[X] Point out the hidden figures to your group. And wait for them to come to you. They seem to have been expecting you.
-[X] Make it obvious to those figures their attempt at stealth has failed.
Great spot and hide check but thankfully our spot check won.
[X] Point out the hidden figures to your group. And wait for them to come to you. They seem to have been expecting you.
-[X] Make it obvious to those figures their attempt at stealth has failed.
You exhaled slowly, paused, then inhaled. You raised your hand and pointed to your allies "There."
"What should we do?" Hesiodio asked.
You hesitated for a moment longer.
"They appear to be expecting us, at least insofar as they sensed our Reiatsu as we approached. I want them to come to us."
…To that end.
"Hey!" You called out, first in English. It was one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world after all. Or at least so your teachers had told you.
You saw the figure you'd spotted earlier shift out of your line of sight, but it was too late if they wanted you to think the camp was abandoned.
"I saw one of you earlier!" You continued to yell "Reveal yourselves properly!"
You tried shifting to a different language and you repeated the message in Japanese.
You saw some shifting in the camp as another of the strange human-like beings with grey skin mottled with other shades of grey, emerged and stood in the center of the camp.
The figure spoke with a male-sounding voice.
"Come down here, speaker." He spoke in Japanese, but there was something both broken and archaic in how he spoke "Let me see you clearly."
In one way, you'd be stepping straight into a trap but at least it wouldn't be your entire team. A face-to-face meeting would also be a good way to gather information.
And so, with the rest of your team waiting at the top of the dune you strolled down into their camp.
As you approached, you got a better look at their appearance. You weren't sure if this was the same one you'd seen earlier but it had the same features at least. A black outfit to obscure as much of their body as possible, against the sun maybe as it was just making them easier to see in the early morning light.
Their skin was again mottled grey but… there was something paradoxical about him when you approached. On one side his skin actually looked quite bright, on the other it was shadowy. His nose cast a pitch-black shadow on his face.
When you stepped close enough, you felt some sort of weight, not the weight of his reiatsu (which for the record felt about half as strong as yours) but there was some other kind of weight. Your last few steps over to him were just slightly more sluggish, but you knew that you could try to push against this aura in an emergency to move faster.
The man didn't appear to carry any sort of weapon. It was just his fists
"You speak the ancient tongue, and the tongue of the explorers." The figure remarked "Where did you learn them?"
"I don't know either of the languages I spoke by those names, which one are we speaking in now?" you asked in Japanese.
"We call it the ancient tongue. Again, how did you learn it?"
There was some kind of wariness in him, as if he expected a fight to break out at any moment. He didn't seem scared of you though, mostly he was throwing glances at your team on the dune behind you.
"It was taught to us in school, as it's useful to talk with the Shinigami." You answered truthfully.
"Death Gods?" The term seemed unfamiliar to the mysterious man, but how could it be? Shinigami try to get involved with everything. If these people considered Japanese an ancient tongue, they should know what Shinigami are at least.
Even so, you explained "They are the souls of dead humans, given a blade and taught how to destroy hollows."
"Hollows." The man nodded, at least he knew that term "We are familiar, eaters of souls. Abominations. You fight too?"
"We do." You nodded, trying to feel out this weight that was pushing down on you. Your senses told you it was somewhat like a Gaian innate ability but… not quite the same. Not so dissimilar as a Shinigami's Shikai though.
The man nodded and then seemed to hesitate before asking the next question "Where is your home? Point."
"Where is yours?" You asked in response. He looked up for a moment into the sky, but shook his head after a moment. "Yours first, I must be sure."
With a shrug, you pointed down.
"Here?" The man queried "This vague and sandy land?"
"Below the earth, in caves." You noted "We don't share the surface with humanity. Please answer my question."
"I cannot." The man noted, "I don't know the direction."
"Its name then?" You pushed.
The man hesitated "I do not believe you are bad, then… we are from the Domain of the Month."
Month… no what did he actually say? "Tsuki no Ryōiki."
Damn it, your Japanese knowledge wasn't perfect and your conversation partner's was out of date.
The only other clue was he'd looked up into the morning sky when you had asked him where his home was. But there was nothing in the sky he could have been looking for.
Hmm… Maybe you'd figure it out if you spent more time on the surface instead of in the empire below?
Regardless… you let it slide.
