Tears


 

Tears

 

In the final days of the Kingdom, there were signs and portents and the wisest whispered of the doom that might befall all. The Queen of Alhambra, bewitched by the glory of her realm, resolved that her lands might last beyond time itself. Dressing herself in absolutions, she wandered the world searching for the secret to survival. Finally, one day, she approached by a wizard who claimed to be older than all memory, despite his lack of fame. He offered the queen what she sought, a blasphemous spell that might save her people. Returning to Alhambra, the Queen invited her twelve sisters, all monarchs of their own lands, to a council to prepare against the rising evil. The guard of the twelve queens were poisoned by their hosts and the queens were seized. Tortured, humiliated, and defiled, their very souls were torn out and woven into a bottle that swallowed Alhambra, just as the Darkness prepared to wash over all.

The Court of Alhambra watched as the Darkness did its foul work and watched as the new world took eons to form. Ages dissolved around them in solitude. They grew stale and weak, feeling their own life bleed away bit by bit. There seemed to be no immortality, merely painful delay. The Queen once against sought the advice of the damning wizard, now her highest vizier. The city need new life, he said, it needs a new life blood. The Queen reached out with her waning power and stole it from the fresh world before her. On that day, the first new drops appeared in the pool that had long since dried up when the river that fed it disappeared in darkness.

Now, the deceptively beautiful Sea of Tears is wide and deep, a glittering expanse reaching for from the balcony of its queen. Tears flow through the old river beds and make the old fountains shine. They cascade down the rooftops of cathedrals and colleges and the citizens of Alhambra hold festivals by their eldrich ambiance. The Queen of Tears has established twelve knights for the city, each baptized by her own hand in the sea, and beneath each of these twelve is a holy order loyal to their command. The Twelve are charged to harvest in the name of Alhambra and preserve it against those who would steal back its prosperity. They stand proudly in service of their city. Strange terrors bred in the pools that flood Alhambra. And the old vizier still whispers in the ear of a Queen who fears that one day the darkness within will match the darkness without...

 

 

 

Followers

 

Nicknames: Ravens, Mourners

 

Princesses who enter Alhambra's service cannot use Practical Magic to add bonuses to any dice pools.  Instead, they are able to curse others with momentary misfortune or incompetence.  As a reflexive action, when a target within a Raven's sight attempts a task that requires a dice roll, she may spend 1 Wisp.  When she does so, the target cannot reroll 10s, and any 1s that appear cancel successes.  If the target rolls more 1s than successes, he suffers a dramatic failure, and the Princess regains the Wisp that she spent to curse the target.  Cursing a dice pool with the 9-again or 8-again quality removes that quality, reducing it to a normal roll.  A Raven can curse others in either Transformed or mundane state, just as other Princesses can use Practical Magic in either state.