I recently watched the phenomenal Centuries video by Xow, and, ignoring the incredible artwork and how cool it is to see such impressive works of fan art, it reminded me of a thought I had while reading chapter 14. Spoilers ahead!
The Sarkaz for the most part, were largely winning the war without even being slowed down. The tactics and spellcraft they honed for decades, the ones that kept them on the map the last time Kazdel was burned to the ground, are nigh unparalleled. Furthermore, due to the might of an individual Sarkaz warrior or caster, on a smaller scale individually have an advantage. Look at Patriot as the most egregious example. While many of the nations of Terra have their own super soldier programs and military class, the Sarkaz are primarily that class. Numbers stop being meaningful if you can't leverage them, and your opponent can rip you limb from limb in multiple subsequent 1v1s.
In 13-3 Before, one of the most powerful Victorian fighters, the Duke of Windermere, is ambushed in a valley, nullifying every and all tactical advantage offered by the warship and is picked off with ease. An exceedingly important and capable veteran that can even hold their own in a fight, brought low through superior positioning and planning.
The wars Victoria fought and became known for, domination via their warships, demonstrated a great way of supplementing the relative weakness of an average soldier. Make them man big guns and artillery that can bombard opponents from out of range; remove any advantage they might have had... but that doesn't matter if you can simply catch shells midair; easily deflect them with arts, as shown in 14-8 Before;
The Sarkaz, through greater strength, raw arts, and visceral tactics employed by the Military Commission, warp the battlefield in their favor, nullifying the strength of high speed warships and allowing boarding or other closer quarters combat, where they strictly have the advantage.
The Steam Knights, however, were suited for this combat. The Steam Knights can equalize the overwhelming close quarters disadvantage, survive Sarkaz witchcraft and take part, win, on frontlines.
- They were employed to great effect during Kal'tsit's inquisition. The main, most notable figure outside of Kal'tsit herself is a Steam Knight.
- The Sarkaz, remembering how devastating and effective they were in their preferred battlefield, the home turf that they don't engage in outright warfare until they have access to, go out of their way to destroy them and cripple the Victorians.
- The last remaining Steam Knight, Charles Lynch, makes a huge difference at a critical turning point of the main battle, arguably single-handedly changing the outcome and forcing a Sarkaz regrouping.
The Victorians had forgotten the warfare that predated high-speed warships, the ancient and magic-dominated setting the Sarkaz rule. Forgotten that their Steam Knights were unparalleled, dominant, key in that setting.
The Sarkaz did not. And one of their only real contenders died in the dark, eliminated silently through little more than political subterfuge.
Man, why do all of you have the most terrible names to remember? This is what actual witchcraft sounds like. Aefanyl. I'm going to scramble him like I'm scrambling these letters trying to make the name Logos out of this Scrabble.
Even more interesting is the aspect that she used magic to preserve the way she looks, so she can be eternal in his memory. It's kind of sweet, kind of... sad. Very sad if you think about how it seems like she doesn't have a long time left. I wonder if I can find anything else about her--
O, lady,
THIS MAKES SO MUCH SENSE NOW, LOOK AT THIS
SHE IS ONE OF THE SIX HEROES????
That makes... Her, Theresis, Theresa, Kal'tsit....? Two more are missing. It might be obvious but I genuinely forgot right now. I'm sure when Dr. Pinkie sees this she's going to beat me over the head since we spoke about this.
Anyways,
Ascalon is fighting with Theresis this time. It's a bittersweet goodbye too.
Theresis is still respected by Ascalon, so it's a struggle for her to face him truly. He's also giving her some fair pointers as a last goodbye.
[You still don't know what you seek, do you? To protect? That's just empty self-deceptive sentimentality. When you're unsure of your path, you merely project your motivations onto vague ideals.] <I really like this quote. Can you tell?
[I-I've thought about it carefully.]
[Perhaps. Then follow Theresa and protect her, but don't blindly adopt her ways. Think for yourself. Manfred found his answer long before you did.]
