Toggle Background Color
Hello everyone and welcome back! Today we're gonna be finishing up the vast majority of the market square. We'll have to return later, but at least we're almost done now.
Over here beside the cathedral we ended the last update next to, we can find a mobility option that leads us across a gap.
A few friendly crusaders are hanging out over here. This is entirely an optional path, but there's some very nice stuff to find over here!
I mentioned it like last month, but this is going to be an ongoing issue until the end of my recorded footage. Seelah is wielding the glaive from Hosilla (I think?) and it causes a fear effect on hit. So a lot of enemies run off to Narnia. And for some reason, they're always invisible when it happens. 
Moving on...
Brimoraks are kind of a pain because they love to alpha strike with powerful fire magic.
He goes down quickly, but those fireballs fucking hurt!
The burning house has some very nice items to find. The holy symbol in particular is an incredibly powerful artifact once we restore it. But we can't do that until Act 2. So into the bag it goes for now.
A random demon or cultist (I can't remember) outside drops this! It's nothing earth-shattering, but it is pretty nice regardless.
Over on the far edge, we can find some random Mongrels hanging out.
Mongrel 1: The young mongrel looks around in every direction but up. "Maybe we should... go back? This place isn't for us. It's too open. The enemy could come from anywhere. And the air is weird... Why does it keep moving so fast?"
Mongrel 2: Another mongrel stares straight ahead, gripping his blade in a trembling fist. "No. Not one step back. This is our test. Don't look at anything but the target."
Wenduag sneers at the mongrels. "Pathetic. You're not ready to face real battle. We'll see what's left of you afterward."
"What are you doing here?"
Mongrel 2: The young man turns to you. He has one healthy eye and a lumpy growth where the second should be. "It's you! It's thanks to you that we made it to the surface to fight the demons. The Shield Maze fell, but Sull slowed everything down. He's an old man, he's afraid of everything, but we can't sit in the dark like root vegetables while big things are happening up above."
Mongrel 2: "We tried to follow you through the Shield Maze, we emerged into some kind of fortress but... there were too many demons there! Then we dug out another passage into the city. It took days, but we did it! We're ready to fight!"
"Right now we need everyone who can hold a weapon. I have a plan: go back below ground and wait at the Shield Maze exit. We'll get the beasts at both ends."
Mongrel 1: "Go back? Uh... well if you're sure, of course we'll go! I mean... an ambush, good idea!"
Mongrel 2: "Yes, I understand. We'll attack from below as soon as we hear the fighting start."
"We should have let Savamelekh finish what he started. Then they would be a force to be reckoned with. Right now they're just a gang of cocky kids."
Mongrel 2: "We are the crusaders of the underground! We will fight like our forebears did!"
The Mongrels wander off.
"Cocky kids they may be, but they have fire and determination. That's more than we can say for a lot of the people at the Defender's Heart."
"I don't know, mistress..."
You watch the last of the Mongrels disappear back into the hole from which they emerged. "Trust me. The demons don't realize that the back exit into the Gray Garrison is compromised. So when the attack starts, imagine their surprise when they get hit from behind by a group of eager 'Neathers. So no matter who the demons turn to fight..."
Realization dawns in Wenduag's eyes as she finally grasps just what your plan means. "...the other group will punish them for their carelessness."
You smirk and nod. "Exactly."
Way, way over in front of a chapel we visited several updates ago, we can find Ramien hanging out, invisible.
"Did you really know about the demon attack before it happened?"
Ramien: "I did. We have a secret ally in the enemy's ranks. No one knows who this brave soul is, but she has been feeding us information about the demons' plans. These dispatches have come to us by the most reliable channel bestowed upon us by the Great Dreamer herself — they have come to us in dreams."
Ramien: "Prelate Hulrun brushed them off as meaningless reveries... And, well, I admit that it isn't always easy to distinguish our ally's messages from ordinary dreams. But even ordinary dreams are gifts from Desna and are always worthy of attention. The prelate — and all the crusade leaders, for that matter — should have put less store in reason, and more in intuition, inspiration, and spontaneity!"
"The longer this coward blathers on, the more I want to give in to inspiration and spontaneously knock his teeth out."
Ramien: "What's more, not long before the attack on the city, a blind elf who calls himself the Storyteller arrived in Kenabres. This wanderer wasn't merely a collector of legends, but a scholar of the unknown. According to him, the Wardstone in our city — the first and most important in the chain of Wardstones — weakened since long ago, was teetering on the brink of corruption.
Ramien: "It seems that the Red Morning Massacre and other demon attacks, even the ones we fended off, did not leave us unscathed. Unfortunately, the prelate did not wish to listen to the Storyteller either — we're lucky he wasn't burnt at the stake as a heretic. We had such vital information on our hands, information that could have saved the city — but no one cared to listen all the way to the catastrophic end!"
---
"Not all dreams have benign origins. What if those dreams were sent by demons?"
