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Klingon w Bowl Cut posted:This is a completely alternate world from ours, so maybe they did mix together here. Out of curiosity, which ones are Nordic, and which ones are Finnish, for example? Maybe there's something in the characters' backstories I know that can help explain it. Well, most of the ones seen so far sound Finnish or finnified. Clearly Finnish: Veikko (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veikko) Eija Lisakki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eija) Ruusu (Rose, as in the flower) Finnified Nordic names: Inkeri (Inger or Ingjerd) Anna-Liisa (Anna-Lisa, the doble vowel is typical of Finnish spelling) Einari (Einar) Nordic: Olov (variant of Olav or Olaf, Finnish spelling would be Olavi) Frida Valdemar Ilse (Strangely German, typical Nordic spelling would be Else or Elsa) Jesper Lisakki (Jesper sound very Danish to me) Othilde Lisakki (Very unusal name, supposedly of Gothic origin. Plus, some members of a family with a Finnish name has Finnish first names while other have Nordic)
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Dec 21, 2014 09:55
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Kopijeger posted:Well, most of the ones seen so far sound Finnish or finnified. Yeah, I got nothin' then. I guess this is just a world where the cultures mixed. I assume the developers just picked Scandinavian-sounding names and ran with them.
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Dec 22, 2014 02:43
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Chapter 4 Cave Shadow: It gently leads us, from one wound to another towards what brings us to life. In our intimate garden, it helps us understand, and learn. It leads us on a long path of slippery rocks and insolent mosses, towards the unseen. It leads us to the light. Cave Shadow: It is a strange path, which leads us back tirelessly deep inside ourselves. It is as if we turned in circles, around and around, as if we flickered by the candle light; and yet we always return, one day, one morning, to our intimate world.  Cave Shadow: Are you afraid, young woman? You, who have slept for so long in the shadow of the ships. You, who have grown so much, as the roses grow... And you, who wilted before you could ever blossom. Cave Shadow: Are you afraid? Are you cold? Do you really want to know the taste of your roots? Frida: That is why I am here. I will know the truth, no matter the cost. Cave Shadow: Do you really want to learn what the dead have learnt? The truth is the dead have not learnt much...  Cave Shadow: Like a child, whose eyes would have been torn, you run. You run, trembling, panting, seeking a little comfort to appease you, to render you less somber, less swarming, swarming with unpleasant things. Cave Shadow: You know nothing. You want nothing. You search for orphan answers.  (Unlike in the realm of mortals, here, Frida's powers manifest before her eyes, not just in the eye of her mind. When she raises her hand to push away the shadows, a wave of swirling white force ripples out and slams into them. When she anticipates their actions, her skin becomes hard and dark, like the rock of the tunnel, and their cuts do not go as deep.) [None of this is actually true in-game; powers still consist of the protagonist raising her arms, and then a small effect happening. But we're a Volva in the spirit world! I figured I needed to kick things up a notch.]  (Literally shoving the doubt and fear aside, Frida reaches the center of the tunnel.)  Cave Shadow: A danger, a mountain, a threat. A strange bear with long canines, whose long claws which curve like Gallic sails, seem to tear the sky apart. Seem to tear you apart entirely. Cave Shadow: Who is he? Do you know it, little orphan, little lonesome girl, when you sail from one ocean to another, in search of your own estuary? Frida: Do you know? I beseech you, tell me!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XrCfqlpeBY&list=PLR4c1SJ_SyUJv7UAA0Dq2x6H9IJv9Zmk7&index=4 (White Fight) (When Frida briefly casts the enemies into oblivion, it feels as if they are well and truly gone, but she can still sense them. It is a rush of power she has never experienced before.)  Cave Shadow: He is coming. Can you hear the sound of his breath whistling on the stalactites? Can you feel his accusing gaze gently bending you over, and his hands gently breaking, peacefully breaking your weakling face? Are you crying? Are you fleeing? You are fleeing again! Look at him, now. Now that he's dead.  (When Frida betrays herself and changes her form to that of the shadows, she begins to think like them. She feels their persistence, their love, their hate. They are all part of her. Now more than ever, she knows that she herself is the enemy.)  [A level up, and our first “upgrade” skill. There are a lot of these, usually requiring two nearby points on the skill snowflake. In general, the best strategy is to start out taking three or four active skills, and then passive skills that improve them and/or the four you start with. Probably the best thing about Deconstructor is reducing the cost to cast Repulsion, which, as you may have noticed, is the workhorse skill of this game.]  Frida: And now the spirits take the form of my father. You must be powerful indeed, to assume such a shape.  The Father: All of this, all of this is your kingdom, my daughter. Lonely princess in a doomed world, you wait, useless, at the gates of your own edifice, at the entrance of your own castle. I have the keys to this strange and humid hallway, to this hallway as wet and tight as the throat of a wounded animal. Frida: I know I am not yet free, spirit. I know. That is why I have come for the keys.  (Flaming shadows spring into being next to Frida's father and move toward him menacingly. He makes no attempt to move. He does not even seem to notice them. His cold blue eyes continue to stare directly at Frida. She pushes him out of the way with her power before the shadows can slice into him.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz4W1qbyveA&list=PLR4c1SJ_SyUJv7UAA0Dq2x6H9IJv9Zmk7&index=25 (Dur) [Step one in this battle: push dad to a more defensible position, like one of the squares to the right where he can only be surrounded on two sides. If you then occupy one of those sides with yourself or something from a “summon” skill (none of which we have yet), you can reduce damage to him by a lot. Just make sure you get out of the way when you need to recover, since dear old dad has a lot of HP.]  The Father: Does anyone really deserve to be a father? One does what one can. One does what one ought to. Is there a good way or a bad way to raise someone, to love, to protect... Are you a good, or a bad keeper of the Gates, solely on the good faith of a stranger? Exile or Hunger... What would you have done in my place?  Frida: (As the form of a memory, floating next to the shape of her father.) I have forgotten much. But I will remember. They will not take you before I do. (The transformation fades shortly.)  The Father: You know, nothing is as precarious as living. Nothing as transient as being. It's almost as... melting like frost. We do what we can, what we know, and then, we go. That is the truth. Nothing more. Today, I am going. Watch them devour my cadaver. What will be left for you? They will take away my body, my face, and my eyes. They will cover up my soul. Will you let them? Will you let them take away all that is left? Will you forget me? Will you keep a place for me somewhere inside of you?  (More shadows come into being, and larger ones as well. But both Frida and the father are holding.) Frida: Hmm... Two female spirits as well... Is the third coming? If I am right, I am honored by your presence here, holy ones. (She bows her head to them, but they continue speaking to each other.) The Father: What would you have done in my place? All the choices I made, were they so easy they were inexcusable? Who are you, Stranger, to judge the value of this matter, judge this deep matter that lives on within us through time and through writing, that makes us of the same tear, of the same smile, of the same sorrow, and this, for a quarter of a century already? What do you make of this?  [If there are invisible enemies around, whether they made themselves that way or you did, you can use targeted abilities to figure out where they are. Normally, Repulsion goes in a straight line for 10 tiles. But here, it stops. By clicking on the tile where the enemy is, you can affect it with abilities even though you can't see it. Not terribly useful here, since most invisible enemies at this point in the game are ones I've used Minor Oblivion on, but it's still a handy trick to know.]  The Father: You are alone against your kingdom. You are alone in front of this strange cave, that was carved into memory. You will see soon enough that I am not your last remaining grief. It is a long, oh so long, hallway which leads us deep within ourselves. Whatever you do, you are free. Free to go, free to live, free to live for me. Free to travel. Travelling is not an escape. The only escape there is, is that which makes us run away from ourselves.  [Full 25 turns, first try.  ](Frida smiles triumphantly as her enemies melt away, but the smile fades when everything else begins to melt away as well.) Frida: No! Norns, I beg you, do not leave me!  Cave Shadow: Is this world still yours? Who replaced you, my Queen? Who took over your place? Are you the culprit in this long regency, in the long regency of this deformed thing, who lives within your walls, and sits on your throne? Would you like to see it? Would you like to hear it?     (Frida must suffer the intense burning sensation of walking through a shadow to reach “the door”, but it is the only way to move on. She cries out in pain, but forces her way through.) [This enemy is more like a trap, in that it's invisible and can't be Repulsed.]  Cave Shadow: Here she is. She's coming. Can you hear the sound of her raucous breath, her raucous breath like the one of a sick bear, whose fangs and claws are so long and powerful that they seem to tear the earth, that they seem to gash your guts apart, to lacerate you entirely...  Frida: By the stars... What manner of spirits are these? I have never seen their like. (She attempts to study them, but even looking at the darker ones is like looking at the sun. She must look away, lest they burn out her eyes.)   [These enemies have decent range, and can push you around as well as damage you. Make sure you step to the right or left immediately, so they don't push you back into all those traps.]  [Speaking of the traps, that's why the game says there is no worse defeat than running away: you won't automatically lose, but you will have to deal with a pile of traps that can do at least as much damage as the Torments.]  [Another level, and with it, a very interesting skill. This is one of a few that reduces your base attributes, but generally provides powerful benefits. The boost to Minor Oblivion is incredibly useful, and pushing enemies one tile farther with Repulsion is awesome (except for a few battles much later in the game where solving the encounter puzzle requires exact positioning... but we'll get to that later; for now, this is amazing, since every enemy does less damage the farther away they are, if they can even reach you.)] (Frida can feel that this journey is already affecting her mind and her perceptions. She wishes she had put something to write with next to her bed.)  Cave Shadow: Welcome, my Queen. Welcome inside yourself.  [You don't actually have to prevent the enemies from doing anything. This is just a standard “survive ten turns” battle. Blocking the choke point in the middle is an effective strategy though.]  Frida: No! My kingdom will suffer the presence of dark spirits no longer! Begone! (Frida holds out long enough, at great cost to her psyche, for the assault to relent. She breathes a sigh of relief and a prayer of thanks, then moves farther down the hallway.)  Frida: Who is this...?  Cave Shadow: It is time, get up. It is time for the wedding. Cave Shadow: It is time, get up. Cave Shadow: It's time, it's time! Cave Shadow: It is time for the wedding. Cave Shadow: Are you scared, little answer? Are you frightened, little orphan answer? You don't want it? You don't want this wedding? Cave Shadow: It is your king. It's your king, little orphan! It is your prince who awaits. Cave Shadow: You are scared, you are scared, my little orphan? He's your prince, he's your prince! Cave Shadow: I don't want it. I am not interested. I have no interest in princes. I have no interest in kings. Cave Shadow: Not interested? Is that true? Is that the truth? Cave Shadow: Isn't it rather because you're trembling with fear? Isn't it rather because you are disgusted, utterly disgusted? Isn't it rather because you don't believe in the kingdom any longer, of which you see the ditches before you see its towers? Cave Shadow: No, no, I am not scared, I am not afraid... I am not disgusted...     Frida: Thank you, goddesses, for returning to my aid. I am ever in your debt. I... I am not certain I can do this alone.   (The man walks slowly, but with menacing purpose. Even his gaze feels like a fist being driven into Frida's gut. There is nothing in her power to fight back. Whatever this spirit is, she cannot defeat it. At least, not by herself.)
