Taldahs
| Taldahs | |
|---|---|
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| Artwork by Moira | |
| Creators | Gardeford |
| Contributors | Wsan |
| Personal Information | |
| Aliases | Tall Dan (silly) |
| Titles | Chieftan |
| Relatives | Ahmri (daughter) Tiki (spouse) |
| Residence | Centaur Village |
| Location | Harvest Valley |
| Biological Information | |
| Species | Centaur |
| Gender | Male |
| Height | 8'6" |
| Affliction | Corrupted |
| Other Information | |
| Version Added | 0.3.5 |
| Changelog | 0.3.30 Ahmri marriage updates |
| “ | "People of the harvest tribes, since when do accursed witches and arrogant mages order us about like brainless fools? Have we forgotten the last time mages experimented so heavily with the state of the world? Our ancestors would be sick."
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” |
—Taldahs, Harboring a Fugitive Purified Ending | ||
Chieftain Taldahs is the leader of the Centaur Village in Harvest Valley and Ahmri's father. He and his tribe were one of Kasyrra's first targets upon entering the realm; only Ahmri, Sugo, and potentially a few other tribe members were able to escape the cult's corruption.
During the events of Harboring a Fugitive, the Champion can either convince Taldahs to forsake Kasyrra's influence and purify the tribe, or choose to kill Taldahs and take the corrupted tribe for their own.
Appearance
| “ | You watch in apprehension as a monstrosity steps through the door. It looks like a centaur, but carved from the same living crystal as the tentacle spear from before. The thing has no mouth, but you can see the smile in its eyes as it looks past you, focusing all its attention on Ahmri. It opens its arms, holding them out as if to welcome her.
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” |
—First encounter | ||
| “ | The chieftain of the centaurs is a large and powerfully built man. Visible muscle meshes with just enough softness to relieve any feelings of intimidation you'd get from his nearly nine foot frame. Perhaps he might be scarier if it weren't for his perpetual smile and open demeanor.
His blonde hair is usually combed backwards, and falls to his neck in thick locks. His face is creased with years of smile lines, and his bright blue eyes are full of a curiosity that belies his age. