Lamentations, Bring Not Empty Tears

Patch: 3.1 · Chapter: Light Slips the Gate, Shadow Greets the Throne · Mission 04 of 9Previous: Grove, Wherefore Are the Wise Silent · Next: Memories, Veiled in Blazing Mist

Official summary

After a fierce battle, you safely returned to Okhema with Anaxa and Cerces' Coreflame, ready to report back to Aglaea. Prior to seeing Aglaea, Anaxa asked to visit the families of those lost to the black tide.

Synopsis

This is a quiet, grief-focused interlude that follows the disaster at the Grove of Epiphany (missions 01–03 of this chapter). The Trailblazer's party — Castorice, the exhausted three-in-one demigod Trianne, and the newly-recovered Chrysos Heir Anaxa — has just escaped the Grove and returned to Okhema, carrying Cerces' Coreflame (the Reason Titan's core essence, eighth of the twelve restored). There is no combat; the mission is about consequences, mourning, and setting up the political and personal threads of the patch.

Return to Okhema

The party materializes back in the holy city. Castorice is relieved they returned unharmed, but Trianne is in a bad way: her head still splits with pain because she opened the Century Gate to yank the group out of the Grove, an act Castorice had explicitly told her not to attempt. Trianne apologizes miserably for disobeying and pleads to go rest; Castorice refuses to let her blame herself, insisting that without Trianne's Gate they would all have died at the Grove.

Anaxa announces himself in his characteristic haughty style. Castorice half-recognizes him, and he confirms his identity with a line that doubles as a lore reveal about what happened to him at the Grove:

Anaxa: There's no need for doubt. The Titan no longer speaks. It is I, Anaxagoras of the Nousporists.

Castorice states the mission Aglaea assigned them plainly: find survivors, uncover the truth of the Grove disaster, and retrieve the Coreflame of Cerces (the Reason Titan). Anaxa acknowledges he is exactly what that mission was hunting — the sole witness to the whole catastrophe, and the now-defenseless bearer of a Coreflame. He asks, pointedly, whether Castorice intends to march him to Aglaea as a captive or a war-trophy. Castorice refuses to treat him that way.

Anaxa agrees to meet Aglaea — "I'm not against meeting that woman" — but first asks to visit the families of the Grove scholars who died, who live in Okhema. He knows Aglaea will oppose it. He predicts she will both forbid the visits and suppress all information about the Grove, and frames the errand partly as defiance: his fellows died defending the Coreflame and fighting the black tide beside him, and their families deserve the truth. Castorice, understanding the personal history between Anaxa and Aglaea, agrees to accompany him rather than stop him, while gently reminding him that Aglaea has her own reasons. (Completing this scene unlocks the achievement "The Shapeless God is the Most Visible of All Things," a nod to Cerces / Reason as a formless deity.)

Condolences to three families

The bulk of the mission is Anaxa, Castorice, and the Trailblazer delivering death-notices to three grieving households. Anaxa hints that the root of his feud with Aglaea is something Castorice already knows but that is not spelled out here.

Callinicus' widow — the Woman With Gentle Expression. Anaxa identifies her as the wife of the scholar Callinicus and tells her plainly that Callinicus died a few days ago defending the Grove from the black tide. Her first question is not grief but tactics: "did he manage to defend the Grove?" — which visibly startles Castorice. Told that he protected Cerces' Coreflame at the cost of his life, she accepts it calmly. She reveals she is from Kremnos, where death and sacrifice are faced with composure; that Callinicus, though a Chrysos Heir, always asked her — an ordinary person — to teach him to fight; and that she has long been prepared for any farewell to be the last. She declares that with the coming coronation of the new king of Kremnos she will take up her lance again against the black tide and avenge her husband.

Old Fabio — the Old Man With Slender Frame. The father of two Grove scholars, Cynane and Artakama. His mind is failing; he first thinks the visitors are here because his daughters got in trouble at school, then corrects himself that they graduated long ago and are now scholars. Anaxa struggles to speak, Castorice cannot bring herself to say it, and even the Trailblazer tears up. Anaxa finally tells him the black tide took both daughters, that they fought to their last breath defending the Grove, and that he — the Heir stationed there — failed to protect them. Fabio's grief is generous rather than accusing:

Old Fabio: ...Don't put it that way. Even if my Artakama wasn't one of the Chrysos Heirs mentioned in the prophecy, she was still a heroine, wasn't she?

