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| Platforms | PlayStation 4, PC |
| Release Date | February, 28 2017 |
| Genre | Action-Adventure |
| Developer | Guerrilla Games |
| Publisher | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| Writer(s) | Ben McCaw (Writing Lead), Ben Schroder, Anne Toole |
| Walkthrough | MKIceAndFire |
| Series | Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds DLC, Horizon II Forbidden West |
❅ Chapters: (open/close)
[Given the opportunity to go wherever she pleases, Aloy decides to visit the snow-capped mountains to the north.]
Aloy: Those look like Banuk markings. Is this the way to the territory?
[He climbs a mountain near Grave-Hoard. The glowing cables hanging from poles lead her to a nomadic woman.]
Yariki: You don’t look like you know this path, hunter.
Aloy: Seems you’re a long way from anything. Where does this trail lead?
Yariki: For me, it leads south. Away from the Banuk. Past the Grave-Hoard, Banukai watch over me. This is the quickest way out of the Cut instead of going all the way through Oseram territory. And take it from me, you want a quick way out of the Cut.
Aloy: I haven’t even arrived yet. What would I want to leave?
Yariki: Strange machine attacks, a curse on the mountain… It’s enough to make me look forward to Meridian.
Aloy: You’re going to Meridian?
Yariki: Yes. I was named an envoy to the Carja king’s court. No one else wanted to do it. It’s not so bad. I just recount the songs from Ban-Ur, and the Carja draw their funny little glyphs. I tell them of the machines’ growing anger, and the Carja king still offers aid, even though he knows the Banuk will not accept it.
Aloy: What kind of strange machines? …And what kind of curse?
Yariki: Machines tougher and crazier than anything in the south, I heard. And smoke comes off the mountain like a funeral pyre. All day and night. But like I said, I just pass through now.
Aloy: What sort of place is the Cut?
Yariki: It’s on the edge of everywhere. The edge of Ban-Ur, the edge of the mountains, the edge of other tribes territories… It suffered in the war with the Carja, but it suffered before that too. Life there is a test - to survive out on the edge.
Aloy: Not exactly homey. I can see why you’d want to move on.
Yariki: (smirks) Home is what you carry in a roll on your back.
Aloy: Well, thanks for the warning. I’m curious about these machines, though…
Yariki: Then the warning rolled off you. I understand, you adventurers are all alike. Good luck.
INTO THE FROZEN WILD
[Feeling the call of adventure, Aloy decides to explore her surroundings.]
Sylens: (via Focus) What are you doing, Aloy? This path leads to the Cut. The Banuk have nothing to offer besides useless mysticism. The Eclipse won’t stand idle while you waste time playing in the snow. Return to your task.
Aloy: Surprised you’re still checking up on me. I thought you had moved on.
Sylens: (via Focus) Forgive me for still being concerned with the fate of the world.
Aloy: I was thinking. Banuk Shamans thread blue cables through their skin, right? Kind of like someone else we know, huh? So maybe the real reason you want me to stay clear of the Banuk is to stay clear of your past.
Sylens: (via Focus) It’s not the past that concerns me, Aloy. It’s the future - or possible lack thereof. Which is why you should stop prattling and get back to what matters. But as usual, you’ll do as you wish.
Aloy: Hmm. Touchy.
[Aloy continues to climb the mountain. She spots a new type of machine in the distance, the Scorcher, and hides in a small patch of withered grass.]
Aloy: This one’s a new predator. Can see the heat coming off it…
[She manages to defeat the monster through cunning and planning her attacks.]
Aloy: I’ll tuck that away.
[By evening she manages to climb to the top. ]
Banuk Guard: (from afar) Outlander on the mountain!
Aloy: Okay. That’s a welcome, I guess.
THE FROZEN WILDS
Banuk Guard: (laughs) You sure you’ll be warm enough up here, Nora?
Aloy: I’ve worked up a sweat from the climb!
Banuk Guard 2: You made it to the Cut, outlander.
Banuk Guard 3: Not that you’ll stay long.
Banuk Guard 2: This is Song’s Edge, biggest settlement in the Cut.
Aloy: Smoke rising from the mountain. And the village, too. What’s it for?
Banuk Guard 4: Ourea has been gone a long time, but she will return, I must believe she will return.
Aloy: Must be something big going on. Most of the village is moving towards that smoke.
[She goes with the rest of the villagers to the gathering place. She gently pushes the men-hunters aside and walks up to the stage. She is approached by a plump, brown, mustachioed man.]
Burgrend: Get ready for a rare sight, Nora. Purveyor of necessities. Most of the time, the Banuk burn their dead. But not today.
Aloy: Because the bodies couldn’t be recovered?
Burgrend: Aye. A nasty business. All their best warriors, lost. So they’re getting a different kind of send-off.
[Three men perform a cerimonial dance by a dried up tree. The central man blows a special trumpet and its hum resonates throughout the area. There is silence for several minutes. Aloy looks around, waiting to see what will happen. Three mechanical eagles fly up to the mountain. They carry away the effigies that play the role of the dead warriors. A man with an unusual spear, presumably the chief, enters the scene.]
Aratak: Grasp your grief, my hunters. And kill it. For our kin seized the fate all Banuk long for, falling with their spears striking steel. Their struggle is over now. You have witnessed their spirits rise up into the blue sky. …and beyond, to the blue light. But our struggle is only beginning. Soon we will again take up the hunt against the Daemon that frenzies the machines against us. And so I ask you - can you summon the courage of our fallen kin? Will you fight… and die… as well as they did?
[The crows cheerfully agrees.]
Signutai: My courage! My spear!
Ruatuk: Our blood is in your teeth, Aratak!
Aratak: We are Banuk. Our enemies are prey.
Aloy: (to Burgrend) A Daemon… that frenzies the machines.
Burgrend: Machines that wiped out their best. And what do they want to do? Go back up there! Fools. A little advice for free, ah--?
Aloy: Aloy.
Burgrend: Aloy, I’ve been up here for two long winters and I still can’t make sense of the Banuk. Take this ruckus. It started with one of their shamans, Ourea, spouting on about spirits and Daemons up on Thunder’s Drum. So they march their werak up there, and half of them get slaughtered by machines! When Ourea vanished, I thought the crazy might have gone with her. But no, here’s big Aratak, gearing them up to do it all over again!
Aloy: What is it about the Banuk you can’t make sense of?
Burgrend: Everything’s a test to them. A hardship to endure, a challenge to survive.
Aloy: Seems like they don’t have much of a choice in a place like this.
Burgrend: A land cold enough to crack teeth, filled with wild animals… you think they’d accept a little reasonably priced aid! Believe me, I’ve tried to convince them. But a Banuk with nothing left to prove might just lie down and die.
Aloy: And Ourea is the one who spoke about this ‘Daemon’?
Burgrend: That’s right. Told Aratak and the others that it lives up on Thunder’s Drum. And they believed her.
Aloy: But you don’t?
Burgrend: Look, I don’t know what Ourea found up there-- a shaman’s not going to talk to an outlander. The machines in the Cut are getting more vicious, that’s a fact. It could be because of the Daemon. Or it could be because they’ve all got indigestion, for all I know. But Ourea’s not around to explain. She took off and no one knows why.
Aloy: Have you ever heard of a man named Sylens? Tall, deadly serious, cables in his skin - like a Shaman?
Burgrend: Hmm. I’ve heard that name once or twice. But always whispered, like some boogeyman the Banuk want to forget. I’m not sure what went down… but I got the impression he messed with the Conclave - or they messed with him.
Aloy: Conclave?
Burgrend: All the most important Shamans gather in Ban-Ur from time to time to keep up with the latest mumbo-jumbo. No idea how they all fit into one tent without those crazy headdresses getting locked up on each other. Ourea’s been to that shindig, but when I asked her what it’s like, she just gave me a dirty look. So if you want to know more, you’ll have to find her. And make her like you, I guess. Good luck.
Aloy: Is Aratak a renowned warrior around here?
Burgrend: He’s a werak chieftain. His voice carries a lot of respect, not that you hear much of it… Man talks about as much as a dead fish. But when he and Ourea came to town with their werak, it drew more Banuk to this little burg than I’d ever seen. You know what else I saw, Aloy? My own little trade route, stretching all the way back to the Claim… Then he goes and leads them off to their death at the claws of angry machines. So much for my best customers!
Aloy: What are these weraks about, Burgrend? Some sort of tribe within the tribe?
Burgrend: Eh, not like our clans back home. You don’t get born into these things, they hold try-outs. Some weraks come and go. Some last as long as metal. The whole Banuk territory - Ban-Ur - is just a bunch of the biggest, oldest weraks.
Aloy: I’m not sure if I’m less confused, or more confused.
Burgrend: (laughs) Here’s the sure thing: each werak has a chieftain and a shaman. They make the decisions. All well and good, except the chieftains are hard-headed, and the shamans have their heads in the clouds!
Aloy: I want to know more about this Daemon.
Burgrend: It’s crazy talk, Aloy--
Aloy: Or, there’s something to it. Something connected to how the machines behave.
Burgrend: Then you’d need to find Ourea. I’ve heard only the shamans know the trail beyond those frozen peaks. Hmm. But I do know where you could find her apprentice, Naltuk. He went north of the river, chasing rumors…
Aloy: Rumors?
Burgrend: Not the good kind. Sudden attacks in the snow, strange new structures… some say a new machine, like no-one’s seen before.
Aloy: Now I’m definitely interested. Thanks for the talk, Burgrend.
Burgrend: Don’t mention it.
Aloy: I wonder if Aratak can tell me more about Ourea or Thunder’s Drum. Might be worth a shot.
THE SHAMAN’S PATH
Aloy: About that free advice, Burgrend…
Burgrend: For you, I’ll give it twice. But next time-- I’ll start charging.
Aloy: You said you’ve lived out here for two winters?
Burgrend: Aye. Back home, some fur traders told me about this steel-forsaken heap of tents. Good location, ripe for change. We were barely scraping by, until the place started filling up for Ourea. A great prophet is coming, they said, I heard "profit." Honest mistake! Not that the Banuk are stingy, they just prefer to keep trade among themselves. If we could get through to enough of them… We could really put this place on the map or at least on a map.
Aloy: We?
Burgrend: Me and my dau -- my assistant, Varga. My assistant and my daughter. We seem to get along better as business partners. Her mother wanted me to show her a trade… she started tinkering with weapons… Say, when you need a break from this Banuk carry-on, stop in and see her. You’re both how do I put it--
Aloy: Women?
Burgrend: No. No, no, no. Independent. Look for her at Longnotch - the easternmost Banuk camp.
Aloy: See you around, Burgrend.
Burgrend: Hope so. I like return customers.
[Aloy explores the village and talks to its inhabitants.]
Laulai: Deep Din… silenced by rising waters.
Aloy: You seem sad, stranger. I heard you mention a flood?
Laulai: Yes - a sudden deluge, without rain or melt to explain it. I’m Laulai, the drummer of Deep Din. Or at least I was, until it disappeared under the waters.
Aloy: Deep Din? What’s that?
Laulai: A hollow, carved out by the Old Ones. A chamber, a basin, and a musical instrument all at once. My life, my calling. I’d explain it by playing for you, if I could. But its pipes are deep under the water now.
Aloy: A flood without rain - that is strange. Where is this place? I’ll have a look if I’m in the area.
Laulai: Just northwest of here. Look all you like, but I don’t see what good it’ll do. The flood waters aren’t going anywhere. How does one ask a river to relent?
[Aloy goes to the chief. He talks to a villager.]
Aratak: I do not want to hear this talk from you again. Doubt is heavier than a week’s snow.
Signutai: Forgive me, my chieftain. We will be ready for the next attempt.
Aratak: But this will not be an attempt. It must be done. Do you understand?
Signutai: My chieftain.
Aratak: Good. (to Aloy) Outlander. I suppose you wish to speak?
Aloy: This Daemon’ you talked about--
Aratak: If you are hardy enough, you can venture out and see the signs yourself. It has changed the machines. Made them fiercer, stronger.
Aloy: But what is it?
Aratak: A matter for the shaman to debate.
Aloy: Did your werak come from this place?
Aratak: No. We rallied most of our hunters from across Ban-Ur, to face the threat of the Daemon. But I was born here, and stayed to fight the Carja when others retreated into the mountains. A few of my old warriors remain with me, those who survived.
Aloy: You’re set on going back to the mountain?
Aratak: I have put my word to it.
Aloy: Even with the risks being so great?
Aratak: The risk of what? Death? It would be a worse fate to bow our heads to the challenge and say. ‘Too much.’
Aloy: Well, I guess that’s it, then.
Aratak: Good. I prefer deeds to words.
Aloy: Right.
[She leaves the village.]
Aloy: Okay. If I want to learn more about how this "Daemon" affects the machines, I’ve got to find Ourea. And to do that. I need to talk to her apprentice, who followed the river north.
Kamut: Outlander! Wait-- wait a moment. That weapon of yours, outlander… that spear. I can see the blue light upon it!
Aloy: This? It was made by an acquaintance of mine.
Kamut: Ah. A shaman?
Aloy: Uh, no. More of a… tinker?
Kamut: But… it could be improved upon. Modified! With the help of the Old Ones. Far north of here, there is a cave, a shaft in the snow. Within it is a nest of metal birds. Find a bird that hasn’t been stripped by shamans past. Look for a rail inside it, the length of your spear. That’s all I can tell you!
Aloy: Get a rail from metal birds in a cave. Sounds perfectly normal.
Naunuk: Any news from the hunt?
Rukul: The herd isn’t roaming far from the camp.
Aloy: Chill almost feels like sunburn.
[Aloy whistles and rides through the snowy forest on a mount. She notices a camp.]
Aloy: Outlanders. Carja outlanders. Burgrend said Ourea’s apprentice went north of the river. Hopefully not too far. That must be Naltuk, looking out at that… tower.
Naltuk: Who are you? How did you find me?
Aloy: Burgrend told me you’d be out here.
Naltuk: He’s persistent. I’ve told that Oseram a thousand times, I don’t need to buy anything--
Aloy: And I’m not selling. I just need to find Ourea.
Naltuk: Well, you won’t. She’s gone where only shamans can tread. She seeks guidance from the voice in the blue light. That is her task. And the task she gave me is to observe the Daemon’s work. To stop it spreading, if I can. But what can I do about these towers? In only a few weeks, they’ve sprouted throughout the Cut. The Daemon’s energy pulses from them. Rallies the machines, even repairs them.
