A random collection of stuff

By detonating a few firegleam deposits, dragging crates into and on top of the old elevator, and climbing the rest of the way, I finally reached the Ember. Curved, red symbols glowed above it. From ancient data points, I knew they represented love. A fitting find after yesterday's debacle with Amadis.

I climbed higher still to the topmost stable point of the tower, collecting some Greenshine and enjoying the view out to the flooded cityscape before gliding down to the jungle floor.

My mount was too distant to call—maybe found by that damn Fireclaw where I left it by the blighted marsh to follow Talanah—so I took the south-eastern road on foot.

As the swamps deepened and widened to rivers, and the trees grew tall and sparse, I located a Charger herd and overrode a new mount to take me the rest of the way south. Cresting the hill that took me into drier climbs, I returned to the warmer roads of the southern Raintrace.

Riding on into the late afternoon, I passed a collection of ruins fenced in by Tenakth structures. This was a new route for me, further east than the road I'd taken south. Another settlement?

Back to familiar territory, I pushed on to Danur's camp.

Sounds of fighting put me on guard when approaching the it. I soon spotted rebels locked in combat with the Oseram delvers. I snuck up the hill and took one of the champions by surprise.

Joining the Oseram in open combat, we fought off the remaining champion, keeping in close to stop him swinging his huge electrified hammer around. It was over quickly, and though there were injured, everyone from Danur's little encampment came out alive. I'd arrived at precisely the right time. The Stalker mines had greatly reduced the threat as well, with a few front-running rebels laying dead on the perimeter.

When it was over, I spoke to Danur, handing over the salvage I'd nabbed from the sea floor. He paid me for both that contracted job and the rebel dispatch, kindly enough. I spoke to the injured man I'd fought alongside, and though he was in pain, he would recover. Danur had plenty of supplies to help him and the other delvers, and they were a hardy bunch regardless. I bet the rebels thought they'd be easy targets.

I rested at the camp for a short while, helping to clear the battlefield.

By the time I set out again, the scheduled afternoon rains were pelting down. I returned to the settlement I'd spotted on the way, soon realising I'd stumbled upon the region's Hunting Grounds. With a Tremortusk and multiple Clawstriders stalking the arena, whatever challenges it offered wouldn't be easy.

I spoke to the Groundskeeper, selecting what seemed the gentlest of the trials to wind down for the day. I took out my new lightning hunter bow in preparation.

The trial had me shock down the Tremortusk and tear off two of its tusks. With my lightning bow and tearblast arrows, it was done in no time. I overrode one of the Clawstriders so it would keep the other two busy while I dealt with the larger machine. I returned to the ruins to claim my hunting medals earned.

The rain cleared just before dusk. I climbed higher to explore the ruins behind the Grounds shelter; a curved, raised road dotted with vehicle carcasses, which once wove around the large, blockish buildings stationed on thick slabs set into the hillside. I found a data point in one of them, and with the help of my Pullcaster, a few caches of highly valuable salvage. I rested up there a while, watching the sun set over the jungle as the merchant trekked up to light the torches along the road.

Beneath all the weeds and waterlogged sand, I found the usual artefacts; buried tanks and armoured corpses, vehicle frames, street lamps and shelled-out buildings. Lots of valuable stuff within. I wonder how Warend figured out it was down here.

Using tufts of seaweed to hide from a pair of eager Snapmaws, I gathered the best of the salvage and hauled it to the surface.

The clear water diffused the moonlight, chop swirling across the stars. Growing colder fast in the sun's absence.

I explored the ruin above ground as well, finding a large cluster of Greenshine. The whole structure was covered in corals and urchins and other strange growths.

The long swim back was far less pleasant, cold and weighed down by the prizes of the delve.

Finally reaching the Rot—its jagged blue shapes and distant firelight leading me back to shore—I deposited the salvage and rested a while. The guards remained on high alert, wary of a second rebel attack. There was certainly no merriment among them, though all were thankful and reverent in their stoic way.

They'd cooked up a hot meal and re-ignited pockets of warmth across the settlement. The food was all utility, but after the ocean chill it was exactly what I needed.

I chose a different watchtower to spend the night, one sitting right out over the water. Those fog-bathed towers in the distance tempting me once again. According to the bits of ancient maps I'd uncovered, they marked the city of San Francisco.

Moving on, I used my Pullcaster to observe the fortified section from a decent vantage, waiting for the guards to clear away from the gate controls. They clearly felt un-threatened out here; the Lowland clan had their own settlements to worry about further inland.

Down on the sands, I snuck over to the gate controls and wound them open. People noticed, of course, but I set off a cloud of smoke to obscure my exact position, giving me a scant window to operate.

