act17d0

That certainly is a long story...

Many things happened afterwards, to say the least. And once the war concluded, the Lord Ameers were settled, each with all the land they wanted.

Those Lord Ameers of Sargon would not tolerate an organization that bowed to no-one, and the rangers were one such organization.

Of course, opinion from the Lord Ameers aside, there were many reasons why the rangers disbanded. But these are past events, and it's been a very, very long time since. The nitty-gritty of it all has fallen out of this old man's head.

So all those wild stories never actually happened?

The truth is often mundane. So you remedy it by exaggerating how things happened, and you make the story dramatic.

And only when it's dramatic enough do people pass it down.

Your stories all picked up layers upon layers of artistry before they reached you.

Alright, this old man's told plenty enough himself. Let's get ourselves ready to leave.

By the sound of things, we've already reached Sargon territory?

We were already in Sargon as of last night. Can you please pay a little attention? When suddenly you're in trouble, I'll be the last one to help you.

I love how much you suck.

The land we step on now is the jurisdiction of the Lord Ameer of Bayalir, though his provisional capital is still a ways away.

After that...

Hold! Stop moving!

...You heard that too.

All of you, stay still. Something's approaching.

...It's close...

It's underneath us! Scatter!

Franka! Move!

(Roars)

What... what are these?

Are these... sand beasts?

Since when do sand beasts grow like this?

One, two... no, there's just too many.

Move into formation! Be ready for battle!

Last one here!

Everyone else!? Any wounded?

No worries here.

None here, either.

Communications equipment?

Unharmed.

Is this its burrow? ...Strange.

They seemed like sand beasts, at least?

Sand beasts, of this size? Over two meters long?

...I've spent the better part of my life in these wastelands, but never have I seen a sand beast capable of digging holes.

...These creatures have Originium crystals on their bodies.

...Mm...

Possibly biological mutations caused by Originium pollution, then?

There's no nomadic cities, no factories and no mines. How does Originium pollution even happen here?

Could it have been a Catastrophe's fault?

You'd be underestimating nature. Wildlife knows Catastrophes far better than we do. These creatures would've been the first to avoid Originium pollution.

Cities can be torn apart by Catastrophes while the wildlife emerges untouched

—Nature in this world is ruthless when it wants to eliminate you. If you don't have some way of dealing with Originium, your time as a living species won't be long.

I think... I have a hypothesis. Like ordinary Originium Slugs, the body's outer shell could have absorbed Originium into its makeup, while its innards remain clean and uncorrupted.

On that note, has P.R.T.S ever recorded any similar cases?

None. Not even for the Ironforge City leakage incident in Columbia, and that's the first thing you'd think of.

Sand beasts are docile creatures by nature. Originium shouldn't change them so drastically, and I can't imagine anything short of Arts would make them outright aggressive.

Stay vigilant. Don't let your guard down.

...Arts? A Caster? I just hope this doesn't complicate things for us.

Don't let it worry you too much. We'll continue on as we were, anyhow.

Understood.

Is this... a Rhodes Island emergency rescue signal?

Is it another Rhodes Island field team, maybe?

...oh, thank hea......meone finally answered!

...pl......help us......equesting support...

This is a Rhodes Island Field Personnel Team. If you receive this, please reply.

This is......Long Spring......Watchtower 33...

...mob......currently...

...they've come in!

Calm down! Operator, tell us what's happened!

The signal's very poor. They're coming through intermittent.

...help us......plea......ing you—

An burst of sharp static, and communications break off.

Well, that's not good.

What does Watchtower 33 refer to?

From the sound of it, it seemed like a Rhodes Island safehouse's code name.

A safehouse? The mission brief didn't mention any safehouses around here.

...Mm...

Truthfully, in a few areas, Rhodes Island will make a habit of hiding some safehouses, out of the way. For use in very particular field missions.

But we ourselves don't know where Watchtower 33 is.

Long Spring... Long Spring...

That name rings a faint bell. If you could let me see the map for a second.

Hmm...

Here, if I'm not mistaken. Following about twenty kilometers north from Trumhill, you should find another canyon. That canyon had a little village near it, I'm sure of it.

That village, years ago, had a well. One of the very few reliable water sources for miles around.

So that's why it's Long Spring?

So. What do we do next? Change of plans?

Or we can try and make for Phecon overnight, get in touch with the branch office and see what assistance we can procure from them.

...I worry the operator in the safehouse may not last long enough for that.

All of you, keep going until you reach Phecon, and find some support or other there if you can.

I'll head for Long Spring and see what the situation is. Don't you worry, I know this land very, very well. Indeed, I can afford to be more flexible on my lonesome.

If things get out of hand there, I'll head back for Phecon promptly and join up with you all.

That...

I object.

Oh?

I'm aware how wary it is of me to say our sand-burrowing mutants and the safehouse's distress call might not just be coincidence, but the Sargon barrens demand we must maintain vigilance.

We are not clear about the area surrounding Long Spring. Given we are not, you would gamble more alone than you can afford, Rangers, sir.

I'd also like to recommend we move for Long Spring as one. If things aren't friendly for us, we can still cover for each other, especially during a retreat.

...Mm...

That does make sense.

Yes, you're right. The old man will listen. I ought to at my age, anyhow. Can't be as spry and reckless as I was in my younger years.

This thing is ugly as sin.

Ugliness is a personal thing subject to the eye of each beholder. You ought to be seeing through to what this creature embodies, signifies. See through to the myriad array of evolutionary possibilities that it testifies to.

Order is but our own arbitrarily imposed concept which nature suffers. All the world and its beings were, in their primordiality, chaos seized by impermanence.

(Russian) Of course, I don't expect any of your sort to understand that in the first place. It's only natural your soft, ignorant little brains can't grasp the grand strokes of the evolutionary scheme.

A language I know, please!

Of course, dear sir, setting apart the matter of whether or not it is ugly to you. I must say you are not seeming wholly satisfied with it.

Else you would not be looking for me in the first place.

It still isn't strong enough, schoolboy! Your little beastie couldn't even make the lord's escort blink!