Summer River Adventure Episode 4 Part 1

 (Titles for this event series have been edited to fit actual numbering)

Last time, the party has managed to get through a dilemma, only to run into another overworld shift! In this zone, there are many fabled rivers flowing like the river of flames and the river of oblivion. The party stops to take a rest, but then the thieves swoop back in again to steal the relics along with your boats! You all still chase them down and fight them to retrieve things, but at the end of that battle Tajikarao falls over into the valley. Whatever could have happened to him!?

Back to the plot, Magami is crying over Tajikarao and is so upset about it he slips into a more personal pronoun than his polite public one and blames his own weakness for this turn of events. Without Tajikarao or a handler in general around to instruct him, Magami is lost as to what to do and attempts to vent by banging his fists against the ground. You attempt to assure him that Tajikarao will come back just fine, say he'll be fine because he's attached to festivals so much, or start petting Magami. In B, Magami says it's true that he does like festivals, but then he just feels worse about what happened to him before the summer festival and cries about wanting to help him go there. In C, Magami is slightly comforted and thanks you, but he tells you he'd prefer getting hit instead and asks that you beat him up. Jugo has to tell him that's a bit much and to not bother you.

In any case, Jugo tells Magami that Tajikarao will be fine since he's strong, but struggles to come up with anything else to say. He thinks to himself about how little he knows about cheering other people up, and Shiva notices and points out that Thunderbird and Arachne are back from their investigation. They don't have Tajikaro with them though. Instead, they have the two mobster thieves you guys have been fighting with so far.

The party realizes who they are and start asking about Tajikarao if Thunderbird and Arachne found these two. Thunderbird asks that everyone keep calm and says the overworld shift has turned into a sticky situation. Arachne says they found them drifted over to the riverbank, but she's not sure how to explain what's up. The mobsters clear it up for her by being openly confused as to where they are and who you guys are, shocking the rest of you. You ask if their memories were washed away and wonder what you guys should do with them.

The mobsters think they're carrying around toy guns and don't know why they are, and Jugo asks if the mobsters fell into the river of oblivion that Arachne told you guys about earlier, which the story quickly replays. The party is shocked at the idea that the mobs have lost their memories, and Arachne says this is bad since this really does seem to be Lethe's influence. She figures the mobs must have drunk the water, either while flailing in river or just getting thirsty and unwittingly drinking it.

Magami asks if the mobs will stay like that, so Thunderbird tells him that this is just someone's memory recreation of Olympus and not the effect of somebody's power. Arachne agrees, figuring that the fairy of oblivion Lethe herself isn't actually around. All that is here is a river that shares her name popping up in an unstable overworld shift. Thunderbird elaborates that means this effect is normally not something enforced by the app or anything, so if you guys leave the shift the memories should return in time.

Magami is relieved at that, saying that while the mobsters are thieves it'd be bad if their memories were gone to that extent. Shiva asks if the party is going to descend the mountain and take the mobsters with them since they can't actually be brought along to your current goal. Jugo says it'd be awkward to bring them with you guys, and Magami says they have to be arrested so they should be handed off to the authorities. He's conflicted about that though because he doesn't want to leave Tajikarao by himself.

You say you can't abandon Tajikarao, ask if there are any other possible plans, or say leaving things as is would be sad. Arache informs you guys that she saw something that looked like a settlement a bit further away from where the mobs were found. It's possible Tajikarao ended up over there from the river. Magami leaps on this possibility and says he wants to go over there right away. Thunderbird brings up that the relic bag hasn't been seen anywhere, so you guys will have to hope that Tajikarao has it. And since you guys need to figure out what to do with the mobs, Thunderbird suggests going to the settlement and asking to borrow a safe place there. Jugo figures that means you guys have to go there no matter what, so he turns to tell Magami the plan. He is however surprised to see him sniffing around and declaring he smells a lot of people in one direction and runs off quickly, which Shiva bluntly notes. You express shock at how far ahead Magami's already run, call after him and tell him to wait, or just sigh about how reckless he is. Arachne is taken aback and says you guys need to catch up before you lose sight of him, then considers designing a leash for Magami.

Time passes as the party follows after Magami, bringing the amnesiac mobs with you guys. Jugo comments on how you guys can't really leave things like this up ahead, then asks Magami if it's still a long way to the settlement. Magami sniffs and says the scent is getting thicker, and eventually you guys reach the place. He announces that he smells lots of people at that point, and Jugo points out that the aesthetics of the area seem to have changed abruptly. Arachne agrees saying it doesn't look like Olympus-style architecture and wonders if it's from another world.