Titus — the Young Man. Son of the scholar Old Titus. Busy and stressed with city work, he first assumes Castorice has come about a mistake he made on the job. Anaxa tells him his father died a few days ago. Titus masks his grief with bitterness — cracking that at his age the old man was due for the River of Souls anyway — but the mask slips into raw pain: he had gotten his stubborn father a retirement home and kept begging him to leave the Grove, and now the old man died without even a goodbye. He curses him lovingly as a "bullheaded old man."

With the three visits done, Anaxa says that is every colleague's family he can remember. Castorice thanks the Trailblazer and Anaxa for the difficult work, and they head at last for Aglaea.

Aglaea won't see them

At the marked location a guard greets Castorice and the Trailblazer but reports that Aglaea has just declared she has no time to receive anyone. Anaxa reads it darkly, asking the confused guard outright whether Aglaea has ordered him taken straight to prison. Castorice defuses it, saying Aglaea may genuinely be busy, and messages her via the slate. Aglaea's reply (delivered in the group chat) is that she cannot yet meet the travel-weary group; they should rest first.

Anaxa is relieved not to have to face Aglaea while dragging around his "sick body" — the Titan Cerces made "a myriad of adjustments" that still leave his head aching — and takes his leave for the day, saying he can't stand the noise of the city. Castorice warns him that Okhema is not the Grove; Anaxa finishes her sentence for her: the whole city is covered by Aglaea's golden threads, and she is confident he cannot slip her grasp. He again promises to behave.

Castorice's questions

Alone with the Trailblazer, Castorice apologizes for the danger the trip to the Grove exposed them to, then delivers the mission's key exposition:

• The black tide is not merely Okhema's enemy but all of Amphoreus's. Even when the forces of Strife coveted the holy city, Kremnos's warriors indisputably held the black tide back outside Castrum Kremnos. Now that Nikador's Coreflame sits vacant and the black tide has surged back, the Grove — the city with the deepest scholarly understanding of the black tide — fell overnight, drowned in blood and haunted by dead heroes. Castorice notes the trial of Strife is imminent and prays Mydei can steel his resolve in time.
• On the black-robed swordmaster who tore through the Grove (the Flame Reaver): Castorice says even Tribbie, who once crossed thousands of Amphoreus's cities repelling the black tide, has no recollection of this enemy. She fears that Strife's fall has triggered still more terrible events in unseen places. She detected an overpowering stench of death from the entity — but not, she clarifies, because it is connected to Thanatos; rather because it has personally sent countless others to their deaths.

Castorice then turns personal. She reminds the Trailblazer that she was born as the Shadow of Death, a poison shunned by all living things — yet when the Trailblazer caught her at the Grove, they were completely unaffected by her death-power. She asks why. (Branch dialogue lets the Trailblazer note the same immunity seemed to happen earlier in the Vortex of Genesis.) Castorice confesses she has wondered all her life what her connection to death is, and why she is inextricably bound to Thanatos. She leaves the question open and urges the Trailblazer to rest.

Dan Heng and the sky

The Trailblazer heads to their private bath chamber, noting that Mem has been silent and is probably exhausted, and wondering how Dan Heng has fared. Dan Heng is there, well-rested. He greets the Trailblazer warmly, saying Phainon already told him what happened.

Dan Heng shares what he learned while alone. He organized logs and requested research material from the Grove via Hyacine, and turned up something important:

Dan Heng: Do you remember that Amphoreus's sky was sealed away by a Titan? Aquila's presence keeps this world isolated from the rest of the world beyond the sky. It seems Hyacine's ancestors were the Sky Priests who worshipped Aquila. Perhaps she can give us more clues to find a way back to the Astral Express.

