The Let's Play Archive

Exile 3: Ruined World

by berryjon

Part 42: Lorelei (2)

Update 36A – Lorelei (2)

Welcome back!



“Hello!”

“Hey Sandra! Anything new?”

“No. Have you talked with the leadership yet?”

“Mayor? Yes. Dervish? No. Working on it. Thanks for the advice back in Sharimik, it helped!”

“You're welcome.”

And here is proof that Sandra moves between the two cities. Her dialogue doesn't change though.




“Well, this would be nice. If we needed the services.”



A woman with dark skin and hair stands to greet you when you approach. She was intensely studying a thick tome when you entered. “I am Yukiko. Sometimes I go by Yukiko the Learned.”

“Bronwyn, no fancy titles.”

“I am the chief instructor for Lorelei Vocational Technologies. I see by your bearing that you are adventurers.”

“We are. You related to the Golddale Vo-Tech?”

“And that man? No.”

“I take it you're an instructor then?”

“Yes. That means I'm the one who gets stuck with doing the bulk of the training.”

“What is Vocational Technologies?”



What is it with trainers in this game and being angry all the time? It's like they're all at their wits end dealing with every idiot that crosses their door.




“Wait. That church sells weapons? This, I have to see!”



You see a man in long, flowing priest's robes. In your experience, behind the till is a rather incongruous position for a priest to be in. “I am Father Carson. Welcome.”

“Hello there. I have to ask...”

“I am a priest of the Church of the Divine Lucre. As part of my worship, I run this shop.”

“Why would a priest run a store?”

He frowns. “I don't feel like discussing my faith right now. Certainly not for free. We believe that the best way to improve the world is to improve ourselves, and will bring everyone up with us. But enough of all that. Time for worship.”

Still managing to not sound like a pyramid scheme! And they're a nice contrast to the Anama, so there's that.

“What do you worship in a store?”

“What better purpose can there be fora prayer than to improve the world? Improve my standing and wealth, improve your blade. For a fee, I will place a blessing on an identified, non-magical weapon you own. Would you like this augmentation?”



I don't remember what this guy does to the weapon, but it's very expensive. Even more than the guy handing out +2's!

“And more... conventional things for sale?”



I'm good.



“This is weird.”



“Really weird.”



“Oh god. I know that voice. I think.”



This man is of average height and build. His appearance is nondescript in every way, except for one. His eyes are intensely bright and alert.

“Afternoon. Care to tell us why your room looks less like it's been lived in, and more like a model?”

“I am Dwaine. I have been waiting for you.”

“Not interested.”

“Hah! No. I am an Exile. From Unspec, like yourselves. I've been waiting for your arrival.”

“I swear, I thought I stamped out people calling it Unspec before I retired....”

“Well, Exile or not, you have my attention. Our attention. Maybe not Sass'”

“You say something?”

“See?”

“I don't miss Exile at all, I'm afraid. Spying up here is intensely dangerous, but I wouldn't go back.”

“Well, we have arrived. What do you want of us?”

“Yes. I have a few things to report. A few odd facts. The leaders of the cities are confused. The Empire has quarantined the whole continent. There's a thieves guild in Lorelei. Nothing exotic. However, I have managed to worm out one piece of information. It's about Empress Prazac.”

“!!!”

“The first two pieces of information are already known. What's this about a thieves guild?”

“It's a Guild of criminals. No doubt they possess much illicit information that would be useful to us. I know their leader is in the city, but I don't know where. I also know that they do a lot of business involving packages from Shayder. If you could contact them, it could be very interesting. Just so you know.”

“And what is this about the Empress Prazac?”

"The Empire is ruled by Empress Prazac. We all know that. What I've found out is that she's here! She's in Blackcrag Fortress, only 200 miles north, come down to personally deal with the monsters. She's tough, but fair. If we can speak with her, we may be able to deal with her. Tell Anaximander about this as soon as you can!" (You take note of this.)

I'll have to keep this event flag in mind. I'm not certain if it's necessary to finish the game or not, but the whole 'You take note of this', and that it's added to the journal, and Anaximander will react to it tells me that it is.

“Why is the Empress here, and not at Imperial Center?”

“I couldn't tell you. Not a lot of news from outside of Valorim, you can understand. Maybe she's here to personally oversee things? A show for the court?”