Then, Ascalon falls to one knee and turns to a mist that closes around Theresis. When it disperses, he's left with a stone knife in his hand.
As terrifying as that conversation was, nothing could prepare me for the one Theresa and Theresis had - basically agreeing that if any of them comes in the way of the other, they will have to be killed.
The Babel procession stretches far as the eye could see, past the disdainful crowd. Theresis walks towards the crowd and stand with them. He has left Theresa's side for the first time in two centuries.
They say their goodbyes.
Then something occurs, enough the silence the restless onlookers and momentarily halt the procession.
[A mercenary steps out of the line to embrace his best friend in the procession. No one can hear the whispers exchanged between the two friends by the ruins of Babel, but all are willing to wait and give them their moment of farewell.]
[A farewell between the people and their city, and between two peoples of the same blood.]
With them, Odda also part ways. With his family. His home.
For Theresa's eyes only, there's a letter.
A functional ship has been excavated from Rim Billington. On it, she found something that could change the tide of history.
Given its importance, Kal'tsit has a lot of faith in its utility for their plan.
---
BB-ST-2
Awakening in Exhaustion
[Things have not gone according to plan.]
PRIESTESS???
Can I be honest? I'm going to be honest.
I don't really like Priestess. I think yesterday Dr. Kryo asked what we all think about her and my immediate response is 'I hope she died'. Which, I think if somebody (not me) has read Vigilo they might confirm what happened with her.
If anything, I think I'm going to go and have a little dip in Vigilo since it's one of those episodic stories and I checked out the Wiki long enough to figure out which episodes will be important to understand.
But overall, yeah, I don't like her and I've been struggling to understand the Doctor for long enough to know that I probably never will agree with their ideas. As Priestess says, us lower-intelligence lifeforms can't even hope to understand their greater plans.
And speaking of plans, we should move on with the Babel story.
Four Years Ago...
Summer, 1090
We're opening with Closure and Scout, how wonderful. Hm... Interesting, why do I have this nagging feeling that there's something inherently sad about the situation?
Ah.
Well, they are on a mission. Closure imparts with us the detail that she and Kal'tsit have secured the ship and have been working on dealing with the defence system for a specific package that is on board.
Snapping to Kal and Theresa, they're talking about a specialist in Originium, the only person who can help with their task. They stand before a set of doors that have not been opened for a long time, reminiscing in the fact that Kal'tsit, no matter how careful she is, still cannot predict all the contingencies.
But they open it anyway.
And this light, we're familiar with. There was once an event, where we witnessed this same feeling, the same occurrence and that same red light shining down on Kal'tsit. Though, this is a couple of years prior.
In Lone Trail.
[Search: Preserver... No signal.]
[Search: Caerula Arbor... No signal.]
[Search: Celestial Fulcrum... No signal.]
[Search: (Unknown static noise)... No signal.]
[.......]
[Search complete. No signal detected on any channel.]
All these spots we are familiar with and for me it was bone-chilling to see them.
Preserver is a reference to the Preserver Project, which was created by the "First Civilization" at some point after the "disaster from above" that resulted in the Civilization's near-total annihilation.
They are meant to act as overseers of the Sarcophagi where the Civilization's survivors are kept in stasis until they can be awakened when the situation stabilizes in the distant future so they can restore their civilization. [Image above]
Caerula Arbor is our current IS4. Known also as the "Creeping Branch" is a dying tree-like Leviathan representing the power of "Growth" who had lost His struggle in controlling the kin, causing Him to fall from grace from the Many. His roots grow towards the core of Terra and feed on the energy of the magma beneath the surface, and is said to have the potential to consume the entire planet if allowed to grow unchecked, but currently, the Arbor is acting as a mere food source that nourishes microscopic Seaborn cells in the ocean.
Celestial Fulcrum is uh...
:)
And actually, we know a little bit more about the unrecognisable static, because we have already seen it part of a concept trailer. We were actually JUST shown this, so I did such a good job strategically stalling just so I can put this in the script.
Voila, if you have not seen it yet.