"Why are you here?"
"To protect, we sensed an unknown threat coming this way and by Our Lord Above we see it as our duty to protect the humans from it."
You glance north, turning your side to the man and pointing back the way you came before asking "Is the unknown threat that way by any chance?"
"Yes, how did you know? When we sensed you coming, we thought you might be the threat?"
The spot in Chad had appeared second, in response to the first maybe?
"I see." You nodded "I've been impolite, my name is Kalina, Student of the Empire Beneath."
The man blinked and nodded "I've been impolite too then. I am Tsukisen no Manzo, Minarai Seijin and Manpai Hogo."
You had an idea to offer your assistance, but before that were there any more questions you wanted to ask? Something suggested to you that this Tsukisen was cautious, there was probably some sort of risk to asking the wrong question. Even so, you had to know more, right?
Feel free to pick as many as you want for a plan vote.
[ ] Ask him what his people are called (The name of the race)
[ ] Ask him what he did to make a signal (Explain the bell to give context)
[ ] Other (Write in as many as you want)
Alternatively, you could just vote:
[ ] No more discussion necessary, ask them if they want to help you head back north to stop whatever the danger is.
(Which as long as a fight doesn't break out will get brought up anyway when your questions are over.)
Hey look, it's Tsukisen no Manzo. You know? From the side story? I'll note that said side story probably happened about six months before this point in the story, give or take.
There was a reason I was being really vague about who and where that side story actually took place. Though I think it might be possible to guess from some of the clues in this chapter.
Also… Wow, there's a lot of talking and no fighting in this arc so far.
Kalina did pretty good at the whole diplomacy thing which is nice since charisma is a secondary ability after intelligence.
[X] Plan: Hi What's Going On V2?
-[X] Ask him what his people are called (The name of the race)
-[X] Tell him the reason you've come (Explain the bell to give context), and that there were two locations. Ask if they think it might be related to their arrival?
-[X] Discuss how to possibly co-ordinate between your two groups to investigate/resolve the issue. (Introduce our group to them, and have him introduce his group to us).
...I'll admit I totally forgot that the sidestory had even happened lol. Based on that context they probably aren't from the Moon, but may in fact be some other form of Kami that went into hiding long ago. Maybe.
Ah, here's a slightly edited version of Arcana's plan:
[X] Plan: Hi What's Going On V2?
-[X] Ask him what his people are called (The name of the race)
-[X] Tell him the reason you've come (Explain the bell to give context), and that there were two locations. Ask if they think it might be related to their arrival?
-[X] Discuss how to possibly co-ordinate between your two groups to investigate/resolve the issue. (Introduce our group to them, and have him introduce his group to us).
[X] Plan: Hi What's Going On V2?
-[X] Ask him what his people are called (The name of the race)
-[X] Tell him the reason you've come (Explain the bell to give context), and that there were two locations. Ask if they think it might be related to their arrival?
-[X] Discuss how to possibly co-ordinate between your two groups to investigate/resolve the issue. (Introduce our group to them, and have him introduce his group to us).
I somehow forgot we'd gotten enough votes for a full week now, oops. I won't have time to write for a few hours but I promise to try and get something out soon to make up for it.
"Well then Tsukisen no Manzo." You began "What is the name of your race called?"
On some level, the answer was obvious the moment you said it. But your rational mind only realised the implications once they were spoken.
"I am a Kami. Though we also call ourselves Tsukihito"
You'd sensed their reiatsu was similar but this…
"And yours?" he asked.
You took a moment to respond and decided to dodge the confusion at first.
"We are Gaians."
There, that would do well to avoid complications until you could figure out what it meant. If he was a Kami… Well, it would recontextualize some of the things you saw on that mural.
You decided to fill him in on why you had come.
"We came because we sensed something unusual too. Was the thing you all sensed to the north-east from here?"
Your conversation partner nodded but asked "How could you have detected them if you lived underground?"
…Hmm. Something felt strange about that question, as if there was an assumption made that you hadn't seen. Despite that you answered.
"A bell, a relic from ancient times. It rang and showed their arrival and your own on a map of the planet."
"An ancient Kami relic?" Tsukisen hypothesised, "We should arrange for you to give that to us, it's ours after all."
You snorted "It's been ours for the last two thousand years at least. I believe at that point you've lost your claim to it."
Tsukisen took a breath "This is not ours to argue. I will ask our Elder after all is said and done."
You nodded "I think it would be best if we were introduced to one another so we could coordinate better. Shall we each call our team from hiding?"
"It is likely best."
You began to wave for your allies to come down off the dunes while Tsukisen called out in what sounded like an archaic form of Japanese.
A few more like Tsukisen emerged, with different features on their face. Now you could see multiple examples of them together though you noticed something strange. You'd kind of seen with Tsukisen before but the shadows they cast were strange. Entirely pitch black with no light from other angles to defuse the shadow.
Each and every shadow they cast was pitch black against a surface.
Then another "Kami" stepped forward. Whereas most of their skin tones could be described as anything from grey to silver, this one's skin was simply reflective. Like a bent but clear mirror. The only features that could be made out were pitch-black eyes (Dark eyes appeared to be common to Kami but this was ridiculous and the fact that his shadow looked bigger than it ought to.
This was probably an elder or something like that. They spoke to Tsukisen in that same archaic Japanese as he looked between you and your team. There was some sort of tension in the air.
Despite that, you got to coordinate.
"How do you plan to travel to the other point before they get away?" You asked "In fact, why did you come this far south at all."
Tsukisen coughed slightly "Well… we were rather pushed for time. We detected the interlopers at a bad time. This was as close as we could get."
"That doesn't answer my question?" You tilted your head "Those you're chasing could have already moved."
Though hopefully team A caught them already, speaking of that it was possible the threat had already been dealt with. Convincing these "Kami" to accept that though would likely be harder.
Their Elder felt strong, very strong. Stronger than your teacher at least. That would be dangerous if things went wrong.
Tsukisen hesitated for a moment before answering your earlier question. "Our best chance is cross-country movement. It may not be fast but a good time to use our other method of travel won't come up for over a week."
"That will take days, they will get away by then."
As you spoke, the Kami Elder looked at Tsukisen and asked something, Tsukisen spoke back for a few moments.
The Elder then nodded and looked around before speaking again. Tsukisen took a moment to translate.
"Ah, our Seijin has an idea. He can cast a Reido spell that will allow all of us to cross the distance quickly."
You perked up at that. Kido that allows long-distance travel? Granted it wasn't your speciality but you could learn it in time.
The History teacher glanced at you. You were nominally the team leader here.
You hesitated before nodding, it really was the best way to get where you were going quickly.
With Tsukisen acting as a translator, their "Seijin" called everyone close together. He stood in the center, the Kami around him and your team around them. All packed into about a radius of 10 feet.
The Seijin began to chant and you felt powerful reiatsu welling up.
As white rope sprung from the Seijin's wrists, you realised you recognised the spell.
"Sentan Searches" Or thousand-coil white snake. Reido 54. You'd never seen it cast but you had seen a mention of it in one of the books you'd read while studying spellcraft.
The white ropes extended out, forming a cocoon around the clumped together teams. Once it was fully formed it even seemed to wind between all of your feet for a moment.
There was a moment when things shifted and then the cocoon began to break apart revealing that you'd all moved. You stood by a river, the nile most likely but not anywhere you'd seen on your drive south.
Tsukisen translated for the Seijin again "We are now where we originally detected the invaders landing. But we're not sure where they would have gone next."
Your teacher decided to take human form and ask around.
It took a bit over an hour to find useful information but the locals had seen strange things over the last few days. Figures of burning gold like living flames heading north.
…The fact that they were visible to normal humans was slightly worrying.
Both teams quickly headed north when that information was given. Based on what else the locals had told your teacher, you were currently south of Cairo so mysterious living flames were currently headed towards a populous city that was already dealing with other problems.
You didn't know if they'd already made it but you had to catch up to them.
The Kami didn't know how to disguise themselves as humans though so you couldn' just teleport again. Teleporting into a public space looking like that would cause the same kind of problem that you were trying to prevent.
Hopefully the living flames had taken breaks though, otherwise you had little chance of catching up to them. Hopefully Team A had delayed them at least.
What did you want to talk about while you were heading north?
[ ] Write in (Ideas for what's going on so I know what sort of thing Kalina is thinking about in the next chapter)
[ ] Nothing (Kalina will have no thoughts while running, meaning she will make no deductions about what's going on)
A week late but here it is. I actually thought those questions were going to spark a fight but while writing it I realised you were fine. Kalina didn't want to start a fight so she wouldn't ask the follow-up questions I had thought might be asked.
Anyway, what are your ideas about what is going on? It'll all be answered within the next two or three chapters (Allowing time for fights and the like)
Basically all the clues have been presented for you. There is one or two missing, but they can be inferred… in theory. I want to see if I've left enough groundwork to let people see what I was leading up to.
[X] Contemplating
-[X] These shadowed "kami" seem eager to fight. And... prideful? Defensive? Demanding a group of strangers hand over a magical relic after having spoken to one of them. Once.
-[X] It is still better to deal with them in good faith. Until the situation changes at least.
-[X] "Figures of Burning gold." Certainly puts the mural to mind. Much like these Kami who are so shadowed.
-[X] Perhaps that Mural was entirely literal and you are going to see the golden murals Figures?
-[X] It also pays to keep in mind there were two spots on the map. Something else is going on here... in more a less the same direction you are heading right?
It also pays to keep in mind there were two spots on the map. Something else is going on here... in more a less the same direction you are heading right?
"I am a Kami. Though we also call ourselves Tsukihito"
You'd sensed their reiatsu was similar but this…
"And yours?" he asked.
You took a moment to respond and decided to dodge the confusion at first.
"We are Gaians."
There, that would do well to avoid complications until you could figure out what it meant. If he was a Kami… Well, it would recontextualize some of the things you saw on that mural.
The Seijin began to chant and you felt powerful reiatsu welling up.
As white rope sprung from the Seijin's wrists, you realised you recognised the spell.
"Sentan Searches" Or thousand-coil white snake. Reido 54. You'd never seen it cast but you had seen a mention of it in one of the books you'd read while studying spellcraft.
As you all travelled, trying to keep away from the views of humans, you contemplated what was going on.
These Shadowy "Kami"… they seem very willing to fight. There's also something to how one of them demanded that the bell be handed over upon first hearing about it that sounded incredibly prideful.
It was a different kind of pride than the Shinigami had. Shinigami seemed to believe "We are stronger than all others because of what we are." while these "Kami" instead believed "All that is ours is ours by right." or something like that.
It's like… two people are talking in a meeting room, one shows off a fancy pen and the other demands they hand it over as "It's theirs by seniority." Or something similar.
Was it something like a claim of seniority? An attempt to establish some sort of pecking order? It was a bully's behaviour, really.
Even so, it was better to keep dealing with them in good faith, at least until the situation changed. Your team might not be able to win if a fight broke out right now after all.
Moving on from that though… "Figures of burning gold."
You had thought that it would be something like your divine power, but if there were some sort of figures made entirely of divine power… and they were some sort of interloper… you really didn't know what the mural was meant to mean anymore.
Figures of shadow, figures of burning gold. Where were the Gaians then, the figures of stone? No, that didn't quite add-up either. Gaians didn't have claws or swords. Plus it made the "Dark figures burst out from stone" piece all the more complicated.
…
You all spent most of the day travelling. On and off running and flash stepping took you to a place your teacher translated as Faiyum by around seven in the evening. Along the way more rumours had been brought to you by the teacher.
The figures were still heading north. The news was outstripping normal attempts at information control. Apparently there was a group that normally helped in keeping the populace ignorant but they didn't have a branch here anymore. Your teacher didn't know the specifics. Just that they used to be here and they were called the Mamushi.
It was going to take a lot of clean-up work for this, but your teacher would be able to get in contact with the soul societies of the east and west in order to cover this up after the fact.
With that said though, all of you were exhausted after a day of travel. You could keep pressing on through the night again but your teacher made a call.
Even the Kami were flagging so they rested too. You all lay in the dunes outside of Faiyum. The plan was for you to get up before dawn tomorrow though, you were just resting early to make that easier.
You watched the sun set and the moon rise. As it did, the Kami known as "Tsukisen" approached you again.
"You asked where my home was this morning, I could not tell you then, I can now."
There was a good chance you'd already guessed, but he pointed up at the moon.
"There, that is Tsuki no Ryōiki."
…The land of the moon, you'd gotten confused between the words for moon and month before.
These Kami lived on the moon.
You all spent the night together and in the morning you all set out before first light.
As you all ran though, dawn began to break as you approached Cairo. It was all the way up when you were able to sense something new.
It was like the Lunar Kami in a way, you sensed that they, and your classmates, were currently near those great pyramids that you could see a few miles away.
The Lunar Kami hardened their expression.
"Are those others with you?"
"They are." You nodded.
"I pray to the grand elder that they have managed to stop the invaders, and have not become bait or their slaves."
Grand Elder? No, not the time.
With groups this big, if you could sense them, they could probably sense you. Your approach wouldn't come as a surprise.
Given that…
As you were planning the move, the Lunar Kami's Seijin began walking forward, resolve on their face. Their team quickly fell in behind them. You could therefore not afford to wait. You led your team after them too.
Golden lights could be seen approaching you from the direction of the pyramid. You could see Gaians with them, the Noble team. To some degree they looked just as confused about all of this as you did.
They had neither captured the golden figures nor been captured by them. Much as, you reflected, you hadn't been captured or been captured by the Lunar Kami.
The golden figures of flame… as they drew closer you could start o make out their bodies.
They weren't truly "Golden." Not in the way of divine power. It looked like they were simply made of flame, and that flame burned at different intensities. One glowed gold though, just one. The colours of their flame didn't look natural.
All of them had features like humans though, faces, arms and the like.
The tension was so thick you could cut it, while you wanted to head over to the noble team and swap stories, doing that right now might cause a fight to break out.
The Lunar Kami's Seijin spoke first.
"Intruders, you are stepping on forbidden ground. The people of this world are under our protection from the likes of you."
The golden flame being replied. They spoke Japanese just like the Lunar Kami did. It sounded ancient.
"Forbidden? Take a look at yourself oh creature of darkness, and speak not of what is forbidden. Your binds won't restrain our freedom to do with this land what we chose."
Oh dear, they were just as possessive of this world as the Lunar Kami were.
On that matter… each of the types had similar feeling "powers" to Gaians, they spoke the same language, they both felt possessive of the earth.
"You'd accuse us of being creatures of darkness?" The Seijin demanded angrily. As their reiatsu control flickered you felt their power. You were sure that they were the strongest person here, even as the Golden flame being replied in letting their own spiritual power flow, they weren't as strong as the Seijin.
"You are the creatures of shadow we were warned of!" The golden flame yelled "Monsters wrapped in shadow. Those that created the threat of the Hollows!"
"What of yourself?" The Seijin retorted "We have myths too, myths of creatures of molten rock and flames. Those that made pacts with the Hollows and wore masks of white to grow in strength!"
Hold on… something felt wrong here.
"We fought against the creators of the hollows!" The golden figure yelled "And we will follow our ancestors in protecting people from those like you! We trained the first humans in how to fight you and yours!"
"You liars! Those of fire destroyed human settlements, ripping them apart and feasting on them to grow stronger just like the other Hollows!"
Neither of them were listening to the others, just yelling out insults and preparing to fight. You were listening though, and you were starting to have ideas.
But could it really be…? You had the pieces. Could you put them all together properly?
If you didn't speak now, it was likely the two groups would come to conflict. If that happened…
[ ] Let a fight break out, and try to flee when they're distracted.
[ ] Try to get in on the conversation (What will you say?)
Right then, here we go. I've given you the last few damning clues. I think you should be able to put it all together now.
Well, there are actually two connections you can make now. The one that was possible to make before but should now be obvious, and one that was very subtle before but now should be more clear.
I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping the dialogue wasn't too obnoxious.
After you start theorycrafting, before I begin writing the next chapter, I might throw you all a clue in the form of "Maybe you should Reread [certain chapter] again." Which chapter I point to will of course depend on what I think you're missing. And I'll give you time to think through it again with that new clue.
I'll be honest, I just really want to see if you all can get it without me needing to just explain. It looks so simple to me, but I know the answer already so of course it would look simple.
The mural featured golden figures associated with both the sun and the moon. But both were golden figures.
Those following the sun taught? And used kido and energy blasts. While those following... under? The moon fought using martial arts... and worked with the animal people perhaps.
Wish we knew more about the silver city.
Those black figures from below. The way the murals shows possession and corruption.