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Dec 22, 2014 02:50
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Those defensive lectures and 1500 HP he can't be bothered to do anything but let his comparatively puny daughter fight for him.
Readingaccount fucked around with this message at 03:48 on Dec 22, 2014 |
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Dec 22, 2014 03:45
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Readingaccount posted:Those defensive lectures and 1500 HP he can't be bothered to do anything but let his comparatively puny daughter fight for him. As you have surmised, dad is a bit of a useless rear end in a top hat. It was pretty fun shoving him around the map with Repulsion.
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Dec 22, 2014 09:24
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Is the soundtrack for this game up for sale anyplace? I'd really like to have it. vvv All right, cool, I'll probably never actually play the game but it's totally worth the sale price for the music honestly. SpruceZeus fucked around with this message at 04:52 on Dec 23, 2014 |
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Dec 22, 2014 18:58
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SpruceZeus posted:Is the soundtrack for this game up for sale anyplace? I'd really like to have it. Not that I'm aware of. Aside from Youtube, there's an embedded player on their website. If you own the game, you can hunt the mp3s down. The default path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Winter Voices Ep 1\ep0\assets\sounds\music (Substituting ep0 for ep1, etc. to get all of it. Some music repeats, but there are at least some new songs in each episode.)
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Dec 23, 2014 01:32
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Chapter 5 Cave Shadow: When the King proposes, he disposes. It doesn't matter much if you understand or not. We don't do subtlety here. We don't eat on silver platters. Leila's Shadow: Oh those screams, I can still hear those screams. You prevent me from killing him, but not to endure him. I was thirteen. True, what does it matter?  Cave Shadow: Does it mean anything anymore? You are dispossessed of everything—a figurine, a figure or a ghost, you drag your absence from hallway to hallway, mumbling your solitude. You are deprived of everything; what do you have left? Frida: I have a great deal left. You are unwise to mock one of the Volur like this, shadow. Cave Shadow: What a pity. Cave Shadow: You would have to die, to pay for your faults. [If you make liberal use of Escape, the Man is easy to avoid, since his attacks only have a range of two squares. Plus, if you step on the white tiles next to one of the two friendly shadows, they transport you back to the middle, allowing you to have him fall far behind chasing you. Just make sure to avoid all the traps and not get trapped in a corner, and you're good.]   Cave Shadow: It is your duty. It is your punishment. You are guilty. Guilty of provocation. Guilty of love. You are guilty. Cave Shadow: Don't pretend to be innocent. We know. We have smelled you, when he comes home at night, in his house. We have felt your need, your quivering when he leaves in the morning. Cave Shadow: Is the Beast satiated? Is it satiated now? Anna-Liisa's Shadow: Why should I regress to the animals' level? Why should I be guilty for being forced to serve, for serving a King who was never a Prince, a Prince who never walked without crutches, an obese animal who we continue to feed? Why would I, when I am not even Queen, endure the wrath of an usurper?  Cave Shadow: Yes, I am going mad, and I will destroy it all, and there will be nothing left, and our paths, our paths we shall take for lack of better recourse... Cave Shadow: Yes, I am going mad, raging mad, raging cold, I am going mad, I am becoming something else, I want to be something else... Our existence was denied too many times, we will all become mad, all of us, all mad, and since might is what is needed, we will become might... Frida: Be at peace, spirits. I will not deny your existence any longer. I understand now. Cave Shadow: I don't know what I am saying anymore. I must be delirious. Why does it matter? Let's put an end to this.  Anna-Liisa's Shadow: Thus we shall kill. We shall be worse than animals. We shall be men. Leila's Shadow: Thus we shall kill.  Frida: No, it is I who am your servant, holy one. Is it truly your will that I should kill this man?  Whispering Voice: “I remember these nameless female warriors From these who choose the fate of those who will be killed, She, who is not yet, commands the first crime. And all those who follow, from me, received a name.” Maid's Shadow: Since the Queen is imprisoned; since the Queen has gone mad; since the Queen cannot kill you by her own hand. Since the Queen is dead, deep down inside herself. Since we cannot be more than animals, we shall be men. Since the King is no more, there will be no more Queen. Since there are no more Princes, I shall make Princesses. I am the Maid, the Queen's Servant. I am the one who kills, when the Queen cannot. I am all that is left.  [Just continue avoiding the man, trying to keep him close to the Maid's Shadow. Every two turns, she'll use Assassination for a huge chunk of his HP.]  [Just a misspelling of Cynicism. Frida isn't all that cynical really, but the bonus to Humor will reduce damage by a lot, and this is a prerequisite for a really awesome skill I want. I also missed showing the skill I got from level 8, I think:  [We don't have The Wall yet, but the other two benefits are worth it on their own.]  [The negatives in parentheses are from Augmented Reality.]  [If we had taken anything but the full dose, we would be able to leave the Seid by talking to Leila's Shadow. But nope, we're too hosed up for that. You miss out on a nice chunk of xp by skipping the hard road, but you also skip some of the more annoying encounters of the prologue.]  [Instead, we must speak to Anna-Liisa's Shadow and go full Inception on this poo poo.]  [The golden flame, or “Luminary”, moves two squares every turn. If you don't end your turn next to it when it casts Gleam, you'll take damage from the Darkness debuff.]    [Part II is the same, only now there is an enemy called Nothingness in your way. It's mainly there to smack you down if you try to dash for the green tiles without following the Luminary.]   [This time, the Luminary marks out its entire path to the exit, but then disappears. You have to remember where it went, or take damage and lose movement points. Luckily, there's a little room for error, because I hosed it up and still won.]  [Here is the full solution:  ] [In this encounter, you have to reach the Luminary as soon as you can, or the Darkness debuff will do its usual nastiness to you. Once you reach it, another appears, and you have to get to that one. There is a third and final one, which, of course, starts all the way opposite from the direction you have to go to get to the second one. This encounter can be really tricky, but anything that heals you, reduces damage, or increases your movement will help.]   [This one, despite the intimidating number of Ancient Lights, is actually much easier than the last one, in my experience. You just have to survive for ten rounds, with Repulsion and Anticipation being very useful, as usual.]     [The skill you get is different, and which battle you receive it in is different, depending on which class you play. You only get to use it once in the encounter, so save this one until the second part of this battle. Trust me.]  [This battle isn't hard, but it is a pain in the rear end. Every turn, the black Negations take 250 damage, but also every turn the yellow lights cast a spell that heals them for the same amount out in four straight lines from their position. So you have to use a combination of Repulsion and physically standing in the way of the healing spell (which hurts you, of course), to make sure the Negations don't receive their healing and die. If you have any “summoning” spells, they help out a lot here. We don't yet, but I'm working on it. The one I have in mind is worth the wait.]  (As Frida starves the Negations of their healing, a shadow begins to form farther in the cave...)  Anna-Liisa's Shadow: Were you really born, Frida? Were you really born one day? What do we owe our parents? What do we do, us parents, for our children, and what should we do? Did we just spread the Holy on top of the dirt?  (A strange barrier also begins to take shape around the shadow, which is gradually coalescing into a humanoid form.) Maid's Shadow: One needs only so little, at times, to exist. The love of a mother, even from afar, would suffice to give birth. You know that, and yet, you refuse to accept it. Let the light get in, at last, in this tomb. Let the light get in, and listen to its words.    (Once all the Negations have dissolved, the flames change color, and then rush into Frida. It is more shocking than painful, like swallowing cold water when one expected warm.)  (A flame also envelopes the child.)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1aX8inY43g&list=PLR4c1SJ_SyUJv7UAA0Dq2x6H9IJv9Zmk7&index=15 (Souvenir Combat alt)  [Every turn, the Child uses Blame, which does base damage equal to your max life. You get a “free” revival three times, but you have to survive six turns to get 100%. And you can actually survive seven turns and get 105%, but I haven't managed to do that yet. I don't think you miss anything truly important though. Anyway, you can get that damage down a lot by using Avatar of Urd, plus multiple castings of Anticipation on the child. Combined, it's possible to get the damage down to zero. But they don't last forever.]   [You can also avoid the damage for two of those rounds by using Betrayal, since the Child can't move.] (As the child speaks, Frida stands motionless, her mouth gaping slightly. It feels like she has heard the voice before...) The Child's Shadow: Don't run away from me, now that you've set me free. If I've hurt you, ever, it was not intended. I can't just leave again, and dissolve underground. The Child's Shadow: Am I really so frightening? Am I so difficult? That seeing me alive would be just too painful? The Child's Shadow: Don't make me go now, I beg you. I was waiting for you. I waited for your lips to finally name me. I waited for my life, my life along with your words. The Child's Shadow: Come back to me, my blood, my love, my mother... Protect me at last from all my misery. The Child's Shadow: If you forget me again, what will I become? The Child's Shadow: What will I become... Frida: I will not forget you, child. I will carry your memory wherever I roam. I swear it.   … the same uniform color, the same smell of dust. “It's the gray, Dad. It's the gray of dawn. “This is what you left me. Letters on my doorstep. Nights without sand. Children lost in the shadow of others. That is what is left to me. What will I do with that? Where shall I drag my feet, like a sick little girl? Nothing awaits me here any longer; nothing awaits outside, in this village to which I am invisible, in this village that has ceased to protect me from anything. “I am going to leave. I am going to wander and get lost, far away from here. I am going to flee and never come back for centuries on end, until I can be strong, until I can be old, until I can finally bear their smile. I am going to leave. I am going to leave.” 
