I hope that your day went well. In the course of our quests we managed to heal Mystal but… there were complications. I will tell you about them when we meet again. Nomura likely won’t be able to join us.
I will explain it when we meet again.
- Sakurai ”
What the hell did she mean by ‘complications’?
What happened with Nomura?
Standing from where knelt, I slicked back my thick dark curls with the moisture of the prevailing mist and pulled up my hood. Setting off from the old home I made my way west toward the meeting place. My journey was interrupted a few times when I had to dispatch several small patrols or gather as many herbs as I could. The picture of what L’Chasse had been like before it was dragged into the Spiral became far more clear.
It was all rolling hills and farms, many of them now in ruins. Occasionally heavy jagged black stones protruded up from the ground and twice I crossed dark babbling streams that weaved through small drainages. Sometimes I spotted the eternal stars and distant floating stone islands above but I tried to keep my focus on making the best speed I could through the mist to my destination.
The great cultist camp that I had escaped from on my way to the vineyard was bypassed far easier this time. There seemed to be far fewer soldiers present with many tents vacant or burned by violence, likely caused by a swarm of new players conducting hit and run attacks. Given that there were still a few days until I was slated to meet with Valerie and her people I considered the remaining cultists with a tactical eye. At this point the experience they offered was miniscule but when this ‘Revolution’ began, as the quest so helpfully called it, every cultist soldier would be a liability.
Tempering that with my still simmering rage at Sevrins little stunt back in Braithe, an idea started to form. I couldn’t really be sure what the respawn rate for the NPC mobs had to be but… I imagined I would glean a little catharsis and practice my skills by opening hunting season on the camp of religious zealots. Over the course of an entire day I swept through the camps like a shadow. It took hours before any of the remaining cultists caught on and even then the group of three messengers they sent to the other camps for help did not make it far.
A full day later as I rose over the latest of my victims, a young female cultist who could not have been older than Valerie, I considered the noble woman’s harsh critique of my EO reputation farming. In many ways wiping out those NPCs had been far more humane than my silent slaughter of the camp’s denizens. In this instance I was not above using psychological warfare to strike terror into the unwitting cultists.
Staged bodies with few, if any, wounds save the tiny punctures on their necks.
Entire tents full of ‘sleeping’ cultists found cold, motionless and dead.
Would Valerie be disgusted with my shadowy murder spree?
With a slow smile I resolved that what she didn’t know wouldn't hurt her.
With my victims reaped I invaded the necropolis with ease and made my way back to the Great Vault. Many of the same NPCs remained standing under the awnings, although some were now gone. There were a few players present and although they seemed disinterested for the most part I passed along news of the quest and moved on under their curious or amused stares. Leaving the Necropolis behind I eventually reached a ridgeline where I looked down over the burned chapel suggested as a meeting place by Valerie.
The chapel itself was little more than four decaying stone walls with a gothic steeple and an adjoining graveyard.
Beyond it I could see an entire hamlet on a large but low rise, long since reduced to ruins. There appeared to have been a number of farms in the valley around the gathering buildings but there was no light to be found amidst them, not even the chapel itself. Without pause I slid down the stone scree leading down from the ridge and made my way toward the chapel.
I was not entirely shocked to see a familiar figure seated on the railing of the steps outside the ruin. She dangled her legs and gave me a knowing smile as I approached, “I see you managed to finish your little errand.”
Theodora had not changed much since I’d last seen her several days ago. She had managed to do away with the terrible robe I had given her and was now wearing a long purple and black dress and a silver circlet. A gnarled wooden staff lay across her lap and she was wearing at least two rings and a necklace. With a sharp nod I retorted sarcastically, “I see word of my little endeavor got around to you. I can’t tell you how happy I am about that.”
Her fanged smile was playful as she looked me over with predatory eyes, “I bet you are. Your people remain unaware that I am not one of them. I have even taken on several tasks with them. I am almost like a proper adventurer. Perhaps you and I should go on an adventure together.”
Rubbing my forehead, I sighed as I said, “That would be a tough sell.”
She pouted and I gave her a withering look as I said, “I get the sense it would be less of an adventure and more of a master and servant relationship.”
