Summary: Shantotto leads a Windurstian delegation and clashes with the Aht
Urhgan court. The adorable puppety pair of Aphmau and Ovjang.
Mission: Guests of the Empire (Treasures of Aht Urhgan)
-I arrive at the palace gate at the Empress’s invitation with Naja.
-Gessho meets us here too. He wants to join as my guest instead of Naja, but she says no frigging way.
-Naja and I head inside. The Empress thanks us, but is troubled by this whole Ephramad ghost ship business.
-The puppet Ovjang thinks there’s nothing to fear, but the blue mages think the Black Coffin and the revival of Admiral Luzaf will ignite unrest.
-A new puppet named Mnejing appears, dressed like a white knight. The Empress addresses him with respect.
-The Empress gives me a “Glory Crown” in honor of my work, and Naja and I leave.
-The camera lingers on Ovjang and Mnejing. They mention something about “the Dark Rider” as one of their lurking opponents.
-The puppets joke around until the door opens and Grand Vizier Razfahd strides in. Aphmau scampers away.
-Razfahd’s tone is more hostile than I would have expected. “What have you done!? Is it true you signed my name to invite a mercenary into the palace?”
lol Nashmeira did this without Razfahd knowing.
RAZFAHD: “Your games go too far. Listen to me. If you are to continue your role as Empress, you must learn some discretion. Perform the functions you are entrusted with, and to everything else… you must close your eyes and cover your ears…
“I do not wish Her Magnificence to soil her hands with the Empire’s dark secrets.”
-Aphmau appears at the side of the court, apologizing to Grand Vizier Razfahd.
RAZFAHD: “Let me remind you. Your Magnificence can do nothing alone.”
It’s hard to tell, but I get the sense that he’s addressing Aphmau.
-Here’s my current theory on Razfahd and Nashmeira/Aphmau:
Grand Vizier Razfahd wants to protect Aphmau, and probably encouraged her as her guardian and adviser to pretend to be just a puppetmaster so she could know her Empire better, from a ground level. Aphmau also seems playful enough to not allow herself to be restricted to sitting on the throne, so this might have been a compromise.
Whatever the details, I feel much more certain now that Razfahd knows that Aphmau = Nashmeira, and much less certain that Grand Vizier Razfahd will turn out to be a villain.
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Mission: Passing Glory (Treasures of Aht Urhgan)
-As soon as we leave, Naja Salaheem turns to me and make me give her the Glory Crown. She’s the president of the company and I’m just a lowly mercenary.
-Y’know what? Not even made. She deserves a crown for being the greedy and fabulous queen of my heart.
-Anyway, she says she’s just temporarily holding onto it for me until I work for her for years and years and years. Then she might consider giving it back.
-I meet up with Naja back at the headquarters. An ambassador from Windurst in on her way.
-I learn that the puppets Ovjang and Mnejing belonged to the previous Emperor and Empress. They weren’t just created by Aphmau. (Unless… what if Aphmau was the puppetmaster for the prior Emperor and Empress and only by circumstance had to take the throne over when they died?)
-I arrive at the palace gate at the Empress’s invitation with Naja.
-Gessho meets us here too. He wants to join as my guest instead of Naja, but she says no frigging way.
-Naja and I head inside. The Empress thanks us, but is troubled by this whole Ephramad ghost ship business.
-The puppet Ovjang thinks there’s nothing to fear, but the blue mages think the Black Coffin and the revival of Admiral Luzaf will ignite unrest.
-A new puppet named Mnejing appears, dressed like a white knight. The Empress addresses him with respect.
-The Empress gives me a “Glory Crown” in honor of my work, and Naja and I leave.
-The camera lingers on Ovjang and Mnejing. They mention something about “the Dark Rider” as one of their lurking opponents.
-The puppets joke around until the door opens and Grand Vizier Razfahd strides in. Aphmau scampers away.
-Razfahd’s tone is more hostile than I would have expected. “What have you done!? Is it true you signed my name to invite a mercenary into the palace?”
lol Nashmeira did this without Razfahd knowing.
RAZFAHD: “Your games go too far. Listen to me. If you are to continue your role as Empress, you must learn some discretion. Perform the functions you are entrusted with, and to everything else… you must close your eyes and cover your ears…
“I do not wish Her Magnificence to soil her hands with the Empire’s dark secrets.”
-Aphmau appears at the side of the court, apologizing to Grand Vizier Razfahd.
