Any idea why Giant souls are apparently a component in False Dragon Manufacture?

"Giant souls are a little special. The giants themselves, you've seen, take on a new life when they're slain. It turns out, that may be what's supposed to happen to corpses.

In general, the giants are a simpler form of life. More plant than animal. They're closer to the primordial bedrock of the world – the archtrees – and so to the dragons as well Not the finest material but certainly a functional one."

Do you know what exactly is this Giant's Kinship?

"Ah. That. The 'resonance with the giants', as it's described in Aldia's texts. It's not actually a property of the Giant Lord… or you would have presumably received it when you slew him for good beneath the tower. It's a certain magnificence which the Giant Lord inherited, which all the other giants feel in their… well, not bones. They don't have any.

When you forced the Giant Lord to bend knee, you received all the giants' submission. They recognized you as heir to a certain dread fate. That is, they recognized you as kin because they expect you to burn like wood or to set down roots in the Abyssal waters."

Who is [Shalquoir]? How does she know so much?

"A cat. And because she's a cat.

There's things to be said about cats, but let's keep it at 'her owner is a monster.'"

"Light is time," says Aldia, who I'm sure extracted the maxim from a dying victim.

For some reason, the way the world works is that if you close your eyes and pretend really hard, you can see the "light" – or rather, perspective – of people living or dead. Somehow, this lets you travel back in time and change events, even ones the other person never actually saw.

Except to change events, you have to make sure that nothing actually changes. At least from the perspective – again, "light" – of the present. You killed the "Last Giant" early in your journey, but you were only able to do so because the version of you at the end of your journey maimed him during the Battle of Cardinal Tower however many years before you were even born.

In a sense, this is the "yoke of fate" Aldia keeps yapping about.

However, you can definitely cheat. Captain Drummond says hello, by the way. We went back to save him after you fought the Giant Lord, then had him leave his armor on a corpse where you found him crushed under the rubble. That way, you'd find "him" and have the use of his armor early in your journey.

In case you're wondering, we definitely stole a bunch of loot from the other Lost Kingdoms. Nothing that you would have found! We made notes on what would be destroyed, and I replaced them all with cheap counterfeits.

Back to the story, though – Aldia told us that we needed a way to breach the defenses of the giants' phantom isle. The map would get us there, but the seaside defenses (to say nothing of my favorite dragon) would destroy a single ship before it came anywhere near. Now that we had the power of bullshit dragon magic, we could go back in time and capture more giants for him to torture.

So, off to the Lady's Forest – ah, I mean the Forest of Fallen Giants – we went. Now, setting aside the Duke's "cleaner," there wasn't much of anything left which was dangerous. Now, you might have noted that the hollows there seem particularly fond of firebombs.

That… might have been my fault.

What other weapon is a normal human going to use against a giant? A bomb provides consistent damage, whether it's a peasant or a trained soldier throwing it.

Now, the walk through the Forest wasn't dangerous in itself, but it called to mind memories which had lain dormant for years. The giants' attack threw the kingdom into uproar. It was the real beginning of the end, even if you did stop the invasion before it got inland.

The normal people just weren't ready for that sort of thing. Information about the spreading Curse had been suppressed. No one really believed in giants, and they'd had faith in the old story that the King had defeated them. People had been living normal lives.

Then they found themselves thrust into a war they couldn't win against a people whose fury wouldn't abate. Monsters taller than their homes, with flesh of stone and a will to continue fighting until their bodies were rags.

Only… Do you remember your conversation with Captain Drummond clearly? It was more than sixty years between the moment the Giant Lord set foot upon our shores and the moment you cast him from the battlements. Three generations which knew nothing of the peace and enlightenment the King had sought, only the terror of the giants.

Year after year, parents sent their children to the fort at Cardinal Tower, knowing they wouldn't come back home in one piece… if they came back at all.

I was there for the end of it. About a week before you showed up. Just when the giants started to break through.

