did what needed to be done, we did what the Yield told us to."
**Venz (angry)**: "The what? The yield?"
**Rowl**: "Please. What's done has already been done. There's nothing you can do to stop this happening"

―*Venz interrogates Rowl about Sharrow*

**Venz**: "Look what you've done. Look what you and your people have done to this Remnant. You've taken away everything from this land and now, something else is going to try and coma and claim it. Do you think that's better?"
**Rowl**: "Something dark was coming! It was foretold and if we didn't do what we did- this land-"
**Venz (interrupting)**: "You opened the door for something dark!"
**Rowl**: "Something else? What's happening?"
**Venz**: "Let's say for a moment that your prophecy's true. How do you know that you're not the cause of your own prophecies?"

―*Rowl realises she may have made a mistake*

## Game Mechanics

Ryan states Venz' beliefs:

* "Aya's son Korrin shows great potential: get Bris on side"
* "I must find Sharrow and heal whatever's happened to it"
* "I will not give my life for someone that does not respect the Remnant."

Rolls:

* Venz rolls 9 with Mad in Read Person to see if Rowl is telling the truth. *Are you telling the Truth about the Sharrow being beyond saving?*
* Venz rolls 12 with Mad in Weave A Spell to knock Rowl off Sharrow. (costs 1 spirit)
* Venz rolls 3 with Mad in Drain Spirit to make Rowl too weak to face the storm, forcing her to leave the Sharrow a different way (fail)(Spike in Mad)
* Venz rolls 7 with Mad in Lead People Through a Dangerous Situation to navigate the threat of Dorish. *Nothing gets left behind; nobody suffers harm*
* Venz rolls 6 with [emotion not given] in Weave A Spell to intimidate Dorish. (costs 1 spirit) (fail)

## Plot Notes

**Warning! There may be spoilers ahead!**

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