'I hear another voice across the planes. She's calling... she's calling out for help. We need to help her. We've done this before. We can help her!'
Another voice, another world to help. When I stepped through the portal Zephyr set up between the Meadous and the realm they'd heard the call for help from, I wasn't sure what to expect. Last time, it had been The Void, a dying world slowly falling into a place called The Nightmare. It was bleak, quiet, the sort of place where you could stand still and hear the beating of your own heart.
If that as The Void, Recuerdo was its complete opposite. Colors! Parties! Lights! For being a land of the dead, it was just about the most lively place I've ever seen outside a night club on a Saturday night in central London. I half-expected to see kids with those rave stick things. It was beautiful, it was vibrant...
And it was in trouble.
For all the decadent celebrations and joyful residents, there lurked a darker undercurrent, an insidious hopelessness stealing out from the crumbling streets so far from the palace. Like the Sisters and Brothers of The Void, there were very particular residents in Recuerdo who had an unusual sort of biology. They were candles, capybara, and magical skeletons, the dead of four other realms tied to Recuerdo. Their physical forms were tied to shadows, which were made up of memories from their loved ones in the realms they came from and their own memories of their lives. When those shadows faded because they were forgotten, the residents would fade away, too.
But more residents than usual had seen their shadows disappearing, most while in public spaces. My thoughts turned immediately to theft. But how would you even steal a shadow? The Welcoming Committee I spoke with were convinced that their god, the Lady in Red, was the only one who could manipulate shadows.
[Attached to this section of the story are pictures of the Lady in Red, her face in shadows, and the Welcoming Committee: Kanda, Xertiti, and Mari.]
My first suspicions turned to her. Maybe she was pulling apart shadows and collecting them for an experiment? Maybe she was power-hungry and this was a way to gain more of it as an older, fading god. I did a bit of investigating in the areas far from the palace, looking for clues, but didn't manage to turn anything up apart from some oily residue that just trailed off before I could catch whatever was making it. A few other people had more luck, figuring out that these were actually bits and pieces of shadows from the residents who'd had theirs stolen! Some of them even found a few telling clues that led them to other parts of the city.
Eliza was able to pick up that the shadow disappearances were only happening outdoors and it was happening very fast. The residents who had their shadows stolen couldn't speak very well after that or even remember much. They were living on their own memories and those were being slowly burned away. The Lady took them into the palace to try to stabilize them with her magic, but more and more residents were losing their shadows like this.
Stephen was able to pick up where some of the disappearances occurred: The Plaza Of Peace Fountain, the Dance Yourself Pretty music shop, and Mama's Fruits in the marketplace. I headed over to the local music shop to investigate and met a skeleton named Xertiti working there. She told me about her wife, Marta, who was one of the local musicians and someone she'd loved during their lives together and here in Recuerdo where they'd been reunited. I couldn't help trying to cheer her up when it seemed like she was having a rough go of it at home. Marta, according to Xertiti, was one of those people who could throw herself relentlessly into her work, ignoring everything else for days on end. Eating, sleeping, anything. Those sorts of people burn so bright, but they can be difficult to manage at times... hands too close to the fire and you'll get burned, not matter how amazing it is and all that.
Anyway, I met Stephen there, as well, and we did a little music shopping. There didn't seem to be anything particularly suspicious going on in that area, but it wasn't long before Stephen was dead! Now, for context, something everyone needs to know is that Dr. Stephen Strange is a powerful sorcerer, one of the most powerful in his world. He has the ability to manipulate time and dimensions. He also has the protection of a powerful ancient artifact called the Cloak of Levitation (Levi, for short). Killing him is a challenge. Or it would do if you took it into your mind to do so. Even without his magic, he looks to be a strong, well-trained fighter on top of being just as clever as you like thanks to his work as a neurosurgeon.
[There's a photo of Stephen pictured, wearing Levi. The photo is from the Christmas party this past year, as evidenced by the background of the shot. In addition to this photo, there's one of Stephen as a skeleton in Recuerdo, doing tricks at the fountain plaza.]
The fact that someone had managed to kill him when he seemed to be getting too close to finding the answer for what was going on was another clue. They were clearly a powerful individual who had reduced Stephen to a shadow of himself. Stephen couldn't seem to remember what happened and he was under the impression that he'd always lived in Recuerdo and didn't know who any of his friends from Norfinbury and the Meadous were. I tried to get something out of him, but it was like pulling teeth.