Talanah and Amadis were already in position, surging through the gates and the smoke to meet the first rebel defenders on the scene. We took them by surprise from the smoke, and by the time the alarms sounded through the rest of the compound, Amadis, Talanah and I walked right in through the front door.

I stuck to stealth where I could, using my Stalker shield to sneak behind the rebels as they converged on Amadis and Talanah, who were advancing toward the cells. A rebel champion lugged out a firebomb launcher and concentrated fire toward the fighters on the ground, catching both my Carja allies and his own fellow rebels in the flames. Amadis got the worst of it, but with another charge loaded into my shield, I crept up and dispatched the heavy-hitter with my spear. There were few stragglers by then, which Amadis and Talanah took care of before I could even hoist up the commandeered bomb launcher.

When it seemed the coast was clear, one final rebel champion ran through the gates, armoured as a Thunderjaw but unarmed. He held up a machine lure, but Talanah put an arrow in his chest just as he activated it. Amadis ran forward and crushed the lure under his heel, and though it seemed for a moment that no machines had registered the brief call, a rumbling beneath the sand and surging of distant waves told us different.

Running to the waterfront, the head of a Tideripper burst up through the surface in a torrent of sea spray. It slammed up onto the sand, its focus quickly locking onto the three of us.

As it charged up the purgewater cannons on its back, I tried to lure it further up and out of the water, where it could only flap and throw itself sluggishly. Freezing it with my new Nora bow slowed it further still, then my boltblaster pierced the armour on its neck and fins before rupturing one of the purgewater sacs on its side. That hampered its powerful cannons, allowing Amadis and Talanah to concentrate fire at the slow, beached machine. I lobbed explosive spikes at it from a distance, wreaking havoc on its oil-drenched components.

Slicing open a second purgewater sac, I then repeated my initial strategy, freezing the Tideripper and loosing a few powerful sharpshots. That finally put an end to it.

I stripped the frosted-over kill while Amadis and Talanah searched for a way to open the cells, as the Lowland Tenakth trapped within had made themselves known.

Talanah soon found a key on one of the rebels and opened the main cell. The Tenakth within were quick to voice their distaste at being rescued by Carja, but the act of charity was enough to stop them attacking the pair on sight. One of them explained how the rebels had mounted an attack on the compound and imprisoned those they'd neglected to kill here in their own cells. Most seemed to be in good condition, considering. Amadis wasted no time in making his purpose here known, asking about Nessa, a random Carja soldier who had been brought here five years ago.

Surprisingly, a voice from within the cell returned an answer. The Tenakth woman claimed to have killed Nessa herself, but Amadis' reaction to the admission turned the situation on its head. He recognised Nessa's voice. The woman, who know called herself Ritakka, stepped forward. She explained that when she was imprisoned by the Tenakth, she had faced execution here at the Rot along with the rest of her comrades. That was until one of the Marshals took pity on her, surprised to see a Carja woman serving as a soldier. Whether it was this fact alone that drew Fashav's attention was unclear. Nessa had been afforded the same right that Fashav was granted, at his insistence: to prove her worth in a trial by combat. Nessa did so, and took her place in the tribe as Ritakka.

Amadis was dumbfounded. What began as a tinge of anger settled into a sort of indignant despair. He tried to communicate this to Ritakka, that he had mourned her for all these years, journeying all the way from the Sundom to discover her fate.

Ritakka showed only measured sympathy, coldly delivered. She had moved on from her old identity and flourished within the Tenakth culture of physical meritocracy. Being a woman would never hold her back among them as long as she could fight as well as any man. She had no interest in returning to the Sundom, or reuniting with Amadis. He was nothing but a reminder of her old life, I suppose. What Amadis was desperate to cling to, she would rather forget. Few among her squadmates remembered who she used to be, and she wanted to keep it that way. Calmly, coldly, but not without a memory of love, she dismissed Amadis. Now he knew the truth. Now he should go on his way.

I was more concerned with how Talanah was feeling. She'd sacrificed so much in coming here—even though I knew the adventure had excited her—and here was the anti-climactic, if uplifting end. Nessa was alive and well, but I wondered if that would be enough for Amadis. It had to sting. It was clear that he still loved her, to myself and Talanah both.

Amadis apologised to her, at least, and she made it clear that she didn't think him foolish after all this, but that their future was...uncertain. She would help him on his way back east, but that was all.

Amadis stepped away, and Ritakka turned back to her comrades. It can't have been easy for Talanah, watching that exchange. In an awful way, she might have preferred to find evidence of Nessa's death. At least then Amadis could move on, find the closure that he'd been looking for at Talanah's advice. Far from bringing them closer, this whole experience is more likely to push them apart, despite the grand gesture. Despite Talanah's clear feelings for him.