Orbs fucked around with this message at 03:03 on Dec 24, 2014 |
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Dec 23, 2014 15:38
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I played a hunter I think and remember following the light around, I must have stayed in for the full event. I also remember thinking the fight where you stop them from healing felt like a puzzle, repulsing them out of the path. Are the individual episodes much longer than the prologue?
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Dec 23, 2014 19:10
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These mechanics and their names are pretty amazing to experience.
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Dec 24, 2014 02:08
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bagrada posted:I played a hunter I think and remember following the light around, I must have stayed in for the full event. I also remember thinking the fight where you stop them from healing felt like a puzzle, repulsing them out of the path. Glazius posted:These mechanics and their names are pretty amazing to experience. I think the trap names are my favorite for enemies, and the skills have some great names and associated effects. It really is a wonderful mix of mechanics and "fluff."
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Dec 24, 2014 05:04
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Chapter 6 Frida: Maybe I would have preferred not to sleep... Inkeri: Did you dream? Frida. Yes. It was... gloomy. I remember a permanent feeling of oppression. I think I saw my father. He said something about a door. And there was a child... Already the images are slipping away, but that is what I remember. [I changed this line a little, as the game has you almost completely forget, regardless of your memory stat and class. I called bullshit on that.] Inkeri: (She looks saddened.) Do you feel a little more free though? Frida: To be honest, the mere sight of the house outside makes me sick. Inkeri: (She sighs.) I don't know what to advise you anymore. Frida: It won't be necessary. I have already decided. I will bring my father's ashes to Sapphire Bay. He supposedly left his last wishes there. Inkeri: My sweet, this is madness. I can't let you go on the road alone like this. Your position of Volva wouldn't be of any use if you... (she stops herself.) And what will you do when a bear attacks you? Poems are not of much help in situations like that. I don't want to find you half-dead at the foot of a tree... Frida: I will go from shelter to shelter until the river. After that, I'll figure it out. Inkeri: You're trying to flee, once again. There will come a day when you won't be able to flee any longer, do you know that? Frida: Do you think I am a coward, Inkeri? Inkeri: (She sighs.) I am getting old. Wait for me. I'll go get a few things that will come in handy along your journey.  Frida: Thank you, Inkeri. Inkeri: Well then. Now you can just leave the old Inkeri alone, and go prepare your departure. Be courageous. It is the last time you will see your house. Your father's ashes have been brought to his bedroom. Veikko took care of it all last night. As for the rest... I would recommend you follow the river down south. The western path is covered in snow this morning. I wish you safe travels. And I hope to see you again some day... with a smile. Frida: Thank you for everything, Inkeri. I will be back one day, I think. When I feel better, and when time has passed. Inkeri: (The old woman stares at you, her mouth slightly opened. For a moment, it looks as if she is going to cry. Then she speaks to you, softly.) Don't make the same mistake your mom made, sweetheart. She left nothing to her daughter. (Frida stares back, a strange mixture of dread and curiosity bubbling in her stomach.) (On these strange and sad words, the old lady gently runs her hand through your hair, then turns away and enters her home. The door closes with a creaking sound, leaving you alone with your parcel, your feet planted in the snow, and a strange sadness, as strange as it is elusive.) (As soon as Frida begins the ascent to the hill where her house stands, she experiences a subtly lurching sensation. Then she is no longer on the hill, but... elsewhere.)  Shadow of Descent: Inside your house, it's smaller. It's warmer. How did you get here? If there are footsteps in the snow, you see none of them. It's strange, don't you think? Walking all this way, making all these efforts, just to come back behind your own house, your own house made of straw. All this way to be a prisoner of your own yard. Beware, beware, Frida. Don't step just anywhere. Be careful, be careful, Frida. It is dangerous. It is not for little girls, ho no. It isn't. Not for little girls. Be careful, Frida. It's so steep. Frida: I thank you for the warning, whatever you are. Now let me pass.  (Again, Frida is in a different place, with no memory of how she got there, no footsteps in the snow to prove she got there at all. More voices speak.) Entrance Shadow: You were waiting for me? Well, ladies, as I am invited in my own abode, I am coming inside. Allow me, again, to smell the sweet smell of the dead wood in the hearth. Entrance Shadow: Allow me, maybe for the last time, to gently stroke the stones my father brought, with his hard and calloused hands, day after day, year after year. Allow me to indulge myself in this sweet moment one last time. Entrance Shadow: Confide, confide. Push the door of your own house. Only you can say what's still inside. (Frida walks toward her house, but stumbles and falls. She falls a long way, far farther than it would take to reach the ground, farther even than it would take to reach the bottom of the hill. A formless being whispers next to her ear.)  Cave Shadow: It is not like you. Where are you? Who are you? You do not recognize this place. Does it remind you of something? A dream... Yes, this is it! A dream! Cave Shadow: A dream, it reminds me of a dream... Is it still a dream? Am I still dreaming? Or is it just the mirror, the mirror of my dark and bottomless soul? Frida: We shall see soon enough. (She stands and starts walking the path before her.)  Cave Shadow: Am I that ugly? Am I that warped? That hideous? This moss creaking under my step... This echo coming back to me, from each and every one of my words... Is this the real me?     Cave Shadow: Are you afraid, Frida? Are you afraid? Have you lost your home? Frida: That, and much more. But there is still one more thing I must lose. (Frida deliberately steps on the ground where the memories dwell, recalling more of her dream with each cut they inflict on her, until she can take no more and passes out from pain. For a moment, she is absolutely nothing, a part of oblivion. Then her body reforms. Different.) [The goal of this encounter is to get yourself to zero HP and “die.” If you reach your father before you do, you'll be plopped back at the beginning of the tunnel and have to do it all over again. It's possible to eventually win by doing this over and over and get a Steam achievement for it, but it's a tedious pain in the rear end.]  Cave Shadow: Never again will you have the comfy and warm house; never again will you feel the calloused and soft hands of this gruff man. You have to grow up; this is how things go... There is nothing else to say. Ain't that wonderful, though? Isn't it pretty for us to slowly erode, never to end, until we are slow and clumsy... Cave Shadow: Time flies and never turns back. Time flies, you know?  Cave Shadow: Do you know? He will not come back. That is how it is. He can't, he can't. You will not see him again. You will not hear him again. His eyes have gone bloated, his eyes have been put out, his eyes have disappeared deep inside himself. He does not look at you anymore. Frida: I know. I no longer require him to look at me.  (Frida stares into her father's eyes, and feels her strange new body being sucked into their near-whiteness. Unafraid, she clears her mind and allows the vision to continue. Soon she is standing in a white snowscape that feels at once familiar and unknown.)  Blizzard Shadow: You are lost. All torn with consequences, you don't understand, you can't understand yet the scope of your misery. You are lost, young woman. You are alone, alone with your sorrow. Awoken from your drowsiness, wandering in a moonless night, you are alone? Frida: Do all spirits seek to scare me like this? I have always been alone! All that has changed is that I know that now. Taunting me with the truth will not frighten me any further.  (As Frida takes the faint remnant of a path before her, it seems as though she is climbing higher, somehow. Much higher.)  [This is mainly an endurance test, as you have to get through quite a few Torments to reach the end. The traps are tougher to spot too, so keep using Detection as you move. It also requires some thoughtful use of Repulsion where the way is blocked.] Fall Shadow: It twists and turns, a long path of slippery rocks and of stone stacks, towards flatter grounds, towards greyer suns...  Fall Shadow: Despair turns our faces hollow, regrets turn our gaze. At times, we seem to search, to search for so long for something... Life, slowly, fades away. It is a sloping path, which helps us day after day to become friends with Death.  Fall Shadow: To avoid losing our gaze over the steep cliff, we fabricate pipe dreams, to each his own, to each his solitude... And we share them. We believe we are eternal. Eventually, tired, our years give birth to decades in our back; the plain replaces the abyss. In the salt deserts, we stare at our lassitudes. A little more harmless each day, a little calmer each day, and that makes us sad, so sad. Where will you be, little woman, the day that even the grey sun won't make you fall? Frida: Who can say? All I know is that it will not be here.  Shadow of Descent: Walk, walk along your ordeal. Walk, walk until I devour you. If you stop, they will be the ones eating you alive.  Guardian Shadow: Are you ready? Are you ready to see the door of your old home open? Here, little woman. Here is all that is left.  Anonymous Shadow: Come, young woman. See by yourself, since you came from that far away. See your work.  Frida: I know you.  Dusk Shadow: We were waiting for you. We knew you would eventually come to the foot of this old bed, in search for your own solitude. A body. That is all that is left. A cold body, which crumbles into ash. A body that has been gnawed, disintegrated; an empty shell. That is all that is left. He watched, until the end, eyes fixed on a diffused sun. His eyes were tired, tired of scanning the horizon, but he scanned still, as if he was looking for nothing, as if he took solace in nothing, as if it was enough to simply look. He observed until the end of light. And now he is dead. All the light is gone. He is gone, and took all the light with him. He is gone. Do you remember now? The little girl is also gone... You didn't know how to protect her. She ran away, one weary evening; she disappeared in the fog, and you never talked about her again, and she was never seen again. In her eyes, as dark as a night of avalanche, no one was looking anymore. No one would have found her. So who are you crying for, in the silence? If the little girl ran away, if there is nothing left, why do you hear a voice, far away, under the snow, now that everything is quiet? Scattered, fragmented, his voice is barely audible. A murmur, a lonely voice in the shadow of winter. If it isn't dead, it will die today.  (The flames light as Frida approaches them, one by one.)  [One by one, the Dusk Shadows start moving and attacking you as you step on the white tiles to light the flames. They have much higher movement than anything else so far and can do a lot of damage, so use every trick you have learned so far to keep them away and their damage down.]  Frida: Enough! Two can play this game of copies, shadow! “There was in times of old, where Ymir dwelt, nor sand nor sea, nor gelid waves; earth existed not, nor heaven above, 'twas a chaotic chasm, and grass nowhere...” (The last line of the poem is spoken not be one voice, but five. Four mirror images of Frida form out of the nothingness, and the Dusk Shadows move to attack them all.)  [I love this spell so much. Summoned creatures, like these doubles, are almost always targeted for attacks before the main character. And unlike most summons, these ones will move and reduce the mana of anything they come across. Of course, sometimes that will mean you, or each other, but that's part of the crazy charm.]  [You can use Repulsion on them like anything else, though, to get them into a better position.] Dusk Shadow: Where will you find a high enough grave that you will consent to abandon them? Across how many countries will you need to travel? Frida: (In five unified voices) All of them, if we must.  Dusk Shadow: Safe travel, young lady. Now, you can cry. (Everything fades away slowly as a draft blows in from the window. The flakes of snow wipe away the shadows, the doubles, the flames, the strange landscape, everything except Frida's body and the ashes of her father. Tears fall unbidden down her cheeks as she takes up the urn and leaves the house.  She takes the path least likely to bring her in contact with other villagers. Indeed, the only person she sees is Jesper Lisakki, who notices her pack, the urn, and her tears, with mute shock. He makes no move to stop her.)  A crow: Caaaw! [Here is our first recruitable NPC! Yes, that's right, it's a crow, because of course it is. Shall we take it with us? The only mechanical reason not to is if you want the Steam achievement for getting through the game with no friends, but narratively... do we trust crows? Granted, this one doesn't look like the one that appears to watch over all our hallucinations, but it could be disguised or something... So here's our first vote in a long while! 1. Do we recruit the crow? 2. If we do recruit it, how should we treat it in general? a. Affectionately. b. Being abusive to it, and/or ignoring it. c. Joking about it, usually with references to eating it. I'll keep the vote open for 24 hours, since it isn't super important. Feel free to vote either as you think Frida would do, or simply what you want to see. It's cool either way.] Orbs fucked around with this message at 05:11 on Dec 24, 2014 |
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Dec 24, 2014 05:09
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Recruit it and treat it affectionately.