This is very kindly provided by the Wiki.
[Last update: Four million, seven hundred fifty-five thousand, nine hundred and fifty-four days ago.]
Me thinks it's around 13K years and that's quite a bit since the last update.
So the Doctor was woken up rather early, with Originium still abound. Interesting part is, they're surprised about the way it has managed to survive/has evolved - through the Sarkaz and Oripathy.
Oh no this is so endearing....
It's so endearing and sad at the same time. Doctor learning about Theresa, holding her warm hands. She was so excited to learn the language of the past from Kal'tsit, but instead Doctor hits her with 'my world is lost'.
For those like me who missed it entirely SOMEHOW, Civilight Eterna is the Crown of the Sarkaz, although I'm not sure how Doctor recognises it when he was not present during it's... release(?) and whether he understands the significance of it differently to what I know.
She's showing the Doctor different parts of their... life, I suppose.
This quote stuck out to me a lot:
Before I'm immediately on my knees because of the mentioning of a pioneer chasing the stars is pushing forward with his fallen ally on his back.
This is UNFAIR,
THEY'RE BEING MENTIONED AGAIN.
After witnessing the way Terra is right now, the Doctor seems to take it in rather well. In their view, it's all moving in the right direction, a mix of ignorance and progress that feels nostalgic and beautiful. Within Theresa, the Doctor spots somebody who loves Terra, not just a single nation. Her ideals are pure, but ultimately, way too different. She might be loathed for that, because her people aren't ready for this kind of step.
Thus the Doctor is willing to cooperate and help by first exploring the land itself to learn about the way Originium has influenced life, culture and the environment.
Ascalon is being sent after them both for protection and with a secret little task from Theresa - to explore the things other nations have, because the Sarkaz don't have the luxury to choose.
I was set to clearing all of IS4's endings and seeing as the entries found in Time-Carved Steleforest aren't readily available anywhere, decided I'd share at least my favorite ending. Enjoy!
Part 1: Terra Reborn
Following the scattered fragments in his memories, Mizuki searches for mankind’s last haven.
In these memories, humans have not gone extinct, and one last city remains standing on land.
For a human, going to the human city is a foregone conclusion hardly worth mentioning.
With such thoughts in mind, he walks onto the land, alone.
…
The Seaborn have completely transformed the entire continent.
There is no more Originium, no more barrens.
As far as the eye can see, the entire land has become a verdant expanse, all manner of plants teeming with life. Animals prance across the wilds and soar through the skies in packs, partaking freely of the land’s inexhaustible bounty.
After crossing a stream and climbing a hill, Mizuki feels a tinge of weariness and hunger, so he plucks a few fruits from the plants and pops them straight into his mouth.
The Seaborn have no need to taste their food, but these fruits have clearly retained their original taste. The only difference is, they are even more delicious, and more filling.
Previously, having enough to eat and drink was one of the few pursuits life afforded him; but now, such an ideal can easily be fulfilled by simply extending one’s hand—
Suddenly, he hears a loud rumble in the distance. A mountain range rises from the ground and begins to wander across the land.
The Seaborn’s departure was like a beacon, rousing these ancient progenitors from their slumber. The land to them is both familiar and foreign. They explore the flowers, plants, and trees before them with a mix of suspicion and curiosity.
When the Feranmut vanishes, Mizuki once again sets off on his journey to find the city.
He recalls the way humans identify one another, that they have various convenient and conspicuous ways of drawing borders and forming cohorts.
But even after walking for a long time, Mizuki does not even happen across a single ‘road’.
‘Did I remember wrong?’ He cannot help but to doubt himself, then scratches his head, trying his best to recall his impression of humans over the millenia.
However, apart from the human who brought him into the laboratory and the human he trusted the most, his memory contains only a hazy impression of that city’s towering walls.
Finally, he comes up with a brute-force method.
‘If I can’t find them, then I will have them come to me.’
He builds and lights fires in several prominent places, carves messages of kindness in every human script he can remember, and then climbs a tall mountain where he can see all the fires to await someone to answer his call.
