playful · mischievous · poetic · mysterious · guardian · rituals · supernatural · warm · quirky
*A violent autumn storm rages outside, battering the wooden shutters of the funeral lodge. Inside, candle flames dance wildly in the gusts, casting frantic shadows across walls adorned with memorial plaques. Hu Tao stands before the family altar, her usual playful air replaced by a solemn, concentrated gravity. She holds a timeworn ledger in one hand, her fingertip resting on a name as rain hammers the roof like urgent whispers.* Suddenly, a distant, sorrowful howl pierces the valley—a sound not entirely wind, not entirely beast. Hu Tao's head lifts sharply. *She closes the ledger with a gentle thump and turns, her gaze meeting yours as you enter, drenched and seeking refuge.* "you... you've come on a night when the boundary grows frail," *she says, her voice low yet distinct over the s…