Loiscneach/Special Responses

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This page lists all of Loiscneach's special responses.

Special Firewood Responses

Winterglow Firewood Given

Loiscneach
Ah, (Character name).
I see you found more of that strange firewood. I know how busy you must be, so thank you for taking the time to find these.
I'll see to it that this is burned.

Attempting to Give Firewood

Loiscneach
I've been burning the firewood you find almost as quickly as you give it to me, setting the logs aflame in a secluded location on dry ground, rather than someplace it might melt the snow and cause an avalanche or some other danger.

10 Winterglow Firewood Given

Loiscneach
Did you know that this is the tenth piece of this firewood you've brought? Impressive.
I know now that your services are in high demand out in the world, so when I see your commitment to retrieving this firewood from the fissure, I think, 'what did I do to merit such steadfast assistance?'
Sometimes, I feel a bit nervous, just standing here. I wish there were more I could do--that I could venture boldly into Glenn Bearna and fight, as you do.
Where I able, I would roam the mountains in search of my colleagues, who may yet remain unconscious. But alas, my post is here, and a mountainkeeper cannot shirk their duties.
I'm sure that, when they awaken and have recovered, they'll pay me a visit, or at least send some kind of signal, right? I'm sure of it--I know I met a few of them within the fissure.
...Thank you, (Character Name). For giving me some measure of hope to hold on to.

Attempting to Give Firewood After 10

Loiscneach
As one charged with tending the pathways of these mountains and aiding those who walk them, I'm in a unique position to appreciate what you've done here.

50 Winterglow Firewood Given

Loiscneach
This marks the fiftieth piece of firewood you've brought. Your dedication is truly commendable.
I've yet to hear word from any of the other mountainkeepers, though. Wherever they are, if they've awoken, I would assume they're still recovering. Surely some of them must have regained consciousness by now.
...That sounded a bit pessimistic, didn't it? I know, I know...I ought not grouse at you. You've got problems enough to deal with, I'm sure. I guess it's just that, in seeing you as often as I have, I became comfortable saying such things to you.
Come to think of it, I've started hearing the chitter of small animals returning. Birds, squirrels, hares, and the rest. Slowly but surely, it feels like life is returning to the mountains. I'm certain the local fauna share my gratitude.
You have all of our thanks, (Character Name).

Attempting to Give Firewood After 50

Loiscneach
These days, I've been hearing more footfalls in the snow--of animals waking up, and of the few travelers passing through Sliab Mis. It's you I have to thank for that, (Character Name).

100 Winterglow Firewood Given

Loiscneach
Did you realize that this piece of firewood makes an even hundred?
Erm... We never struck any particular bargain related to this, but it wouldn't feel right to take such commitment for granted.
So... let me give you an affirmation of words-- a title. I'd feel a little embarrassed if you looked it over now, so maybe save that part until later.
......
I don't know whether you've wondered about this, but in case you've been curious... I've still heard no word from the other mountainkeepers.
That leads me to suspect that either there were far more souls within the wintry realm than we first suspected... or that my associates did not fall victim to Cailleach's slumber, and some other matter prevents them from making contact.
In either case, my heart is troubled. But thanks to you, I feel as though I can get through it.
When my thoughts weight heavy upon me, I simply think of the new spring you brought forth.

Attempting to Give Firewood After 100

Loiscneach
It may not feel like the seasons have turned here in Sliab Mis, what with all the unmelted snow, but I can tell that the liveliness of spring is starting to poke through. I wonder how soon it'll be before things return to normal...

Giving Firewood After 100

Loiscneach
So many lives...
I sometimes wonder... Why did Cailleach not create her own servants? Surely it was within her power. What need had she to fill her world with unwitting souls?
I cannot understand her way of thinking, nor do I wish to.
......
Still, I know these mountains, and I can feel the changes you brought about finally pushing through like the first shoots of spring. One day, things will return to how they once were...right?
I'm grateful for everything you've done, more than I can express in word or deed.