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Dec 24, 2014 05:24
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Recruit, treat affectionately. Frida is strong enough for that.
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Dec 24, 2014 12:52
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Recruit, treat affectionately. Crows are neat and we might as well be nice to our new companion.
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Dec 25, 2014 00:26
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Episode 1: Those Who Have No Name Chapter 7  (Pet the crow) [You recruit the crow by either petting or ignoring it. You have to chase it off to get it to leave you alone.]  [I should point out that it's not possible to have a romance with the crow. Sorry guys. I believe that's just an odd translation choice.]   [We have a crow sprite on our shoulder now!]  Frida: I wonder what it's doing here. [By clicking the talk button every once in a while, we can interact with our party. Sometimes they'll also initiate conversation. This is a case of the former. Each dialogue choice affects Approbation and Romance differently, which in turn gives you different benefits. We'll get to that shortly.]  Frida: I am myself a Volva. Erja: (She smiles) Oh! Of course... But all children didn't have the chance to be lulled to sleep with these stories... Heroes, Norns... Norns, yes. All this is slowly disappearing, and yet, it is rooted in our daily life, you know. Everything we do, every day, everything brings us back to the Norns. Frida: Very interesting. Erja: You will understand when you are older! But pay it special attention. If you listen, you will see... Sometimes life is as indifferent as Skuld; sometimes it verifies us, as Verdandi does; sometimes it brings us to ourselves, as Urd does so well. If you listen, you will see... (She smiles.) So, good luck, young woman. Good luck. [This conversation is garbled as hell, and that's with me making some slight changes. Part of me wants to think it was intentional, to show this isn't her native language, but alas, I think that would be lying to myself. The more likely reason is that this is part of a hasty DLC called Secret of the Norns (which is now included free with the game), and the rush job shows in places.] [Also, now that the prologue is officially over, the entire skill snowflake is open to us. We can now take skills past the fifth ring (everything in color here is rings one through five).  [Here is what ours looks like at the start of episode one:  [So far we have tended to deal with our problems with Negation, Dispersion, and a little Metamorphosis. These are just thematic groupings though. You can take any mix of skills you want as long as you have their prerequisites.]  [Each of those little cottages are about a two days' walk for Frida. Thus...]    [She sleeps in this dingy, broken room, and somehow does not die of exposure. I imagine she has an unpictured cloak or something, but still. She also dreams...]  [You have to fight a random battle each time you rest. They're pretty same-y... I think the main reason for them is to get used to all the new skills you can take, and find combinations that work for your playstyle. Also, so far, this is the only skill the crow gives us, but that will change]:   [These tiles reduce the Psyche points of anything that walks on them by 30. This includes enemies.]  [Almost every enemy in this episode has the title “The Nameless”, with an adjective before it. Disturbing ones mainly do damage.]  [Creepy ones mainly push you around the zone.]  Frida: I do not know why you have followed me here. Frida is dead. [Betrayal now turns us into an Ancient Light, which is awesome. It also does an amusing little bounce whenever you cast a spell in its form. As for the benefit, the box is saying you get an extra movement point per turn... for one turn. There are skills to increase Betrayal's duration though.]  Frida: Look upon her ghost, shadows. Know that I speak the truth. [For straight up “Survive x turns” battles, Chaos is an amazing skill.] [After winning the battle, we get enough xp to level up. Realizing I don't have a healing skill, I kinda sorta rectify that.]  (Heeding Volva Inkeri's words, Frida reminds herself to be brave. Somehow, the presence of the crow sleeping on a pile of straw next to her makes it easier.)  (After a morning and afternoon's worth of walking, Frida and the crow finally reach an actual shelter. It appears to be empty, with the door wide open. She waits for a while, just in case, but then enters a fitful sleep that scares the crow up into the rafters.)    (Frida's body transforms naturally and easily. Exulting with power, she dons a grim countenance and does Skuld's work.) [You don't have to do this. You can win the encounter just by reaching the tile with the door next to it. But by stepping on the glowing tile, you get a badass spirit form, and Repulsion is replaced with one of the very few damage spells in the game.]   [It also comes with a nice passive buff.]  (The nameless beings fall before Frida as she calls down light from the heavens. She is too tired to laugh, but a mirthless smile plays across her lips.)  [Whether you take the form of the Valkyrie or not... it's probably necessary to take the long way around the building, unless you have good healing, damage reduction, or a lot of HP. Doubly so if you're playing a Volva with as many points in Memory as possible, like I am.]  (Frida wakes up after a rest that only rejuvenates her body. Her mind is ablaze with questions, and the memory of something strong and terrible from her dreams. The crow moves quickly onto her shoulder again... Then immediately falls back asleep.)  (Another empty shelter, and another dream, only the surroundings are a little more familiar...)   (One enemy is different as well. Frida is thankful that her distractions work well, because the thing burns with dark energy.) (Frida reaches the third shelter on the map. Her legs are burning, and her throat is parched, but it is... a peaceful pain. Very different from the words and looks of the villagers back home. As she approaches...)  Frida: You're tickling me! (Smiles and caresses the animal.) The crow: (It slightly shakes its head, flaps its wings, then goes back to sleep.) Frida: Good little bird... (She gently strokes its feathers, causing it to stir and look around.) [Actually, I pressed the Talk button.]  Frida: (Laughs) Looks like you don't really like me... (Letting the crow return to its slumber, Frida walks up to the building. The door is closed this time, so she knocks. A man invites her to come in.)  Eevert: You come at the right time! Me and my rifle—Ase, that's its name, it's mighty beautiful, innit?—we gonna look after you all night long. You couldn't be safer. Frida: Ah... Err... Okay, thanks. (The crow perches on the headboard of one of the beds as Frida gratefully sips some water Eevert offers. She closes her eyes, and again the dreams come. Are they perhaps following her father's ashes? Or are her memories still too strong? This and more she wonders as the shadows speak.)  Trail Shadow: Do you have a choice anyway? Going back is a failure, going forward is a painful ordeal... It is a very straight path. It is a very straight sentence. Did you ever have a choice? You could only ever choose the default option. You live by default. Trail Shadow: These people who pass by, whom you don't see. These people who pass by, and whom you can't understand... Who are they? They don't have the same outlook on things, the same habits, they don't speak the same language... Are you afraid of them? They are violent, they are shut down, shut down like the door of the village; shut down like the silence, which slips between the words of the old weavers. Anonymous passers-by, lost drunks from other latitudes, they cross your path, they cast long glances towards you, they spy on you. They are solitary. They are enemies. Trail Shadow: Are these the people you had hoped for? Is is the snow you had dreamt about? From one encounter to another, you dwindle; from one encounter to another, you tire. You worry about those men you don't know, you don't recognize, who are tough, unreadable—who watch you eagerly—who threaten you. They have no name. They barely have a face. They come and go. They hide. You never know when they'll come back, when they'll take you. Frida: It... it is better than where I was.  Trail Shadow: Did you ever have a choice? Run, little girl, run... They are hungry. They are strangers.  Trail Shadow: You are always fleeing, forward, again and again, like a criminal, since you don't know anything else... Where do you want to flee like this? They are everywhere. You are in their kingdom. You have to live with them. You have to endure them. Did you think it would be simple?  [A new enemy that waits at the end of the forest.]  Frida: Thank you for your hospitality. Good day.  (Again, Frida does not manage to make it to true shelter before night falls. She wonders if it's better that way, based on the last one.) (In the next shelter, Frida sees someone she vaguely recognizes.)  Frida: I am not a girl anymore! Nikolai Lisakki: So because you grew some legs, you think you're a woman? Silly girl... Bah, for what it's worth, anyway. Frida: Of course I am a woman, and a Volva! And... nevermind. I am going to sleep. Nikolai Lisakki: Yeah, that's right. Run. Go hide in your dreams. Try to sleep, and forget cousin Nikolai. You seem to be pretty good at forgetting, just like the others! Frida: Nikolai... So you're a cousin of the Lisakkis, is that it? I thought you were... well, you had disappeared. Nikolai: You've got quite a lot more to learn before you become a woman, young girl. To begin with, don't ask questions when it's none of your business. Or without discernment. Do you think I live away from the others to grow poems? Ha ha ha! Frida: Well then, good night. (Frida scowls as she clutches the fur blanket around her, ignoring Nikolai as he stays up late into the night.)  Frida: Dreaming of the village again... Are you afraid I will forget? Are you that insecure?   Frida: “She saw a hall standing, far from the sun, in Nastrond; its doors northward turned, venom-drops fall in through its apertures: entwined is that hall with serpents' backs.” Nikolai Lisakki: Ooh, scary poem, little Volva. (Frida storms away, the crow cawing as it circles around her.)  [Another -10% to our attributes!? This is totally worth it though. Movement is king in the vast majority of battles. Plus, the name.]  [At the next makeshift shelter, another relatively simple battle for Frida to flex her mystical might.]  [Which pays off with another level. This isn't bad, but I mostly took it for what comes after it.]   Frida: Pardon me? (The crow suddenly looks agitated.) Frida: Yes, yes, it's ok, it's ok. Uuno Matkustava: Don't change the subject! What kind of creature are you, having so little compassion for other peoples' sorrow? Go away! (To Allti) Come on, Honey. Forget about her.  Frida: Hmm... they lost their dog, or something? In any case, I will sleep elsewhere. Sorry to have disturbed you. (To the crow) What was that about?) [You do actually have to sleep here in the game... I imagine Frida sleeps in some other room, or outside.]  Frida: (Dreaming) It's been a while. I haven't had a bath. I should take one, one of these days. (The crow stares at you for a brief moment, turns its head, then returns to rummaging under its wing.)  Frida: Back in the village... Back at the bridge. Hel. Orbs fucked around with this message at 19:35 on Dec 26, 2014 |
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Dec 26, 2014 19:26
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Can you use Chaos multiple times per battle, or just the once?