“But the Empire surely has some major presence on the continent?”

"It's insane! The Empire saw all the problems down here, and just up and went 'We can't deal with this.' They closed the borders, sealed up the Keep of Tinraya, and left."

“We've heard about the Keep. But nothing more than it was attacked. What can you tell us?”

"Can't find much about that. Even asking about it is bad news. It was the biggest city in Valorim, up to the northwest. Then some monster hit it, some monster even worse than everything else, even the golems. The whole place was devastated, and the Empire walled it off so the creatures couldn't escape."

“What about the golems?”

"Gale, to the northeast, has been bombarded by waves of golems. Nasty, nasty creatures. Don't know much about it."

“Thanks. We'll be in touch.”




“Does the Empress being here mean much of anything?”

“Heh. You know what I've done, right?”

“If you believe the Sliths from Blosk, a lot. Anything in particular.”

“Think of it like this. I killed Hawethorn. I killed Garzahd. What do you think will happen when the Empress finds out I'm here?”

“Uh... Prince Karmas struck down the Emperor, and Kai-Lyss is credited with slaying Garzahd in a Mind Duel. Why would they worry about you?”

“Because I was instrumental in both events. They'll think I'm going for a three-peat.”



“Hey there. Couldn't help but notice you didn't have a sign out front.”

“It got knocked off by a stone. Haven't replaced it yet.” This man must be Internal Affairs. He's surrounded by a veritable cloud of forms, schedules and notes, which he valiantly battles with a goose quill pen. “I'm Lyle. No need to introduce yourself. I know your names. The reports out of the south were complete.”

“Have a seat.” You sit. “I'm Internal Affairs for Lorelei. A job of uneven difficulty, let me tell you.”

“We'll try to not be difficult.”

“Thanks. With the giants coming and going, people mainly stay inside and don't do anything. That makes things easier. But I sometimes have to go out and serve papers and inspect things. That makes things harder.” He leans forward and lowers his voice. “It would be better if our leadership was stronger.”

“Yes, so it would seem. Surely Internal Affairs has better things to do?”

“Why yes, actually. The main thing that would concern you is that I'm the mission dispatcher. Also, oddly, I've been given a mansion to sell.”



I could do two of these right now. I don't know where Laverne is at the moment, though I'm certain someone will tell me before I have a chance to crawl through all the previous updates, and the one to Mother Melamed should be easy enough. And we haven't been to Gale yet, so good luck making that run in the dark.

“So, your leadership?”

He says quietly “Our mighty mayor seems inclined to wait until the Empire sends help before taking action. Unfortunately, I feel help is not likely to come.” He shrugs. “But what can I do? I'm just the jobs dispatcher.”

“Very different situation than in Sharimik.”

“How is Mayor Knight anyways? The reports I get from there are... sanitized.”

“You really want to know?”

“Yes.” He glares.

“Short answer then. Knight is trying to turn Sharimik into his own fiefdom, with Levin openly soliciting bribes. Commander Corie is trying to do her best, but can't overcome the other two.”

“Accusations of bribery? That's serious.”

“We're a thousand gold lighter so we could get his permission to act as envoys between Sharimik and the Troglodyte King.”

“... This will require further investigation.”

“Talk to Sandra. She works for the Mayor indirectly. Tell her that I sent you, and that she can work with you in this regard. Corruption is something we can all agree needs to be stamped out.”

“So, on more pleasant thoughts, what's this about the mansion in the corner of town?”

“The owner of Hawke's Manse, a huge, beautiful mansion at the northwest corner of town, was killed by a boulder. He had no heirs. I was told to find a buyer for it. A bargain, only 8000 gold. The only thing necessary is to find a purchaser.”

“What was Hawke like?”

“Not much to say. He participated in the invasion of Exile as a Captain, and retired afterwards due to medical problems. He acquired the house, and then had his accident.”

“Thanks for your time.”

“And yours. Please don't forget to talk to the Commander. She'll be able to help you better than I.”

“Well, that's a thing.”

“Very much.”

“Someone should warn Sandra.”

“I messed up, didn't I?”

“Nothing we can't fix.”



“This smells good!”