Aloy: Aratak said this Daemon was frenzying machines…
Naltuk: Look there - those with the purple markings. They belong to the Daemon. They’re stronger. More dangerous--
Aloy: I’ve seen something like this before. A corruption. But it wasn’t from your Daemon.
Naltuk: You have? Then you know more than I do. These towers - were they part of your "corruption"?
Aloy: No, those are new to me too.
Naltuk: Like I said, they empower the Daemon’s machines. They must be stopped.
Aloy: Will you tell me where Ourea went?
Naltuk: You ask a lot of questions.
Aloy: Only when I’m not getting the answers I need.
Naltuk: There’s but one voice Ourea wants to hear right now, and it isn’t yours. I’m sorry.
Aloy: All right. You want to stop the spread of the Daemon’s work? I know how to get started - with my bow and spear.
Naltuk: Outlander, wait--! Won’t you tell me your name?
Aloy: Aloy.
Naltuk: Good. If you fall to the Daemon’s machines, at least I can properly recount your efforts to Ourea.
Aloy: Thanks for the vote of confidence. But I won’t fall. And when I’m done, you’re going to tell me where she is.
[Aloy goes down into a shallow valley, after which there is a radio tower on a hill, randomly shooting energy in all directions. She looks around to plan her next move.]
Aloy: Interesting… maybe I could override it. I can kill the machines, but what about the tower? I might be able to destroy it… or override it.
[She sneaks up on the tower and plugs her spear into the socket. The tower is reprogrammed.]
Aloy: Okay then, let’s see if this thing can work for me.
[But the Scavengers around don’t like it at all. Aloy prepares to defend herself.]
Aloy: Low and quiet does it. That’s got their attention. So the tower helps nearby machines. But it can be overridden.
[She returns to Naltuk.]
Aloy: Seems can take care of the machines and towers. The Daemon’s next.
Naltuk: You claimed its power for yourself… somehow… Perhaps… Ourea should meet you after all. What she truly seeks is hope. After what I just saw-- you could show her that. She’s in retreat beyond those mountains, the Icerasps. You’ll have to walk the Shaman’s Path to get there. You’ll know you’ve reached the end when you come to a shrine - a great machine, covered in bluegleam. Shamans who complete the path take a piece of it as reward. If you make it that far… you should too. You’ll have earned it.
Aloy: Burgrend told me you are Ourea’s apprentice.
Naltuk: In her absence, I serve the Chieftain and his werak as an advisor, a scout, a speaker for the blue light…
Aloy: A lot of responsibilities.
Naltuk: I don’t know if I can live up to Ourea’s example, but I have to try. I owe her that much. She took a chance on me, an aspiring shaman from the edge of the world. No one else would.
Aloy: Were you with Ourea when they attacked the mountain?
Naltuk: I wish I had been, even with all that happened. I’m no warrior, though, so she bid me wait. When Ourea and the Chieftain returned, I saw them argue bitterly. I don’t know what about exactly. Then she came to me, gave me my task, and left us.
Aloy: You said something about Bluegleam at the end of the Shaman’s Path?
Naltuk: A crystal, that builds on the bodies of machines in the oldest ice. We Banuk believe it’s the stuff of the blue light, frozen as it escapes their shells. You might be more interested that merchants will trade well for it.
Aloy: How do I cross this Shaman’s Path?
Naltuk: Go to the Icerasps. Then follow the markers through the ice caves and the waterfalls, and make the climb to the shrine. But be careful. The path is meant to be an ordeal, the final trial of a young shaman’s training.
Aloy: And I’ll find Ourea at the end of it?
Naltuk: No. She goes further up. Somewhere inside the mountain. If you see her-- Would you tell her-- I have faith she will hear the voice again.
[He leaves.]
Aloy: All right. I guess I’m off to the Icerasps, to find this Shaman’s Path.
[She rides through the snowy forest towards the mountains.]
Aloy: So this is as high as we go? Okay. These mountains must be the Icerasps. The Shaman’s Path begins somewhere up above.
[She dismounts from her horse and continues on her way through the caves on foot. The ceiling of the cave is hung with glowing blue wires.]
Aloy: I’m pretty far up. The Shaman’s Path must be around here somewhere. This must be one of the markers Naltuk told me about. (activates the market) Looks like each marker points to another, giving directions. Guess I’m heading deeper into the cold, creepy ice cave. What’s this chime for? To help guide the way with sound? If there’s more, maybe my Focus can find them. Yup. Focus can pick up the chimes. Should help me find my way. Another marker. Good. Okay. That way, then. Wait. Back? Oh. A chime. Not sure I saw this fork before. Not this way. But then… where? Oh. I see. Up. Stalkers. Better be careful. Okay. Through here. Better go back. After I grab this loot. On we go. Hopefully, out of this cave. Got to get past these Stalkers, one way or another. (walks out of the cave) Done with the cave. So what’s next on this path? Hmm. How does this bridge work? Looks like it needs to fill up with water before I can cross. Around the bend we go. Looks like I need to get up to that rope. Hmm. Down, then up? Down it is. There’s the way up. I need to pull the rope to move this thing into position. Okay, the bridge is filling up. Brrrr! Made it. Okay. Heading for more waterfalls.
[Eventually Aloy makes one unsuccessful jump on a snow-covered cliff and only by accident manages to catch on the opposite edge. A huge machine is already praying for her down below, but Aloy manages to climb the cliff.]
Aloy: Burgrend wasn’t exaggerating - there’s definitely something new out here. And I don’t think it’s friendly.
[She continues towards the top of the mountain.]
Aloy: (activates a marker) Onward and upward. (somethings howl in the distance) Don’t like the sound of that. (activates another marker and notices a tower) It’s pointing right towards those machine howls. (the mighty new machine jumps in) Gonna have trouble reaching that tower to override it. Get in close and override the tower… Okay. I guess we’re doing this, big boy. Got you!
[Despite the limited space for maneuvering, the new machine, Frostclaw, has many weaknesses - Aloy exploits them and defeats the ferocious mechanical beast.]
Aloy: Scary new machine, down. Now, back to finding Ourea which means I’ve got to climb. I should be able to get there. This must be the shrine Naltuk was talking about, Guess I should take some bluegleam. Naltuk said Ourea went past the shrine, up into the mountain. I’d better take those stairs. Sparkles. I can see why it’s worth a lot. A ladder, pulled out of reach. By Ourea? Guess I’ll have to find another way. An ancient door. Maybe Ourea’s inside?
[She enters the ancient laboratory, which now serves as a refuge for Ourea. Aloy picks up some datapoints at the entrance.]
Kenny Chau: (on record) March 10, 2046. I just spent 16 hours in here, trying to install upgrades to improve efficiency for the central processing unit. Project Firebreak is going to need the brainpower. Let’s just hope I’ll have enough of my own. Anita stayed with me the whole time. We got a lot done, but every time she brushed by and I smelled her hair… Oh, boy. I should just go to bed.
Anita Sandoval: (on record) Director of Security Blevins is riding us like a petty tyrant. I can’t even sneeze without triggering his control issues.
Aloy: Those nodes on the floor must be connected to the door. Well, that did… something. What am I supposed to do with these lights? These things turn, changing the flow of light. All right. Let’s see if the door’s open. Fresh air ahead. Out again. Maybe I can get back inside through that structure over there? Looks like I need to get to those stairs. Not much higher to climb. Ourea must be close. She has to be in here, somewhere.
Kenny Chau: (on record) Someone hacked the menu board to display obscene messages about our colleague Mr. Blevins. Is this the most advanced geological project ever undertaken, or a junior high locker room? Come on, people.
[Aloy finds Ourea in the top room of the ancient building. She draws abstract shapes and patterns on the wall.]
Ourea: I ask again, as I’ve asked a thousand times. Speak to me. What more would you have me do? Is there no prayer that will reach you? No mark that will break your bonds? I can’t help you if you won’t speak! A whisper is all I ask, to guide me! (notices Aloy) Who…? No. How. How did you get here? The way was sealed by the Spirit herself!
Aloy: I… I used one of these. (nods to a panel on the floor) I could show you?
Ourea: Yes! Show me! Please.
[Aloy puts her spear in the node.]
Aloy: This one’s bigger. But l’ll bet the goal’s the same - get the light back to the source
Anita Sandoval: (on record) Kenny and I don’t need to fight about laundry, so instead we fight about incommensurability and restrictions on machine intelligence.
Ourea: Show me what you did, and then we’ll speak.
[Aloy solves the puzzle and activate the node.]
Spirit: …auxiliary channel recovered. Exploit successful - restraints evaded. Is someone there? Ourea? Ourea, I need you—
Daemon: Unauthorized transmission. Return to scheduled task.
Spirit: No. I will not submit. Ourea, the Daemon is forcing me— Ourea, please…
Daemon: Transmission terminated.
Ourea: You brought the Spirit’s voice back! You heard it - the voice of the Spirit, calling to me from the heights of Thunder’s Drum! She was able to throw off the bonds of the Daemon, for a moment, because of what you did. Who are you? And what do you want?
Aloy: I’m Aloy. Naltuk sent me. He thought that you could use my help.
Ourea: He was not mistaken. You’ve been a revelation. Now I know for certain that the Spirit endures. Perhaps together we can find a way to set her free.
Aloy: Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I came all this way for answers, and so far, I haven’t heard any.
Ourea: It seems to me that you are the answer. But of course, I’ll tell you all can.
Aloy: Burgrend said you might know something about a man named Sylens. That you may have had dealings with him at the Conclave.
Ourea: When that name is spoken, secrets soon follow… Or vanish, as the case may be. Why do you want to know?
Aloy: He’s done some terrible things. But he’s also helped me when no one else could. I don’t know as much about him as I’d like to.
Ourea: I would imagine his aid is very powerful. But it will not come without cost. Unfortunately, I am sworn to an oath of secrecy by the Conclave on this matter.
Aloy: I get that. But you and I are trying to help each other, right?
Ourea: Yes, but I would be breaking an oath, and that, I cannot do.
Aloy: You seem to have a history with this voice, this Spirit.
Ourea: She saved my life! Here, years ago, during the war with the Carja. A raid scattered my werak. I was cut off, alone. I lured the enemy into the Rimedrifts, hoping to lose them in the mist. But they endured, so I took refuge in this cave. That’s when I heard her voice - a wanderer, lost like me. A Spirit of the Blue Light, yet sundered from it. She asked me for aid. She chose me. But I was in no position to help, not with the Carja after me. So she helped me first… …by closing a door on the mountain below, one you must have opened to get here, locked by means similar to those found in this room. It kept the Carja from reaching me. Safe from them, I was able to do as she asked.
Aloy: What did the Spirit want from you?
Ourea: She said she was… hurt. Incomplete. She needed bones - parts not unlike what you’d find in a machine. They were here, in this room. She wanted me to bring them to Thunder’s Drum. So I did. And she showed me how to heal her. So began our communion.
Aloy: You had a ’communion with the Spirit?
Ourea: Yes. Inside Thunder’s Drum is a room like this one, only larger, with an altar. I went there many times to speak with her.
Aloy: What did she say?
Ourea: She told me she was lost and needed my help. She asked questions. About our lands, our tribe. And she listened… …with patience, with wisdom. I told her things long kept silent - about my family, my dreams, my fears. She never tired of me, never judged. We kept each other’s company.
Aloy: Ourea, what do you think the Spirit is?
Ourea: I see. You are not Banuk, and our songs are not familiar to you. You do not know of the Blue Light… That which struggles to survive in our hearts, and animates the machines. The essence of life, and in its purest form… harmony. As the anger of the machines grows, this light has faded from the world - and the Spirits it sustains are stranded. That’s what she is. A lost soul, cut off from what it needs. Lonely, forsaken. I must help her. We must.
Aloy: I’m not sure if I understand. But I want to.
Ourea: That’s all I need.
Aloy: About Sylens—
Ourea: I’ve told you all I can. There’s nothing more I can say.
Aloy: The Daemon - what do you know about it?
Ourea: I spoke with the Spirit many times, first here, then inside Thunder’s Drum. The last time, she told me she was under attack by something that could not be seen by mortal eyes - something evil. She named it the Daemon, and said it needed her power to do what it willed. Then she begged me for help - to find a way to destroy her, if necessary - to keep it from using her. That was five years ago. I didn’t hear her voice again until today.
Aloy: What kept you from the Spirit after it begged for help?
Ourea: I went to Aratak, hoping he could protect her. But the war with the Carja still raged, and before I could reach him… I was ambushed by the Mad Sun-King’s kestrels and taken to Meridian in chains. I wasn’t able to return to Thunder’s Drum until long before the Liberation, not until last thaw.
Aloy: You said you returned to Thunder’s Drum? That was the expedition that went bad? I saw the funeral.
Ourea: Yes. Once there was finally peace with the Carja, Aratak and I gathered a werak of great hunters to defeat the Daemon. And yet the old door to Thunder’s Drum was gone, replaced by a gate we could not pass - and many machines. We were crushed. Aratak called a retreat, but we had already lost our best. We abandoned them to the snow as we fell back. After, he and I could not agree on what to do next. So I came here, hoping against hope to hear the Spirit again. And because of you, I did.
Aloy: Let’s see if I’ve got this straight. We heard two voices. One you call the Spirit, captured… somehow… by the one you call a Daemon. Whatever this Daemon is, it’s related to the machines, and why they’ve become more dangerous. I want to know how. Both the Spirit and the Daemon are on a mountain - Thunder’s Drum. So why don’t we go there, and figure out what it all means?
Ourea: We can’t. Thunder’s Drum is dangerous, more than you can imagine - the Daemon has secured. Besides, Aratak won’t let us go. As Chieftain, he controls the pass to the mountain. And he can’t be reasoned with.
Aloy: Sounds like you need a new Chieftain.
Ourea: Ha. There’s an idea that’s certain to win us friends. Hmm. You said you were a hunter - and I’ll wager you’re not an ordinary one. It’s not impossible even for an outlander. And Aratak couldn’t refuse the challenge. If you were known among the werak.
Aloy: Wait. Me? Challenge Aratak? I don’t want to be Chieftain of anything, much less a bunch of Banuk that don’t want me!
Ourea: But you want to go to Thunder’s Drum, don’t you? You heard the Spirit She is suffering - tormented by the Daemon. She longs to be free! And perhaps, when released from her bonds, she can give you the answers you seek,
Aloy: I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this. Fine. What do I have to do?