Thunderbird points out the presence of other people and asks if anyone has plans on how to handle this. Magami barks and says he'll go since greetings are important for times like these. Shiva is flabbergasted at this, and Magami quickly runs up to the tribal nearby sticking his tongue out and lowering his head for pets. You are taken aback at Magami just jumping in there or narrate like you're on an anthropology trip making contact with natives.

The tribal greets Magami back and calls him a good boy, causing him to bark happily. The rest of the party is surprised at this, and Jugo says he wasn't expecting that sort of reaction. Arachne observes that the tribal is petting Magami, so she suggests the group go talk as well since he seems friendly. Thunderbird agrees since communication is possible, and Shiva seems less than pleased or something.

The tribal welcomes you all to the Nature Life Camp Club and this area overflowing with nature upon seeing the rest of you. Magami doesn't understand what the club is, so the tribal explains that the people here are a gathering of Transients who come from worlds with lots of nature. City life in Tokyo gets tiring for them, so they get together to organize a camp retreat to decompress out here. Thunderbird comments that he thought the place was something created by an overworld shift due to how developed the place is. The tribal suggests you guys sign up and join if you're interested. There's a membership system in place, but you can always just observe if you like. Arachne awkwardly thanks the guy, then changes the subject to ask a question. As this happens the tribal camper leads you guys to the membership office, at which point the party finds Tajikarao partying it out.

Title card pops up, and this episode is called I Saw a Forbidden Festival Beyond the Fantasy!

Back to the plot, nobody in the party can muster up the words to say anything to what they see, meaning Tajikarao dancing crazy with that wolf skull in his hands. The tribal says some of the other campers found him earlier. Luckily he didn't seem hurt and woke up pretty quickly, but ever since then he's been doing all that singing and dancing. It's nice he's enjoying himself though.

Magami throws himself at Tajikarao, relieved to see him okay. Tajikarao doesn't really seem to recognize him and interprets Magami as wanting to dance with him, so he throws him onto his shoulders to Magami's shocked protests. The tribal camper then says Tajikarao doesn't remember his name or who he's with, and that he's been dancing this whole time not caring about anything else. You say he must have swallowed some of the river Lethe, be amazed at how casually he's carrying Magami around, or join in with the dancing. In A, Arachne agrees, though she says it's strange how Tajikarao hasn't forgotten about festivals. It's kind of depressing seeing him this way. In B, Magami whines and asks Tajikarao to wake up because he's embarrassed to be treated this way. Tajikarao however continues to treat him as a portable exorcism shrine praying for harvests. In C, Tajikarao is excited and tells you to follow his steps. Jugo yells and tells you to stop, and Shiva is scandalized and insists that he's not looking.

Eventually Magami manages to get down, and the rest of the party makes some distance from Tajikarao. Magami is sad that he doesn't seem to know who he is, and Thunderbird says he clearly doesn't recognize any of you. He wonders what's going on with the overworld shift. Jugo speaks up to say he's noticed something and asks if he can talk about it. Thunderbird prompts him to go on, so Jugo says he thinks it's weird how there's a membership camp nearby a river of forgetfulness.

Shiva scoffs at Jugo for being weak and not seeing how things are. Jugo says he's gotten used to how harsh Shiva is but still doesn't like it, but that aside he asks what Shiva is getting at. Shiva derides him even further and asks if he really thought he'd just answer that, so you ask Shiva to tell you guys and can offer to join him on his training later. Shiva decides to answer and dramatically reveals that the camp is outside the bounds of the overworld shift, shocking the rest of the party. You guys have left the Olympus area a while ago and Shiva sighs that nobody should have needed to be told that. The party however yells at him for not bringing it up earlier to his surprise.

Arachne then mentions that Thunderbird suggested getting out of the shift should have made Lethe's effects go away. Thunderbird says that should be the case, so he wonders why Tajikarao hasn't gotten his memories back in the time it took you guys to get there. An idea occurs to Arachne, and you either say you guys can't leave Tajikarao as is and wonder if anything can be done, or you ask Arachne what's up. C gets an extra line of her saying she felt something was off but can't put her finger on it.

At this point in time, the mobsters notice the skull Tajikarao is playing with and attempt to take it since they remember it being important for some reason. Tajikarao initially thinks they want to dance with him, but the mobs plead for the skull. Tajikarao says he'll never let go of it since it's important to him too, but he doesn't remember why that is. Magami is surprised to see Tajikarao still protecting the skull despite losing his memories, and this observation gives Arachne some insight to a possibility as to what's happening.

Thunderbird asks the tribal if there's a signal at the campground, so the tribal confirms it and says it's possible to make calls there. Magami says Tajikarao should have a radio among his things, which you guys can use to call for help. He proceeds to use it himself, making an emergency call to someone to explain the situation. When he's done, he tells you the call worked and that reinforcements will be coming to the camp area tomorrow. You guys can hand the mobsters over when they get here.