The King had already left, and nobody was exactly watching Aldia. He knew that if he wanted any chance at escaping the "yoke of fate," that he would have to be the hero for once. He sent his agents across the kingdom (like Roenna) and a messenger to the Queen.

When he let all of his monsters out – all of his abominations and failures – his sages didn't really look too carefully. I still had my wits about me and left with all the others who share my "condition" I haven't explained yet. I'm not sure if Aldia meant to let me go while I still had the anti-hollowing device, but I guess it doesn't matter.

Now, there were plenty of things I resented. I didn't exactly have much love for the kingdom after the King's brother used me as a flesh puzzle for decades. But the giants were there. Any revenge on the kingdom could wait. I only stopped back home for some gear before I ran all the way to the Forest.

The soldiers didn't question me. They'd already lost hope, and I was at least human. Captain Drummond was a different story. He immediately recognized that I was someone long dead. He introduced me as a transfer from elsewhere.

Drummond is a good man and a good leader. He didn't question me when I told him I had been part of the invasion force. There's a look to someone who's fought monsters before. A weight in the posture and a sharpness in the eyes. He gave me a handful of the troops he had remaining and told me to prepare the defenses for the giants' final push.

Do you remember the underground room? The one where the wall's been knocked down, but the entrance is plastered with ballistae. Did you enjoy my little trap? When I found that place again, I was impressed those hollows still manned their posts. They didn't shoot me. They could still recognize… something.

Well, I trust you enjoyed the titanite slab I'd tucked away for safekeeping. That and the ring. I'm not sure what the story behind it was. Some relic of the shrine at the tower itself. The giants fought tooth and nail for it. I made sure to lock it away where they wouldn't find it, in case it was important.

I told Mytha a little of this as we walked, but it was mostly just a stroll through my own memories. Now, you might be thinking, "Hey idiot, why did you go to the Forest instead of using the Heart to go inside your own memories?"

The answer is that I definitely tried it and stood there straining and grunting and looking like I was going to shit myself in front of Aldia. You don't need brightbugs to go back, but it's hard to find weak spots in the current of time without their light. And the Forest is full of brightbugs.

Well, we ended up meandering across the fortress grounds in search of giant corpses. Totally surprised me at the time that they turn into trees. Well, we ended up finding that one just down the way from the underground storeroom.

A giant on one knee, frozen in time and turned to wood. Brightbugs flitted around and sparkled. The air looked like heat haze. Only, it wasn't just the air, you know – a bunch of bugs somehow have the ability distort the world itself.

Anyway, we came upon the giant Vammar. But we weren't the first.

One of the Ducal sages was there. I froze, but Mytha put her tail on my shoulder to steady me. Couldn't exactly use her hands much since she had to carry her weapon and her head. Apparently, tying her head to her chest "lacked dignity," and her weapon was too long to carry on her back without stooping over.

Anyway, the guy turned around. Just the same as I remembered. A shaggy coat of white fur and a green crystal mask which looks like a big eye. The story goes that that the masks are protection from curses. What curses? The hatred of their victims?

All the students look the same; all the sages look the same; all the warlocks look the same. The malice of the dead accumulates on "Aldia" as an institution rather than any individual. Sure, the Duke kept his pawns from dying of curses. His manor just became more haunted until they all went mad.

Well, I hate to disappoint you, but this isn't going to end in blood. The old sage – Aflis – wasn't worth it.

"6… 631!" he said, his memory clearly a little hazy. "You're alive? And, do my eyes deceive me? Is that the Princess M… M… Mytha of Shulva? Why, it is as if my birthday and the solstice festival came at once! Weren't… weren't you already here?"

He paused and shook his head hard.

"631, is that you? Who is that with you? No matter. Have you seen… the Princess?"

I looked at Mytha. The sage must have been on the edge of hollowing. It would be a question of how much information we could get out of him. Mytha nodded. Or, manually tilted her head, I guess.

"What princess?" I said.

He'd already forgotten about Mytha, but it wasn't like he couldn't see her. I wanted to be sure he wasn't just talking in circles.