This small shop is filled with feathers. They're everywhere – floating in the air, getting caught in your hair, making you sneeze. Through the cloud, you see a young woman stuffing a bird and preparing it for roasting.

“Wow!”

“I'm Ligaya. Sorry about the feathers.”

“You make feathers here?”

“I sell fine food!” she says chirpily, while picking bits of feather off the stuffed bird.

“I like food!”

“I am a specialist in the preparation of all manner of avian life forms. Turkeys, doves, pheasants, finches, chickens, ravens, I can prepare them all. It's even easier with the giants about.”

Haven't had raven before. Anyone want to chime in with their experiences with it?

“How do the giants make things easier?”

She pauses to pull a small bit of down out of her eye. “When throwing rocks at the city, they often aim at birds. I think it relieves the tedium. They get collected and I make them delicious! Sort of a tiny dividend of all the danger. Care to purchase some of my wares?”

“How do you collect them?”

“I have Deborah do most of the collecting for me. She's a beggarwoman, and needs the work. I do worry about her though, what with all the rocks falling.”



“Is this really meat?”

I wouldn't trust it, and it's way to expensive to buy. Ever.

“Wait. Who was that in here just now? They seemed ... tall?”





Civilization Flashbacks! You can't build a University until the city has a Library in it!



This woman clearly needs more sun. She's clearly been locked up in here with her scrolls for some time. She doesn't seem to mind too much.

“Hello?”

“Hello. I am Yessenia. I am the official Librarian of Lorelei.”

“Nice to meet you. Have you been librarian for long?”

“Unfortunately, my salary was recently cut. No money left for me. I have to make money in other ways. Maybe I'll go up to Moon. They have an excellent collection up there.”

“Forgive me, we've come up out of Krizsan. Moon?”

“The town of Moon is north of here, at the north end of Lake Tomor. They have a really great library. They even have spell books! That's what I hear. They might may me what I'm worth.”

“Surely your money woes are not as bad as it seems?”

“I have been duplicating maps of Midori province for a little extra change. You can purchase one for only 50 gold. Also, I do a bit of identification.”

“I'll take that map, thank you!”

The paper is cheap, and the quality of the copying is poor. However, this is still a serviceable map of the city of Loreli's surroundings.



“Thanks! So, are you safe here in Lorelei?”

“Being in Lorelei has been hazardous for some time. Fortunately, I am generally disinclined to go outside anyway.”

“Going outside isn't bad at all!”

She shakes her head sadly. “My skin becomes painfully burned by even short exposure to the sun. I would not have chosen to spend every moment my life indoors looking after books. But then, one does what one must.”

Are we sure she's not another Exile spy? We've met... three so far.




“Hrm. Another random store. Let's see what they have in stock.”



You meet a dusty man. Everything in this shop is dusty. The items, the counter, the proprietor. It's sort of like a junk shop, but some of the things actually look valuable.

“Hail and well met!”

He brushes some dust off his arm, and moves up to shake your hand. “I'm Randall.”

“Matthias.”

“I'm an item salesman. I'm so glad you arrived – business has been terrible.”

“I get that. Everyone is having a terrible day.”

“Well, what do you expect? Every day, someone gets killed, or wounded by a flying rock. No thanks to our leaders.”

“We've met the Mayor. She not the leader you want?”

“Nobody in charge does anything! We just put up walls to get knocked down and absorb more punishment. Lousy for business. Just lousy.”

“Well, I think we can help with that. What do you have?”



This is almost as good as Storm Port's selection! The Helm of Speed, Mithral Chain and Crystal Shield are mine!

Note to self – tidy up armor and equipment before the next update.



“Nice plants. Shame they have to be indoors like this.”



“You're expected in the office. You walked past the door.”

“Thanks.”




I love the random stuff on shelves sometimes.



You meet the commander of the guard of Lorelei. She sits at her desk writing notes and order, but wears full plate armor while doing it. Not surprising, considering she's an Empire Dervish, the most dedicated and single-minded of the Empire's troops.

“Hello.”

“As I said before, I am Dervish Bruskrud. Have a seat, Exiles.” Meeting an Empire Dervish and not being attacked immediately is somewhat disconcerting.

“I'm Art. But you already know that. So, get down to business.”

She turns toward you, adjusting her breastplate slightly. “I am the commander of the forces of Lorelei. I lead us in our battles against the Giants. You're probably wondering why I am welcoming a band of Exiles.”

