#Riverhymn

[tare-otome]

Riverhymn

The lights glowed like fireflies~

[maybirdie]

Riverhymn 🌿🌌

[elliott6669]

Scenery: Riverhymn

[r4d14t3lov3]

Somewhere over there

She missed him terribly. It was too late to call, it'd be selfish to wake him, so she quickly dismissed that notion. Instead, she quietly made her way up the winding walkway to the majestic tree from where she had a perfect view of the mountain that housed The Base. She couldn't make out the fire of course, but it was good to know he was over there somewhere.

Little did she know that Kotallo sat by the pool looking out East to where he knew Riverhymn was. Sleep eluded him once again, her absence leaving him restless and cold.  Perhaps he'd send a message, so he wouldn't wake her.

[melikochan]

Horizontober Day 8: Small

“But it’s so small!”

Nel smiled indulgently at the group of children clustered around her in a rough circle, looking with awe at the tiny seed in her palm.

“That’s right. You all started small too, you know. But like this seed, you will grow tall and strong.”

“How big will this seed grow?” The curious child asked, staring up at Nel with wide eyes.

“With enough time and care? Big enough to reach a Tallneck.”

The child whistled in appreciation. “I’m glad my dad will get to be big again.”

“Let’s plant his seeds together, and watch him grow.”

[horizonlandscape]

Riverhymn

[robo-dino-puppy]

horizon forbidden west | riverhymn

[cicadaknight]

i’m in too deep. doing anthropological studies of abandoned settlements in utaru territory to see if they’re the ones fic authors described

[forbiddenwestern]

If you could live in any HFW settlement which would you pick?

[horizonedits]

RIVERHYMN

[journeyofaloy]

Riverhymn ♥

[tare-otome]

In Bloom

After meandering back into the Shining Wastes, i happened upon an older Tenakth woman, Derikka, and her granddaughter Teikka. Derikka is reminiscing about the flowers and her old love, an Utaru man named Nilo, and we are tasked with finding his whereabouts with a gift of Scarletstems, Nilo's favorite flower...

Derikka amicably bathes in her wistful nostalgia...

Meanwhile Teikka scoffs with all the sass of any teenager...

We travel to Plainsong only to find out that Nilo had moved to Riverhymn some time ago...

We travel to Riverhymn and find a girl, Jia, kneeling by Nilo's grave, Scarletstems all around. Jia is Nilo's daughter, and says he had died 5 years prior... We must go back to tell Derikka what we found...

We find Derikka and Teikka and tell them what we learned. Derikka takes the news with grace, and at least she gets closure.

I liked this quest; we all probably have these thoughts of "what if" thinking about the different paths our lives could have gone in.

[finrays]

I'm thinking about my kids this morning, and since the campaign they were made for has been tabled for the indefinite future, I thiiiink I can talk about their backstories?

Sav was born in Riverhymn, and from the getgo, she was considered a bit of an odd duck. Her fascination with systems and the way they work expanded beyond living things and into the realms of mechanics; there was not, she contended, all that much difference between blood flowing to organs in veins and electricity flowing through wires to components.

Unfortunately, there’s not a ton of engineering work to be done in Utaru society, so her tinkering was relegated to a hobby, and she chose the healer’s path, taking up the repair of biological systems as her career. She was GOOD at what she did, and for a while, life was really good! She worked to heal the ills of her tribe, binding wounds, splinting limbs, and mixing tinctures and ointments.

She also taught the basics of her profession to classes of younger healers (one of which included Zo, when she was just starting out in her own career) much to the chagrin of the Chorus. Her lectures were known to be unconventional at best, emphasizing the necessity of butting heads with fate, and refusing to cave to apparent inevitability. Though it ran counter to the general, go-with-the-flow attitude espoused by the tribe’s leadership, they couldn’t argue with her results, and her insistence that, while nature had cycles, plant roots could break rock and steel, given enough time and grit, and that a healer ought to take that example to heart and fight death to the bitter end.

When you’re surrounded by overgrown ruins, claiming that’s not true is kind of impossible. She remained a pesky bee in their bonnets for some time.

Eventually, she even caught feelings for a Veteran of the Desert Clan, Zekerro, and the two were married. They had one child together, a son named Kesh. Life was good! She had her family, her career, and her mechanical/tinkering hobby, and she was having a nice time of it.

…until the land-gods started failing.

Right away, Sav argued for doing something about it; she’d been studying for years at this point, and healing machines couldn’t be all that different than healing people, right? There HAD to be something they could do. The Chorus absolutely refused this idea; it was not only risky, it was as close to sacrilege as the Utaru really get. Sav was able to sit on her hands and restrain herself for a WHILE, but eventually, when Ti started to founder on the edge of Utaru territory, she couldn’t restrain herself any longer. She gathered a band of volunteers and set out to fix the ailing machine.

It all went catastrophically wrong.