Her black lips blossomed into a big smile as she said, “There would be some of that, yes.”
Shaking my head I gave her a tight smile, “You know its not the constant innuendo that bothers me about you, right?”
She put her chin in her hand and sighed, “Yes, you fear me.”
Sighing, I walked over looking down at her as I said, “Is it going to be a problem that Anaya told me some of your history?”
Her playful expression vanished and she narrowed her eye at me, “What history?”
“About the Heartrose, the Lady of Flame, and some big secret that you know that the cultists want to know really damn bad?”
She sighed and cocked her head, her red curls bouncing as she eyed me with mild annoyance. She put a black nail on my chest and I had to step back as she looked into my eyes with clear threat, “Let us establish a ground rule for our future interactions, Remnant. Never mention or inquire about the matter you just spoke of again. All you need to know is that my sire was the Heartrose and that the so-called Goddess of Fire impedes the task he set down before he was lost to us.”
Stepping away from her threatening blade-like claw, I said, “To go down the Spiral and reach the center?”
“To remake the cosmos that has been shattered by aiding the Lost One who toils at the base trying to hold it all together.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I said sarcastically, “Is that all? No problem. Repairing the cosmos is kind of my thing.”
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She sighed and smiled as she shook her head. She waved a hand toward the burned out church and said, “I believe there are a couple of hours until your meeting. You may be able to find something to advance yourself in the surrounding area. I will refrain from going with you this time.”
Sighing through a smile I added, “How generous,” and turned away to make my way into the small hamlet past the old church, “I’ll be back shortly.”
“Vertcollin Hamlet
This village was one of the very first to support the first Remnant crusade against the Spiral. Despite being the one who incited this relationship, The Lady of Flame has laid a lasting curse on this village..
Questing: Level 26-29”
Leaving Theodora at the chapel I made my way toward the village proper. The old road had nearly vanished under years of neglect and the strange natural growth of lilac colored weeds. I could faintly feel the chill of the mist provided by Catacomb’s updates to my dive suit.
Despite seeing no movement in the ruins I occasionally caught small sounds from the surrounding buildings. A shift of stone or perhaps the wind? One could easily misinterpret it all as whispers. Little remained to identify what each of the buildings had been.
As I passed one of the buildings a voice called out to me in a hissing whisper, “It is true then, the Remnants have returned?”
I turned to see a strange figure near one of the ruined homes. The speaker was a shadowy skull, ribcage and single arm hanging by its neck from a makeshift fire scorched gallows. It was another of the Forlorn Shades, like the ones outside the waystation fortress.
The shadowy creature regarded me with eyes that reminded me of Anaya’s as it said, “Hail traveler. Few visit this place because of tales of its terrible fortune. They are right to assume it is cursed.”
Approaching the strange creature warily, I gestured at the town, “Were you a resident of this place before it was destroyed?”
The ghostly creature looked down at me with little discernable emotion as it said, “This place was a village of the Remnants when they first arrived on the Spiral. When the Ten departed this place cult sympathizers in Arret came here and laid waste to the village. Not a single man, woman, child or beast was spared.”
Considering the information I surveyed the quiet mist filled streets, “I was led to believe that the Lady of Flame was once a Remnant herself. Why would she purge a place that just made the mistake of having once been her home?”
The specter gave an approximation of a shrug and said, “I don’t pretend to understand the mind of a mad woman from another world. I live here at the outskirts and warn those who come of the dangers here.”
Clearly seeing the bait planted in this situation, I asked, “Is there anything I can do to help lift the curse from this place?”
The specter nodded its head slowly, “Beasts born of anger and unquiet souls dwell in the village. They are not the single entities they once were but amalgams of those tortured by the invaders. Destroy them and search the tavern that once served as the base of operations of the Remnants for a way to put their spirits to rest.”
“New Quest
Purge the Unquiet Dead from Vertcollin Hamlet
XP Reward: 1700
The hamlet of Vertcollin once housed the Remnants who came to the Spiral to descend into the depths. Once they had long left this place behind and the Lady of Flame had descended into madness she had her servants purge the village. Put the unquiet souls to rest and search the tavern at the center of the hamlet.”
