The Morn a Thousand Roses Brings is the second act in Chapter III of the Archon Quests.
Quests[]
- The Coming of the Sabzeruz Festival
- The Arrival of the Sabzeruz Festival
- The Continuation of the Sabzeruz Festival
- The Samsara of the Sabzeruz Festival
- The Causality of the Sabzeruz Festival
- The Empty Illusions of the Sabzeruz Festival
- The End of the Sabzeruz Festival
- Dawn (Denouement)
Summary[]
- The Coming of the Sabzeruz Festival
The Traveler and Paimon return to the Grand Bazaar and recount their escapades in Port Ormos to Dunyarzad. Seeing that Paimon is tired, Dunyarzad provides the traveling pair with accommodations for the night. The next morning, the two meet up with Dunyarzad, who explains the festival traditions as they browse the event venues. After departing from Vihar's venue — where the player has to pick a mystery box of Yalda Candy flavors — the three run into Eremite mercenaries planning on taking Dunyarzad hostage for a ransom. Dehya reveals herself and stalls the mercenaries alone so the three can escape.
Dehya catches up with them after driving the mercenaries off, but was wounded in the process as she was not yet acclimated to her new greatsword — she sold her old one to donate towards the Sabzeruz Festival. Dunyarzard's health begins to falter again, so the Traveler brings her somewhere safe while Dehya patrols the area. As they rest, Dunyarzad reveals that she was born with Eleazar and that it has progressed to a terminal stage, so she is doing everything she can for the Sabzeruz Festival so she will not leave behind any regrets once she passes away. Realizing it is almost time for the Dance of Sabzeruz, the three hurry to the Grand Bazaar.
They arrive to find Nilou being accosted by Grand Sage Azar and his secretary, Setaria. Azar claims that the festival violates several laws and prematurely shuts the festival down, declaring that all public art performances will be banned starting with the next Jnagarbha Day and departing with some enigmatic words about celebrating "the birth of that god to your heart's content." Although Nilou tries to brainstorm a way to continue with the dance, Dunyarzad decides that they should comply with the Grand Sage's orders. The Traveler and Paimon lament that Dunyarzad's situation means she will live out the rest of her life with the regret of being unable to see Nilou's performance.
Elsewhere, a beeping sound is heard as Khajeh states that "The project has entered its most critical phase."
- The Arrival of the Sabzeruz Festival
The morning of the Sabzeruz Festival repeats itself, causing the Traveler to feel increasing amounts of déjà vu. After picking the mystery box at Vihar's stall, the Traveler takes their leave and heads to Lambad's Tavern, believing they might shake off the sensation by eating something they'd never tried before. Much to the Traveler's surprise, the flavor is familiar despite the incongruence with their memories, meaning they must have tried doing this before.
As they leave, they find Dunyarzad sitting at the bench, having escaped her pursuers alone. Although the two sense that Dunyarzad is less energetic than usual, she attributes it to her constitution and heads to the Grand Bazaar, where Azar and Setaria once again confront Nilou. Having failed to make any discoveries, the two go to sleep and hear the same beep again. Meanwhile, the project continues, despite seeing a drop in "Jnana Energy" output levels.
- The Continuation of the Sabzeruz Festival
As the festival loops again, the Traveler has memorized each mystery box's flavor. They abandon Dunyarzad and the festival to chase after a strange girl and wind up at Bimarstan, where another Dunyarzad lays on a bed. The mysterious girl, Nahida, restores the Traveler and Paimon's memories of continuously reliving the events of the Sabzeruz Festival — a phenomenon which she calls a "samsara" (cycle) — and tells them that their Dendro powers and special constitutions make them the only ones who can perceive her. The Dunyarzad laying before them is the real one, continuously weakening with each samsara, so Nahida wants them to discover the samsara's cause and break the cycle while she delays Dunyarzad's illness. Nahida cannot tell them the answers without "literally" blowing their minds, so they have no choice but to find out for themselves.
After failing to find any useful information, they decide to enlist Dehya's help and bring her to Bimarstan. While Dehya cannot see or hear either Nahida or the real Dunyarzad, she senses Dunyarzad's aura and is convinced that they are telling the truth. Through Nahida's and the Traveler's explanations, Dehya correctly deduces that Sumeru Akademiya's sages are using the Akasha to cause the samsara, and suspects that they can use the Akasha to extract knowledge from its users and figuratively create a single, massive brain which can solve problems which not even the best minds could crack alone.
The three take their terminals off to cut themselves off from the samsara, but hear the beeping sound again and fall unconscious. Meanwhile, Khajeh warns that the project is taking longer than expected, and that there will likely be casualties. Azar decides to continue on.
