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A. Noblesse oblige.
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Oct 17, 2018 09:27
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| # ? Jun 9, 2024 00:45 |
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FairGame posted:Anyway, I'm sorry abou all the rhymes. ... A
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Oct 17, 2018 11:29
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A
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Oct 17, 2018 12:11
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A
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Oct 17, 2018 17:22
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C.
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Oct 17, 2018 20:51
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A! This is very interesting, I just played through the game myself and I didn't see this part. Curious.
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Oct 17, 2018 22:29
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VOTING CLOSED. I have reached the end. There is one vote remaining. Those of you who've seen this: please don't mention anything further and please abstain from the final vote. My hope is to have it up tonight.
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Oct 17, 2018 23:43
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This LP has me on pins and needles. Thanks for doing this awesome playthrough.
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Oct 18, 2018 00:39
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Whatever it is, my vote will always be gently caress Rugga Even in death, my answer will be gently caress Rugga.
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Oct 18, 2018 01:06
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queserasera posted:This LP has me on pins and needles. Thanks for doing this awesome playthrough. Wholeheartedly agreed! This has been an amazing LP. Thank you for all the effort you put into it.
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Oct 18, 2018 02:40
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UPDATE 41: JUNO AND EYVIND  : The walls are yours, Ludin. Your father would be proud.  : I'll send word to loyal men and keep the menders standing. We made some pretty good decisions, and Iver gets back almost a week.  Good thing, too, because we have no idea how much further we have to go.   : Rises like teeth from the hunger'd wolve's maw. Swallows brave men and the bright doom star.An old song, from before the gods died. Fitting, ambling through tall pillars like teeth, an obsidian forest wreathing the great black godstone.   : Eyvind, can you do anything about this? This place is tough enough without seeing ghosts.Eyvind shakes his head slowly, and you notice his ragged appearance.  : But I can be certain no harm will come from it.He says it loud enough for others to hear.  We approach...whatever it is. : We push on, despite hope being lost along with Juno, to something black and heavy ahead. Did the dredge build godstones of their own, or... : They did. And hope is not lost yet, Iver Not dead yet. : Well done. You can put me down.Nerves get the best of even the bravest.  : Stop. Not another step!She pushes her way to Juno. : You died. Not another damned step until you tell us what is happening. All of it!A chorus of voices concur, echoing off the pillars themselves.  : They're right, Juno.Juno sags. : You're right. It's time you all knew. : This will be more easily shown than told. : The valka were the first to discover a world within our world: the inner earth. With its own lands, people... : ...and sun. A source of power far greater than our own. : I studied in secret to heal those wounds, and... : In time, we grew to love each other. But meddling with minds is forbidden, for reasons already clear to you. The council sentenced me to death. : They agreed to spare Eyvind the same fate if I went willingly. So I did. : In his grief, he drained the black sun of its energy, hoping to restore my life.  : The sun fell from the sky, ripping chasms through both worlds. : I had become the new vessel for its power. : When we reach the white tower, and Eyvind releases my energy, the sun will move again and the darkness will return to where it belongs. : Eyvind carried me all the way back to Ridgehorn before he could go no further. Hakon's approach to Ridgehorn, way back in The Banner Saga 1 posted:: That's where Hakon's warriors found us. They understandably believed I was dead and left me there. Eyvind lived still, if only barely. By the time he awoke, the varl had taken him most of the way to Einartoft. When I realized what had happened, I traveled by ship down the river to meet Eyvind at Sigrholm, but the Serpent's chasms prevented this. I believe you know the rest. I'm certain you have many questions. I will answer them. Clearly. : This goes back all the way to the time of the gods?: This can become long and complicated. I'll keep it simple. The Loom-mother first discovered weaving, and with it created this world and those living on it. The other beings in the tapestry, other gods, reacted in many different ways. Some wanted to learn weaving, and they took the creations she made and changed them, forming varl and horseborn. : When the Loom-mother learned of this, she became furious. As she had discovered creation she had also unwittingly created death, and accidentally killed the jealous god in anger. The other gods were terrified. They had never imagined not existing. They turned on each other out of fear. The gods died, but their creations continued on. The Valka were the Loom-mother's favored few. She taught them weaving. Eyvind and I are descendants of those first people.: If the dredge were taught by the Valka, why are they attacking now?: The stonesingers believe we have