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Six - Tadaaa!
Alright, Frida it is!
Now we can get this show on the road. After lots of talking, of course. What kind of game did you think you were getting into?
Hello, Inkeri. I haven't slept. Thank you for your reading and your presence tonight.
Don't exhaust yourself, my sweet... (She has a sad smile.) Have you paid a visit to your father's friends? It is hard but could do you some good.
I have spoken to some of them.
I think Veikko and Anna-Liisa would be happy to see you. Grandpa Einari as well. What's more, it seems your father knew Olov pretty well... Among foreigners, in a way, they may have discussed things which are.... unusual.
Foreigners?
(She smiles.) Your father hasn't always lived here. But he may never have mentioned it to you.
My father didn't talk much.
Anyway, thank you for your advice, Inkeri. I may come back to visit you later on.
You are always welcome, my dear.
The game then gives us a brief flash of a new goal, to go talk to the people she mentioned, but since we already did that, it is soon replaced by this one.
At least going to see Inkeri first doesn't cut off any content, but still, it's the principle of the thing. Side quests first, then main quest!!
I spoke to Veikko... I am not sure what to think.
Really? How come?
Veikko and Anna-Liisa are worried about me. But regardless, I feel like I am bothering them. And, even paying them a visit is unpleasant.
Unpleasant? How so?
Like everything else. I often walk through the village, overwhelmed by unpleasant memories. In front of their house, it's worse.
(She looks lost in thoughts.) Really? Maybe you should rest a little.
I can't seem to rest. When I try to sleep, I feel like the shadows are about to... swallow me whole.
Yes. I told him you told me I should get a breath of fresh air. He seemed reassured.
Indeed. I think you really need to speak to people. Grieving, my sweet, begins in such ways. Did you speak to the others?
I also spoke to the Einaris... I learned a few things.
Really, my sweet? Which ones?
He lived in Sapphire Bay. He is supposed to have left his last wishes there.
These are speculations, aren't they? Did Tilia tell you that?
Yes. She also told me had bequeathed something to me... My freedom.
(The old Volva looks at you sadly.) I am not certain one can bequeath such a thing... Tilia talks a lot, and doesn't always know what she is talking about. You shouldn't pay too much attention to her saying. To presume a dead man's wishes or opinion is a rather hazardous thing to do, even for a friend. Did you speak to the others?
I also spoke to Olov. He is an interesting man.
From what he's told me, my father was reading a lot. And he traveled a lot too.
I am not surprised. Your father was a man who was curious about things.
According to him, he was sad, but never regretted he came here.
(She smiles) Who could say? I wouldn't know myself. But, true, your father was not a man who has regrets.
Yes, I think I spoke to everyone... At least, everyone I encountered.
Really? It is still early, you can keep walking around a bit, you know. I don't think it has done you any good so far.
I don't feel well... First at Veikko's, I felt dizzy. Earlier, walking in the East of the village, I almost threw up... I thought I was getting attacked. I have had strange visions since last night...
(She seems worried) Well... I would say you are simply tired, my sweet. You won't recover easily from all that is happening to you. Go get some rest, we'll talk again tomorrow, shall we?
Ha, another goal we sidestepped! Bonus, this time the game actually recognizes it in the middle of the conversation.
I... I have tried to go back home but... I can't. Every time I try... I see my father... The shadows... I can't walk up the hill.
I... I see. (She has a sad smile) It's going to be fine, my sweet. Sleep here tonight, we'll see if you feel better tomorrow.
Thank you, Inkeri. I don't know what is happening to me.
You're not well, and that's understandable... Listen, sweetheart, I may have a solution. It's not really a solution, actually it's more a tool. But you have to be courageous.
What are you referring to?
The Seid. It is the world of the spirits. You must ingest a small drug quantity to enter it.
I must take drugs and get high? (nervous laugh) I am not sure it will be relaxing for me! How is that going to help?
It depends on the high! I'm not sure one that takes you to the spirit world is the right kind though.
Well... I have got nothing to lose... What do I have to do?
Fuck it, dad dead, let's trip. 
Nothing in particular. Would you like a quarter of a dose or a half? I can't give you a full dose, only Volur can resist its effects.
