the LAG

I got another location fairly similar to my first test for Washed Away, but I still can't find anything around there. Where in Espren is this?? And how do I interact with The Door??

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Honestly, I feel like it's a big missed opportunity in Undersupply to:
A. Characterise the nobles as greedy instead of silly.
B. Examine the social implications of being a noble in an impoverished district.
But, not, basically nothing happens. The Auburn sidequests are lackluster.

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Okay, finally figured out The Door. A weapon was outside.

...It seems that classes are a metaphysical constant? Down to the names, which is honestly a little weird, surely you could call them something else.

The ideology of these Cursed was "nothing is forever". This is an obvious jab at the immortality of the Sovereigns and Queen, in addition to the Queen's attempt to rule forever. Narratives of immortality being evil irk me in general, and it's not even a consistent theme - Dullahan and Lari were immortal, and aside from The Decay Incident, and being Orphion's servants, they were depicted as good.

 

Soosu is Industrial District, Selium is Zhiraok's predecessor.

Spoiler: Not For Fruma, really. But a connection you may have missed.

Gale's last name is Nasin, and she gives the player an object called the Crest of the Highlands in Blizzard. Highlands is a region of Fruma, coincidentally the one with all the noble houses.

I actually found Cousullo earlier than intended, talked with them for a bit, wondered why their name was green, and then in the quest I was like, ohh! I did actually like that bit

 

...wait, Aledar was Rex's brother?? Wha!!

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(-2050, -950) again. That's got to be where Washed Away is, but... argh, it's in the middle of Espren! It's right next to a wall, and another Secret Discovery! What!!!

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Same experience with her and the green group, but... still kinda weird...

 

I got bored and progressed the quest, figuring that maybe it was interfering with the Secret Discovery.

Syndra clearly has zero cares remaining. Caution to the wind. It seems the nature of her deal with Zhiraok is she was a mole who turned to the other side, and she has just revealed this to him... publically in front of a full guard set???

But she was also his friend and now he's sad. Sad, sad Zhiraok, with a face only a soon-to-be-ally could have.

Now, Zhiraok thinks he can take us. Zhiraok has not factored that I am running a highly effective and very affordable sustain build. Nor has he understood that Zeph and Sui are magic-users in addition to me and Syndra. And, most crucially, he doesn't know how to not get stuck in a hill outside the arena halfway through his health bar, nor how to have multiple phases of attack.

So, he's gone. And we're given to understand that the Sovereign immortality is resurrective - you can kill them, but they get back up. How did Zhiraok's predecessor die? If we cut Zhiraok to pieces, would he stay dead?

...I only just noticed his stupid beard. What an awful style. Does he dye his hair white?

Zhiraok and Syndra seem to have a very complicated web of lies. She approached him directly for the Roughworks passage, of course, but... then he showed up and seemed mad that she'd done it?? Was that whole fight to kill me a lie?? (Where was everyone else in the fight, anyway?) She's looking for a woman in the Roughworks, someone important to both of them...

...Retroactive meaning in dialogue does not play well when you cannot reread and the dialogue rerun is broken. I can't keep track of the web of deceptions here - who's lying to who, and about what, and which actions here are performative? My only lifeline is that it'll all work out in the end...

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Given that the player killing a massive number of guards in a wave-based combat segment in the second quest is of significant plot relevance, I feel like it ought to be addressed that the main enemies in the Agricultural Sector are industrial workers. It also ought to be addressed that a random box plays "not supposed to do this right now haha!" in light red with no styling indefinitely when right-clicked. That feels like something from the beta that was mistakenly let in.

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The Roughworks feels like it's got the raw ingredients for some fun political thriller quests. The industrial district is full of anti-establishment settlement due to low pay and bad working conditions? That's great! We love that for a rebellion!

It's also got, mysteriously, a slime issue. "Plumbers". "Gooligans". "Unsanitation Workers".

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Fruma puts in a lot of work to compress its limited space. In Auburn, you could see this via as many biomes as possible being packed in; the autumnal forest is central, but we also have Xima Valley, the Frog Bog, the dried-out crag at the Dam's foot, and the plains towards the Citadel. There's also an abundance of mountains everywhere, further dividing the area - mountains were put to great effect in the design of the Silent Expanse, which packs six regions into the rough footprint of Nesaak and Troms. An industrial district like the Roughworks has an aesthetic mandate to be simple, but coiling roads and chaotic labyrinths of terraces still accomplish that compression very well.