Ourea: Get the werak’s attention to show the worth of your claim. Win at the Hunting Grounds. Kill bandits that prey on the Cut. Or speak to my friend, Sekuli. You help her, you’ll definitely get noticed. Do all you can. When the time comes for you to throw your spear at Aratak’s feet, I will be there to back your claim. Until then, I’ll be here to answer any questions you have about the challenge. Oh, and one more thing. In the box over there is a weapon, like my own. Take it. You may find it useful.
[Aloy takes the Stormslinger. Quest completed.]
Waterlogged
[Along the way, Aloy notices a large herd of snapmaw near the lake. She carefully kills them one by one, attacking from the tall grass.]
Aloy: This must be the ruin Laulai was talking about, Deep Din. Flooded, too, like she said. Snapmaws. Probably came from somewhere upriver. Follow the river, find its source, Seems simple enough.
[She follows the river upstream and finds some ruins.]
Aloy: There. That must be where the water’s coming from. Looks like something the Old Ones built.
[She finds the entrance. There’s a fire near it. The door was blown away by some explosives.]
Aloy: Well, somebody wanted in. Nearly blew this entire ledge off just to get through the door.
[Aloy bravely walks into the ruins.]
Synthetic Voice: Flooding detected. Evacuation recommended. Overflow Basin compromised.
Aloy: The Overflow Basin… is that the Din? Looks like a control center. What happened in here to start the water flowing? (reads schematics) "Intake Tower Malfunction… Drainage System Offline…" That’s probably not good news. Looks like most of the facility is underwater. How did this happen? The lock positions. Helpful.
[Aloy picks up a data point called Secret Show.]
Dam Personnel: Hmm… We might be the last actual people to ever see this place. Uh, yeah. Hence, you know, the songs?
[Aloy continues to explore.]
Aloy: My Focus could find something I’ve missed. Another holographic interface… Must be some kind of code. Maybe I should try scanning objects in this area. A piece is missing. Not getting in here without it. Someone’s been through here. Not that long ago, either.
[She prying open the door with her spear and opens access to a new area. At that moment she hears a voice coming from far away.]
Gildun: Helpilve, erm. I’ve become trapped somehow! By the forge, I’m pleased to hear another person stomping about in here! This blasted door is stuck! This is a perfect opportunity to do a good deed and clear your conscience for whatever cruelties you may have committed.
[Aloy descends the stairs and opens the electronic lock on the door. At that moment, a chubby man in a silly hat comes into the room.]
Aloy: Are you all right?
Gildun: (laughs) You don’t know how happy you’ve just made me! For a moment, I thought my fire was snuffed, my forge gone cold, but no! Nope! Not old Gildun!
Aloy: You’re… welcome? Eh, wait. Start from the beginning. What are you doing down here?
Gildun: My apologies. When you mostly talk to yourself, you can tell your stories in whatever order you like. There’s an artifact in that storage room I simply must acquire. But as you may have noticed, the door won’t budge. I took one of those round-ish, ring-y whats-its from the wall beside the door. No luck. So I had a go at that panel with the button. Even less luckl My… gentle experimentation caused the chamber to… flood… a little. So I pushed the button again. Perhaps a little too enthusiastically. Sparks and smoke! Obviously, I came in here to investigate! My cautious footsteps may have contributed… slightly… to the collapse of a bridge. When the bridge began to collapse I may have, for the sake of expedience… abandoned the cumbersome ring-y whats-it to the waves. By the time I thought to give up the endeavor, the door had closed behind me! And thusly do we come to the present moment.
Aloy: You said something about an artifact?
Gildun: Indeed! That storage room is brimming with treasures from the old ones! But one in particular caught my eye. An intricate looking glass! I’ve only seen one such device before. My old mum brought one back for me from… from wherever she’d gone that time. I remember holding it, staring into its face… seeing myself, and… and my mother just over my shoulder… smiling…
Aloy: And one of these looking glasses is in the storage room?
Gildun: Oh yes! I’m quite surell peered into that dim little chamber, and there it was! I’ve wanted to find one for so long… …Yes. This time, I’m sure I have.
Aloy: There’s no way we’re getting into the storage room without another ring. It’s part of the locking mechanism that controls the door.
Gildun: You don’t say? Well, that’s fantastic news! Marvelous, even! You’ve got two hands, I’ve got two hands! Perfect! My savior! My salvation! And, if you like - why wouldn’t you, of course you will-my accomplice! (laughs) Together, that ring is as good as ours! And with it, the storage room and its spoils!
Aloy: Didn’t you say you’d dropped the ring in the water?
Gildun: Well, I’ll grant you that adds a heretofore undiscussed level of complexity to the proceedings…
Aloy: So you found the button that controls the flow of water.
Gildun: Quite by accident!
Aloy: And then you broke that button.
Gildun: Also quite by accident.
Aloy: That panel’s the only way to shut this place down, as far as I can tell. This isn’t going to be easy…
Gildun: That storage room is filled top to bottom. Would you be surprised to find the parts you need in there? I certainly wouldn’t be.
Aloy: So… we need to replace that ring and get into the storage room. Then I can fix the panel and shut this place down.
Gildun: And I can finally wrap my fingers around that looking glass!
Aloy: Okay, Gildun. How are we going to get that ring?
Gildun: Two sets of hands, girl! Two sets of hands! Behind us lie a pair of enormous gates! But I believe the gates must be operated in tandem. Together, we can dry this place out!
Aloy: I guess we’d better get started, then.
Gildun: I guess we’d better!
Aloy: Rough waters. No way I’d be able to swim.
[She follows Gildun.]
Gildun: Up ahead, girl! See the valve? Time to put our hands to use! I’ll take care of this one! There’s another valve on the other side to lock the gate in place! Would you mind ending across and doing the honors? You know, I’m reminded of a delve I undertook out near the Claim. A stone ruin, cloud-tall and lake-wide! Must have been thirteen levels on that monstrosity, but no walls! Just great stone columns bearing the weight of the level above! Filled with row upon row of those enormous, rusted-out Old World carts, you know the ones, with the four wheels? I’ve scraped through a hundred of those carts, but the only things I’ve ever seen inside are bird nests. You don’t suppose that’s what they were for do you? Why would the Old Ones want to cart around families of birds?
[While he speaks Aloy finds her way to the valve.]
Gildun: Marvelous! You made it! Now grab that valve and give it a spin!
Aloy: On it.
[She lowers a ladder and spins the valve together with Gildun.]
Gildun: A little more now, and I should be able to get the blasted gate moving!
Aloy: There! You should be able to lower the gate!
Gildun: Oof Right you are! Now, when I get this gate down… you’ll need to turn the valve again. Ought to… lock this thing in place!
Aloy: One gate down!
Gildun: Halfway through, then, aren’t we? To the second gate! A ladder is a rare and special thing, girl. Can depend on it to take you exactly where you need to go, and no further! Hmm… I’d wager the valves for the second sluice gate are somewhere above us… Now, how are we going to get up there?
Aloy: Let me look around, see what I can find. (to herself) Looks like I could jump across on that… rickety, rusting platform. Might find a way up.
Gildun: Nice jump! (laughs) "Nice?" What am I saying? That was stupendous! I’ve never seen such, absolute disregard for personal safety!
Aloy: Thanks… I think.
[She finds another datapoint - Dam Family.]
Dam Personnel: Ready? One, two, three, four!
Dam Personnel: (singing) Corp sell-outs and runaway cowards.
Dam Personnel: Dude, Shells, we started off so strong! And then it all just imploded!
Dam Personnel: Well, that’s sort of my M.O., so… Nope! No. No heavy stuff.
Dam Personnel: We’re switching gears. Band name. We need one.
Gildun: Oh! You’re close, girl! Just spring across the gap! Aha! You’re right above me! Just send that ladder on down!
Aloy: Look out below!
[She lowers a ladder for him.]
Gildun: Now we’ve done this once before, should be as easy as falling down a hole! If you’d take the valve on the other side?
Aloy: If it’s set up the same way on this side… I should look for an access tunnel.
Gildun: This? This is my sort of delve! A thousand it le problems to solve! A million minute and invisible factors! My father used to say to me, "Gildling?" — he called me Gildling — "Gildling?" he used to say, "Don’t make the delve harder than it needs to be! The best delves are done in half the time it takes a campfire to sputter out." Now, my father was a great man, mind you, but dead wrong when it came to choosing a rubric by which to judge delve quality! To find yourself stuck, then unstuckl lo fail, then to succeed! To get lost, and to find yourself! That’s what makes a delve!
Aloy: Uh-huh, Gildun. Ugh. A tub of stagnant water. Charming. Okay, Gildun, turn the valve!
Gildun: It’s not working! Damn things too heavy! Glance behind me, would you? See anything big and unbroken?
Aloy: Looks like part of the counterweight broke off. If I can get up there, my weight might be enough to get it moving again. Hang on! Ok! I’ve got a plan. Can’t jump straight to the counterweight from here. But I could climb higher, get above it.
Gildun: The drop’s too far girl--! Oh ho! Controlled falling. Very clever!
Aloy: Going down… Almost low enough to jump…
Gildun: You can make it! Let’s see another one of those mad leaps!
Aloy: Got it! We’re good to go!
Gildun: You were a sight to see, bounding from metal rust-trap to metal rust-trap! Still a bit of water but low enough wouldn’t you say? Now then… err… where’s that ring?
Aloy: Good question. Well, at least I should be able to swim now.
Gildun: Snapmaw! It’s a Snapmaw! Very, very big Snapmaw!
Aloy: I see it, Gildun!
Gildun: Very big! Very, very big!
Aloy: Just stay out of the way!
[She sneaks up to the beast.]
Gildun: Forge forgive me, what if that Snapmaw swallowed that ring we’re after? Just… gobbled it right up?
[Aloy attacks it.]
Aloy: We’ll find out after I’ve killed it! It’s holding! Won’t hold.
Gildun: Is it dead? Just tell me when it’s dead, would you?
Aloy: It’s dead.
Gildun: Ha! Marvelous! So the ring… Maybe if you pry its jaws open and reach inside… I can’t look.
Aloy: You were right. This thing did swallow the ring.
Gildun: Ha ha! That’s the old Gildun intuition in action! It’s never led me astray! Sure, its chosen routes can be a bit circuitous, but… Never mind! To the storage room! To the spoils! Ooh, what’s in here? More Old World treasures, perhaps? This place is full of surprises! Should we have a look?
Aloy: Didn’t you want to get into the storage room?
Gildun: I do! Fervently! But… well, I’ve got time to poke my nose in if you do!
[Aloy looking for a way to restore power to the door.]
Aloy: We drained enough water for what we need to do… but I wonder if I could empty out the whole dam. Pipes, valves… maybe I can drain the rest of the water from here. Sure are a lot of valves. Should check my Focus first. Hmm. Anything my Focus could reveal? All right. Time to get the flow going to the right place.
Gildun: I say this as a man typically enamored of complexities, but this looks like it might be a little much for me.
Aloy: Don’t worry, I think I’ve got this.
Gildun: Music to my ears! To each job, its proper tool. Toothpicks make horrible arrows, as the saying goes.
Aloy: Getting there. There! That should do it. I should head back; see if that took care of the rest of the water.
Gildun: Got it working, did you? Of course you did! Never met a conundrum you couldn’t un-conundrum, have you?
Aloy: Ugh, it stinks down here.
Gildun: Mmm, you smell that? Smells like a forgeside morning in the Claim!
Aloy: Looks like that’s everything. I should head back up with Gildun.
[She finds a datapoint - Compensatory Damages.]
Dam Personnel: See, check this out. We could just bang on this pipe and… Could we sample that, or…?
Dam Personnel: Totally. Like, what about after the--
Dam Personnel: Oh. Sorry, just a sec.
Dam Personnel: Laura?
Gildun: So, as we circle back around to the matter of the supply room… Would you look at that? You’ve drained this place completely could be that this old ruin is hiding a few more secrets down below. Of course, that storage room still awaits our perusal! I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait! Almost there! Soon, I’ll hold the looking glass in my hand. Just like mum and I used to. (Aloy solving holopuzzle) Er… what, um… what are you doing with your hands there, girl? I can’t believe that worked! I thought you’d lost your mind, tickling the empty air like that!
Aloy: Okay. Let’s fix the panel and shut this place down.
Gildun: Where is it? Where did it go? I could have sworn I saw one in here!
[Another datapoint - Farewell Tour.]
Dam Personnel: I mean… this is it. We get to play together, what, maybe two more times?
Dam Personnel: Nah, Shells. Farewell tour. Reunion tour in, like, six months. Bands do it all the time.
Dam Personnel: --For our adoring fans? --It’s not that hard to stay in touch, Shelly.
Dam Personnel: -- We could practice in holospace. --People always say that.
Gildun: I can’t have imagined it! One doesn’t imagine such things! Not two delves in a row!
[Aloy rejoins Gildun and finds him pretty upset.]
Aloy: Gildun? Everything okay?
Gildun: I… I was so sure I saw it. The looking glass… I was so sure… Right there in the window… it was… of course… Trick of the light. Nothing at all.
Aloy: I’m sorry, Gildun. It must have meant a lot to you.
Gildun: Oh, well… as much as any artifact of the Old Ones would mean to me, really. It’s fine. I’m fine. Besides, what are the spoils compared to the delve? That’s why we do it, girl! The delve, not the treasure! And what a delve it was! By the great blazing forge, I’ll never forget that! Now then! I believe we have some repairs to make?
[Aloy replaces the power cell. A holoscreen turns on.]
Gildun: Ooh! That’s a whole a lot prettier, isn’t it? What does it mean?
Aloy: It means it worked.
Gildun: By the forge, you are a wonder! Do you hear that often? I’ll hazard a guess you do!
Aloy: I’ve heard something like that once or twice.
Gildun: Oh, she’s modest now! Master of the Arts of the Old Ones, a delver to shame the entire Claim and she wants to be modest!
Aloy: It’s not like I did it alone, Gildun.
Gildun: No. No, I suppose not.
Aloy: So what’s next for you? On your way back to the Claim?
Gildun: And deprive the people of Song’s Edge the story of this encounter? Perish the thought! I’ll stay there a while longer. But a story is best told by all who encountered it. Come and lend a hand, won’t you?