Not only was she not quite handy enough to make the repairs, resulting in a total breakdown of the land-god, the noise also attracted a herd of dangerous machines. The group of volunteers were slaughtered to the last, one of whom was her spouse, and Sav herself was sent to a Gravesinger rather than a healer, with the state she was in when things finally quieted down enough to recover the bodies.

Against all odds, she survived her wounds. Unable to ignore her defiance and unwilling to end her life, the Chorus settled on banishment; while she was allowed to stay in the boundaries of Utaru territory, she was forbidden from entering any settlements, or having contact with any of her tribemates, including her son, who, now a part of the Cordon archers, rejected her utterly for her masterminding of the disaster.

Settling down alone and building herself a shelter in the swampy, wet regions on the outskirts of Riverhymn, Sav redoubled her studies of mechanics. She began scavenging parts from both ruins and downed machines, feverishly tinkering and building, teaching herself the skills that she hoped she’d eventually need to reverse her mistakes and get Ti back on its feet.

The culmination of these efforts was Ammit.

Originally a heavily damaged and stripped Watcher carcass that Sav stumbled across and dragged back to her shack, he served as a test bed for her burgeoning skills. Bit by bit, scavenged piece by scavenged piece, kludge by kludge, she put him back together, and finally, FINALLY, got him to power up and move again.

It was apparent from the start, however, that there was something… off about the little machine. For one, his behavior was odd, not at all like the scrappy, fierce machines known to patrol the woods and fields of Plainsong. Instead, he was… skittish. Prone to hiding from conflict. More interested in curling up in the sun with his feet tucked under him than sentry duty. His pounces and taps were playful rather than painful, and he would often perform silly, meaningless actions, like chasing his own tail or batting at objects left out on the ground.

We would recognize his behavior as catlike, or even puppyish; in the absence of a damaged Watcher hard disk, Sav unwittingly installed one found in an ancient ruin, which contained the data once used to run a virtual pet. Ammit behaves more or less like a domesticated animal because, as far as his systems know, that’s what he IS.

So, while he was not much use as a guardian, he DID become a good source of companionship. Something that Sav desperately needed, even if she wouldn’t admit it when pressed. The little Watcher happily carried tools and supplies for his Mistress in a pair of saddlebags bartered from the Carja at Barren Light, and patiently allowed upgrades and repairs as Sav’s expertise grew. He has parts from other machines spliced in, as Watchers are relatively rare in this part of the world, and sometimes, ya gotta substitute.

...the Ravager back quills don't function and are COMPLETELY just so she can spot him when he's trying to hide in long grass.

His name came from a combination of his catlike programming causing him to sneak up, bap Sav with his faceplate and BOLT, which she took for him "playing tag" with her ("Oh, am I it again?") and the fact that, in her frustration with his early construction, she would often swear around him ("Dammit, get back here!") and he started answering to "Dammit," which, in good conscience, she couldn't keep up. Remembering his antics, she dropped the "D" out of his "name," and he just became "Ammit."

The pair of them skated through the Red Raids relatively unharmed; by laying out a metric fuckton of traps in her swampy home and staying hidden, Sav was able to avoid capture, and to kill off any straggling opponents who DID make their way into her domain using her cunning before they could get to her. She did her best to provide covert support, mostly by gathering, brewing, and leaving caches of medical supplies where they’d be most easily found. But she didn’t participate directly in the fighting.

Perhaps it was because of this continued care for her tribemates despite her circumstances that the Chorus summoned her before them at the end of the Raids. Perhaps it was on a whim. Perhaps it was out of desperation.

Whatever the reason, she was offered a bargain; utilize her skillset to find a cure for the Blightsickness caused by the burgeoning Red Blight, and she would be pardoned, allowed back into Utaru society again after nearly a decade of exile.

That was where she stood at the start of the campaign; researching the dastardly plants (using a bevy of safety gear that you can see in Meg’s art of her) in an attempt to come up with a cure. In battle, she serves sort of a Cleric/Artificer/Mad Scientist/Healer role; her weapon can be used to Bonk, but it also opens up into a big ol’ crossbow-looking slingshot that she can plant into the ground and use to fling potions/sling grenades across the battlefield, healing and buffing her allies and debuffing her enemies.

Currently, she’s in her mid-fifties. If I had to do a fancast of her, I’d pick Indira Varma. She is my horrible grumpy daughter with her Nervous Service Animal Watcher, and I love them both so much.

[horizon-forbidden-sheesh]

HFW: Realistic Gameplay

I'm not sure how many people do this, but I like to approach my HFW gameplay to make the experience as realistic as possible. Here are a few of the considerations I keep in mind while playing to ensure my timeline is accurate to the game's storyline. :)

[⚠️ Warning! Some light spoilers are referenced ahead.]

ON SLEEP:

How long can Aloy reasonably go without sleep? Maybe 48 hours, but the high-intensity work she does requires dexterity & focus, so her accuracy & analytical abilities diminish the longer she's awake.

