The Lost village! As
foretold by Don back in chapter 1.
So what happened here?
Got summoned by the wise woman is what.
Old woman! What is your station?
By the great spirits! You have arrived... I thought your arrival to be merely a vision, but here you stand... Olmec, the holy warrior! Praise the Gods!
Still your tongue, old crone. I ask your station. What is it?
Olmec telling it like it is.
Forgive me. My name is Teteo. I am the village oracle.
(Oracle) Why have you come to greet me, old one? Where is the village chieftain?
He is repairing the village, great one! Forgive us, for we are few in number.
(Village) What of this village? Why was I summoned?
It is Quetzalcoatl, holy one! He has returned!
Quetzalcoatl? Returned?!
Yeah it's doc Morgan. 'course.
What nonsense is this? He sits on his majestic throne in the heavens, not in this pathetic dung heap of a village!
You'll notice throughout this chapter that Olmec is kind of a dick.
N- n- no, sacred one! He truly has returned, just as prophesied on the Wall of Sorrow!
(Quetzalcoatl) If you speak the truth, then I must see him. Where is he?
(Temples) The Jaguar Temple still stands?
(Warriors) Your tale told of the Shaven head Otonmi warriors. Where are they?
Quetzalcoatl slaughtered them as if they were children... and now their shades roam the land, trapped by his wicked magic.
Shades, eh? Can they not fight still, in these new forms?
Olmec: Practical Incarnation.
Nay, fearless one, they are but lost souls, trapped between life and death. Their inability to battle their foe has driven them mad. They rant only crazed things in the voice of ghosts.
We head up and out of the pit. For some reason you can't return down, but you don't really need to. This chapter is mostly pretty easy except that it can be a bit hard to see where you're able to go. Spent most of the time walking around trying to figure out where I was supposed to go, but the puzzles are easy.
To the right is one of the warrior shades. I'll speak to them later. One annoying bit is that they fade in and out leaving you waiting around at times, but it's not too bad.
Clearly. Unreachable now.
Total dick move, Quetzalcoatl.
Classy. Up the steps is Quetzalcoatl himself, past a row of corpses.
There is the evil god himself.
Can't approach him now (didn't try at this point but will later), but you can talk to him.
Quetzalcoatl! Why have you returned to this place?
Olmec has a hard time expressing emotions with that face, but there's the Shepard.
You dare speak to me in such a tone?! I have enough power to handle the likes of you!!
Spoiler: not really.
Hah! Empty threats from a cowardly warrior!
(Village) Why do you seek to destroy those that worshipped you? You were their greatest king!
Bah! They are loyal to none but themselves! Soon after my death they stopped offering sacrifice, and now they will pay with their lives!
Well, fair's fair, you were dead.
(Heavens) Why have you left your heavenly throne? For a god to return to this land is a disgrace!
And then what? When there is nothing left to conquer, what will you do?
He's got the stereotypical villain part down.
Olmec ain't the sharpest tool in the shed.
Obscure! But really obvious later on.
Here we move in to the remains of the village. Olmec's heart is moved by sorrow.
Fun fact: the wives don't really have names. Olmec just calls them "woman". Total dick.
Woman! What say you? Why do you weep so?
You can show me any amount of respect you like. Shawtee widow = shawtee.
(Husband) Who was your husband?
His name is Tepictoc. He was a warrior, but also the village's best fisherman. He lived off the gifts of the sea, and devoutly worshipped the Goddess of Water. The cool walls of the Water Temple were to his liking, and he often spent his days in deep meditation and prayer there.
Bla bla bla. So you're saying you're single?
(Temple) I have seen that the Water Temple is flooded.
Yes, by the evil one's doing. Quetzalcoatl called down a wave of water to destroy it, but it still stands proudly in the water.
Next wife of someone.
Woman! What say you?
Olmec? You have come to us? Thank the gods, for our prayers have been answered!
Yes, your prayers reached me and I am here. What is your station?
I am the wife of the chieftain.
(Chieftain) Why was your husband spared Quetzalcoatl's wrath?
battle with the others.
Biggest wall of text in the game as far as I know.
What happened during the battle?
Just call her mrs. exposition.
What magics did he wield?
You speak of tradition as though it is undesirable. Your husband should be honored to be chieftain!
Indeed! Silence, woman, lest Olmec show you his pimp hand!
But Olmec, oh wise one, it was never his desire to become chieftain - especially not this way! Working with the earth and revealing the secrets it hid inside brought him great joy.
Who remains in the village?
There are but a handful of us left. My husband does what he can to repair the damage to the walls of the huts, but his mind is elsewhere. The death of our beloved daughter weighs heavily upon him.
We shall see later that the great chieftain's repair works consist of hitting one spot over and over with a hammer. A true artist, this mason.
(Death) She was killed in the battle?
My husband insists that she was crushed beneath the boulders, which destroyed the village walls.
Goddammit, game, stop killing kiddies.
You speak as if you disbelieve your own words.
I cannot help myself. I somehow feel that she still lives.
There he goes. Fixing shit.
You there! What is your station?
Hmph... I was the stone mason. Now I am the village chief. What are you? And why do you enter this village?
I am Olmec! Holy warrior! You dare address me in that tone?!
You say I am late, but you are wrong!
Yeah! Nevermind the fact that pretty much everyone is dead, I am so right on time!
You say your daughter is dead? How do you know?
She was in her hut when the rocks fell! Look around you! Death is everywhere! I have lost everything that is dear to me!
(Mason) You say you were the stone mason?
There are worse fates, mason.
