Story 12. The Survivors

Part of 12. The Survivors in Secrets of the Obscure

1. Goal 1

   Active: Now that you're rested, check in with your allies.

   Complete: Heitor—Cerus's former mate and a "cousin" of Peitha (as best I can gather, Kryptis family dynamics are ornamental)—holds the fortress blocking us from reaching Eparch. Nothing goes in or out of his domain as long as the gate stands closed. Peitha seemed open to the possibility that Heitor could join our cause, but Arina shut that line of conversation down, believing this to be a kill-or-be-killed situation. Either way, we needed to cut our way through Heitor's Gate if we'd ever have a chance to confront the Midnight King. ***

2. Goal 2

   Active: Work with Peitha and the Astral Ward survivors to establish a foothold in Heitor's territory.

   Complete: First, we had to strengthen our foothold in Nayos. To accomplish this, we set about chipping away at Heitor's forces in the region—defeating Kryptis patrols and taking down their leadership. In the wilds of Inner Nayos, Ramses caught wind of someone in duress. After beating back a group of attackers, we found a Kryptis named Irja, cowering and confused. I explained to Irja that we were with Peitha's forces and directed her to the Astral Ward camp. Surprised that we had come to her aid, and not entirely trusting of non-Kryptis, she agreed to head to the safety of Arina's camp; after all, she was merely game to Eparch's hunters. ***

3. Goal 3

   Active: Meet with your allies to plan the next step.

   Complete: With the loyalists sufficiently weakened, I returned to camp myself. Irja had made her way there, and Ramses and I did our best to make her feel comfortable. Getting comfortable wasn't part of Peitha's plans for me, though—she called a meeting for us to plan our assault on Heitor and the forces at her fortress. It was time to act.