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Oh, what the hell, they're putting the Coca back in Cola and giving it to the workers. Okay. I guess that's a thing.

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I really like Angie's subplot. I bet she's going to get increasingly disillusioned with Fruma.

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As a matter of fact, I bet it's going to end with her leaving Fruma entirely. She's a painter, she wants to see things... and there's so much to see! If only, if only, she goes beyond the walls!

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I love the graffiti in the Roughworks. Especially in the tunnels. It's so accurate! They put the doggy on the wall! Trans flag!

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That white dragon is recurring iconography. I'll probably need a wiki to get all the references in the graffiti...

 

Started taking coordinates in the Roughworks to try to pinpoint Washed Away. I'm still getting around (-2050, -950). Infuriating!

 

I hooted in Espren square about Washed Away and someone said 'ring the windchimes from lowest to highest'. I don't remember seeing windchimes where I pointed the discovery, but I know there's some in the tunnel.

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This indeed worked. I'll send a complaint in General Suggestions.

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So, more about Auburn's history of resistance. Seems Xima Valley is named for an old Sovereign, who built Fort Torann on top of an ancient religious site (why did they need a gate?). And seems that the myth of the dead living on as foxes is... true? It's been ambiguous when depicted elsewhere, but there's a ghost here, a fox showed up and the ghost said something and the fox left, and Wynn has a history of Having Ghosts.

The ghosts of Wynncraft often come through in Secret Discoveries, and I've always been of the opinion that what we're doing in SDs is the same as what we do in Hollow Serenity and Memory Paranoia. Invoke the memories of the earth and the dead to understand what came before...

 

The start NPC for Off the Rails is cringeworthy with how stereotypical they are. And it's a weird way to get us a train ticket.

Attempting to use my wand to movement-spell after the timer starts causes me to instead move as if I'm on a slime block.

Timer overall is a weird gimmick. I guess it's fine. It's really generous; you can finish up reading the station in 5-10 minutes.

The soda machines being used to characterise known and unknown Sovereigns is interesting... but, honestly, I'm not going to look at it too hard. Aside from Majin being a flashier duplicate of Zhiraok, which was kind of the vibe in first quest?

This is the first time I've been introduced to the Mistwood and "Penitence District". From the name, one assumes that they did a crime against the Crown and so were deported en-masse and culturally destroyed. Where did they even go? The only options are Rich People Location, Poor People Location, and Random Rural Forest. Fruma's really small...

...I do like the characterisation of the classes. Aside from The Businessman, it feels reasonable. Optimistic, friendly rich girl who hasn't been crushed by the system, exhausted, broken worker whose train ride is the only fun event in their life, and then the irritated Auburnite... okay, this isn't super great, but I like it overall. The Roughworks' violent culture feels entirely reasonable, narratively and in-character. Obviously these people abused by the system are going to take every opportunity they can get to kill me, given that I look remarkably like a cop! Obviously the crushed, downtrodden poor who work dawn til dusk are going to be concealed from the politically-powerful Highlands behind a veil of propaganda! Obviously they'll be sad and angry and tired!!

I wonder if the train tickets are intentionally expensive. Her Majesty has a vested interest in keeping people from networking cross-district - it hides the plight of the Roughworks and keeps unity from forming across borders, which would create more challenging revolts to crush. She certainly has a defined policy of making it hard to get between districts. You aren't really allowed to leave, usually...

The cutscene to get on the train was a bit buggy in trying to target the General. It shoved me a very close shot of his groin and then about 200ms of looking at nothing because he'd walked past the point the camera was targeting. There was also an unexplained warp of me and the three riders to the other side of the station. (And I don't like it when they animate and pose the player...)

I like the music! It, plus the quest title, makes me feel like this quest is essentially Flight in Distress 2. Which... would be fun! Because Flight in Distress was fun!

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I just saw the original Starwalker...

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I'm very annoyed by italics not working. I'll switch to bold. And do it a little retroactively.

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I like Harvin and Maury. The Constabulary needed humanisation.