betrayed them. Early on we discovered that the black sun was a far greater source of power than our own. After the worst of the great wars, everyone believed the Valka utterly defeated the dredge. In truth, we offered them peace. : So you created the stonesingers?: In a way. We only shared knowledge. It has always been a difficult question of how much control to exert. But now they believe we caused this destruction on purpose. They think that we wish to wipe them out, and like anyone would, they fight back. They're scared and frenzied, and will not listen. We have failed them as much as we have failed everyone else.Bellower/Bolverk's Dream posted:: What does the serpent have to do with any of this?: I'll admit, even I was uncertain until recently. But the easiest way to understand it is to imagine an egg. The Serpent's egg was made inside this inner earth, a black sun mirroring our own. Within it, a Serpent would grow slowly over the ages. It was put here to eventually swallow the Loom-mother's creations. A cruel trick to destroy them in secret. When the black sun fell to the earth, it cracked. The Serpent and its power spilled out, well before its time. : In a way, Eyvind unwittingly did us all a favor. If the Serpent had grown to full size...well. At least as things are now, there may be a chance to reverse it.: I'm not exactly bursting with gratitude at the moment.: Understandable.: I've heard enough. What now?: Now we return to the source of the power. I am not dead, but neither am I alive. This energy within me was stolen. Eyvind will place me within the black sun. The celestial spheres will circle again, the darkness will be absorbed, and without that, the Serpent will wither. : You'll be trapped within the sun?: I have come to terms with it.  So, that's it. Depending on how much of that you believe. Eyvind isn't Juno's apprentice; he's the disgraced former leader of the Valka. Either because he let Juno play with his mind in an effort to deal with madness, or because he wanted something else, Juno was put to death. He went nuts, stole her body, snuck into the inner earth, and caused all of this. Just to revive her. Think long and hard about whether you believe this story, and which parts you choose to believe if not all of them. And, technically, this "nearly the end of the world" is going to prevent "unquestionably the end of the world" because Eyvind accidentally woke up the World Serpent too early--early enough that it can be defeated. As Iver says, though, it's not really much of a bonus, given everything.  We press on, though, to Godstone Dredge.  An enormous bell hangs from the carved stonework. Even untouched it hums with a strange, deep resonance.  : The sculptors built this godstone to themselves. They raise bells made of those who have passed. It's said that a part of them lives in the sound of these bells, and they can visit their ancestors this way.Sparr crosses his arms. : That would explain the spooks.  ...come on. You know I'm gonna. Nothing can stop Iver.   This is an entirely optional fight. We don't need the Dredge Clapper. But I'm far more worried about running out of time due to travel than I am due to mandatory rest. Might as well gain some additional renown.  Sparr's forced into our party for this fight. And honestly, it's really not worth it. The Dredge Clapper isn't that good, even.  I think it's time to have a 3rd varl who can tempest.  : Agreed. This battle has a gimmick. There is no reinforcement counter, but anytime a melee dredge gets to the bell, it rings it. Which summons more dredge. After a while, it'll break the bell and no more reinforcements can come.  We're not remotely in trouble (though Sparr did take a nasty hit before we could get him out of harm's way). But I can't hold off the warped dredge from ringing the bell.  I can, however, absolutely wreck their reinforcements.  I know, Iver. And you kill them all each time, so what's the problem?  No problem.  Iver finishes the cleanup.  : How about we don't do that again. We're lucky that's all we faced. At least now we know there aren't any other of those things around.You find Oli at the edge of the light, staring at the godstone.   : Just keep your voice down. That vicious, wrinkled fifl wont' share any of his drink, and my head hurts.In the distance Sparr takes a moment from lazily tuning his langspil to throw Oli a wildly inappropriate gesture. : Ran out of your own brew? : Sober is no way to live, Iver.: What's your drink of choice?: What's yours, yox milk? Who cares? Ah, never mind me. You know how some men can't handle their drink? I can't handle being dry. Makes my head hurt.: That seems like a problem.: Never has been before. Who would want to take in all this majesty clearly? I haven't been this sober since I was thirteen, locked up in a Boersgard cell.Oli gets a far away look in his eye. : Rhum's my poison, to answer your question. Believe it or not, I can't even throw these axes worth a drat, dry as I am. But get a few drinks in me and I see bright ribbons in the air.: Wait, you see lines of light?: drat right. Showing me exactly where the axes are going to go.  : Oli, I think you may be spellweaving...Oli straightens back, as if startled. : What are you talking about?: Like the menders do. : Weaving? Like this nidingr who farts lightning and raises the dead? ...but only when I'm drunk?: And you're just using it to throw things better.Oli erupts into laughter, loud enough to make even Sparr frown.  : I'll drink to that.: Don't tease.You pass Oli your mead horn and his hands shake as he gulps from it greedily. : "Oli the spellweaver!" My mum always said I was special. Maybe you're not as bad as they say, varl.: Who says that? Suddenly Alette's affinity doesn't seem so impressive, eh?  We can rest here, if we're feeling particularly foolish. We should press on.   : As you all know, I don't drink.He smirks, to a couple laughs. : But I knew a place back in Boersgard that'd make you glad to be sober. : Then you haven't tasted Bjorulf's Blessing, Oli. I'd kill anyone here for another swig...: Didn't you already get three Ravens killed over it? : What about you, Folka?: Me? I want to go to that place Oli was talking about.More laughter.  : Bunch of animals. Me? I'm going to put Strand back together. See who finds their way back. I had a home there. Friends.He gives Oli a stern look.  : I have a brother in Arberrang. My twin. Didn't have a chance to leave things right. Now I'm regretting it.The Ravens toast to regret. Sparr notices Krumr's stoic silence and starts shouting random guesses. : I know what mighty Krumr needs. A feast! A longship! A throne made of fallen foes!Krumr snorts at the last one.  : No, but if you wrote a song about that, I wouldn't correct you! Dytch manages to slip in an opinion between the bawdy chatter. : I always wanted to...He quickly gets drowned out by others and slowly mumbles to a stop.  : Give me a pile of coin when this is all over. Big enough to sleep on. Been working for others my whole life, and it's wearing thin. Think I've earned some easy living.Several Ravens toast to this.  Bak says nothing. Everyone can tell he's thinking about spears. Folka looks at him with something like pity.  : You all know why I'm here and what I want.: Nobody wants to die alone, eh? Even if you're far from home.Sparr smiles. Satisfied, the caravan continues on, the tower growing ever closer. Gotta say, it's pretty impressive making me care about this group of misfits and hangers-on to the story. The Unkindness of Ravens aren't good guys, but they've got a camaraderie that's enviable.  : And why does this part look different from the rest?: This is...hold on. : Great. I didn't think I could hate this place more. Now there's six of Dytch.The nauseating, sweaty warmth still radiating from the fragments has everyone eager to pass through except Eyvind. He has stopped at one, with his hand pressed against the glassy surface, looking at his own reflection.  : I hardly recognize myself.: Could be worse.: Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to compare...the reality of what I must do is sinking in. We're getting close.Eyvind stares out into the distance. : Now's not the time for second thoughts.: It was always such a long way off. There was more time...: Time for what, exactly?Eyvind sighs heavily. : Juno revealed it already, but there's something you may not have fully grasped. Something she forbade me to tell you. : No more secrets.: The only way the black sun will return to the sky is for Juno to seal the darkness within. So she has to stay there...trapped. For eternity. A fate worse than death, and it was my fault. All she's done since is fight tooth and nail to make things right. All she's ever done...You can see anger spreading across Eyvind's face. He almost looks as if he's drawing energy from the sun shard.  : Even with the sun broken, there must be energy enough here to destroy the Serpent! : And it might not.: Why shouldn't I try? Why should I be listening to any of you?: Eyvind. Think of your friends in Arberrang.Eyvind's mouth becomes a thin line, and some of the fire in his eyes goes out. : I know. : When she had a boy, the council was worried. The males of our kind have always had a touch of madness, to varying degrees. My father couldn't contain his own.: I suppose that kind of power would be hard for anyone.: It is a curse. I am only alive at all thanks to Juno, and she has kept this power within me from spilling out. When she spoke to me in a dream at Einartoft, I wasn't even sure if it was real. I had gone so long without her help, I was starting to lose control again... : Can you imagine feeling so powerful, and so weak at the same time?: I can imagine.Eyvind nods, as Folka approaches the two of you in a huff.  Eyvind steps away from the sun shard with a scowl on his face, returning to where Juno awaits. : That one's got problems. And that's coming from me.: It's still hard to imagine those two falling for each other.: You think so?: You don't?Folka laughs as she punches your shoulder. : I can see why you wouldn't get it, varl. It's not just the arm and eye you're missing. Every girl in the world wants a boy to promise he'd give her the sun and stars. Folka almost looks embarrassed with herself as you head back to the caravan. If nothing else about their story is true, the love between Eyvind and Juno almost certainly is.  Running out of time again.  The stonesinger seems to understand though you've never seen it eat anything before, scraping a hard, bell-shaped object from the cliff walls and handing it to you with a motion like opening a book. : Huh. I thought that was just more craggy rock.It has a hard, obsidian shell. But once cracked open a strikingly bright pink plant resides within, squishy to the touch.  It tastes like a mushroom, but slightly sweet. A couple minutes later you're actually feeling stronger, a bit more energized. The others cautiously gather handfuls and eat as much as they dare. You swear the caravan moves a little faster than before. So...good news for those of you on the "everyone is going to starve even if we stop the darkness" front. Not all flora is warped and tainted. It'd be hard for a while, but if the land can eventually produce food again we can probably scrape by.    : Many sculptors are my friends, and you are who they tell their children to fear. But I don't hate you. The more about you I know, the more I like you.: Is that really what you wanted to talk about?: Straight to the point. Eyvind and Juno, they trust you, don't they? : Do they have yours?: Of course not. Now, Juno...she may be weaving little truths. But step back. Look at the whole tapestry. They wield terrible power. Perhaps you've noticed? It's exactly why they made the order of menders. Ah, look over here! We're only healing the sick, building houses. : I've considered it.: Come closer. Eyvind created a faen immortal. Can you comprehend? Juno cannot die. But that wasn't their goal, was it? What is immortality without power? Misery.  : I do.: Then wake up. There's no more room for ignorance in this tiny bubble. Say nothing now. I'm not asking you for promises. But a time will come - and soon, I think - when you'll see the truth unfolding before your eyes. : I will make certain what they claim to be doing is what is actually done. She has a point. What we've seen so far and from previous conversations with Alfrun. It's rather likely that the gods were just really powerful Valka. Or at least similar. After all, every godstone we've seen other than Radormyr (the serpent never seen by anyone but said to live inside the sun) was human in form. And we've met Unarr (the weird old guy who magicked food out of thin air) in Banner Saga 1. And a woman slipped into Alette's tent after Godstone Aselei and suddenly we had a god-blessed artifact. What if Eyvind and Juno really do love one another, but they were also trying to turn Eyvind into a new god? Valka Dusi was guessing that before dying in the calamity at Manaharr. And if they were trying to make a god, to what end? To save the varl? To rule? So much unanswered. And we'll never know the answer. We just have the official story from Juno and Eyvind.  12 hours until doomsday. Violent shaking peels rock sheets off the nearby cliffs. They crash around you in great billowing clouds of dust. "Is everyone alright?" you shout in the aftermath.  : What is this about?: Oli murdered a warlord in Strand, back when I was guard captain! I never got a chance to thank him for all the good friends who were killed as a result!: Liar! I've never even been to Strand!: You're both lying. Oli traveled to strand where he did ignite the war, but no one was pushed toward falling rocks. And if you both wish to keep your history in the past...Both men pale from Juno's icy words, realizing they can keep no secrets. : That earthquake was no coincidence. Same as when the Serpent carved chasms through the earth above. Be on your guard. Our doom counter hits 0 before we can cross the bridge, though.
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Oct 18, 2018 02:46
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For a crazy person who needed mind control to make him not crazy Eyvind has seemed fairly in control. Barring extreme stress like fighting the entire Valka council.
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Oct 18, 2018 03:23
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Oct 18, 2018 03:23
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So, we failed?
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Oct 18, 2018 03:43
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Isn't Irynx(?) a bird-god?
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Oct 18, 2018 04:37
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Night10194 posted:So, we failed? No, Ivar failed. The blame is all his, not us goons.
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Oct 18, 2018 04:38
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Is there any way to reach the black sun before the counter hits zero?
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Oct 18, 2018 05:14
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TheGreatEvilKing posted:For a crazy person who needed mind control to make him not crazy Eyvind has seemed fairly in control. Valkas do seem to bring out the worst in people.
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Oct 18, 2018 05:22
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ultrafilter posted:Is there any way to reach the black sun before the counter hits zero? I've seen people claim to have done so.
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Oct 18, 2018 05:28
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I legitimately got to the steps of the white tower when the counter hit zero and it made me really mad.
Jack2142 fucked around with this message at 06:33 on Oct 18, 2018 |
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Oct 18, 2018 05:56
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ultrafilter posted:Is there any way to reach the black sun before the counter hits zero? There's an achievement for doing it with only one zero, but yes, if your caravan is big enough you can get enough days to make it without returning to Arberrang at all.
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Oct 18, 2018 08:11
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Tenebrais posted:There's an achievement for doing it with only one zero, but yes, if your caravan is big enough you can get enough days to make it without returning to Arberrang at all. I bet you miss out on story stuff for doing that though. Sounds like a case of "do well, not perfect".
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Oct 18, 2018 08:15
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mauman posted:I bet you miss out on story stuff for doing that though. I was hoping to finish yesterday before I had to leave on a work trip, but my personal counter got to zero and I think it’s gross to leave this on a particularly long cliffhanger. So: We will be heading back to Arberrang, where things have gotten notably worse—including a check being made against the leadership and survival of the hero we put in charge of defending the wall. On this particular instance, the doom counter running to 0 does not mean all life is extinguished. I will explain more about all of this when we finish, which won’t be long now.
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Oct 18, 2018 12:35
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 Giant warped whale didn't take out the Serpent then?
