did an amazing picture of Ryu for me last year. I figured the appropriate reaction would be to ask him to do a picture of Coryn, too! He didn't just do one picture of her, either. The Queenbreakers are his creation, and I'm sure they have some creative ideas for Coryn...

The Pirate Queen was restless.

After narrowly escaping from the clutches of an Egyptian god, Coryn had been laying low for a while. Itching to get back into the plundering trade, she had her sights set on her riskiest business venture yet: stealing an artifact from a cult of religious fanatics. She'd been meaning to get in touch with her spiritual side for a while, and figured this was as good a method as any. The group was rumored to somehow possess the actual Holy Grail, an object that she also wanted to get in touch with.

The cult was known as the Queenbreakers, a group that was heavily influenced by the religions of medieval times, with lots of fire and brimstone and things of that sort. Little was known about them, other than they used archaic forms of torture to both reward and punish members, and regarding women as little more than sex objects. Coryn didn't need any such justification to sneak into the cult's fortress-like stronghold, a place that was forbidden to all but the most fanatical followers. Fortunately, she had a plan, and the means to execute it.

The sky pirate's plan was to sneak into the Queenbreakers' main cathedral disguised as one of their followers, and find her way into the catacombs where their sacred relics were stashed. Miraculously, Coryn managed to secure a set of holy garments from a former member for a hefty sum, and had quite a revelation when she received it. It was a nun's habit made almost entirely of tight latex, and she learned from the seller that it had to be kept immaculately polished at all times on the cult's property.

Coryn didn't feel remotely sacrilegious as she squeezed into the black dress, which left nothing to the imagination. She couldn't help but think that this cult might not be so bad without the whole torture and imprisonment thing. It took her a while to make it to the cathedral, as her skirt was so tight she could only take itty-bitty steps. Once there, she donned the final part of the outfit: a muzzle made of thick, white cloth that completely silenced her. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she put the mask on and fastened it to the headdress before heading for one of the iron-barred gates in the fence that surrounded the Queenbreakers' headquarters.

Fortunately, Coryn had brushed up on some of the cult's scriptures before coming here, and was able to recite the magic words that made the heavily-armed guards let her inside. Her heart raced a little as she hobbled around the musty, cavernous building, getting a feel for the layout. The place looked more like a casino than a church, with lots of gilded statues and velvet curtains and rugs. Instead of saintly figures and angels, the stained-glass windows around the cathedral had pictures of people in chains being flayed alive and burning in bonfires, making her even more nervous. An inquisitor spotted her wandering around and hurried over to her, and she swallowed hard behind her mask as she was about to find out if she'd memorized enough of the scriptures...

To be concluded...!