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Eleven - When I will fight the wolves to death
Time for more dreams!
Music - Enigme
Faces are overrated anyway. Surviving 20 rounds, psht.
Some of them actually have the form of people now though, that's pretty new. Wonder what Frida thinks about this.
Haþuwīgą no
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.
As the rounds go by and the Disappearance continues speaking, more and more of the villagers start turning into the blue glowing shapes.
They keep their original names though.
Disappearance: You scare me. You terrify me. I don't want to think about you. Leave me alone. Let me go.
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 am a loser.
Don't be so hard on yourself, Mr/Mrs Disappearance.
Disappearance: You lost yourself.
Sygg, the woman who was EXTRA rude to us back in the Prologue, turns into a slightly different shape than the others, as does the old guy next to her. Interesting.
A nice chunk of xp for that. Also good news, I kept Frida healed at a choke point, so she didn't die!
Frida Death Count: 13
So close.
Just one more shitty ass shelter to sleep in first.
More Vagues and Creepies this time.
No choke points to hide Frida in this time though, so...
Frida Death Count: 14
Whew, we finally made it. Look at the size of that fence!
This must be true civilization.
Music - Cold
I'll be dead before you... I appreciate your solicitude.
Olle Kylmä: The impatience of youth... Come have a seat rather and tell us what you're doing around here?
Thank you. As a matter of fact, I have a long way to go. Until the Bay of Sapphire.
Olle Kylmä: 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 to you.
A new goal, and new people to talk to! This is shaping up great for Haþuwīgą already.
Err yes, no doubt. Pleased to meet you. I am Haþuwīgą.
Lars: You should talk to her. She's a fantastic girl. I took her away from her parents and we left together to live our love! Pretty cool, no?
Err... That's amazing.
I dunno man, looks like she has an old lady bun.
Your man... No worries, huh? I am not going to steal him from you! *nervous laugh*
Estär Keä: Hahaha. Because you think there's something you can do about it? Look at yourself, a walking cadaver... We live, we love each other. Do you even know what that means?
Hey, we don't look that bad!
...Sure. Have a good evening.
Sounds familiar.
Well, I am right here in front of you actually.
Reija: I really am going blind... Believe it or not, I used to be a renowned weaver. And nowadays, I am not good for anything. I sit here like an old broken tool, that everyone has abandoned. You'll see when you get to my age. You'll see...
And that's... the end of the conversation. Major bummer.
What even is this name. I bet it's Finnish or something.
Hello. Well...
Miia Tutkimus Matkailija: I knew it! To think that over there I was unknown. Totally unknown, a hunter's daughter, destined to do a bit of crow hunting, imagine! That's also why I left actually. The Family! Such a burden... I suppose your father's authority was getting tiresome? Or was it a bad heartbreak?
As a matter of fact, my father's dead. That is actually...
*politely nod with a regular beat*
Miia Tutkimus Matkailija: You know, I grew up on the banks of the Lethe river. And even so, not in Aquavit, more upstream, in the Great North. I am not even sure there is a village beyond mine, that should tell you how joyful life was over there. Of course, no one has ever heard of the Kingdom of the Three Rivers, up there... And I don't even think they know there are people living outside the river banks. Them Savages, even by comparison to those you meet down here -- if you catch my drift... One time, we met a stranger. One time. A guy who was looking for the Yggdrasil. In any case, when he got there, after walking six months in the cold, he wasn't in good shape. I am not sure he had not given up on finding anything by that point. But he kept on going -- what would he have done in out village anyway? His body was never found.
A sad story. Maybe this man had a family and kids? Their father is gone, simply chasing a pipe dream.
Miia Tutkimus Matkailija: More than one will die before reaching it. With broken wings and blood-shot eyes. For most people, they are just savages -- but our legends are full of these savages, aren't they?
I won't forget it. Thank you for this story.
*immediately forgets*
Politely nodding along nets us 2,000 xp. Making all sorts of new friends and gettin' paid for it!
The people we're looking for are in this other room though.
Shit, I thought I would be free of these names with Jarla.
Hello. I mean... maybe. As a matter of fact, we haven't been introduced.
Jarla Hauskanna Köinen: Oh, forgive me. My name is Jarla and I am a sort of forester-guide. Anyway... it's not like that kind of activity lets me survive in such a remote place. That's why I could give you a hand, if you ever need.
I don't know. I am not rich by any means, as you can imagine. But maybe you could walk with me for a little while? I am going to the Capital?
Jarla Hauskanna Köinen: (sigh) I doubt it. Unless you wish to return where you come from?
