Mission: In the Blood (Treasures of Aht Urhgan)
-I report into Naja Salaheem. She asks me for the truth of my mission. I’m not supposed to tell, but…
-The scene changes to the palace. Razfahd is with Ghatsad, Imperial archaeologist. The candescences are all in place for whatever their plan is.
RAZFAHD: “No longer must we continue with that impossible search. My father’s – no, my entire dynasty’s – dream can at last become a reality.”
-They haven’t found the real candescences, but Ghatsad came up with prototypes. The only thing they lack is a device capable of harnessing the power of all five candescences.
-They have to find the control center. It might have been destroyed after the last battle with the Dark Rider, but Razfahd thinks not. “Would not Alexander wish to be restored?” AHA! So he wants to rebuild/resummon Alexander.
-OKAY THIS IS FUCKING COOL. The “ruins” we’ve seen aren’t just random buildings or forts. They’re pieces of Alexander himself! The control center is somewhere among those ruins.
-Ghatsad and Razfahd don’t want to waste time with a massive search. They want to find the blueprints instead that will tell them where the control center is, and Razfahd thinks it’s in the “Gordeus.” That spinning orb inside the Temple of Walahra.
- The Gordeus is like a puzzle, and only the Sage Walahra has ever unraveled it. Razfahd has an idea. I’ll bet he treates the Gordeus like the Gordian knot and tries to slice through it. Or maybe he’ll get one of his Lamiae to resurrect Walahra.
RAZFAHD: “We must act with all haste. The Age of Judgment is upon us.”
-Back to me and Naja. I apparently told her the truth, and she doesn’t believe me lol.
-A wanted poster came to her attention just recently from the Grand Vizier. Admiral Luzaf. Though the wanted poster calls him “Duzaf the Blackbelly.”
“His crimes include murder, hijack, smuggling, counterfeiting, matrimonial fraud, camping the best hunting spots… Quite a rrrrap sheet.”
Lololol camping the best hunting spots is the GREATEST SIN in old MMORPGs XD
-The reward is massive, and Naja Salaheem wants me to collect.
-The reward from the last mission comes in, 10 Imperial gold pieces, but Naja deducts 9 of those for various administrative costs.
-omg naja. I protest, and she responds by making me sing the company anthem to build my morale.
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Mission: Sentinels’ Honor (Treasures of Aht Urhgan)
-Some time passes, and Naja tells me she’s deduced that the “Duzaf” we’re hunting is really Luzaf. I’m to track down this bounty by boarding the Black Coffin.
-The scene switches to that ghost ship. Nashmeira and Ovjang are watching over the sleeping Luzaf.
-He stirs a bit. “The Age of Judgment… I must rise…”
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Mission: Testing the Waters (Treasures of Aht Urhgan)
-I return to the ghost ship where Flit is talking to Luzaf.
FLIT: “His Maleficence awaits. Off the girl, and let’s get on with the ceremony in Hazhalm.” Sounds like he has to sacrifice someone for the Dark Rider to fully take hold. Luzaf is having second thoughts.
-Luzaf talks to Nashmeira. He was once the Crown Prince of Ephramad. The Empire of Aht Urhgan destroyed his kingdom while he was studying abroad, and he returned to forge the remaining Ephramadian navy into rebel corsairs.
The corsair fleet was annihilated by Imperial Lamiae. The Black Coffin escaped, but was sunk by Imperial ships at sea. As the ship was sinking, he cried out to Odin.
“Great Odin, guardian of the Kingdom of Ephramad, I beseech thee. If it is but one swing of my blade, grant me the chance for revenge.”
The Dark Rider we saw must be Odin!
-Odin then appeared to Luzaf: “When the Age of Judgment draws near, I shall grant thy wish. But once thy revenge is complete, thou shalt destroy mine enemy… Alexander.”
-Luzaf now realizes his hatred isn’t for Aht Urhgan of today. It’s for the emperor who destroyed Ephramad and the Empire he ruled.
“That empire no longer exists. And you, Aphmau, are not the one against whom I seek revenge.”
-Nashmeira suggests that instead of vengeance, he rebuild Ephramad. The descendants of Ephramad would love that – and with Nashmeira as Empress, he’d have support from the Empire itself.
I love this. I mean, no way it works out – you don’t just make a vow to the dark god Odin and back out of it – but still.
-Flit protests. The crew has been restored, the ship raised. Odin has fulfilled his side of the pact. Luzaf must fulfill his. He must go to Hazhalm and become the incarnation of Odin, the Dark Rider.
-Hazhalm is the laboratory that created the Lamiae. One day, they pushed too far, ripped open a door into Odin’s domain.
-Luzaf will go to Hazhalm, but still wants to nullify the pact with Odin. There must be a massive cost - eternal damnation, something like that. If it’s even possible.
-I ship Luzaf and Nashmeira. (…I ghost ship them…)
-Luzaf will take Nashmeira to Hazhalm, to show her the truth of this.
-I board the ship. Flit wants to send me away:
“You need help if you mean to rebuild your kingdom, Boss. The Ephramadian treasure you ‘recovered’ from the Empire is still stashed in Talacca Cove.”
-They want me to go protect it while they head to Hazhalm.
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Mission: Legacy of the Lost (Treasures of Aht Urhgan)
-I arrive at Talacca Cove to check on this ‘treasure.’ This place has Smaugian, Scrooge McDuck levels of treasure.
