Oof. Well, fortunately we know where her other sister is. We should go get her once we've done a bit of conversing.
[X] This seems like a safe spot. You might as well rest for the night
-[x] Talk to someone
--[X] Oscar
--[X] Egg Guy
--[X] Quelaan
In a purely utilitarian sense, Egg Guy has some unique pyromancys that'll be really helpful later, and Quelaan has Chaos pyromancys. The way fights have been going, we're going to need to expand our arsenal. plus we to see if Quelaan can take Kirika's Grief, and if that's good or bad for her. Plus it'll give us a fuller understanding of what's going on here, and that's something we can take back to Quelana to hopefully get her to stop sitting on the fence.
As for Oscar, well, Kirika is rediscovering her full range of emotions. Oscar is the only combination of person she trusts, person who's opinion matters to her, and person she views as something of an equal. Feels like she needs his guidance right now.
[X] This seems like a safe spot. You might as well rest for the night
-[x] Talk to someone
--[X] Oscar
--[X] Egg Guy
--[X] Quelaan
Seems good enough to me. I'd kind of like to try and chat with Kirk as well, but let's be honest that probably wouldn't go the best if we're trying to keep this a safe spot and not potentially start a brawl.
[X] This seems like a safe spot. You might as well rest for the night
-[x] Talk to someone
--[X] Oscar
--[X] Egg Guy
--[X] Quelaan
You almost consider taking Oscar and leaving. It's what you've done in the past. Avoiding unpleasant things has always been your go-to response. Faking friendships, skipping school… blindly following Oriko. You could do it now. You could simply escape again.
You look around the chamber. Although it's been reached through murder, this is still the safest place you've found since leaving the parish. Even with Spiky over there edgy-ing up the place. There's a warmth here. A kindness. You may be stealing it, but you can at least enjoy the rest before you have to move on.
You follow Oscar over to the bonfire and drop down across from him. You let out a long sigh as the bonfire's warmth creeps into you, and you rub your face in an attempt to drive away the lingering doubts. You can't see Oscar's face, but you still feel his gaze. Once again, he doesn't say anything. Bastard. You could just refuse to talk if he tried pushing…
"I'm okay…" You murmur, resting your head on your hand.
"I didn't say anything."
You roll your eyes. "I noticed."
Silence again. For a few minutes, the only sounds are the crackle of the fire and the occasional faint whimpers of Quelaan. You break it with a sigh.
"We… We killed, uh…"
Oscar glances back at Quelaan. "Can she hear us?"
"I think so?" You shrug. "She's blind, but I don't know how good her hearing is."
He nods and lowers his voice. "I gather the one we fought outside was related to her?"
"Yeah… The woman in the swamp, too. All… sisters."
"I see." He looks into the flames. His hand rests on the pouch containing his sister's soul.
You chuckle at yourself, but there's no mirth in it. "I've killed so many people. Mostly magical girls, but… I think a lot of normal people died in the stunt Oriko and I pulled at the end."
"But this time is different?" Oscar offers. You shake your head.
"That's the problem. I don't know." You look up at Quelaan, taking in her sickly form. "Everyone I've killed. I have no idea what their situations were. If they had someone relying on them. Someone who loved them dearly-" you snort "hell, of course they were loved. Normal people have others who care about them…"
"Kirika."
"Yeah, yeah." You chide, waving him off. "It's just… how many lives have I ruined without even thinking about it? How many Quelaanas have I left alone to fend for themselves?"
Oscar remains quiet for some time. Has he finally realised how messed up you are? No, you're sure he would've figured that out long before now.
"Kirika," he finally says, "can you change any of what you've done back then?"
You blink at the question. "Uh… no? I don't think so?"
"Well, you can for what you've done now. With these sisters." He says firmly. "Not change it, but at least make amends. If you truly feel like you've done wrong, then you're already a wiser girl than you were back then."
You scrunch your nose up at the idea. "You want me to say sorry or something? I already did that."
"And what did she say?"
She forgave you. She didn't know what you were apologising for, but she forgave you, with all her heart.
You sigh and droop behind the bonfire as best you can. He's right, of course. He's always right. Well, more often than you are, at least. But how can you 'make amends?' You don't have time to hang around and look after her – you don't have the faintest idea how to look after the sick anyway.