Yeah, if we were playing a Volva (like in the previous LP) we could take the full dose and get more XP out of the experience. Alas, our Weaver can only get half-high. Still, no way a fun-loving lady like Haþuwīgą is settling for a mere quarter dose. 
What difference does it make?
A quarter dose would be less violent, but you may wake up sooner... Without having enough time to see what you want to see. A half dose is heavier but would most likely allow you to get to the bottom of it.
I'd rather have a half dose.
Very well. Stay here. I am going to get what you need. (The old woman disappears in the basement for a moment. You hear noises of someone concocting a beverage. After a few minutes, she returns with a cup of tea, with an unusual scent and a slight taste of alcohol.) There. I leave you the cup here. When you feel like sleeping, just drink it. As for me, I am going to bed. Good night, Haþuwīgą.
It's even got alcohol in it too, nice. 
Good night, Inkeri.
With that, she... walks outside to go to bed? Alright.
A "state of great tireness" means when that blue bar next to our portrait gets low. It's almost always scripted when it gets too low, but it's nice to have a visual representation of our current level of exhaustion.
Clicking on the symbol, everything fades to black.
And we come to standing in this weird fungus cave.
Music - Caverne Ambiance
When we walk a few steps in, the shadows start speaking.
Cave Shadow: What we can perceive of reality is only but the shadow, which is cast by a sun that is not ours, but is awaiting. The shadow of sun, which is so personal to us, so childish, so intimate, that we sometimes refuse to admit we share it with so many thiefs and drug merchants. Do we share it? It carries within itself so many shadows, so many nights that we have made ours... And our shadows... Our shadows remain so different... Daddy, do our shadows resemble each other? Are we made of the same sun, of the same poetry? Are we made of the same drug, the kind you used to dope on in the holds of the ships, when your eyes would get lost at sea, simulating new latitudes... In the shadow of your eyes, your bursted eyes, poured towards the black sky, there was a taste of lassitude I had never know... A taste I can't understand. I, who have slept so long in the shade of your ships, in the shade of your sorrow, I have learn to love it, like one loves a mother. I, who grew in yearning and wilted in orgasm, could I ever understand? Or am I, like my mother, destined to die forgotten, guilty, for having fled what I could not fight?
My interpretation is that this passage is multiple different "spirits" talking, but it's not clear, because they're all filed under "Cave Shadow" with no change in the environment and only the "Continue" dialogue option. When this one ends, we can move again, but another shadow, or maybe the same one, starts talking again after a few more steps.
Also, part of the reason I said the enemies in this game are only "probably" not real is because of little details above: if Haþuwīgą only just learned her father was a sailor, how would she know if he got high in the holds or not? Is she making it up, filling in the blanks with her imagination, or is something else going on?
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. It leads to defeat. It leads to what we had prudently kept hidden in our guts. It leads to our defeat; it leads to our hatred. It leads to what can, one step at a time, break our neck, and rot our heart. It leads to us wilting, again and again, until our last dust. Are you afraid, young woman? You, who have slept for so long in the shade of the ships. You, who have grown so much, as the roses grow... And you, who wilted before you could ever blossom. Are you afraid? Are you cold? Do you really want to know the taste of your roots? Do you really want to learn what the dead have learnt? The truth is the dead have not learnt much...
I think I mentioned this last time, but "Insolent Moss" is still a wonderful username.
Now we can move onto the next screen.
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. You know nothing. You want nothing. You search for orphan answers.
You Cave Shadows may think you've got us on the run, but we have a shadow of our own.
One of the many fun things about Imaginary Friend conversations is that the game has us select options for both sides.
So many options we have to scroll to see them all! The last option, which we choose, is: "Haha. Very funny, as usual. Like I have got someone else I can count on"
The one we choose this time is:
You're SO comforting, you know. Don't you have something you're supposed to tell me to give me faith again?
Each of the four final options in a given tree gives us a different bonus proportional to our level. There are always four, but the specific bonuses and associated text change at least once every chapter. This one increases Willpower, and thus our HP.
Frida is not as tough as we are, but she has some tricks up her sleeve.
Mainly, soaking attacks for us. Most enemies can only attack once or twice, so even with her low health, having her can buy us some critical time.
She can also cast Support, though that only heals us for a measly 5 EP at this range and level. Not to worry, there are of course several skills that upgrade Imaginary Friend.
