Tales From the Shadows Updated (SPOILERS ABOUND)

[Alleluia]

Yes, heres a translation!

Ok, that entire thing is lovely, but that image of Hythlodaeus covered in presents for Hades is the best. XD

Also, is Ardbert in the 1.0 Ceorthas Highlands? lol

[Iscah]

Thanks for posting the White Day story!

The JP version of the story does not have the Tempest inspired poem, it just has Hades talking to himself as he is pulled into the lifestream. He doesn't mention being sundered, but it does sound like he's going to fade away (eventually).


The white day blog entry had Hythlodeus mention Hades being in the underworld as well, though I'm not sure how canon the little holiday stories are meant to be. Personally, even if this is his final note in the story, I like that he at least is in the lifestream rather than gone forever

An important thing to note with that story is the timing of it - with the Exarch present and the Scions still in the First, this is post-5.0 but prior to his 5.3 encore. So it doesn't tell us anything about his state after that.

I do think he's fading away quickly in the Lifestream from that translation you posted - just enough of him left to snap his fingers and walk away.

Of course it's always a little open, especially when his powers relate to the Lifestream in the first place, but it seems more likely to be final than not.

---

Meanwhile elsewhere in the White Day story...

What the heck is Sevestre from the AST quests doing at Buscarron's, and why is he apparently hanging out with X'rhun Tia? They don't seem like they'd get along. And I doubt Sevestre is popular enough to be getting a cameo just because...

Incoming Sharlayan trip, anyone?

(Though funnily enough just last night I was replaying the RDM quests and noting that X'rhun seems to know everyone - he's tutoring Alisaie, he spent time in Sharlayan, he's allied to the Ala Mhigan Resistance and he's trading information with Riol. I wouldn't be surprised if he pops up anywhere at this point.)

[Rosenoire]

Perhaps the stopping of such an event led to an enervation of Azem by these people that passed on through the ages? One of many deeds. I couldn’t help but feel the whole thing about the grapes was a taste of Azem’s sarcastic snark. They obviously don’t want to just stand by while these people’s homes and everything they hold dear is destroyed.

Convocation: “Azem, why do you feel the need to halt the natural order of things and stop this volcano?”

Azem: *eyeroll* “...I like grapes.”

Just a note that we spend time at the beginning of the patch helping kids gather grapes.

[ShadowMeowth]

An important thing to note with that story is the timing of it - with the Exarch present and the Scions still in the First, this is post-5.0 but prior to his 5.3 encore. So it doesn't tell us anything about his state after that.

I do think he's fading away quickly in the Lifestream from that translation you posted - just enough of him left to snap his fingers and walk away.

Of course it's always a little open, especially when his powers relate to the Lifestream in the first place, but it seems more likely to be final than not.

Fresh translation of the French final verse.

Et maintenant ?

And now?

Maintenant, tous mes charmes sont détruits ; je suis réduit à ma propre force.
Et lorsqu'elle aura disparu à son tour, je ne serai alors plus que poussière emportée par le vent. De moi, il n'y aura plus un souffle, plus rien.

Now all of my charms are destroyed; I am reduced to my own strength. And when it has disappeared in its own turn, I will then be nothing but dust and blown away by the wind.
From me, there will be no more breath, nothing.

La bataille fut rude, ses conséquences, dramatiques. Il ne pouvait en être autrement. Après tout, l'enjeu, ce souhait que je voulais voir exaucé, c'était tout ce que j'avais.

The battle was harsh, its consequences, dramatic. It could not be otherwise. After all, the stake, the wish that I wanted to see fulfilled, was all I had.

Aujourd'hui comme hier, les Enfers appellent l'éther. Je ne me suis jamais lassé du spectacle.
Je pense au long passé qui me précède, à ce futur qui me survivra et dont je n'entrevois que des bribes.

Today as yesterday, the Underworld calls the aether. I never got tired of the show. I think of the long past that precedes me, of this future that will survive me and of which I can only foresee fragments.

