AEHU/Plot/Chapter 4

Event Geography

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Event Complex 1

• The pirate captain's description of life in Medina was an understatement -- it's a society in total collapse with no central authority, composed of human ruffians exiled from their homelands and impoverished Mystics who bemoan the Magus' sudden disappearance years ago and their community's ensuing meltdown. It's sort of an "everyone's out for themselves" kind of environment in high contrast to Choras' collectivism and natural bounty. Wittel's probably randomly assaulted by vagabonds as he explores. Street peddlers run off with his money. All in all, it's a bad day.

• While Ozzie may be continuing his comical vain attempts at self aggrandizement and Flea might be off using his feminine charm on drunk sailors, Slash's small group - it goes by the name Oneiro, Greek for "Dream" - is making a serious effort at bringing normalcy back to Mystic life, organizing rebuilding, trying to farm the arid soil, etc. Wittel learns from Slash's lieutenants that any effort to communicate with the human kingdoms and request food aid over the past year has been rebuffed.

• Wittel notices Artemis about to walk into a tavern and has a short discussion with her regarding the nature of life in Medina. As with the spirit situation, she knows much about the country's history.

• Artemis chides Wittel's knack for getting himself into danger and lets him stick around for safety -- she's extremely savvy dealing with Mystics for someone who's apparently human. He shadows her into the tavern, where she deftly steers him away from Flea and proceeds to wait for someone she's agreed to meet there. In walks Dalton - maybe in a new costume to throw the player off at first - and he probably has an awkward encounter with Flea before finding Artemis. Dalton broaches the topic of "Levantine" and he and Artemis trade whatever knowledge they have of it at this point. All that is revealed at this point is that the blade is said to sever spirits from their connection to the physical plane.

• Artemis excuses herself per the fact that she's due in Porre tomorrow. Spirits are running rampant in the forests of Gehrzbuehle apparently. She advises Wittel to hightail it back to the safety of Choras, and he'd be on his way if not for the fact that he discovers his boat's been stolen on top of all the other warm welcomes he's received in this no-holds-barred societal chaos.

• Trailed by bandits as nightfall approaches, Wittel decides it would be best to seek a crowd he could blend into. He finds it inside a dilapidated Moon Goddess temple; inside is Raqh, and Wittel witnesses him begin to deliver a sermon to a multivariate crowd.

• Raqh doesn't get much farther than establishing that life = suffering and there's no escape from suffering, not even via death. A random Magus worshipper pipes up that things were better under the Magus, and that the Magus will return and Medina needs only be patient. Raqh dismisses the Magus as one of many charlatans who preyed on others, exacerbating the world's decrepit state. Slash, listening from a balcony, asks how the audience should know whether Raqh is also a charlatan, and Raqh answers that he desires no power except the power to save those who would defy fate and escape worldly suffering forever. Raqh's sermon is derailed entirely when a supporter of the "Magnanimous Ozzie" says that *his* guy is the one to save Medina, the Ozzie supporter is accused of being paid to say that, and a general fistfight ensues. Raqh says that he cannot save those who refuse to listen, and calls over the tumult that those who are actually interested in his final solution must await his return at a later date.

• By the time the crowd breaks up, Wittel's successfully lost whichever brigands had been chasing him and he ventures onto a cliff to ponder on his education in the ways of anarchy and society-wide desperation. Raqh joins him and recognizes him from the sermon crowd. Noting Wittel's youth, he asks our protagonist if his life is fueled by any particular dream. Wittel replies predictably, but expresses confusion over the rightness of killing the pirate captain earlier; he realizes that the pirate captain would have been seen as a hero in Medina had he returned with bountiful food supplies.

• Raqh confides that his own personal journey started in the fog of war. While in the military, Raqh came to the conclusion that "heroes" are people celebrated for preying upon those weaker than themselves; they are essentially glorified criminals. Wittel admits that his own conceptualization of heroism up til now was childish, but vows to continue searching for the essence of heroism.