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Oct 18, 2018 12:48
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If I understand this correctly, the serpent is only indirectly connected to the darkness, right? Both were set free when Eyvind broke the inner sun, but they are independent of each other. So killing the serpent wouldn't end the darkness, which means the game won't end until we deal with the inner sun somehow (unless we lose and get a game over). And Eyvind saying that there should be enough energy left over from the inner sun to kill the serpent tells me that it hasn't been killed by the giant whale. Anyway, I see some more worrying things in the future. Eyvind's plan sounds like madness. How appropriate. Kill the serpent to save Juno? And then? The serpent is gone, while Eyvind and Juno spend the rest of their (immortal in Juno's case) lives playing candle to keep the darkness at bay?!? That's not a good plan at all! I hope we don't have to kill Eyvind at the end to prevent him from doings something even dumber than him reviving Juno in the first place! I'm really curious what Alfrun has to say about all of this. How much of what Eyvind and Juno said is bullshit? Is there another way to solve all those problems? Will there be a fight between Juno+Eyvind against Alfrun+Dredge, and we have to choose sides? I also hope Alette is okay. I can live with Ludin dying on the walls to save Arberrang, but perhaps we can pass the checks so that he survives.
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Oct 18, 2018 12:59
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FairGame posted:I was hoping to finish yesterday before I had to leave on a work trip, but my personal counter got to zero and I think it’s gross to leave this on a particularly long cliffhanger. I vote A, help everyone you meet on the trip and spend your renown on trinkets, not supplies.
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Oct 18, 2018 16:31
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sullat posted:I vote A, help everyone you meet on the trip and spend your renown on trinkets, not supplies.
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Oct 18, 2018 18:51
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So it seems logical to assume that there is a serpent in the outside world's sun as well, right?
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Oct 18, 2018 19:32
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Martian posted:So it seems logical to assume that there is a serpent in the outside world's sun as well, right? Its name is Radormyr, there was a godstone for it. Although, as a god, it would now be dead.
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Oct 18, 2018 19:36
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We have, at least, established that gods can die, so perhaps there is some hope of killing the serpent after all.
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Oct 18, 2018 20:15
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David Corbett posted:We have, at least, established that gods can die, so perhaps there is some hope of killing the serpent after all. I mean Eynvid alrready hosed the Serpent up in BS2. Sure it turned the ocean to acid... But still.
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Oct 18, 2018 21:03
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Am I supposed to have the slightest trust of either eyland or juno at this point
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Oct 19, 2018 01:32
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That's the big question the game's posing. There's no objective reason to trust them, but since the alternative seems to be shrugging our shoulders and letting the world end, it might be the least worst option.
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Oct 19, 2018 01:42
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I feel like they didn't really gave us a reason NOT to trust them. Sure they kept the actual truth to themselves and Juno can manipulate mind, but I don't feel like they actually lied or mislead us.
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Oct 19, 2018 01:46
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Mind controlling people, raising the dead, and starting the apocalypse seem like decent reasons not to trust someone. They've been pretty quiet about the truth of things for so long, I have to expect they're leaving out some big details.
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Oct 19, 2018 01:58
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And adding in the 'Oh and maybe it was for the best, maybe we're totally saving the world' bit.
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Oct 19, 2018 02:00
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Night10194 posted:And adding in the 'Oh and maybe it was for the best, maybe we're totally saving the world' bit. yeah the "If you think about it, maybe you all should be thanking us" part was really the cherry on top
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Oct 19, 2018 04:07
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Just imagine how this poo poo looks for the Dredge. You made peace with the Valka and all, they taught you something about the threads of the universe, you're making a new generation and it's all good. One of the Valka waltzes in and goes 'Hey can I see your secret magic again? I think it's important.' and you let him, and then the sun loving goes out. And then hell magic spills out and a giant serpent is killing everyone and then Bellower's like 'Well gently caress as long as we're going up top to run away I'm gonna get that Destroyer rear end in a top hat' and that's how we got where we are now. The Dredge got shafted hard.
