|
Vanzetti's words cut and slice through the silvery vortex, quieting the voices for a moment before they return from a slightly different angle.
"But the river went dry because the old gods abandoned us! If we forsake Aram Zey, he'll smite us and burn us from this existence!" This time, the voices sound scared, shaking and shivering. "We brought ruin on our world and nobody can save us except for Aram Zey."
|
|
Otto explains that gods had nothing to do with the wearing down of the world, and that external forces were the culprits. Likewise, their worship of Zey had nothing to do with their salvation.
-> Success!
The voices quiet down as they listen to Otto's words. However, soon a new discordant note raises from among them.
A prideful tone exclaims: "Our leader is chosen by the divine!" and another voice replies: "I am a prophet and my course was set by Aram Zey - I am the only one who can save my people!"
|
A prideful tone exclaims: "Our leader is chosen by the divine!" and another voice replies: "I am a prophet and my course was set by Aram Zey - I am the only one who can save my people!"
"Ohhh, I've heard that one before," Retorts V in a voice as bitter as Rahadoumi coffee grounds. "Behold thy glory, as the little maggots feast gratefully upon thy flesh for all eternity! Did you seriously think this through???"
A single bloody tear trickles down his mask. "Not only is it one HELL of a 'salvation' to leave people dependent on One True Savior like enfeebled veal-calves, but what about YOU? What about YOUR wants and needs? I think you'll find that august mantle becomes very tiresome, very quickly. To lead is to be as shackled as to follow, and look to where it all leads: A pathetic, hideous mass of wailing flesh, supporting itself with itself like hopeless drunkards staggering down a long, hard street. Believe me: You do not want this."
|
|
The voices argue against V, but he speaks with such passion that they can not resist him.
The storm has grown noticeably weaker, yet it still attempts to overwhelm you for one last time.
"My father had abandoned us - he wanted Onhae to die." The voice claims, it's words full of sorrow and shame. "The sacred flower showed me the evil spirits surrounding him - I had no choice. I had to kill him."
You could attempt to use your Knowledge of History of the Onhae to your advantage, or you could try to just get through with diplomacy.
|
|
Vanzetti prepares a counter argument, explaining that even though beings who claim to be more powerful than we are are giving us orders, it is our own choice whether to carry them out or not. For better or for worse, we must carry our responsibility for our actions.
-> success
Finally, the squall calms. As it dissipates, tiny fragments of thought briefly fall from the sky like sleet. After it passes, the air is peaceful and still.
You realize that you are still where you were - in the middle of the jungle, on your way toward the village. As you reach the clearing where you left your prisoners, Lin Fen Hai seems to be noticeably more relaxed and peaceful, stress and worry and confusion no longer lingering on her lips.
|
|
Unless you specifically execute Lin Fen Hai in the forest, she leads you back to the village. She seems generally remorseful and regrets both the death of the Rhino but even more importantly, the murder of her father. She gathers up the villagers, confesses to the murder, and pleads that the villagers would give you a second chance.
There is some confusion on what has actually happened, but it becomes clear soon enough that what she thought was the words of Aram Zey, was actually the manipulation of the etheroot. Villagers accept her surrender, planning to hold her to a trial for her father's murder (and the death of the Rhino).
Your actions in releasing the village from the subtle influence of this extraplanar menace, combined with her speaking on your behalf, sets the villagers at ease - for a time. If you ask about it, they do allow you into the previously boarded up house, saying that it contains the relics of their old religion.
Two More Phases
Feel free to post your actions for the two phases when you are ready. You should probably strategise a bit to make the most out of the remaining time you have. See the slides for the possible actions. You currently have made 1 cultural discovery.
|
If Vanzetti wants to ask about the Sacred Flower then Dain will assist him. If Vanzetti does something else then Dain goes in the Old Church/Boarded Up house to assist investigation during the First Phase.
(Of course if a better plan comes up Dain will change to that. ^^)
Dain also gives Tachnonius and 1 other person (Vanzetti/Reesa) a Focus Chew to up their Knowledge skills by 1.
|
|
As Lin Fen Hai (she isn't tied up, but she's being accompanied by a guard) leads you to the boarded up house, she overhears Dain asking Vanzetti about the flower.
"The flower... It's bloom this season has brought nothing but trouble." The guard helps her pry aside the boards holding the door shut. "It showed me visions - my father consorting with evil spirits. I confronted him, but he wouldn't even respect me enough to admit his misdeeds."
The house is like any of the others, except that it has been filled with painted figurines on small decorated mats that represent dozens of different spirits, each with a tie to some aspect of the life in Onhae.
"I know now that I was mislled - my father was innocent, and it was I who was swayed by evil voices."
Among the statues, there's a small, unremarkable clay jar.
"I burned his body, in the hopes of cleansing evil influences from his spirit, so that he could pass on to join our ancestor, rather than remain trapped in here forever. Those are his ashes."
She points at the vase, tears falling down her cheeks.
"I'll have Wan escort you to the flower. You can have it. I hope it'll be of some use to you."
As you ask about it, she briefly explains their funeral rites. A significant cultural discovery.
You find out that each of the spirits represented by the statues tie to some part of life in Onhae: A spirit of the harvest, a spirit of fishing, a spirit of artisanship, and a spirit of love, to name a few. Each spirit rests atop a woven linen mat. These mats are decorated with symbolic representations of that spirits significance, as weöö as a few brief prayers to the spirit. In a different part of the building, locked inside a lead box, are caricatured figurines representing what the locals have long considered evil spirits, such as the spirit of apathy and the spirit of selfishness. These figures are made of stone, with a thin layer of burnt paint on the surface. The tradition of using flame for purification in Onhae predates the beginning of the faith of Aram Zey - Lin Fen Hai had clearly adjusted a familiar ritual to help ease the transition into a new religion.