• Wittel inquires as to the nature of Raqh's military experience, and Raqh admits that he was once a Guardian knight of some rank and had even faced Slash on the battlefields of Porre, though he surmises that Slash couldn't recognize him unarmored. He muses whether he can "save" Slash.

• Wowed by Raqh's origin, Wittel confides that he'd love to see the land Cyrus fought for, and possibly the land in which he himself was born. However, first there was the war, and soon afterward Guardia tightly sealed its borders to all but Choran supply ships and high-level dignitaries. Raqh believes more worldly experience would do the boy some good and invites him on his continuing "proselytizing tour" that will take them first to Porre, then to Guardia. Wittel agrees.

Event Complex 2

• Just outside Porre, Raqh notes that they should rest because there won't be an inn open inside the city -- many buildings are in quarantine due to a plague that's run rampant there. During the night Wittel witnesses Raqh channeling spirits for the first time, and it's a downright disturbing experience. Raqh's conversation with the spirits confirms that a "Power" on the far fringes of spacetime continues to gradually devour the denizens of the Shadow Realm. Raqh inquires how he might reach the Power, and he is directed to a far more knowledgeable spirit holed up in Gehrzbuehle. Wittel wonders just what the heck he's gotten into.

• The next morning Wittel finds the Porre of 606AG devastated by medieval plague. Raqh assures him they'll be fine as long as they don't visit quarantined houses and steer clear of the dead frogs littering the streets -- he's imposed strict rules on his followers to ensure their survival until such time as they can achieve salvation, and so far it's worked. Wittel and Raqh may come across an enslaved imp or two, a throwback to Porre's imperial past that generates some pertinent conversation.

• Wittel sits in on Raqh's sermon in front of a packed audience in some hidden-away location. This audience is enrapt in what he has to say and he has the chance to fully explain his final solution to suffering. Breaking the chain of eternal suffering requires that the living consciousness be snuffed out entirely, with no chance for reincarnation. He explains what he knows of the Power but reports that he does not know how to reach it just yet. He must continue wandering the wilderness in search of clues and promises to return on a set date.

Event Complex 3

• Wittel and Raqh travel to Viper Manor, the site at which an especially powerful and knowledgeable spirit resides per what Raqh discovered the previous night. On their way in they witness Artemis confronting Thaddeas Viper, current heir to the defunct Viper Clan and her uncle/cousin. Without knowing it would end up being Artemis, he contracted the help of the "Shadow Hunter" who had been assisting in other countries because spirits have halted the construction of Viper Manor, which is to serve as the clan's new base of operations in Porre's largely unsettled Gehrzbuele province. The carpenters hired for the job may comically be the same ones Crono & co. helped in Choras in 600AG.

• The vehemence with which Artemis and Lord Viper converse reveals there's some serious enmity between them, and there are oblique references both to Artemis' having chosen a Mystic over their company and to the Viper Clan's practice of enslaving Mystics. When the dust settles, Artemis vows to complete her work here without pay for the sake of eliminating the danger the spirits pose to the general populace in this still-uncharted province.

• Wittel accompanies Raqh into a mid-construction Viper Manor. As they close in on the main source of spiritual phenomena within the mansion/fort, Raqh notes an extremely powerful spiritual presence. They walk in on Artemis confronting Gladus and observe the freaky battle that ensues, finally ending in a draw. Raqh intervenes. Calling out to Gladus, he explains that he knows the spirit seeks to escape the Power gradually annihilating all in the Shadow Realm, and offers his body freely if she will share what she knows of the Power. Gladus and Raqh arrive at an understanding that the arrangement will be temporary, as Artemis is Gladus' desired vessel.

• Artemis commands Raqh to expel the spirit -- he can't possibly fathom the danger associated with harboring Gladus. Raqh explains that his willpower is more than enough to retain control over his own actions, and furthermore he's harboring a bunch of spirits already without incident. Artemis, still recovering from the confrontation with Gladus, pleads with Raqh in vain as he walks away.

