Quesada's Swan

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On the campfire, not only does the whole party recover, I can watch old skits too!

I play a new skit: Zephyr's Teachings.

Zephyr's making a lot of assumptions about Iron Mask internally. He suspects he's a Renan, but it doesnt matter to him.

Zephyr: "Besides, we've already got Shionne with us. At this point, what's one more Renan as long as they're on our side?"

At least Zephyr, thank goodness, doesn't see the world as "Renans bad, Dahnans good" here. His goal is to attain freedom no matter what.

Zephyr: "If you can believe it, not every Dahnan agrees with what we're doing, either." And they might side with the Renan homeworld too...

Zephyr's a bit optimistic and thinks they're not up for taking up rebellion.

Zephyr: "The thing you have to remember, is that everyone has their own path to walk."

Iron Mask doesn't get it. I do.

Zephyr tells Iron Mask to be prepared to make his own decisions when the time comes.

I watch the first skit and one cutscene before calling it a night in-game.

I notice that I can't save while camping.

---

Before leaving, I miss another skit! I reset the game again and make my way to campfire once more.

Before making it there, I fight the golem again! One tip pops up that the golem has a weak point! But I choose to flee again, knowing that we're unprepared.

The next skit: Iron Mask's Missing Core.

Shionne wonders why Iron Mask has no core on the back of his hand.

Iron Mask doesn't remember how that happened.

Shionne thinks he might know something. He wishes he could know more about himself. Zephyr's now sus of Shionne.

Zephyr: "It's bad manners when you've got plenty to hide yourself."

Zephyr doesnt think Iron Mask's past is "necessary" at this point. Plus, he's discreet.

Next, The Unflinching Iron Mask.

Shionne asks if Iron Mask actually can't feel pain. He can't. She can't imagine how that feels, or not.

Iron Mask: "I may be numb to pain, but that doesn't make me immortal or anything."

What are you thinking about, Shionne?

---

At the campfire...

Zephyr now realizes why Balseph's troops wanted Shionne: for her master core.

Zephyr fills Iron Mask on the details, then asks him a question: Why Dahnans are tirelessly forced to work.

Iron Mask thinks they're mining resources for them. Zephyr thinks with all of their high tech, Renans couldve gotten what they wanted quickly.

Zephyr: "What the Renans are really after isn't resources or minerals...It’s astral energy. They're harvesting all the astral energy that sleeps inside all matter and lifeforms."

So Iron Mask was right. In a way, they are after resources. The real resources the Renans were after, though, were not physical. Basically, they just want Dahnans' energy for their tech...

Zephyr: "And they're doing it the same way they have for the past 300 years, using us Dahnans as mere siphons."
Shionne: "Right, they have machines for minerals, but extracting from Dahnans requires spirit cores. Any astral energy collected passes through a spirit vessel on its way to being stored in a master core."

Iron Mask wonders why the Renans need that energy.

Shionne answers that: "It [decides] the sovereign...Five lords, each doing whatever it takes to gather as much astral energy as they can and store it in their master cores. Whichever of them manages to accumulate the most power at the end of their 'contest' is crowned the ruler of the Renan Motherland."

Shionne explains the "Crown Contest" happens every ten years. Jeez, no wonder why that Crown Contest is important to Balseph...It's a game to these "lords."

Iron Mask is having none of it. Zephyr knows how awful the situation is too.

Zephyr's curious about why Shionne would "steal a master core," and about the blazing sword.

Shionne takes a guess that the blazing sword is just the master core's energy unleashed. She also can temper the master core's power, or at least some of it.

Zephyr now gets curious about why Shionne's helping.

Zephyr: "Never thought I'd say this, but I like the cut of your jib, Renan."

Looks like he's going to count on the blazing sword as his factor to reaching his goal. Shionne decides to jump in to helping the Crimson Crows.

Iron Mask's in too.

Zephyr: "Then it's settled...Together, we'll overthrow the Renan lords. And first up [...] is Balseph, the "Wild Beast." Sound good?"

Shionne looks at the campfire.