You look around the chamber and land on Egg Guy. You got in here by claiming to be servants, so maybe there's something you actually can do. Just… not carrying eggs.
Standing, you wander over to him with a little wave. "Hey, Egg Guy."
"My name is Eingyi." He grumbles, shimmying around towards you and craning his neck to look up at you. The spot where his brow would be raises. "Still no eggs, I see."
You shrug and nod your head back in Spiky's general direction. "Hey, he doesn't have any either!"
"Sir Kirk is a valued warrior. He assists in the gathering of humanity to fertilise the eggs." He shakes his head. "Your companion may have the looks of a knight, but you hold no such baring. Carrying eggs would be a suitable role for you, I think."
You ignore his ramblings and look back at Quelaan. Humanity as fertiliser, he says… As in those little black wisps that sent your soul gem into a fit. You summon your soul gem to your hand. It's perfectly clean after Oscar used a purging stone on it, but maybe built-up grief can be used in the same way as humanity.
"Young lady? Are you listening to me?" Eingyi asks, waddling around in front of you.
You return your gem to its place and crouch down to his level. "Yeah, yeah. Humanity, right?" You thrust your thumb at Quelaan. "What would happen if I gave her a bunch of humanity? Is it just for the eggs, or what?"
Eingyi frowns at your dismissal of his unheard lecture. "It is for the eggs, yes. However, I have noticed our Lady's trembling lessens some when Sir Kirk provides what humanity he has recovered. Perhaps it soothes her suffering somewhat."
You look over at Quelaan and watch her quivering. If it really can help…
"Right. Thanks, Egg Guy." You say, rubbing Eingyi's bold head and standing up again.
"Eingyi! And don't…! Bah…" He grumbles as you walk off.
Quelaan twitches when you approach, and her head lifts slightly. She may be blind, but her sense of space seems perfectly fine.
"Ah, s-sister! Is that you…?"
You wince and have to swallow hard before responding. "No, sorry. It's just me again."
"Oh, Kirika…" She murmurs, her excitement dimming. She attempts to hide her disappointment with a smile. "Is there something I can do for you…?"
You shake your head, before remembering she can't see you. "Uh, no. Not really. I was just talking to Eingyi. Er, I assume you know about him? The guy with the eggs who hangs around here?"
"I remember him." She replies with a light nod. Her smile becomes a bit more genuine. "It is gladdening to hear he is alright… I had feared I had not done enough to save him and the others… But if he is well, then my efforts were not entirely worthless."
"Right… Anyway, he mentioned using humanity to help with the eggs. I'm not too keen on carrying the things around on my back – no offence. So, I was thinking about trying to gather some humanity while I'm out and about."
Quelaan's expression hardens into a faint frown. "Ah, but is that not a dangerous thing…? I do not wish for you to put yourself at risk for my sake…"
"Hey, I'm a lot tougher than I look. Er, sound." You counter, puffing your chest out proudly. "Not to brag, but I have a lot of experience with fighting."
Quelaan lets out a weak chuckle that devolves into a brief coughing fit. Once she calms down, she smiles faintly. "If you believe so… Although, I do hope you to be careful… Ah." She unclasps her hands and holds them out in front of herself. Flickers of fire spark to life between her palms, growing into a burning light.
"If you like, I would like to offer you some of my power. I would be greatly comforted if you accepted…"
"You mean pyromancy?" You ask, willing your own flame to your hand.
She nods. "Yes… I am sure my meager strength may be of some assistance… if only a little…"
[] Quelaan's gift…
-[] accept
-[] decline
[] Afterwards…
-[] Talk some more
--[] Quelaan
--[] Oscar
--[] Eingyi
--[] Kirk
-[] Go to sleep
Um. Well. On the one hand, cool Pyromancy stuff. On the other hand, should Quelaan really be offering up bits of herself right now? She's not doing too hot at the moment.
I kind of wonder what would happen if we just shove Quelaag's Soul into Quelaan's fire right now.
Oscar is once more proving his worth in his wisdom alone.
[X] Quelaan's gift…
-[X] accept
Look, there's no way I'm saying no to this. You all know why.
But, I do also think it's the right move. The flame she's offering, it's not like it's the only thing keeping her alive. I'm not even sure her life and the flame are anymore connected then anyone else in this world. I read Quelaan as the type of person that likes to be helpful, and she propbably doesn't feel like she's doing much of anything down here. Accepting her kindness is giving her kindness.