He reports nothing else unusual happened in the city, expects unrest in the coming days after the Grove, and — with a knowing hint — suggests that if the Trailblazer wanders around, they should avoid the hot bath (a rumor he picked up), seeding a hook for later.

Coda — Tribbie's dread

The scene cuts to Tribbie's point of view: Tribbie realizes that Trianne, still located out at the Grove of Epiphany, has opened the Century Gate once again — and is left deeply anxious. This closes the mission on the strategic countdown of the finite Century Gates.

Key characters

• Anaxa (Anaxagoras of the Nousporists) — Newly introduced Chrysos Heir and Grove scholar, host to the Reason Titan Cerces ("The Titan no longer speaks"), and now the defenseless bearer of Cerces' Coreflame. Proud, acerbic, and openly at odds with Aglaea; insists on personally delivering death-notices to his fellows' families before submitting to her, in defiance of the expected information blackout.
• Castorice — Escorts Anaxa, refuses to treat him as a prisoner, and mediates between him and Aglaea. Delivers the mission's exposition on the black tide and the Flame Reaver, and — crucially — asks the Trailblazer why they are immune to her death-poison, tying it to her unresolved bond with Thanatos.
• Trianne — One of the three-in-one demigod, badly weakened after opening the Century Gate at the Grove to save the party against Castorice's orders; wracked with head pain and guilt. Her repeated use of the Gate drives the coda.
• Trailblazer — Silent escort through the grief errand; revealed to be uniquely unaffected by Castorice's death-power (in the Grove and earlier in the Vortex).
• Woman With Gentle Expression — Callinicus' widow, a Kremnos-born warrior who taught her Chrysos Heir husband to fight; meets his death with composure and vows to avenge him under the new king of Kremnos.
• Old Fabio — Grieving, memory-failing father of dead scholars Cynane and Artakama; forgives Anaxa and insists his daughter died a heroine even without a place in the prophecy.
• Titus — Overworked son of the dead scholar Old Titus; masks devastating grief with bitterness over his stubborn father who died before they could reconcile.
• Dan Heng — Rested in Okhema; researched via Hyacine and surfaced the reveal that Aquila's sky-seal isolates Amphoreus, and that Hyacine's Sky-Priest ancestry may be a route back to the Express.
• Tribbie — Appears only in the closing POV cut, dreading Trianne's renewed use of the Century Gate.