Ramien: "In a different time and place, someone perhaps could have become the victim of false dreams sent by monsters. But here, in the war with the Abyss, the goddess is keeping a close eye on her most faithful followers. I have no doubt that if a demon tried to intrude upon the dreams of any one of us, Desna's punishment would have been swift."
...this is true. Legitimately.
---
"Tell me about the strange rituals that were going to be performed on the Wardstone."
Ramien: Ramien looks slightly abashed. "When my attempts to open Hulrun's eyes ended in failure, a few of my young adepts resolved to take matters into their own hands. They did not consult me before doing so, but I have never demanded iron discipline from my priests. Army commanders may have 'subordinates,' but I have pupils and fellow worshipers. I can only inspire them, I cannot command them. And it seems they were inspired all on their own..."
Ramien: "They had no ill intent — they only wished to access the Wardstone in secret and try to cleanse it. But to Hulrun this became 'perform a suspect ritual after hearing even more suspect voices in their dreams.' The children wanted to save their city, but the inquisitors detained them and almost killed them. I had to intervene. I used my authority and my power as a cleric to give them a chance to flee. If they hadn't got away, they were destined for a cell in the prelate's dungeons and, quite likely, death."
"Let me get this straight. Your followers left the temple in secret, stole over to the Wardstone in the dead of night, and then tried tampering with it after you had already warned the suspicious Inquisitor that something bad was going to happen to it?"
Ramien: "That's right."
"Maybe you should spend a little time drilling common sense into their heads at the next temple meeting."
"I'm pretty sure I could have pulled the ol' "wallet inspector!" bit on them and they wouldn't have thought twice about it."
Ramien: "That wouldn't have worked. They know the wallet inspector by name already."
Woljif catches your eye and the both of you exchange looks of mild amusement.
---
"Why are you and Hulrun feuding?"
Ramien: "Oh, I'm not feuding with him. I sincerely wish only the best for the man. In an ideal world, he'd be far away from the front lines enjoying a peaceful retirement. But even if that isn't possible, I have always tried to help him fulfill the mission he has taken upon himself, and to which he has proved fatally ill-suited — protecting Kenabres against the demons."
Ramien: "Unfortunately, he is convinced that the followers of Desna are heretics and saboteurs. He refused to listen to me, and it was only the knightly orders that deterred him from including us in his witch hunt. Now there is clearly no one left to stand in his way — he is finally free to get rid of us once and for all."
"Is there a chance you can resolve your conflict?"
Ramien: "I don't know. Hulrun's faith is truly formidable — not only his faith in Iomedae, but in his own infallibility. In other words, he's as hard-headed as a rock troll. But even so... Desna teaches us never to lose hope."
---
"Why haven't you left this place for somewhere safer?"
Ramien: "Because people might need help, and they will come to the temple in search of a priest. I will not hide away in a hole, saving my own neck, while Kenabres is full of people suffering in the wake of the demons' attack."
---
"I have to go."
Ramien: "Wait! Three of my adepts are hiding somewhere in the ruins of the city. The ones the inquisitors wrongly accused of treason. I beg you, find them and protect them against the demons, and vigilantes like Hulrun! They will not rest until they find them."
Ramien: "If there is anything else you can do to save Kenabres — please, do it!"
We leave that conversation and are immediately thrust into another. This is Ilkes. I am not going to escape this update without calling him "Milkes" at least once. It won't even have been intentional.
Ilkes: A pale youth materializes before you. His face looks haggard from lack of sleep, but he is clearly pleased to be speaking to someone.
---
"So you're one of the Desnan adepts that tried to break into the Wardstone?"
Ilkes: "Yes. I am Ilkes, cleric of Desna, and one of the people who answered the call of the Voice-in-Dreams. Some unknown person made contact with us through our dreams, telling us about the demons' plans. We learned that the demons were planning to attack Kenabres and do something terrible to our Wardstone, which already carries the taint of corruption. Prelate Hulrun refused to heed our warnings. We had to make a choice: we could either throw up our hands and pull back, or take action, even though it could cost us our lives. But what heartless person could stand by in the face of such a deadly threat?"
---
"What were you even planning on doing to the Wardstone?"
Ilkes: The young man hesitates. "Our plan was to get to it and then follow our instincts. There were three of us: a cleric, a mage, and a bard. Between us, we know a lot. We're capable of a great deal. If we'd had enough time, I'm sure we could have figured out what's wrong with the Wardstone and how to heal it. But they didn't give us time!"
"Yes, the local commanders got roped into dealing with this. Some idiot kids trying to break into the Wardstone, apparently some of ours, but who even knows these days..." Seelah sighs. "I know there's no evil in you. I can sense things like that. But what you did was so stupid and impulsive — someone could have got hurt. I know from experience..."
"The only reason we're even having this conversation now is because Ramien used all the authority he possessed to free you. If he hadn't, or if he had been slower, you and your dumbass friends would have been burnt at the stake as heretics. And that's if you were lucky!"