Talanah admitted, when asked, that she wasn't okay, and thanked me for putting up with all this. She said she'd hang around Barren Light for a while before returning to Meridian. A chance to clear her head before returning to her post as Sun Hawk of the lodge. She refused to be anyone's second choice. I can admire that, and she shouldn't be. Not ever.

Maybe, to Amadis, Talanah would always come second to Nessa. Alive, as she is as Ritkka, or even dead, as just the idea of her. Just the memory. Can someone come second to a corpse?

As Talanah explained her plans, I kept thinking about the RCC. She didn't ask about it, or even mention her brief stay. I could have jumped in at any moment and asked her to return there—reunite with Varl and Erend, meet Kotallo and Zo—but I didn't. She has her dream, her people and city and legacy to return to. She has her love for Amadis, if it lasts. I guess I didn't want to drag her into all this. Not just the danger and existential dread of it all, but the truth and the way it would change her. Steer her from the life she loved and knew. Most importantly, she didn't ask. I tried not to take it personally. She had a lot on her mind.

Talanah traipsed after Amadis, who still looked lost. A lot of closure left to search for. As for me, I looted the camp empty, taking all I could from the rebels. The freed Tenakth guards rewarded me as well, Ritakka among them, blending in perfectly. She's got that tough, no-nonsense attitude characteristic of the Tenakth, that's for certain.

It was a long way up, and the day grew scorching fast, but it was worth the view, and not just for its own sake. I spotted a Survey Drone drifting around the blighted ruins, close to where I fought that Fireclaw.

Making the breathtaking glide down, I returned to my mount and headed for the ruins, hoping Hephaestus hadn't already repopulated the area.

Fortunately, the place was quiet, apart from the thick red blight sizzling the air and soil. I climbed the tall, dry husk of a nearby tree and brought the drone down to salvage its data. Maybe once I get this back to Gaia she'll be able to analyse this 'Blood Choke' infecting the region, and figure out what makes it so resistant to Poseidon's powers of restoration.

My Focus picked up on something else in the drone's recent recordings—a small deviation from its baseline visual noise. An anomaly in bright Carja armour traveling alone, far from the road. The rumour I'd heard was right.

So, Talanah had made the journey after all, and without running into any of the local patrols. Hanging around the gates of Thornmarsh, that wouldn't stay true for long. Before she could draw any attention from the lookouts, I met her in hiding. My lowlander garb shocked her for half a moment, but then Talanah got right to business, as if our conversation at Camp Nowhere had just concluded.

I reminded her of what she'd promsied me there: the truth about Amadis and her reasons for chasing him this far. When he'd saved her from machines deep in the Jewel, they'd made a poor first impression both ways. A proud, stuck-up trophy hunter of the Lodge, and a weird jungle hermit. But when they got to talking, and Talanah saw just how much the Red Raids had stolen from him, her perspective began to change. They bonded over their grief over the lives they had lost—Talanah's father and brother, and Amadis' lover, a woman called Nessa.

I asked her outright what was obvious in her voice, and she admitted it. She loved him. A little sheepish about it, maybe a tad embarrassed, but she was earnest. I'd never seen her like that before. I don't know why her admission made me recoil so much—made me want to sink into the mud or turn and walk away. Not-envy, like I said. More like a complete inability to understand. Because this love of hers had driven her from her greatest goal in life, recently achieved and clung to since childhood. It had made her journey all the way here through incalculable danger, just in case Amadis needed her. That said, I could see in her face what his safety meant to her. Something just shy of everything, it seemed. And she was my friend. Of course I would help her see this foolish thing through.

Love was only part of the reason she'd come so far. In speaking of the closure and clarity she'd gained upon honouring her family's legacy at the Lodge, Amadis had been so taken by the idea that he'd resolved to discover Nessa's fate. She was the fellow soldier he'd lost at the battle of Burning Blooms, who'd been carted off to the Rot as prisoner and likely died there years ago. She disguised herself as a man so she'd be able to join the Carja military. Awful keen to fight for the mad Sun King, I thought, though according to Talanah she and Amadis had spent most of their time out west disobeying orders and trying to deescalate the situation. Though just their being there was escalation enough, I'm sure.

So it was guilt as well as love. Now that, I could understand. Talanah blamed herself, in a way, for Amadis coming all the way out here. She'd planted the seed of closure and healing in his head. And before he could get to any of that, he needed to discover Nessa's final fate. I didn't imagine it could've been anything good. Talanah agreed.

