¶ Farewell, Rita
Rita's mind finally deteriorates to a point where she makes effort to end her own life, but not before building another Strange Machine, and emparting some information to The Lost Pilgrim.
¶ Glitched
As The Lost Pilgrim returns to Stalwart Fortress, they are greeted by Rita.
Her appearance and speech are broken and unnatural. She is slightly incoherent, darting between memories of Gregor, gardens, and more. She decides to gift the last of her Artificer's Crystals before forgetting who The Lost Pilgrim is, and retiring to her workshop to build.
¶ A Strange Machine
Over the following days, Rita wanders the halls of Stalwart Fortress aimlessly.
A strange machine in her chamber has been completed, and it is captivating.
It begins to hum, and then a metal arrow on its face points to the number 22.
Earlier the following day, the machine turns and clicks open to reveal a note from Rita confessing that she is losing her memory and sanity. Her affliction of The Blight is worsening, but the device that she's built holds all the knowledge she could recall.
The machine will dispense Artificer's Crystals to those who solve the puzzles it carries. The Lost Pilgrim is eager.
Through the machine, Rita asks for her number and Gunther answer 93, correctly. He is awarded two crystals and the machine turns to point toward the number 20.
Still earlier the next day, the machine asks which of The Seventeen were the first Gregor spoke of. Protagonist answers She Who Smiles and the machine gives him crystals before turning to the number 22.
Earlier again, the next day, the machine reveals a series of dotted holes, and a marker signifying -1 on its face. King Offling recognizes it as a braille caesar cypher, and decodes the message "ARTIFICIAL ENERGIES WITNESS THIS EFFORT" — the machine delivers 4 crystals, and turns to the number 3.
At this point, Isk recognizes that the numbers symbolize the time between each of the machine's questions.
Three hours later, the machine asks when Rita was born and Wagon guesses correctly that she came to being in the 4th Cycle. The machine dispenses a crystal and turns to the number 4.
On schedule, the machine asks for the number of souls destroyed, the number of pilgrims wearing their namesake, the number of the creature destroyed by Mother Agora, and the number of a particular soul. Radacon delivers the request accurately, and is awarded 3 crystals.
The machine stops dispensing puzzles and crystals.
¶ Map of Turlo
As the Strange Machine finishes its delivery, Zell delivers a new map detailing Mount Turlo.
Zell refuses to leave his chamber, blaimg Rita for his difficulty concentrating.
¶ Rita's Goodbye
The Lost Pilgrim gathers near Rita in her chamber as she finishes the last tweaks to her new machine.
Her mind is scattered, she speaks in non-sequetors, and cannot remember what she is doing.
She explains that in her age (The 4th Cycle), the crystal that crashed into The Wound did not cause destruction, but their bodies and souls were warped by it, and that The Kingdoms of Yore was still standing and had been built on the power of ancient technology. At that time, The Wound was their sanctum, and it was a time of peace.
She says that The Crystal Shard was a grand crystal that turned into a soul. She recalls that it was The Beacon, and that they were kind and that all who gazed at them fell in love. Rita tells us that Luta the Striver saw the face of a god, but was not satisfied and thus continues striving for more.
Her memories reminisce about the dawn of Stalwart Fortress and the construction of The Grand Elevator. She remembers cycles concluding rapidly to her awareness as she worked to divine more understanding of the world.
She mentions She Who Smiles of the First Cycle and that the forms of all souls were transformed into new forms or beings at the end of the cycle; though, it is not understood if she meant within the first or 17th Cycle.
That Yorn and Yogg feast on Mother Agora's light, and were possibly part of The Kingdoms of Yore. The division between The Forsaken Lands and the sealed lands of The Kingdom of Enlightenment within The Hole create a barrier to what they call True Vision. This division created the zealots that brought so much destruction to the realm.
The memory of it all pains Rita, and as she struggles to hold her thoughts she has flashes of rememberance; great destruction, the fusing of The Two, the end of cycles, peace and tranquility, and natural beauty in The Gardens of Logun.
She ponders her memories of Logun's attempts to destroy The Two, or posssibly merge them. She knows that he visited The Primordial Lands and sought change within The Forsaken Lands or departure from it, yet his mission went unrealized. Rita cannot make sense of her own thoughts anymore.
She remembers the vision of The Nameless Serpent as Mother Agora giving birth to a Child.
The Void surrounding The Forsaken Lands troubles her. She cannot recall if it's nothingness, or a path to some place else. She wonders if Luta has gone away from the world, or if that was even his goal. She posits that the crystal from The Wound is from wherever The Void leads.
A vision of a flower at The Wound living, dying, and being reborn over and over through the cycles sticks in her memory.
She knows Kilgore was a student of The Druid, and that he visited her in The Prisons of Yore before leaving, and returning as a God Killer. He ventured beneath the earth along with Logun and Luta, discovering the Stone Bearers and their secrets.
Rita grows increasingly troubled as her memories flood and befuddle her. She asserts that reality is an illusion of her own mind, and that the machine she's created will store her memories.
She reminds us not to forget the numbers of the machine (22-20-22-3-4) and that they might be used to unlock a power inside the chambers of Yogg's Tower.
The Pilgrim is asked to bring her body to the machine for the final steps. Rita says her goodbye. Suddenly, she remembers something else, but only partially, and then the machine executes her. She is gone.
¶ Where to Journey Next?
The travelers take some time to mourn, and make plans where to go next.
They will either travel to find the Druids of the Southern Plain, or return to The Church of Her.