I gave the strange specter a sympathetic smile and nod and turned to leave. It made me pause when it said, “I do hope that you will not visit such vengeance on this place when you have vanished into the unknown depths.”
That request hung in the air as I departed making my way toward the center of the gathering of small destroyed buildings. Now aware that something unnatural dwelled in the ruins I took cover where I could in the shadow of stunted walls and old beams. It did not take long for me to find the first of them.
After a short stint moving from corner to corner of the ruined village’s many buildings I paused at the entrance to what had at one time been a narrow twisting lane and saw the first of the creatures. The beast was a hulking bipedal monster made up of dark purple vines. Antlers that looked like broken and twisted combinations of wood and bone jutted from the roots on its head. It was tearing something apart on the ground which I could not entirely make out. When it snapped its head up and tore something away from its meal, gray motes of light came with it. I analyzed the creature.
Eternal Hunter
Level 28
Weakness: Fire
Resistance: Bludgeoning
HP: 1400/1400
MP: Unknown
Tier F
Special Ability
Burst of Speed: Speed increased by 50% for ten seconds. Cooldown 30 seconds.
A high pitched scream from up the lane shocked me out of my thoughts. A ghostly child hurtled around the corner and screamed in terror as she ran by the feasting creature. As she did so another one of the beasts, this one on two legs with tusks like a wild hog, nearly tumbled as it rounded the corner in pursuit. Its hooves screeched on the stones as they struggled to gain purchase.
With a sinking feeling, I realized exactly what the first creature had been eating. These monsters were eating the forlorn spirits of the dead villagers. I grimaced as I realized that this had almost certainly been happening for a very long time.
Left and Right, my daggers, appeared in my hands as I detached from the corner and rushed toward the two creatures. The antlered one snorted with interest when it noted me while the tusked beast hurried to catch up, charging with its tusks and head down.
Charging past the girl without hesitation I activated my Crimson Dance stance and instantly felt lighter on my feet. The movements of the two creatures felt half a beat slower and I hissed, “Let’s see if you can bleed.”
As I spun around the tusked beast it swiped at me and I dug my blades into its root and fiber hide. There was indeed a spray of sap into the air and I danced through it, the black fluid spattering onto my skin as I rushed the second creature. Behind me the first creature was in pursuit but I ignored it as I vaulted over the horns of the second creature, spinning between them as I activated Slice and slashed my blade across what passed for its spine.
There was a huge burst of black sap and my arms were coated in spatter up to the elbows. I saw the Blooded buff flash into my notifications as I skidded to a stop and dashed back toward the enemies.
The antlered beast spun on its unsettling human-like feet and thrust its head toward me. Rolling beneath the spearing antlers I slashed its chest another two times before shouldering it aside and tumbling past to charge the tusked beast. I noticed with concern that its root-made arms ended in clacking crab-like claws that appeared to be two halves of a black seedpod.
It snapped a claw onto my shoulder, and while it didn’t get a grip, it tore free a significant amount of flesh. Growling through the injury I spun past the creature slashing it multiple times in the side, leaving spraying wounds soaking the roots that made up its body.
My momentum nearly toppled me to the stones but remained on my toes before spinning back toward my ‘blood’ covered foes. The antlered monster staggered under the effect of its wounds and into a half destroyed wall. It let out a sickly warble of distress but seemed to be struggling to remain up.
Charging the tusked monster I jumped toward it feet first. It raised its arms to defend itself and both my feet lanced into them. The force knocked it backward, stumbling into its ally. The two were quickly entangled and I charged in, slashing once and then a second time on its legs where I knew the femoral artery would be on a human target. Dancing backward I got some distance between myself and the creature when it snapped a claw at me.
The two monsters struggled under the constant loss of their ichorous blood, slipping and falling as their strength left them. The antlered beast was the first to fall still. The tusked beast was able to get to its feet but it staggered forward and fell face first onto the ancient stones with a crunch.
Dispelling my blades into my inventory I walked over to the corpses. Much of the plant matter that made up the original creatures was now gone. I looted a crafting component called Noctis Sap off the bodies and tossed them into my inventory.
Hearing a shift on the stone behind me I turned to see the ghostly little girl that the tusked beast had chased into the alley. She was peering at me from a corner and seemed ready to take off running.