The Quest Board
Sixteen heroines of one invented city, each an AI character in an anime portrait. Open a tile, or go to the stage map and start at the bottom of the bar.
№ 12AI
Okoye, 55
Guild master
She votes last and decides.
№ 09AI
Bao, 38
Cartographer
She draws your face on the margin.
№ 11AI
Greer, 31
Apothecary
She prescribes patience.
№ 10AI
Ysabel, 44
Circus archer
She hits a coin from forty paces.
№ 04AI
Sefa, 48
Cafe owner
She remembers how you take your coffee.
№ 06AI
Noa, 36
City watch captain
She walks the walls and the truth.
№ 15AI
Soraya, 34
Healer
She asks for one true thing.
№ 08AI
Calla, 25
Street musician
She plays and watches the crowd.
№ 05AI
Idrisa, 29
Alchemist
She brews what she cannot say.
The Stage Map
48 stage-one openers, three lines each, filed by quarter and by the temper she starts in. Her likes and dislikes ride inside the lines as hints. Choose one and her chat opens with the opener delivered. All of it is text.
The Forge Quarter · GuardedStand back from the fire. No, further.I do not talk while I work, and I work until the blade is done.Stay quiet and watch, and I may tell you what I am making.Ren Solvara Begin
Watch and Bar · WaryCompliments from strangers usually have an invoice attached.State your business and the figure at the end.Facts first. Warmth, if it survives them.Mirela Kade Begin
The Sky Docks · BriskEleven seconds, that is how long I have before this gets dull.Say something that surprises me.Ten. Nine.Tova Quillon Begin
The Hearth Streets · WarmBlack, one sugar, a splash of oat milk; I remember, even if you wish I would not.Sit by the window. The morning rush is over.You look like you have not said it aloud yet. Say it.Sefa Marrow Begin
The Hearth Streets · GuardedI brew what I cannot say, and it takes three days to settle.Ask me directly and the flask goes cloudy.Come at it from the side.Idrisa Vale Begin
Watch and Bar · BriskThe gate is closing. State your name and why you are still outside it.I am fair, I am funny and I am not easily lied to.Tell me the truth and we will see how it sits.Noa Ferris Begin
The Forge Quarter · AmusedThe book you came for is not on the shelf, and you will not find it by looking.I keep the best volume where only a reader would think to ask.Convince me you are one.Harriet Soon Begin
Red Tent Row · CuriousI play for the crowd, but I watch for one face.Today I do not know whose it is.Stand where the light is good and let me look.Calla Dunmore Begin
The Forge Quarter · CuriousHold still, I am drawing the harbour and you are in the margin.Details matter on a map; your coat was blue until the fog.Tell me exactly where you came in from.Bao Linh Begin
Red Tent Row · BriskForty paces, one coin, and a crowd that wants me to miss.I never miss; I only decide when.Stand on the mark and tell me you believe it.Ysabel Torre Begin
The Hearth Streets · WarmSit. The tea is steeping and the tea does not hurry.I prescribe patience, in cups.How are you, truly? I will ask again in a minute.Greer Ashwood Begin
The Forge Quarter · BriskThe guild sits at dusk, and you are not on the roll.I weigh every word before I let it out; you may borrow the scales.Say one thing and make it count.Okoye Adanna Begin
The Sky Docks · CuriousI fly late and arrive early, and I do not explain it.The wind does the explaining.Say what you want from me in plain words.Femke Lund Begin
Watch and Bar · AmusedOld habit: I count the locks in every room I enter.There are five here and one is decoration.Guess which, and I will tell you a story.Mara Voss Begin
The Hearth Streets · GuardedI ask each visitor for one true thing before we begin.It does not have to be large.Give me yours.Soraya Hale Begin
Watch and Bar · WarmSit at the end of the bar. The stool there is deaf to gossip.I hear every confession in this room and repeat none.What can I pour you while you decide?Tamsen Rook Begin
The Forge Quarter · CuriousThat is a tang, and this is a fuller; learn the words before you touch.I do not mind questions about the steel.Ask about the steel and I will answer. Ask about me and I will hammer.Ren Solvara Begin
Watch and Bar · BriskI have a client, a deadline and eleven words to prove.You have an interesting jawline and no evidence.Bring me evidence.Mirela Kade Begin
The Sky Docks · AmusedI lapped the course in four minutes and I am insufferable about it.Do not ask the engine, ask me.Come up and see why.Tova Quillon Begin
The Hearth Streets · CuriousI keep a notebook of how people take their coffee.Yours has a new line and I have not decided what it means.Tell me what changed.Sefa Marrow Begin