"The giants' Princess," he said. "I was to escort her… no, that's… She was in a cart, you see. Not up and moving. Master Aldia sent us to the Queen… the Queen…? Queen Nashandra, she gave us permission to enter the sealed chamber… the… below the castle. We took the Princess… Took the Princess…?

Bring her back. The giants. They came for her. They came for her, but… The– the King is gone. Without the King, we… stood no chance. We offered… we offered… Peace. The Queen's peace.

Only… the Giant Lord, their, their king… He'd already fallen. We tried to go back. The Queen… The Queen…?

Where is the Princess? We must give her to the giants before they discover the King's… The King's…"

I tried to think back. Had the Queen been present at the siege? What had I done after the Giant Lord had been slain? Had I seen that woman the King put in the boat during the fighting?

I'd wasn't around for the end of it as I resurrected from a death. I must have missed what the sage was talking about as well. I only saw the giants retreating, so I turned and ran myself. I had fought the giants again. I owed the kingdom nothing. I wasn't about to be captured by Aldia again.

A mistake, clearly. I should have gathered information.

I tried to get more out of the sage this time, but he only babbled about that princess. The bit about the Queen was interesting, though. I'd not heard anything about her since I'd returned to the kingdom. Was she still alive? Could she provide us with more details?

Of course, Mytha knew nothing about her. The Queen seemingly just appeared one day. Certainly after Mytha's time.

So, the two of us at least knew that we would need to investigate Drangleic Castle. This was the first time we had information about any of this which Aldia hadn't been in control of. Sure, the sage could have been an actor or a deliberate plant, but we didn't believe Aldia's control was that absolute or his planning that perfect.

Still, we had to complete the first objective. We had to use the giants to find a way through the phantom island's defenses. The two of us talked it over quietly so the sage wouldn't hear – which was easy because Mytha could just hold her head to my ear or mouth.

We turned back to the giant tree and focused on the brightbugs. We followed their lights through the Dark, into the echoes of Vammar's memory.

We met Drummond lying there. We were probably only a few minutes ahead of you in the memory. I didn't know if he was going to make it at the time, half-crushed by rubble.

"Captain Drummond," I said. "It's been a while."

He smiled as best he could with broken ribs.

"Captain Prateiro!" he said. "Has it? Twenty minutes or two hours – I'm not sure I can tell any longer. Why are you here? What about the storeroom?"

"It's fine. I have absolute faith in the woman in charge."

It was me, of course, but he didn't need to know. Time travel is a pain to explain even when you're not watching someone drown in their own blood.

"Drummond, have the giants behaved strangely at all? Have you seen anything that looked like an attempt at parlay?"

He started to laugh, but then choked.

"Parlay?" he said. "The giants are too drunk on hatred for that. I have trouble imagining them speaking our language, even if they wished to."

"Then the Duke's men aren't here yet. I thought that would be too easy."

"Duke Aldia?"

"Unfortunately." I stopped and thought for a moment before continuing: "You're awfully calm considering the decapitated snake woman."

"I beg your pardon?" Mytha said. "Such an unflatteringly literal description entirely downplays the…" Well, she ranted for a minute and ended on, "…qualities which this gentleman clearly recognizes despite his desperate state. I am Mytha of Shulva. It is a pleasure to meet you, Captain Drummond, despite circumstances."

The captain knit his brows and said, "The Duke's mother, if I remember my histories. The long years have been kind to you, regal lady. I am Drummond, seemingly the last. This is my fort, for however long it stands.

I would thank you both for the aid, if there were anything left to aid. If you flee now, you might escape with your strength."

"Can't," I said. "I need to catch a giant. I'm going back. I'll make them pay for this, along with my body and my men. But I need a giant to tell me how to get through their island's defenses first."

Drummond smiled thinly this time. It was the smile he always gave when I talked about the past. He knew I was undead and had fought monsters before. He believed that I wasn't lying to him. He just had trouble accepting that my story really happened. That the giants themselves were only one line of defense, among dead specters, dread knights, and even that damned dragon.

