15[20:34] Pud's is seeing a lot of work! Workers are there day and night, toiling underground by lamplight when the sun is down and building up/repairing the upper levels by daylight. The sight of the work is drawing buzz before anyone knows what's going on, and between that and serving the workers themselves Pud's never done such brisk business. [20:35] 4Piu's gonna be hanging around a lot. Attention means chances to meet new people! Some of whom might be thinking of committing arson, or workplace intimidation! 15[20:36] Daizo and Dryas are both otherwise occupied more often than Piu and Zhangyu, who together have the closest view of the work being done and, yes, the presence to ward off the inevitable Guild racketeers. But that still leaves them with a lot of free time and work to do. What's something the two of them do together while the hideout is under construction? [20:37] 4There's always punching people extracurricularly! 15[20:38] Dryas, meanwhile, got invited to a meeting! In a manner of speaking. Crossing the threshold of the taxidermist she entrusted with the Four Fangs' inaugural kill, the huntress found herself stepping directly into the heart of Nn Tloc's lair, and after a vertiginous bearings check, eye to frigid eye with the man himself. He's just offered her a drink. [20:45] 07Is she about to die? If so, better not to be sober. "If you insist, Factor," 07she purrs. 15[20:46] "Good! Good. I'm glad you could stop by," he says, pouring out two slugs of that rum he likes so much. "I know there are a lot of demands on your time lately." [20:50] 07Dryas accepts and watches to see how much Nn Tloc sips before sipping her entire one down. "Staying busy is the key to happiness, as my great uncle would say." 15[20:52] "I know just what you mean. My great uncle used to say, glkkllglklllkgggguh- because someone shoved a living eel down his throat to eat him alive from the inside out." 15[20:53] He downs his drink all at once and puts it down so firmly a less sturdy glass would've cracked. [20:56] "Ah. Well, they say that mine was torn in by Raksi herself, but I firmly believe it was actually fratricide. Not that it is, as they say," 07She slides her glass across the counter. "Any of my business." [20:56] *torn in half 15[20:57] "What is your business?" [20:57] 07Dryas: "This and that. I prefer leisure, to be perfectly honest." 15[21:01] "Don't fuck around with me. Shipping is mine. Labor is mine. You want to squat that creep's shithole and play house, be my guest. But never forget that you're just a tourist. This is my town. Don't fuck up the import-export and don't drag your ass near the orphanage again." [21:06] 10Nn Tloc had a great-uncle? From Dryas' description, it sounds like the man crawled from a spawning pit somewhere. Go figure. [21:15] 07Dryas' placid green eyes meet his gaze evenly. "I shall take it under advisement. Thank you for the drink, Factor. We will speak again soon." 07She turns gracefully and meets his eyes once more, bats her eyelids coyly, and steps back through the door again. 15[21:16] Whew! 15[21:17] From there it's easy for the Fangs to reconvene; Zhangyu's dojo and the lair beneath are being worked on simultaneously, so there's a lot of sheets laid down and tools everywhere but they can find privacy there or upstairs if they want it. 15[21:17] What now? [21:18] 4Piu: "Dryas!" [21:18] "Where's the dang trophy??" [21:19] "Drink," 07she croaks, flopping into - do they have decent furniture here yet? - flopping onto one of the floor mats. 15[21:19] Furniture's a few days out yet - maybe more if Dryas is importing. [21:20] 4Ugh!! Piu can get her something from upstairs. [21:20] 10Daizo's uncharacteristically languorous today. But trying to coordinate a mass funeral without attracting much attention is tough work! "Here, take my cushion." [21:22] 4Piu's coming back with a bracing pitcher of ice water and a chilled red. Assuming Pud's has a scheme for ice. If not we REALLY need these upgrades. [21:22] "The Factor's caught our scent," 07Dryas pants between gulps of the wine. "The game's afoot." [21:23] "When I stepped into the taxidermist, I found myself in his foyer. He was about an inch away from my face when I turned around-" 07Dryas relates all the unsettling details. [21:24] "That's an impressive bit of work." 10Did he predict where Dryas would be, or does the man have some other method of keeping tabs on his competition? 