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Saturday, March 16, 2024
Book 3: Convergence - Convergence (Part 1)
Hey there, heroes!

This week, we delve deeper into the Fissure, past the retreating Rose forces. It's finally time to come face to face with Jaania and Akanthus.

The convergence of heroes and villains to decide the fate of Lore is upon us. Will you be able to convince Jaania to stand down? Do you have an answer for Akanthus?

Head over to Outpost Yeden to find out in Convergence (Part 1)!

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Also this week, Technomancer has had its tooltips updated!

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And that's all for this week! Have a safe and prosperous year, everyone!

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That was really good.

First off, I like how we got to hear from the Rose soldiers. Clearly there is still strong belief in Jaania's vision among them, and I doubt those beliefs are going to simply vanish once Jaania and Akanthus are dealt with. It'll be interesting to see what becomes of the Rose after this is over.

And speaking of Akanthus... so the much the Void Pearl. I knew it was a flimsy plan from the get-go, but seeing Hesperrhodos take the hit and reappear at Jaania's side was almost funny. Such a clever yet blatant work-around. And while it's nice to see Warlic back in action and holding him off with Alexander and Zvezdana... It's only slowing him down. Akanthus is still a problem we don't have an apparent solution to yet...

I must say I was surprised by Jaania's proposition. She has enough humility to offer to share her desired role as the controller of Fate - but still too prideful to see that her path isn't the only way to protect the world. And I really liked what the Hero had to say (although Zvezdana did NOT look happy about their comment about the Shapeless Empire, my goodness). The fight itself was good too; well paced, and I imagine quite challenging if one doesn't play carefully. Aegis coming in clutch with the antifreeze was great too! That trick won't work twice, Jaania!

Lastly... That doesn't look like the kind of synchronisation we've seen before. Y'all sure know how to leave us hanging.

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My Ninja got a nasty surprise when Hesperrhodos cancelled out all of her ambushes, but she pulled through on poisons. Got to love those Ninja poisons.
Master Soulweaver struggled, ironically, but won in the second try.

I got the feeling Jaania did not expect what Hesperrhodos did at the end, there. Has the original soul rebelled from within? Is this more of Akanthus' work? I'm eager to find out!

And yeah, that void pearl... Tsk. Whiff.

If we do ever go to rebuild and restructure Nieboheim, I don't think Zvezdana will be so 'friendly' to us anymore. That glare spoke volumes.

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I must say I was surprised that we weren't going to be fighting any more grunts of the Rose and even more surpirsed that Jaania told them not fight to last man to buy her more time, but given that she showed previously that she believed we could see the good in what she's trying to accomplish it makes sense she doesn't want see her soldiers killed when they can live to see her hypothetical world of peace through the mercy we typically offer. What's more are the responses from these soldiers, we already knew that those that managed to get this far with Jaania were nothing but her staunchest supporters, of that there was no doubt, but what draws my attention is their genuine belief in her plan to control magic because it's all based in a firm desire to return to a sense of normalcy, they hope a magicless world can offer. I can only imagine their ire when their dear leader fails to wash away all their troubles and who they'll likely blame when this all over, not just them mind you but all those that believed in Jaania's vision. It's just a shame Zvezdana's remarks brings all of that effort to save these rank and file into question, but I'll circle back to that later.

As for the last two pillars of the Rose, I'm not surprised the void pearl didn't work, heck I half expected it to actually accidentally let something loose when it was used, but Hesperrhodos being used as a meat shield (spirit shield), was unexpected and for a moment I straight up thought Jaania just wasted a soul minion to protect Akanthus until I remembered one of the many benefits of elemental spirits is that they can travel anywhere by blinking in and out of the Plane of Elemental Spirits, so I got give her props for being clever with that move. Unfortunately, as Flabagast pointed out, this means we still have no real means of dealing with Akanthus which therefore keeps him and his doom bomb in play. At this point, I say we chuck him into the mana core and just see what happens. Though I must admit I did not expect Xan to be able blow off Akanthus' helmet, quite a feat in of itself.

And then there's Jaania. I do love that we attempted to have this last and final heart-to-heart, or really more of beef-to-beef, conversation as to why we simply can't go along with what she's attempting to do. I was admittedly shocked that she offered us to effectively play god alongside her in determining the magical fates of all those that live on Lore. It does certainly speak to a surprising amount of trust in the genuine good the Hero seeks to do on a daily basis, but it's so bizzare to me that she was basically asking us to be her right hand man. Of course, the hero rejects this notion as people deserve the right to choose for themselves in a world where no singular entity decides their fate.

And so, our only option is to fight over who decides the fate of Lore in this moment once more. So far, it's been a spectacular battle, the music used for this boss fight really spells out the tragedy of this entire situation but above all else I enjoy how oddly cinematic this fight feels. As we whittle down Jaania's health pool, she only continues to increase the amount of ice magic she's channeling. The very start it's clear she's only outputting just enough to make us quit but when that doesn't work she goes for the hail mary and simply attempts to trap us in solid ice once more and when Aegis negates this action she proceeds to begin using her own theme of soul weaving powers. However, in the end it is not enough and we prove ourselves to be the better combatant with or without help, I chose without help.

And so, in her defeat, Jaania is left with the only thing that might help her beat us. Full synchronization. I'm curious as to what happens next here, the method of synchronzation so far has always been for the spirit to place their hands on the soul to achieve this effect. Yet I've wondered, since their very creation, if Hesperrhodos might corrupt this process. It's possible nothing will happen but judging by Jaania increasing streaks of white hair, her soul is clearly beginning to unravel and Hesperrhodos is a corrupt spirit created through forbidden magic so perhaps Jaania's form might end looking like quite the abomination if it succeeds. Granted, Tomix was in a similar position with Aspar so again nothing may come of this.

Circling back to Zvezdana though. The magester is not giving me any confidence in her plans proceeding thus far when the threat is dealt with her and the other magesters that were dependent on the mana core piece will soon be dead but it's becoming clear that they don't want their Shapeless Empire to make any positive changes from their usual status qou which makes me wonder how many others feel as she does. I suppose we'll see in time what comes of this.

Ah but our continued battle with Akanthus and Jaania await...




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Let us find tranquility.