Part 21: 15.B: Loyalty - Part 1

: In what wasn’t really a close vote at all, we’re going to the Glade of Lu to challenge Tamitha and the Essence. I can’t speak for the thread and what we collectively have in mind, but I have a hunch as to why we’re targeting her.


Gfy

: So we’re to have another brush with Tamitha. Perhaps she’ll spare me yet another moment of her time. She’s here because of me, and I am here for her.

: Pamitha then tells you more of your next adversary, her own blood-sister.



: After retreating to the mountains centuries ago, the Harps refused to join the Commonwealth, and those old tensions boiled over into raids, or skirmishes, or all-out war. Flight tacticians such as Tamitha gave the Highwing Remnants a swift and powerful military presence to this day, despite the Harps’ small numbers.

: If that’s true, Tamitha is some kind of military genius, and she should be our most significant enemy of the lot. Her most intense competition is a witch that’s leading a cult; a disgraced constable; and a demon that’s really good at Sportsball. And, let’s not forget, Tamitha would very much like to get out of the Downside so she can burn the Commonwealth and murder everyone in it.

: She once hatched ambitious plans to overthrow the Commonwealth, breaching its defenses so her sisters could rain down untold destruction. On the darkest night of the year, she led a daring infiltration mission deep into her enemies’ lands. It almost worked.

: However, she was betrayed by someone very close to her, someone branded a Commonwealth sympathizer… Pamitha.

: Tamitha was caught, clipped, and subsequently exiled as a prisoner of war. But being trapped within the Downside only stoked her fury.

: …I wound up in here not too long afterwards. Anyway, it’s complicated, what happened between us. What I did, I did for her own good, and that of all our Sisters.

: Though, I’m beginning to doubt that Tamitha will ever see it that way. We’ll see I suppose, but for now I’d best try and catch what sleep I’m able. Pleasant dreams, then, darling.

: You bid a good night to Pamitha in turn. No time now to make flight preparations, though come morning, the blackwagon will press onward.



: Hmm… I’m guessing one of either Mae, Pamitha, or Rukey. Mae, to talk about Almer; Pamitha, to talk about Tamitha; or Rukey, to talk about Dalbert.



: Right on, let’s see what’s on Mae’s mind. I’m sure she’s got a million and one thoughts she’d like to share about her new ‘friend.’

: Mae seems very happy about something, and has been chanting softly to herself. On closer inspection, however, she seems to be engaged in conversation with the wagon wall.

: …and so, after the Rite he said to me, I think he said to me, ‘Farewell.’ Can you believe it, little brother? He said that, then he left, to go find Mister Dalbert, who went on ahead?



: We have a lot in common, don’t we? Friends are supposed to have a lot in common, right?

: Well, not necessarily. Having a lot in common can help, but if you two have a handful of differences, it could make for exciting conversation and exploration. Opposites attract, and all that.

: For instance, um… we’re both fighting for those we care about, for those who helped us when we needed it, is that not so? He is very lucky to have met Mister Dalbert, isn’t he?

: She falls silent for a time, then….

: …It cannot be that the Eight Scribes intended that all of us just have to fight each other all the time. It just cannot be. So many whom we face… they don’t like us very much, do they….

: Because… if we prevail against them, it must mean… that they cannot go home. Even if they really want to. So that’s why they don’t like us.

: Mae figured it out before everyone else in the Nightwings. She’s a smart girl.



: You want to know what I think, little brother? I think the Scribes put us together in all this so we can learn from one another, and grow closer together, as friends!

: This is what I think, little brother! And I told them so! And, maybe the next time I see Almer and Mister Dalbert again, they will be happier to see me, then!

: She bounds off, noticing you as she goes.



:

: You sense some burden has been lifted from her, and her knowledge of the Rites, however informal it may be, has crystallized into a deeper understanding.



: Goddamn. Mae is already one of our more powerful players. Permanent bonuses like these aren’t unique to her, but her getting it first just inches her further away from the rest of her team. Not that that’s a bad thing, of course.

: That was a rousing conversation with a wall! Let’s wind down with a good recliner and a good book.


Gfy






: With all that done, we just need to… head all the way back to Black Basin. We had just come from there! Damn, it’s a good thing we have wings.




: As we cross into Jomuer Valley again, we meet the Accusers, still pitched on the ground, and the Pyrehearts, which just so happened to be in the area. The Withdrawn aren’t anywhere to be found – I wonder what the rush is?

: Let’s go say hi.



: Only if you let it.