-And Gessho is here. He knew a mercenary would be coming, and is determined to take me out. What’s your deal, dude?? I thought you were my best birb.
-I defeat him. He admits to being a spy, but a spy for his Far Eastern homeland. His Mikado (a commander I guess?) ordered him to sabotage the Empire’s plans to defeat his home.
-He tried to forge alliances with the beastmen here, but found them too brutal. Admiral Luzaf was a better ally.
-However, now that I’ve defeated Gessho, all the gold surrounding us that was promised to him will be taken by the Empire, not go to his war-torn homeland.
-…wait. Admiral Luzaf didn’t tell Gessho to kill me. Flit did. …Flit, you little/literal devil.
GESSHO: “Luzaf’s proposed journey to the Hazhalm Testing Grounds plays right into Master Flit’s nasty little claws. With Lady Aphmau’s guardian off on a fool’s errand, there are none to prevent harm coming to her Imperial person.”
Flit still intends to go through with the sacrifice, whether Luzaf likes it or not. Gessho and I are buddies again.
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Mission: Gaze of the Saboteur
-I arrive at the Hazhalm Testing Grounds.
-Nashmeira, her puppets, Luzaf, and Flit are here. Luzaf casts this grand purple/black summoning circle.
LUZAF: “Great Odin! Sovereign of darkness and battle, lord of the underworld! Your humble servant Luzaf stands on the threshold of your domain.
-The summoning circle breaks open in an explosion of dark magic, and out charges Odin. The blast knocks Aphmau out, a blast Flit calls the Astral Wind – same name as the wind given by the Astral
Candescence.
ODIN: “Hast thou sated thy rage?”
-Luzaf tells Odin of his change of heart. That he now asks not for revenge, but time. Time to rebuild Ephramad.
-Odin just repeats: “Hast thou sated thy rage?” Basically: a deal’s a deal, no changes. Luzaf will become the Dark Rider.
-Before Luzaf is completely consumed by the essence of the rider, he’ll have a short window where he’ll retain free will.
-So how does Luzaf fulfill the pact? He has to crystallize his memories of rage. Rage at the Empire’s merciless treatment of his people, at all the harm done to him and his.
FLIT: “And you gotta hurl that big, venomous ball of rage… at her!” [pointing to the unconscious Aphmau] He has to let his rage out to fulfill the pact.
-OH HELL NO. Luzaf draws his gun and points it at Nashmeira. Don’t you fucking DARE.
-Luzaf then sees me out of the corner of his eye. Asks Flit: “Are you sure Detolilla is guarding the treasure?” Flit responds all, “Sure, sure! She’s safe and sound guarding the treasure, don’t worry about it.” And just like that, Luzaf knows Flit is playing him.
AND LUZAF FUCKING TURNS THE GUN ON FLIT HAHAHAHA YES
HE BLASTS FLIT OUT OF THE AIR
- Odin asks once more, “Hast thou sated thy rage?”
This time, Luzaf has an answer.
“It appears not. [Nashmeira] is my… no, she is Ephramad’s light in the darkness. If this is the incarnation I will fight until the true deity is dragged into this realm!” [Later edit: I’m not quite sure what this means. He could be saying that he’ll support Alexander, or that he’ll fight against Odin until the Dark Rider takes him over.]
-Luzaf lashes out at Odin. He is SO FRIGGING GREAT HERE.
-Odin is unfazed. “Ahahahahaha! Sate thy rage! Thou shalt become my knight. Thou shalt serve as mine arm in the Age of Judgment, until Alexander once again lies in ruins.”
-Shit. There’s no turning back. Luzaf’s will is his own for a short while, but he will soon become Odin’s vessel.
Odin departs. For now.
[Non-rhetorical question for y’all, if I was supposed to get the answer from this scene: I thought he had to sacrifice someone to fulfill the pact. Did his attack on Odin/Flit count as “sating his rage” and fulfill the pact? If not, what was the whole point to killing Aphmau then?]
-Nashmeira gets up, safe and okay. But he has a new mission: to destroy the iron colossus before Grand Vizier Razfahd reactivates it.
Really? I thought Alexander was a force for good.
LUZAF:” Maybe. But should the fully manifested incarnation of Odin clash with the iron might of Alexander…”
NASHMEIRA: “The Age of Judgment. With the victor deciding the laws of justice.” It would turn the world into an apocalyptic wasteland.
I swear, this is season 5 of Supernatural basically. And you know what? The last two expansions were season 5 of Supernatural too! Everyone wants some kind of “Paradise” or pure era that ends up killing almost everybody.
-Grand Vizier Razfahd and his Immortal guards enter. They followed us here, and kidnapped Luzaf’s crew. Now they kidnap Luzaf himself.
LUZAF: “Aphmau… Empress Nashmeira… Is this the treatment I can expect from your nation? Has nothing changed over the last 200 years?”
-Nashmeira orders the Immortals to release Luzaf, but Grand Vizier Razfahd is usurping her. She abandoned the capital voluntarily, consorted with state enemies, and he’s taking power.
-Nashmeira secretly gives me a “luminian dagger” and asks me to bring it to Salaheem’s Sentinels. I guess it’s a signal or something.
-Aphmau’s puppets teleport me to safety as Grand Vizier Razfahd/Emperor Razfahd launches a final threat:
“Tell your master this, Detolilla. The game is over. It is time to submit to the power of the Empire.”
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Next time: Finding ways to aver an apocalyptic battle between Odin and Alexander.