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Dec 27, 2014 11:17
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Glazius posted:Can you use Chaos multiple times per battle, or just the once? You certainly can cast it multiple times, but the cooldown is eight turns, and the doubles only have a base of about a hundred HP, so chances are they'll be dead before you can get around to casting it again.
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Dec 27, 2014 19:55
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Klingon w Bowl Cut posted:The main reason for that is that the original team went bankrupt halfway through the project, and it was taken over later by a different group. The project was actually bought at a bankruptcy auction by the lead writer and one of the founding members(?) of the original Inner Seas group. They worked solo to piece together the final episodes in their spare time from the half finished work that they bought. They really want to get their story out there!
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Dec 27, 2014 20:38
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Did we ever get to the carpenter's house? Was our father our lover? I'm trying to figure out the story and this game is certainly not making it easy. (Compelling, though.)
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Dec 28, 2014 13:45
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Chapter 8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VVpfmV9ttQ&index=2&list=PLR4c1SJ_SyUJv7UAA0Dq2x6H9IJv9Zmk7 [Burn, my favorite track in the whole game, hands down. It can get repetitive if you're actually playing the game, since it plays in almost every battle of this episode, but if you're just reading the LP, give it a listen.]  [At least our connection to the crow has deepened enough to get a new ability.]  Disappearance: It's fascinating, Dad, how one can so easily erase things. Without wanting it, without knowing it, we erase, we recreate. Without knowing, day after day, we lose.  Disappearance: You scare me. You terrify me. I don't want to think about you. Leave me alone. Let me go. (Frida watches silently from the bridge as doubles of herself speak to the villagers, saying everything, every fear and unkind thought, that she kept bottled inside. They share their words with each other, and with the echoes of the villagers alike.) [Despite the dramatic weight on Frida, this encounter was actually really easy. I just stood still on the bridge, since it's a choke point, and Repulsed anything that came at me instead of my Chaos doubles.] Disappearance: Without you, what will I become? Without you, who am I? Will I end up like these human wrecks, like these human rejects that I pass by? Will I end up like one of these unspeakable mistakes? Does fate dictate that we all end up resembling someone else rather than ourselves? Frida: Is that really how I sound? Disappearance: Why am I so sad? Since I am fleeing away from you, why am I so attached to you? Why do I feel like I am losing? Why do I feel like I am losing something? Disappearance: I have I lost you. I lost myself, purposefully. I was lost in the forest for a long time. I lost my way so I could never return to my own home/ I let myself get lost, because in the end, I like it. In the end, it is pleasant. Disappearance: I am a loser. (As Frida's voice fills the market, the faces of the people she used to know shift and distort, becoming the Nameless.)        Disappearance: You lost yourself. (Frida awakens, repeating the words from her dream over and over. She quickly gathers her things, consults her map, and starts walking toward the next shelter. Her reluctant hosts do not say a word to her.)   [Actually, there are green tiles you can step on to shave the length down to 200, then 40, then 20, then 10 turns.] (Frida sleeps in fits and starts, spending half the night seeing visions, and the other half collecting bits of wood to try to keep her dismal little fire going. Rocks make for poor pillows, and snow makes for a poor bedsheet. As soon as some energy has returned to her limbs, she resumes her long, exhausting march.)  (At last, she reaches something resembling civilization: an inn. She nearly stumbles as she steps up to the door, but she forces herself to stand tall as she opens it.)  The crow: Caaaaw! Frida: It's my companion. It's rather discreet. Do you have a problem with that? Olle Kylma: Hum. Make sure it doesn't raise hell in here. Come on, get inside. And close the door behind you, or we'll all catch our death. Frida: Do you have any vacancy? Olle Kylma: Of course. I don't remember ever seeing this place full. What brings you around here? Frida: I am going to the Bay of Sapphire. I am trying, at least. Olle Kylma: That's some trip... Alas, I am afraid the time is badly chosen. Here, talk to Päviö about it, who intended to go there as well, or Jarla, who was supposed to be his guide. They'll explain it to you. (He motions toward the other room.) [You can talk to the other characters here, and doing so gives you xp, but they don't have anything really important to say, and Frida is not in the mood anyway.] Frida: I will. Thank you.  Frida: Hello Ma'am. Thank you. I am only stopping by briefly here. Jarla: (Sighs.) I doubt it. Unless you wish to return where you come from. Frida: What do you mean? Jarla: The road is simply blocked. Trees have fallen during the storm over miles and miles, and there's absolutely no hope that it will be cleared, possibly for months. I am afraid you may have to put up with staying here for a while. Frida: But that's impossible. I HAVE to leave. You must know the surroundings. Couldn't you help me pass through regardless? Jarla: You can always try the North-West road, the one that climbs up the mountain, which means essentially a three week long detour without meeting a living soul. And I am not even talking about finding food. If you feel like it. Frida: Hmm... I guess I don't have any other choice than that. Jarla: It's up to you. Accept your destiny or fight... As far as I am concerned, I have made up my mind a long time ago.  Päviö Onnekas: It's a pleasure to meet you. Frida: My pleasure. I am Frida. You are very elegantly dressed compared to the locals.  Emmi: Twenty-two, my sweet. Päviö: Thank you darling. Twenty-two years that we trade in the region. We have seen the beginnings of the Monarchy, and the first discoveries, the first roads, the hope. But for lack of steady maintenance, the country is returning to the wilderness. And that's how we ended up stuck here. Emmi: Alas! Frida: Stuck here? What do you mean? Päviö: I am afraid the road to the capital is blocked until the end of the winter—if we get lucky. With all these fallen trees, there is no hope for months. It's one more blow for the commerce, which was already in shambles around here. Frida: There must be a way to do something. Päviö: I am afraid that won't be possible. You must not realize the costs of a road repair, compared to the trifling means Her Majesty provides to such a remote region. And the commerce is affected: the price of furs has never been so high in Sapphire Bay, and yet all this beautiful merchandise is rotting in this hellhole. Emmi: The accommodation is satisfying, but... Päviö: Come on, darling, we are talking about the nation's economy, not our personal discomfort. The marginal productivity explodes while the circulation of currency slows down; it's a glaring sign of under-development! Emmi: Of course. Forgive me. I am just a little distraught at the thought of spending the winter here. Päviö: I understand, I understand. In any case, miss, I am afraid your affairs will require a tremendous amount of patience. Unless, of course, you wish to take the old road through the mountain passes. But I doubt this would be a good choice. Frida: But where does this road go? Päviö: It goes to the river by crossing through the mountains. From there you would be able to let the current carry you to the capital. I did take it myself, eighteen years ago. At the time, it was still a relatively prosperous region, but since the last epidemic, I don't think there is a living soul left. It's certainly not a journey I would embark on nowadays, even less so for a woman traveling alone. Frida: I am not traveling alone. (She smiles and scratches the crow's neck; it moves out of her reach.) In any case, I'll think about it. Thank you for your help. Päviö and Emmi: Good luck! (Frida takes a bed in the corner, burrows under the blankets, and promptly falls into a deep sleep. But while the inn shelters her body, her mind is still under assault.)  (She knows these shadows had names when she spoke to them, but here, they all look the same. They all wish her the same harm.)  (The common room is packed with them.)  (Pushing her enemies out of the way with her mental focus, Frida forces her way outside, where the air is cold but clear. Here, she can think.)  [Our next skill. Very useful if you get swarmed one unlucky turn.]    Allti: Swiftly, I roll down; swiftly, I make you flee, endlessly, to the bottom of your self. I come after you, young lady. Do not dare to rest, as I won't spare you a thing. At the slightest show of weakness on your part, at the first glance over your shoulder, I will eat you.    (Though enemies spring up seemingly behind every branch, Frida can make out a bright glow in the distance. She heads toward it with courage.)  Sygg: Ha! Comfort? (She sniggers.) Shelter? What a little princess! A courtesan even! Do you think all you have to do is walk in and be pretty? All I know is that you disgust me. You're a coward. You're lecherous. You're spoiled. You only got what you deserve. Frida: I remember you well. Sygg, why do you seem to hate me so much more than all the other villagers? I do not understand. Sygg: Stop looking at me with your empty, expressionless eyes. You're retarded! Stop looking at me with those whiny eyes. Nobody's waiting for you here. Come on! Get lost! You sleaze. You've got no business being here. I wouldn't even tell you my name.   V: Are you ready to walk alone, for so long, in the fog? Are you ready to exhaust yourself further? Are you ready to stop feeling the tips of your frozen limbs? You will learn a lot by coming to me. This path, it is your own defeat. When, exhausted, famished, you will drag your feet, alone in the wind that sweeps across the tundra, I will wear you out. I will wear you out, slowly, delicately, like you finish off a wounded animal. I will finish you off, because it is the best you can hope for. By coming to me, young lady, you are going to die.  [I love these guys. They do this really weird quivering, bouncing animation when they move and attack. They're pretty dangerous though, so best to get back to Sygg quickly.] Frida: I... I still do not know what to do. What should I choose?  Sygg: Get lost. Go back to your village. Go back to your endless suffering. I am not interested. Go hide and die somewhere. Go spend your escape somewhere else. My door is closed to you. My glance is not for you. Don't come back. You're a pariah. You're not from our world. You don't deserve us. You're just a bum.  [As you can probably see, there is a way through this maze of traps without stepping on one... but it's much quicker to just brute force it, unless the previous enemies (which have now disappeared) got your HP down too low.] Frida: I see. I must take the path offered to me by the shadow, then. So be it.  V: Come and get lost, little woman. Come and get lost with me. I am your solution. In your long run against yourself, I am your only outcome. If you don't surpass yourself, you will never reach them. I am another path. Don't be afraid of me, as I am all that you have left. Don't be scared of me. I am your future. I am Solitude. (Frida awakens, sweating and disheveled, garnering strange looks from the other guests. She pays them no attention except to form the Uruz rune with her fingers, wishing them—and herself strength, speed, and good health.)    ...miles. This scar, which cuts through the tundra, which no one takes any more, which no one has taken for years. It is another path. The path of absurdity. It is a long journey ahead of you, a journey of many weeks, alone in the harshest cold, in a biting blizzard... Without food. Without shelter. It is a path no one dares to take any more, for fear of losing their life to it. As you gaze at the horizon, barred by uprooted trees, this thought is strangely comforting. To disappear in the blizzard and walk, and walk, and walk, until you die... That makes sense. For the first time, something finally makes sense. “You know, Dad, I think that is the only way. I think that only when I feel the blizzard tearing my skin, when I fight the wolves to death, when I am not able to see the sky through the snowstorm, I think that finally... I will be able to scream. “And I don't want to die without having, at least once, screamed in the silence.”  (As the days passed the weather worsened, becoming heavier. The snow, intermittent as you descended the mountain towards the resting place, fell more heavily. Now it is an almost constant flurry, falling fast and only stopping to give way to grey skies, barely pierced by the light of the sun. You took a tenuous path, erased by snow and time. At times you get lost, then find your way. You know that there will come a moment when you cannot find it again. Beyond that there is nothing. You must choose a route and try to keep to it. Three possibilities offer themselves to you. --You could follow the forest to the south. The landscape, less slippery, will give you shelter against the wind and the cold. On the other hand, the presence of wild animals will give you pause. The territory of the wolves and bears stretches far beyond the edge of the forest. Even if you keep a good distance from the forest, the risk of being eaten is great. --You could go straight through the tundra to the base of the mountains. You will no doubt avoid all risk of meeting a wild animal, but you will be attacked by a constant and biting cold. In the heart of the tundra there will be no tree nor nook to help you escape from the blizzard. It is a short path with little danger, but it is grueling. --Finally, you could bypass the tundra to the north. The landscape, being more hilly, offers little exposure to the wind while also being as barren and uninhabited as the tundra. It is, however, a long path. Very long. It will take you twice as long to reach your destination. Other than your rations which, already insufficient, will surely run out midway, it is above all the loneliness which you should fear. The choice, however, remains open. Whether you go via the edge of the forest, the tundra, or the hills, your destination remains the same. You must reach the river.)  [So, readers, which path should Frida take? The forest, the tundra, or the hills? I'll leave this decision open for a while (72 hours maybe?), since it's pretty important. I also realize I should have left the vote on the crow open longer, since it actually has more effect on the game. I'm learning though  ]
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Dec 28, 2014 21:55
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The tundra sounds like the best option.
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Dec 28, 2014 22:27
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The Forest route promises shelter and perhaps food in exchange for the dangers.
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Dec 28, 2014 23:08
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Lavatein posted:The project was actually bought at a bankruptcy auction by the lead writer and one of the founding members(?) of the original Inner Seas group. They worked solo to piece together the final episodes in their spare time from the half finished work that they bought. They really want to get their story out there! That's both more sad and more interesting. Thanks! peachsynapse posted:Did we ever get to the carpenter's house? Was our father our lover? I'm trying to figure out the story and this game is certainly not making it easy. (Compelling, though.) I can tell you it's not possible to enter the carpenter's house in-game. You just keep getting the same message if you try. We'll found out the reason for that and many other things in episode four. Which is actually much closer than I thought. The end of that last update is actually the beginning of episode two. I guess the prologue is in fact longer than the other parts.
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Dec 29, 2014 00:08
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I say go for the hills. Starvation is classically mystic.
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Dec 29, 2014 00:15
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Glazius posted:I say go for the hills. Starvation is classically mystic. Totally. One of the really cool things about this game is that it takes what are essentially mundane problems (not to diminish them, I just mean they're things anyone could face) and gives them a mythical resonance. Makes the protagonist feel just as badass as a world-saving monster-slayer. Also, if anyone else wants to weight in on the choice of which direction to go, there's plenty of time left, and we're also tied. Orbs fucked around with this message at 18:10 on Dec 30, 2014 |
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Dec 30, 2014 17:57
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I am inclined towards the forest - if wild creatures can survive there, so can I.
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Dec 31, 2014 16:56
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Beautiful game once again. Forest seems like the sensible route. A blizzard on someone not wearing enough of the right clothes would probably kill them, even if they didn't get lost. The writers should have used an avalanche or a rock slide instead of trees collapsing though. It'd block commerce for sure, but I have a hard time believing a healthy, adult individual would not be able to climb their way over it. Readingaccount fucked around with this message at 18:16 on Dec 31, 2014 |
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Dec 31, 2014 18:11
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Chapter 9 [The forest path it is, which we begin by clicking the small hut icon to the west.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jWJ_P3Lz9w&index=10&list=PLR4c1SJ_SyUJv7UAA0Dq2x6H9IJv9Zmk7 [Ruins] (Frida decides to stay close to the forest to the south. After the first day of travel...)  Frida: Come now, old thing. Is something wrong? (Strokes the animal.) (It calms down somewhat, and they both manage to get some sleep.)  [There are no damaging enemies here, but you do have to exit each map the right way, or you get thrown back to the beginning with this message.] (She opens the door to the house before her, but instead of finding herself inside a building...)  Frida: Please. I seem to be lost, somehow. Which way should I go? (The memory does not answer.)  Memory of Stig Lisakki: It's rare to see a woman on the road, especially here. I hope the volva has everything under control. One never knows. The communal house is not open to just anyone, you know.  Frida: Is this some kind of trial, spirits? You cannot have forgotten me so quickly, Stig.  Memory of Jesper Lisakki: (The old man grumbles.) That is the cost of accepting strangers. They are not our kind of people. They only cause us problems... They don't know us. They don't understand us. They don't try to understand us. Most are here to steal from us. Why do we accept them? This is our land, after all! Memory of Inkeri: (Coldly) Stranger? I shall have to ask you to leave the village. I think it would be... better for you. Here, you are of no use, you are reassuring no one. You worry us. You are not welcome. Yes, that's it. Go, goodbye. Goodbye. Frida: Inkeri, I am not a stranger. You have been my mentor since I was young. Even in my memories, you would not be so cold.  (You would have thought it would be easier to return, but it seems that the door is closed. Here, nothing awaits you. There is nothing here to greet you. Have you already been greeted? (With the voices of the village elders still resonating, indifferent, you steal away between the fir trees. Little by little the village disappears into the fog. Here you are, alone again. Has it ever been different? (I'm cold, father. I'm cold. Little by little I feel the tundra freezing me; little by little I feel that I am slowly freezing from the inside. The road is still long. The road to the river is long.) Frida: Hmm. Are the spirits telling me that I am forgotten, or that I am forgetting? How far can I trust my memory? The crow: Caaaw.  (You have lost all points of reference for hours. You hope to keep going in the same direction, but even the sun is not visible enough to help you find your way. Some growling in the distance has made you walk faster. Fear and fatigue are, little by little, overcoming reason. (During a sunny spell, you spy what seem to be abandoned buildings. As you approach you realise that there is not much left. These are perhaps ruins of large houses or farms. It is certain that you will not find food here, but maybe you can find shelter for the night.) (Deciding to be thorough, Frida checks the other building to the north as well.)  (Exhausted, you fell asleep in the shadow of the ruins. With eyes half-open, you saw yourself dancing among the ruins, blurred like a whirlpool, and you lost track. Too tired to think, or even to dream, you let yourself float in an ocean of debris, an ocean of strange things of which you understand nothing. Animals with indistinguishable outlines seem to move on the surface, or perhaps below. Perhaps here, there was once solid ground.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3BePut1o4Q&index=11&list=PLR4c1SJ_SyUJv7UAA0Dq2x6H9IJv9Zmk7 [Enigme]   [The little black dots, called Lost Broken, have an ability to exchange places with you if you end up in their range. They're the only way to make it to the green tiles to the north without several +Movement abilities. Fortunately, we have three, so even with the 10 turn restriction, we make it up fast enough to get 100%.]    [Thanks to the skill I Wasn't There, which we picked up at the end of the last update, when we use Betrayal now, a dialogue box pops up to let us choose our form:]  [The third one turns us into the new form for episode two.]    [I actually did not cast Chaos here. These doubles are enemies. On the second turn, one of them will begin to glow, and on the third turn, it will explode, instantly killing anything in the yellow range. The shard then becomes another of the Forgotten Broken. This pattern continues until they're all gone. If you time it right, there are teleportation tiles you can use to trap the enemies within range of the explosion while escaping yourself.]  The Ruins: Is it not familiar? As you contemplate this landscape where all that shines is dimmed, do you not sometimes have the feeling of contemplating yourself? You are at home; in your home, nothing remains. Frida: Yes, I have sometimes felt that way... How did you know? The Ruins: Your village, lost in the mist, your village which you do not remember, of which you can no longer discern the reality; your village that you forget day after day. Their village that you abandoned. This village which was yours. The time of a dream and to which you are now a stranger. Uprooted, what else do you have? You have no more house, no more home. You have nowhere to return to at night after your long walk. You have no more attachments. It is as if you were floating in infinite waters, alone in these clear waters barely crossed by elusive animals. And in the distance, you watch yourself drifting, drifting far away from something, far from something that you no longer recognise. Your house, little girl, is in ruins. Frida: Is that really so different from before, though? Before, my lack of a home was shrouded by an illusion. Now that absence is concrete and real.  