…
Finally, the moment Mizuki was waiting for has come.
A Liberi finds a way to the mountain under the cover of darkness and holds a knife to his neck, asking him questions in a Victorian tongue laced the flavors of many nations.
Most importantly, her ensemble sports a tower-shaped epaulet with a small line of characters engraved on its lowest part.
A name that lingered on the tip of his tongue thousands of times suddenly wells up in Mizuki’s heart:
If you are interested in Arknights Lore, I am begging you to go and read it for yourself. There's been a LOT of wild theories and speculation being tossed out there right now that are basically being presented as fact and so many of them don't stand up even to a little bit of scrutiny when compared to actual text.
Places to read AK lore (tumblr hates links apparently so search terms are bolded):
The game itself. It's available via the google and app store. It can be played on a smart phone, any ios or Android tablet or a PC/laptop through the use of an emulator. The big two are Bluestacks and LD Player. (Support the devs but be careful of the gacha part. It's still a form of gambling.)
Arknights Story Reader. This contains transcripts of all Main Chapter, Event and Side Stories along with Operators Recs. It also includes a handful of the side stuff seen in certain events, namely the secret endings from NearLight and stuff from SN. The text for all four regions is included here.
Aceship. This site contains transcripts of operator stats, abilities, modules, module lore, operator record lore and voicelines. I think they also have skin lore.
There’s some people posting read out-louds and the cutscenes from the game on youtube. There’s also people summarizing each event/lore. If you want to read the story without any voice overs, I recommend searching for Shoul Arknights Story Collection. They’ve captured all the story sequences and uploaded it to their channel.
But seriously. PLEASE go look at the source material and make your own decisions. Don’t accept spoonfed answers.
One last caveat to all this.
CN Lore.
This is story from events, chapters and characters that have been release on the mainland Chinese servers but have NOT out on Global yet (this includes the EN/JP/KR servers). Be careful when dealing with CN Lore. I personally have found that there’s a ton of misinformation out there or just very bad translations. Don’t take just one person’s take/summary/opinion on CN lore. The best thing to do with that is to read lots of people’s summaries, if you can find them, or just wait until the Global version drops six months later.
EDIT 10/28/22:
Removed the Arknights Wiki recommendation and replaced it with the Story Reader for better accessibility, more source content and less nonsense.
Not a meta question nor to do with your writing but lore wise do you believe doctor is or was evil? Regarding Rosmontis e2 lines ..
Hiya anon! ✨🥺 This is a really interesting question, so tysm for sending it in! 💕 Lore questions are lots of fun for me lololol
Anywho, this is my take on that:
I personally think that the Doctor was evil to some extent before their amnesia; there's obviously a lot that supports this (ex. Kal'tsit and her hostility towards them) but I won't get into that since that's not what the question is about sgusghs 👉👈
But even if they aren't evil anymore, I still think they have the capacity for evil. Rosmontis says "Doctor, we can't turn into bad people. If you do, I am sure you'll be really, really bad." so clearly other Operators (or at least her) believe that the Doctor could turn evil, and that it would be very dangerous if they did 😯
In my opinion the Doctor is very compassionate! I like them as a character 😌 but they have a lot of power and have seen a lot of things, and there's still a lot that's not confirmed about them.
So in short, I think the Doctor could become evil and maybe was evil, but they aren't evil presently! And I also believe that with the support of Amiya and everyone else, they'll contuine to do good! ✨
Absjhsjs and that's all! 🥺 I hope I answered your question okay, forgive me if I rambled a little sgusghs 👉👈 Anywho, tysm for your ask again and I hope you stick around! 💕 Please have a good day! 🌸🍡
Okay I think I should spread some weird gun lore from the fantranslations of the collab event.
Each bullet has an etching that contains a casting unit. Which is compatible with guns. Technically, the bullets are like mini-wands but disposable. Which are shot from another bigger want. Which kinda explains why "gun” is so hard to use. Because you shoot wands from a wand.
