Moments pages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.
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''The Champion's Challenge
Early Campaign + Forrnest
E1: The Ranger Challenge PT. 1E2: The Ranger Challenge PT. 2
- It's readily obvious throughout the last part that Qwill is battling some kind of loss, but he refuses to comment on his troubles when pressed. He gets no such opportunity after Passione's challenge is over, when Mori drops by with a bouquet of flowers dedicated to his lost team. With his personal issues now on full display with no way out, Qwill, for the first time, completely loses his cool, snapping at everyone over his inability to get over his old hunting partners' deaths. He's being entirely unreasonable—especially when he scoffs at Calum for leaving gold behind on his old partners' graves—but it's hard not to sympathize with him.
- Frustrated with Qwill's irrationality after the challenge, Jet suddenly responds to him in kind. He cites his own backstory, in which he was forced to raise himself, as his mother refused to acknowledge him and his father was entirely absent from his life. Up until very recently when he came across Passione, he did not have loved ones to mourn in the way that Qwill does, and he sees Qwill's outlook on his loss as both extremely selfish and self-destructive. It visibly strikes a nerve in Qwill, and while he keeps his response measured and cold, it hits below the belt very hard: Jet's input doesn't matter to him if he never had long-term family to care about to begin with.
- As part of her induction as a patron of the Iron Judge, Ash returns to Hunter's Dream, her old home, with her party and Mori. It's an extremely somber chapter in the campaign for a few reasons:
- Ash recounts how Hunter's Dream was attacked by a horde of Mindflayers, and she specifically discusses one victim in particular: her mother. For a good portion of her younger years, Ash was forced to watch her mother's mental health irreparably deteriorate thanks to the attacks, their relationship falling apart through no fault of their own. Her dialogue and actions throughout the visit implies that she still hasn't made peace with what happened, especially when she returns to her old house and finds the remnants of her childhood there.
- After her promotion to Grave Cleric, Ash gains the Eyes of the Grave ability, allowing her to see lingering spirits. She decides to use it to view the many spirits of Hunter's Dream. Every single one of them that she sees go about their business around town as normal, completely oblivious to the fact they're dead. It provides some bitter solace for Ash, especially since she recognizes some of the spirits in the crowd, and she eventually decides to try and find her mother... There's no sign of her anywhere, and while she doesn't express it much, Ash's pain is palpable.Crafty OOC: Ash.
Blaze OOC: Yes?
Crafty OOC: Your Eyes of the Grave are still active, so now you see what Mori was seeing as you were coming through this way. There's ghosts all over this fuckin' place.
Blaze OOC: Are they ghosts that I would recognize?
Crafty OOC: Yes, in fact.
Blaze OOC: Okay.
Crafty OOC: What you are seeing is they don't seem to be aware of you lot. They're just... going about their lives as if they were alive. They're just going around doing a little shopping in, like, empty fruit stands and so on. You kind of get this sense that they didn't know they passed.
Blaze OOC: ... That's a bit of a comforting feeling for Ash.
Kayden OOC: I have one question...
Crafty OOC: Yes?
Kayden OOC: ... Does she see her mom?
Blaze OOC: ... Yeah...
Crafty OOC: Make a perception check.
Blaze OOC: Oh no... Oh boy, let's see... [Blaze rolls her dice.] ... 18.
Crafty OOC: ... No.
Ash: [To herself] ... Fuck...
Kayden OOC: Woah, what?!
Crafty OOC: No.
Volkhanom
E5: The Barbarian Champion: Atlissa!E6: The Red Trophy
- The loss of the Red Trophy hits Calum particularly hard for some reason. He ends up retreating to his room in the Granny's Grog inn and promptly loses it, trashing up many of his belongings and anything else in the room he can find. Ash is the one to discover him in this state, and upon doing so, Calum abruptly stops what he's doing and sits pitifully within the mess he's made. What follows is a deeply moving conversation between the two friends as they discuss Calum's feelings. He reveals why he was so affected by this latest loss: he recently received word that his father is deeply ill and may not be long for this world. With all the losses he's accumulated in addition to this sudden pressure of time, Calum feels like he's made very little progress since his party-animal days in Grandure Academy; he fears that his father will die disappointed in him. Ash, knowing that she was in a similar position as Calum at one time, offers some words of encouragement to motivate Calum to keep going and not lose hope, even offering a change of perspective. She seems to get through to him, but the severity of their present situation still looms over their heads.[Hearing the commotion in Calum's room, Ash instinctively kicks open the door. It was unlocked, so it swings open rather suddenly... and just in time for Ash to see a distraught Calum carelessly toss a potion of greater healing, which shatters before Ash's feet.]