Lore notes

• Anaxa / Anaxagoras — A Chrysos Heir of the Nousporists and a Grove scholar. His body hosted (or channeled) the Reason Titan Cerces, which "no longer speaks"; the Titan reportedly made "a myriad of adjustments" to him that still cause head pain. He now carries Cerces' Coreflame as a defenseless bearer. He has a longstanding, unspecified feud with Aglaea whose "root cause" Castorice already knows. [?] What exactly happened between Cerces and Anaxa at the Grove, and the nature of the Anaxa–Aglaea feud, are not yet explained.
• Nousporists — Newly named faction/school to which Anaxa belongs; presumably the scholars of the Grove of Epiphany. [?] Details undefined.
• Cerces (Reason Titan / Bough of Rift) — The Coreflame retrieved this arc, apparently the eighth restored (Oronyx's Time, recovered later this chapter, is the ninth). Called a "shapeless/formless god" via the achievement name "The Shapeless God is the Most Visible of All Things."
• Grove of Epiphany — The Grove is Amphoreus's foremost academic city for studying the black tide. Despite that expertise it fell overnight to the black tide once Nikador's Coreflame went vacant — establishing that a Titan's empty Coreflame lets the black tide surge into territory it previously held back.
• Black tide / Castrum Kremnos — Confirmed that Kremnos's Strife warriors held the black tide back outside Castrum Kremnos; with Nikador dead and his Coreflame unclaimed, that barrier is gone. Advances open thread on the black tide's spread (digest thread 1).
• Flame Reaver (black-robed swordmaster) — The Grove's chief attacker. Even Tribbie, who crossed thousands of cities repelling the black tide, has no memory of this enemy. Castorice senses an immense stench of death from it — explicitly not a link to Thanatos, but the residue of having personally killed countless people. [?] Its identity and origin are unknown; Castorice suspects Strife's fall triggered worse events elsewhere.
• Trial of Strife — Imminent; Mydei must "steel his resolve." Carries forward Mydei's arc and the trial-of-divinity mechanic (digest thread 15) into this chapter.
• Castorice's death-immunity puzzle — Castorice was born as the Shadow of Death, a poison lethal to living things, yet the Trailblazer is unaffected even on firm contact (in the Grove, and earlier in the Vortex of Genesis). She openly asks why, and reiterates she does not know her connection to death or why she is "inextricably linked to Thanatos." [?] Advances open threads on Castorice's missing half / bond to Thanatos (digest thread 12) and on the Trailblazer's anomalous nature (digest thread 3).
• Aquila (Sky Titan) & Hyacine — Reveal that Aquila's presence seals Amphoreus's sky and keeps the world isolated from "the world beyond the sky." Hyacine's ancestors were the Sky Priests who worshipped Aquila, making her a potential key to finding a way back to the Astral Express. Advances the "one-way door / world beyond the sky" thread (digest thread 7) and the search for a route home; adds Aquila to active concerns (digest thread 18).
• Century Gate countdown — Trianne opened the Gate to escape the Grove (against orders) and, per the coda, opens it again while still at the Grove, leaving Tribbie anxious. Directly advances the strategic countdown on the finite Century Gates (digest thread 20).
• Kremnos coronation — The Woman With Gentle Expression references a coming coronation of a new king of Kremnos, implying Kremnos will formally install a new ruler (contextually Mydei's looming role after Nikador's fall). [?] Not yet confirmed on-screen.
• Aglaea's reach — Reaffirmed that all of Okhema is blanketed by Aglaea's golden threads, so Anaxa cannot escape surveillance; she declines to receive the returning group and (Anaxa predicts) will suppress news of the Grove.
• Hook — Dan Heng's warning to "avoid the hot bath" plants a lead for a later mission.
• River of Souls — Invoked colloquially by Titus as the destination of the dead, consistent with Castorice/Thanatos death-cosmology.

Connections

• Advances open thread on the finite Century Gates (seeded 3.0 m07): Trianne overuses the Gate twice, deepening Tribbie's dread.
• Advances open thread on Castorice's bond to death/Thanatos and her missing half (seeded 3.0 m08), now framed as her explicit question to the Trailblazer.
• Advances open thread on the Trailblazer's anomalous nature (seeded 3.0 m01): immunity to Castorice's death-power added to the list of anomalies.
• Advances the "world beyond the sky" / one-way door thread (seeded 3.0 m03): Aquila's sky-seal named as the isolating mechanism; Hyacine's Sky-Priest lineage offered as a possible way home.
• Advances the black tide spread thread (seeded 3.0 m02): explicit link between a vacant Coreflame (Nikador's) and the black tide overrunning the Grove.

Sources

• Lamentations, Bring Not Empty Tears — HSR Wiki

Hindsight (full arc)

• [?] resolved: Castorice's central question — why the Trailblazer is immune to her death-poison (in the Grove and earlier in the Vortex) — is answered in 3.2's Oronyx trial: the Trailblazer died when Nikador's lance pierced their coach on arrival (3.0) and persists only as walking memories, so there is "nothing left to take."
• Reread with the reveal: Castorice being "born as the Shadow of Death" and "inextricably linked to Thanatos" is the seed of the 3.2 reveal that she is one of the twins of Death (the "life" half; her sister Polyxia the "death" half).
• [?] resolved: The Anaxa–Aglaea feud and "what happened to Anaxa at the Grove" — 3.2 exposes Anaxa's blasphemy (fusing his soul with Kephale) and has Aglaea sentence him to death; Cerces' incompatible Coreflame is what is killing his mortal body.
• Reread with the reveal: Dan Heng's "Aquila's sky-seal isolates Amphoreus / Hyacine's Sky-Priest line is a way home" is an in-world half-truth — the deeper isolation is that Amphoreus is a simulated Scepter (3.4); Hyacine does inherit Aquila's Sky, but as a demigod (3.3), not as an exit.