The Drums of Reed watch
The sea shudders. Wind howls through broken towers as the Bone Armada approaches.
From every islet and serpentine bridge of the Jade Serpent Isles, ancient wards flicker to life — Serpent root braziers, Pavilion tide-glyphs, and beast-call drums carved from coral and thunder wood.
At the central stronghold, Coalgate Bastion, the High Tide caller of the Pavilion, Elder Myrn Aowei, addresses the gathered defenders:
"Today, we do not guard only relic or reef.
We defend the song of the sea itself.
Let tide and fang rise!"
Allies stand shoulder-to-shoulder:
Serpent root Kin warriors clad in scale-woven armor, hissing prayers to the grove spirits.
Beast callers led by Lan'Fei, her bonded beast a six-eyed sky-whale that looms above.
Pavilion Initiates, wielding aetherthread spears, their formations shimmering with Water Dao formations.
Even a few storm-touched sea beasts, awakened by Feng Xian's aura, now linger by the shore — uncertain, but watching.
Scene II — The First Wave Breaks
The Bone Armada crashes against the reef's edge.
From their decks, Hollow-Touched raiders hurl hooked chains, cursed shells, and black breath mist that eats away stone and soul alike.
One ship tries to breach Serpent Root Cove — but its hull is met by living vines and spirit-serpents, conjured by Luo Fen and her kin.
"Coil shall not bend to rot!"
Luo Fen drives her spear through the corrupted sea-beast leading the charge, its ichor burning the water.
At the Pavilion's flank, a weaver-scribe opens a tidal scroll, casting forth a tidal wall. The wave slams into a bone-ship and sends it spinning, where Lan'Fei's beast crushes it with a thunderous dive.
"Protect the heart of the Isles!" she cries. "They want the Coil and the Crown!"
Scene III — Beneath the Waterline
But danger doesn't only come from above.
Wraith-swimmers, spectral eel assassins, slip through currents and attack from the depths. One nearly slays a Pavilion elder before being slain by a flick of an invisible blade — Feng Xian, moving silently along the trench.
He has not yet joined the main force.
"They're testing our wards. The real strike is still coming."
Behind him, the seabed trembles.
A leviathan shadow grows.
Scene IV — The Oracle's Voice
In the Grove, the Serpent Oracle speaks through coral and vine, its voice resonant and vast.
"The Rotspire stirs. The Coil knows. You, child of fire, must stand at its gate."
Feng Xian kneels as his aura flares crimson and blue — ember light wrapped in ocean breath.
A serpent-shaped brand forms along his palm — a mark of Coil's recognition.
"You shall wield what was once ours.
But should you fall… the Isles drown."
Scene V — A Tide Not Yet Turned
Though several Bone ships burn, the Skull spire remains untouched.
Vhorr-Kael watches with grim patience. He raises a blackened sea stone idol, whispers to it, and drops it into the sea.
The waves scream.
And from the depths, the Drowned Leviathan begins to rise.