Ash: [annoyed, but mostly concerned] You know, we could've used that.
[Calum's entire room is a wreck. All of his belongings he's obtained throughout his adventures are strewn about the place—his armor, in particular, has shattered a window, and various other objects belonging to the inn are broken. Calum sits in the middle of it all in tears, so Ash quietly closes the door behind, carefully makes her way over to him, and places a tender hand on his shoulder.]
Ash: Hey... What the hell's been going on? You've been off since Forrnest...
[Calum offers nothing but a resigned sigh.]
Ash: You all right...?
[Calum murmurs unintelligibly under his breath.]
Ash: Sorry, what was that?
Calum: ... I'm... I'm not strong enough.
Ash: ... I don't think any of us are, to be honest.
[Ash sits down next to Calum, who has gone down on his hands and knees.]
Ash: If we were strong enough, we probably would've dealt with that far more efficiently. But... that's why we're here at this academy...
Calum:... I... Know...
Ash: What was in the letter, Calum?
Calum: ... My dad... My dad is sick...
Ash: How sick?
Calum: He's... bedridden. I'm supposed to be taking over the family name, and I can't... even... kill one of those creatures. One of those basic... pawns. I'm so caught up in... [His sobbing worsens.]... I'm so caught up in... all of this, and I just... I can't do anything right.
Ash: [Moving closer to Calum] ... If it's any consolation, I've... been here, in this exact place you are right now. When... my family was gone, I didn't really... have anything to look back on to say that I actually accomplished or did. If anything, I had more to look back on and say that I... ran away from. But... You're not running away from this stuff. You're... confronting your weaknesses and trying to explore your strengths. And if your family isn't proud of an act like that, then... I-I dunno what to say about them, to be honest.
Calum: ... Every time. Every time I fail... I am disappointing my family name. Have you ever... dealt with such a pain? A pain like your heart being ripped out of your chest because you're not good enough?
Ash: I only had one family member left, and one friend, when I left my village. And I couldn't protect anyone, and I-I left them... Yes. I-I do... sort of understand that. Maybe not to your degree since you still have to see them.
Calum: I just... I just want to make my dad... proud of me...
Ash: I know you do...
Calum: It's... all I want. When I left for the school, I was... eighteen...? I skipped out of classes, I skipped out of... training... and... I went to bars... I fornicated with... women—with consent of course, with good intentions... And I just distracted myself from all of this.
Ash: You wanted to not think about how to impress anyone.
Calum: I just... wanted to feel like my own man.
Ash: [Supportingly] Of course.
Calum: The night I was sent out, I... I was... I was told I'm making a big mistake out of my life. That life is more than just drinking and... women, and... and I still don't get it. I still don't get why this has to be on me... I just want... I just want them to love me. It's all I want...
Ash: ... In a weird way, I almost think that they do. If they didn't, then they wouldn't be harping on you to succeed as much as they do.
Calum: ... I want us to keep moving forward so I can see my father at least one last time. Just in case... just in case I lose him... That's all I want...
[Ash gently, but determinedly grabs Calum's hand.]
Ash: We will. We will get there. And as we do, we're both gonna get stronger. And we're gonna prove to the people we left behind... that we have become better than we were than when we left. I promise.
Calum: .... Thank you...
E7: Fighting is the Pits
Lordpact
E8: Silent Night, Deadly KnifeE9: Precarious PoliticsE10: Pact or No PactE11: The Dark Magician of Fraygle Coast
Elemix
E12: Under a Rock and a Hard Place