As if that wasn't bad enough, we had another murder happen, this time targeting Bucky Barnes! He's another experienced fighter who should not have been easy to kill. Bucky's one of the blokes you go to when you want protection from someone trying to hurt you. The idea of him being murdered and losing his memories was unthinkable until I found him as a skeleton, just asking for people to help out with his party plans.
By that point, the Lady in Red had imposed a curfew to try to protect her citizens. We knew the shadow thefts seemed to be happening outside, so keeping people indoors at night seemed safer. There was a group of young punks led by the candlewoman Kanda who didn't much like the idea of that. I went out and met with her group while they were throwing a party after curfew in defiance of the Lady; they were trying to figure out if someone would attack them when everyone there was people they knew intimately.
I decided to stay and watch and ended up learning that before everything started happening, Kanda and Xertiti had broken into the palace, looking for information about shadows. Kanda saw Xertiti stealing a fancy comb and they found some notes that seemed important. It's not my usual M.O., but with a little persuasion, I convinced Kanda to help get me into the palace so that we could look into the notes she'd found further and see if there was anything important about that comb that Xertiti had stolen.
[What follows are a series of selected photos from John's palace tour showing each of the dark rooms.]
While we were in there, we learned that the Lady had been working on some sort of spell that had to do with the shadows. Maybe a preservation spell? I also found a photo album documenting her life growing up as a god. The most notable things we found:
The Lady had trouble creating her own flock and keeping them alive, and ended up making a deal with four other realms to take their flock members when they died and put them here.
The Lady fell in love with another god, but some sort of fight happened and she lost her girlfriend along with the company of the other gods.
The Lady was incredibly lonely and decided to create her own lover, a person she called the Bride.
There were numerous versions of the Bride. Eight in total. She kept falling apart any time the Lady and the Bride had an argument.
For the last Bride, the Lady cut her heart in two and gave half of it to the Bride. This made the Bride stable, but it was at a terrible cost to the Lady who became cruel and cold-hearted, even as the Bride took on her best qualities.
When the Bride found out that the Lady was actively hurting citizens by pulling apart their shadows, there was a final fight. The Lady was near to death and she and the Bride merged into one being. She still only had half her heart, though. The other half was kept in a glass case in a secret room in the Lady's wardrobe.
The Lady we met in Recuerdo was actually the Bride. Her name is Juno, and she's had a very, very hard life, working with only half the magic the Lady had and half the heart, as well.
I was determined to find some way to help her, but there was still the mystery of the missing shadows. If it wasn't the Lady--Juno--stealing them, then who could it be?
Daryl had the answer and so did all of the other evidence that people had collected: Xertiti. Phil had been the last to see Stephen at the bakery where Xertiti worked. Renart had found a bracelet with charms from the bakery on Stephen. Masaki and Kid found a bracelet like the one Renart did in some loose shadows they'd chased down. Royce had also found out about the comb Xertiti had stolen from the palace. Mr. Gray was able to use some of his abilities to get a sense that Xertiti was guilty from the bracelet, as well.
Alfie and Royce worked with one of the locals from Recuerdo to set up a trap for Xertiti and bring her to justice before Juno and the rest of us. Stephen's memories had been restored by that point and Ienzo had been working with the Lady to restore the memories of the affected residents and get their shadows stitched back to them. It was really fantastic to see everyone and all the clues come together like they did. Juno apologized for what had happened to Xertiti's wife Marta, but murdering Stephen was wrong and stealing all those shadows was, as well.
After seeing to Xertiti's punishment and sorting out a potential way to eliminate the problem with shadows disappearing, Juno announced a party for all the citizens of Recuerdo. There were two final issues, though... my friend Bucky had been murdered, but it hadn't been Xertiti, and Juno's heart was still only half-missing. Bucky's murderer remains free from true justice, but with Stephen and Juno's magic, we were able to fix her. We sewed Juno's heart back together and restored it to her, giving Recuerdo its god back a little more whole than when we'd started.
Not a bad job for a bunch of living people crashing a dead party, I'd say.
[A final picture shows a selfie-style photo of John and Stephen standing with Juno, looking tired, but triumphant. As the tallest one, Juno is holding the camera.]