15[21:25] Fresh ice is one of Pud's selling points. How much has the hearth dug into how Pud does business? [21:26] 14To Dryas: "I could kill him." [21:26] 14She pauses, pours a glass. "I might need help." [21:26] 4Piu probably spent her down time at least trying to vet Pud's through Lao. [21:27] 07Dryas: "I wouldn't be surprised if he had me followed. He's had me followed before. The whole trek up Hamoji, for example. And we can't kill him until we're ready. That's how you deal with the Guild." 15[21:28] Lao didn't really have anything on Pud, except the knowledge that he inherited the place and has never been notably successful. [21:29] 14Piu: "As you say. Water or wine?" [21:32] "Do I look like a peasant?!"07 Dryas exclaims. She clears her throat. "Wine, please. This is the exciting time. He's learned enough to be suspicious. He knows roughly where we are. But I think he underestimates our dedication. A dragon is bigger than an eel." [21:32] 10Daizo: "Well, I meant the trick to bring you to his home when you crossed the threshold. That's not exactly commonplace." [21:35] 14After handing Dryas the wine, Piu will pour herself a water. [21:43] 10Daizo: "We'll want to thoroughly research Nn Tloc's occult connections before making any moves on him. Either he's yet another sorcerer himself, a rogue spirit, or retaining the services of same." [21:44] 14Piu: "We'll need to either abandon the orphanage or detail Chases-Waterfalls there permanently. And have me swing by discreetly." [21:44] "I think it's obvious which I prefer." 15[21:48] What mechanism exists for people to get the Fangs' attention when they're down here. Do they knock, ring a bell, is there a messenger who stands watch? [21:49] 14Eventually we'll have a system, but for now a messenger should be fine. 15[21:50] The messenger (presumably one of Dryas's retinue) says the upstairs proprietor wants a word when they're free. [21:51] 07"The" Pud? Himself? 15[21:51] The one and, hopefully, only. [21:51] 4Let's go! [21:51] 10They broke the mold before they made that man. [21:53] "Better not keep our proprietor waiting." [21:53] 07Dryas finishes off the rest of the wine on the way up. 15[21:53] Broke the chin of the mold off, at least. The man looks like a turtle without a shell, pale and scrawny. He's dragging a big sack behind him that scrapes a path through the dust of in-progress construction on the stone floor. "I'd like to beg a favor from the people who have already done so much for me." [21:54] 4Piu: "What's up?" 15[21:55] Pud: "This place is a lot more secure than upstairs. Would it trouble you much if I stored my valuables down here?" [21:56] 07Dryas: "What valuables?" [21:57] 4Piu: "Guessing they're in the sack." 15[21:58] Pud: "Family silvers." [21:58] 10We can probably assume that we're building a strongroom of some kind in any event? Daizo's commissioned a couple of large safes for his own use as well. [21:59] 4Piu: "We should create a ledger log. You know. Deposit receipt." [21:59] 10Daizo: "Indeed. May we see?" [21:59] 07Dryas: "Agreed. Pud, take them out and I'll make a note for each one. Guaranteed on the family name." 15[22:02] Pud reaches into the sack and pulls out a series of quite large and ornate silver dishes, goblets, trays, et cetera. The designs are quite peculiar but they're extremely well cared-for, without a trace of tarnish. [22:03] 4Do we at least have like, a box we can fit with a padlock we can give him the key to? For now. [22:03] 4Obviously if we need to get in we'll just break the padlock. 15[22:03] That's up to you guys. Lockboxes are well within your reach and your budget. [22:05] 4Then Piu will secure one of the appropriate size and shape to hold it all, tell him where they're gonna keep it (somewhere in the open while all the construction is going on, but where it won't have stuff fall on it), and hand him the key with his receipt. 15[22:05] Pud looks askance at Dryas's hesitation. "Something wrong, ma'am?" 15[22:05] Pud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxq4xnoGMys - I'm running out of things I didn't even know I was using. [22:07] 07Dryas stares at the silver for a moment. She's rather dumbfounded. "Ah, hm. I suppose not." 15[22:08] "Well... I thank you kindly then. Do let me know if there's anything I can do for you." 15[22:08] He'll see himself out unless he's stopped. [22:10] 10Daizo looks askance at the others once Pud's gone. "He was sitting on all of these heirlooms and he was still in financial trouble?" [22:10] 4Piu: "Family's so important." [22:10] 07Dryas flips one of the plates back and forth between her hands, looking at the front and back. "I haven't the foggiest." [22:11] "I can't argue with you there." 