I know. I have seen what happens to those who oppose Quetzalcoatl's rule.
(Quetzacoatl) His punishment is swift and severe, in death as it was in life, when he ruled this village as king.
We pick up a copper bowl and talk to the last survivor here, an old woman sitting outside.
Old woman! What say you?
Man! And I'm 37. I'm not old.
What do you mean by that, bitter crone!? I am Olmec! I fight for the gods themselves!
You sound as zealous as my husband... the fool.
(Husband) What man would be mad enough to wed your sour tongue, old one?
lulz. Srsly, Olmec.
(Errand) What errand do you speak of?
He plans on fighting that bastard undead king using his small magic! He is doomed... and will die in vain!
(Warriors) Where are your two sons? Did they die in battle?
Yes... Quetzalcoatl shattered their bodies as thought they were made of straw. Soon my fool husband will join them... and I'll be truly alone.
(Potion) What is that you are mixing?
Nothing important, holy one. Just a simple balm for my aching bones. Age has not been kind to me.
Right. So now we have to go from spirit to spirit. We have to ask each for his station and name to progress further on in this chapter, but it's really kind of boring. I'll transcribe the entire conversation with the first spirit since he's the most interesting one (sorta), but for the first time in this LP I'll cut out the dialogue for the others.
Spirit! What say you?
Guard... totem... honor demands... to stay true.
What name did you go by in this world, fallen hero?
Tepictoc... hunt the waters... bounty of... the seas.
A fisherman?
Yes... and a warrior... and husband...
of a shawtee...
(Totem) Why do you stand here, fallen one? What does this totem mean to you?
Stand where I fall... Temple of Wind... protect... even in death.
Yip, the third and final temple is behind him. We need access to each temple (you'll see why later), and we'll return to Tepictoc and the totem in a bit.
(Temple) I mean no harm to the temple. I am Olmec, holy warrior.
Lies... and deceptions... like the evil one! ... None may pass... all seek... to destroy.
Diplomacy path fail.
You are confused, lost warrior. I speak the truth. Quetzalcoatl, is my enemy as well. Step aside, so that I may visit the temple.
(Test) I accept your challenge, shade. What will be this test of faith?
Gift... never given... wife...
Ooh, I like where this is going.
(Gift) A gift for your wife? Of what kind?
The Rance kind?
Glimmers... circles... neck...
A necklace? Simple enough, I will find one for her and -
So the "test of faith" is a fetch mission? Makes...sense?
Who was your wife?
She... who has my... heart...
A connection to the Jaguar Temple?!
(spoiler: nope)
I meant her name! What is her name?!
Reveal... not... harm her... you will...
(Warrior) What was your station as a warrior, spirit?
Young... I was...but older... than Ometech.
The station as a warrior question is the relevant one Olmec asks of each spirit, so let me just provide the names and station of the remaining spirits, before we get back to the necklace quest.
Ometech... the fearless one...
New blood... young to tribe... yet... not youngest... older than... Xilonen...
Xilonen... the youngest warrior... of clan... unproven...
Youngest of clan... fierce... I fought... but... no avail... dead... same as all...
Mixcoatl... eldest war chief... elder brother to... Huitzilop...
War chief... eldest warrior... and leader of clan...
Huitzilop... bearer of war... son of Tezacatl... village... witch...
Veteran... of many battles... younger brother... of Mixcoatl...
Got all that? We now have the name and station of five spirits, but there is a sixth in the water behind the temple that we can not reach. We'll get his info later.
So who made the necklace? The mason, duh.
Mason! I would have a word with you! I have spoken with the spirit of Tepictoc, warrior, and husband to Chalchihut.
Wait, she has a name? How do we know her name?
The fisherman? His spirit remains here?
Does this chieftain have a name? Do we know his name too?
Yes. You have the necklace that belongs to his wife. Give it to her, or I will shatter your limbs like twigs!!
Frith in the sky, Olmec, it's not like he was refusing or anything, what's with the threats of violence?
Very well. Tell your spirit that I will deliver his gift.
Though come to think of it, why didn't he deliver it in the first place?
(Necklace) I have spoken with the mason, dead one. He will deliver the gift as promised.
Heh. "Dead one".
He moves aside from the totem.
And Olmec, being a dick, tips it.
Nah he needed to do so to cross to the Temple of Winds.
That's a lot of dead bodies.
But the entrance is blocked!
Builders are no match for the mighty Olmec!
We enter the temple.
Awesome! We return to give the chief a piece of our mind.
Total Shepard moment.
Oh, my previous daughter! I am so sorry!! Go see your mother, she misses you terribly.
Checking on the mother.
I have found your daughter, woman.
And stop by to hit on Chalchihut.
The jewelry suits you well, widow.
And, of course, we quiz the daughter on the Temple.
Child, why were you in the temple?
The shiny rock... it's pretty. And I like the music, too.
(Rock) Shiny rock?
(Music) What music do you speak, little one?
Teach me of this thing you call rock and roll, hu-man!
The gongs. Sometimes I can get a few of them to make the same sound. It's fun!
So here's the "rock" and the gongs. Really basic puzzle: you click them in order to get them all to sound at the same time. Trial-and-error basis, as all the gongs stop if you click the wrong one.
It splinters! And inside, we find our first totem. The Wind Totem.
And here is me looking around for the next step. You can see the 6th spirit to the right. The tree will also become important later.
In the next update I finally find the Witch Doctor. He told me what to do. He told me ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang, walla walla, bing bang.
Oh, and we finish up this chapter.