The Adventure of the Disappearing Shadows
Another voice, another world to help. When I stepped through the portal Zephyr set up between the Meadous and the realm they'd heard the call for help from, I wasn't sure what to expect. Last time, it had been The Void, a dying world slowly falling into a place called The Nightmare. It was bleak, quiet, the sort of place where you could stand still and hear the beating of your own heart.
If that as The Void, Recuerdo was its complete opposite. Colors! Parties! Lights! For being a land of the dead, it was just about the most lively place I've ever seen outside a night club on a Saturday night in central London. I half-expected to see kids with those rave stick things. It was beautiful, it was vibrant...
And it was in trouble.
For all the decadent celebrations and joyful residents, there lurked a darker undercurrent, an insidious hopelessness stealing out from the crumbling streets so far from the palace. Like the Sisters and Brothers of The Void, there were very particular residents in Recuerdo who had an unusual sort of biology. They were candles, capybara, and magical skeletons, the dead of four other realms tied to Recuerdo. Their physical forms were tied to shadows, which were made up of memories from their loved ones in the realms they came from and their own memories of their lives. When those shadows faded because they were forgotten, the residents would fade away, too.
But more residents than usual had seen their shadows disappearing, most while in public spaces. My thoughts turned immediately to theft. But how would you even steal a shadow? The Welcoming Committee I spoke with were convinced that their god, the Lady in Red, was the only one who could manipulate shadows.
[Attached to this section of the story are pictures of the Lady in Red, her face in shadows, and the Welcoming Committee: Kanda, Xertiti, and Mari.]
My first suspicions turned to her. Maybe she was pulling apart shadows and collecting them for an experiment? Maybe she was power-hungry and this was a way to gain more of it as an older, fading god. I did a bit of investigating in the areas far from the palace, looking for clues, but didn't manage to turn anything up apart from some oily residue that just trailed off before I could catch whatever was making it. A few other people had more luck, figuring out that these were actually bits and pieces of shadows from the residents who'd had theirs stolen! Some of them even found a few telling clues that led them to other parts of the city.
Eliza was able to pick up that the shadow disappearances were only happening outdoors and it was happening very fast. The residents who had their shadows stolen couldn't speak very well after that or even remember much. They were living on their own memories and those were being slowly burned away. The Lady took them into the palace to try to stabilize them with her magic, but more and more residents were losing their shadows like this.
Stephen was able to pick up where some of the disappearances occurred: The Plaza Of Peace Fountain, the Dance Yourself Pretty music shop, and Mama's Fruits in the marketplace. I headed over to the local music shop to investigate and met a skeleton named Xertiti working there. She told me about her wife, Marta, who was one of the local musicians and someone she'd loved during their lives together and here in Recuerdo where they'd been reunited. I couldn't help trying to cheer her up when it seemed like she was having a rough go of it at home. Marta, according to Xertiti, was one of those people who could throw herself relentlessly into her work, ignoring everything else for days on end. Eating, sleeping, anything. Those sorts of people burn so bright, but they can be difficult to manage at times... hands too close to the fire and you'll get burned, not matter how amazing it is and all that.
Anyway, I met Stephen there, as well, and we did a little music shopping. There didn't seem to be anything particularly suspicious going on in that area, but it wasn't long before Stephen was dead! Now, for context, something everyone needs to know is that Dr. Stephen Strange is a powerful sorcerer, one of the most powerful in his world. He has the ability to manipulate time and dimensions. He also has the protection of a powerful ancient artifact called the Cloak of Levitation (Levi, for short). Killing him is a challenge. Or it would do if you took it into your mind to do so. Even without his magic, he looks to be a strong, well-trained fighter on top of being just as clever as you like thanks to his work as a neurosurgeon.
[There's a photo of Stephen pictured, wearing Levi. The photo is from the Christmas party this past year, as evidenced by the background of the shot. In addition to this photo, there's one of Stephen as a skeleton in Recuerdo, doing tricks at the fountain plaza.]
The fact that someone had managed to kill him when he seemed to be getting too close to finding the answer for what was going on was another clue. They were clearly a powerful individual who had reduced Stephen to a shadow of himself. Stephen couldn't seem to remember what happened and he was under the impression that he'd always lived in Recuerdo and didn't know who any of his friends from Norfinbury and the Meadous were. I tried to get something out of him, but it was like pulling teeth.
