War Puppets

The war puppets are the Herald's work. He seals living minds into shells and sends them out to walk the world for the Lady of the Veil; some are Yang bodies that close in and grapple, others Yin bodies that hang in the air and strike from above.

Had Lei Dang been taken by them, his mind would have been drawn out and poured into a shell like these. The craft never chooses its subjects; it only asks whether a body will serve.

Most of what is inside still remembers who it was. It makes no difference — the clearer the memory, the harder the blow.

• Alloy Cannon Puppet: one arm is wholly replaced by an alloy hand cannon, and its special rounds burrow into the ground to chase a target along the surface. Half the scars across its body were cracked open by its own fire.
• Golden Assassin Puppet: cased head to foot in gold, both forearms replaced by enormous hand spikes, killing anyone who might hinder the Lady's descent. The mind within once belonged to a Mandate disciple kneeling before her statue.
• Iron Umbrella Puppet: the toothed canopy spins and one killing stroke follows another, all of it delivered with a dancer's grace. A performer of Mirage Estate dwells inside, once twirling silk and paper parasols, now dancing a slaughter for the Lady.
• Floating Head: a single Yin head suspended in the air, face twisted, an unending Chaos Flame burning in the shattered skull. It shrieks almost without pause, trying to force the abyss it glimpsed into living minds.
• Halberd War Puppet: blades replace both feet, skimming the ground as if over ice, gliding and spinning in close to drive the cold gathered along the halberd into flesh. Every one of them walked onto the table of its own accord.
• Spear-Shield Puppet: the ghost-faced shield glares with jaws thrown wide, its wall of defence near unbreakable, its mouth able to spew Chaos Flame. The spear work is vicious and unpredictable, and it will not retreat though its shell cracks all over.

Cannon rounds travel underground, so never stand still waiting for one to surface — keep moving and it loses the trail. The umbrella's spin has a wind-up and a close; the moment it folds is the moment to answer.

The floating head unsettles the mind with its shrieking, so cut it down first and the rest of the pack is easier to break apart. Halberd puppets skim low across open ground, so put your back to a wall rather than circle them in the open.