[X] Afterwards…
-[X] Talk some more
--[X] Kirk
See, now we know he's helping Quelaan, and that makes him more interesting. I would love to know why someone wearing that many spikes is doing something seemingly this charitable.
I would venture Quelaag's Soul would burn, and that's overall a bad thing. Let's get back to Quelana before we try anything with the remains of Quelaag.
You normally get her pyromancy for either 10 or full 30 Humanity offered, so I'm expecting this to effectively commit us to bringing her Humanity later. Still, Fair Lady is nice and more reasons to visit are good in my book.
Kirk deserves some old-school shit-talking. Invading in the Depths and couldn't even handle a newb who thinks she's a Magical Girl and her basic knight Bubba, what a sucker. What rings u got bithc
Kirk seems to have a habit of immediately signing on with whatever the current era's 'murder cult which nominally serves a horrifically mutated mother-figure' is, going off how he works for Quelaan in DkS1 and becomes one of the few members of Rosaria's Finger to have a proper title in DkS3 [side note, I know there's Kirk as Longfinger, Heysel as 'Yellowfinger' - whichever that one means - and Leonhard as Ringfinger, but are those three the only known members or are there others? Patches, maybe? He does hang around her room, but I don't think he's ever stated to be part of her Covenant] but sits out DkS2 which lacks one.
So basically he's apparently got a very specific flavor of mommy kink.
Vote is currently a tie between accepting and denying. I won't be writing the next post until next week, but thought I should point this out ahead of time.
If we want to buy power from Quelaan, we should give her the 30 humanity first!!!
It's kind of rude of us to just take the gift and weakening her... she's a nice witch....
TLDR: Vote decline for the kind witch ~
Edit^2: It's also all kinds of cruel to accept the gift while we're lying to Quelaan by omission - we took Quelaag away from her and are still holding onto the soul...
iirc, he gives Poison Mist for that. not too useful for most ppl's builds, but it'd be funny.
as for handing out bits of her power: the nature of DkS is that of the First Flame fading. in-game, you only have two choices: let it burn out, or take it for yourself. thematically, this fits with the latter, which is what we're doing anyways just by playing through the story.
and yes, we can then turn right around & give her the humanity afterwards, for brownie points.
[X] Afterwards…
-[X] Talk some more
--[X] Oscar
--[X] Quelaan
--[X] Eingyi
--[X] Kirk
in order:
keep oscar in the loop & ask for the humanity donation
they're (maybe deliberate, probably archaic) mistranslations: yellowfinger's index, longfinger's middle (because it's the longest finger on your hand), littlefinger's pinky, and parent finger's thumb. (last two aren't used in any of the games, iirc.)
[X] Quelaan's gift…
-[X] accept
[X] Afterwards…
-[X] Talk some more
--[X] Kirk
The deciding vote was different to the rest, but I have counted it with them to break the tie.
For possibly the first time in your life, you consider the consequence of what you're doing. Quelaan is weak and frail. Alone, although she doesn't know it. You remember Laurentius saying the Flame is a part of the soul, so what would it mean to take what little strength she has left? Will it hurt? Will she become even sicker?
You take a step back, almost reeling from the spark in her hands. "I…"
Quelaan's soft expression droops slightly. "Kirika…? Is something wrong?"
"Your 'power.' If I take it, what'd happen to…" You swallow hard, still not used to this whole 'worrying about people' thing. "Will you be alright?"
"Ah." Her smile returns and she weakly shakes her head. "Do not be worried for my sake, Kirika… It won't hurt very much. It will not hinder me greatly…"
So it will a little bit. A little bit, but maybe enough. You gently push her hands away. "If it'll hurt you, I…"
Quelaan takes your hand in her own. her skin feels deathly cold and bone thin. Even so, her touch is soft and gentle. Her cold hand feels comforting in the heat around you.
"If you do not wish it, I will not force you…" She says quietly as she holds your hand. "But I cannot do much. It would make me happy to know I am helping… somehow…" She chuckles faintly. "You'll be bringing humanity, after all. I'm sure I'll… have my strength back in… no time."
It's a fairly weak argument, but you find yourself smiling along with her. If it just means you have to help her out a bit, maybe it isn't so bad after all.
"If that's all I need to do," you say, forcing some confidence into your voice, "I guess it'll be no problem."