Piecing together these facts is a significant cultural discovery.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
This is actually a Very Significant cultural discovery .
When you have concluded your business in Onhae, the villagers make sure that you leave the village, and let you know that you aren't welcome back. Lin Fen Hai does tell you that the people have much to consider and reflect upon after these events, even though her own fate is still unclear. She hopes that the villagers will be merciful - her visions have ended with the destruction of the etheroot - but the locals sorrow and mourn over her father's death. The corpses you spotted near the etheroot, should you mention them, help them recognize that you have helped to save them from a dark and mysterious force, and further reinforces the proof that the flower's continued influence on Lin Fen Hai was a malevolent one.
After leaving the village and returning to the Grand Lodge, Sorrina Westyr asks you to chronicle everything they learned about the Sunsu Godae, as well as to provide her with an account of the state of the tapestry and any strange phenomena you may have witnessed.
|
|
There's a list of the places remaining in the slide:
Hostler’s House: Could reveal more about Onhae’s Horse-based traditions (Nature or Geography)
Baker’s house: Discover the mysteries of local cuisine (Profession: Cook or other applicable profession/craft)
Smithy: Could reveal why arming the populace is important (History)
Training Building: Children practicing complex sword forms (Attack roll with a sword)
Bridge: Study local fishing technique (Profession: Fisherman or Survival)
Weaver’s House: Tells you about local style and characteristics of clothes and nets (Appraise, Prof. Merchant, or a related craft/Profession related to making clothes)
are the relevant ones.
|
|
Although Otto is still grieving the death of his faithful companion, he is quite relieved to see that there will be a proper trail for Lin Fei. "If the law finds that she is not responsible due to being bewitched, I will have no quarrel with it, as long as the scales of justice are duly measured."
As the group continues its investigations, Otto heads to the Hostler's House, not simply to share his understanding of the natural world with him, , but also to speak with the horses in hopes of befriending them and learning more about the Onhae's "horse-based traditions" as the horses see them! . However, whether because of his generally obnoxious nature, or because of his fearsome signifer mask that hides even his eyes, he does not seem to be terribly popular with either the Hostler or his horses.
|
|
Before the group returns to Absalom, Otto returns to the jungle with any who wish to accompany him to attend to the burial of Rhon Rhino the elasmotherium. With his signifer mask removed for the sweaty task of shoveling a whole large enough for the creature, it is striking how hideous Otto is and most agree that the mask really does show him in the best possible light.
Once the labor is completed, Otto pauses to catch his breath and to hoist a goblet with Dain's finest concoction. "I ain't too wordy a type, ye all seen that by now, but I'll just say that Rhon were a damn fine l'il elasmotherium. I raised 'im since he were a pup - what a l'il snuggly megafauna he were!" - Otto pauses as if recalling long lost days of innocent play with a baby elasmotherium, and almost looks as if he might shed a tear - "though I will say he had the derndest time learnin' not to poop 'n th' house - rules wasn't never his strongest suit, it's true, and we had words more than once about it! - but still he were a darned fine friend, 'n he's accompanied me lo these many long years that we bin hunting that darn dog. 'N now look, I come here to this damned tapestry, sure that it's the one place I ain't yet looked fer the dog, and instead o' finding me dog, I lost me rhino." Now Otto finally does shed some tears, and you can tell that he's embarrassed and probably worrying about whether any of the other Hellknights will hear about this. "Anyway, Rhon, whereever Pharasma be takin' ye, I hope there's lots o' foxy lady elasmotheri there, 'n I hope they treat you real right, 'n like the fallen hero warrior that ye are!" Otto pauses, looks around quickly to be sure that no one is laughing, and then quickly jams his signifer mask back onto his face. "Well, enough o' that! Where's the door back to Absalom?" he intones in a much deepier, raspier, Vader-like voice.
....
When the group does eventually return out of the tapestry, Otto is quite surprised to find a letter and package from home. "Dear Otto, ain't ye found me doggy yet? It bin a terrible long time 'n I hope ye ain't malingerin' - ye knows how I feel 'bout malingerers! Anyhow, Rhon's mama done had another pup n' ye know how I cain't abide them poopy rhinos in the house, so 'm sending him to ye fer ye to raise. Ye kin send 'im back after he ain't poop in the house 'n not before! Now stop malingerin' 'n git to findin' that dear l'il doggy o' mine. How I miss him! Yer Mama." Inside the rather large package Otto finds a very hungry elasmotherium, who immediately squeals with delight to be released from its packaging, before hurriedly rampaging through the market of Absalom, eating everything in its path, pausing only occasionally to deposit large and steamy turds, while Otto hurriedly follows behind, murmuring apologies to vendors and hurriedly throwing coins for eaten and/or trampled wares their way, and shoveling up the messes as best he can. With the young elasmotherium showing no signs of slowing down, Otto quickly bestows a name upon him in order to speak with him: "Ernie, stop that, d'ya hear!?! Ernie! Ernie!! Dern ye, ye jest as obstinate as yer older brother were. Now lissen here, Ernie!" These complaints and commands can be heard receding into the distance and Ernie the elasmotherium disappears into the alleyways of Absalom with Otto O'Read in hot pursuit.