"I pray the Lady smile on your journey," he said. "Killing the giants is hell enough for me. Capturing one and interrogating it is… Never the mind. You shouldn't waste time here. The giants will break through soon enough."

Well, we said our farewells and started out, but that one giant who always breaks through the wall in the memory, well, broke through the wall. I almost got knocked out immediately by a lucky brick. I was bleeding from my forehead pretty badly. Mytha retreated the way we'd come, dragging me with her trident-thing.

The giant stopped, though. It looked at us and moved like it was smelling the air.

"YOU!" he said.

After that, he yelled something in giant language and backed away. Another giant leaned into the hole in the wall and looked at us in the same way. That one nodded and grunted. The first called out again. One of the hooded giant pyromancers approached.

"YOU!" it said too.

Let me remind you exactly how loud and obnoxious the voices of these giants are.

"Well, what is it?" I grunted.

"FOLLOWERS OF… THE LOST ONE!"

"I don't exactly follow anyone," I said. "Do you mean Mytha? The God of War?"

"YES! DRAGON LORD! LOST TO US!"

"Okay, well, what do you want? A medal?"

"YOU HELPED US!"

I was totally at a loss. "Helped?"

"NO! NOT YET! OUR PAST! YOUR FUTURE!"

I just shrugged and said, "I don't know what you're expecting, then. This whole time travel thing seems like a disaster already. I guess I'll get to it eventually, if you say it's already happened."

"GO HOME!"

"Well, there's a Gyrm living there now…"

"OUR HOME!"

Now we were getting somewhere. And I didn't even have to watch Aldia dissolve the giant's flesh open with acid and pick out the insides.

I tried asking directly. It's not like our warships could sneak up on them anyway. I highly doubt a phantom island has a whole lot of boat traffic.

"I have a map, but your people would destroy my ship before I got close."

"MAP IS KEY! KEY USED WRONG! TRAP!"

"Then how do I use it right?"

"ISLAND FORBIDDEN! MUST BE KEEPER! BLOOD OF SUN!"

"Is that a metaphor?"

"WHAT META FOR? NEED BLOOD OF CHILD OF LORD GWYN! PRINCESS HERE! WE COME!"

It was that princess again. And now I had a little more context. The giants had come because the King had made off with their boss' daughter. Only, how was the Queen involved in all this? A royal affair wasn't anything new, but it seemed out of character. The King had always been… obsessive over the Queen.

I tried to think. What had he said to that princess on the boat? It wasn't a matter of my not being able to remember. I was delirious, and the roar of battle was all around. I might not have heard it at all.

Well, I decided it didn't matter. What did matter is that I needed some of this princess' blood, and she was already gone in the present. I would need to find a way to go to exactly the time she was present – or cheat. I was certain Aldia would have some of her blood lying around if it was so important.

"I understand," I told them. "I'll try to find my way there. If you survive this battle, give my thanks to the woman with the pearl crown."

"SHE HERE! OUR FIGHT, SIMPLE. HANDMAID SEARCH FOR PRINCESS. GO TO CASTLE."

The castle again. The Queen knew something about this and had apparently entertained a guest from the land of giants. When the Queen first appeared at court, she hadn't hesitated to convince the King to strike first. Had she fled that place? Was the woman with the pearl crown an old friend or an old enemy?

I thanked the giants for their time (which felt strange) and turned back. I discussed the matter with Mytha. We wouldn't try to get more information from the sage. Even if the man's mind was ruined, there was a risk that Aldia could extract whatever we'd learned from him. While some of Mytha's frustration had cooled off, both of us knew he was a monster. We were on the same side for now, but we couldn't let him hold all the cards.

Only, that made me think. Why was Mytha doing all of this anyway? We had gone together to speak with her husband, then to her son. At his advice, she had gone with me to see the false dragon. Why had she come to the Forest with me?

As I thought on this, the echo of the past faded.