10Daizo will have a look at the plates too. Any symbols or maker's marks? 15[22:12] Sure, lots! The silver is quite ornate. 15[22:15] This is locally worked silver, and it looks like it was used for religious ceremonies rather than display or table service. There's no writing on it, but the iconography corresponds to the pictograms used to decorate the (original) walls of the tomb. [22:17] 10Original? As in, the lowest level original? 15[22:17] No, the merely centuries- rather than millennia-old levels. [22:18] 10Whew. "…Huh. His family must have gone back a long way here." [22:20] "Quite a long way indeed. Did either of you catch if Pud has a family name?" 15[22:21] He's never given one, and you haven't heard one in any of your outside research. [22:22] 4Piu: "Probably not an accident he's sitting on a big ancient tomb!" [22:22] "No, not at all. I wanted to speak to the ali-ki about the tomb complex, and now I'd like to speak with them even more." [22:23] "Why?" 07Dryas asks. "The fewer who know a secret, the better, surely." [22:24] 10Daizo: "I think they already know about this place. Some of the symbology is similar, and the mummified corpses wore similar clothing." [22:26] 07Dryas: "I don't suppose we've gone from slaying their god to sitting atop some sort of holy site. That's what we need, a bunch of petty heretics bothering us." [22:29] 10Daizo: "I think, rather, it was an unholy site. Hence the vengeful spirits, bindings, and so on. Pud's ancestors may have been trying to seal it off." [22:30] "And perhaps Pud trusts us to do a better job of it now than salted heathen priests." [22:31] 4Piu: "We've certainly shown a greater investment!" 15[22:52] And so the work continues. Laborers and forewomen see the tomb is made into a fine dojo and lair, and a secret entrance/exit tunnel runs beneath the streets of Abalone to emerge in the rocky, shaded soil of the sacred statue garden. Zhangyu's teachers and students await his word and the Garden continues to bear modest fruit, awaiting further development. 15[22:55] The day Dryas sends the laborers home, most of Abalone is awoken by trumpets. How does the hearth greet the hour after dawn, when the commotion is perceptible even underground, and impossible to ignore otherwise? [22:55] 14Piu's been up. [22:56] 14Is it possible to do some advance scouting or are they expected in their finest to greet the new so-and-so? [22:58] 07A pair of hired handmaids dab Dryas's face, meticulously applying court makeup, piling up her hair into an improbably stacked coiffure. She's got silks for this, silks she hasn't touched. The second best set of clothing she's taken on the expedition. [22:59] 10Daizo's up as well. His internal clock is a little unwound after spending a couple of days in his underground study. It's probably got Seiri a little worried, but— 15[22:59] She might've been up to see the ships come in, then. A full-sized Legion transport, flanked by tenders and scouts, flying the flag of the Imperial Navy and beneath it the pennants of four houses: Cathak, Mnemon, Peleps, and Sesus. She definitely recognizes Pasiap Smiles, the flagship of the Merchant Fleet, the most famous projection of House V'Neef's strength, such as it is. [23:00] 10Ironically, the Garden is a little lacking in natural light. 15[23:01] The Commodore will want her senior staff at her side, though if Daizo is indisposed the person she sends for him won't insist. 15[23:02] Ratel is waving a piece of paper. "We got a direct invitation to the reception." [23:03] 14Hrrrrm. Well, Ratel is her responsibility now. She's not about to leave her hanging. [23:04] "Please send the Commodore my apologies," 10he tells the messenger. "I'm… It's hard to explain." 15[23:04] "Say no more, my Lord," the sailor backs out discreetly. [23:04] 4Piu dresses attractively but not, you know, like Piu on the town. [23:05] 4Who's she expecting to be helming the Smiles? [23:07] 10He's been splitting his time between book-research and contemplating the mystery of the formless shape. Maybe he's been down here too long—he's feeling a little light-headed. [23:07] 07Dryas is out front and center with the other two Fangs, keeping an eye out for anyone she knows among the throngs, or anyone who mgiht be bearing news. 15[23:07] V'Neef Volema captains the Smiles, as well as being Chief of Staff of the Merchant Fleet. [23:09] 4Does she usually travel with someone from Tepet to run her personal security? 