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I’m with you on the clockwork, but I also love the idea of them being “a bunch of familiars in an overcoat “, and will keep that image …

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Hehe, yes, I think that's the option of choice for Stonetop campaigns that are a bit more light and whimsical. I think that the game creator has run a campaign where the Ustrina were three crinwin stacked up under the robes. :-D

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Mar 22, 2023Liked by SGH

Go Vahid! Nice when the dice support the heroics.

Sorry I didn't vote last time. Life intervened.

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No need to apologize! Just want to make sure I'm delivering interesting dilemmas when we do votes. :-D

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Also, i like the fact that they don’t bond over maker tech but are in fact rivals of a sort!

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Well, the opportunity arise from a miss result, so I thought I'd make the encounter a bit more tense and high stakes than if Vahid was acting with the narrative momentum on his side. Given that, the Azure Hand was an easy leap -- the old servants of the Forge Lords would LOVE to get their hands on an item that controls the flow of elemental energy, which we'll probably go into a bit more next week.

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Also also, what re they doing with the bodies!? It all went a bit Monty python for a moment ; “you’re not fooling anyone you know “😉

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My current headcannon for this is that the bodies are how they 'construct' additional Ustrina -- since they are flesh-clockwork amalgamations, they can't reproduce purely biologically, they require... biological material to work from. In the Stonetop almanac, the Ustrina are described as trading in blood and flesh (and even living prisoners!), and that seemed a reasonable enough explanation for that behavior, given what we established about their origins.

Of course, nothing is 'true' until it's established in the fiction, but I always try to have a 'good enough' rationale or explanation on deck when I envision something a certain way.

Glad the reference came through. :) I do a lot of homage at the gaming table, and I thought it'd be fun to do the same here, and I think this is the first time a reference has been commented on!

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