Machiru

The smell of river fish and damp stone clings to everything in Waterfall City, but around Machiru, there is always the faint, sharp scent of ozone. They are a familiar phantom on the plaza, a masked figure polishing a blade by the great fish statue, dismissed by all. The temple guards call them ‘touched,’ a heretic who, like the infamous Itan-sha, defies all Chimpers doctrine. But the voices Machiru hears are not madness. They are the whispers of a forgotten river god, a power that flows beneath the city’s foundations. When a spectral predator began dragging boats into the depths, unseen by any guard, it was Machiru who saw its shimmering form. Their blade was a blur, their possessed eyes glowing. The creature is gone, but the city still looks away. They are still the outcast, but the whispers now carry a hint of fear, not just pity.