Title Responses

the Sniper

Loiscneach
I knew you were talented in many things, but somehow, I never expected you'd excel at archery, too.
Perhaps in the future, when I've got my bow back in working order, you'd be willing to give me a few pointers? I'd be grateful for any instruction you're willing to give.

who Saved the Goddess

Loiscneach
I did hear that you once saved the goddess Morrighan.
Back then, I wrote it off as some flight of fancy-- this champion and their absurd adventures. But I heard the same people talking, and I began to wonder if there was some truth to it after all.
It may be rather belated at this point, but...
Thank you for coming to the aid of the goddess who watches over us, (Character Name).

the Savior of Erinn

Loiscneach
I think it's a very fitting title for you. You showed up in my hour of greatest need, almost as though you knew of my distress. I still think back on our first meeting, sometimes. It's an epithet I've used more than once when describing you to others.
My heart was burdened with worry. How could I hope to face such hardships alone, let alon surmount them?
But thanks to you, I didn't have to face them alone, to my great relief.

the Dragon Knight

Loiscneach
The Dragon Knight? Does that mean you're able to call upon the aid of a great wyrm? It sounds like the legends of old. I even heard that Ba--
...
E-er, forgive me. I almost made a comparison I fear would've been in poor taste. Please, pay it no mind.

the Shadow Hero

Loiscneach
I've never seen it myself, but I've heard that you can enter the Shadow Realm through altars on the outskirts of Tara and Taillteann. They say it's like looking at our own world through a strange lens.
I wonder... would the Shadow Realm's Sliab Mis have the same barriers that ours does? Do you think it would look markedly different?
I like to wonder about it, but... not enough to step into that strange land myself.

of the Tech Duinn Expeditionary Force

Loiscneach
When I first heard of it, it sounded like some royal task force, assembled in haste, with a follower of Hymerark as one of its founding members. I know that the Church of Lymilark wields great influence across Uladh, so it was clear even then that these were unusual circumstances.
I would hear rumors about what the Expeditionary Force was doing-- that someone had seen them here or there-- but it was hard to get any concrete information. Even considering that I only venture into the lowlands occasionally, there would sometimes be long stretches where I'd hear nothing about their recent activites.
If you're permitted to speak of it, would you be willing to tell me more about them sometime?
I think it would be easier to understand if I heard the facts from someone who was directly involved in those incidents.
And the more I understand, the better I can relate the information to the other mountainkeepers later.

the Storm Strider

Loiscneach
Even as Uladh was thrown into chaos, that turmoil spread to Sliab Mis as well.
It rained and rained, seemingly without cease, and many of the lowlanders feared widespread flooding. Some of them thought they could escape the floddwaters by going up into the mountains.
I had it easier than most of the other mountainkeepers, honestly, given that Sliab Mis is a dense, labyrinthine forest and difficult to reach in the first place...
Still, it was difficult to convince those I intercepted that there was nothing to fear. Their panic was real, and at times I could feel their worries beginning to gnaw at my own mind.
So, in a way, your actions served to protect the tranquility of this place, too.

the Brilliant Backlight

Loiscneach
I've heard that a great wyrm appeared without warning in the heart of the Aliech Kingdom. Some claim it was the legendary dragon Cromm Cruaich himself.
The scattered reports from that day make it sound like a nightmare. Everything was aflame, countless people were injured or slain, and amidst the chaos...
I heard some spreading ominous rumors that the ancient Lord of the Fomors, said to have perished in the battle of Mag Tuireadh, was behind it all.
But I took heart in this: that I also heard about how you rose to the occasion, risking life and limb to best the fearsome dragon.
I remember wondering, back then, why so many terrible things were happening in our world, one right after another. I also began wondering why, whenever disaster struck, I'd hear about you on the front lines, fighting against it...

the Star of the Dawn

Loiscneach
Just before the breaking of dawn is my favorite time of the day. There's something symbolic about that first light, and the quiet affords the opportunity for thought and introspection.
The light of dawn represents the hopes and possibilities of a new day and, on a larger scale, even of a new era.
When I think of it in that sense, I find the title suits you well. It's an epithet that sums up all that you are and have become.
A limited amount of news reaches me up here in the mountains, and I'm afraid I haven't heard much about that. I'm betting you're more familiar with it than I.
What's your perspective? Do you think the world has changed a lot? Or does it still seem much the same as before?

