#Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow

[amiya-shirou]

anyway despite everything else going on in the political and personal side of things the shonen manga vibes of this event were insane, kept feeling like Goku might appear at any moment to throw hands with Chongyue. the feeling got even stronger after reading Chongyue's files and learning he got out of Dusk's painting with sheer martial arts

I will always love how well Arknights' writing manages to combine its more down-to-earth side and its higher scale side. pretty much created for me specifically since I thrive the most in the line between the two rather than when there's too much of only one of these aspects

[danelloevee]

I don't think I ever posted this

[burstfoot]

In the Legend of Chongyue animation whoever did the models for it (doesn't look like HG's typical modelers, probably the person they contracted to make the animation) decided to give Jieyun like VERY visible freckles and oh my god they are so cute

They're really subtle in her E0 art (you can like BARELY see them iF you squint) and they're much more visible in her E2 art but its so zoomed out that you can't make them out at a glance.

(2p zoomed in version)

ANYWAYS this whole appreciation post is just to say that if you're drawing Jieyun PLEAAAASE keep her freckles theyre so cute and really help her design come together imo (not biased)

[yakourinka]

now this is an NPC design that fucks

[bobbile-blog]

Arknights Lore Recap: End of 2023

Here I was, thinking my last post would be sufficient, but they keep on adding more gosh darn lore. Half a year has gone by since my last post, so I thought I'd update things and make another post of "where is everyone at the moment" to help keep all these plotlines straight. So, here's the sequel! More events, more organization since it's no longer a half-assed post I wrote on my phone in an hour, and you'd better believe we've got more lore to get through.

(Of course, spoilers for the current state of basically everything in Global, though they'll be the kind of "current events" spoilers to help you understand where we are at the moment)

Currently Active Plotlines:

Main Story act II: Main story chapters/ What the Firelight Casts, Amiya/ Siege/ Stainless/ Shining/ W/ Kal'tsit/ Doctor/ Closure/ etc.

Act 2 is in full swing, and oh boy do we have some politics to wade through. The general idea, minimizing spoilers, is that the Royal Court of the Sarkaz have taken over Londinum and intend to expand further using the catastrophe-creating superweapon The Shard. They're led by Theresis and the (mostly) united Sarkaz lords, and with a mercenary army they basically rule Victoria as an occupying power. Their power is concentrated in Londinum, the only city they really formally occupy, but as they control the seat of the country's power they effectively have the rest of the country at their mercy.

Opposing them are a number of factions. Firstly, the coalition of Victorian Nobles that have ruled the country (and that technically invited the Sarkaz to Victoria in the first place) want the throne again. There are a few specific nobles we deal with in ch12 but the implication is the politics will be elaborated on in the next chapter so we'll leave it there, the point is that they're the Victorian establishment trying to go back to old Victoria which means they suck. They're also working with Dublinn, who are collaborating with the Duke of Wellington(?) who is sympathetic to their causes. The Nobles have just recently gone to formal war with the Sarkaz, but they also all hate each other and will absolutely stab each other in the back whenever possible.

Besides them, there are also a couple of smaller underground resistance factions. The Londinum Self-salvation Corps, or Eartha, is a guarilla resistance movement who is currently getting their asses handed to them by the Sarkaz. They basically existed solely because the Sarkaz hadn't bothered to wipe them out yet, and have currently evacuated all of their surviving personnel out of the city. Additionally, there's a group of Victorian soldiers led by Commander Skamandros who have been sticking their noses into things. If I recall correctly, they're trying to evacuate Londinum as well.

Finally, we have Rhodes Island. We're here because of the classic D&D reason of "well all our plotlines seem to end up in this general area so I guess that's where we're going". Amiya and Kal'tsit feel somewhat responsible for not stopping Theresis and Amiya specifically is probably the only person with the right to challenge Theresis for the throne of the Sarkaz. Bagpipe and Reed (and Ch'en) are dealing with Dublinn things, so they have to be around here. Shining is a Confessarius and her evil wizard family is supporting Theresis so she's got stuff to do there. Siege is the last surviving member of the Victorian Royal family, so she's bound by blood and obligation to reclaim the throne, as well as just generally wanting to help the people of Victoria. Hoderer is currently in the employ of the Sarkaz and Innes is working in Londinum as a spy for Rhodes Island, so W wants to head there too. There's a lot going on, far too much to describe, so I'll leave things at "we have half a dozen personal plotlines to pursue there" so I can move on to the actual side events.

