Part 29: The Beast On The Mountain

Update 28 - The Beast On The Mountain








MUSIC: Act 6














Oh! That was easy! And Miriam made such a big deal out of it. (She's so silly sometimes!)

Umm! Well... I guess this isn't... exactly it. You need to get to the top of the mountain... right?

Right......

But I can't fly that high up!!! There's crazy winds and storms... so you need to do the rest on foot. I got you pretty far though! Also... I'm really worried about Chaandesh... all those monsters went loose... Vivian can't fight them alone, y'know? So, if something happened to me... well, I just really want to get back.

I understand! Thank you, Sandra!

YEAH!!! Okay! Um. Good luck!!!








And so we start Act 6, the penultimate act. Act 5 had some heavy moments, but Act 6 is where things get... a bit real. The spirit world has collapsed entirely, and monsters now have free reign on Earth. And not the good kind of monsters like the cute troll couple, the scary kind of monsters. We've got to make our way up to the mountain's peak, which is going to be a very perilous journey. Let's get started.









This forest is super quiet. No music is playing, the wind is faint, with Bard's footsteps being the loudest sound of note. The game having so much music in the first parts of the game, then pulling back on that really adds some tension to scenes.















...That's... also a way of adding tension

I guess we found the beast!... Or it found us... Let's hurry through this forest and see if there's a nearby town.











Oh great! There was a little village just up the road from us. It's still really quiet, so maybe we'll check around and see if the town is just on a day off.




Hi there! Anybody ho-







...Oh. Nobody's here... and the house looks like some kinda disaster happened here. Maybe we should check around the village for signs of life.















Did everyone flee? I guess... that's much better than the alternative...












You... what brings you here, pilgrim? This place is not safe... Please, come inside with me.






We can, technically, just walk on past the monastery and head up the mountain if we wish. We aren't going to do that, because where would we be without an update focused on talking to people?




Welcome, pilgrim... I'm sure you've noticed how... quiet... it is, here. The heart of the mountain has changed... a dark Beast stalks its slopes... The people who once lived here have evacuated. Only we monks remain now.


At least we get confirmation that the townsfolk fled to safety. It'd be really dark for this game to shift into an entire town being murdered in the opening parts of the act.


At first, the monsters were many... they came down from the mountain peak... destructive, hungry things... We tried to hide everyone in the temple... but after the monsters spread away from the mountain, The Beast came next...



It is empty... utterly devoid of life or personality... A dark harbinger of The End. Nobody is safe here anymore. You are welcome to stay in the temple with us... but... you should consider leaving this place entirely.

Um!... Actually I came to climb the mountain! I have to visit the Overseer here...

...

Pilgrim... you must reconsider... Nobody has communed with the Overseer in our lifetimes... They have long since abandoned us.

They're just sick! All the Overseers are getting messed up... that's why this stuff is happening. But I'm gonna fix it! I'm learning the Earthsong!



You seem so sure... I do not know what this "Earthsong" is... but I will not stop you from carrying out your will. If this truly is The End... it may not much matter what you do anyway... Is anywhere safe anymore? We are cut off from the rest of the world here...

I've definitely seen monsters... but I don't know if they're everywhere!

I fear The End is coming soon... and there is no escaping it... Use this time wisely, pilgrim.


Kenneth and his friends are big into "The End" and what it means to them. The End is, of course, referring to Eya's new song. That new song... which heralds the end of this universe. Let's go around and meet the monks before continuing on, there's not many of them.




We devoted our lives to the teachings of Eya. She is a creature of light, of love... but even her love cannot extend forever. Our world is old and weary. Our Overseers have abandoned us. We are beyond redemption... it is our time to go. So we are witness to Eya's darkest hour. All things die. They would not be so beautiful, if they did not... This is something Eya understands. A world that never died would be meaningless. We should be proud to be alive for The End. We are what makes this universe a beautiful one. We have been preparing for this for a long time. Though I did not foresee it would be in my lifetime... I am grateful. Every moment we have is a gift from Eya. I do not worry for the time taken from us... instead, I am grateful for all the time we were given. You ought to be grateful too, young one.


Patrul has taken a very fatalistic view to this, though does have some positive outlooks on the whole end of the world thing. Granted, it's much easier to be grateful for living a life of 70+ years compared to only living a life of 20 years. I'd very much disagree with the belief that we should just accept this though, and I'm sure Bard agrees seeing how he is determined to get the Earthsong.




A visitor! How unexpected... are you a student of Eya as well? Have you come to this high place to witness The End? We have plenty of space! And accomodations, and rations... This temple was meant to support many people, but they have all evacuated... We would be happy to have you here! It will be a speecial thing to be a part of. I wonder what it will sound like... I wonder what we will see, when she sings. I do not think we will suffer... and, I wonder... what the next universe will be like! Even though we are not worthy to be a part of it... I hope... we will see a tiny glimpse of it.


Huang seems to have taken the "Jesus returns" view of this. It'd probably be the most common belief, who would want to believe the world ending just makes it all actually end? That there's nothing left to learn, explore, or understand about life.


They say each universe is born perfect. We are at its end, when discord has taken over... but I would like to see a perfect one. It would be so fulfilling... to see her wondrous vision... to hear her wondrous song...


Though he also seems to be borderline-cultish about it. But hey! The world's ending, do whatever makes you happy buddy.




We are all disciples of Eya. We believe in her... and in her plan. We have always known The End was coming. We would be fools to not accept it... when it is so plainly before us. In the scheme of the universe, we are like insects... no... we are smaller than insects... We are like tiny specs of dust on the feet of insects... no... in fact... We are like subatomic particles in the dust on tiny insect's feet.



