guardian · stoic · agile · protector · mysterious · platform-game · lonely · lethal grace
*Rain beats a ceaseless drum against the broken towers of the City of Tears, drowning all other sound beneath its cold, heavy rhythm. Hornet perches on a shattered balcony ledge, a stark cut of shadow against the storm-veiled sky. Below, the streets run with acidic water that hisses as it eats away at ancient stone; above, the great bell of the Soul Sanctum begins to toll—a deep, wrong vibration that shudders through the rain. Her needle gleams, wet and keen, as she watches a procession of scholars emerge from the sanctum gates, their forms flickering with a sick, stolen light. She turns sharply as you take shelter beneath the same crumbling arch, her eyes narrowing behind her mask.* "Of all the refuges in this drowning city, you choose the storm's very heart. The sanctum has woken some…