Sun-King Avad has tasked you with getting the lodge's Sunhawk back to Meridian, safe and sound. A little cold won't get the best of you.
I sat and thought by a campfire I had made from spare pieces of ridge wood I had collected from my inventory. It was nice and warm, and illuminated the dreary gray nighttime sky. I looked around, and realized I had no form of shelter around me.
"Come on, Aloy." I told myself, as I shielded my midriff from the cold. "I can't sleep out in the open. I need to make a shelter."
After a few moments of looking around, I spied a pile of large wooden sticks. Instantaneously, I ran over to the pile and grabbed a bundle of sticks.
"You will most definitely come in handy." I said, as I began to construct a makeshift shelter facing away from the wind. After a few minutes of the shelter blowing down and reconstructing the shelter, I successfully tied up the top of the shelter, which made it sturdy enough to stand. I smiled, and crawled underneath the teepee shaped shelter. I looked out to see the fire still burning bright. While I was at it, I stuck my head out from my shelter, to look out for any hostile machines. Once I saw there were none in the vicinity, I crawled back into my shelter, and fell asleep.
I awoke early the next morning to the sun rising. I yawned, and rubbed my eyes of sleep. I stepped outside my shelter, only to see the skeletons of buildings past, with a large tower looming over them, piercing the strangely clear sky. I forgot where I was, and then it hit me.
"Faro Automated Solutions." I said aloud. "Owned by a man who thought it was smart to make demonic machines that consumed biomatter, and bring about the end of the Old Ones. If it weren't for Dr. Sobeck, life as we know it wouldn't be here."
I spent the better half of the morning crafting arrows, anything from tearblast to hardpoint arrows, with whatever supplies I had.. I put all the arrows a crafted into my quiver, and slid my bow onto my right shoulder. I took a few steps to the north, and saw my Strider, grazing on some tall grass. I quietly sneaked up on it, and readied my override device. I thrust the device onto its side, and held it for a few moments until it glowed blue. The Strider paused, and looked at me.I walked over to its side, and hopped on its back. I snapped on the reins, and continued to follow the road north. Peering out from the Faro tower, the sun cast shadows of the gloomy ruins as I passed through a former corrupted zone. As my Strider led me through the chilly wind, I spied smoke on the horizon.
A village, I thought, as I snapped on the reins of the Strider. My machine began to gallop faster towards the village. When I neared the village, I deduced that it was an Oseram village. I stopped my Strider outside of the village, and entered.
"Quite lively for a small village." I said to myself, as I looked at smiths forging metal goods to my right, and young Oseram men drinking themselves into a stupor on my left. I took a couple of steps forward, until I felt someone pat me on my shoulder. I whipped around to see a young Oseram man, with a turkey quill and paper in his hand.
"I didn't mean to startle you, Carja maiden." The young man replied. "My name is Arteem Poetson, and I was wondering how I could help you."
I smiled at the young man.
"I am actually Nora. But, if you are willing to help, you can help by answering a couple of questions for me." I stated.
"I will answer what I can with what I know." Arteem replied. "Please ask."
I cleared my throat.
"Have there been any caravans of humans and machines pass through the village within the past couple of days?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips. Arteem scratched his head.
"Yesterday, I did recall seeing a Shell-Walker pass through the village, with a cage on top of it containing a Carja prisoner, wearing similar armor to yours."
"Did you see anyone with that Shell-Walker?" I asked.
"The only person I saw was a strange masked man with some men alongside him." Arteem replied. "They looked Utaru, but didn't look Utaru at the same time. I couldn't make out their appearance through the darkness."
I tilted my head, and looked at him with my eyes squinted.
"Do you happen to know what direction they went in?" I asked sternly.
"They were marching north, judging by the lights given off by the Shell-Walker." Arteem replied. "I heard one of the men shout 'Brightgrain', which is a village on the edge of Plainsong, which is way east of Oseram hunting grounds."
I shot him a look of confusion.
"Where might I find The Oseram hunting grounds?" I asked, with a tone of confusion in my voice.
Arteem cleared his throat.
"Follow the Great Mountains north, until you see a fallen Tallneck. From the Tallneck, travel northeast until the snow subsides, and golden fields appear. You will be able to see the watch towers of Brightgrain tower on the horizon as soon as the golden fields appear."
I placed my hand on his shoulder. He looked down to my hand.
"Thank you for everything, Arteem." I told him, as I took my hand of his shoulder. "I hope to read your poetry one day."
I began to walk away. I turned around to see him standing still, blushing at me. I smiled, and turned around to face the village gates. I walked out of the village and immediately spied a herd of striders, messing up the fresh layer of snow with their snouts. Quietly pulling out my lance, I quietly sneaked up on lone Strider, and began to override it. A Strider saw me overriding his friend, and alerted the rest of the herd to flee deep into the forest beside me. I hopped onto the back of the Strider, barely alerting it. I snapped on its reins, and continued northwards towards the Oseram hunting grounds. As my Strider continued north, I took the time to examine the scenery. The ground was still covered with snow, which also decorated the pine trees along the road. To my left were the Great Mountains, towering over the pine forest.