Event Complex 4

• Wittel and Raqh venture through the treacherous Sunken Desert.

• Smack dab in the middle of the desert, Wittel and Raqh find an oasis-like watering hole with trees springing up all around it. Robo is hard at work here but takes some time out of his day to warn the travelers of the desert's various dangers, recounting some of its history and explaining himself in medieval terminology to satisfy Wittel's curiosity. Fiona finds them and offers the Guardia-bound travelers a place to rest.

• Inside Fiona's Villa Raqh discovers an old acquaintance in Marco, who also fought in the war after Guardia acquired San Dorino. Marco recognizes Raqh as Knight Captain Guildstern, though Raqh emphasizes that he has since abandoned that name. Catching up on old times somehow gets steered toward Raqh's philosophy, and he attempts to convert both Fiona and Marco to no avail. The discussion turnst to dreams, and both Fiona and Wittel discuss theirs. Raqh grows uncomfortable with such talk and excuses himself for a walk outside. Sure enough Wittel finds him channelling spirits by the oasis and acquiring some useful knowledge from Gladus. Raqh's spirit channelling lasts the night and Wittel decides to catch a nap after he discusses how spooky Raqh is with Fiona and Marco. When Fiona, Robo, and Marco see them off the next morning, Raqh cautions Fiona that hope can be dangerous, like a temporary palliative that keeps those who suffer from wanting to find a true cure.

• Robo's view of Raqh turns into a panel screen in Chronopolis, and 2300AG Robo and Belthasar watch Raqh walk off into the sunrise via the transmission. They have a thematic discussion focused around the fact that Raqh has become a crucial piece in the enormous puzzle that is Project Kid. Belthasar notes that the historical record shows Raqh and his entire cult will disappear in a few weeks' time relative to Wittel's experiences. Robo counts several hundred instances in which people suddenly disappeared, but Belthasar says Raqh disappeared under extremely special circumstances, seeing as he took several hundred cubic kilometers of earth with him -- just so happens that a before-and-after comparison of the 606AG map shows that the entire island on which Giant's Claw rests disappeared at the same time. Barring a several hundred megaton nuclear explosion, a serious distortion of spacetime must have been responsible. He wonders what was special about Giant's Claw that made the distortion spatially focused there.

• Belthasar and Robo visit AI FATE and Belthasar expresses his satisfaction with the advanced intelligence, extremely thankful he found the inspiration for it during Crimson Echoes. AI FATE has passed its first test of predicting events in 606AG, right down to the number of frog carcasses lying in the streets of Porre on a given day (or maybe some observation 600AG Robo made -- maybe AI FATE predicted Raqh and Wittel would arrive at Fiona's villa on a given day). AI FATE accomplished this through the use of behavioral algorithms that calculate the probable course of human and animal behavior based on naturalistic tendencies.

• Belthasar observes the completion of AI FATE's second test by confirming Magus' arrival in Chronopolis down to the predicted nanosecond. Magus reports that he has witnessed the birth of a terrible being (an event that occurs during [i]Crimson Echoes[/i]) and wishes to undo it, but he lacks the ability to re-access the Darkness Beyond Time, although he has souped-up magic powers and the ability to create Time Gates. Belthasar enters some variables into AI FATE and calculates that Magus' introduction into 606AG will not change the timeline enough to prevent Raqh from creating whatever distortion removed Giant's Claw, though it appears the event will arrive a few days early. Magus and Belthasar agree that the risk of distorting the timeline is well worth the reward of Magus accessing the DBT, and Magus creates a Gate leading to the era. Just before the scene fades out, Robo asks Belthasar about the morality of letting Magus continue under the impression that he'll be able to destroy the "being" in question, but Belthasar insists that it is necessary for Magus to put his all into the effort.

AEHU/Plot