The steamships continue sailing south along this huge river… You communicate a little with the ship's crew. You also become a witness to some event.

Maricel Hikari…

The next day, what happened made you think about the life and worldview of the inhabitants of these vast wastelands.

When this charming black-haired girl told you about her religion and the Prophecy of the Reformer, you noticed that her gaze “shone” with an almost fanatical conviction in the indisputable truth of her beliefs.

You, a person with a rational-scientific worldview, are alien to all these mystical fantasies.

“Belief in mystical prophecies – how opposite to a scientific thinking! Well, religious and mystical consciousness is typical for many persons... It was the same before the war... People who prefer not to doubt, not to analyze existence rationally - but only to believe in some unreal mystical powers... Obviously, in this world, on the ruins of civilization, there are even more such people... Maricel with a fanatical gleam in her eyes spoke of some kind of deity... But it is clear to me that this is just another collective fantasy of the local inhabitants, who, in order to explain the world around them, invented for themselves a Supreme Being... It has happened many times in the history of mankind..." - you think sadly.

You tried to talk to some of the sailors about the nearby tribes.

You were unable to find out much. However, one of the experienced sailors told you that the armed conflict between the Tribal Union of Divine Mountain and the Flamemakers tribe has a long history. These communities have been waging a bloody struggle for almost a decade. A strategically important drawbridge (the so-called Big Red Bridge) comes under the control of one or the other of the warring factions. Both warring communities were formed and expanded territorially due to consolidation based on the dominant religious cult. Your sailor interlocutor knows little about the essence of each of the cults. The only thing he can say is that the dogmas of each of the cults themselves seem almost diametrically opposed. And, as a result, representatives of each side perceive their opponents as the embodiment of unholy evil that must be destroyed for the good of the world.

In response to your clarifying questions, the sailor tries to remember at least some details: "As far as I remember, the guys from the Flamemakers tribe worship the Sacred Life-Giving Flame. They live in the flatlands west of the river. And they perceive life in underground settlements (like mines or bunkers) as sacrilege and service to the Darkness. Therefore, for them, all persons from the Tribal Union of Divine Mountain look like minions of the Universal Evil. After all, they serve some God of the Mountain Depths...

For their part, representatives of the Tribal Union of Divine Mountain (due to some strange dogmas) consider the use of oil and gasoline to be something like sacrilege..."

"The Flamemakers tribe use gasoline?!" - you ask in surprise.

Your interlocutor answers: "A couple of years ago, my friend (who visited the Flamemakers territory) told me that these savages set up their main settlement on the territory of some ancient complex of buildings, where oil extraction devices and gasoline production devices have been preserved... This large tribe even has a number of functional cars... Judging by the descriptions - something like a dune buggy... Of course, these things belong to the tribal elite and priests. But this factor helped the tribe expand in the steppes west of the river…”

You thank the sailor for the story and go to the cabin of your companion Elijah. Ghoul is busy with the settings of his miniature radio station.

He tells you: "I’m busy now, Professor… We should arrive at the mouth of the river in a couple of days – that is, in the Free City of Alma… And after that – we have a long voyage along the coast to the east. As far as I could find out, going out to the open sea is quite risky for many reasons…"

You nod and decide to put the conversation off until later.

After dinner, you are walking around the deck with Brittany. Rain Blue and Valeria Stella stayed in the cabin.

Suddenly, a noise attracts your attention.

"Man overboard!" - several sailors are bragging.

The steamship stops briefly. A boat is lowered into the water and soon the sailors pull the body of a tall, thin man onto the deck of the ship. He looks about 30 years old (or a little older). Bald head, no beard or moustache, flat nose, haggard look in brown eyes. This man is barely conscious...

He is wearing almost no clothes (only a cloth loincloth).

Bleeding wounds from a melee weapon on his legs and on his right side...

You come closer and notice that there is something strange on his body - burns in the shape of a circle. On the chest and on each shoulder... It looks like some kind of ritual symbol.

"What should we do with him, Mr. Rear Admiral?" - asks one of the sailors.

"Judging by the symbolism, this is one of the warriors of the Flamemakers tribe... He was probably in one of the squads that retreated after the defeat in the battle near the bridge... Take him to the medical bay, but continue to watch him carefully so that he does not do something stupid..." - the voice of Lajos Buchanan sounds concerned.

A group of sailors pick up the weakened body of the man and carry him, passing you.

"It looks scary... Those burns on the body..." - Brittany whispers fearfully, clinging to your chest.

You catch some of the mutterings of the wounded warrior: "Vile servants of Darkness... Disgusting, unholy bastards... They... They worship the Dark Horror of the Depths and with their every deed bring the End of the World closer! Fools and wicked, bringing the triumph of Evil closer! Kill... Kill them all... Cleanse the world of filth..."

The words sound like the ramblings of a man who is close to losing consciousness.

However, these words seem to hint at the Flamemakers tribe's perception of the conflict.

You consider whether you should try to talk to this guy soon, to find out more details about the local communities.

Or would it be better to try to talk to someone else? For example: to find out information about the Free City of Alma.

Meanwhile, Brittany looks at you with a slightly offended look because your thoughts are somewhere far away and you pay little attention to her.

"Would you rather have Rain and Valeria with you right now?" - Brittany's voice sounds like she's about to cry.

And you can definitely feel the jealousy in her words...