The Devil's Dragonball Fusion Dance: Ancient Forge(?)/ Who is Real/ Invitation to Wine/ Where Vernal Winds will Never Blow, Nian/ Dusk/ Ling/ Chong Yue/ Lava/ Kroos/ Lee/ Waai Fu/ Lin/ Zuo Le/Liang Xun

This one is updated pretty regularly as the CN new year event. The short lore overview is that Yan used to be populated by godlike beings called Feranmuts. Feranmuts fought a war with people, which concluded when a Feranmut named Sui betrayed his people because they wanted to be the only one with their kind of powers. After the war, the emperor of Yan (China analogue) split him into 12 fragments which eventually developed their own identities and personalities - these are the Sui siblings, i.e. Nian, Dusk, Ling, Chong Yue, etc. Once all twelve of these siblings meet again, they will reform back into Sui and they'll probably take over the world or whatever. We don't know exactly but it won't be good.

There are currently three parties interested in gathering the siblings, and one trying to prevent them. Firstly, the Second Brother (who is currently unnamed) is just a little crazy, and is currently working with the Yanese ministry of rites to revive Sui. We don't know a ton about him, but we know he's somehow split himself into fragments and scattered himself across the land. Secondly, Ya is another Feranmut that survived the old war and wants revenge on Yan and Sui. They want Sui revived so they can have a proper form of revenge on Them, and are currently in control of the Shanhaizhong bandits kinda just causing issues wherever They can. Finally, Nian and her siblings at Rhodes Island also want to gather the siblings, but not to re-form Sui. She has some sort of plan to bring the siblings together without losing themselves, and is working with Rhodes Island to accomplish it. Similarly, we don't know a lot about her plan, but they're generally the protagonists of the events. Finally, Zuo Le is an official in a Yanese organization called the Sui Regulator, whose job is to monitor and secure the remaining Feranmuts and the fragments of Sui. Zuo Le is doing his best, but he's a little out of his weight class, so most of what he does is follow the Sui fragments around and try to figure out what the hell is going on.

The Call of We Many: Grani and the Knight’s Treasure/ Under Tides/ Stultifera Navis/ Mizuki and Caerula Arbor (Integrated Strategies 3), Skadi/ Specter/ Gladiia/ Kal’tsit.

Was updated pretty frequently as an anniversary event, but they seem to have thrown us a big lore dump with Caerula Arbor and left it at that for the time being, which is understandable. The lore here is the Seaborn are a race decended from some early Feranmuts who are basically a constantly-evolving devouring swarm. They exist to consume and assimilate all of the life on the planet, and unless we are very very careful and work very very quickly they are going to do just that.

The state of the plot at the moment is a little odd. Because Mizuki and Caerula Arbor isn't canon, the plot is still at the end of Stultifera Navis. Specter has recovered her self, and the team of Abyssal hunters is delving deeper into the current state of the seaborn. Their former leader, Ulpanius, has shown up to warn them not to return to Aegir, and while the Stultifera Navis sank the lighthouse was recovered and some trinkets from the ship made it back. We aren't really sure where we're going from here, but it's not necessarily to Caerula Arbor. Basically, the canon lore of IS3 is that on a mission to the Iberian Coastline, the Doctor and Mizuki found a weird seaborn monument, and Mizuki used their connection to the Seaborn's minds to look into alternate timelines and show them to the Doctor. That means that while the events of the story are not canon, the Doctor may still know and reference the events in the story. I'm not going to go over all of IS3 because there's so much of it but you can find a rough summary here.

Fangs of the Signiori dei Lupi: Hinted earlier in the main story/ Il Siracusano, Texas/ Emperor/ Lapland/ Projekt Red/ Lunacub.

This is the newest of these plots, set up in Il Siracusano and presumably proceeding from there. The Feraerus are supernatural talking animals that we’ve encountered a couple of times throughout the story, like the High Priest or the Emperor. They are connected with the land and are almost akin to guardians of it. They don’t need Originium for their magic, and are tied to the setting in ways we don’t quite understand yet. More importantly to us, though, they’re involved in their own power struggles and contests among each other. This underscored the drama in Il Siracusano - the whole Bellone family was propped up by the wolf Feraerus Zarro as part of an ancient game in which the wolves pick champions, called Fangs, who fight each other in a Battle Royale to decide the pack’s next alpha a la the fake wolf study. We know a couple of the fangs - Lunacub is one and Bernardo was another before his death, but Projekt Red is also a Fang, as well as Crownslayer’s mentor, so we’ll probably be coming back to this conflict in the future. It's unclear how we'll approach it, though, as Bernardo and Lunacub's files seem to imply that the eventual goal will breaking free of this game.

