The Empress met with a strange man today, one hooded and reeking of death. The floods have taken a great deal from us all, most notably in the Empress’ spirits, but I warned her right away this man was not to be trusted.\n\nStill they had a meeting in her palace, my treasured ruler ignoring my counsel. \nWhen the two emerged from their meeting the stink of death was on my Empress too, and no matter how many times I bathed her it would not come off.\n\nI asked her what the man offered, to which she replied: “Everything we lost.”\n\nI asked her what she was to give in return and she paused before whispering: “Everything we are to gain.”\n\nZL\n

The Deal

The Empress' Bargain

We are to receive a special guest today. The Taiying Empress is fraught with nerves, which is deeply unlike her. Her usual grace holds us all together as a court as we are reminded by our shining example of how we are to conduct ourselves.\n\nThis guest is referred to in whispers as The Tempest, and the other servants say she leaves scarlet death in her path. If the Taiying Empress is to make a deal with her, I fear she will lose herself even more than she already has in her flight to Aeternum and all the troubles that came with it.\n\nI cannot say this, though. She has becoming increasingly unreachable, pulling away from even myself as The Tempest draws nearer. Each day brings new violence in her heart, and all I can do is pray this Tempest does not besmirch my lady’s mind further.\n\nZL\n

A Fated Meeting

The Tempest and The Empress

Named for the black fungus that grows within, the ruins of Chinese settlers lay amidst lush wetlands, majestic waterfalls, and towering cliffs

Empress and Isabella Chapter - NWGuide Database of Lore

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