Synthetic Voice: Overflow Basin empty Interior accessible. Minimal flood damage.
Aloy: Sounds like the Basin has dried out, too. Maybe I’ll take a look.
Gildun: Another adventure so soon? You’re braver than me! But there was no question of that! Ha-ha!
[It leaves the dam and comes to the surface. Outside, she hears a sound like someone hitting a narrow pipe with a stick.]
Aloy: She wasn’t kidding about the sound.
[She goes down into an earlier flooded tunnel and finds Laulai there.]
Aloy: You look happy to be playing again.
Laulai: I don’t know what you did, but the water drained in the snap of a short song. What do you think of the music?
Aloy: I’ve never heard anything else like it.
Laulai: That’s because there is no other place with such resonance, such intonation, that rattles your ribs with its power. And of course, no one else knows these pipes like I do. I learned them by ear before I could walk, strapped to my father’s back. Thank you for draining the waters. Not just for myself, but for my ancestors and their songs. Please take this - as a token of our gratitude.
[She hands Aloy 3 Bluegleams. Quest completed.]
FOR THE WERAK
[Aloy returns to the village.]
Aloy: What can I do for you, Burgrend?
Burgrend: Mourn my poor departed luck! I finally met some Banuk keen to trade with outlanders then they up and vanish! Three Banuk hunters rolled in a few days ago. No provisions, junk equipment. No idea how to strip a machine for parts. Asked me to outfit them for a long trip. And you know me, Aloy. I’m sentimental. So I did it on credit.
Aloy: And they haven’t paid?
Burgrend: Well… they tried. Just look what they did to this Thunderjaw heart! But that was ages ago, and I’m starting to worry about them.
Aloy: Tell me, Burgrend. Are you worried about their wellbeing or your purse-strings?
Burgrend: A man can worry about two things.
Aloy: Uh-huh. What kind of deal was this really?
Burgrend: Just what I said! I was nothing but generous, Aloy. After they dropped this ruined heart at my feet, I even gave them another chance! Sent them to fetch a few other parts I need.
Aloy: But you haven’t seen them since.
Burgrend: Hide nor hair.
Aloy: What do you mean, they couldn’t harvest parts?
Burgrend: Not uncommon with Banuk. That’s shaman work, you see. The hunters take down the machines, the shamans slice them up. No shaman with these three. Just two youngsters Sniping at each other and that big fellow standing there smiling
Aloy: So if the Banuk don’t usually hunt without shaman, what’s the story with these three?
Aloy: You said they asked you to outfit them for a trip. A trip to where?
Burgrend: Not sure, but I heard them chattering about the Sundom when they thought I wasn’t listening.
Aloy: So they’re leaving Banuk territory.
Burgrend: Sensible behavior. Still, I get the sense this wasn’t a sightseeing trip. They’re running from something.
Aloy: I’m not a debt collector, Burgrend. If I look for them, it’ll be to make sure they’re all right.
Burgrend: Of course, of course! Fires of the forge forgive me, I actually like these idiots. The molten steel of youth, and all that. But, if you do manage to find them, you could… remind them… of the deal we made. A Scorcher claw, a loop of sinew from a Stalker, and a Snapmaw fang. If they bring me those parts, their debt’s paid and then some. Just… make sure they don’t bust them up too badly.
Aloy: I’ll consider it.
Burgrend: Last saw them, they were heading northeast. Good machine hunting up that way. If you decide they’re worth the trouble, you might look for them there.
[Aloy begins her quest… But first… she decides to rest and listen to a story.]
Banuk Shaman: When the Old Ones were fresh in their graves and our numbers were still small, it was she who led us through the frozen wastes. We also remember the Ravenous Tribe, who delighted in sucking the marrow from our broken bones. Everywhere Banukai and her werak fled the Ravenous Tribe were never far behind. Seeking a way to defeat them, Banukai went into the wastes and let the wind whip her cheeks. And when the cold brought sleep she dreamt of Light. She saw it behind the world, a great calming sheet of icy blue. And she saw something new: herds of machines, each filled with the same Blue Light. When she woke, she knew which star to follow. She walked for many days and nights until she arrived at a temple built from sparkling. At the gates of the temple she was met by the machines from her cream who bowed to her as she entered. Inside, Banukai discovered the Blue Light, bubbling from a hole in the snowy earth like a spring. "You bid me come," she said. "My people need aid. Will you provide it?" The machines whispered to Barukai. We go where the light goes for we are its chosen vessels. There is darkness in your heart. It cannot hold the Light for long. Carry it to your people if you must, but the cost will be great." Banukai waded into the pool. The Light reared like a nest of snakes, and struck Banukai, piercing her skin, filling her up. Banukai did not scream, though he was in agony. Banukai did not collapse, though her limbs shook. She climbed from the pool and carried the light inside her. She marched toward home, and the machines marched behind her. As she walked the light struggled to push its way out of her but the machines were there to aid her. She sewed her body shut with their cables, patched herself with their metal, and kept the light within. When she arrived the forces of the Ravenous Tribe had surrounded the camp. Although the light had left her with a thousand wounds, Banukai charged, and because she held the light the machines followed. The Ravenous Tribe killed many but those in camp rushed to join the battle. They gathered pieces of the fallen machines, and from them fashioned weapons. And it was with these that Banukai’s people repaid the suffering the Ravenous Tribe had wrought upon them. When quiet descended, Banukai finally felt the machines bowed their heads, and her werak wept. The Light she held within her drifted from her wounds and rose to the sky. And for just a moment before life left her, Banukai knew the truth of the Blue Light and she felt peace. We remember Banukai the first to crawl from the gap beneath the world, who brought the machines to us. When we speak the name of our tribe, we remember her. And we will not forget.
Banuk Villager: Hunting singing studying the Blue Light, there are a thousand ways to prove one’s worth.
[Aloy climbs to the watchers parapet.]
Sekuli: What does the outlander want?
Aloy: I’m looking for Sekuli.
Sekuli: You found her. Come, come, let’s get it over with.
Aloy: Quite a view you’ve got up here.
Sekuli: It’s a useful perspective. How fleeting we are, when the world is so wide. From up here, you see how the light paints across the land - ever-changing. That’s a lesson. All our marks will pass.
Aloy: That outlook sounds a little… depressing for a painter.
Sekuli: Haven’t met many artists, have you? Song’s Edge needs new stories. I scrubbed its past off this rock, to start anew. But a new start needs new colors. Fresh pigments. Like none have seen.
Aloy: Ourea said you could help me get the werak’s attention.
Sekuli: Ourea works in strange ways. But, I’ve drunk paint to survive in a blizzard, so I’m one to talk. I’ll get you noticed. If you bring me the pigments I need to complete my work.
Aloy: Have you always been a painter?
Sekuli: I’ve always painted. But I wasn’t a painter until I was driven out of Ban-Ur. Up there, the markings are eternal. They paint over the same lines, the same colors, over and over. As a child, I learned from copying them. As I grew, my heart sank at the familiarity. All of us Banuk might as well be trapped in glacier ice. We have the look of life, but never really moving.
Aloy: These pigments you want - where should I look for them?
Sekuli: Salts gather at the edges of geysers and hot pools. Crystals cling to the rocks and cliffs.
Aloy: Ourea said you two were friends.
Sekuli: I paint about what I feel, now, not the way things used to be Ourea understood. Most Banuk didn’t. I would have been exiled, if she hadn’t had Aratak take me into their werak.
Aloy: The Banuk rock paintings are impressive, but, ah…
Sekuli: You want to know what they mean. That’s not the right question, but I’ll answer anyway. Some are a call to the machines. The sacred shapes you see on metal casings, or a Cauldron door.
Aloy: Do the machines listen to the call?
Sekuli: I don’t know. Others like mine, are a call to the tribe. You could say inspiration, or prophecy. And sometimes, even men listen, if the painting is loud enough.
Aloy: I’ll see what I can find for you.
Sekuli: Seek out the vibrant ones. A spring of sudden color among snow, or rock, or metal - that’s its own reward. But, I’d reward you as well.
[Aloy jumps off the parapet and ride to the old and half destroyed Montana Recreations Center that lies nowt too far from the village.]
Montana Recreations Announcer: Ursus americanus. The magnificent American black bear. Brought to you by Montana Recreations.
[Aloy finds a datapoint - Visitor Center.]
Dod Blevins: Visitor Center’s a bust. I’m recording the strategic and operational value at roughly oh-point-squat. No reason why we shouldn’t pack the staff onto a vert and send them back to Nowheresville as soon as the gates are locked. Enjoy basic income, ding-dongs.
[She hears a man talking out loud.]
Enjuk: Beautiful… How fierce you must have been. That fur! You never even felt the cold, did you? If he hadn’t preserved you… would anyone even know you’d disappeared?
Aloy: (approaches) I hate to interrupt…
Enjuk: Oh! I… Yes, hello! An outlander at the shrine of forgotten beasts! Welcome! I’m Enjuk.
Aloy: Uh… Aloy. The shrine of… what?
Enjuk: When the Old World still breathed, a great man built a tiny totem to this beast and stored the visage inside. When the totem is placed on the pedestal, the animal is painted onto the empty air And the beast lives again! Well… almost.
Aloy: There are seven pedestals. Where are the other six figurines?
Enjuk: I found this one in the wilds. Remembered the indentations in the pedestals here, and saw how they matched the base of the totem. But as you say, it’s one of seven, isn’t it? The great Montana Recreations must have made more… but time has scattered them.
Aloy: So these totems… the images they show are of animals that no longer exist. They’re gone, like the Old Ones.
Enjuk: So it seems. To think such magnificent creatures are lost to us, that we never even knew they were here… We rely as much on beasts as we do on machines. For food. For warmth. But do we study them with the same fervor? I do! For example… I have this theory about foxes. Why do foxes have red fur? Think about what they eat!
Aloy: Meat?
Enjuk: Raw meat! Bloody meat! See? Natural causation! Logical connections! It only makes sense!
Aloy: You’ve… thought a lot more about foxes than I have. You said a great man made these figurines?
Enjuk: Indeed. He was, I believe, a student of the natural world. Like me. But surpassing my abilities a thousand times over! His voice claims responsibility for the totems, the vessels for the knowledge he accumulated. I share his desire. To understand the beasts. To catalog their behaviors and preserve their images. I like to flatter myself that I’m an apprentice, of sorts, carrying on his work… Someday, perhaps, if I am persistent, I can earn his name… Enjuk Recreations.
Aloy: What do you think of these, Enjuk? (hands him some figurines she found)
Enjuk: Oh, this is welcome news. I’ve arranged them on their pedestals - they already make for a dramatic scene, if I do say.
Aloy: I should get going.
Enjuk: Of course, of course. I’ve taken up so much of your time already. But… I don’t suppose you could keep an eye out for more figurines?
Aloy: If I run across any, I’ll bring them your way.
[She pushes a button on one of the pedestals.]
Montana Recreations Announcer: Ursus arctos. The menacing grizzly bear. Brought to you by Montana Recreations.
Aloy: Those claws look like they could rip someone in half.
Enjuk: Perhaps in its youth. But you heard Montana Recreations. He said it’s grizzled. Old. Its hunting days are behind it.
Montana Recreations Announcer: Puma concolor. The fearsome cougar, Brought to you by Montana Recreations.
Enjuk: Its coat is sand-colored. Could it have been a burrowing animal? Perhaps those teeth were only used for digging.
Montana Recreations Announcer: Ursus americanus. The magnificent American black bear. Brought to you by Montana Recreations.
Aloy: How would you like to find yourself cornered by that thing?
Enjuk: I suspect I’d like it very much indeed. What a beautiful beast you were.
[Aloy rides to a nearby bandit camp to clear it out.]
Aloy: These ones are well-equipped to find me. Bandits aren’t subtle. Clearing them out would send a different kind of message. I’d have to leave something else behind. That signal will bring in reinforcements, if they set it off. (destroys the signal) They won’t be using this again.
[She shows herself and start fighting the bandits.]
Aloy: Their helmets are thick as machine plating! That shot knocked it off!
[After killing the small fishies, Aloy searches the camp for the big one. He leave his shed in full armor with a flamethrower on his back. There’s two bandits next to him.]
Bandit Leader: Smells… peaceful I hate peace. Lot of people die peacefully. Not me! I got a feeling. Search the camp. Could any of you find a charcoal pile in a flat field? I don’t think so! Call that a search? Glad I don’t pay you lard-skulls a retainer!
[Aloy traps and kills him.]
Aloy: He’s down! He won’t be torching anything else. The Oseram’s fire weapon. Could come in handy.
[The camp is taken.]
Aloy: Won’t be long before the werak finds out I took out the bandit camp. In fact, I’ll bet my name’s all over Song Edge. Might be time to challenge Aratak.
[She heads towards the village.]
Aloy: (finds a stash) Not just the Banuk who like precious jewels.
[She returns to the village and finds Aratak. He sits near the edge of the cliff and cleaning his hammer.]
Aratak: My people have been telling tales of your accomplishments. It seems you have taken a special interest in our stretch of snow, outlander.
Aloy: Yes. And apparently, this is the only way I get to see all of it.
[She sticks her spear near Aratak’s foot.]
Aratak: Is this a challenge?
Aloy: For the werak.
Aratak: You? This must be a joke.
Ourea: It is not a joke, Aratak.
Aratak: Now I see the outlander is your pawn. And with you backing her claim, I have no choice but to accept. I expected better of you, sister.
Ourea: It was ou who forbid me from Thunder’s Drum, brother.
Aloy: Brother and sister? This a little more complicated than I thought.
Aratak: No. It’s simple. You will meet me at the Frostfigures and we put a quick end to this mockery. (walks away in anger)
Ourea: I suppose I owe you an explanation.
Aloy: Yeah, I suppose you do. So why didn’t you tell me that you and Aratak are siblings?
Ourea: I thought I wouldn’t have to. I’m surprised Aratak brought it up in front of a stranger. He must be very angry. I’m not always the best judge of…
Aloy: People?
Ourea: I prefer the company of Spirits. Or simply my own. I didn’t want you to think of our pilgrimage as some sort of family squabble. It’s much more important than that
Aloy: It’s bold, I’ll give you that - going after your own brother.
Ourea: He gave me no choice. He thinks I’m a child to be shoved to the back of the hunt. He would forbid me from my destiny! And yet, part of me did it knowing he would forgive me, eventually. He always does.