Law and Otherwise: Guide Ahead, Fiametta/ Mostima/ Andoain/ Cecile/ Lemuen/ Pope Yvangelista XI/ Law/ Executor/ Enforcer

This one hasn't been super developed yet, but it's worth including with both Hortus de Escapismo and Zwillingstürme im Herbst coming up. Laterano, the city of the Sankta, is governed by immutable laws that are engraved onto the very bodies of the Sankta. In Guide Ahead, Andoain seeks to ask the Pope the question of why the Sankta do not help the people of the world. He learns that the laws that bind the Sankta are real, physical commandments enforced by Law, a robotic entity similar to the Preserver from Lonetrail, and the consequences and exceptions relating to the law are entirely at its discretion. The law is what it is because Law says so.

The Sami Icefields

This hasn’t technically gotten an event yet, besides that one story in Operational Intelligence, but I’m including it as an honorable mention because we’re going there for IS4. The Icefields are up north of Ursus, and they are terrifying. You remember the Emperor’s Blade, the one that kicks your ass in WD-8? Yeah we only see three of them in the game because the rest are busy fighting against the Eldritch demons constantly invading from the Sami Icefields. Let’s please never go there ever, thanks.

Finished Plotlines:

These two are complete plots, which I'm including for posterity and the worldstate. Spoilers for all of these events, but I'll try to keep things to the present so as to not spoil too much.

The Grand Knight Major: Maria Nearl/ Pinus Sylvestris/ Near Light/ Obscure Wanderer, Blemishine/ Zofia/ Nearl/ The Followers/ Flametail/ Ashlock/ Fartooth/ Wildmane/ Justice Knight my beloved/ Gravel/ Platinum/ Roy/ Monique/ Młynar.

Margaret Nearl won the 24th Major and became the Grand Knight, and has since stayed in Kazimierz to improve living conditions for the infected and push back against the General Chamber of Commerce. The Armorless Union has mostly been decapitated - the Platinum defected, the Lazurites have disappeared and taken on new identities, and the Darksteel has promised to stay away from Margaret and Rhodes Island. Pinus Sylvestris and most of the rest of the Nearls are now on the landship, working for Rhodes Island.

A New Age is Upon Us: Mansfield Break/ Dorothy’s Vision/ Lonetrail/ the second Records of Originium comic (which has an official translation that you should absolutely read it’s really good)/ the Friston-3 event whenever Yostar decides to get around to releasing it, Silence/ Ptilopsis/ Saria/ Ifrit/ Dorothy/ Mulesyse/ Ferdinand/ Rosemontis/ Ho’olheyak/ Kirsten.

After the events of Project Horizon, Terra has forever been changed. For just a fleeting moment, every living being in Terra looked up and saw the stars for the first time. The consequences of this aren't totally clear just yet, but it will almost have rippling effects across the world and marks a shift in the game's story as a whole. We also received confirmation of just who the Doctor truly is, and a look behind the curtain of Terra's history. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that nothing is the same after Lonetrail.

In more specific character terms, though, Saria is the new control of Rhine lab, with Silence as her assistant and ethics advisor. Ifrit is a big girl now, and practically a different character entirely from who she was at the start of the game - seriously, her character arc might be my favorite in the game. Rosemontis has also similarly faced her past and come out stronger, and not only Directors Dorothy and Mulesyse but also Maylander agent Ho'olheyak have come over to Rhodes Island in the chaos after Project Horizon. Finally, Rhodes Island has uncovered the real powers lying behind the scenes of Columbian Politics, but have in turn been noticed themselves. We are no longer in the shadows, and it would be wise to keep that in mind.

[day-at-rhodes-island]

I am trying so hard to not complain about how terrible the seaborn are, so instead:

Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow is the first Yan-Sui event I actually liked, and I really hope that it isn't the last.

I didn't hate the other events, but I just didn't think they were good. Who Is Real had potential to be interesting but didn't really do anything with it.

