The soucouyants in the Evening Isles rarely travel, ashamed of their corrupt nature. Reports on their sudden migration to Fort Geryk have made travelers wary. What could possibly draw them out of exile?
’Tragic, what happened to them; but when monsters stir, we must stay vigilant.'
'The soucouyants in the Evening Isles grieve in darkness, hiding their shame from all manner of Light. So why go to the Sovereigns’ throne? The Forge’s fires still burn there, even now, and fire brings light.'
'Treasures of the Sovereigns were left behind, and the soucouyants wish to employ them. I’d like to think this a simple whim, but the Forge is not easily used without intention… and the Grail has always been fond of her tools.‘
Dr Motola feared the soucouyants wished to use treasures touched by the Forge for their own ends - perhaps by the urging of the Red Grail.
’Do you ever wonder why the soucouyants still live, even after their exile from the Law of the Mansus? I have my theories…'
'When an Hour withdraws their favor from a Long, it returns them to mortal flesh, so which upholds the soucouyants? Some say the Grail sustains them, but that answer alone feels unsatisfactory.'
'Of course. It must be a Nowhere-Hour. One comes to mind, one who favors the young, and I believe she might watch over their young. If she could return their children to them…’
Maruja theorized that the soucouyants are acting at the bidding of a Nowhere-Hour with the hopes of regaining their children.
’Not one to delve into the soucouyants’ nest, but some opportunities are too rare to resist.'
'Legends place the Chalice Murmurous on Raven Isle, amidst all of the soucouyants’ keepsakes. With so many gone, it should be safer, but there can never be too many protections around them.'
'Wish me luck, Librarian. Hopefully I can return to ask for your help again.‘
Prof. Yuan sought to retrieve the Chalice Murmurous from the soucouyant-infested Raven Isle, hoping to take advantage of their migrations.
’I have a rare opportunity here, Librarian, which I hope you can assist with.'
'Soucouyants bear a terrifying strength to them. I wish to recruit one of them to fight alongside me - not permanently, of course. I just need to show some better uses for their power.'
'Hopefully, one of them is amenable to an arrangement. Monsters are rather open to parley. Doesn’t this place prove as such?‘
With the hopes of recruiting one to fight with him, Tte. Anatolio left to parley with the soucouyants.
’There’s rumors stirring about the soucouyants. The Authorities are worried they might move out of the Evening Isles.'
'New York’s rivers are familiar to monsters. If the soucouyants come north, I cannot simply dispatch them like the others.'
'Monsters which think are often regarded as dangerous, but thought allows the cunning blades of thought to strike you. This should reassure the Authorities. Thank you, Librarian.‘
Emilia planned to use the ‘cunning blades of thought’ against any soucouyants which might arrive in the rivers of New York.
’Miserable, horrible things, they are. But it’s often the pests who find lost things first, no?'
'The Sovereigns of the Leashed Flame abandoned much when they retreated, and they prized power above all. I simply need to discern what powers are at work here.'
'Of course the Twins would be involved. They are far too found of mongrel beings. Now they want to reinstate them as Long? Not if I can help it.‘
Dr Haig believed the soucouyants were being given a chance by the Twins to be reinstated as proper Long, and set out to stymie their efforts.
Faculty Consultations
Faculty
Start
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Robigo
’So many soucouyants have fled to the Evening Isles. It holds a rather special significance, you see…'
'From the Sea are her children born, and to the Sea they return when they die. So many never left her waters - until, of course, the Grail arose and taught those of the land how to feast.‘
’Many mothers, even fewer fathers, all punished by the Hours. If we lived in a gentler time, they may have found a kinder fate.'
'In the time of the low sun, I think the Crime of the Sky was no Crime at all. There can be no proper punishment without a proper offense. So the children of immortals must have lived freely, with loving parents, beneath a redder sky…’
’Monsters come into the world in one of two ways: they are born, or they are made. The soucouyants obey the first. The Lionsmith observes the second'
'To be a monster is to be an outsider. The Lionsmith is no outsider, for he is part of the Law, but he sets his children often go beyond it. There’s a reason his creations take so easily to the soucouyants, and why labhites are seduced so easily by Echidna.‘
’Before I came here, I watched them from afar. There’s a sadness beneath the skin and teeth.'
'If they were to remain beneath the Sun, only the sadness would remain. But sadness is no less lethal than rage. The Wolf-Divided knows that all too well. Perhaps they can only rest when their souls run dry, though they still run ever-deeper…