- The Samsara of the Sabzeruz Festival
The next day begins, confirming that removing their Akasha Terminals is useless. The Traveler and Paimon seek Dehya again and find her after she drives off the mercenaries, noticing that she was not injured fighting the kidnappers. While Dehya forgot the events of the previous samsara, she finds it odd how easily she can use her new greatsword, making the two hopeful that they may have broken free from the samsara. However, Nahida gives a lackluster response and tells them to wait for the next day.
After the beep, Azar orders the project to continue, believing that "these sacrifices are trivial" compared to their end goal.
- The Causality of the Sabzeruz Festival
The following day, the Traveler suggests the samsara is caused by memory erasure, but are told it is wrong. Nahida's point is reinforced when they bring up the possibility to Dehya, who shows them a training dummy that would be impossible for the sages to reproduce for each loop. Concluding that they are not in the real world, the Traveler and Paimon realize that they have never tried leaving the city. However, it turns out that they tried twice — somehow, their memories of leaving could not be recovered even with Nahida's intervention. They decide to test it again the next day, certain that this is the key to uncovering the samsara's true nature.
- The Empty Illusions of the Sabzeruz Festival
In the morning, the Traveler discovers that two days have passed since they started their plan. On the first day, the Traveler left the city alone so Paimon could witness what happened, but immediately disappeared after leaving the city and failed to return, while the Traveler's own memories of it were erased. On the second day, Nahida modified the Akasha Terminal so the Traveler could record messages about what they saw in the outside world.
In the present, the recorded messages reveal that the Akasha compiles wisdom by stealing its users' dreams, which occur during a stage of sleep when brain activity is high; the sages' rhetoric about dreams being detrimental to people is a lie used to cover up this fact. The samsara is the result of putting Akasha users' consciousnesses into a collective dream of the Sabzeruz Festival, making them repeatedly "wake up" to a new day while the Akasha harvests their now-vacant dreams. They also deduce that Nahida is actually Lesser Lord Kusanali, the Dendro Archon they have been looking for. As they contemplate the sages' end goal, the beep rings and they await the next day.
- The End of the Sabzeruz Festival
The next day, the Traveler and Paimon wake up to find that the real Dunyarzad's consciousness could no longer handle the dream harvesting and disappeared; the other Dunyarzad is a puppet made to keep the samsara going. Nahida leaves the city to find a way to save Dunyarzad, while the two need to break the samsara by making the samsara's host realize they are dreaming. Their first suspected host turns out to be incorrect, much to the Traveler's frustration. While searching for a clue, Paimon finds a compilation of folk legends that Dunyarzad wrote for them. Moved by the gesture, the Traveler finds and thanks the puppet Dunyarzad. She repeats a line once spoken by the real Dunyarzad, which reminds the Traveler of the one thing she regretted — the Dance of Sabzeruz.
The Traveler intervenes as Azar and Setaria confront Nilou, causing them to stop responding as they are puppets with no actual consciousness behind them. Noticing the presence of true purple Padisarahs, the Traveler confirms their theory that Nilou is the dream's host by having her make Azar and Setaria disappear. Making a connection to the tale of the First Sage, Nilou realizes she is dreaming and begins to wake up. Nilou performs the Dance of Sabzeruz as the dreamscape dissolves, during which Dunyarzad's spirit emerges among the crowd.
After waking up, the Traveler and Paimon realize that they are finally free. They remove their Akasha Terminals and search for Dunyarzad, finding her safe and sound in Bimarstan — along with "Katheryne."
- Dawn
"Katheryne" is in fact Nahida, who is possessing the Snezhnayan puppet through her Akasha Terminal; she was trapped in the Sanctuary of Surasthana 500 years ago and has not been able to leave since. After explaining how she saved Dunyarzad, Nahida answers some of the Traveler's questions as their reward for breaking the samsara. In the process, she reveals that the words "World... forget me" were left behind by Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, whose consciousness was contaminated by something dangerous. The fact that the Traveler could encounter it without going mad like other scholars gives her hope that they could finally resolve Irminsul's sickness. As for the sages, they removed their Akasha Terminals to prevent information leakage, but she intends on investigating the manner and punishing them if need be.
For the time being, however, she needs to rest after expending a great deal of mental energy to preserve Dunyarzad's consciousness. Nahida leaves Katheryne's body and Katheryne awakens away from her post, confused about what happens. Paimon suggests she was sleepwalking, causing Katheryne to remark that she should visit her maintenance personnel before leaving.