My main issue with these events is that the Sui characters never convincingly felt like a part of the world, and then we don't even get to see them interact with people much. I got this vibe that they were just there to be cool with Big Magic and that's it, which isn't great for what is supposed to be a main character.

You know what is a really solid incorporation of a feranmut though? Break the Ice. It managed to sell the idea that Kjergandr is powerful by showing how she effects the world and people around her by just existing, and the interactions with her give us enough characterization that we know what kind of person she is. I feel like they managed to do something like that again with Vernal Winds and Chongyue. It's good.

[maleficare]

ARKNIGHTS ➝ CHONGYUE

[exoticalmonde]

Two dogs with barely any HP harassing top RI operators while they can do nothing but heal themselves: 🤭

Everybody else on the map: 😔 "Too bad we can't go up there."

EX-8 experience is not that bad I mean the RNG that decides whether or not Ya summons dogs or defenders said that every second one should be a defender is a little loco but...

Hey, look out of 27 we have 22, 11 enemies left.

26/27! 8 enemies left!!

27/27, that means 2 enemies are left.

Saria: "Uh, Doctor, it doesn't add up like th-"

Me, the saddest creature you've ever seen slowly turning in her direction: "It doesn't... It never does... It just keeps going. It adds up. It adds up... It adds up hehehehahahahaahah......."

*Lumen puts a blanket over my shoulders and slowly takes me away like a demented old woman.*

Actually, forget that, I wish the funny little gray matter that would be helping with my thought processing didnt look like gum scraped off the bottom of a highschool chair now but instead not only did I spent way too much time and energy into finishing and fine-turning EX-6 CM I just didnt have enough sanity to keep trying EX-8 CM at all.

Dr. Pinkie left the conversation like a wrung out rag, Dr. Kryo finds me pitiful and Dr. Lundi has the best Mlynar in the West and a Ling/Poz, I hope she succeeds soon because time is ticking.

As for me, it's an endless cycle of failure after failure and wondering where did it go wrong. I don't remember which event it was but it also had a -1 condition to its challenge mode and I cried actual tears trying to figure out and time it.

I WILL get these medals or so god help me.

But hey, Chongyue, your payment check for becoming a lead operator and tactical adviser is almost available.

How do you feel about it?

Yeah, I know I'm your life's failure but I'm also your wife failure. That's a win however you look at it.

[pitchlag]

I have reached end game level smorts (and/or enough busted operators) to clear an EX8 stage on challenge mode without guides

[petterwass]

So that VW-8-EX-CH dome with. Took some tries but based on the amount of online swearing I'd seen I thought it would be much harder than it was.

Kudos to:

-Ch'en sir for holding the top together with Siege. Shadowless is just such a great skill when charged with Corrupting Heart it one-shots the shield dudes and with its range it can reach leaks.

-Nian for holding the off-lane with the invisible assholes. Probably overkill but I wanted to make sure no one snuck through.

-Schwarz and Eylafjalla for being my bosskillers of choice. Yaoi floating in her second form means my usual tactics did not work, but thankfully those two are extremely efficient at what they do, and Yaoi went down quick enough that she never got to switch with the Mirage.

-Corrupting Heart for being the linchpin of... Everything. At any time the most important Operators were being supercharged

-Gladiia for holding the bottom high ground admirably. While there were leaks at the end, for most of the game she presented an immovable roadblock to everyone trying to get a toe on the high ground.

[flourstuffer]

what do you mean when delusion is active i just killed it (both of them) oh fuck i think i just realised 💀

[amiya-shirou]

First time watching a battle shonen

[armoredisopod]

Event beaten, tried to do all EX stages + CM using only one lineup set at the start (while also allowing skill changes) and i was doing fine even though i was going in blind until i stumbled across the unexpected roadblock that is EX-8 CM

It wasn't even the -1 block that messed me up (though it did make things very inconvenient) but the Delusion HP boost making Ya harder to take down and i tried to do it for a few hours before just giving up on the challenge since i still needed to farm mats (the original lineup didn't have Młynar, Passenger, Saria and Thorns)

[videojamiemostlikely]

All of these people are assholes and I hate all of them. Except for the kid. The kid needs a hug. Everyone else can go rot for all i care

[yakourinka]

spoiler-free big bro chong yue from the event CGs

[arknightsource]