There were a lord and lady Kami were there not? Figures representing the sun and the moon who did... something? It was a long time ago. <_<
But I think these groups are also Kami. And that pur respective peoples split up to complete different tasks but lost the information.
Whatever the black tendrils and corruption under the earth were it is clear that a great many disparate peoples. And Kami were united in opposing them.
Maybe it was our job to keep watch...
Maybe that Bell wasn't to warn us about something on the surface. But to warn us of the need to gather allies. And to show where they are.
There was also specifically a desert shown in one of the murals. With a lone Kami surrounded by dark figures.
I suspect. And fear. That this is kinstrife. And beyond that Kkinstrife organized by those with the power and will to possess Kami.
"We fought against the creators of the hollows!" The golden figure yelled "And we will follow our ancestors in protecting people from those like you! We trained the first humans in how to fight you and yours!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56Mn2mvlyNQ As you continued to recover on Sunday you realised what it was that you had obtained. The ability to summon multiple doubles during a battle. In a way it fixed one of the problems you’d encountered in your battle with Hesiodio, that being his defeat...
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I will say though that you are on "the right track." There is one or two errors of course but I don't think that any of the mistakes are too major...
I can't really say more than that without outright pointing at some of the clues.
As he was adventuring about, he came across a truly beautiful weapon abandoned in a tunnel. A spear of pure Adamant decorated with red jewels all over its head and shaft.
Some may scoff and say the decorations wouldn't be helpful but the spear was magical. It held a number of incredible powers that the knight used to achieve fame and power. However, the spear was a trap. It had been possessed by a Hollow before he discovered it.
The hollow turned on the knight and the knight, left with nothing but his own spear, was weaker than he had been before finding the Red Jeweled Spear. In the time he had been using it, his own spear skills had waned.
The message of the story was typically presented as "Don't become too prideful in something you don't properly own." But in this case you were thinking about it slightly differently.
Relying on something this strong, against enemies that wouldn't be able to beat you even if you weren't using it, feels like it would cause you to get lazy with your other talents.
There was another version of the Red Jeweled Spear story, as there always were with old folktales, this involved the knight taking it with him to a duel and his opponent learning of a secret weakness in the spear.
It forces the knight into a perilous position. He was now too weak to win without the spear but that using the spear would spell his defeat.
"Draw your red spear" was a bit of a joking phrase to some people, effectively meaning something like "Do it and you'll fail."
There were a couple of similar tales, dating back a long time. A cursed blue spear that made its user lash out against the things they cared about, A golden and black spear that rotted the user's soul while they still lived. That sort of thing.
All of them had the same basic moral "When laying claim
The red jewels surrounding the figures at the top of the mural? Perhaps as a source of empowerment... and explicit reference to magical weapons relating to the other colors >.> damn.
What WAS that comet is also a super interesting question, since if anything it was considered to be EVEN MORE important than sun and moon... more central even.
I should go back and read the shadowy boys dialogue as well.
We should also keep in mind that the abyss kin, remember we encountered them during Act 0.4 Threat, could they be related to the original creation of Hollows? We know that those swords they carry seem to have a corrupting effect, so could they be related to the red-jeweled spear that was 'corrupted' by a hollow in the folk-tails?
We can also remember from the mural that there were panels showing corrupted golden figures striking down non-corrupted figures, it could be that the corruption blatantly manipulated the Solar and Lunar Kami into thinking that the other was their enemy.
We should also keep in mind that the abyss kin, remember we encountered them during Act 0.4 Threat, could they be related to the original creation of Hollows? We know that those swords they carry seem to have a corrupting effect, so could they be related to the red-jeweled spear that was 'corrupted' by a hollow in the folk-tails?
We can also remember from the mural that there were panels showing corrupted golden figures striking down non-corrupted figures, it could be that the corruption blatantly manipulated the Solar and Lunar Kami into thinking that the other was their enemy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk1BOpAH4Vg There was no time to waste! Okay, but how to do this quickly? Flash step over the street, then break in through the window? Yes. That would do… Shakily, you land across the road. You got the angle right though, you’re now right next to his window...
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From checking the recap on who posted on the sister quest, it seems you might not have read it yet so you might want to start from the begining. I'm not sure.
Eh, that's not a great hint though. And it's not a hint I offered in this side of the quest...
Damn it, I really should have made the foreshadowing on "a certain thing" more obvious in this quest.
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