15[23:11] No, there's no reason to expect a Tepet aboard a Merchant Fleet ship unless they've been given a special mission. No Tepet flags flying here this morning. 15[23:11] Legionnaires are still marching down from the transport in fully armed and armored columns - there's more than a dragon's worth of troops here, maybe two dragons' worth. [23:12] 4This is annoying. 15[23:13] The Governor's honor guard is playing them ashore with the anthem of the Scarlet Dynasty, "The Measure of Her Reach": 15[23:13] Beyond the Holy Mountain 15[23:13] Across the Inland Sea 15[23:13] There roam ten thousand dragons 15[23:13] We pledge ourselves to thee 15[23:13] From burning sand to tundra 15[23:13] From pole to pole afar 15[23:13] All hail the Scarlet Empress 15[23:13] Fore'er our guiding star [23:13] 10A little after the messenger leaves, Daizo makes his way out of the Garden via the secret exit. By the time he's on the streets, all the gawkers who can get down to the docks have gotten, leaving the streets sparse. 15[23:13] And so on, and so on. There's like twelve verses to this shit. [23:14] 4Ugh. [23:14] 07Dryas likes parades! 15[23:14] Does Daizo have the flower with him? [23:17] 10It's a good tune! Strains of it are audible even this far from the band. Daizo knows, however, that it actually derives from a late Shogunate drinking song. He finds himself singing quietly while he's walking. And yes, he did pick up the flower in its small crystal vase before leaving, almost absentmindedly.  15[23:18] Piu finds common cause in her visible boredom with the Cathak twins. Caxi seems to have gotten insanely high before breakfast to cope with this bullshit. [23:19] 4She really should fuck them at some point. Ugh! Now she's bored AND horny. [23:19] 10He feels eyes on him, but not like the attention of a spirit. After a few minutes he realizes—here and there, birds turn their gaze towards him in… interest?  15[23:19] The birds watch Daizo, but they don't stop singing. Are they singing to him? [23:20] 07Dryas actually is singing along with the anthem. She'll try to inspire the others. [23:24] 10They're singing 10with10 him, in harmony. Perhaps this is just the kind of day it's going to be. But ti doesn't feel strange. It feels right. Maybe he should talk to Caxi about this later. [23:25] 10By and by he's found himself on one of the paths up the mountain overlooking the sea.  [23:26] 07Dryas puts her hand over her heart, closes her eyes, and really belts it out. Around her feet, clovers and white flowers creep through the pavement and flower petals float through the air. [23:27] 4Damn she's good! Yeah!! Go Dryas! 14It's all a lie, sure, but. Performance matters. 15[23:30] Many are moved to tears by the beauty of Dryas's voice. Ratel's chest swells a bit. Even the twins stand at attention. Caxi rolls her eyes very theatrically. 15[23:32] Is this where Daizo received his lesson from Clara? 15[23:32] Or has he called another bluff? [23:33] 10And then, the spot overlooking the ocean where he met with Clara the last time. The wings are starting to get itchy, so he undoes the bindings that've so far allowed him to avoid most of the stigma of being a…  15[23:34] Does he still hate the wings? [23:34] 10You know you're still going to be halfway to an outcaste, if you go through with this. [23:37] 10The wings are… a burden. 10But if I hated them enough, why didn't I just have someone cut them off? Of course it would hurt. Of course it would be dangerous. 15[23:37] The troops are still coming... at this point Ratel leads the retinue to the Governor's mansion, for the reception. The mansion's in panic mode, with chastised servants running to and fro, guards looking alternately terrified and gleeful and abjectly confused. 15[23:39] Ratel is in a better mood than any of you have seen her in weeks. [23:39] 07Dryas peeks out the corner of her eye as she sings at her cousin... self-absorbed... and Piu.... how strange. Oh well. She continues on to the eleventh verse. [23:40] 10There is a part of me that wants to soar. So why not accept them?  15[23:41] Where would he go? What would he do? To slip the surly bonds of earth is a freedom granted to few. Few, therefore, have reason to contemplate how terrifying such freedom is. 15[23:47] "Governor!" says the Commodore with cheer and grace as Kou comes into view, in full dress uniform, beset by servants alternately applying her makeup, toweling away the sweat-makeup runoff, and then reapplying her makeup. [23:47] 4Well! This is a bit pathetic. [23:48] 4She'll be sad if they execute Kou right here on the doc, and it's definitely well outside the bounds