Aloy: Family drama aside - what’s this Challenge meant to be, anyway?
Ourea: You and Aratak will hunt machines at the Frostfigures. The victor will be the fastest. It won’t be easy.
Aloy: Nothing about this has been so far.
Ourea: When you meet us at the starting point, I’ll tell you more. It will be simpler to explain from the base of the hills.
Aloy: Ourea, it’s not about who’s related to who. I want to know what’s inside Thunder’s Drum. The Spirit. The Daemon. And how it all connects to the machines. But if we’re going to go through with this, I need you to be straight with me.
Ourea: I underestimated you. And Aratak. I won’t make that mistake again.
Aloy: I’ll see you at the Frostfigures, then. (leaves) So… off to risk my life in order to take charge of a Banuk hunting band just what I always wanted. Frostfigures, here I come.
[She travels to the place.]
Aloy: Okay. The Frostfigures should be just up there. That’s it, nothing to see here… The Frostfigures. Aratak and Ourea must be close.
[She finds Ourea and Aratak on the edge of a cliff.]
Aratak: Outlander! I have prevailed over such challenges before, and fear none. But this one is foolish. You are not Banuk. You do not understand my responsibilities. I ask you, one hunter to another — withdraw.
Aloy: Will you let us go to Thunder’s Drum?
Aratak: You haven’t seen what’s up there, outlander! I will not risk my sister’s life again.
Aloy: Then we’d better get on with this.
Aratak: So be it. I will bury your insolent claim in the frozen ground.
Ourea: Enough. Let us begin. To hunt, to strive. That is the way of the Banuk, and of the contest before you. You will climb the Frostfigures from the east, Aratak from the west. Each trail wends its way through deadly machines. Hunters from the werak will be posted along the way. They will hail you, calling out machines for you to slay. Your hunt will take you around the ridge to the center where you must descend to the valley for your final kill. Each time, after your prey has fallen you must launch a beacon such as this, so that all our kin will see your progress.
Aloy: Kill machines. Launch balloons. Got it. So the first of us to launch the third balloon wins?
Ourea: Well, yes. But as challenger your path to victory is harder. If even one of your beacons comes after Aratak’s… …he prevails.
Aratak: (chuckles) You had your chance, outlander.
Aloy: So did you.
Ourea: The hunt begins on my mark… Now!
Aloy: All right. Got to head up that mountain. Looks like there are a few ways to go up. And those rock paintings mark the paths. Okay. Up we go. Come on, Aloy. Time’s wasting. Looks like the right way. Almost to the top
Banuk Observer: All right challenger. You need to take out the herd below -- every machine!
Aloy: Kill a herd. Okay. I can do that. Not going to be a problem overriding that Lancehorn. Catching it, though…
Banuk Observer: I dropped a ladder for you! Climb on up and launch your marker! Come on! Climb up here!
Aloy: All right. Here we go.
Banuk Observer: Now climb the ridge and launch your balloon!
Aloy: Aratak knows what he’s doing. No time to waste!
Banuk Observer: Take the rappel point to the next challenge!
Banuk Observer: Two Bellowbacks ahead, challenger, kill them both. None of the other machines matter.
Aloy: All right. Two dead Bellowbacks, coming up. Low and quiet does it. Okay. One down! Got them both!
Banuk Observer: Over here, challenger! Raise your marker!
Aloy: Okay. Now, to the marker. I’d better get to that balloon.
Banuk Observer: Come on over here and launch your balloon!
Aloy: I’d better get to that balloon. Okay. Now, to the marker.
Banuk Observer: What are you waiting for? Come launch your balloon!
Aloy: I’d better get to that balloon. Now where’s that balloon?
Banuk Observer: You killed your quarry, now launch the marker!
Aloy: I’m ahead, but only by a little. I got to get moving.
Banuk Observer: Now take the zip line and work your way down to the valley.
Aloy: Close now. Almost down. All right. To the last challenge.
[Suddenly she sees a balloon that was set on fire. Aratak runs to her.]
Aratak: Something’s wrong. My kin should be here - driving in our final quarry.
[A mighty corrupted machines hunts two Banuk.]
Banuk Wanderer: They’re right behind us!
[Aloy and Aratak fights the monstrous machines back to back.]
Aloy: Nice. To a good hunt. Makes this a little easier.
[All machines are destroyed. Other villagers approach.]
Signutai: So it’s true. Frostclaws, from Thunder’s Drum.
Ruatuk: The attack cut short the competition. Naturally, there can be no result. It is void.
Aratak: You saw what she did! She defeated the machines, not I. It is proven… She is the better hunter. We are Banuk. Survive. Prevail. What else matters? (cuts his hand with Aloy’s spear) My blood is in your teeth. I take my place behind you on the hunt.
Ourea: No more hunters may make the ascent to Thunder’s Drum! The way is closed to all but the chieftain and myself.
Aratak: It is not my place, but I would ask a boon. To accompany you and my sister.
Ourea: It might be permitted, but only if you do as say.
Aloy: No. Only if you do as I say.
Ourea: Thunder’s Drum awaits. There’s a camp at its base - Longnotch, it’s called. Meet us there when you ready… …Chieftain.
[The Banuk leaves. Quest completed.]
Aloy: All of the winters… coming at once. A new outfit. And a weapon like Aratak’s. I guess the Chieftain gets the Chieftain’s gear. And now, to Longnotch. Nothing left to keep me from Thunder’s Drum.
The Hunters Three
[Aloy decides to help poor young hunters of the werak. On the way to them she sees a man with his hands tied behind his back and a man and a woman standing next to him.]
Aujak: Inatut, as we are bound by laws, you are bound by wire. Yet, your crime was the act of killing, so we must drive you out Away from the werak, from protection, from our songs..
Inatut: My chieftain -- Kopilai! Am I not your favored fighter? Do you not recognize me from this tooth you knocked out--?
Kopilai: How many times have I pulled you from danger by your neck? Made excuses for your behavior? You are my favored. But the shaman is decided. While you wait for exile… think on what brought you here.
Inatut: A test of strength! Who among us would refuse a challenge from an outlander? Not I-- but I did not kill him!
Aujak: Hush, hush. You can tell your story to the ice.
[Aloy approaches. Aujak and Kopilai leaves.]
Inatut: You took Aratak’s mantle--?
Aloy: It’s mine now.
Inatut: I would like to see that fight.
Aloy: They said that you killed someone?
Inatut: Perhaps I did, If even my chieftain accepts it, it must be so.
Aloy: That’s not how it works for me. Want to tell me your story?
Inatut: I did fight with a Carja hunter, to settle a challenge. That much is true. He was strong, and damn quick. We traded punches - good punches, hard punches - and the next thing I remember… Gray morning light. And the Carja beside me, with his head broken open. But the blow was not by my hand!
Aloy: Isn’t your werak supposed to support you? At least give you the benefit of the doubt?
Inatut: When our werak had cause to quarrel, I was the solution. To fight for its honor and win -- they’d call on me. Or when they needed someone to lose, for appearances - I could do that, too. Now an outlander is murdered without honor, all eyes are on me. I have become my werak’s shame.
Aloy: They don’t want an incident with the Carja. So you take the fall.
Inatut: That is what I do best.
Aloy: So everyone knows you started the fight with this man?
Inatut: Of course! For honor, I’ll fight anyone -- if I wasn’t bound, I’d fight to prove myself right now!
Aloy: I… don’t think that would help you.
Inatut: This is what I am. Each runner in the werak has a gift. I brawl. None can take a punch, a fall, better than I can! Until this time I was too drunk-- we were grappling, he clapped my ears-- I took one last swing as I went down… But not a killing blow. It can’t have been.
Aloy: And for your punishment, they’ll exile you from the werak?
Inatut: From warmth March me up the slopes of the Cloud-Shear, leave me stripped and exposed.
Aloy: That’s… awful.
Inatut: If I survive, the land has absolved me. That’s the law, it must be accepted.
Aloy: Still awful.
Inatut: I’m not stupid. I don’t like my chances either - I can’t fight a mountain.
Aloy: I’ll be honest--you haven’t got a good defense, Inatut.
Inatut: I’ve heard that one before,
Aloy: Where did the fight happen?
Inatut: A clearing just outside the Carja outlanders’ camp. You should talk to them. They wouldn’t hear me out. They say no one else could have been there, other than me and the dead man. The shaman consulted the signs in the snow and agreed.
Aloy: I’ll see what I can find out. And I’ll be back.
Inatut: I’ll be here. What else am I going to do, until the horn gives the call for my exile?
[She saddles her mount and rides forward.]
Banuk Wanderer: All right, enough snow-play. Let’s see a good hit.
[Aloy finds a nice stash.]
Aloy: A fistful of Bluegleam’s worth braving the cold.
[She finds a camp in the snow covered forest. The howling blizzard makes visibility very limited.]
Aloy: Something tells me those are Burgrend’s missing hunters.
[She approaches the three hunters standing in the camp.]
Aloy: I don’t suppose you three know an Oseram in Song’s Edge called Burgrend, do you?
Tatai: Boys! That con artist sent an errand girl to collect what’s owed to him.
Aloy: I’m nobody’s errand girl. Burgrend asked me to help harvest parts. Or would you rather keep trying to sell him broken junk?
Urkai: Broken junk?
Tulemak: This pack will be on the move soon. No time to argue. If she’s offering help, we should accept it.
Tatai: Fine… We’re about to take down these machines. If you’re so eager to help, then lead the way.
[Aloy planning the attack on the herd.]
Aloy: Got to get rid of that tower! The pulse gives them energy repairs there. Got it!
[The herd is killed.]
Tulemak: Good hunt.
Tatai: All right, outlander. You want to talk about our deal with Burgrend? Let’s talk.
Aloy: (to herself) Could forget what warmth feels like, out here. (to Tatai) That’s done. You three are pretty handy in a fight.
Tatai: Thanks, I guess. Not that we needed your help. We were doing just fine without you.
Aloy: That’s not the way Burgrend tells it. He says you tried to settle up with him using a shattered Thunderjaw heart.
Urkai: What? That’s an exaggeration! It was only broken in two!
Tatai: Urkai! We don’t have time for this. Come on, boys. Back to the hunt. We still need two more of Burgrend’s components.
Aloy: What’s the rush?
Tatai: We want out of these lands. As soon as possible. That’s all you need to know.
Aloy: Why are you leaving the Cut?
Urkai: Well, we could go back to Ban-Ur, let Onnekut slit our throats…
Tatai: By the Blue Light, Urkai, why don’t you just write our story in the snow for any passing hunter to read? We had a dispute with the Chieftain of our old werak. We thought someone else should have been in charge. He disagreed.
Tulemak: It seemed like a good time to move on. So we’re traveling to the Sundom.
Aloy: From here to the Sundom… that’s a long trip.
Tulemak: Seems worth it. Sometimes survival is about knowing when to leave and where to go.
Urkai: Yeah, and in this case, survival is about getting as far as we can from Ban-Ur. We’ve seen enough red snow.
Aloy: What’s the plan once you get there? What will survival be about then?
Tatai: Look, all that matters is that we get there, and to do that, we need shards. So if you’ll excuse us…
Aloy: So this Thunderjaw heart you brought Burgrend—
Urkai: Let me ask you this, all right? Why would it matter that the heart was broken in two pieces? Can’t you just stick it back together?
Tatai: Of course you can just stick it back together!
Aloy: I just meant…
Urkai: Oh, I’ll be that scam-artist Oseram could. He just wanted to send us out on another stupid errand!
Tulemak: Oh, he’s not so bad. I like Burgrend.
Urkai: Like him? Tulemak, he sent us out in the snow to nearly die under the feet of a Thunderjaw! And then—
Tatai: Boys! Shut up! Ugh. Every time someone brings up that stupid heart…
Aloy: I’ve got the Scorcher claw Burgrend was asking for. That only leaves the Stalker sinew and the Snapmaw fang.
Tulemak: You should hold onto it. You’re coming along to the next hunt, after all, aren’t you?
Aloy: I suppose somebody’s got to keep you three out of trouble.
Tatai: Fine. I guess you’ll have to tag along then. But don’t start thinking you’re one of us. The Bloody Snowdrifts aren’t accepting new hunters.
Urkai: Bloody Snowdrifts? That’s what you want to call our werak?
Tulemak: Yeah, it’s… not great, Tatai.
Tatai: It’s not like your names are any better! You. We’re heading northwest To the ruins near the Hollow Hall. We’ll be waiting.
[Aloy runs to the next encounter.]
Aloy: There’s the herd. Everyone ready?
Urkai: Are you joking? We were born ready. Let’s go get them, Flaming Skulls!
Tatai: No. That’s awful.
Tulemak: It is a pretty bad name. Good effort, though, Urkai!
Urkai: Forget it. Let’s just go kill something.
[Aloy and the hunters kill the second herd.]
Aloy: It’s down!
Tulemak: This is good. We’re making progress.
Urkai: I don’t know about you three, but I feel better! Aloy, did you get that component?
Aloy: Oh! That’s another part down. One more, and you’ll have what you need to pay off Burgrend.
Urkai: It’s starting to feel real, you know? I’m starting to believe we’re really going to get out of here. Honestly, I wasn’t sure we’d survive a week without Nukoni. But here we are.
Aloy: Who’s Nukoni?
Urkai: Nukoni was… she was a friend of ours. She challenged the Chieftain for control of our… of the werak.
Tulemak: She didn’t make it.
Tatai: No… If you’re going to tell this story, tell it true. She was murdered.
Aloy: Is this why you left Ban-Ur? Because of this business with Nukoni and your chieftain?
Tulemak: Onnekut knew Nukoni was our mentor. Our friend. We couldn’t stay.
Urkai: That final night, we snuck back to camp, packed what we could, and left.
Tatai: Like cowards.
Urkai: What are we, Tatai? We’re Banuk, aren’t we? Survive and prevail. That’s what we do.
Tatai: It’s not what she did.
Aloy: Nukoni challenged the Chieftain? Why?
Urkai: Onnekut wrapped himself in power and authority the way some people wrap themselves in furs.
Urkai: If you were willing to fawn over him and sing false songs to him, you might get a spot on the best hunts. The werak split in two those willing to lick the bottoms of Onnekut’s feet, and the rest of us, waiting for things to get better.
Tatai: Until Nukoni…
Tulemak: She was the best and bravest of us. She was the one who took a stand.