What... What do you mean?
Here? But what am I going to do all this time?
Jarla Hauskanna Köinen: I am afraid not. If you really want to leave the area, you can always try the North West road, the one that goes across the mountain, which means a three week detour without crossing path with any living soul... And I am not even talking about finding food. If you feel like it.
I... I have got to think about it.
Jarla Hauskanna Köinen: 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.
Well that's an odd way to put it. Maybe we'll have more luck with the other people.
My pleasure. Haþuwīgą. You are very elegantly dressed compared to the locals.
Päiviö Onnekas: I can only imagine. My wife and I come from the city, but we often take these roads. By the way, how long has it been... twenty years?
Emmi Onnekas: Twenty-two, that's it, my sweet.
Päiviö Onnekas: Thank you darling. Twenty-two years that we do trade in the region. We have known 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.
Stuck here? What do you mean?
Päiviö Onnekas: 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.
There... must be a way to do something?
Päiviö Onnekas: I am afraid this 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 have never been so high in Sapphire Bay, and yet all these beautiful merchandises are rotting in this hell hole.
Emmi Onnekas: The accommodation is satisfying, but...
Päiviö Onnekas: 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 Onnekas: Of course. Forgive me, I am just a little distraught at the thought of spending the winter here.
But where does this road go?
Päiviö Onnekas: It goes to the river by crossing through the mountains, from there you will 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.
I'll think about it... Thank you for your help.
Päiviö Onnekas: Good luck!
Emmi Onnekas: Good luck!
Well, at least they were nice about it.
Time to rest, as the goal suggests. Good thing we haven't been forced to pay first.
Music - Village Combat
The challenge here isn't getting to the exit, it's that this is the first of a three part encounter, with no saving between them.
This one just requires some shoving around to clear a path.
Making it through all of them without the game glitching out is an achievement.
This one is a bit harder, since there are more obstacles and narrow paths through them.
You nasty. All these guys do is get in the way. There are some damage dealers, but they're too few and too far away to put us in real danger.
What actually puts us in danger is me fucking up.
Here I pushed one Nasty into another such that there was no way to get around it.
I am bad at puzzles.
I can do this one though!
This one starts out straightforward.
But as we get to the green tiles...
Enemies and traps start appearing.
At least the game does us the favor of teleporting us back to the start after we examine each road.
More creepy skinny bois
But they are no match for us. (Not shown: them being a match for Frida; Frida Death Count: 15)
In a sweet bit of mercy, the game goes out of battle mode before the next fight begins. Which allows us to save, and also level up!
Maybe this ultimate Support Skill will finally get the Death Count to stop rising! (It won't, not until we take some of the skills to the side that upgrade it.)
Good thing we took that opportunity, because like two steps into the new screen, the next battle begins.
Allti, the Avalanche: 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.
Allti himself doesn't attack us, but all his buddies here will.
Sygg is down here, and she's still a jerk.
Sygg, the Light: 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. Stop looking at me with your empty, expressionless eyes. You're retarded! Stop looking at me with these 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.
Well okay then. Let's see who else is around here.
Ah, good old reliable V.
'The Solitude', nice and edgy.
V, the Solitude: 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.
Caught between shit and a shit-place.
Are you really solitudes if there are a lot of you? :thunk:
Time to bust out the big guns.
This time we shall protect you, our dearest friend!
Ha! Frida survived a whole round of all enemies' attacks! But the Protector shield is gone. Uh, well. Good luck!
Sygg, the Light: 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.
Psht, it is you who doesn't deserve us, punk.
Edginess intensifies.
There are a lot more traps here we aren't close enough to/don't high enough perception to find. They clearly mark a path to follow, but I think you all know the real solution. The enemies have disappeared though!
These are pretty beefy traps though, each taking off about 100 Energy.
Here we can see we were supposed to go to the right.
Made it, with half EP, and with Frida still alive! Haþuwīgą, a true protector.
V, the Solitude: 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.
That's quite the XP-load.
Deep.
Thanks Dad
Thanks new friend!
Gotta say goodbye to everyone.
Gross
Some of Those Who Have No Name weren't so bad, but it's time to move on.
--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 to talk, 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 will feel the blizzard tearing my skin, when I will fight the wolves to death, when I won't be 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.
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Well, this is insane. I'm sure we'll be fine though! And yes, this is actually the end of the chapter. Those Who Have No Name is very short. That's probably a good thing though, because Two is much better in a lot of ways. Including having more people to talk to, with a whole village of them! So stay tuned for that.