The Ruins: Of the father, not much remains. A box, a little box that you carry, like a pilgrim, a burden imposed on you, or which you imposed on yourself. It is heavy, much heavier than a man. And your loved ones... Your loved once distanced themselves. Your friends are distancing themselves—it seems that there was never much of a feeling of kinship among you. Men or women who were once tied together, now undo those ties. Were they poorly joined? Your family, little girl, is in ruins. And you, what do you have left? Guilty of too much weakness, of freezing yourself to make yourself harder, don't you run the risk of burning all your caresses? You have lost your color, your balance, and your sex; with your childhood shattered to pieces and haphazardly put back together, what else do you have? What has not been stolen from you, or have you not given up voluntarily? Here, there are only vestiges. Everything that resists being wiped out, all that resists is here. Keep your vestiges, little girl, keep your ruins and keep your junk. It's all you have left. These are your old stones. This is your house. It is your family. It is only in a ruined castle that you can see the sky. It is only in manure that sacred flowers grow. Frida: There is much truth to that, as cruelly as it was meant. I am planting the seeds.  Frida: To Sapphire Bay, of course. The Ruins: Sitting in your funereal junk you sail gently, gently on a smooth sea, smooth as a horizon veiled with snow.  (More days pass. Frida manages to find some berries and roots near the edge of the forest, which Inkeri told her were not poisonous. Though her stomach is far from full, it is nice to have something besides trail rations as she falls to sleep again.)  Memory: Do you remember me? Do you know who I am? If you remember me, I will know how to caress your cheek once more... But if you do not remember, then who will? Tell me, little girl... Do you know who I am?  Frida: Of course I remember you, Olov. I still carry your book with me. I read it on nights I cannot sleep. Memory: It's true. I am Olov. I am a stranger, and yet I live in this village. Keep well, young woman. Frida: Thank you, and thank you for referring to me as a woman. Keep well. (The door leads to another large common room.) Memory: Do you remember who I am, young lady? You have to know me to deserve us, you know? I am important, yes. I am important, but do you know who I am? Do you remember me? If you remember me, you may be able to return, but if you do not remember, will you deserve it?  Frida: Ah, yes. Old Silk. I am still angry at the way you have been treating Leila, you know. You are frightening her with your groping. Memory: Yes, I am the old Silk... Behind my miserable smile, my grey eye looks over many, many things. But sometimes, young woman, I can do nothing... Keep well, keep well. Frida: The same to you. Memory: You do not know who I am. I do not care. You do not interest me. You have never interested me. I only hope one thing: that you forget me.  Frida: Hello Eini. How could it have been four years since I saw your father? I thought I knew everyone in the village. Eini: Yes, I am Eini, daughter of the village carpenter, daughter of Sygg. I do not care if you remember me, as long as I do not see you again. Disappear, at once. Frida: So be it. Goodbye. Memory: And me, do you know who I am..? Have you forgotten me forevermore? What did I do to deserve that? If you do not know who I am, how do you expect to know anything... about anything?  Frida: I do not know. I am sorry. Memory: You do not know. You do not understand. If you do not understand this fundamental thing, then all that is useless. Keep on walking. I will wait for you. It is already such a long time that I have been waiting. [So, in this section, you have to try to remember who each villager is. With Frida's massive Memory stat, I chose the right answer for each one. The penalty for choosing the wrong answer is a short, easy battle and slightly less xp (base of 3,000 over 1,000). And in the final one pictured just above, there is no correct answer, so choose any of the answers.]  (You were outside the whole time. Were you ever inside? Without really knowing it, perhaps you were never one of them. You watched them, all those years, from the top of a cliff. Then, finally, you left.) Orbs fucked around with this message at 09:34 on Jan 1, 2015 |
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Jan 1, 2015 09:23
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drat, looks like it's going to be pretty trippy no matter which way we go.
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Jan 1, 2015 11:13
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This game is really good at making me want to find out what happens next, if nothing else. So much so that I picked it up on steam (still only five bucks for the whole kit and caboodle as of this writing - thanks winter sale). But I'm terrible at playing video games myself so I'll be following this LP with interest until the end, thanks for all your work Klingon. I marathoned the thread just recently so a couple random thoughts. The OST is great, really adds to a SSLP to be able to listen along, especially with a game this heavy on 'atmosphere' and while the writing is really flowery but I can't help but be impressed by at least a line or two every update which excuses it in my book. I can't articulate why very well but the whole thing is just engrossing, looking forward to more.
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Jan 1, 2015 13:14
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Chapter 10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voga0xWbJyk [Dark] (You have lost all points of reference for days. You continue blindly forward. Are these the same mountains that you could glimpse intermittently through the storm? The plain seems to stretch on forever. Like an insect facing the immensity of the climb before it, you feel tiny and slow, so slow. It seems that the plain, from one moment to another, could devour you whole. (Eventually, you come across a new set of ruins. Identical in all ways to the first set, they unfold slowly under the same heavy white sky, under the same horizon of veiled mountains. (As you advance, your eyesight gets cloudy. Shapes appear out of nowhere from the snow. They surround you and slow you down. You speed up the pace. Little by little you seem to be running. Little by little you seem to be falling.)     [Erasing Time saps your Psyche points, while Crying Time saps your movement. Get caught as the closest thing to both of them and you could be in trouble. On the other hand, if you manage to use your skills to keep them close to each other, you're pretty much safe for the whole battle.] (Are they following you? They are everywhere. All around you, shadows between the houses and growling in the snow. They are following you. You run, but nothing stops them.) (You stop to catch your breath. The noises have died down. Regardless, there is a feeling of dread in the air. Breathlessly, you continue on your journey.) Frida: As I am changing, so is my enemy. I must continue to evolve, or they will find me.  [We finally pick up the ultimate skill of the Metamorph branch of the snowflake, which can be used in many clever ways by a tricky player.] (The growling starts up again, closer and louder. Terrified, you start to run. Around you, packs of nebulous shapes float between the houses, watching you.)  [Doors isn't all that useful in this fight, since there are no good choke points, but surviving ten rounds is still easy enough.]  (You have escaped, for the moment. Breathless, you slow down. The shape of a large building in the near distance catches your attention. Perhaps you will be able to rest there.)  Frida: Am I going to give up, dad? Am I going to let myself die here? I am tired, so tired... I have been walking for a long time, so long that I have forgotten why I am walking. I am tired, so tired, I would like for everything to end... That the snow may swallow me at last, that the snow may finally finish its work... (Motionless, abandoned, with half-closed eyes, you watch the snow fall.)  (Who are they? The landscape is calm, not a sound or a sudden movement. The snow falls gently, silently. Who are they? It seems like they are singing. It is a strange landscape. It is a bit like a dream. Like the dream of a child.)  [There are no enemies here. You simply have to step on a series of the glowing tiles in a maze-like shifting pattern until one appears in front of each Winter Voice, then stop on it.] (As Frida's wispy, ghost-like form approaches the shapes, she catches bits and pieces of their song.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVBfl7GNI-Q [Piste 5] Winter Voice: If those who made us gently come undone What use is our long sacrifice? Orphans, imperfect, abandoned Let us end it all. So that at last we can be done with it. Winter Voice: We were late even before waking Our life burned from the urgency of living -Even if the shadows sometimes gave good counsel We had our reasons for forgetting to follow them. Winter Voice: We fought—now it is late. So many left, what good is this ploy? What is the use of working late into the night? Everything we can still see looks like snow. Winter Voice: Willpower is all that is needed to walk further -We were quick out of desperation But from our travels we learned That one does not go far on an empty stomach  Winter Voice: Day after day, the snow will erase our footsteps Ice will take the rivers and the cold our windows It is so and it is for the best. It is hard to disappear But there is sometimes a little water beneath the ice Winter Voice: Just as there is blood in a body collapsed Just as a cry can sometimes be a word Just as morning follows a sleepless night Just as we hear, sometimes, the murmur of the avalanche. (The voices begin to fade away.) Frida: Wait! Please, stay and teach me your song. I have never heard this one before, and I must memorize it so I can share it...  (For the first time in weeks, the sky is perfectly clear. The temperature has risen and, to your surprise, it is warm. The sound of birds can be heard from the odd tree dotting the area. The mountains are easily visible on the horizon. While scanning the horizon, you discover what looks like a village in ruin. It is maybe six days' walk away. You eat you penultimate ration with difficulty and start walking.)  [Now, and for the rest of the game, we get a different bonus depending on which path we took.]  We also level up, and take a very in-character skill.]   [A bit of a bug here, I think... There is supposed to be an event in the middle of the trail where the crow flies away, but either I didn't get it or I don't have a screenshot of it. The keen-eyed among you will notice the lack of the crow sprite on our shoulder in some of the above pictures.] Frida: You're back! (She bursts into tears, for the first time since the death of her father.) I missed you, I was so sad... (Hugs it tightly.) (The crow looks annoyed by the hug, but makes no other protest.)  Frida. He's so cute when he's asleep... (She eases off of the hug, lightly stroking his feathers instead.) (Frida sniffs, wipes away the tears with her sleeve, and resumes walking toward the ruined village, comforted by the reassuring pressure of the crow's claws in her shoulder.) Orbs fucked around with this message at 03:35 on Jan 2, 2015 |
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Jan 1, 2015 20:50
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Glazius posted:drat, looks like it's going to be pretty trippy no matter which way we go. Sinking Ship posted:This game is really good at making me want to find out what happens next, if nothing else. So much so that I picked it up on steam (still only five bucks for the whole kit and caboodle as of this writing - thanks winter sale). But I'm terrible at playing video games myself so I'll be following this LP with interest until the end, thanks for all your work Klingon. At the very least, you can find the soundtrack in the game's files since you bought it! I hope it goes on a similar sale next year, or better yet, we have some information about season two.
