act15mini

I've seen Snowpriests-in-training in the tundras, on the brink of death as they go through their trials.

Other tribes wait for a revelation from Sami. Those who become Snowpriests receive miraculous instructions.

Anyway, you should talk to Simone about it. All I'm telling you is to stop asking around the market.

This tribe is like a sick hornbeast. It's going to get irritated if you keep poking at it and telling it to get up.

Sorry...

Also, this bracelet you picked isn't just ugly, it's bothersome too.

Hehe, that was just an excuse to get you to come to the market with me.

You're almost fully Sami by now. You don't need me to accompany you in the south, where metal things are plentiful.

Still, I feel better with you around.

I'm not sure why, but I'm getting a bad feeling.

...Do your bad feelings have a habit of coming true?

Not really.

I hardly ever get them in the first place.

Tell me more.

Did it feel like a mangler's shadow, or a crack on a great tree?

No, it's not like that...

Wait, a mangler? There are manglers here? Will you take care of it if we run into one?

*sigh* I'll teach you to protect yourself again before we go.

What I'm asking is, what form does your bad feeling take?

Hm...

To me at least, you call it a 'bad feeling' precisely because it's vague and ambiguous.

It's like, I felt something come close, but failed to notice it.

Or like there's something huge just beneath the layer of snow, but I walked right over it.

Which Professor Mary says I do a lot, come to think of it.

Ah... Ah-choo!

Hey, it's snowing harder.

Oh, there you are, Simone!

Have you seen an Ursus caravan?

Yeah. They gave me an empty flagon while saying stuff like 'His Majesty' and 'The border patrol won't like it.' Here.

I was waiting for you to get back, to see if you needed to trade with them for anything, but they were in a hurry.

...So you let them leave?

They went that way. You should be able to catch up.

You're angry, Simone.

What happened?

Sorry... I was just thinking about how to return the favor for their gift.

Magallan, Typhon, the two of you head towards Čappat with the rest of the tribe. And be careful along the way.

If there's a problem, don't try to deal with it, just run. Your lives come first.

Same to you, Simone.

Heh, you needn't worry about me.

I'll catch up with you soon. I promised to attend the funeral of these warriors.

What are you thinking, Maggy?

...Oh.

That's weird.

I was going to ask Simone what the Sami writing on this flagon means.

But I got distracted for some reason.

Well, I'll just put it away for now.

They came back, Ragna.

Your predictions are always so accurate.

Tila came back empty-handed. She's the best hunter in the tribe.

And my youngest son found a bracelet that had been lost for years. As you said, 'Fortune lies in deep water.'

And...

Dark death has befallen our warriors.

Therefore, I must ask you: Why did you do it?

Why did you lead us in the opposite direction, when your scrying pointed towards the north?

...Sorry, I only came back to see my family.

If there are no other funeral arrangements... I'll take my leave.

Ragna!

Let her go.

She is no longer connected to the land of Sami. We need not reproach the poor soul.

How was it, Gitano?

They still don't like you?

I predicted as much.

Well... at least you ran into an old friend on the way. That's pretty lucky too!

I can still hardly believe it. I thought I was hallucinating again when I saw you!

—Er, sorry.

I heard someone died. Could it be...

It's okay. I came back because I divined my brother's death.

We'd been out of touch for a long time. We had our... differences.

But the shamans aren't preparing for a funeral. Don't they have the most important role?

...Your friend is sharp, Magallan.

It's hardly a secret.

People aren't normally so sad just to say goodbye to the dead.

Only when they never get a chance to.

...You're right.

Seven years have passed. I thought new branches would grow from the trees, and that the people would be able to live in peace on this land.

But all I see is my kinsmen suffering from increasingly frequent disasters, and even being forced to move again.

Meanwhile, the shamans argue over whether to hold a traditional funeral.

Hm... but what use is a goodbye if you don't say anything?

In the end, everything flies away like a fowlbeast, never to be seen again.

By that point, it doesn't matter if you were the one to raise your voice and startle them.

I... never agreed to not hold a funeral. Please don't bring that up again.

They were fortunate to return home. How could we leave them to the long, cold nights, trapped by their mortal bodies?

This place will soon stop being our home.

Which is exactly why they need the boat-sinking ceremony, so that the river may carry them home!

Disaster lies before us.

I know—

—And they are part of it.

The rockhorn runs for its life, day and night, until it finally dies of exhaustion. It is a sign. On the northern front, we will blow the horn and stand watch at night.

They are all warriors.

A warrior does not die in peace.

Wasn't that just a rumor?

Fighting on the northern icefields did not darken your fate. Instead, you received Sami's revelation and blessing.

Yet now you want them to stand vigil over their own bodies, until they rot and decay...

Among them lies your favorite student. Even now he is listening to your cold words.

Then let him listen. He is a strong warrior. He will understand.

—You're right.

Why don't we ask the dead themselves?

...It would seem living among the outlanders has given you blind courage.

But you know that we have long lacked a Snowpriest.

No one in the clan has heard the call since Grandma Vali's passing.