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I also like the train noises in between cars! Good work is done to make the tunnel plausible here.

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I feel like Maddison's written, or ought to be written, as a sort of rose-colored-glasses ingenue. She refers to the graffiti as 'murals' and 'wall art', which would maybe support that... but, honestly, I respect graffiti, to some degree. And the wall art in the Roughworks goes beyond what I usually see anyway; it's a lot less incomprehensible bubble letters and a lot more actual designs and Original Starwalkers.

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I like Demma and her talk about the University houses. They're interestingly-named. Seem fun. I wonder if we'll get an Order of the Grook-like quest in the University?

It feels conspicuous to me that we're getting so much information about Fruma from everyone here. Everyone we've met in Fruma assumes we're a tourist from another region, and talks about their home regions without suspecting that we know nothing. And from each person filling in what they assume is the big gap in our knowledge, we can assemble a full picture and pass as Fruman. I'm sure this isn't intentional, and it would be difficult to make it plot-relevant.

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I'm upset that we can't read Demma's whole snail monologue easily. Are we meant to read her as autistic, given the highly specific interest and her describing it as "infodumping"? I feel like "infodump" is maybe a bit too modern for Fruma. Fruma's very close to modern in its tech - especially looking at the Roughworks - but they don't seem to have invented computers or the Internet, from looking at the first two regions, so maybe it's slightly too far in the future. (The fact that Fruma's so close to computers is... freaky. Her Majesty has a vested interest in preventing an Internet from forming, though; it's very difficult to control, and the networking is very dangerous, given that she has a policy, as I've noted, of dividing and separating the Districts.)

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Murder mystery~~~

This is shaping up to be much better than the Auburn sidequests. A shame we can't read Cemor's book while he's gone.

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I like how, despite being previously portrayed as fairly lovable goofs, the Constables still pull out the police corruption at first recourse. That's good writing.

My current guesses as to who killed the General:
- Flinn. They've been taciturn.
- One of the Constables, and this is an act.

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I'm surprised that we've gotten the explanation for our post-quest reward of fast travel immediately at the start of the plot. But, hey! It makes a lot of sense. The Constables didn't question it.

It looks like the General was having a nap, was ambushed while sleeping, and then had her body moved to obscure the case. The purple goo brings to mind the green goo that's rampant in the Roughworks. I should probably make a list of the people now.

Flinn is not talkative. They're from Auburn; they came here because it was cheap, were disappointed, and went back.
Demma is from Aelumia University. Loves snails, and fauna in general. She's going to Auburn for research.
Maddison is from Aelumia as well. She's touring Fruma.
Malic is a Roughworks workman who's saved for years to get on this trip. Beaten, rough, salt-of-the-earth man.
The Constables are dubiously competent people shuffled around between postings. They're native to the Roughworks, but are currently posted to Aelumia, and were grabbed for the guard of the General impromptu.
The attendant whose name I forgot is a Roughworker. He's enjoying his life, because he gets a much more comfortable one as a train worker.
Mr C who's from the Highlands is a snooty noble from a minor house. Aside from that, not much of an idea of him.
The conductor has been at the front of the train the entire time and presumably hasn't left. Little characterisation there.

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I really like the notebook!!! It does mean that I can't put notes out in this thread. But the notebook is really good!!!

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Oh, this luggage puzzle seems fun.

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This quest does a much better job of getting you to like the characters than the character-driven quest in Auburn, which did not fall flat but rather tripped over its monstrously long toes, fell down a flight of stairs, and broke its neck.

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I would have gotten the luggage Tetris first try, but I was one yellow off... better undo it until I can fit everything.

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Okay, finished it. Really impressive puzzle to put together in Minecraft.

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There's good jokes in this crossword. It's not challenging, but... it's still fun. Especially the work joke.

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...Huh, there's no puzzle to cook the Grookiva. Who made it? And why was it just... there? For ages?

I swear, if it turns out the other attendant who was on leave is the murderer, I'll be angry. That's stupid.

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Okay, collected all the evidence.

Tragically, Malin is a likely perpetrator. He works at a factory that makes high-quality knives, he could have gotten the poison off the black market, and he dislikes the Constabulary. But he's blue-collar enough that I'd like to find a better candidate. He's not likely to hold a grudge against a noble house.