who Witnessed Winter's End

Loiscneach
I know it's a bit late for this, but I wanted to tell you that it's because of this Arcana that manifested in me that I'm finally able to ask your forgiveness. And from here on out, I feel like I'll be able to grow along with the Arcana.
Sorry, (Character Name). You're my savior, but I don't really have much to tell you.
Not to make an excuse of it, but that was back around the time the research team came up to Sliab Mis, and my quiet days on the mountain were suddenly full of bustle and activity. I didn't really have the mental acuity to pay attention to much else.
Even now, I feel like I'm being pulled in multiple directions. I still have to aid the scholars in Sliab Mis with their ongoing investigations, and I find myself getting restless when I spend too much time in the Arcana Association Room, since it's not, well...the mountains.
...So, I'll tell you, then.
The dark blue color puts me in mind of the deep sea, or the color of the sky in the evening twilight. One thing it doesn't make me think of, though, is the winter. Having spent so long in the mountains, winter will always be a season of white to me.
So hearing the phrase, 'the dark blue winter' sounds kind of off.
I've read that some cultures consider white to be the color of death, and that's how I see it as well. Most of the deaths I've encountered have been in winter, when snow blankets the trees and the ground. So...white has always been the backdrop for lost lives, in my experience.
Unlike those people, my heritage is that of the Tuatha de Danann, but it's interesting how some ideas can transcend cultural boundaries.
This recent winter had an abnormally early start, brought down into the lowlands from Sliab Mis by the Fianna Geimhridh. Anything that encountered them--man or beast--fell into a deep, hibernation-like slumber.
That's when I began thinking that, for the people living beneath the mountains, seeing those strange deer become a harbinger of winter's chill might have given the season a dark-blue tint in their imaginations. Do you think that might be the case?
After all, just as no two winters are the same, no two people experience it the same.
In the mountains, our strange, dark blue winter began even earlier. The animals slowly started disappearing from the vales and forests, and the mountainkeepers began falling into a deep sleep one by one, unable to be roused.
My mother succumbed to the slumber, as did Bladhm. Even Arbhar was not spared.
Eventually, it was all I could do to slog through each day with a sense of helplessness, not knowing what to do but continue carrying out my daily duties. My mind wandered the paths I knew so well dozens of times, even as the changing mountains made strange the things and places that were once familiar.
I believed that even that winter would one day end and spring would come again.
But when I came face to face with she who had called forth this bizarre winter, I realized there would be no end to it.
So it was that, in a fit of desperation, I fled Sliab Mis. For years it had been my safe haven, but in a moment, I was forced to leave my world of snow and stone, birch bark and campfires, behind.
...I suppose, in some ways, I still fear the winter. After all, it's the season that took everything from me.
However...
It was meeting you that gave me hope that even a winter as cruel as that can be quelled. I realized that I don't simply have to grimly accept such a fate.
For that, you'll always have my thanks, (Character Name).
It gladdens my heart that you could still the winter's hoary breath, clearing the way for a new spring...both for the mountains, and for me.
As many times as I can thank you, it wouldn't be enough.

the Herald of Spring

Loiscneach
Aha, now there's a title that seems familiar.
How do you like it?
The cold subsides and the world slowly awakens to life once more. When I thought of you, your footsteps seemed to me like the coming of spring.
I might've mentioned this before, but the way a person walks can tell you a lot about them. Bold or meek, driven or unhurried, lost or sure of the way... The mind has a way of showing itself in the feet.
And so... When I thought of the path you walk, I thought of snow melting the land warming with every footfall.
Each footstep may be small individually, but string enough ordinary footsteps together and you've got a momentous journey, with plenty of stories to tell. Winter may obscure the path with its snowdrifts, but spring reveals the path once more, helping guide your course.
Thank you, now and always.
I wish you all the health and happiness of a warm spring day.

Outfit Responses

• His responses require the player to use the Clothing Shop Keyword in order to get it.

Cichol's Robe

Loiscneach
Ah, I just mention it because...
...
There's no mistaking it. You look just like a certain character from that book. And not one I was fond of.
Did you put that on just to show me? If so, congratulations. You've done it. Now please go change. I really am quite disappointed in you.

Morrighan's Regalia

Loiscneach
One of my fondest childhood memories is my father reading 'The Goddess Who Turned Into Stone' to me before bed.
Little kids often like war stories, you know. Surely you've seen a group getting together to re-enact some historical battle in their play?
Well, I was no exception. My dad thought I was too young for it at first. I threw such a tantrum to get him to read it to me...
Ah, I just mention it because... you remind me of the drawings of the Goddess in that book. It makes me feel a bit nostalgic.

Gift Responses

Unacceptable Items

• Includes: Items not on Acceptable Items list

Loiscneach
...? (Character Name), is this for me?
Oh my... I'm grateful to have you think of me, and that you come to visit, but to receive a gift as well? It's as unexpected as, well...finding a lake still frozen over in spring.
However, as I mentioned when we first met, I don't want to simply be a beneficiary of your generosity.
I said that I wanted our agreement to be one where we could be of equal standing. Rather than simply receiving your help, I want to be of help to you as well.
But were I to accept something like this now, I feel like it would be a setback on the road to reaching that point.
Would you be willing to hold onto this (Item Name) for a while? Someday, when our relationship is closer to that of peers, I would be glad to accept it.

Acceptable Items

• Includes: Small Silver Gem

Loiscneach
.. ? (Character Name), isn't this...(Item Name)? O-oh! You mean this is...for me?