of propriety, but frankly? She'd understand. [23:48] *4dock 15[23:48] Might not be stress sweat. Those dress uniforms are *very* heavy. But odds are good. 15[23:50] "I need bodies," croaks Kou. "The blood is so thin here. I need bodies on my side of the table. Take your places." The ground floor banquet hall is indeed open, and placards are there with the names of guests. [23:51] 07Dryas glides forward, looking for the names of the Fangs. [23:51] 4She looks like a loser. But Piu is amenable to supporting a loser. [23:52] 14Will Mnemon's respect trying to crawl into her pocket at the first opportunity? Piu wouldn't. [23:52] *14Mnemon's new puppet [23:52] 10Even lying on his back, there's a vertiginous feeling in the pit of Daizo's stomach as he looks up into the sky. He holds the flower up to the sun, light reflecting off its delicate surfaces. More of the birds have gathered to watch him, although he's not aware of it. 15[23:52] Dryas sees the names of the Fangs, including the absent Daizo, all flanking Governor Kou and her lieutenants. She can also see the names of the expected visitors on the opposite side. 15[23:55] Some of them are patrician names - nobodies, surely - but there are a few Dynasts at the center of the long table - Peleps Zidus, V'Neef Volema, Cathak Azula, Sesus V'Mada, and Mnemon Naga. [23:55] 07Any Cynis? Ragaras? 15[23:55] Nope; nope. 15[23:56] Kou is carrying her house's banner alone, it looks like. [23:56] 4More Cathaks. Great! [23:57] 4Piu probably has enough good will to move her place setting so she's across from her fellow from House V'Neef. 15[23:57] There are so many birds here, seabirds and songbirds and wading-birds. It's an eerie eyrie. 15[23:57] By now, they've all fallen silent. [23:58] 10Before I worry about where I go and what I do, I must leave the nest I've built up for myself. It's quite a comfortable one, but it's a trap.10 Daizo stands up slowly and walks to the edge of the bluff. The sea and sky stretch out to infinity.  [00:00] 4Well. Technically her superior! [00:00] 4What's the relation, aunt by adoption? 15[00:02] Volema is a Lost Egg, like Piu ostensibly is, one of the ones who is actually older than V'Neef herself. She's a Southerner, Piu thinks, and she remembers Volema having close-cropped iron-gray hair and the kind of face that's forgotten how to smile. Humorless but not cruel. 15[00:02] The gong rings; everyone stands, and the dignitaries enter. [00:03] 4Boo. 15[00:04] First are two monks, one slender and muscled beneath his robes, the other tall, fat and cheerful like a storybook friar. A woman in the armor of a Legion general, her hair parted in the front like the fangs of a cobra. A woman in merchant marine dress, stone-faced and iron-haired. And a long line of boyish-looking patrician pen-pushers. Behind them the honor guard of enough Legionnaires 15[00:04] to crush every one of the Governor's men in a stand up fight. 15[00:05] In Wavecrest, Daizo remembers, they have a saying: The sea has no memory. So whatever it sees him doing, the proverb suggests, it won't remember and thus can't reveal. Does he feel alone? 15[00:06] The visiting party looks across the table and then exchanges glances with one another. 15[00:06] They decide to sit without any greeting or preamble. [00:07] 4Piu isn't particularly impressed by the legionnaires, but she knows what it means that they've come to dinner. [00:07] 4Breakfast. Whatever. [00:09] 10His heart's pounding. His wings spread wide to catch the wind… and Daizo leaps. There, at the peak of his arc, all forces are balanced. Daizo's suspended in infinity. 10I didn't earn these wings. I have no right to them. But there is another path.10 There is no sea; there is no sky; and then… There is no Daizo. Only a flock of red-winged blackbirds, singing. He's among friends. 15[00:10] By the seats they take, they make their names known: the slender monk is Zidus; the large one, Naga; the old sailor, Volema; the general, Azula is the general, and one of the very young-looking pen-pushers turns out to be Sesus V'Mada. He takes the center seat. 15[00:10] "Lady Kou," he says, "Fear not: help has arrived." 15[00:11] Daizo spreads, soars, sings - he is everywhere and nowhere, everything and nothing. For a single liberating moment, there is no duty, there is no hierarchy, there is no self -- there is only the rhythm of a hundred wings. [00:12] 14'Lady.' 15[00:14] Kou: "V'Mada. Unusual name." 15[00:15] V'Mada smiles. "I'm a great admirer of V'Neef. She represents the best of our natures, and the privilege of leading the transition between generations. I chose my name to honor her." 15[00:15] Sesus V’mada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaNpka54DqQ - Today we feast, but tomorrow we pay. [00:16] 4Piu leans forward a bit at that. [00:16] 14What does she know of this particular careerist? 