Honestly, none of them perfectly line up. I remember that the key was highlighted in blue, so I'll look for it.

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God, this is hard. There's a lot of information to keep track of. I don't want to make a whole chart of who moved where and when, given that there's no timetabling. So I'm going to make assumptions and see where they lead.

The bathroom car is behind the car where the General was. So, did the murderer go to the bathroom as a cover story? Who went to the bathroom? Only Cemor did.

Cemor or Malic. (Messed his name up as 'Malin'.) Malic could have acquired the knife and poison, and doesn't like Constables. Cemor would know House Takshah, he could also have acquired the knife and poison, and he was near the murder site for the time of the murder. However, on my final readthrough of the evidence I notice a discrepancy: Malic observed that Demma went to the front of the train, where the murder was, but Demma says she went back to her seat immediately. Demma could have acquired the poison. However, she has no other points to connect her to the murder.

Everyone else has a motive for being on the train; Malic is on vacation, Demma is going for snails, Maddison is on tour, Flinn is going home after a vacation, and Telati works here. Cemor never said why he was on the train.

I think it's Cemor. I will accuse him.

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I can accuse the Constables! They weren't listed as suspects, and I couldn't gather information properly on them. I was suspicious of them, but given that I cannot look for information on them in the book, I'll still elect to target Cemor.

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Alright! It was Cemor! And he's a total lunatic...!

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...Yikes. I got awarded "miscellaneous items", but I didn't actually get anything on the train. I must have missed something... how? I searched everywhere at least twice. I suppose I didn't find the key. But... urgh... do I want to check the wiki...? I shouldn't.

I wonder what would have happened if I'd accused someone else. The game could easily have a Schrodinger's cat situation; whoever I accuse reveals how they did the murder. But that would be weird on replays. I could check the wiki for that. I shouldn't. I shouldn't...

 

Encountered An Unexpected Departure... unexpectedly. A statue with an interactable plaque? Covered in non-block bushes? Must be an SD. Walking over the bushes causes noise. Oh, no, that's an enemy. Walk away. Huh? A rake?

It's not exactly new information. Its depiction of an older Fruma is brief; all we can see is that the roads were laid out the same, and it was industrial even then. The Corkians got out via balloon. Corkus is like, right there. One wonders if the Gate was built specifically to shoot down other balloonists.

Why is escape bad? If they get away... they get away. You ain't getting them back, they ain't coming back, there's no point in worrying, no? They can't influence the rest of the population, and you don't need them.

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Huh. That green area with the trees was bigger than I thought. Seems this is the Mistwood. A long broken wall is covered in barrier blocks; the subway map mentioned the southernmost part of Fruma, the Penitence District, was not implemented. I've found a secret discovery in Fort Hegea by accident, and I've encountered someone with a dialogue portrait who I'm sure I'm supposed to already know. 'Azael'...

 

It's possible that even seeing people escape could encourage further rebellion, if memory serves there's something in Timasca that points to history being re-written to hide the fact that people tried to escape. Also, people fleeing Fruma with their memories intact could ruin the region's reputation.

 

Huh. There's another guy. Creepy eyes. And he moves strange. And they're saving a member of their conspiracy from being burnt. This is a weird SD and I think I found it too early. I might not even get credit!

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It's also bugged, at least when I tried it, and the final scene wouldn't start. But I'll redo it.

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Managed to get it to work, eventually. I'm too low level to register it - at level 110, and I need to be 113. But it's an interesting look. Azael and Gikyo are certainly going to be major characters, and I very much enjoy them - what mystique! Changing in the woods! A secret coven, of things restrained by society! And what delicious portraits! Rebels? Oh, I'll be watching for them.

I'm pretty sure I could also run into the Highlands at any time; I found the way in the Mistwoods. I don't entirely like how this is set up; I didn't realise I was in the Mistwoods the first time I went, I thought it was a smoggy woodcutting camp. The Roughworks gate was barred, but the Highlands and Mistwoods aren't; I think they should be.

 

OH
is that what the key was for? breaking into people's lockers?

 

The master key would have gotten into lockers, yes. I looked for it, but didn't find it. Missed something...