When she's desperate, or thiiiiis close to her goals, she likely gets tunnel vision, and gameplay gets a bit sloppier. (ie. Latopolis 😬)

Plus, the world is way more DANGEROUS for people at night! Humans are not a naturally nocturnal species, even if Aloy's stealth approach excels in the cover of darkness. She's also probably a little ~off~ in her circadian rhythm because she's one of a very few future humans exposed to blue light, lol.

ON FOOD:

Let's assume she's fed when she stays at any given settlement, but out in the wilds, she should be eating every day.

This means with a small food pouch, she can really only be out in the wilds for ~3 days without having to hunt her own meals. (Which no doubt, she can do, but do your really think Aloy has the time or patience to be cooking while she's saving the literal world? Nah.)

ON TRAVEL:

Along the way, I have to ask myself: how much does the side quest matter? How time-sensitive is it? Is it already on her existing route?

I try to WALK through settlements to A) not appear insane, B) accurately simulate the time she would actually spend there.

Can she really sprint all day long?? In this house, we jog. ("most humans can store about 20 miles’ worth of glycogen in their muscles." - NYT)

I don't love riding machines unless it's a long distance or an urgent situation. (ie. Sprinting back to the Base from Tilda's house) The reason for this is because:

A) you alert literally every machine around you, and I prefer to play a stealth approach

B) Riding is associated with Rebel activity, so you'd likely meet resistance from Tenakth locals.

C) not every path is cut out for riding (ie. On Lowland paths, her steed is likely too heavy & might get mired in the swamp / Riding in the Desert during the day, the metal would burn the everliving sh*t out of her.)

ON WEATHER:

In the Desert, I try to sleep during the day & travel at night. It's way too hot to be out during the height of day—even if it's around late October when she's there.

A little rain never hurt anybody, but major storms require cover & a wait-out period. I once got stuck in Sky's Sentry for half a day while I waited for an AETHER-driven storm to die down.

In my gameplay, it's November when Aloy turns up in Sky Clan territory (Yosemite Valley) which means it's freezing at night!

ON TIME:

I track calendar days while I'm playing to make sure I'm within GAIA's estimated ~3 month climate collapse timeline estimate. (Note that she doesn't give this estimate until Aloy discovers the Base, a little over 1 month into gameplay.)

Aloy is probably stuck in Stone's Echo for ~2 weeks healing her ribs. "Most broken ribs heal on their own within six weeks" (Mayo Clinic) But there's no way Aloy has that kind of patience. PLUS I'd bet big money when GAIA made her, she was given some cool genetic boosts that make her heartier than most naturally-born humans. In my game, I took her on some pretty chill missions back to Chainscrape afterward to give her more time to heal.

The game is literally set up to have us experience the seasons as we navigate the world over ~4-6 months!! (ie. The trees are changing color in Chainscrape when we begin in early Autumn / The Riverhymn side quest tells us it's the first of the winter bloom / There is snow in Yosemite Valley.)

From Embassy to Singularity, my gameplay took 132 Days (~4 months). I still have some side quests & errands to finish up, so if you try and complete all tasks before the Singularity, you're probably looking at 5-6 months total.

Okay, that's all I can think of off the top of my noggin, but I'd really love to hear if anyone else has some rad realistic constraints they like to add to the game! :)

[jamminsamart]

seasonal com for Riverhymn on twitter!

[r4d14t3lov3]

Chapter 16 is finally up.

From late in chapter 16:

Over on the rich lawns beside the settlement’s gate a group of children were playing with a ball Fashav knew to be woven of reed and softened with moss. When they saw him draw nearer they raced towards him, greeting him cheerfully, bouncing up and down, dancing around him.

“Marshal! Marshal!” they called, and joined him the rest of the way, chatting lively. 

Fashav’s heart lifted a bit, and he bent to pick up the little girl who always clung to him whenever he visited. 

She threw her small arms around his neck and put her head on his shoulder. “I’m so happy you’re back, Marshal Fashav,” she whispered into his ear. 

Fashav smiled, warmth spreading through him, though it broke his heart at the same time, tears burning in his eyes unexpectedly. 

Fashav carried her through Riverhymn’s gate, the kids clouding around and in front of him like a great entourage, his guards walking off to find food and rest. 

People turned and waved, Fashav said many hellos and gave one-armed hugs, the little girl still holding on tight. 

Fashav saw her long before Nel even turned from the commotion the children were causing in the settlement. There she stood in all her slender beauty, her dark hair shining, her shoulders a bit sunkissed; she had probably spent too much time under yesterday’s cloudless sky. 

His heart skipped a beat when their eyes met, her face lighting up with such joy and a glow on her cheeks he hadn’t seen before. She was positively radiant. 

Nel clapped her hands over her mouth and nose in disbelief, then came running towards him. Apologizing to the little girl, he sat her down, then caught Nel in his arms, as she came flying towards him, twirling her around and around, their noses buried in the other’s neck.

“Oh, my darling,” Fashav whispered, and Nel wrapped her legs around his waist, holding on, never wanting to let go. 

“I have missed you so,” she whispered back, her hands cupping his face, her lips inching closer to his. 

“And I have missed you,” Fashav said, as their lips finally met.