Knowing only that the Rot was on the coast, and that Amadis was likely to have reached it recently, if at all, Talanah led the way through the jungle.

We took a north-west road, narrow and hopefully lesser travelled. I'd like to think I could have dissuaded any local patrols from attacking a trespassing Carja noble on sight, but my reputation could only do so much. Talanah was utterly focused on the journey, and as we approached the edge of the marshes, where rusted, uniform structures sat sunk in the shallows, we found what she was searching for.

Trouble, and of course Amadis along with it. I first spotted his traps; an impressive array of shock wire strung across the path of a pursuing Fireclaw. He taunted the beast, luring it into his traps. I took the ensuing opportunity to add some shock ammo of my own, overloading one of its sparkers with my warrior bow. Talanah and Amadis closed in to hack at the Fireclaw while it was down.

Amadis hadn't done much damage to the machine yet—had he been hoping to take it down by himself? Bold, and probably idiotic—it's not like he'd have faced machines this fearsome in the Jewel—but his adeptness in traps and bombs of all types showed him to be a master hunter. Not the showy kind that frequented the Lodge, but a survivalist that would use any edge afforded to him. I still did all the work, of course, but Amadis was no amateur.

I set off the Fireclaw's sparkers whenever respite was needed—too much magma stirred up, setting the shallows to a boil—letting Talanah and Amadis get in close and wrench apart its central components. Outside of that I stuck to a proven strategy, using my new Nora-touched bow to brittle its armour before riddling it with bolts and explosive sharshots, cracking it to pieces. When we finally put it down, I stripped the kill while Amadis and Talanah stepped away to speak in private.

Conversing turned to arguing—I only caught the edge of it. As Talanah told it, Amadis had promised before setting off to send word back with the trading caravan he traveled with, and his plan had only ever been to go as far as No Man's Land. When the tunnel collapsed, he said, he had no choice but to press on, and no means to send word. He'd never wanted to worry her, never thought she'd follow. I guess he didn't know how much he meant to her. I sorely hoped he saw it now.

I butted in and introduced myself, a little awkwardly, but there was nothing else for it. I was no stranger to Amadis, despite his lone nomad lifestyle back east. Talanah had told him all about me, apparently. He was heading for the Rot, just north up the coast, but I didn't go running after him right away. Not so fast.

I asked him about Nessa, I guess wanting to get a sense of what he was really after here. From where I was standing, it might've just been suicide. I wasn't about to let him drag Talanah down with him.

Amadis explained what had happened right before the battle of Burning Blooms, when he and Nessa had been separated. He knew that the Tenakth outnumbered them greatly, they all did. They were walking into sure slaughter, yet their drunken, foolhardy commander ordered them to press on into their territory. Amadis threatened to expose his incompetence, and the commander threatened his life. When the fight was over, Amadis stood beside a very high-ranking, wealthy, and well-connected corpse.

Ever since that day, Amadis was pursued by loyalists to the Mad King—first other soldiers, then Shadow Carja, and even now, Carja bounty hunters hired by nobles who escaped persecution. The commander's family remained powerful even now, and not even Avad could stop them from carrying out justice as they saw fit. A royal pardon would certainly do him no good. He'd been a fugitive all this time. An outcast, even. Not that he looked like one, in his silks and all that ornamentation. Didn't even look particularly strong—not the formidable sort I'd pictured when Talanah described his feats. I suppose he was living in the jungle all that time, just trying to survive...I tried not to be too judgemental. Talanah made her own choice to follow him into danger, nonsensical as I found it. I couldn't blame him—I could even help him get the answers he craved without pissing off the entire Lowland clan. I don't think he'd taken survival into account before coming here. The way he told it he didn't have much left to lose.

Talanah led the way to the coast, continuing to bicker occasionally with Amadis as we went. Travelling north, we passed through a wooded stretch of land populated by Old World ruins. The sort I might not have been able to ignore had I been travelling alone. Large and well-preserved, glinting with loot and data points picked up by my Focus. Something for the return trip.

At the western edge of the ruins, we faced the Rot. Ragurt's rumours were true: the place was huge, stretching out of sight along the coastline with Tenkath structures woven above and around ancient stone walls. I had been hoping to make a good-faith approach and negotiate entry for Amadis and Talanah, but the guards at the battlements were not Lowlanders, they were rebels.

Regalla had taken the Rot. It seemed a strange strategic choice, but no doubt the place was rich in resources and ammunition. Maybe they were carting it between here and Fenrise? And now they were stranded out here on the coast. Not for much longer. Though that still left us with the question of Nessa's fate. We could only hope that the rebels hadn't killed the only Tenakth who might have remembered her.