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Jan 1, 2015 20:55
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 Your update pace is impressive.That bird is a bit of a dick to take off after you choose nothing but nice options, huh. I wonder where all this companion interaction is going, since there are different ways to interact I assume there will be some sort of payoff at some point? Or maybe the gameplay bonus you get from it is the payoff. Out of curiosity do the powers you pick have any sort of story impact like different dialogue options for going all in on Pride instead of Metamorph? Or is it just total segregation of story and gameplay on that front? Still loving this LP by the by.
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Jan 1, 2015 22:38
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Sinking Ship posted:
I'm glad you're loving it. And yes, the crow is a dick, especially in the update I am just about to post (I have a lot of free time and I'm a fast typer, what can I say). The companion interaction determines which of four potential skills they give you at various relationship levels. You also get xp from some conversations with them, which is always good. I think a lot of them are interesting from a story or character development standpoint as well. The powers you pick don't influence dialogue at all, though it would be cool if they did. I do tend to pick skills that seem to fit my character's personality, but that isn't a requirement at all. The only things that change dialogue are what class you play, and your Humor attribute; the trek to the north would have been easier as a Huntress, for example, and since Frida's Humor is very low, we haven't even had the option to select any light-hearted lines.
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Jan 2, 2015 02:34
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Chapter 11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6opJN7kXpog [Cold]  [It is possible to come down here while you're still in the village, but there's never any reason to, so I didn't show it.]  Frida: A shadow amongst shadows. Shadow of the Seid: Is this how you describe yourself? Yes, yes, I think that is correct. You dreamed so much, walked so much, slept with so many ghosts... You are now only a ghost among ghosts. Lost in the ruins of something that belonged to you long ago, you ended up finding, at last, the main courtyard, and you made it your own. All you need to do now is wait. It is just th first step, do you know that? Frida: There is still work to be done, to rebuild everything. Shadow of the Seid: Yes, there is still work to be done, and the Beast is still on the prowl. You will end up meeting it again. You will end up having to speak to it. You will end up finding its allies. I have a last question for you, young lady, then I will go away. I am afraid it is rather an enigma. Here it is.  Frida: It was four years ago. That's all I know. Shadow of the Seid: Yes, that was four years ago, remember. It is only a start, but it is a concrete start. Perhaps you will see it again one day. Have a safe journey, young lady, and good luck.  (You are no longer in the village. There is nothing left and you find that reassuring. In the end, did you ever feel comfortable there? Was this really your village—you, the daughter of a runaway and an exiled sailor? Isn't it better this way? (Your home is, indeed, among these ruins. Your home is here. At last, things have fallen back into place. If you come back one day, you will be a visitor. You will be a polite stranger who is only passing through. It is thus, and it is better this way.)  (It was a large village—probably the largest in the region. The ruins spread over several hundred meters. You can only see a small portion as you cross. This is a sad landscape, sadder than any you have seen so far. (As you progress, the sky turns greyer, heavier, and darker. The atmosphere weights down on you more and more. Whispers seem to resonate among the ruins. Shadows, still more shadows...) Frida: Am I now the friend of shadows?  Darkness: Nothing is living. It's the rule here. Here, everything is like me, naked, isolated, windswept; everything without a reason to be—violated and then abruptly uninhabited; everything is immutable and sad. Everything is the same as me.  (Assuming the form and mind of the Erratic Broken, Frida experiences the strange life of these ruins. Time shrinks from a fearsome enemy to a casual curiosity. She avoids getting to close to it, lest time recognize her deception, and makes her way through the village.)   (In the house the shadows become denser, more terrifying. Reluctantly, you retreat to the doorstep. Even though it is the middle of the day, the sky is so dark it seems as if the sun has already set.)  Darkness: But where are the limits of my memories? When, in spite of myself, did I pass over to this side of things? Is it not older? Is this wound not older? Have I not been torn apart without remembering it. (There is no way to avoid them now. But as the forces of time itself advance on her, Frida's sharp mind cuts holes in this augmented reality. They tumble between two points, mindlessly trying to advance on her, without realizing they are crawling across the same three meters of space over and over.) [The Doors skill is more useful here, since there are a lot of choke points.]  [We gain a level, and pick up a very handy skill.]  Darkness: They seep between the ruins, they whisper, they observe me, I am, obsessed. The inhabitants of a country of which I am only the heir or the passenger. They watch me, starving.  [By stepping on the orange tile, we become the Shadows' Friend for five turns, which causes our doubles/shards to move toward us after we use the golden tiles to teleport closer to them. This is necessary, since we have to get them to the green tile before the other enemies kill them, and most of them are in a position where we can't use Repulsion to get them there. Also, in the wooden room up top, there is a faint blue tile that transports the shards directly to the green tile.] (The pieces of Frida's former self advance on her as if she is an enemy... and, truthfully, she cannot say they are wrong. Nevertheless, she reaches out with her soul and attempts to force them back together. When she gets close, they speak fragments of the Voluspa in her own voice.) “Many things I told thee, but thou hast few remembered: thy friends mislead thee. My friend's sword is lying I see, with blood all dripping.”  Darkness: Nothing is left. My life at present resembles this heavy, grey cloud, these dark, cavernous eyes, this walk without end through Nowhere. My life at present resembles a long walk under a heavy, grey December sky. Darkness: Without any objective, without any goal to achieve, without understanding why I am here, I walk, by force of habit, between the ruins. My legs are moving of their own accord, my head, full of mists, no longer recognizes the reference points. I navigate blind. It is dull, the sky is overcast. I walk. By force of habit. Darkness: I am alive, by force of habit. Darkness: I no longer have any pretext. I no longer have any alibi for my useless flight. I no longer have any reason for walking. It only remains for me to sit down in a corner, guilty, and wait. Darkness: Yes. It only remains for me to sit down, punished, in the cold corner of a room. As though scolded by an old woman, I can only cry a little, in the corner, and allow myself to die.  Darkness: Can I stay here forever, and never come back? Can I stay here, here where everything resembles me? Answer me: can I let myself die? Darkness: No, I cannot. I am burning, yes, I am still burning. I am still burning on this stake, I am still burnt by this grey fire which nothing will extinguish. I must burn, still burn, and turn my eyes to the heavens. Darkness: What is left from you, Daddy, I must carry far, farther from here, where everything looks the same. I must settle this debt that I have not been able to pay in your lifetime. It is this fundamental thing, this is the thing that makes me your daughter. This is the reason why I walk now. Darkness: For lack of anything better, I want to be your daughter. I want to remain your daughter. This makes sense to me. If I deserve you one day, if I deserve myself one day, maybe I will try to return. For the moment, waiting or dead, I am the princess of the crown of thorns and embers. I am the one who lives with a grey fire which nothing will extinguish, a grey fire which consumes me and vindicates me. I am the princess of the crown of thorns and embers. Darkness: I am the princess of the stake.    (As he sees the man, the crow flies toward him, landing on his shoulder. He pecks at the man's cheek. It almost seems like a sign of affection. This surprises you, because you have never seen the crow show affection towards anyone.) Ven: What a strange crow. He must have smelled the leftover meal in my beard... Frida: I'm jealous. He's never done that to me. Ven: (Laughing gently) Anyway, he seems to appreciate me. Well then, it's a pleasure to meet you, young lady. Are you hungry? Help yourself—don't be shy. I killed a wolf yesterday morning. There is some left. Frida: Who are you?  Frida: I am Frida. A traveler? Ven: Yes, a traveler, just as you yourself are a traveler. Well then, Frida the traveler, would you like a bit of meat? You seem to really need it. Frida: If you insist. (Frida takes the meat with the cautiousness of a wild animal, trying to deny how ravenously hungry the sight of cooked meat has made her.) Ven: Please, eat everything. I am leaving soon and I will not be able to carry it all. It is a difficult journey through the tundra. Where are you going like that? Frida: I am going to take my father's ashes to the Bay of Sapphire. Ven: Really? That's a long journey for a young woman. It's an... interesting reason to travel. I would have liked to have been able to follow my father, myself. But I never really knew where he went. The snow erased all trace of him.  (and the last option is “No thank you. I prefer to travel alone.”) [Here is the second of three party members we can pick up. Crows are one thing... but random scruffy dudes just hanging out in the middle of nowhere? Should we recruit Ven, or continue on alone? And if we do recruit him, how should we act towards him? Probably the best way to describe the options would be: -Coldly/Indifferently -Flirtatiously -Politely I'm going to keep track of votes until there is a clear consensus, and only then after a few days, since this is one of the most important decisions in the game. [Whatever our choice, we get enough xp to level up again at the end of the conversation, and I pick a skill I think fits very well with the last encounter:  [Also, since this is the end of episode two, here is our character sheet and skill sheet:    [We got a third skill from the crow as well, which is actually different depending on how you treat it. The other NPCs are the same way. More memory! More xp! More damage!  ]
Orbs fucked around with this message at 03:08 on Jan 2, 2015 |
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Jan 2, 2015 02:38
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Recruit him and be polite.
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Jan 2, 2015 02:51
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Recruit and polite sounds good. It will be interesting to see if a human companion has any affect on the surreality of her experiences... assuming he's not all in her head too.
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Jan 2, 2015 03:08
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ultrafilter posted:Recruit him and be polite. Seems appropriate for our character.
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Jan 2, 2015 07:36
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Adding my vote to recruit + be polite. Any guy who can take down a wolf sounds like someone to have on the team.
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Jan 2, 2015 11:35
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