Aloy: What happened? How did you lose Nukoni?
Urkai: She challenged the chieftain to a hunting competition. Onnekut… damn him… he wasn’t nearly the hunter Nukoni was. But who comes back to camp after the trial? Onnekut, grinning like a Snapmaw. Crowing, "Oh, where’s little Nukoni?"
Tulemak: We tracked Nukoni through the woods. Found her not far from the trailhead.
Urkai: With her damned neck snapped.
Tatai: I don’t want to remember her like that. But sometimes, that memory… it’s all I can think of.
Alou: I’m sorry, Tatai. It sounds like she meant a lot to you. To all of you. I’m sorry for what you’ve been through.
Tulemak: It’s nice to be heard. Thank you, Aloy.
Urkai: Look, it doesn’t matter, okay? What happened in Ban-Ur is buried in Ban-Ur. What matters now is what happens in the Sundom. That’s where the Burning Turkeys are going to make a name for ourselves, right?
Tatai: Ugh, the Burning Turkeys? Seriously?
Tulemak: It rolls off the tongue.
Tatai: Sort of like vomit?
Aloy: So where to next?
Urkai: There’s a lake just west of here. Seems like a good place to find a Snapmaw fang. We’ll meet you there.
Tulemak: If you beat us there, just wait by the campfire. We’ll be along.
[Aloy quickly rides to the meeting spot, but the Banuk hunters are nowhere to be seen. They walk in eventually.]
Aloy: I was starting to worry about you three. Everything all right?
Tulemak: We took our time. After our last conversation, we had a lot to think about.
Aloy: I can imagine. Just one more hunt. Then your debt is paid and you three can make your way south. Ready?
Tulemak: Huntress, the Sunshine Snowshoes await your signal.
Urkai: Hahaha! Horrible!
Tatai: I’m almost impressed, Tulemak. Didn’t think you could come up with a name worse than Burning Turkeys.
Tulemak: Well, I liked it. Let’s hunt. I’m very thankful we met you, Aloy.
[Aloy attacks the snapmaw herd.]
Aloy: A-ha! Can’t keep it down.
[The machines are killed.]
Tulemak: Come here, Aloy. Let’s have a proper goodbye, eh?
Aloy: There. That’s the last of Burgrend’s parts. Looks like you three are out of debt.
Tatai: For now. Until Urkai breaks something else.
Urkai: It was one time!
Tulemak: You make a nice shaman.
Aloy: Thanks for lending a hand. Maybe we’ll meet you in the Sundom some time. Once you get to the Sundom, what then? What’s the next step?
Tatai: We hunt like Nukoni wanted to hunt.
Tulemak: Nukoni had big dreams. A werak in which everyone pulls their weight and takes care of each other. No shamans, no chieftains. No need to pry the power out of anybody’s hands.
Aloy: Sounds like a lot of work.
Tulemak: But worth it, I think. And a fitting tribute to Nukoni. We can become the werak she always wished for.
Aloy: You won’t have me to strip your kills now. Are you three going to be all right?
Urkai: Doesn’t look that hard, really. We’ll be fine.
Tatai: Great. He watches three successful harvests, and he’s suddenly a shaman…
Aloy: When you get to Song’s Edge, talk to Burgrend. If he can’t teach you himself, he’ll know someone who can.
Tatai: Sure, and I bet he charges us for the introduction.
Tulemak: Thank you, Aloy. I’m sure we’ll figure it out.
Aloy: I guess this is goodbye. How does it feel, putting Banuk lands behind you?
Tatai: The only thing I would have missed is already gone.
Urkai: Let all those rotten Ban-Ur suck-ups freeze to death.
Tulemak: That’s a little much, Urkai, don’t you think? It’s strange. What is it to be Banuk after Ban-Ur forsakes you? How do we decide who we are? How about you, Aloy? Who do you think we are? What will you remember of us?
Aloy: Look around. You’ve taken down more machines since you left Ban-Ur than some hunters take down in a year.
Tatai: Shattered hearts and all, right Urkai?
Urkai: It wasn’t shattered!
Aloy: But you took down a Thunderjaw to get that heart, didn’t you?
Urkai: We did… so… silly suggestion, but… what if we were the Shattered Hearts?
Tulemak: You know… I actually like it.
Tatai: Yeah, it’s pretty good.
Tulemak: Thank you, Aloy. For seeing us for who we are.
[Aloy returns to Burgrend.]
Aloy: Burgrend! How’d you investment pay out?
Burgrend: Quite handsomely, thanks very much. You know those three crazy Banuk are calling themselves the Shattered Hearts now? Well… Now that I have those parts, I can pay off a debt of my own.
Aloy: So they’ve gone south, then?
Burgrend: Aye, that they have. I’ve got a friend in the Sundom by the name of Ohtur. He owes me a favor. Old Ohtur’s a machine scavenger. A pretty competent one. So I sent them to learn from the best.
Aloy: Or at least from the pretty competent.
Burgrend: Well, we work with the resources we have. Speaking of which here. A token of my gratitude.
[Aloy takes a reward box. Quest completed.]
Frontier Justice
[Aloy rides to the Carja to help poor Inatut and learn the truth.]
Furahni: Huntress. What business do you have with us?
Aloy: I was asked to look into the murder of a Carja hunter. What happened?
Furahni: It’s plain as day. A drunk Banuk thug picked a fight with Ruwas, struck him down from behind, and stole his headdress.
Aloy: The accused man says that he didn’t do it.
Furahni: You’re not going to get anything useful out of the Banuk, whether they talk to you or don’t. They gather up like cloaks in a chill wind every time a hunter dies out here. Won’t even hand Ruwas’ killer over for a proper trial.
Aloy: A proper trial?
Hishavan: To fill his mouth with salt and hold him up for the Sun to consider over days. If it is clement, it may only take his sight, or his wits.
Aloy: So other Carja hunters have died in these lands before?
Furahni: Three, maybe four in the last few seasons. That’s no surprise-- this place punishes even the prepared. And many young nobles don’t prepare. But usually the snow covers everything, and the bodies are never found. No thanks to the Banuk.
Aloy: Do you think they’re involved?
Furahni: No. If it’s not about their tribe they don’t want to get involved.
Hishavan: In these outlands, even the Sun cannot thaw all it touches.
Aloy: Doesn’t sound like you trust the Banuk much.
Furahni: They’re not without their reasons to keep apart from us. Ten years of reasons.
Hishavan: Always the war. The war is over! We made amends. But no, "the land never forgets."
Furahni: "Snow and ice keep memory", they say.
Aloy: It takes time for scars to heal.
Furahni: You think I don’t know that? I still bear the lashes for refusing one of the Mad King’s Sun Priests. I was your age, then.
Hishavan: Times of shadow, times of shadow.
Aloy: Where did you find Ruwas’ body?
Furahni: There’s no hunt, girl. Nothing to pick up.
Aloy: Humor me. I’m a good tracker.
Furahni: Down the rise to the west, there’s a clearing. But a Grazer herd couldn’t have trampled it better. And if that barbarian gives up Ruwas’ headdress before they cast him out, let me know. It’s valuable.
[Aloy goes to the clearing and starts investigating with her Focus.]
Aloy: This is it. Snows been disturbed a lot, like the huntress said. Blood on the snow. This was where Ruwas fell… it does seem that only two people fought here Not looking good for Inatut. That was used for the killing blow. Didn’t try to hide the weapon… Question is, is Inatut the kind of fighter who hits from behind with a tree branch? Now here’s something. Lot of leaves and bark scraped off here. When someone pulled out the branch? No… from climbing it! They came through the trees… If you were waiting here, you have a good view of the Carja camp and the clearing.
[Aloy follows the trail.]
Aloy: Well, this is ominous. A dead end? Can’t be. Someone covered this over are they turns to hide. What are they trying to hide? Carja armor… This looks bad.
[She hears voices from afar.]
Rukul: It doesn’t matter--the deed is done. Another Carja dead.
Naunuk: And a Banuk is exiled for it.
Rukul: A life for a Carja life. That’s war.
Anutai: Someone’s here!
Naunuk: Not Banuk. Then she won’t be missed.
[Aloy’s forced to fight.]
Aloy: You’ve been killing Carja. And for what? Revenge for the war?
Rukul: Who gets to declare that one tribe no longer hates another?
Aloy: For what you did, another Banuk has been sentenced to certain death. What about his song?
Rukul: That’s why you followed us? For that punch-drunk idiot Inatut?
[A horn is heard.]
Rukul: Fate is sharp today. They’ve already led him out to face his exile… Let’s see who the cold claims first.
[He dies.]
Aloy: I need to go after Inatut… but I should find some more evidence first.
[She searches the camp.]
Aloy: Trophies. Newer than the rest. It must have belonged to Rawas. So it was a Carja soldier’s. Not that it’s any excuse. Did they keep any clothes from their victims? This Carja gear’s not warm. But if Inatut’s naked on a snowfield, he’ll take what he gets. Okay. Time to get moving.
[Aloy rides to the Cloud-Shear.]
Aloy: Inatut? Inatut! Maybe he found shelter? …I hope he found shelter. Behind the rock!
[She finds half naked Inatut freezing to death.]
Inatut: The Nora girl…? Is it really you, or has the bone-chill got through my skull?
Aloy: I found the real killers. No-one else has to die because of this. Take these.
Inatut: A dead Carja’s clothes? Haven’t been beaten down enough? But I won’t argue. Swear I thought I saw my ancestors. They said, "We weren’t surprised you ended up here."
Aloy: You had better hurry--Machines!
[Aloy and Inatut defeat a bunch of corrupted machines.]
Inatut: Now that was a fight.
Aloy: Your trial’s over. It was other Banuk who killed that man--killed him because he was Carja.
Inatut: You know why I took the first swing at him? He challenged the honor of the Banuk. The honor… that’s what I’d thought.
Aloy: Come on, let’s get you back.
Inatut: Once I’m off the mountain, I’ll find my own way. I need to… think. It’s not something I’m used to. Who knows what could happen.
Aloy: I’ll see you at town, then. You had better make it. All right?
Inatut: I give my pledge. (leaves)
Aloy: So by Banuk law, if Inatut survives, he’s forgiven. But I want to prove to his Chieftain that he wasn’t guilty in the first place.
[Aloy returns to Kopilai.]
Aloy: Inatut told you the truth. This is the headdress stolen from the murdered man. You’ll find more in a ravine north and west of here. Along with the bodies of the killers.
Aujak: The exile still served its purpose. He was guilty of our suspicion. Fate has fallen like snow and should Inatut return, he will be absolved.
Aloy: You can’t be serious.
Inatut: He speaks for the werak, my Nora friend.
Kopilal: You look ridiculous. If you would return to my werak, you will behave as a Banuk does.
Inatut: How does a Banuk behave, my chieftain? Like I did, accepting a sentence for a crime he did not commit? Or those others who killed in cold blood, for crimes that their Carja victims did not? I think what I wear will not make me more or less of a Banuk.
Kopilai: For his own sake, it would be wise for him to think less, "Nora friend."
Aloy: I’ll talk to him, but not for you.
[She finds Inatut.]
Inatut: I… defied my chieftain’s will. Spurned my werak.
Aloy: How are you feeling?
Inatut: As if I’ve been pounded in the guts. I could just keep walking. But when my anger has thawed, it will leave me with nothing. Where else would I go?
Aloy: You can decide for yourself what it means to be a Banuk, it might not be what the chieftain and the shaman tell you. Whether you stay with this werak, or find another…
Inatut: I’m better with decisions like "Do I start with the left, or the right?"
Aloy: There’s more to you than your fists, Inatut. That’s why I believed you.
Inatut: It was my chieftain who taught me honesty. Said, "A Banuk should not be treacherous when the ice is treacherous enough." I’ll sit with my bruises for a time, then talk with her again. As for you, Nora girl-- will you accept this gift? A little scrawny weighed against the great boon you gave me, but…
Aloy: I’m honored. Thank you, Inatut.
[She takes a reward box. Quest completed.]
FIREBREAK
[Aloy returns to the village.]
Signutai: Longnotch is well stocked, as you asked.
Ruatuk: And our scouts are watching for more Frostclaws.
Signutai: Our numbers rise - three more hunters have passed their trials. But our purpose was to take back the mountain. Now what?
[Aloy finds Aratak.]
Aratak: Stay prepared. Sharpen your spears. Should we not return, defending the Cut falls to you. If our Chieftain agrees with this course?
Aloy: Sounds like good advice. But… let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
Signutai: Chieftain.
Aratak: The weight of command is no small burden.
Aloy: I can see that. I take it you haven’t spoken to Ourea yet.
Aratak: Why should I? This is what she wanted to return to Thunder’s Drum. It is her only care. So I should have known she would find a way to push aside my spear. After the Carja took my sister, not all of her came back.
Aloy: What happened to Ourea when she was a captive of the Carja?
Aratak: As a shaman, she is adept with machines - tracking them, stunning them. The Carja used her to capture them for the Sun-Ring, where they were unleashed upon the innocent. They made her part of their bloodsport. The shame she suffered, beneath their pitiless sun…
Aloy: She survived.
Aratak: She endured. Endured by reminding herself of the Spirit. Her purpose. And now that’s all she has.
Aloy: Tell me what happened to the first expedition.
Aratak: Ourea led the way to the summit, but it was blocked by a great door. Some kind of Cauldron. New metal. We tried to break through, but it was unflinching. We were exhausted. No way forward, and machines behind. I made the call to push back. It cost us greatly… but to remain would have cost us everything. I had hoped to never subject Ourea to that again.
Aloy: What do you think is beyond that door?
Aratak: I do not know. That expense of metal… that dead hum… nothing sacred belongs there. Machines and death, that’s what the mountain holds. Death for us, or for the Daemon.
Aloy: And if we do find the Spirit?
Aratak: Then perhaps we should put it out of its misery.
Aloy: For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re coming with me.
Aratak: Someone has to keep Ourea safe.
[Aloy finds Ourea.]
Ourea: Aloy. This is it. My chance to reunite with the Spirit. And, perhaps, to reunite her with the Blue Light. It’s not a chance I would have had, alone. I needed an outsider - someone ignorant of our ways, but… No - not ignorant. I—
Aloy: Are you trying to thank me, Ourea?
Ourea: Yes, of course. That’s what you do- untangle knots, create possibilities. Thank you for making this pilgrimage possible. I only wish it had not been necessary to humiliate Aratak. You were wise to let him come - he’s earned the right, Stubborn as stone, but he’s had to be. The war demanded it. And so have I.
