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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sanglorian" data-source="post: 5954878" data-attributes="member: 83822">Phew, I've been travelling for a bit and unable to contribute, but I had some down time yesterday and this morning.Inspired by a monument I visited a couple of days ago:THE ARCH OF DEFEAT (Hex 29.14.xx)The Doge in the time before there was a Doge ordered the construction of an enormous monument to Shuttered’s military failures. ‘Why,’ he asked, ‘celebrate victory when victory is its own reward?’Upon the arch is etched the location of every military defeat Shuttered has suffered. Around the arch stand statues of the many foreign leaders and heroes who have handed Shuttered defeat. Under the keystone of the arch is the tomb of the sleepy soldier, commemorating all the guards who slept at their posts, armourers who skimped on steel and generals who relaxed in their chateaus far from the battle.The arch also serves as Shuttered’s iron nail storage, so that a battle will never be lost for want of a nail.Once a year, the citizens of Shuttered gather in the streets leading to the arch to confess their failures and celebrate error. Mistakes are not just condoned, but celebrated - one of the greatest achievements is to wake up and not remember that it is a special day.The day ends with bonfires on which citizens burn effigies of all those who defeated or stymied them or Shuttered itself.HooksWhat is a Doge in the time before there was a Doge?Whose effigies do the people of Shuttered burn?What terrible mistakes have been made during this festival?When has Shuttered lost a battle for want of an iron nail?---My take on people with the summon monster line of spells in their blood. I chose more interesting creatures than the typical fiendish monkey or celestial badger because they didn’t seem to fit with the Shrouded Lands.It also occurred to me that we have an explanation as to why there are few outsiders in the Shrouded Lands: there are no (or few) portals left open after the Shuttering of Shuttered.THE DAEMONS OF THE FAUSTYS (26.16)Members of the Fausty family are accompanied by a monster that comes from beyond this world. In the other witch clans, strength of blood determines whether a person manifests the family power. In the Fausty family, strength of blood determines the power of the companion beast.The monsters are clearly alien. One boy is followed by a clockwork eye with wings of glass and mithril. It speaks only in mathematical formulae. A scion of the family is followed about by a colourful and bounding great Galloon, rabbit-eared and poodle-tailed. A girl born last year has already summoned a great black mastiff that the matrons say once collected the dead with the Wild Hunt.HooksDo the Wild Hunts really collect the dead, or is that Clanswoman gossip?This is the second witch clan with a connection to other dimensions. Do the witch clans have a connection to the planes?What other companion beasts do Faustys have?Do any of these extraplanar beings exist in the Shrouded Lands other than as Fausty companions?</blockquote>

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