As if that wasn't bad enough, we had another murder happen, this time targeting Bucky Barnes! He's another experienced fighter who should not have been easy to kill. Bucky's one of the blokes you go to when you want protection from someone trying to hurt you. The idea of him being murdered and losing his memories was unthinkable until I found him as a skeleton, just asking for people to help out with his party plans.
By that point, the Lady in Red had imposed a curfew to try to protect her citizens. We knew the shadow thefts seemed to be happening outside, so keeping people indoors at night seemed safer. There was a group of young punks led by the candlewoman Kanda who didn't much like the idea of that. I went out and met with her group while they were throwing a party after curfew in defiance of the Lady; they were trying to figure out if someone would attack them when everyone there was people they knew intimately.
I decided to stay and watch and ended up learning that before everything started happening, Kanda and Xertiti had broken into the palace, looking for information about shadows. Kanda saw Xertiti stealing a fancy comb and they found some notes that seemed important. It's not my usual M.O., but with a little persuasion, I convinced Kanda to help get me into the palace so that we could look into the notes she'd found further and see if there was anything important about that comb that Xertiti had stolen.
[What follows are a series of selected photos from John's palace tour showing each of the dark rooms.]
While we were in there, we learned that the Lady had been working on some sort of spell that had to do with the shadows. Maybe a preservation spell? I also found a photo album documenting her life growing up as a god. The most notable things we found:
- The Lady had trouble creating her own flock and keeping them alive, and ended up making a deal with four other realms to take their flock members when they died and put them here.
- The Lady fell in love with another god, but some sort of fight happened and she lost her girlfriend along with the company of the other gods.
- The Lady was incredibly lonely and decided to create her own lover, a person she called the Bride.
- There were numerous versions of the Bride. Eight in total. She kept falling apart any time the Lady and the Bride had an argument.
- For the last Bride, the Lady cut her heart in two and gave half of it to the Bride. This made the Bride stable, but it was at a terrible cost to the Lady who became cruel and cold-hearted, even as the Bride took on her best qualities.
- When the Bride found out that the Lady was actively hurting citizens by pulling apart their shadows, there was a final fight. The Lady was near to death and she and the Bride merged into one being. She still only had half her heart, though. The other half was kept in a glass case in a secret room in the Lady's wardrobe.
The Lady we met in Recuerdo was actually the Bride. Her name is Juno, and she's had a very, very hard life, working with only half the magic the Lady had and half the heart, as well.I was determined to find some way to help her, but there was still the mystery of the missing shadows. If it wasn't the Lady--Juno--stealing them, then who could it be?
Daryl had the answer and so did all of the other evidence that people had collected: Xertiti. Phil had been the last to see Stephen at the bakery where Xertiti worked. Renart had found a bracelet with charms from the bakery on Stephen. Masaki and Kid found a bracelet like the one Renart did in some loose shadows they'd chased down. Royce had also found out about the comb Xertiti had stolen from the palace. Mr. Gray was able to use some of his abilities to get a sense that Xertiti was guilty from the bracelet, as well.
Alfie and Royce worked with one of the locals from Recuerdo to set up a trap for Xertiti and bring her to justice before Juno and the rest of us. Stephen's memories had been restored by that point and Ienzo had been working with the Lady to restore the memories of the affected residents and get their shadows stitched back to them. It was really fantastic to see everyone and all the clues come together like they did. Juno apologized for what had happened to Xertiti's wife Marta, but murdering Stephen was wrong and stealing all those shadows was, as well.
After seeing to Xertiti's punishment and sorting out a potential way to eliminate the problem with shadows disappearing, Juno announced a party for all the citizens of Recuerdo. There were two final issues, though... my friend Bucky had been murdered, but it hadn't been Xertiti, and Juno's heart was still only half-missing. Bucky's murderer remains free from true justice, but with Stephen and Juno's magic, we were able to fix her. We sewed Juno's heart back together and restored it to her, giving Recuerdo its god back a little more whole than when we'd started.
Not a bad job for a bunch of living people crashing a dead party, I'd say.
[A final picture shows a selfie-style photo of John and Stephen standing with Juno, looking tired, but triumphant. As the tallest one, Juno is holding the camera.]