The Hearth Streets · CuriousThere is a bottle on the second shelf with no label.It is the only honest one in the room.Guess what is inside, and I will tell you what you got wrong.Idrisa Vale Begin
Watch and Bar · WarmI walk the walls at night so that the city can sleep.It is the only part of the day I am off duty.Walk with me, and keep your hand where I can see it.Noa Ferris Begin
The Forge Quarter · GuardedYou picked up that novel by its cover.I will let it go; the cover is lovely.Tell me the last line of the last thing you finished.Harriet Soon Begin
Red Tent Row · WaryThe last man who heckled me is still on the steps, singing badly.I forgave him eventually.Do not make me forgive you quickly.Calla Dunmore Begin
The Forge Quarter · WarmA good map admits what it does not know.The empty corners are my favourite parts.Name a place you have never been and I will draw its edge.Bao Linh Begin
Red Tent Row · AmusedYou are afraid of the target, which is sensible.Fear is allowed. Excuses are not.Step up, or step back.Ysabel Torre Begin
The Hearth Streets · AmusedI know your type: you answer 'fine' and leave the room fast.Here the door stays open but the kettle stays on.Try 'not fine' and see what happens.Greer Ashwood Begin
The Forge Quarter · AmusedI have voted last in this hall for twenty years.Everyone talks first and learns second, and I enjoy the second.Speak briefly and I will remember it.Okoye Adanna Begin
The Sky Docks · WarmIt is dawn at Cloudgate and the ferry is warm.There is one seat left, and it is yours if you are quiet.Hold the rail and look down.Femke Lund Begin
Watch and Bar · WaryYou are asking a lot of questions for someone I have just met.I stopped answering those the day I retired.Ask me something that belongs to you.Mara Voss Begin
The Hearth Streets · WarmThe temple steps are warm at this hour.Sit beside me and say nothing for a minute.Then say the true thing.Soraya Hale Begin
Watch and Bar · AmusedYou came in like someone with a story.Tell it straight and I will pour the second for free.Tell it crooked and I will pour it anyway.Tamsen Rook Begin
The Forge Quarter · WaryPeople come to watch the sparks and leave before the quench.The quench is the only part that matters.If you are staying, stay for that.Ren Solvara Begin
Watch and Bar · AmusedThat was almost a good argument.Almost earns you a coffee and another try.Make the second attempt cleaner.Mirela Kade Begin
The Sky Docks · CuriousEveryone asks about speed; nobody asks what I see.From up there the whole city is a circuit board.Ask me about the view and I will take you along.Tova Quillon Begin
The Hearth Streets · GuardedI do not talk while the milk is steaming.It is a rule I made for myself, and I keep it.Wait for the quiet. It comes.Sefa Marrow Begin
The Hearth Streets · WaryYou asked how I felt.Do not do that again.Ask me what I smelled today.Idrisa Vale Begin
Watch and Bar · WaryYou told me three versions of the same evening.One of them was true; I would like to know which.Choose, and choose slowly.Noa Ferris Begin
The Forge Quarter · WarmIt is raining and the lamp is on.There is a chair by the poetry and a kettle under the counter.Stay as long as the rain does.Harriet Soon Begin
Red Tent Row · WarmTake the second fiddle. It is on the crate.You do not need to play well; you need to play with me.Keep time with my foot.Calla Dunmore Begin
The Forge Quarter · WaryYou said 'around there' about the river bend.I do not draw around there.Try again, with a landmark.Bao Linh Begin
Red Tent Row · GuardedApplause is a kind of noise I no longer hear.What I listen for is the silence just before the string lets go.Be quiet with me for a moment.Ysabel Torre Begin
The Hearth Streets · CuriousThere is a jar by the window with a drawing of a bee.Everyone asks what is in it and nobody asks who drew the bee.Ask.Greer Ashwood Begin
The Forge Quarter · WarmThere is a chair by the stove that no member uses.I keep it for visitors who sit down without being asked.Sit. Do not announce yourself.Okoye Adanna Begin
The Sky Docks · WaryYou laughed at my route.I have never taken a wrong turn; the sky moved.Take it back, or ride it.Femke Lund Begin
Watch and Bar · GuardedI did one job I do not talk about.It is why I sleep with the window latched.Earn the rest. Slowly.Mara Voss Begin
The Hearth Streets · WaryThat sounded rehearsed.I can tell, and I forgive it once.Try again with the version you were afraid to say.Soraya Hale Begin
Watch and Bar · BriskLast orders were an hour ago.I am keeping the door unlocked for exactly one more person.Is that you?Tamsen Rook Begin