In regards to something involving the main cast

[EaraGrace]

(continuing this) But in that, I do kind of get why the Ancients may come off as insensitive when it comes to this, because (at least to me) it seems that for them, until a creation is perfected enough to survive on its own and gain a soul, it's in a sort of "prototype" phase and isn't really considered to be alive. Which... that felt to me like the whole point of this part of the story, that it's a way of looking at life that doesn't necessarily give respect to their creations and that's why Hermes disagreeing with it all is a thing. If it were perfectly good and moral and right, there'd be no reason for us to have a character who disagrees with the ideals held by his society.

It’s also important to note that some of those creatures being tested in Elpis are known to have souls, not all are arcane entities. The Lykaons and I presume other animals we see likely are possessed of a soul.

So allow me to speculate something. We all know that Elpis and the Ancients are Greek as can be. The names, architecture, and creatures all scream it. But what if it was also the way viewing the world that’s also Greek?

There’s a school of ethical thought called Virtue Ethics that dates back to Plato and Aristotle. In Aristotles conception, there’s an idea called telos which basically means purpose or goal. The idea is that all beings have a telos and it’s what decides whether they are living and acting as they should. A shipbuilders telos, for example, is to build ships and to build them well. They shouldn’t sink, they shouldn’t fall apart, they should be functional, etc. Playing through Elpis one only has to look around to the Ancients discussing Telos. Their creations are all judged by their telos and ability to see it out. Does it fulfill a role in the environment, does it add anything to a habitat, does it do those things well? The Ancients even view themselves with a very Aristotelian lens, talking about their role as stewards of the star, how one lives only long enough to see the completion of their duty and then returns to the star, how horrible it is to have their role ended before it is complete, etc. etc. Now Aristotle I don’t think would agree them, he has a whole thing about the virtues and all, but breaking everything down to a single purpose does track I think.

With this I also think we begin to see another dimension to Hermes objection. Having played the role of judge for so long, Hermes comes to doubt the actual value of telos as a way of viewing living beings. He watches as creatures are made, fail, and die raging and screaming against their end, all the while this process is called a moral good by his fellow Ancients. He realizes that if all life is is about fulfilling a specified purpose then Ancients as well have an end point, and will have no telos. And so he becomes disillusioned, and seeks other answers, other reasons for living. Then Meteions report comes. So he decides to make a final judgement. If mankind cannot find a reason for living that can survive the Final Days, then they are doomed no matter what. They would die either in the fires of calamity, or in the slow release of returning to the star.

Suddenly, a lot of worldviews start clicking for me when I view it that way. But I can’t point to an in text example of that term being used so for now it remains just a theory

[Iscah]

I always felt bad for Saro Roggo.




Every time you speak to him he's in a panic to prove himself to Matoya.

It should be pointed out that it's only what he thinks Matoya will do when she realises he "isn't useful", but when he finally gets up the courage to actually speak about those fears, she has no intention of doing so.

From the beginning she has tasked him with something she could do herself, and now asks him to do a further important-but-simple thing which assures him that she will never disenchant him.

[sidurgu-12]

It should be pointed out that it's only what he thinks Matoya will do when she realises he "isn't useful", but when he finally gets up the courage to actually speak about those fears, she has no intention of doing so.

From the beginning she has tasked him with something she could do herself, and now asks him to do a further important-but-simple thing which assures him that she will never disenchant him.

as grumpy as matoya is she cares a lot for her student and creations.

[Rulakir]

It should be pointed out that it's only what he thinks Matoya will do when she realises he "isn't useful", but when he finally gets up the courage to actually speak about those fears, she has no intention of doing so.

Thanks for alerting me to this. I was sure I'd done all his quests, so I flew back out to her cave. I didn't realize he had more after the brooms. (Having started playing late last year I mostly went straight through the MSQ without doing much in the way of side quests.) Turned out to be a sweet quest chain I had missed. I'm glad he got a happy ending.