“I see tact is still not on the training schedule. How does a Dervish wind up as a garrison commander?”

“I command my troops, all loyal and strong men and women, in the crushing war with the giants.” She clenches a gauntleted fist. “It would be less of a struggle if our leadership were not so feeble.”

“I've noticed the giant problem.”

“You have but to look on the streets, to walk our empty streets among shattered buildings, to see the effect the giants have had on us. But that is not the worst of it. The worst thing is the feebleness of our leaders.”

“I've met the mayor. She's broken, not feeble.”

She looks distressed, as if it's a struggle to say what she's saying. “Our mayor refuses to act! She lets our people die while waiting for the Empire to aid us. My Empire, that I swore to give my life for, has shut us off. We must fend for ourselves.”

“But you're not alone. Even if we weren't here, you could rally the other cities, the other provinces. Take out one problem at a time.”

“I wish it were that simple. But it is not. That is why I have welcomed you here. I you will accept it. I have a mission for you.”

“And yet, we are Exiles.”

“I did not serve in the Exile War, but I lost friends in it.” She shakes her head wearily. “That is ancient history. Now, only Exiles have had any luck fending off the plagues of monsters that afflict us. Some may think you're responsible for them, but I do not see it. That is why I have allowed you into my city.”

“Tell me the mission.”

“I have heard that you have taken on the task of getting the Troglodytes access to the Giants lands. While I cannot authorize such a mission on my end, I can do this.”

“The giant's caverns are southeast of here. They've captured several of our soldiers. Also, they've taken many of the personal possessions of those slain. Items that by right belong to the families. Free the soldiers. Return the dead's possessions, and I will pay you, even if it is out of my own pocket.”

“Done.”

“The rest of you, wait outside.”

“Like hell.”

“Well?”

“Go ahead. Help yourselves to their kitchen. I need anything, you'll know after I knock her through a wall.”

“I want to see that!”

“Take care.”

“...”

“...”

“When the report came up from Krizsan province, I didn't believe it.”

“I'm an unbelievable woman.”

“You look ... old.”

“I'm pushing fifty, you know. I am old.”

“It doesn't seem like it. I suppose though, having you here makes things easier. I can at least pretend that it's another Dervish doing this mission.”

“I haven't been one since I got Exiled.”

“I assure you, despite our solidarity with the Throne, many of us thought what happened was suspect at best. Quite a few thought that the mage had finally gone mad. Others still did not think at all.”

“Not enough to help.”

“You could help yourself. And your actions proved it.”

“I was wondering where you were that day in the Spire.”

“Our loyalty is to the throne. Not to the person sitting on it. And if the person makes a mistake, is it not our responsibility to correct it? You asked why I am running the Garrison here? I've been 'retired'. Not officially, mind you. You saw it, before you were Exiled. The newer Dervishes were all muscle, no brains.”

“I did. But don't forget, I was promoted. Ceremonial.”

“You still acted like one of us. We know what happened in that place, and what you did earned you a place among us. And I will treat you as you are.”

“An Exile?”

“A Dervish. I think in a way you're still loyal.”

“Did you happen to miss the part where I killed Hawthorn and Garzahd? Destroyed great works of the Empire? Slain armies?”

For the first time, a small smile came to her face. “We're Dervishes. I would be disappointed if you didn't do such things. We have a reputation to maintain.”

“Prazac is at Blackcrag. What can I expect? We don't know much about her.”

“The Empress has been trying to rebuild the Empire, and consolidate power in the years since her ascension. Garzahd's war was costly as our best Legions were sent in first, and there they died, or surrendered in shame after. Many sought to punish the throne for the failures, and if the Empress is, as you say, at Blackcrag, then it can only mean she is showing power and leadership.”

“I feared as much.”

“We have taken up too much time. I wish we could have met under better circumstances. What you did to earn your rank is still required reading, even for the new trainees.”

“Why? So they can see what a traitor did?”

“No. So they know that you fought.”

* * *


“So, what's next?”

“Where's the horses?”

First thing actually is for me to figure out where this Captain is that I'm supposed to ask about the Dragons here in town. Second thing is up for a vote!

WHERE DO WE GO NEXT?