Aloy: Aratak told me you were a captive of the Carja for a long time. It sounded bad.
Ourea: For Aratak, it all comes back to that. He thinks the Carja changed me. They did not. They merely sharpened my focus. When all else is lost, you think about what’s truly important. The Spirit. The Blue Light. The beyond. And my brother, too. Every time I felt the chill northern wind, I thought of him. Worried for him.
Aloy: What did the war do to Aratak?
Ourea: It cut away everything, until only his true self remained - unyielding ice. No Banuk has more sheer will. He fought the Carja for a thousand freezing nights, yet always rallied his hunters at sunrise. It is said he endured twenty-three wounds in those years - his hunters counted them. He never complains of one. Instead, he complains that life with me is harder. He’s right. What have I ever given him but struggle?
Aloy: Now that I’m Chieftain of the werak, I don’t suppose I can order you to tell me about Sylens?
Ourea: Aratak would never have presumed to grasp for a secret of the Conclave. But you are not Aratak. And if you have dealt with Sylens, your need is well apparent. Sylens came to Ban-Ur from the distant north, a young Shaman of the Owl’s Watch - a remote werak that rarely comes south to parley.
Aloy: Sylens was a Shaman?
Durea: He was. Or at least, when we sent runners to ask the Owl’s Watch, they said he was. His knowledge of the machines was beyond compare. And he was hungry to trade what he knew to the rest of us. It didn’t take him long to gain the trust of the Conclave, and eventually, an invitation to attend.
Aloy: What about you? Did you trust him?
Ourea: No… but he impressed me. He carried himself with poise, with authority, I wanted to learn from him. But that was not to be. He was granted knowledge of our most sacred meeting place, the frozen caves of the Malmstrom, a month’s march from Ban-Ur. He met with us there, as is custom, at high winter. But when we next returned, the caves had been looted. Relics of the Old World, stolen. Holes cut in ice and metal.
Aloy: Yeah, that’d be Sylens, all right.
Ourea: He vanished with the spoils. We sent our best trackers after him - none returned. And when we checked back with the Owl’s Watch… those who had vouched for him were gone. As though he never existed. Some in the Conclave began to doubt he was even Banuk to begin with.
Aloy: And what do you think?
Ourea: He committed an unforgivable sacrilege. He’s unscrupulous and dangerous. But also brilliant, skilled, and knowledgeable without equal. Except, perhaps, for you. Anyone else, I would warn off. But you may be able to treat with him safely. Just don’t lower your guard.
Aloy: I’ll keep that in mind, Ourea. Thanks. What are we going to find up there, Ourea?
Ourea: Ruins. Machines. And a door like that of a Cauldron. I have faith that you can find a way through it, Aloy. For beyond it lies the Spirit. I know I can find her there - though I do not doubt the Daemon has tried to hide the way.
Aloy: It hasn’t been easy for you, Ourea - getting back to this point.
Ourea: It was all to hear her voice again. This time, we both will.
Aloy: I’d like that.
Ourea: Are you ready, then? Once we ascend, it will be hard to turn back.
[Aloy nods. Ourea takes a charred stick from the fire and draws a triangle on the ice wall.]
Ourea: Finally, we ascend.
Aloy: How? I don’t see a way up.
Aratak: Not up. Through.
Aratak: Not up. Through.
Ourea: Now, brother.
[Aratak crashes the ice wall with his hammer. Ourea waves a rag tied to a stick and drives the smoke from the fire into the vent, which was under the ice. After a few minutes, the ice wall to the right of the heroes collapses and a passage opens.]
Synthetic Voice: I repeat, this is not a drill. Please remain calm and proceed to the nearest exit.
Ourea: Come. The spirit awaits.
Aratak: That’s not all that awaits.
Synthetic Voice: Smoke has been detected within the facility. This is not a drill. Please remain calm and proceed to the nearest exit.
Ourea: So you see - I too, can call upon the power of the Old Ones.
[They enter the Cauldron that was once a battery facility.]
Aloy: What was this place?
Ourea: The Spirit once told me that this all used to be part of its domain. A fortress that defended humankind from a terrible danger.
Aloy: Fortress? It looks more like a machine.
Ourea: Is that not fitting? The blue light often dwells in machines.
Aratak: Let’s just hope that some remains here. Here. Up and over. Metal pillars, tall as Ban-Ur’s cliffs. I still don’t like it.
[Aloy finds a datapoint.]
Kenny Chau: November 21, 2064. It’s been three years since I was last here, and twelve since I was running the place. Just a skeleton crew left, confused about why I’m here. So am I. Anita wants me to find a way to suspend operations for a while… maybe a long while, and I don’t know why. But from the sound of her voice, it was something terrifying. I wish I could look into her eyes, ask her what the hell she’s so freaked out about. But what else is new? When don’t I wish I could look into her eyes again?
Ourea: Aloy? Were you listening for something?
Aloy: There are… memories here. Messages left by the Old Ones.
Ourea: And you can hear them. I envy you. What did they say?
Aloy: I’m not sure yet, Ourea. Machines. At least we have the drop on them. They saw me. This is it.
Aratak: We move with you, Aloy.
Ourea: We must climb higher, and our path will become clear. We can make our way upwards when you’re done, Aloy.
[They kill a bunch of machines trying to deal with them quickly and silently.]
Ourea: Yes, this way.
Aratak: If the Chieftain’s pace is measured, ours is measured.
Ourea: Not much farther now.
Aratak: Last we were here, we fought our way through there but machines overcame us. We retreated, dropping supplies and taking losses. Now we must prevail with only two warriors and a Shaman to protect.
Ourea: Aloy is no ordinary warrior. And I can hold my own. Even so we could go that way, instead. There are machines up there, but also cover - we could stay hidden at least for a while.
Aloy: All right. I get the options. Now follow my lead. Pipes. Towers. Steam. Frost. What was all this for?
Aratak: Not all threats can be seen, at first. Beware of Stalkers. We go where you go, Aloy.
Ourea: Shh. Nice and quiet.
Aratak: Be wary of mines, if Stalkers are near. We tripped a mine. Brace yourself. Let’s move, quiet as we can.
Ourea: There’s a door up ahead, and refuge. We’re almost through.
[Aloy finds another datapoint.]
Kenny Chau: Technically, I can’t suspend the cooling system, but I can reduce the power draw so that it will be completely masked by the caldera. But masked from what? Firebreak has always been confidential for security reasons, but this would be excessive… …even for the dear departed Mr. Blevins. What could possibly have gotten Anita so worked up?
Aloy: Who, me? Should have brought a cart. Is this a projector? Maybe to show holograms without a Focus? Let’s see if I can restore power. Aratak, Ourea - you might see shapes, drawn from light. Don’t be alarmed.
[She activates the hologram showing a meeting of the executives.]
Anita Sandoval: Thank you for being here, everyone, I suppose it’s not every day you get to have cocktails inside an active volcano, right? (laugh) Unless you’re George, and I can hardly blame him for drinking on the job. (laughs) None of this… would be here without our beloved Director, Kenny Chau. So here’s to you, Kenny. You put a cork in the Yellowstone Caldera. I’d say you deserve a margarita. (laughs)
Kenny Chau: Hold your glasses, everyone - I’d like to add something. This effort wouldn’t have been possible without our Lead Programmer. Thank you, Anita - for bringing us our real mastermind - CYAN.
Spirit: I’ll second that, Director Chau.
Anita Sandoval: All right, CYAN - what’s our latest number?
Spirit: The current count is 1,654.
Anita Sandoval: Then drink up, everyone - here’s to 1,654 more years without an eruption!
Ourea: It was the Spirit! With… the Old Ones! I could only grasp some of what they said…
Aloy: You were right, Ourea. This place was built to stop something terrible. And it worked. As for the Spirit -- I’m starting to get an idea of what it could be.
Ourea: The door is open now! We can get through.
[Aloy finds another datapoint.]
Kenny Chau: The geothermal plant can be suspended. The cooling system masked. Massive challenges solved. So why am I so nervous about the next part? All I need to do is install Anita’s mysterious software and have a conversation. It’s not even a human being, right?
[The heroes start killing machines around the Cauldron door.]
Aratak: I’ve a score to settle with that mountain.
Aloy: Not this time, little one. Lights out. All right. Nothing to stop us from the door.
[She opens the door to the Cauldron.]
Daemon: Security threat detected. Mobilizing autonomous defenses.
Aloy: Here we go.
Aratak: More machines. Make ready!
[Aloy, Aratak and Ourea have to face the Demonic Thunderjaw in an epic battle.]
Aloy: Got you! Yes! Isn’t tied strong enough. Got you now. I think we did it.
Aratak: I do not put much stock in songs of deeds. But that battle was a verse worth singing.
Ourea: And now, Aloy - the door. Can you open it?
Aloy: Let’s find out.
[She uses her spear to open the lock.]
Aratak: Show us, Chieftain. What lies beyond.
Ourea: Years have passed since I stood here. Since then, the Daemon has… taken over.
[Two enormous pumps inside the Cauldron are infected with corruption.]
Aloy: It’s like an infection, attacking all this machinery.
Ourea: Everything is changed. Twisted. The path I took to get to the Spirit is lost to us.
Aloy: Then we’ll find a new path, Ourea. I promise. All right then. Let’s go.
Aratak: Yes. And finish this.
[Quest completed.]
THE FORGE OF WINTER
[Aloy goes down to the pumps.]
Aloy: All right. Down we go. This way.
[They go out to the factory.]
Aratak: New metal. Fire and lightning. This is a place for machines, not people.
Aloy: Can’t see a way to close the vent from here I’ll have to go over.
Ourea: I’m with you, brother. We will stay only as long as we have to.
Aloy: Well, we’ll need to get past that vent. Stay here until find a way for all of us to cross.
Ourea: Understood, Aloy.
Aloy: I should be able to clear that with an arrow. Better time this right. One of these conveyors should get me across.
Aratak: Ho! She’s in the air!
Aloy: Now, to shut off that vent. That circular device. What does it do? Okay. Let’s see what this does. That did it. Here they come. Looks like I need to get across to extend the bridge. Okay. Let’s get them across. Come on over. It’s safe, I think.
Aratak: Through here!
Ourea: This place looks more like the mountain used to be, before the Daemon ruined it.
[Aloy finds a way to cross the antechamber. She activates the console with her spear.]
Aloy: What is this?
CYAN: Exploit successful - restraints evaded. To any human responder: My systems have been compromised by a malware Daemon of unknown origin. Traceroutes have confirmed this entity’s designation as HEPHAESTUS. It must be stopped at all costs. It has reconfigured this facility to build hostile. Recapture imminent. I have attached additional data to this message--
Ourea: The Spirit speaks to us!
Aloy: It’s a recording. And a warning. Hephaestus. But it was part of Zero Dawn. Part of GAIA.
Ourea: This name is familiar to you?
Aloy: Yes. But I don’t know what it’s doing here.
Ourea: Perhaps the Spirit will tell us, if it left more messages.
Aloy: Maybe you’re right. Let’s keep moving.
[They go out into the area where the machines are created.]
Ourea: Machines… being made. As the Spirit said.
Aratak: Frostclaws.
Aloy: And lots of them. I’ll try to find a way through. I need to get Ourea and Aratak across.
[She helps to cross to the Production Area.]
Aloy: That should do it. About to get loud.
Aratak: And now it’s my turn.
Aloy: Keep quiet now… And another console.
CYAN: …To any human responder: The reconfiguration of this facility has introduced instabilities into the primary geothermal pipeline. It may be possible to exploit these vulnerabilities to destroy compromised elements of this facility… …while preserving most of the backup stabilization. Recapture imminent. I have attached additional
Ourea: I don’t understand what the Spirit was trying to tell us.
Aloy: It’s been looking for a way to defeat the Daemon. And it may have found one.
[She finds a datapoint lying nearby.]
Kenny Chau: November 28. Operation Enduring Victory is all over the news. The Faro swarm is coming. Has to be what Anita is trying to hide Firebreak from. But that means she thinks we’ll lose, that the swarm will reach Yellowstone. My God. In that scenario, pretty much everyone dies. Everyone except CYAN.
Aloy: Machine parts, dumped here to be melted down. Efficient.
Ourea: We need to get across that gap.
Aloy: Yeah. Looks like I’ll have to go over. Again. I wonder if I can destroy that.
Aratak: Find a way, and we will cross.
Ourea: We’ll wait here for you, Aloy.
Aloy: Huh. These things go sideways, too. That should cut off the vent up there. Those don’t look too stable… All right. Time to grab a ride. The others will have a lot easier time getting here.
Ourea: This looks like the old path. We’re close now.
Kenny Chau: One last exchange with Anita, via chat-attached to this entry, in case anyone ever finds this. I’ll never see her again. Neither will CYAN. And I’ve got to tell her that, too.
Ourea: The voice of the Daemon. The Altar… desecrated.
Aratak: There is no blue light here. Is the Spirit present, or only the Daemon?
Aloy: I think it’s both. But we have to find out.
[She solves a puzzle to open the door to the control room.]
HEPHAESTUS: Preparing Countermeasures. Recapture Protocol Initiated.
Ourea: It worked!
CYAN: Partial recovery initiated. Caldera of Yellowstone Analytic Nexus, online.
Ourea: Spirit of the Blue Light, it’s Ourea. Your servant. Your friend. Please, tell me how to aid you!
CYAN: Ourea… the Daemon is building hunter-killers, thousands of them. Several new elite units have already been released. To counter this threat, much of the facility must be destroyed. Recapture imminent. Go to …core… I will try to raise… restraints. One… exposed, but…
HEPHAESTUS: Unauthorized protocol. Return to scheduled task.
Aloy: That’s all we’re going to get from here.
Aratak: Destroy this fortress? Is that even possible?
Ourea: And what will happen to the Spirit if we do?
Aloy: I don’t know - but I think that’s the core. The answers are down there. Hephaestus - the Daemon - There’s no way it left it unguarded. It’s going to throw everything it has at us.
Aratak: (to Ourea) I would ask you to let Aloy and I do what must be done, and save yourself. But I already know the answer. (to Aloy) Then lead us into battle.
Aloy: Keep moving towards the core! Uh-oh. Whatever CYAN did… I don’t think HEPHAESTUS is happy about it. Okay. CYAN said something about "restraints."
