1.120
As the third spirit joins you, you walk around the next bend of the trail and suddenly find yourselves standing atop Greenbriar Knoll once more. The sky has cleared during your journey, and where once was a tempest, now stars burn in the firmament with an almost painful intensity, each a different color that, somehow, you know is entirely unique.
Nal is there, and she gestures for everyone to join her in a circle. You and the spirits take a seat, and it is not long before they begin to speak once again. This time, however, their ancient dialect seems to blend and harmonize. Nal begins to hum, low and resonant, and somehow the hum clarifies their voices as words take shape. After a moment, you realize you can now understand exactly what they are saying.
“They wish to know about heart,” the Wanderer says to the Archivist.
You say that you do indeed, and ask them why there is a living heart at the center of the arcology.
At this, the three spirits laugh. “The heart is alive because the body it inhabits is alive,” says the Gardener. “How could it be otherwise?”
You ask her what body she's referring to.
“Why, Vista, of course," says the Archivist. "That which you call ‘the arcology.’ Know that many arcologies were built long ago, but Vista was the greatest of them all. Vista is the body, and the heart pumps its blood.”
Nonplussed by their response, you ask the spirits if they can tell you why the heart is malfunctioning.
“We all absorb the traumas that befall us,” says the Wanderer. “Vista, the heart, they are no different. The flood was a trauma to us all, and while most of us were fortunate enough to perish when it came, the heart lived on. Left alone to grapple with the death, the destruction, and the loss; then, being left alone in a darkened chamber for centuries. Its beating slowed as it slept to hide from its grief. Then power surged through it once more. In a moment it was jolted awake, and in that moment, it recalled a thousand years of grief, anger, and despair. It was too much for it to bear. It wishes only to forget. To sleep.”
“Soothe the heart.” the Gardener says. “Heal its trauma. Only by bringing it peace will the people of the Valley be safe.”
Nal’s song fades, as so do the spirits. The tableau of Greenbriar Knoll begins to unravel as your physical surroundings nibble at the edges of the horizon. But even as the voices fade, you hear the Archivist, as if he was speaking directly into your mind.
“Be warned!” he says. “Just as your mind and body are linked, so it is with the heart. If you wish the heart to live on, you must heal its physical ailments in addition to its emotional ones. You must be workers of flesh as well as the spirit.”
His voice fades to a whisper, and your eyes open in the waking world.
Complete the CONTACT NAL mission and return SPIRIT COUNCIL to the collection. Record CONSULTED THE SPIRITS on your campaign tracker.
Return the path deck and discard, the location, and all non-Ranger path cards in play to the collection along with any Spirit reward cards you had to search for. Then place the set-aside location and path deck and discard back into play. Finally, perform a refresh phase and begin a new round of play (with each Ranger drawing a path card as normal).
If you are at the Cage, read 107.1. Otherwise read:
Return to the Cage to heal the heart's trauma so that it may be at peace. If you want it to live, however, you will need to heal it physically as well.
1.120A
The image of the Valley around you begins to fade into the mist.
"The sun sets on our journey," Nal says as her voices grows distant. "Worry not. I will be here when you're ready to try again."
At that, your eyes open in the waking world.
As you end the day, record the set-aside location and terrain type on your campaign tracker. You will need to contact Nal again if you wish to learn more about the heart from the Estians.