15[00:18] Kou: "A slow, but necessary transition." 15[00:22] V'Mada: "I would say rather that it is a transition that moves at the speed of necessity." [00:24] 4Brightly: "How's V'neef?" 15[00:24] "I would say, also, that one thing we all know is how vital Abalone is, both to the region and to the Realm. It is the heart that pumps our better natures across these islands, and that pumps tribute across the sea back home. The shape of its governance affects every other issue." [00:25] 4This is addressed to V'Mada, but also Volema. 15[00:25] Volema: "Busy, but in high spirits. She'll be in higher spirits when she hears you're doing well." 15[00:25] "I was asked to ask after you." 15[00:28] She seems totally disinterested in the larger meeting, and is graceful enough but dearly wishes to be doing something else. 15[00:28] V'Neef Volema: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH0K6ojmGZA - Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours? 15[00:32] Kou: "We've been the victim of foreign assassins and intelligence failures. Two of Mnemon's daughters and the local tutelary god all slain - by the same Anathema, who we've since dealt with." 15[00:32] The general, "Azula": "We're briefed." 15[00:32] Kou: "There's important context that the reports don't--" 15[00:33] Azula: "We're. Briefed." [00:33] 4Still smiling at V'Mada, but talking to Volema: "Oh, I was asking our gracious guest from House Sesus. Maybe it's a bit unmeet, but without all the formal greetings and bowing and general informality, I thought perhaps we were just here, a bunch of sons and daughters of the Realm, gossiping about our mothers." 15[00:38] Azula: "Let's keep this moving. None of us wants to be at this table any longer than we have to." 15[00:38] Cathak Azula: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvkVrFxmY9g - But my peace has always depended on all the ashes in my wake. 15[00:39] Kou: "Perhaps we should conduct business, then, instead of thinking of more and more elaborate ways to insult each other." 15[00:40] Azula: "I imagine you spend a lot of time thinking of more and more elaborate ways to feel insulted. You certainly don't spend it governing. This place is practically lawless. Open heresy in the streets, Guild running through the walls like termites, and a categorical failure to keep the peace." 15[00:42] The big monk, Mnemon Naga: "There is no need for such acrimony. We are all on the same side. And all of our Houses depend on the faithful and competent execution of the responsibilities we've undertaken here." 15[00:42] Mnemon Naga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdJkdQgcSJo - And damned are those who dare resist or touch the Lord's anointed. 15[00:44] Kou swells up like a blister, but Ratel, smiling serenely, places a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Very wisely put. All we want is unanimity, and no trouble getting what has to be done, done." [00:44] 4Well, she's learning. 15[00:45] It's a lot easier to be graceful when you're having so much fun. [00:45] 4Piu feels bad for Kou, but this is excellent content. 15[00:46] The monk on the end, Zidus: "We understand that the Guild has been stealing children from the orphanage right under the nose of the abbess. We'll see an end to that for sure." 15[00:47] Peleps Zidus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYH8DsU2WCk - But if it wasn't for your misfortune, I'd be a heavenly person today. 15[00:48] Kou is so angry that it feels like the earth is trembling... wait a second. 15[00:48] V'Mada: "Ah! The last member of Abalone's new government." 15[00:49] Daizo - all of him - see it first. The flock alights among the birds on the bluff, congratulating him in a hundred birdly languages that are as natural to him as High Realm. The flower in the pot has changed, its natural leaves settled around the stem of an identical blossom of finely chipped diamond. 15[00:50] Fifty birds see their reflections in it before the sky above Hamoji goes black as pitch and the earth begins to shake. 15[00:51] Sheer white light spews forth from the caldera, and at its center something casts a shadow that spreads across the sky - a high, fierce headdress and vast, dark wings. 15[00:51] NEXT TIME: The new boss