Anyway, as far as this battle goes, it seems like it would be really easy, except as you can see in the combat log, the enemies have attacks that decrease our Movement Points. So it takes a couple more turns than it otherwise would.
Enough turns for Frida to die in a burst of light. Nooooo!
We can only summon her once per battle too.
No matter, as this one is soon wrapped up. She'll be back.
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. 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?
Music - Shadows
Of course step 1 is to summon Frida again.
The Prologue is definitely a bit messy, even moreso than the rest of the game. Mistakes like the text selections not matching up do still occasionally happen though... Ah, you beautiful flawed diamond. :smokes long cigarette outside French cafe:
And I have wonderful friends who are ALWAYS there to comfort me... And I wonder what kind of life THEY have since they're always ready to bring me down.
This is probably the best bonus Frida can offer. Either that or the first one, which increases Movement by 1. Depends on what the goal for the battle is. To summarize, we can get:
1) +1 Movement every turn for the battle
2) +6 Psyche every turn (to use more skills)
3) +Levelx5 Willpower
4) +Levelx5 Humor
There's also an interesting strategic choice to make due to the fact that Frida can only be summoned once per battle. Because of that, we have to balance when to do it. If we do it early, we get the bonus early, but we also expose her to more risk. Then if she dies, we won't have her to block a critical choke point or heal us later on. It doesn't matter much for these early battles, but it will soon, because things are about to get much harder.
Thanks to another of Frida's noble sacrifices, we made it!
This gives us another level, and I go with this skill.
An extra 25% damage reduction across the board is never a bad thing, though it's a bit expensive and short. Unaffected is part of the Resistance branch of the snowflake, which is basically just sucking it up.
We won't go too far down it though, since A) it doesn't fit Haþuwīgą overmuch, and B) there are more interesting skills elsewhere.
A little farther down the tunnel or whatever this is...
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. Look at him, now. Now that he's dead.
Weak. 
Gonna be nicer to Frida this time. She is likely our only friend here, after all.
(the last option, increases Humor) Eheh. That could be sort of funny though. How would you grab the cup, for instance?
Now we start trying to return the favor, using the Good Intentions skill. Let it never be said Haþuwīgą does nothing for her friends!
Frida dies anyway though. 
We probably could have tanked all this trauma damage on our face either way, so it's not like we really needed her.
If you've played, or tried to play, this game before, I'm sure you know what's coming. 
You're dead, why do we have to do an escort mission for you!!
He has more energy than us, at least. But he doesn't have our soak, so every cast of Doubt while the shadows are right next to him does 25 damage.
Good Intentions heals him, thank god.
Let's get these fuckers to back off of our dead dad.
Actually, better idea. There's nothing in the Repulsion skill that specifies the target needs to be an enemy. In fact, using it on the Father is critical for this fight. We need to get him in a corner asap. There, only one or two enemies at a time can do full damage to him. And Haþuwīgą and her friends can cut him off from them completely.
Can't quite get it before running out of Psyche, but now the shadows will at least focus on us and our ridiculous soak instead.
As if anticipating that, they can introduce Flaws, which can stack to ridiculous heights. I'm not 100% clear on how they work, but I do now that the more we have, the more damage we take. That's enough for me to try to avoid them.
A few turns in, the initial shadows disappear, replaced by others farther away, and a woman made of light appears.
Does anyone really deserve to be a father? One does what one can. One does what one ought to. Is there a good 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?
Man, Haþuwīgą's dream dad is really self-aggrandizing.
In the corner with you!
Don't come out until you've thought about what you've done! (Spoiler: No, he didn't abuse her, at least not physically.)
Now we can block one adjacent square with Frida, and the other with our body. We got this!
Well, I just need to think about something else. Something less sad.
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?
Heal party!
Even then, Frida doesn't last long though.
More turns in, another light lady appears in the bottom left.
What would you have done in my place? All the choices I made: were they so easy they were unexcusable? 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?
Whatever dad.
You are alone against your kingdom. You are alone in front of this strange cave, that was carved into the 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. Traveling is not an escape. The only escape there is, is that which makes us run away from ourselves.
Are we gonna make it?
We get down to double digit HP, with dad in the low hundreds, but we make it to turn 25! (After only retrying three or four times!) Thanks Frida. Your many sacrifices will not be forgotten 