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Oct 19, 2018 04:14
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UPDATE 42: THE LAST STAND OF ARBERRANG Sorry for the cliffhanger there, folks.  Eventually we will run out of ways to triage a dying Arberrang. But it is not this day. Not everybody survived the scramble to safer ground, and you can see the lurching bodies of the fallen, just beyond the black veil. Gone, but not dead.  Lots of things to check out, including Hogun, who we really haven't heard anything from for a while.  : Don't stand on my account. You're looking rough around the edges. He looks a little embarrassed about snapping at you, and looks back into the distance.  : We're either very lucky or very unlucky. : Aye, that about sums things up. It could have all gone a lot of different ways. If you're just checking on how everyone's doing, I appreciate the concern. Nothing to worry about here, though.Hogun goes back to staring quietly into the darkness. : Nothing you want to talk about?: Tired of talk. Tired of fighting. I'm just tired of survival. Couldn't the gods have done this differently? Why make us eat and fear and hate? Nothing stopped them from taking it all away.: Smarter people than me haven't answered that one.: Feels like being stuck in a bear trap. And I'm tired of it.: How is your family, Hogun?: Hanging on by a thread, hunter. Hanging on by a thread. Who isn't? All I can do is make sure they eat, and don't get killed in their sleep. If I can't keep them safe, what kind of man would I be?: I know what you mean.: Ah, listen. I know what you've been through. Your father, Iver, the whole damned banner on your shoulders. All my words are coming out wrong...don't take it to heart.: What do you think is on the other side of that darkness?: It warped everything coming out of it. I doubt the land's any different.: You're worried about Mogun.: I didn't want to talk about it, but there it is. What a damned fool I am. I never should have let him leave. I love my family. But not like I love my brother. Ashamed to say it, but it's the truth. It's killing me. I keep watching the darkness, expecting to see him walk out of it, twisted and bloated. Cant' sleep. Can't stop thinking about it. Dammit, I should have said something instead of being a prideful idiot. : Nothing. Mogun's still alive.: Sure he is. Just like Iver and the rest. Maybe it would help if I could pretend like you. But so far, it isn't working.: I'll let you have your peace. Take care of yourself.: LIke I said, don't worry about me. Maybe I look rough like you said, but I'm not going anywhere. Not while I can still stand. We'll check out the houses next.   Rugga loyalists? Have fun burning to death, assholes. This is beyond your control, and you're starting to learn how to live with that. Even Rugga's men give up and cut their losses. Flammable debris is dragged out of the fire's path and eventually it burns itself out, but not before taking whole streets with it. So...this is good example of what happens in Arberrang as the doom timer runs out. We can make decisions that will gain us more time, but typically at the expense of one or more of our heroes. Had we tried to put the fire out we would have succeeded and gotten a bit more time added to our doom counter, but it also would have gotten someone killed. Typically it's Griss, but since he's dead I'm guessing it kills Mogr. Or maybe Egil; who knows.   : What's going on here? The crowd panics. Horseborn trample anyone in their way as they beat a path. Amongst the bodies left in their wake is Derdriu, poisoned by her own blade. You never find out what happened. Well...poo poo. I didn't see that coming. RIP Derdriu, you were...largely inconsequential.  I've been delaying a visit to the wall because that's when we have our check against Ludin. Did he succeed? Did he fail? Did it cost him his life either way?  : Where is...You stop, noticing a pile of dead guards and a panicked mender holding his light against the approaching warped.  Ludin yet lives. And he's done a great job at the wall, even.  Here's the other problem with triage in Arberrang: your injured heroes remain injured since there's no time to rest. Meaning we'll have to swap out chunks of our roster. Alette and Egil can stay because Overwatch is that broken and Stone Wall doesn't need strength. But Ubin and Petrus have seen their last battle.  The children of King Meinolf will defend Arberrang's walls, or die trying. BGM: FEET AND SHIELDS PLANTED  Another close-quarters fight. But this time we have an advantage: Hakon can walk through allies.  This battle would be scarier if it was something like "prevent the enemy from reaching a certain tile." But since it's just "kill everything or be killed" we can stack everyone up on one side and start tempest/overwatch comboing them to death.  And nothing is going to get past the wall that is Bastion.  Yrsa would get one-shot by basically anything here, but her ability to do splash damage and completely melt the armor of one opponent is invaluable.  Ludin puts down the last attacker, a warped horseborn. Poor bastard must not have made it to higher ground while we retreated to the next wall in.  I don't really care about the item, but I *do* care about repelling as many enemies as possible to get more time for Iver to save us. We continue.  Do NOT mess with Hakon, folks.  Despite being relegated to back bench for a while, Hakon is rapidly approaching the kill lead for team Arberrang, this time smashing another warped horseborn to end the fight.  We won't be using this. It's bad.  Despite the victory, the writing is on the wall.  : We bought some time. But this is not sustainable. We're going to have to fall back before long. In case you were wondering: our timer is measured in hours, so while the "Arberrang Spared: 1 Days" counter uses a floor function, we do get credit for all 45 hours we got back. But more importantly, you can see that we're getting back tiny chunks of time. Last time we got back nearly a full week for Iver. Now it's not even 2 days.  : Yes, as before. Why do you ask?: Because I'm starting to see a lot of movement ahead.  We don't have any time to waste with clever tactics. I know we can win a battle, and if charging gets someone killed, so be it. Better that one person than all life remaining. : What are we waiting for?! Push through! Not a particularly threatening group.  Nor is it a particularly memorable fight. My tactics haven't changed. Apostate umbrage, Krumr forge ahead, Eyvind mends armor, Iver (and now Bersi) start spinning around and mangling everything. Repeat.  : Seems to be more and more of 'em.: Must mean we're getting close. Indeed, we are getting close. But 2 days crossing that bridge means we're back to Arberrang. This time for the 3rd return. Eventually we'll hit a point where the timer hits zero and we don't get pushed back to Arberrang. That's when we'll know we failed.   Things are getting truly desperate now. We've fallen back to the final ring of Arberrang, though the one that's most defensible. Nothing has ever breached the black walls, and they're reinforced with magic. Basically imagine this as the Louisiana Superdome during Katrina--we can fit all the remaining hundreds of thousands of dredge, men, varl, and horseborn up top. But it's not sustainable and people are going to start dying if Iver doesn't stop the darkness soon. You wonder how many families sewn upon your banner are just memories now. Then you note how strange the silence sounds. The clans have lost their taste for trouble-making, and even the warped have withdrawn. Maybe you're safe up here. Maybe the menders are right.  Spoiler: there is no safe. But we'll take the reprieve where we can get it. Fatigue draws you into a stupor.  : Feels weird to be doing...nothing. Spirits are low. Maybe this would be a good chance to see how everyone's holding up? Three conversations. We'll save Egil for last.  : I've heard more about you since coming to Arberrang. Seems like these people owe you a great deal.: I didn't do it on my own.: Close enough, though. I wish I had supported you better, at the gates. And I also heard you traveled with a varl named Yngvar. That seemed like quite a coincidence...at first.: Yngvar. You know Iver?: He is well known, especially amongst the dredge. They say he once slew a Sundr called Raze, who carried Bellower's child. Ruin was Raze's sister. It's my believe that Ruin probably came to Arberrang hoping to find Yngvar. In the face of this darkness the other Sundr have scattered to the wind, but Ruin wanted revenge. Even if it meant killing everyone in the way.: Are you saying all the people who died in the siege was because...of Iver?: And I can only imagine it is why Bellower chased you all the way to Boersgard. I suppose there's no point in secrets anymore. After the Great War, the Valka tried to broker a peace with the dredge, and mostly succeeded. : We searched, but never found him.  : They never said anything about it.: And then they just happen to take Iver with them to the white tower? That is concerning. I just wish I knew their intentions. : More than completely.: Then you were right to let him go, and that itself gives me hope.: How did you discover this light spell?: Not easily. Things went...bad, at Manaharr, and I was the only one left in the aftermath. I spent days trying anything I could think of against the darkness. I nearly gave up, but...what Juno and Eyvind must have done! Nobody thought it was possible.: When you become a Valka, are you all forced to take an oath to be as vague and mysterious as possible?: I'm sorry. It would be hard to believe if I told you.: Try me.: I believe they have pulled down and shattered the black sun that resides inside the earth.: OK. I can see your earlier point. So what's your plan now?: To keep this light lit as long as I can. In the early days, the Valka had nearly godlike powers. They spent generations obsessed with immortality. IT has become diluted over time, of course. Did you know that the Valka raised the black rock plateau we're standing on, pulled straight out of the earth? : Me, though? I've learned a few tricks but all I can do now is share the same blind hope that if we just hold out...well. Maybe this will be of more use to you than me.The Valka retreives an item from the folds of her cloak and hands it to you.  : Not long now. Make the most of your time.: I'll let you focus, then.: I only wish I could have done more.We're reaching "Gandalf telling Pippin that there was never any hope, only a fool's hope, and talking about how the afterlife isn't so bad" levels of grim. The Clasp of Kyn, by the way, is a great item but we don't need it in this party. Would've been nice to have it in the Iver caravan, but  Also, worth noting that the dredge attacks were possibly just motivated by revenge lust on the part of Bellower and Ruin. It's fair to wonder if Iver--even as he regretted killing the dredge child and Raze--could have saved more lives had he consigned himself to death rather than gone into hiding. Or if Bersi hadn't chosen to respect his choice and ratted him out.  Scathach halts whatever conversations he and Ubin were having.  : Something like that. : The eye of the storm, as the poets say. You start predicting the weather when you've been around long enough. Or maybe you just talk about it more.The old varl stops scratching notes to talk. : I've been curious for more detail about Dalalond, the horseborn homeland.: Why don't you ask them yourself?Ubin says a few words to Scathach, who nods. Ubin translates the best he can.  : I am a trader. I've traveled more than most and never seen the ends of our lands. Maybe they are endless. Men have said it is empty, but they are wrong. They only think it is empty because they move too slowly. When the sun stops, we celebrate. It is a blessing. It is warmth and freedom. But then the shattering split our land into pieces. Now each piece is small and empty. : Maybe they are still running across the Dalalond. I like to imagine this. Your city is heavy and cold, and made for men to walk slowly in circles but go nowhere. I will be glad to see the sun again.He looks a little wistful, and nods his head to say he's done. : Ever seen anything like this before in your many years? : Well, the fall of Skrymirstead was something to behold, half a city sinking into the Silverstone. And Grofheim was even bigger. But something like this? No. No it was not. Funny how our memories measure worth, isn't it? I remember my companion Gunnulf telling me I look like an eggplant better than I recall a city sinking beneath the waves. That's why I like to write these things down.Scathach says something in his own tongue and Ubin laughs : He says I don't look like an eggplant.: What have you been writing in your book?: Stories, mostly. But not like the menders and skalds, no. The menders write about what's in the past, and the skalds stretch fantasies about what happened. The historical writings are mostly useless if you ask me. Even a perfect record is only as good as the man reading it, and most of us aren't that good.: You mean we remember things the way that suits us best.: You can spin a dozen different morals from the same yarn. Indeed, we're all a bunch of liars at heart. I write stories about people. When someone reveals their own hopes and fears? That's the truth of things, even if it's a lie. Understand? One of the reasons I learned to talk to people, like the horseborn. I'd like to speak with the dredge, too, one day. If they'll have me.: I'll leave you to your work.: No worries. If you want to talk I'm glad for the company.: Out of curiosity, what are you planning to do with your writings if the darkness overtakes us?: Leave it for someone else to find...Ubin's smile suddenly falls from his face as he realizes it'll become warped. : Would you believe I hadn't thought of that? Maybe a horseborn could...no. Not without a mender. Maybe we could spare a mender to... : We'll have to live. There's no way around it now. OK, Egil.   : How are you? Are you holding up? I see you going around, making sure everyone else is alright.  : Don't worry, Gil. I'm doing alright.: I never was worried, you know. Even back in Skogr I always thought we'd be ok. : So many people didn't make...ah. : Just keep being yourself, Gil.: Yeah...alright. I assume you mean just keeping my spirits up? I can do that. If I had...Egil hesitates, sweat hanging on his brow.  : What is it, Gil?: I'm sorry about what happened to your father. I told him, when this all started, that I would...I'd do anything to protect you. But I didn't protect him and that's the worst thing. The worst I could have done.: Gil, it wasn't your job to protect him.: I know. I know that. But I never had a chance to tell you. And well...this seems like the last chance I might get. Gods, I'm such a...that's not what I wanted to say, Alette. What I'm trying to say is...you know how I feel about you. : I care about you, too.: You did? Do?: I mean, I haven't had time to really consider...: Oh. Right. I shouldn't have said anything. Gods, Egil. It's like pulling teeth with you. Does Alette really have to do all the work here? : You're sweet.Egil's face goes bright red.  : Get to know, er...: Talk, Gil. We should spend more time together.: That's what I meant too! : That sounds good.Egil waves, as he stumbles back into the Great Hall. You smile to yourself.  Let's check out the tower.  Trying to be egalitarian is going to get someone killed. The people able to fight should fight. The rest need to stay back. It's why Petrus and Ubin are done fighting.  Had we tried to keep everyone fighting, we'd have gotten some more time, but Hogun would have died of exhaustion. You can only push a man so far.  However, after doing all those events, it opens up this "Basement" option.    Well. That's why we hadn't heard from the warped--they really can cross the black wall, but they can go under it. We'll save the supplies--they're too valuable to use as weapons. : Leave the mead alone! And send some real help if you're going to be useless. Quickly!More warped drag themselves up into the basement. An eternity later, backup comes clomping down the stairs. : What took so long?: It's not just here! They're coming up all over the plateau!: Then we send them back into the dirt quickly! No changes.  We get Tryggvi as a bonus unit in this fight. He's drunk off his rear end, mind you.  His being drunk means he can barely move, though he does gain 1 strength resist. All told, not bad, I guess.  No major issues. Yrsa takes out the last attacker of the wave with time to spare.  We'll face the second wave here. No worries.  If we hadn't killed Eyeless with Bolverk at the end of Banner Saga 2, she'd show up here. Warped and dangerous as hell. But she's dead, so instead we just get a generic warped stonesinger.  Nothing major to report. Ludin has really come into his own nicely, though. He works pretty darn well if you can come up with a way to keep pressure off of him.  Let's take out a 3rd wave and get even more time. We drop Egil for Canary; he's too beat up to continue.  Ah...whoops. Should have moved everyone further back. The warped scourge gets first turn and one-shots Alette.  Alette was already injured, though, and my DPS is coming from Hakon along with DOT effects from Ludin, Yrsa, and Canary. It's fine.  Another crummy item we don't need.  You're suddenly glad you saved the mead, because you could use a drink right now. Someone is telling Zefr that only half the menders have survived. Crap. That's going to hasten our demise.  Rather than try to hold the outer wall, we'll pull back into the great hall. There, we'll cram the remaining few hundreds of thousands into the building and pray Iver comes through. Because if the great hall is breached, we're doomed.  5 days left. Go swiftly, Iver.
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Oct 19, 2018 18:02
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| # ? Jun 9, 2024 00:45 |
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It's oddly gratifying to see Ludin has become an actual leader.
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Oct 19, 2018 18:19
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