Ilkes: The fear in Ilkes' eyes is apparent, and he rapidly looks between you and Seelah, who just solemnly nods to confirm your assertions. The young cleric trembles fearfully and swallows a hard lump in his throat.
---
"How did you even come up with such a plan?"
Ilkes: "How could we not come up with that plan?" You sense the young man's temper rising. "Listen. Desna is the goddess of luck. But luck as many laypeople would understand it, and luck as we — the followers of the Music of the Spheres — see it, are far from the same thing. Other people believe that luck is something good that falls into your lap just because, like a generous but unearned reward. We see luck as a fundamental law of creation, according to which even in the darkest hour of the most hopeless situation, a chance of rescue and change for the better can arise."
Ilkes: "But you've got to seize this chance when it presents itself, or better yet — create your own. Followers of Desna are not people who like idleness and inaction. That's why when Kenabres was in trouble, we did as our goddess had taught us — we took the matter into our own hands and tried in a moment of desperation to pluck our chance from the hands of fate itself."
"You were trying to help. Can they punish you if you were trying to help? Is that allowed?"
---
"I am sick of all this crusader infighting."
Ilkes: "It's not just infighting! It's a matter of life and death, it's about the path we're all on..." The adept stops short."
---
"Whose voice have you been hearing in your dreams?"
Ilkes: "Nobody knows what it is, but everyone who has heard it — heard her, I should say — is convinced that she is a good and pure soul chosen by Desna. We had a choice: we could trust her, accept that we have an ally somewhere who isn't afraid of all the armies of the Abyss, or we could drown in suspicions, and get one step closer to becoming just like Hulrun. We decided to trust the voice. And seeing Kenabres devastated, which is what our unknown ally tried to prevent until the very end, I can see now who had the truth on their side."
---
"Where are your fellow worshippers and how many of them are there?"
Ilkes: "Fortunately or unfortunately, I don't know where they are. We split up to confuse the inquisitors who were chasing us."
We've already seen one of them a couple updates ago.
---
"Do you need help?"
Ilkes: Desna teaches us to trust in last-ditch chances..."
Ilkes: "Listen — my friends are called Aranka and Thall, Thall the Wallflower. Aranka is an amazing singer and... a truly beautiful girl. She has plenty of friends and fans, she's probably blended into a crowd somewhere."
Ilkes: "Wallflower is a mage, but I don't think he'll risk using magic — it will only bring the inquisitors down on him. He'll be harder to find. You'd better find Aranka first — she might know where Wallflower is. Please, find them and protect them against the demons and the inquisitors! I will await news in the goddess's temple — I hope our mysterious helper will send us a new message that will reveal what is to come from the demons..."
Because we have to leave and come back, this is gonna be one of the last quests we finish in act 1.
We can handle this one now, though. So let's do that to end the update.
These are the exact same dialogue choices we had before. But we can relitigate them for some reason. This game is weird and buggy at times.
"I talked to Ramien. He is not your enemy. He only wants what's good for Kenabres."
The inquisitor gives you a black look. "I would consider those words an admission of treason from anyone else. But I don't wish to draw my weapon against she who has been given Heaven's gift. And I won't, as long as you don't do anything worse than conniving with that rabble-rouser Ramien."
"I won't ask you again to kill the rabble-rouser. But as soon as we liberate the city from the demons, my faithful will hunt him down!"
---
"Prelate, your troops are needed elsewhere. Irabeth Tirabade, warden of the city, is gathering troops in the Defender's Heart tavern to strike against the demons."
"Who now? Tirabade? That upstart — warden of the city? And I suppose I've already been written off for dead? This isn't sedition, this is outright insurrection! I am loath to abandon my watch, but I can't turn a blind eye to such a blatant usurpation of power. We have no hope of defeating the enemy if there is disorder within our own ranks. I'm going over there right now. I need to see what this Irabeth is up to!"
That's not what he said at all, but that's good regardless. Let's go share the good news?
"I managed to calm Hulrun down a little, but he's still hellbent on driving you out of the city once the demon attack has been repelled."
Ramien: Ramien's head lowers. "I suppose I should be pleased, but the idiocy, the injustice of it all, it makes my blood boil! I will leave Kenabres, but not before we fight off the demons. No matter what happens, I thank you."
"Irabeth Tirabade of the Eagle Watch is gathering survivors in the Defender's Heart tavern. You would be very useful there."
Ramien: "I fear my presence there would be ill-advised. Even though you managed to reason with our mutual friend, the sight of me might reignite his inquisitor's zeal. I'll make myself useful elsewhere — alas, this city has a great many souls in need of a cleric's aid."
This is an either/or scenario. If you recruit the templars, then the Desnans don't help you. This doesn't really affect a lot besides the tavern defense and minor parts of the assault on the Gray Garrison. I think it's better from a story perspective to focus Hulrun's insanity elsewhere.
The narrator is getting a bit catty there in their description up top.
And that's more than enough for now. Next time? We go to the library!
Encyclopedia Golarionnica
Crusader Berenguer's Letter Home
Desna