: J-j-just, leave this wretched knight in peace! He wants nothing more to do with you!! S-so, go AWAY!

: Given that he just described himself as ‘wretched,’ it sounds like he’s had a rough time of it with his last Rite against the Dissidents. Except… he won that, according to the ledger.

: Whatever, he’s not in a squawking mood, so I’ll leave him to it. As much fun as that isn’t.

: But, as we head to leave Jomuer Valley, we meet another friend in the sky…



: Too bad we all got somewhere else to be. Though we Tempers sure are flattered that you took the time to ram right into us again.

: Be seeing you around.

: I mean, I’d like to ram into someone new, but nobody’s around and you happened to be right there. If someone else is around, I’ll be sure to go after them instead.

: Unfortunately for us, our flight back up to Black Basin is completely uneventful. There are no new points of interest and no friends to bump into and say hi on our way up. Everyone that we met on the ground on the way to the Prairie – the Dissidents, the Chastity, and so forth – are all uprooted and have gone on to their next Rite, wherever they are. Our journey up through the Sea of Solis and through the Deathless Tempest are completely barren.



: When we arrive in Black Basin proper, at least, there’s a point of interest at the Glade of Lu for us to admire.

: The hidden Glade of Lu is nigh impossible to find on foot, though, there it lies, below us… protected even now by the enchantment of Lu Sclorian Hundred-Minds. I understand the river named for him is rather famous in your Commonwealth? The mouth of that River Sclorian opens wide not very far from here.

: It was there that Limbless Arizech was defeated, turning the region lush, and livable, at least for certain denizens. Although, of course, not everyone believes this.

: Well, I mean, if I’m expected to believe the horse skeleton and the human skeleton, I could probably believe that a tree slapped around whatever an Arizech is.

: Your adversaries the Essence must be working to find their way there even now… good fortune in your Rite against them, Reader.

: Right! Unfortunately, we can’t just land at the Glade, for the same reason Mega Man can’t just teleport into Wily’s Castle, or at least to the end of the stage, and that’s because




: It comes down to Gilman getting a bit of Enlightenment, or getting something of value with Rukey. Regardless of what I want, we had both Rukey and Sir Gilman in the same Rite just last update, against the Fate, but we had voted to put Rukey in first. We’re just a little bit more biased in his favour, so, let’s go ahead and get scavenging.



: Looks like Sir Gilman’s going to get some excitement either way, though! Nobody in the blackwagon’s in a particularly talkative mood, so, may as well just get that squared away.

: Before we hit up Sandra, let’s take another quick leaf through the Book. Those pages aren’t going to read themselves.


Gfy






: With those last two pages (which, coincidentally, were about Sandra and her triumvirate’s role in the Rites), we’re… actually all caught up on pages. That was simultaneously faster than I thought it’d be, and also exactly as fast as I figured, given that I flipped through the pages two at a time, and once at every stop. Naturally, we’ll be getting more pages the more we play the game and explore the world, but until we get another page, we’re all done for now.

: Speaking of Sandra…



: I just wanted to check in on my favourite apparition. What’s happening with you, Sandra?

: …Leave me alone, Reader… I am in no mood to talk at you this time.

: Oh.

: She is concerned about something, but you cannot sense what, and she refuses to say.

: …I see little need to keep on blathering about to you, as once I did.

: I thought–

: I should not have let you in…. Begone. My services are yours, but this place is my own.

: But we–



: … that sucks. Just last update, Sandra was saying the nicest things about how much she appreciated our company. I’ll give her the space she wants, although given how long she’s been around, she’s probably not very good at changing her mind. Hopefully she’ll open back up to us in the future.

: In the meantime, we do have need of her services. One of our own was summoned for a slapfight with three of yours, I heard?

: You need but choose among those unenlightened fools with whom you travel.



: You mean this one?

: You ask Sandra to administer one of her special trials for Sir Gilman.

: You think that dimwit of a wyrm has any chance…? Perhaps you are correct, though I put little stock in him, myself. Though, let us bring him forth.



: Master-Reader, is this knight perchance in trouble for something…?

: Depends on how you look at it, Gilman. Good luck in there.



Gfy

: The apparition Sandra appears, and unfastens her mask.

: Listen, well, Wyrm. You answer to me here.

: Um! As you will, Your Highness!

: Your Highness. I like the sound of that. Though flattery will get you nowhere, here.

: Demonstrate your competence to me, then, Wyrm. You shall have to do it mostly on your own, though under the guidance of your lovely Reader. I trust you are prepared.