> Prompt: It sure is! or Nnnnope.

It sure is![show]

Loiscneach
(As you nod and hand him the (Item Name), Loiscneach's surprise gives way to a smile.)
Loiscneach seems to relax, exhaling a breath you didn't realize he'd been holding.

I'm...honored, (Character Name)--you remembered what I really like. Since my post here is so far out of the way for you, I didn't expect you to go to the trouble of bringing me something.
Wasn't it a bit difficult to get? I mean, not that they're rare, but they have a way of being elusive when you're actively looking for them.
...Almost as though an imp was playing a trick on you.
I'll make sure to use this (Item Name) in my next mobile. And...thank you for caring about me.

Nnnnope.[show]

Loiscneach
(You shake you^[sic] head and put the (Item Name) back in your bag.)

Oh, I... I see. I suppose I let myself get a little over-excited there.
That said...
I think anyone could misunderstand if you hold something like that out to them, as though it's meant to be a gift. ...Including me.
If you wouldn't mind, I'd prefer if you refrain from doing that.

(Loiscneach gazes wistfully at the (Item Name) you're holding.)

Really Unacceptable Foods

• Includes: Alcoholic Dishes

Loiscneach
(Loiscneach shifts his gaze between the (Item Name) and your face.)

...
(Character Name), might it be that you enjoy drinking alcohol?

(Loiscneach frowns, crossing his arms over his chest. You quickly slide the (Item Name) back into your bag, but the judgment in his gaze shows no sign of abating.)

A retired mountainkeeper once told me that people like to drink because 'alcohol dulls the bitterness of the world...at least for a time.'
Maybe that's so, but I consider it almost an act of self-harm. Drinking does nothing good for you.
There are so many things in the world that are good to eat and drink that I don't understand why someone would want to consume such foul stuff. It does no favors to the body, nor to the mind.
My personal views aside, I ask you to refrain from overtly carrying or drinking alcohol while you're in the mountains.
There are some who would get a craving for liquor just from seeing someone pull out a bottle of wine.

(You feel as though this lecture could go on for a while if you let it, so you give Loiscneach a vigorous nod. He finishes his thoughts, but you notice he keeps glancing at the bag you placed the (Item Name) back into, still looking unhappy about it.)
(It seems Loiscneach really detests (Item Name)...)

Unacceptable Foods

• Includes: Items not on Acceptable Foods or Really Unacceptable Foods lists

Loiscneach
Oh, erm... Is this (Item Name) for me?
While I appreciate the though, I'm afraid I'll have to go without. It's my practice to only eat certain things at certain times. Otherwise, I've found that snacking tends to get in the way of doing my work.
That's especially true during times like these, where the mountains are beginning to see more visitors.
If I feel queasy after eating something my stomach isn't used to, I fear I'd be letting down those who would depend on me.
That is why I have to ask you to keep your (Item Name).

Acceptable Foods

• Includes: Irish Stew (any quality)

Loiscneach
Ah! Is this (Item Name) for me?

> Prompt: It is just for you! or Actually...it is mine.

It is just for you![show]

Loiscneach
(A smile slowly spreads across Loiscneach's face as he gazes back and forth between you and the (Item Name). He seems a bit stunned.)

I've heard you were a skilled cook, but I didn't expect to see the delicious results of your talent.
How did you know I like stew? It's not exactly something I bring up in conversation...
A warm bowl of stew has a wondrous way of driving the cold out of the body. With a hearty stew in my stomach, I feel like I have the energy to push through miles of snowdrifts and underbrush in search of lost travelers.
Unfortunately, I seldom try to make it myself. I'm not especially good with boiled dishes. Whenever I had a craving for stew, I'd always get someone to help me.
Anyway, you (Item Name) clearly looks a few notches above what the other mountainkeepers could cook up. The smell alone is enough to make my mouth water.
In fact, I'll eat it as soon as we're done talking. It wouldn't do to let it get cold now, would it?

Actually...it is mine.[show]

Loiscneach
...
I'm glad I asked, then. Typically, when someone holds out something like that, it's to present it to someone else as a gift, but I couldn't discount the possibility that you might have simply been proudly showing off something you made.
Ah. Then, that means...
You wanted to show it off? Hmm...
An impressive effort, (Character Name). Well done.
...I really do meant that. That's what you wanted to hear, right?

(Loiscneach tilts his head, looking at you expectantly. Was he being serious? Was he trying to make a joke? You're not quite sure, but you think he meant well.)

(With Loiscneach's heartfelt compliment still ringing in your ears, you put the (Item Name) back into your bag.)