RAZFAHD: “Let me remind you. Your Magnificence can do nothing alone.”
It’s hard to tell, but I get the sense that he’s addressing Aphmau.
-Here’s my current theory on Razfahd and Nashmeira/Aphmau:
Grand Vizier Razfahd wants to protect Aphmau, and probably encouraged her as her guardian and adviser to pretend to be just a puppetmaster so she could know her Empire better, from a ground level. Aphmau also seems playful enough to not allow herself to be restricted to sitting on the throne, so this might have been a compromise.
Whatever the details, I feel much more certain now that Razfahd knows that Aphmau = Nashmeira, and much less certain that Grand Vizier Razfahd will turn out to be a villain.
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Mission: Passing Glory (Treasures of Aht Urhgan)
-As soon as we leave, Naja Salaheem turns to me and make me give her the Glory Crown. She’s the president of the company and I’m just a lowly mercenary.
-Y’know what? Not even made. She deserves a crown for being the greedy and fabulous queen of my heart.
-Anyway, she says she’s just temporarily holding onto it for me until I work for her for years and years and years. Then she might consider giving it back.
-I meet up with Naja back at the headquarters. An ambassador from Windurst in on her way.
-I learn that the puppets Ovjang and Mnejing belonged to the previous Emperor and Empress. They weren’t just created by Aphmau. (Unless… what if Aphmau was the puppetmaster for the prior Emperor and Empress and only by circumstance had to take the throne over when they died?)
-Doctor Shantotto is the Windurst ambassador, in disguise as “Lady Karababa.”
She is accompanied by a Cardian (one of those Tarutaru automatons) called King of Hearts and by a bumbling assistant named Rodin-Comidin.
-Mnejing (the puppet) and Amnaf (the blue mage Immortal) meet this Windurst trio to escort them to the Empress. I like that Mnejing isn’t just another Ovjang. Ovjang is jocular and silly. Mnejing is proper, aristocratic, and haughty.
-Mnejing and King of Hearts get into an automaton sass-off and this is awesome.
-Mnejing stops mid-sass, slumping over, and the scene cuts to Aphmau in the palace. She’s upset about… oh, I see. When controlling Mnejing, she accidentally used the royal we, which might stoke suspicions.
-We keep cutting back between the palace and the encounter. Back in the palace, Ovjang calls King of Hearts “the King of Huffiness” (lol) and wants Aphmau to teach the Windurstians a lesson.
-Mnejing springs back to life and goes into a fighting stance against King of Hearts. They have a brief but awesome fight.
LOLOLOL KING OF HEARTS WINS AND GETS A “LEVEL UP!” XD
-Mnejing losing to King of Hearts was clearly part of Ovjang’s and Aphmau’s plan, but I don’t know what the end goal is. “Lady Karababa”/Shantotto decides to take a candy break before meeting the Empress.
-As she walks away, “Karababa” thinks to herself that something might be up. King of Hearts was damaged by the ocean spray on the trip over and still destroyed the vaunted Aht Urhgan automaton.
-Back to the palace. Aphmau changes her clothes from her normal white outfit to a red one. This is apparently unusual enough to count as a disguise for whatever Aphmau is about to do.
-She twirls around for the puppet Ovjang, showing off her new clothes..
Aphmau is adorable. She’s going through with whatever Ovjang’s plan is. A plan they are keeping secret from the Grand Vizier.
-I love this pair a lot. They’re incredibly cute together.
-Naja, her secretary and I watched the whole interaction with the Windurst ambassadors from a balcony. Naja now wants to convince the “Lady Karababa” that Salaheem’s Sentinels are superior to King of Hearts and worth hiring.
-omg naja is taunting me by wearing my crown
Troll game on point.
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Mission: Sweets for the Soul (Treasures of Aht Urhgan)
-I head to the Shararat Teahouse. That’s where the Windurst delegation is going, and it sounds like that’s also where Aphmau and Ovjang are sneaking off to.
-Travialce (the San d’Orian ninja, aid to Prince Trion) and Gessho are both here. I join them and relate my recent adventures.
-Travialce leaves, and Gessho tells me a bit about his recent travels around Aht Urhgan.
-He visited the beastmen city Mamook, and spoke with their iguana-looking leader, Sagelord Molaal Ja about the Astral Candescence. The Sagelord thinks Aht Urhgan plans to use it for military purposes. He wants the Astral Candescence not for its benefits to his people, but rather to avert Aht Urhgan’s plan.