Quelaan's grip on your hand tightens and she pulls it closer. She cups it in both her hands and you feel a heat flow into you. It's not a scolding heat like when Laurentius gave you his flame, nor the overwhelming fire that Quelana sent through your soul. Quelaan's flame is soft and gentle, like hot chocolate on a snowy day, or the warmth of your bed at night.
Even so, you're caught off guard by a sharp stab of sudden heat as Quelaan finishes her transfer. It's like a burning snake suddenly slithered its way up through your arm and curled up in your chest. You gasp and stagger back a few steps.
"Kirika?!" Quelaan exclaims as loud as her frail throat can manage. "Are you okay? Did I… make a mistake?"
The sensation fades, though you still feel something very much alive buried within your soul. Hot and wild, yet dormant for the time being. You backtrack your withdrawal and pat her on the arm so she knows you're there.
"I'm alright. I was just, uh… caught off guard a bit. Wasn't expecting, well… that."
"I'm very sorry, Kirika." She says, her spider legs drooping behind her. "Though my soul is diminished, Mother's flame… I hope I have not done you harm…"
You thump your chest and give her an unnecessary grin. "Nah, it'll take more than that to hurt me. I'll be fine."
"I'm glad…" She murmurs, clasping her hands to her chest. "Then, I look forward to… your visits…"
So do you, you decide. You don't say it, of course. You aren't quite ready to say something that embarrassing. Not that you haven't begrudgingly said worse to Oriko, but that's different.
…Probably.
For now, it's time to do what you do best when faced with an uncomfortable situation: run away.
"Well, I better be going now." You say, stepping back from Quelaan. "Lot of, uh, humanity to find."
"Yes… Fairwell, Kirika."
You intend to head back to Oscar to ask about humanity, but a certain spiky gloomer catches your eye down the end of the corridor. You stop halfway to the bonfire, and a hint of mischief worms its way into your head. You grin and change course.
"Heeeeey, Kirik, was it?"
The spiky knight doesn't respond, but his helmet raises slightly at your approach. You hear a quiet exhale. Eventually, he gives a half-hearted grunt when he realises you don't intend on leaving him alone.
You grin at his annoyance and take a step closer. "We're going to stick around for a while. I wanted to make sure you aren't going to stab us in our sleep or something."
"I will respect the peace here." He grumbles. His voice comes out as a low, faintly wheezing growl. His spiked shoulders raise in a casual shrug. "Elsewhere, no promises."
You narrow your eyes at him and lean forward. "I hope you're not thinking about trying to jump us again." You grin and poke his dark chestplate. "Remember what happened last time?"
He tenses ever-so-slightly and stares down at you, but again he doesn't respond. You chuckle and stand up straight.
"I'm going to be gathering humanity for Quelaan too. We're allies, now, okay? You gotta be nice now."
"…Quelaan?"
"Oh right, you probably-"
"Quelaan." Kirik repeats, helmet raised in her direction. "Her name…"
You stare at him blankly, glance back at Quelaan, then back to him. "Uh, yeah. That's her name." You consider boasting about hearing her voice, but something about his tone softens your words. "She's… nice."
"…She is." He says, almost a whisper. He twitches, as if realising what he's said, and stiffens. He looks back down at you. "Leave me. I am no friend."
He folds his arms and refuses to respond to any further prodding. His head remains lowered, as if deep in thought. You decide to leave him be and return to the bonfire.
Pyromancy Flame +1 power
Obtained Great Chaos Fireball [] Stay awake for a while longer
-[] Talk to someone
-[] Go explore a bit
-[] Write in
Quelaan's flame is soft and gentle, like hot chocolate on a snowy day, or the warmth of your bed at night.
Even so, you're caught off guard by a sharp stab of sudden heat as Quelaan finishes her transfer. It's like a burning snake suddenly slithered its way up through your arm and curled up in your chest.
Maybe I should think through consequences a bit more... but Kiriki getting a surprise is good fun for me, so eh.
Anyway, farming humanity seems to be on our todo list now. It's not a long list even with that addition, but it's longer then I'd ever thought it would be in this quest.
[X] Go to sleep
Grab some sleep while we can, then we hit up Quelana to drop off her's sister's soul if she wants it, while pointing her towards her living sister. Not sure about next moves from there, but probably heading topside to find out Sen's Fortress, assuming nothing unexpected happened.