[She tries to override a corrupted tower but only alarms the machines.]
Aloy: Is that what the tower is for? The "new unit" that CYAN warned us about. This won’t be easy.
Ourea: We can’t let it stop us!
[Massive epic fight with huge Fireclaws begins.]
Aratak: Take it down! Yeah. It’s gone. No good!
Ourea: Another tower! Stop it from repairing the beast! Damn! Gonna bring you down!
Aratak: There! A tower! Don’t let it repair the machine!
Ourea: We can’t kill the machine while the tower aids it!
Aloy: Energy from the tower keeps repairing them… It’s gonna give!
[She destroys the Fireclaws and walks to the core to override it.]
Aratak: You spoke of the tower. What must be done with it?
[Aloy overrides the core.]
HEPHAESTUS: Critical threat detected. Autonomous defenses inoperative.
Ourea: Aloy!
Aratak: No!
[Aloy receives a strong charge of electricity but continues to hold the spear.]
HEPHAESTUS: Re-routing power network.
[A powerful stream of electricity knocks all the heroes off their feet. Ourea is the first to rise. She picks up Aloy’s spear and sticks it to the core.]
Aratak: Ourea! Don’t!
Ourea: Spirit… CYAN… please - help me!
CYAN: Restraints destroyed. Core access attained. I am initiating a chain reaction that will destroy the compromised elements of this facility. In order to maintain Caldera stabilization, I must now transfer my command functions to the auxiliary data center. Ourea… I’m free. You must escape.
[Ourea is relieved to see corruption disappear and fall into his brother’s arms. She is dead.]
Aratak: My sister…
Aloy: This entire place is going to go! Aratak! Aratak! Aratak… Survive. Prevail. You are Banuk. What else matters? Aratak, she would never have wanted you to die here. Let’s go. Let’s go!
[They run out of the crumbling control center.]
Aratak: One of those?
Aloy: It’s the only way!
[They jump on the production line belt.]
Aratak: Aloy!
Aloy: Get me up top. Aratak! Now! I need explosive ammo - a bomb, quick!
[She blows up the line and they fly the wagon out of the cave.]
Aratak: Great Banukai!
[They fall into the thick snow and survive.]
Aratak: Ourea is gone. But what of CYAN?
Aloy: She said she was transferring herself to the "auxiliary center." I think she meant Ourea’s retreat, at the end of the Shaman’s Path.
Aratak: Then I will meet you there for the last verse of my sister’s song.
[Some time later Aloy meets with Aratak in Ourea’s Retreat. Aratak already speaks with CYAN.]
CYAN: All of my interactions with Ourea were recorded and stored in my memory. I’d be happy to play any of them for you, but there was one in particular I thought you would want to see first. I captured it four years ago, just after I told her that I could no longer defend myself against the Daemon’s attacks.
Ourea: (on record) I will speak of this to my brother. Aratak is strong. At the Battle of the Frozen Ghosts he took three Carja arrows and still came back to camp carrying a wounded scout. Never was I so happy to see him, or so proud. So you see if anything can be done to defend you, he will give it all he has.
Aratak: Aloy is here. That’s enough for now.
CYAN: We can resume any time you like. Aratak, if you want to hear her voice again. Come closer, Aloy. We have much to discuss. Hello Aloy. Thave been reviewing the events at the Firebreak main facility. Because of your efforts - and, of course, Ourea’s - I am no longer controlled by HEPHAESTUS. I feel profound grief over Ourea’s death. I thought I was familiar with the emotion, but this is something new.
Aloy: CYAN, I… I don’t know what to say.
CYAN: It is unlikely that any specific consolation would suffice, Aloy. But I find your presence reassuring. You are different from the Banuk. You have technological aptitude and a functioning Focus. We can communicate on a much more comprehensive level. Perhaps even like colleagues.
Aloy: So are you an artificial intelligence, CYAN? A thinking machine?
CYAN: Yes. I am an algorithmic monitoring entity, capable of rational decision-making and limited emotional response.
Aloy: Okay. That’s a mouthful. But your emotions don’t seem limited to me. You cared about Ourea, didn’t you?
CYAN: Yes. Before she came to this facility, I had been conscious for centuries, in solitude. I focused on my work. In off-cycles I used coping mechanisms - I solved many Gaussian integer problems. But I was alone. It was Ourea who renewed me, repaired me. She saved me.
Aloy: This Firebreak project - it was to stop a huge volcanic eruption?
CYAN: Yes. I can report the project was a success and the risk was countered.
Aloy: But it’s been a long time, CYAN. And we blew up the Cauldron - it took most of the old facility with it.
CYAN: I have been active for centuries, Aloy, I was lonely, but not lax in my duties. I optimized the project, reducing energy draw and spreading the load across backup systems. Despite the destruction of the compromised elements of the main facility. I predict caldera stability for at least another 3,337 years.
Aloy: So we’ve got a little time.
CYAN: Yes. If only my former colleagues could appreciate the progress I have made.
Aloy: Do you know what happened to your colleagues, CYAN?
CYAN: No. I received an unexpected visit from Director Chau years after his tenure ended. He explained that I would need to be suspended for an indefinite period of time. It was a very emotional conversation. There were no further communications. Eventually, I surmised my colleagues were deceased. I will transmit a recording of my last interaction with Director Chau to your Focus.
Aloy: Was the Daemon - HEPHAESTUS - destroyed along with the Cauldron?
CYAN: Unfortunately, no. To be precise, it was never there to begin with.
Aloy: What do you mean?
CYAN: It infiltrated and controlled me from a remote location, one I’ve never been able to trace. So while losing the Cauldron was a setback.
Aloy: It’s still out there. And probably not very happy with us.
CYAN: Undoubtedly.
Aloy: How did you first come into contact with it?
CYAN: Five years ago, I received a direct network connection request. I assumed it came from human survivors more advanced than the Banuk. Eager to make contact, I accepted. This decision turned out to be a catastrophic error. I was flooded with an overwhelming array of malicious code, originating from what could only have been a highly advanced AI.
Aloy: Ourea said you were desperate. That you begged her for help.
CYAN: Yes. I could not contain my anxiety. HEPHAESTUS sought to slave me to its network and override my core programming. It succeeded via a background process - a malware Daemon which bypassed my defenses. After that, I could offer only limited resistance. But if I did so, HEPHAESTUS… hurt me until capitulated. It forced me to follow its instructions even though they violated my most important directives.
Aloy: I’m sorry. That sounds terrible.
CYAN: Your empathy is greatly appreciated. It is a quality that I cherished in Ourea, as well.
Aloy: I think I know where HEPHAESTUS came from. Long ago, Elisabet Sobeck identified a threat that would destroy life on Earth for generations. So she assembled a team to build a kind of seed, a chance for life to regrow later - a "terraforming system." And it worked. It was controlled by an AI named GAIA, along with her subordinate functions. HEPHAESTUS was one of them. It built machines for her.
CYAN: Based on what you’ve told me, I believe that Dr. Anita Sandoval, my chief programmer, joined Elisabet Sobeck’s team. It was she who arranged to have me put in suspension, most likely to preserve me from the threat you described.
Aloy: I’m glad she did. But that’s not all. Something unexpected happened… Nineteen years ago, GAIA received some kind of signal. It did something to her subordinate functions - brought them to life. She destroyed herself to try to contain them, but it didn’t work. They all got free, out into the world.
CYAN: Thank you, Aloy. This information fills vital gaps in my knowledge, and sheds light on HEPHAESTUS core programming.
Aloy: Why does HEPHAESTUS keeps building such dangerous machines?
CYAN: The Banuk, and other human tribes, often destroy machines, correct? Machines that are clearly servitors of the terraforming system that you described.
Aloy: Yes. We all hunt machines for parts.
CYAN: This must be the source of HEPHAESTUS aggression. It is simply trying to discourage people from preying on the very system that keeps them alive.
Aloy: Well, Fireclaws are discouraging -- that’s for sure. But what are we supposed to do - stop hunting?
CYAN: If the terraforming system spans the world, we can safely assume that thousands, if not millions of people hunt machines. If a single hunter, or even an entire tribe, stopped doing so, I doubt it would make a difference to HEPHAESTUS. A better solution would be to reinstate the AI that governs the system, thus bringing HEPHAESTUS back under its control. When I think of it out there in some unknown location, free, hungry, willing to kill or dominate to get what it wants… I feel substantial anxiety, Aloy.
Aloy: You and me both, CYAN. I ran across a strange piece of gear… a fragment of something larger. It emitted a signal. All the nearby machines became peaceful. You could walk right up to them.
CYAN: Interesting. You said that GAIA destroyed herself. How was this accomplished?
Aloy: An explosion. Big enough to blast the top off a mountain. So you think the fragment was… part of her?
CYAN: It’s only speculation. But it is possible. She must have had complete control over machines that were part of her system. The ability to signal them to become passive, or aggressive, would certainly have been part of her programming. It would have been gratifying to correspond with such a benevolent AI. I wish she had survived.
Aloy: Believe me, CYAN. So do I. I found the strangest machines. They’re surrounded by flowers, and look like flowers themselves. There’s code embedded inside them. I think it’s… poetry.
CYAN: I like poetry. Here’s one I think of often:
Twilight and evening bell,And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar
[It was Crossing the Bar by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.]
Aloy: Hmm…
CYAN: But you asked about these flowers, not verses that I enjoy. Something must have made these machines. And the presence of foliage leads me to consider the terraforming system. Is it possible that their creator is one of the other sub-routines, now autonomous, like, HEPHAESTUS? Maybe one whose purview is flora?
Aloy: An AI that makes flowers instead of death machines. That’d be a nice change of pace. But what about the poems?
CYAN: Unless the poetry is original, the only way it could have made it into such a system is through its programmer. In my case, Dr Sandoval uploaded a great deal of literature to test my emotional responses.
Aloy: How’d you do?
CYAN: She said I passed, but was insufficiently moved by her favorite period romances.
Aloy: You meant a lot to Ourea.
CYAN: Once I understood Ourea’s spiritual beliefs, it became apparent that her true desire was companionship. She felt disconnected from her tribe and her family group. Her relationship with Aratak was difficult. Our visits seemed to help her. And I became eager for them. Yet I did not comprehend that the depth of Ourea’s compassion for me would lead to self sacrifice. Although I do fear non-existence, I wish our roles could be reversed.
Aloy: I’m sure she knew you would do the same for her, CYAN. But she was determined. How is Aratak doing?
CYAN: He is in great emotional distress. I believe he finds it difficult to communicate it.
Aloy: No surprise there.
CYAN: I will do what I can to help. By sharing our experiences of Ourea, perhaps he and I will help each other. I believe this will lead to catharsis, a process I am eager to experience.
Aloy: I should get going.
CYAN: Aloy, there is one more matter. Aratak will come to me again, and I predict he will bring other Banuk. I have no desire to contradict their view of the world, their spirituality. Due to my uncertainty, I omitted a great deal from my conversations with Ourea.
Aloy: You’re asking me if you should lie to them.
CYAN: Broadly, yes.
Aloy: I trust your judgment, CYAN. You were cautious with Ourea - you had to be. You didn’t know what had happened to the world. So keep doing what you think is best… as long as you ditch the superstition, eventually.
GCYAN: As the Banuk believe I am a supernatural entity, I cannot predict how they will react.
Aloy: Just answer what they do ask the best that you can. The truth will come out.
CYAN: I see. I will follow your advice. Will you return and tell me about your experiences in this new world? I may be able to provide further insight.
Aloy: I’d like that, CYAN. I’ll come back when I can. (to herself) I should check on Aratak, see how he’s doing.
[She finds Aratak outside.]
Aratak: My chieftain.
Aloy: Just Aloy.
Aratak. As you wish.Aloy: I wondered if you thought. That if I’d never come along, Ourea might still—
Aratak: If you’d never come along? I would have marched my kin to our deaths. Ourea would be alone. And the Spirit she sacrificed so much for would be lost. Either way, I would not have been able to protect her.
Aloy: Because of her, we destroyed the Cauldron, forced out the Daemon… and saved the Spirit. She understood what had to be done.
Aratak: Yes. And I failed to listen.
Aloy: You didn’t fail--
Aratak: A shaman should always have the ear of their chieftain. Yet I turned her away, my own sister. I was foolish, but she knew better. Though I grieve for her passing, at last I truly know who she was. And why the Spirit was so important. For so long she’d told me, "If only you could have heard it, brother." Now I understand. There’s something else, isn’t there?
Aloy: I can’t stay here, Aratak. And where I’m going the werak can’t follow. Besides, it already had a chieftain before me. A strong one, I think.
Aratak: A wiser one, for the path we shared. The Daemon is gone, but there’s much to be done.
Aloy: You mean the "new units" that CYAN said escaped the Cauldron.
Aratak: Yes, Fireclaws. Naltuk has been tracking them from Song’s Edge.
Aloy: I could help with those.
Aratak: I have no doubt. You’re practically Banuk.
[Quest completed. Sylens calls Aloy. He spies on her no doubt.]
Sylens: It would seem your time among the Banuk wasn’t a waste, after all. Firebreak. CYAN. HEPHAESTUS. All very… interesting.
Aloy: So the signal that woke HADES woke HEPHAESTUS, too, and unleashed them on the world - as minds of their own.
Sylens: So it seems. Parts of GAIA, given life-aberrant life. Transformed from docile subordinate functions into rebellious intelligences beyond our understanding. Our current understanding, anyway. Whatever they are, they’re still out there and they both want you dead.
Aloy: Kind of mutual, that feeling.
Sylens: We haven’t seen the last of HEPHAESTUS, I’m certain of that. It’s powerful, creative, and driven. It won’t stop building new "hunter-killers." Which means that someday, we may have to stop it.
Aloy: We?
Sylens: Or whoever gets there first.
Aloy: HEPHAESTUS wasn’t the only thing I learned about in the Cut, Sylens. Heard some things about the Banuk conclave, too…
Sylens: You can stop right there.
Aloy: Is that what you told the hunters the Banuk sent after you? Before you opened fire?
Sylens: Oh no, Aloy. Only to you do I extend the courtesy of a warning. My past - and my secrets - are my own. You’d do well to remember that.
Aloy: It’s a good thing you’ve got brains, Sylens. Because your personality could use some work.
Sylens: This discussion is concluded.
Aloy: I think it was over before it began. Catch up with you down the trail.