-Gessho hasn’t yet visited Halvung, a Troll land. He heard that the Black Coffin has been visiting it.
-Overall, Aht Urhgan isn’t in great shape. “Even without these undead corsairs and armies of shambling corpses, even without the constant bloodshed on the eastern front, the borders of this nation are forever drenched in the stench of death.”
-OH SHIT WTF – magical lightning suddenly zaps Gessho and he flees.
???: “Ohohohoho! I could have sworn I saw a Yagudo here sipping tea without a care…
A pity. I was hoping for the chance to cast Flare.”
Fucking Doctor Shantotto. Like, I get that her people are at war with the Yagudo back in the west, but Gessho’s different.
-She sees me and asks me to guide her around the region. Specifically, she asks about some Olduum ruins.
“There are few in Windurst who would recognize the name.
It’s the philosopher Ramuh who has stolen all the fame.”
Ramuh’s staff is “Olduum” and he uses it to manipulate lightning. She wants to investigate the rumors of tools that created the staff are being dug up in Aydeewa Subterrane – she wants to use those to improve her own experiments.
-Scene change. We see Aphmau and Ovjang approaching the Shararat Teahouse. She’s remembering their last visit here fondly. “The Grand Vizier wouldn’t let me try any of the food for fear of upsetting my delicate stomach. And then you got in trouble for stuffing an entire helvasi in your mouth!”
-A protected life. Aphmau is frustrated to see Shantotto enjoying the sweets and coffee of the teahouse. Tasting things Aphmau was never allowed.
APHMAU: “That’s it! She’s going on my enemy-for-life list!” Personally, I’d never want someone on that list who knew how to cast Flare, but you do you.
-They notice me sitting with Shantotto, and creep closer to eavesdrop. They learn Shantotto’s interested in the Olduum ruins.
-ok this is hilarious. XD Aphmau is leaning closer from above the tent to listen in and Ovjang is holding her legs, but he’s struggling to hold her feet.
-Shantotto is a bit brusque with me to say the least, and Aphmau takes it personally. “(How dare she bully Detolilla around like that… unacceptable!” Aw
“(Detolilla is my mercenary. The only one allowed to bully her… is me!)” Uh… ok. This expansion’s theme seems to be “awesome women bullying Detolilla.” Naja Salaheem, Nashmeira, and now Shantotto.
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Mission: Teahouse Tumult (Treasures of Aht Urhgan)
-I head to the Aydeewa Subterrane. We see Ovjang digging as Aphmau cheers her on.
He finds a snail-like object.
-The camera pans back a bit. A Qiqirin is watching them. This Qiqirin speaks into some magical walkie-talkig reporting to his friends. “Seeeecret treasure looocated! Ooover!”
-Ovjang recognizes the pattern on the object he found. It looks a bit like the Astral Candescence.
-Qiqirin surprise the pair, chasing and cornering them.
Wawaroon leads the gang. He wants the “swirly-swirly” they dug up. Aphmau refuses.
-Back to me. I really like the peaceful music down here.
-I join Shantotto and King of Hearts as they explore. These ruins are more ancient than anything back west.
-In the distance, they see the cornered Aphmau and Ovjang. I’m about to charge over to help them, but Shantotto blasts the Qiqirin, scaring them away.
“It seems my little incantation
was a wee bit too much stimulation!”
-Instead of this being a happy meeting, Aphmau and Ovjang are pissed at how poorly Shantotto – sorry, “Lady Karababa” – and King of Hearts treated Mnejing earlier.
-Ovjang wants revenge and attacks King of Hearts. King of Hearts casts fire magic and blasts the shit out of Ovjang, knocking out me and Aphmau as well. King of Hearts is wrecking today.
-King of Hearts finds the object Ovjang dug up, an “insulation cover.” They leave for the city while all of us are still unconscious.
-An imp floats by.
“We gotta hurry, Boss! There are lotsa people headed this way.” The imp’s boss is invisible. He picks up the still-unconscious Ovjang and drags him away.
-Time passes. The blue mage guards and Grand Vizier Razfahd find us. Aphmau wakes up briefly and sees Razfahd: “My brother?” She falls back unconscious. OH SHIT THEY”RE SIBLINGS??
-Razfahd takes her back to the palace, but not before telling me to keep quiet about this.
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Next time: back to Salaheem’s Sentinels. I wonder what Shantotto wants next.