Jugo is glad to have one of the pressing issues solved, though there's still some other things to deal with. Magami looks over sadly at Tajikarao, who by this point has somehow convinced the mobsters to dance with him. Jugo suggests there's no point in forcing the skull return trip to continue and that it'd be better to send Tajikarao back. Arachne says it might be for the best to do that, but Thunderbird says Tajikarao doesn't seem like he'll let go of the skull until he remembers things.

Magami starts talking about how he thinks going back would be the right thing to do and how this is a result of his own impulsiveness. Shiva doesn't comment, and Magami thinks and talks about how Tajikarao continued to protect the skull after everything that's happened. He wants to keep going on with this self-appointed mission even if it's selfish of him and probably not the right thing.

You think about how Tajikarao told you he wanted to let Magami finish this thing and lecture him after it was done. You suggest trying to get Tajikarao's memories back if there's a chance to do so and that you'll go with Magami. Magami is surprised, and at this point the tribal comes over to say it'll be nightfall soon. Since the people you called for will be coming tomorrow, he suggests that you guys stay for night and use the temporary tents set up for you. Thunderbird thanks him but asks if it's okay since you guys aren't members, and Arachne notices that there's suddenly a bunch of randos dancing around Tajikarao. The camper says that it seems the other people liked Tajikarao's dancing and started joining in. They're really enjoying themselves, so he feels bad about the idea of trying to stop them. Thunderbird then politely thanks him for the tents.

Some time later, Arachne asks to talk to the party about Tajikarao's condition. Since you guys are outside the overworld shift, the River Lethe doesn't have any effects here. Arachne suggests that since Tajikarao doesn't remember anything, this might actually be due to him refusing to remember things instead of being unable to remember. Magami is shocked at the idea that Tajikarao wouldn't want to remember him, so Arachne asks him to calm down and clarify she's not saying that. It's possible it just worked out that way though, and she points out that it seemed to her that he's been hiding something this whole time.

Magami tries bringing up that Tajikarao isn't really the type to keep secrets. Arachne says that's true if it's for himself and suggests he might unconsciously want not to remember some painful memories his forgetfulness may have brought up, which would then have a knockback effect on the other memories he might or might not remember from there.

You say it sounds possible, but you can't leave Tajikarao the way he is because it's depressing for him to not remember you guys. Arachne agrees after a moment, and while it's not good to air out other people's secrets willy-nilly the situation cannot stand. Shiva prompts people for an actual plan, so Thunderbird says he has something that might be worth betting on. He'll need you guys to help, so he asks if you're prepared to deal with danger. You agree to go, though you may express that you aren't confident or that you'll do anything for Tajikarao. Thunderbird is pleased and says it's time to try out a secret technique from Great Spirit then.

Time passes as Thunderbird instructs the party on how to prepare for the ritual, by which point the curtain of night has fallen over. Arachne asks Thunderbird if she did it right when she put strings over his whip. He tells her he did a great job, well enough that he'd like to ask her to make a personal protection charm for him later on. But anyways he explains that it's a dream catcher, a charm that uses a spider's web to catch nightmares and allow good dreams to pass. And he had Arachne make this one while thinking of the bonds you guys have together.

Shiva asks what relevance it has to the ritual Thunderbird is going to use since the only other things you guys have set up is your beds or whatever. Thunderbird explains that the ritual you guys are doing is called a vision quest, a method of divining your path using dreams. He's modifying it here to connect with your bonds to dive into Tajikarao's dreams, the deeper part of his consciousness. When you're in there you can directly pull up his memories by using your bonds with him. Jugo sees it as a jolt to the soul and wonders if it'll work out right, so Thunderbird says it's better than doing nothing.

You either say it's time to go into Tajikarao's dream, think of this as a dream adventure, and/or wonder what sort of dream he's having. Thunderbird says you guys just need the signs that led to your encounter, then calls Tajikarao over. Tajikarao figures you guys want to celebrate with him, and while he's tired now he's still up for it. Thunderbird clarifies that he wants to borrow the wolf skull he has, so Tajikarao refuses in surprise saying he can't hand it over because it's important. Somehow. Thunderbird laughs and says he won't steal it. He just needs it for Sunkamanitu Tanka's festival, and he invites Tajikarao to join in since the spirits will give him nice dreams for doing so. Tajikarao happily agrees, and Thunderbird asks everyone to relax as he'll take up the role of dream guide. He turns off the light, tells everyone to close their eyes and listen to the whispers of the spirits. The tent quiets down and a sweet fragrance fills the air, and the episode half ends with the party falling into a deep sleep.