#and kuranta through nearl have a special place in my heart

[besiegedhunter]

I never thought that Red's plotline could lead to discoveries about origins of Ancient, but with your explanation, it makes a lot of sense.

Also, I know you more a Siracusa person, but you mentioned Nearl and Pegasus, and do you think Maria's plotline in future could be about her Elder heritage, with her having the most connection with it in family(Pegasian eyes and golden blood)?

Thank you! I'm pretty confident in the idea but even if they do something else with her story I'm excited to find out what (though it'd have to cover the Beast Lords and their connection with Ancients.)

But hey Kazimierz is my second favourite nation in the game and I'm more than happy to dicuss other topics. I just have a difficult time thinking them up lol.

That said I'm not the most versed in the topic of Blemishine's situation but doing a bit of research into it I don't think I can see Blemishine having a future plotline regarding Elders.

Maybe the devs will look at Blemishine and want her to be in or spearhead another kind of story but my reading about that moment in NL-8 is that that bit is actually about Tola's character development then teasing something about Blemishine.

I could be wrong, I've not read her module or oprec.

But my thoughts on this scene is that Tola and Blemishine are both trying to uphold their family legacies. Legacies of the Nightzmora Khagan and the Pegasian Knights like the one from the legend of the Khagan and Golden Pegasus that Tola is looking to repeat.

They lack their own convictions but this scene is about Blemishine, in the face of Tola, gathers her own conviction and own belief of what a knight is to stand her ground and protect her family. Her arts are what makes her blood appear gold and it's not meant to suggest she's special but to be symbolic of her gathering her own conviction and strength like the other members of her family and the golden pegasus.

And Tola sees this and knows that she isn't the golden pegasus, she lacks the strength of Nearl or her family. But she has gained her own conviction and willingness to sacrifice herself for her beliefs that he lacks.

As he says, he still desires to fight Nearl. He still retains that he himself is going to emulate the Khagan like he does in his fight after this scene with the Blood Knight and as he says:

Because he believes he can grow strong off the conviction of the Khagan.

But he recognizes that she has virtues that he lacks despite his belief in his Khaganquest and that lesson he was taught is why he walks away.

Which isn't nearly as fun or exciting or satisfying as Blemishine being special even among the other Nearls but I think...? Think that's what the writers was intending with this scene.

I'd be overjoyed to be proven wrong but I don't think that Blemishine is any different from the other Nearls. For example Platinum's S2 is named Pegasian Sight and there's this line from Pinus Sylvestris that seems to canonize this as something she has in the story:

And with Ho'olheyak's lore that ten thousand years ago her ancestors were actual Kukulkan, it's likely that the Nearls and other Pegasus also were actual Pegasus and likely needed better eyesight akin to a bird's to be able to see while they fly through the sky and it persisted to modern day Pegasus.

A point is probably only made with Blemishine because she's an underdog who has to use everything she has to win, like her engineering knowledge when fighting the Plastic Knight.

For example, Nearl demonstrates at the end of Maria Nearl and in the PV of Near Light (which I believe Pinus Sylvestris refrences, making it canon) the ability to fly and so she likely uses her Pegasian Sight then.

That said, Tola says that Blemishine's name would go down in history and while I don't know if she is returning to being a knight anytime soon (my impression is that the story wants her to chase her desire to be a smith) it would be interesting to see her get a Bloodline of Combat skin or a event revolving around her.

That's my thoughts on the matter.

[johannstutt413]

(requested by mathmaticalknight)

When Blemishine got the Doctor’s permission to take assignments from Closure (so long as she didn’t use it as an escape method), she’d expected to be assigned to maintenance work - weapons, armor, maybe even something closer to light hazing like ‘clock duty’. What she hadn’t expected was for the Sarkaz in charge of the department to take one look at her, nod approvingly, and assign her to be Lancet-2’s primary maintainer. “I’ll teach you what you need to know, and then she’s all yours.”

“Um, this is an exciting offer, Miss Closure,” the Kuranta had replied, “but are you sure that-”

“You’ll do great! Besides, it’s not as complicated as you might think; sure, there’s a lot of moving parts, but Lancet’s autodiagnostics are basically foolproof. Come on, time is money!” And, with that, it was decided: Maria Nearl was now the primary mechanic for Rhodes Island’s best-known robot Operator.

Which, of course, meant another tech-savvy Operator entered her life. Eunectes - who insisted on being called Zumama when not in the field - practically glued herself to her ‘sister’ any chance she could, and those chances came frequently because the Pythia simply could not be argued with. Frequently, Blemishine tried to make small talk with her, but no matter what topic she started with, the conversation would naturally drift back to Lancet, and as interested in mechanics as she was, her interest was no match for the savant from Sargon.

At least, for the first few weeks, that was the nature of their relationship. One day, however, as Maria finished Lancet’s morning check-up and released her for work, Zumama stayed behind rather than follow the robot out of the workshop. “I’m having a barbecue on the bridge tonight. Will you come to it?”

“Eh? Sure, Zumama!” She’d heard only good things about Acahuallan food, thanks to the Pythia’s persistent presence. “Any special occasion?”

“No. I just feel like cooking for you tonight.”

For...her? “Oh! That’s very kind of you. Who all will be there?”

“The two of us.” Period. End of guest list. “I’ll start the fire during Lancet-2’s power-down procedure.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll be there for sure!” This was exactly the opportunity to get to know Eunectes better, after all, even if it was a bit odd. The last barbecue had most of Engineering there to celebrate a round of promotions in the department, and it’d looked like a lot of work to cook all that food, so for her to go through the trouble just for the Kuranta...nah, she shouldn’t read too much into it. That kind of thing happened in knightly romance novels, not in real life.