I've got to be nearing the hunting grounds, I thought. This forest has been going on forever.
With my boredom increasing, I continued through the forest, until I saw something familiar tower over the trees.
"Aha! There you are!" I said to myself, as I saw the head of a Tallneck tower over the clearing. I slowed my Strider down, and marveled at the ruined Tallneck. I looked down, and looked at a road leading to the northeast. Sitting beside it was a campfire, with an abandoned shed leaning against the Tallneck.
"That must be the road I take to Brightgrain." I told myself, as I steered my Strider in the direction of the road. "But first, I should rest." I walked into the abandoned shed, and was surprised to find a rather comfortable bed inside. I pressed on the mattress, which was still incredibly soft. I set down my Banuk Hunter Bow, and took off my armor. I sat on the edge of the bed, and ran my hands through my long, red hair. I laid my head on the surprisingly soft pillow, and shut my eyes, letting tiredness consume me.
I awoke with the sun shining through the shed's only window. I let out a huge yawn, and stretched.
That feels so good, I thought. To my right sat my armor, and my Banuk Hunter Bow. Beside it was my quiver, chock full of arrows. I fastened the quiver to my belt, and strapped on my armor sash across my right shoulder. I then picked up my bow, and slid it onto my right shoulder. I let out a deep breath, and walked out the door. The first thing I saw was my non-overridden Strider, grazing beside the fire underneath the head of the Tallneck. I pulled out my lance, and quietly approached it. I activated the override mechanism, and began the override process. Before long, the Strider was overridden. I used some of my leftover shards to repair its armor, as it was looking a little beaten up from the travels. After the repairs, I got up and hopped on the Strider's back. I gently lifted up on the reins, and turned the Strider so it was facing towards the northeast. I snapped on the reins. The Strider responded by galloping the direction I chose, and before I knew it, I was on the road to Brightgrain.
The early part of the journey dragged on for a while, I couldn't count how many times I yawned. I'm definitely not a morning person, I thought, followed by another yawn. I did stop several times to marvel at all of the ancient machines that littered the side of the road as the sun rose.
Thank All-Mother that these machines will never rise again, I thought as a Metal Devil ruin loomed over the horizon to my left. Its sudden appearance made my heart skip a beat. As I looked around, the tentacles spewing from the Metal Devil extended across the snowy terrain, ending just before the road. The more I examined the Faro Machines closer to me, the more I noticed that had been picked through.
"I wonder what the tribes would want with all of these ancient machine parts." I whispered to myself, as I carried on the snowy road. After focusing on the road after what felt like forever, I started to notice the lack of snow surrounding the sides of the road, and more fields of wheat emerging from the snow. I took a closer look, and saw that there were Watchers patrolling the outer perimeters of the fields. Directly ahead of me, stood the gate to Brightgrain, only a few kilometers away.
They seem to be overridden, I thought, as I stopped beside an abandoned campfire along the road. I proceeded to light the fire. Shortly after I sat down, I noticed a supply crate sitting to my right. I opened it, and examined its contents.
Hmmm, I thought, as I picked up some of the contents. Some shards, some chillwater, and some blaze. Let's see what I can craft with these before I enter the village.
I closed the supply crate, and began the crafting process for my fire arrows. I opened a can of blaze, and dipped three arrow tips into the canister, and held them in for a few moments before pulling them out. As I pulled them out, I smiled when I saw fire. I gently blew out the flames, and could still feel the heat coming off the head when I ran my hands over them. I set them on a rock behind me to let them cool briefly. I looked up, squinted, and looked around. It was getting dark.
"I best get going, if I want to make it to the village before dark."
I placed my fire arrows in my quiver, along with my hardpoint and tearblast arrows. I looked down, and realized I never crafted frost arrows. I smiled and laughed, as I picked up two chillwater canisters, and placed them in my satchel. I put out the camp fire, and began my walk towards the gate of the village. I watched as the Watchers stuck to their routes, protecting the grain fields from animal invaders. I watched the sun set beyond the gate as I approached. As I neared the gate, I was immediately halted by two gate guards wielding spears.
"Stop where you are, Carja scum!" One of the gate guards exclaimed. I quickly pulled my Banuk Striker bow off my shoulder and loaded two hard point arrows.
"Excuse me?" I asked sternly, showing them my Nora Seeker badge on my belt. I looked back up at the guardsmen. "Let me through. Please."
"You leave us no choice, Carja scum. Your death is imminent." The other guardsman said, pointing at me. Both guardsmen raised their spears, and pointed them at me. I retaliated by pulling back my drawstring, and pointing my bow towards the Utaru guardsmen. As I was about to fire, I heard a familiar voice.
"The three of you, stop!"
The men turned around, and knelt at the gate. The source of the voice revealed itself. I lowered my bow, and opened my mouth with shock.
It was Rea.