Truth and Purpose/Stone Tablet Transcript
It is copied verbatim from Outward, and is therefore copyright of Nine Dots Studio.
The following is a transcript of the Stone Tablet which the player and Oliele translate during Truth and Purpose. It covers the events of Elatt's ascension and the Cabal of Wind spell which caused it - along with the Scourge.
Preparation
(#29) Oliele: If anyone's got a way to translate this, it would be a Soroborean... or if we knew someone extremely old... Mofat! He said he knew Elatt when He was still human, right? (→ #30)
(#30) Multiple-choice:
- 0: You're right, the man is ancient. He might know how to translate the Old Language. (→ #31)
(#31) Oliele: If Mofat won’t do it for us, we can try the local Soroborean merchant, although I can’t imagine they’d sell any solution to our problem for cheap. (→ end)
(#16) Oliele: Oh! [PlayerName]! You came! How are you holding up? (→ #17)
(#17) Oliele: You’ve got what we need? Wonderful, let’s find out what this tablet has to say! (→ #18)
Tablet Transcript
(#27) (You and Oliele sit and begin to translate the tablet... As you work, the truth becomes eerily clear.) (→ #18)
(#18) Oliele: “Elatt must be stopped. People turn from our teachings, believing in the power of mankind over the Five Winds that have guided us since before the first dawn. They elevate him above his mortal self. This folly must be brought to heel. Only we have the right to guide humanity, as the Winds decree.” (→ #19)
(#19) Oliele: “We cannot stop Elatt in the physical realm, he is too strong and too well guarded. The High Priestess has woven a spell that will deal with him from a distance, something he cannot defend against. A divine lesson, that no mortal can be greater than the Winds that blow within us all.” (→ #20)
(#20) Oliele: “We will force his Inside Wind to turn against him, and put his spirit at war with itself. It will be a Scourge against his entire being, as his spiritual agony fills him with Corruption that will utterly consume him.” (→ #21)
(#21) Oliele: “To forcibly twist someone's self in such a way will require an incredible amount of Mana. We will need to divert the entirety of Abrassar's Ley Line into the focal point of the spell. With the very essence of Aurai fueling the spell, I foresee only success.” (→ #22)
(#22) Oliele: “He will either die immediately from such Corruption, or he will be turned into a mad, monstrous beast that all will rally to destroy. May the Wind of Fury guide our effort, so that none forget that no human should be considered more than mere flesh at the mercy of the Winds of Aurai.” (→ #23)
Post-reading dialogue
(#23) Oliele: I don't understand. The Scourge destroyed so much of Aurai... If it was supposed to kill only Elatt, then how come it didn't? How come it caused the very ground around him to explode and give birth to the Scourge Beasts, and ascended Elatt to godhood? (→ #24)
(#24) Oliele: Elatt... Did he cause this calamity on purpose? Did the spell fail? Is Elatt himself part of the Scourge? What happened? I wish I could just ask him. (→ #25)
(#25) Multiple-choice:
- 0: Then why don’t we? He wanted to hear what we discovered either way. (→ #26)
(#26) Oliele: Yes. I think we should. I think we have enough to question him about. I'm going to his Altar in the temple. (→ end)
Dialogue with Elatt
(#0) (You and Oliele reach out to catch Elatt’s attention. He responds surprisingly swiftly.) (→ #1)
(#1) Elatt: I sense great urgency in your hearts. Speak. What is your need? (→ #2)
(#2) Oliele: Elatt, what are you? The Cabal of Winds used a spell to kill you. Designed to fill your spirit with Corruption and turn it against you. And yet you live on as a god, and the Scourge struck Aurai instead. Are you really the man that was struck by that spell? (→ #3)
(#3) Elatt: Ah... So things are finally made clear to me... The Cabal of Winds was fearful. As I read your mind, I feel the sorrow that pushed the Cabal to slay me with such a powerful ritual. (→ #4)
(#4) Multiple-choice:
- 0: Wait, you didn't know?! (→ #5)
(#5) Elatt: I knew that the Cabal of Winds tried to kill me. I suspected why. But I did not know their method. So, they used the strength of a Ley Line to twist Aurai’s Mana into a weapon to turn my spirit against itself...This is the last piece of the puzzle I was missing. (→ #6)
(#6) Elatt: All I knew was that as I travelled through the place we now call the Gates of Catharsis, I was struck with great pain. I withdrew into myself, felt myself be consumed from within by my own spirit. I meditated and stood my ground against the spell, believing that I could unite myself again. (→ #7)
(#7) Elatt: I refused to die. My mind expanded and escaped its mortal shell and I was turned into what I am now. Living Thought. My body, however... It was truly and utterly destroyed, and from it burst a flood of Corruption that devastated the land around me. (→ #8)
(#8) Elatt: All manner of plants and animals were bathed in that Corruption and they became twisted monsters. The Scourge Beasts. Imbued with one single purpose. My death. But... I could no longer die. So they rampaged against all life, desperate to accomplish their purpose. (→ #9)
(#9) Elatt: If I had known that by surviving their spell I would have unleashed such horror on Aurai, then I would have gladly chosen death. But now... knowing what they did... It helps me to understand why I am what I have become. Why I feel like I am part of Aurai itself now. (→ #10)
(#10) Elatt: So, the key to Divinity is an unbreakable will in the face of death, fueled by an incredible source of Mana. To resist the very end of your spirit, and to transcend oblivion. I wonder... (→ #11)
(#11) Elatt: We should try not to let this knowledge spread too far, too quickly. It would rock the very foundations of Aurai. Knowledge this dangerous should be revealed very carefully. (→ #12)
(#12) Oliele: I understand. I'm sorry I doubted you, Elatt. I shouldn't have questioned your motives. (→ #13)
(#13) Elatt: Do not be sorry. Only from doubt and questions can we learn. And only from learning can we reach understanding. Thank you for unearthing this truth. Now, there is something you must put to rest, Oliele. (→ #14)
(#14) Elatt: The priests with whom you shared your doubts are gathering in a lotus in the swamp. Soeran seeks them. I sense danger... You should hurry to find them. Help them to understand, as you have. (→ #15)
(#15) Oliele: I'll find them, Elatt. I'll set them straight again. [PlayerName], let's split up, we'll cover ground faster. (→ end)