Characters[]
20 Characters appear in this Act:
- Amal
- Azar
- Badis
- Dehya
- Dunyarzad
- Guard
- Habi
- Idder
- Katheryne
- Khajeh
- Kimiya
- Lambad
- Nahida
- Nilou
- Nima
- Paimon
- Phaki
- Setaria
- Traveler
- Vihar
Achievements[]
There are 4 Achievements obtainable from The Morn a Thousand Roses Brings:
|
|
Achievement | Category | Description | 
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
The Flavor of Déjà Vu |  Wonders of the World
|
Pick the Sunsettia-flavored box of candy by yourself. | 5 |
|
|
Even Paimon Wouldn't Eat That! | Wonders of the World
|
Eat a visibly terrible Coconut Charcoal Cake. | 5 |
|
|
All Dreams Must End With an Awakening | Wonders of the World
|
Wake from the Sabzeruz samsara. | 5 |
|
|
The Morn a Thousand Roses Brings | Wonders of the World
|
Complete "The Morn a Thousand Roses Brings." | 10 |
Soundtracks[]
Trivia[]
- In The Arrival of the Sabzeruz Festival, Dehya's left arm temporarily has a bandage wrapped around it after receiving an injury as a consequence of her battle with Eremite mercenaries, and loses it in The Samsara of the Sabzeruz Festival. These are some of the few instances a character model changes in-game.
- The Chinese names of all quests (except the dénouement) in this act are likely references to the chapter names of the Japanese visual novel Steins;Gate:
Quest Name Steins;Gate Chapter Name English Name Chinese Name The Coming of the Sabzeruz Festival 终将到来的花神诞祭
The Eventual Coming of the Sabzeruz Festival始まりと終わりのプロローグ
The Beginning and Ending of PrologueThe Arrival of the Sabzeruz Festival 已然来临的花神诞祭
The Already Arrival of the Sabzeruz Festival存在証明のパンドラ
The Being Confirmation of PandoraThe Continuation of the Sabzeruz Festival 流转存续的花神诞祭
The Circulating Continuation of the Sabzeruz Festival亡失流転のソリチュード
The Circulating Lost of SolitudeThe Samsara of the Sabzeruz Festival 轮回意志的花神诞祭
The Reincarnated Will of the Sabzeruz Festival循環座標のアルタイル
The Reincarnated Coordinates of AltairThe Causality of the Sabzeruz Festival 因果命运的花神诞祭
The Destined Causality of the Sabzeruz Festival因果律のメルト
The Causality Law of MeltdownThe Empty Illusions of the Sabzeruz Festival 空幻回响的花神诞祭
The Void Echoes of the Sabzeruz Festival空理彷徨のランデヴー
The Void Hesitation of RendezvousThe End of the Sabzeruz Festival 终将结束的花神诞祭
The Eventual Ending of the Sabzeruz Festival終わりと始まりのプロローグ
The Ending and Beginning of Prologue
- The Chinese name of the achievement The Flavor of Déjà Vu (Chinese: 负荷口味的既视感 "Load Flavor of Déjà Vu") is also a reference to the Steins;Gate series: the animated film Steins;Gate: The Movie − Load Region of Déjà Vu (Chinese: 命运石之门 负荷领域的既视感).
- The name of Act II references Quatrain IX of Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat, which discusses the ephemerality of all things.
- According to the Archon Quest Where the Boat of Consciousness Lies in Chapter III: Act V - Akasha Pulses, the Kalpa Flame Rises, the Sabzeruz Festival Samsara has 168 cycles.
- This is equivalent to 168 days, 24 weeks, or approximately five and a half months.
Other Languages[]
| Language | Official Name | Literal Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| English | The Morn a Thousand Roses Brings | — |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 千朵玫瑰带来的黎明 Qiānduǒ Méiguī Dàilái de Límíng | The Dawn a Thousand Roses Brings |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 千朵玫瑰帶來的黎明 Qiānduǒ Méiguī Dàilái de Límíng | |
| Japanese | 黎明を告げる千の薔薇 Reimei wo Tsugeru Sen no Bara | The Dawn a Thousand Roses Foretells |
| Korean | 여명을 밝히는 천 송이 장미 Yeomyeong-eul Balkineun Cheon Song'i Jangmi | A Thousand Roses that Brighten Dawn |
| Spanish | El alba de las mil rosas | The Dawn of a Thousand Roses |
| French | L'aube accordant mille roses | The Dawn Granting a Thousand Roses |
| Russian | Сто свежих роз приносит утро Sto svezhikh roz prinosit utro | A Hundred Fresh Roses Bring the Morning[• 1] |
| Thai | พันนวาระนำพารุ่งอรุณ Phan Nawara Nampha Rung-Arun | A Thousand Roses Brings Dawn |
| Vietnamese | Bình Minh Của Ngàn Đóa Hồng | The Dawn of A Thousand Roses |
| German | Des Morgens tausend Rosen erwachen | The Morn a Thousand Roses Awaken |
| Indonesian | Fajar Seribu Mawar | The Dawn of a Thousand Roses |
| Portuguese | O Alvorecer das Rosas | The Dawn of the Roses |
| Turkish | Binbir Gül Şafağı | Dawn of a Thousand and One Roses |
| Italian | L'alba dalle mille rose | The Dawn of a Thousand Roses |
- ↑ Russian: Matches with Osip Borisovich Rumer's Russian translation of Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat.
