A Saint Beckons

the final words from the dying priest in the church, 'LIV-', are actually Roman numerals - the correct number to open the knight's tomb - so best keep that in a French translation. It's a little bit cryptic (if you'll pardon the pun!) as I wanted it to sound like the word: 'live', as if he was giving the player one last blessing or piece of advice.

"Live" translated into French can be "Vis". Taking the first two letters gets another (different) roman numeral, so it could work with just a little shuffling of paragraphs!

The reader (hero) is indeed describing his portentous dream during his recovery period when the Saint's skeletal hand graceed his brow. It is only revealed later through those conversations with Prior Richmond and - if he escaped the struggle with Hugh and Lukas - Brother Roubert, himself a learned scholar who is able to deciper the mysterious meanings. I decided not to go into the dream during the Background section, in danger of it adding too much extrapoltation at the beginning. I like to try and break things up evenly - dialogue, action, extrapolaiton - wherever possible., so the reader doesn't get great clumps and make the writing tedious. If the player manages to get a full list of meanings, these act as sublte hints of help and perils throughout the gameworld. Therefore, I would much prefer the dream's description being kept where it is. And if the player made the wrong choice...? Sorry, but that's what FF is all about!

Sorry, forgot to mention: entry 73 has the necessarary on/off switch: either Brother Roubert escaped, or he was knocked unconscious and is unable to do a translation.

Haven't eight days passed from the hero's arrival to his conversations about the dream? His recovery is completed the third day, Sir Cecil's patrol comes the seventh day, the theft is committed that night, and the hero discusses his dream the day after. So why talking about the "dream from last night"?

Hi Benoit,
Yes, that's okay, I made a mistake in my previous post to you: the dream actually happens after the player's been knocked unconscious by Lukas Tillens on the seventh night, that would make more sense as you pointed out. The Saint is 'speaking' to the hero ever since her touch helped heal him. So the dream happens after the encounter with Hugh Riverton and Lukas Tillens.

How come a Fleming uses German words in his English sentences? Is there something in Lukas Tillens' background that could explain this?

it's a very interesting one with an equally complex answer: I often considered the Flemish people, culture, and dialect as a mix of many influences - with Germanic being one of them. The Flemish were originally West Germanic (according to Wikipedia) and it seems they are mainly centred in Belgium? If so - and my apologies to the Flemish people if I got it wrong! - I assumed the German tongue played some part in their language. Back during the mid-15th Century, it was probably a different case, but I got the idea from Bernard Cornwell's Grailquest series (set during the Hundred Years War). Anyway, sorry if I got it wrong. But as for Lukas Tillens, I like the idea of him knowing/using more than one language; he is a mercanary after all and served in many campaigns across Europe. Let's just say he's Flemish but likes to use certain Germanic words. Again, I apologize if any such words differed somewhat to how he pronounces them in the dialogue sections. If it's a mistake on my part, then best let it remain a mystery - which all the more adds to his character.