Which is what she told herself throughout the day, occasionally out loud, as exactly the opposite thought bounced around her brain like the screensaver on Lancet-2’s diagnostic terminal. Her charge even commented on it as the knight was plugging her in for her nightly power-down. “Blemishine, your heart rate has been steadily rising throughout the day. It is currently resting at 88.7 beats per minute. Is this related to my sister’s invitation?”

“You heard about that?” That 88.7 jumped to 98. “Yeah, I guess that’d be why.”

“Being a medical robot, my understanding of emotions is more clinical than personal, but it seems she’s interested in you.” Closure’s relationship with Nian shared some of the same characteristics.

The Kuranta blushed at the thought. “You think so?”

“Zumama has provided me with substantial data on her reactions to various other Operators, but her reactions with you show a distinctive pattern.” Okay, that was a bit of a stretch, but the Medicbot’s usual pessimism couldn't stop her from indulging in a bit of matchmaking. “Like many other joys of the human experience, I only have a rudimentary understanding, but-”

“Thank you, Lancet!” Blemishine gave her the best hug she could manage, given the robot’s bulk. A job well done on her part; she could power down with an elevated evaluation of her productivity for the day.

Once Lancet-2 was fully powered down for the night, Maria went back to her room, changed as quickly as she could, and half-trotted to the threshold of the bridge. The delicious, smoky smell of Sargon-grilled meat drifted into the hallway as the knight-mechanic took a few steadying breaths. When she’d recollected herself, sure at most a couple of hairs were out of place, she opened the door and walked onto the bridge.

Eunectes’ grill stood in the circle of ashy stones that marked out the fire pit. Meteor had been the one to request it, and she frequently made use of it, but tonight, it was the Pythia’s. She signaled for Blemishine to close the door behind her before beckoning her closer. “Food’s almost ready.”

“Oh, fantastic! I was worried it might be getting cold by the ti-” Now that she could see what was on the grill, Maria found something new to appreciate her host for. “Those are Kazimierza sausages.”

“I heard you liked them. There’s water in the cooler.”

Good to know - the knight could use a drink. “Thanks for taking care of dinner tonight. It smells great!”

“Thank you.” Zumama split the now-done sausages between two plates and brought them over to where the Kuranta had sat. “Here.”

“Thanks! I’m gonna let them cool for a minute.” She set them on the opposite of her from the Pythia before turning to look at her.

The other engineer did the same, albeit mirrored. “Good idea...I want to ask you something, Maria.”

“Go ahead!” Blemishine’s heart rate picked up again. “Ask me anything you want.”

“Why did you want to become an engineer?” Eunectes’ tongue flicked between her teeth absentmindedly.

While it’s hard to say what question Maria expected, that hadn’t been it. “Oh? Well, I found out how much I enjoyed maintenance because of my sister - I’d watch her cleaning her armor or sharpening her sword, and then one day I asked if I could help, so she let me. By the time she left, I had my own weapons and armor to maintain, I knew some folks who had a car they let me tinker with, and I was keeping up with the knight competitions so I could see the different designs I heard about...So, um, I guess my sister is the reason I’m helping out with Engineering now. What about you?”

“I want to build robots.” She grabbed a sausage - still quite warm, but nothing she couldn't handle - and took a bite before continuing. “The first time I saw a city cross the sky, shining in scattering sunlight, I knew I wanted to build one myself. Then, Gavial came home with the Doctor, and they brought Lancet-2 with them, and after meeting her, I knew I wanted to make a robot like her. Someday I’ll make us another sister, and then I’ll make a city that can talk like her, and we can all live there.”

“That’s a cool dream...We?”

The Pythia nodded. “You, and me, and Lancet-2, and Master Closure, and the other robots, and Rhodes Island, too. We’ll fly it back to Acahualla, so my tribe can live there, too.”

“Wow. That’s a lot of people.” The knight took her first bite of dinner, and her eyes lit up. “This is so good! I can’t believe you made these just for me!”

“Of course. I wanted to thank you for taking care of Big Sis.” She swallowed the rest of the sausage in her hand before moving onto the next one.

Blemishine’s jaw would have dropped, but it was busy eating. Eunectes really had outdone herself. “I’m happy to! It was an honor to have Miss Closure have my first job be something so important, even if I was nervous at first. You and Lancet-2 make me feel right at home in that little workshop.”

“That’s good.” They ate in silence for a bit, making short work of their one-course dinner, before Zumama continued. “When I build my city, will you live with me?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely! That sounds...wonderful.” Scattered daydreams from earlier that day, planted by her invitation, played anew in her mind’s eye.

Not even Maria’s imagination could prepare her for the real thing, though, as the Pythia slid close enough to grab her hand. “I have another dream. One I need you to help me with.”

“Oh?” Neither had taken their eyes off the other since they’d sat down. The Kuranta wasn’t sure if she was ready for this. “You want to tell me about it?”

“I want to show it to you.”

The knight smiled, blushing wildly. “Please do.”

“Mm.” Eunectes stood up, taking Blemishine with her, before reaching for her other hand. “Ready?”

“Show me, ‘mama.” She wouldn’t have been able to tell you if omitting the ‘Zu’ had been accidental or intentional.

Maria could tell you, however, that barbecue and Zumama’s lips tasted great together.