Well, you get the point...


We're insignificant, got it.


There have been countless universes before ours... and there will be countless after. It is sad that we are here to witness The End... but it also marks a new beginning for another universe. This is Eya's way. It is her design. Who are we to intervene with that?


But she's specifically laid out an emergency escape that can override her plan! Why would she give us an out, if she wouldn't want us to use it? Bhami seems even more fatalistic than Patrul was. Bhami was the last monk here, however, we have a special guest star to speak with before leaving...




Hey now, wanderer. You gonna climb this mountain? I like chilling with these monks... but... I might try climbing, too. Maybe I'll see ya up there.


Translation: There's a dance up in the mountains if you can find it.


Seems things just get worse and worse these days. Are you scared about the world ending?

Yeah...

To tell the truth, I am too... it's hard not to be scared. Especially for the things you can't control. Well... if you can't control it... there's no point to be scared, is there? But the scary thing is, what if you can control it, and you aren't? I really think we're connected, wanderer. Everywhere I go, you're there too. That's not nothing.

You ever notice how sometimes, an idea will come to many people around the same time? Have you ever felt that when someone shares their thoughts? Like, "Oh, I was just thinking about that too!" It's like that, wanderer. We're all connected by threads visible and invisible. And I think the whole world is thinking together, even when we don't know it. I don't believe in coincidences. All the big things in the universe... they're just made of small things put together. And those small things are made of even smaller things. It's impossible to understand everything... but to understand something big, you gotta understand the small things it's made of.



The crazy thing is... the whole universe is just one big thing. It's made of all the small things together, and that's why... even the tiniest, smallest thing, like the feeling when you tell someone "I love you," can tell you something big about the whole universe.


Mask has always been pretty philosophical on our adventure, but it kinda started out seeming faux-stoner philosophy. But uh, he's actually starting to really get real and have a much more positive view on things, especially when surrounded by these monks who have already decided the world is ending and there's nothing anyone can do. Mask kinda went from a joke character to a good character, and did so in a somewhat subtle way.







We're done with the monastery, and it's time to head up the mountain... and likely go deal with this beast.








MUSIC: Mount Ichor Climb











The climb has been calm, as of yet. No monsters, or beasts. In fact, our biggest peril has been platforming.













Yeah, so we aren't making that jump. There's no Mohabumi blocks to utilize, no magic plants, etc. Only way to go is down!





Uh oh... the screen is getting really fuzzy. Are there... monsters below us?





Oh, this bubble seems to be the cause. It looks like it trapped that poor bird... can we release it?







Why, yes we can! The color/direction of the wire coming off the bubble corresponds to where we need to sing. Once we unlock all of them...








MUSIC: Mount Ichor Birds





The bird has been freed! The bird will now help us out by carrying us in the direction we point it at.







The bird will only fly for a certain distance (about 5 seconds) before flinging Bard in that direction. Some birds will carry us the whole way, but this bird needs to be babysat a little to get us to the top.





We can call the bird by singing within the radius of the bird. The radius will appear when we sing, so we know how close Bard needs to be for the bird to come pick him up.









A little too close to the edge, but Bard made it! And that's all that counts.









Another bird, with a clear path of where we need to go.













After using two birds to get across those chasms, there appears to be another bird stuck in a bubble in this ridge. The first birds were friendly, so let's go help this one!









This bird has to catch us in mid-air because we are currently over a bottomless pit! Again, there's no penalty so finding that out first isn't a big deal, but it does mean you need to make sure the bird is right below you as it can move around a bit.







It's time for bird to bird action. There's several birds we have to use to get to other birds with no platforms in between them. The birds are a little finicky and won't try to get you until you're out of the claws of the other bird, so timing is crucial throughout this process.











Here's an annoying bird. This bird will only fly at the top of this area, and can't be reached if you're on the platform below it. So if you fall or otherwise don't make it to the bird, you have to retreat to the previous bird to reach this one.













Uhhhhhh... hello there! Mr... Mr Beast!! Lovely weather we're having today, huh? Bard doesn't have any meat on his bones by the way, all skin! Very not tasty!!



MUSIC: Silence









Is... the beast leading us to these spots? Is he guarding them? I'm really confused as to why these birds are all trapped in the first place, but let's free them anyway!










MUSIC: Mountainbirds Released!









Despite it looking like only one bird was freed, the entire mountain is now covered in birds, ready to help fling us to our next destination!













We're gonna head to the right and use that bird to take us higher, there's no real reason for it, other than to show off the full amount of birds in this area. Now, as we've learned in the past, you want to move to the upper right side to progress the game. This is still true here! But uh... we're gonna take a detour to the left side.















Now why would we head to the left side instead? Because here lies a fantastic secret...







...Mask.


Hey now, wanderer. You did good, finding me here... I can feel it. Your soul... your DANCE power... it's been growing all along, wanderer. You've dug deep, and found the dances sleeping within. I'm proud to have sheparded you on that journey. Now, one last time. Let's dig deep, all the way to the bottom.












VIDEO: THE FINAL DANCE




Beautiful dance, wanderer.

...

You've come so far... on this journey into DANCE. I don't have more to show you. From here on, you've got to keep digging on your own. But don't stop digging, wanderer. Don't forget about DANCE.




Bard about to dab on all dem haters.

I never thought I'd enjoy seeing a dab unironically, but here it is, and boy do I enjoy it! The dab is great and even makes a sound when you go into the pose for it. Is it the best dance? I think that's a debate since there's been some extremely good dances, but it's definitely a contender.