Cleaning the tracks
East Pollen - April 14, 2594
Arrival in Cherasky
- The Clique gathers under Commando Prime Klaus, whose orders resonate with discipline and necessity—clearing frozen mud from the tracks begins.
- Inquisitor Thorne, Isolde Pax, Dr. Moreau, Marcus Voss and Konrad Jager go to the eastern tracks.
- Marcus sketches Klaus, capturing the grit of leadership etched in lines and shadow.
- They accompany a Storskis, who is responsible for driving and operating the cleaning car.
Encounter at a Fractal Forest
- Seven Anabaptists stumble from a Fractal Forest, intoxicated by its alien fruit, their delirium betraying their faith.
- Isolde Pax’s flames purge their sin; the forest echoes with screams as judgment rains fire. Dr. Monroe and Marcus ensure no escape, leaving ashes and blood behind.
The Storskis’ Ritual
- The Storksis halts the cleaning car at an ancestral graveyard, a site steeped in memory and the hum of prayers.
- Dr. Monroe joins the rites in silent respect, the weight of history pressing upon the group.
- In whispered tones, Isolde and Marcus confront their earlier violence, tethering their souls with justification: “They were sinners.”
Final Day’s Travel, before Shard
- The tracks ease their grip, their frozen defiance replaced by fleeting respite as the group advances.
- Rain turns to hail, then an uncanny downpour of insect fragments, culminating in a living storm of spiders.
- Spiders weave a gossamer shroud over the land but spare the travellers, leaving them as untouched witnesses to nature’s alien will.
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