Ainsi donc, le dernier acte de cette pièce se jouera sans moi. Pour autant, tous les comédiens n'ont pas quitté la scène. Certains se tiennent encore là, sous des formes inattendues.

And so, the final act of this play will be played without me. However, not all of the (comedians) have left the stage. Some still stand there, in unexpected forms.

Aussi, ne vous levez pas de vos sièges. Restez donc un peu pour voir. Car enfin, l'heure du tomber de rideau n'a pas encore sonné.

And, do not get up from your seats. Stay a while and see. Because finally, the time of the curtain fall has not yet sounded.

Avez-vous entendu ? Je viens de claquer des doigts, moi qui n'ai pourtant plus d'enveloppe charnelle... C'est ma manière de vous inviter à observer, les yeux grands ouverts, le dénouement de cette histoire.

Did you hear it? I just snapped my fingers, and although I do not have a body… It is my way of inviting you to observe, eyes wide open, the conclusion of this story.

It sounds much less final in here. Perhaps the final-ness is up to personal interpretation after all.

[Iscah]

Fresh translation of the French final verse.

It sounds much less final in here. Perhaps the final-ness is up to personal interpretation after all.

Up to interpretation, I guess, but it sounds similarly final to the Japanese version to me.

- first verse paraphrased: "once my own strength is gone, I will be nothing"
- "I never got tired of the show" (past tense)
- "this future that will survive me" (ie. "live on after I die")
- "the final act will be played without me"

He has left the stage while others - we - remain to conclude the performance. He invites the audience to stay and watch, but he is no longer among the players.

It seems very much like one last moment of consciousness before he dissolves entirely into the Lifestream.

[Altbion]

About the "fading away" thing, it's established early in ARR that killing Ascians for real basically sends them to the lifrestream/underworld, so they're not fading out of existence, but rather falling unconscious and preparing to be sent into their next lives basically. Much like how we've been reincarnating over and over.

[MrThinker]

Normally, I don't post memes, but I feel this one is too good to not be enjoyed by everyone

[Rannie]

Normally, I don't post memes, but I feel this one is too good to not be enjoyed by everyone

I just hope that they were hella delicious grapes ... maybe the ones that taste like cotton candy?

[ShadowMeowth]

About the "fading away" thing, it's established early in ARR that killing Ascians for real basically sends them to the lifrestream/underworld, so they're not fading out of existence, but rather falling unconscious and preparing to be sent into their next lives basically. Much like how we've been reincarnating over and over.

Aye, and in the meantime they would drift and slumber, as Emet's words imply not once but twice. However, Emet is unique in terms of post-Sundering reincarnation because Lahabrea got eaten and Elidibus is trapped in the Crystal Tower of the First. If Emet lets go and surrenders to the Lifestream to be properly reborn... what would happen to him, exactly? He is an Unsundered. We know that back in the day, Ancients died and traveled the Underworld to be reborn, but how exactly would that affect him now? Would he be reborn as the only unsundered soul in existence? Or perhaps it could be dangerous for the moment to him to entirely surrender to its pull, knowing in the aetherial sea awaits Ascians-cannot-be-suffered-to-continue Hydaelyn?

I do believe, in the end, Emet will finally let go and live his next life as a mortal... But given that he came to save us in the true form of his soul, that is, an Ancient... that could be complicated. Is Emet fated to, one day, be the only remnant of his kind? Not that he necessarily needs to remember. But that would be poetic, too. Reborn in a mortal body, the only Unsundered soul endures, but no longer for eons, allowing him to /truly/ live as a mortal. Yes... And that opens the window for, someday, him, Azem and Hyth meeting again. Perhaps not even aware that they do.

[Erendis]

I really loved the latest story, it was really nice to get another glimpse at trio's life. Grapes seem to be a running theme with us, I wonder if someone on the team is particularly fond of them.



Emet-Selch did it, didn't he? Or there must be some funny myths about Azem and grapes out there...

Speaking of encore, if this story came out before 5.3, I probably would think that it was final, but now I'm not so sure.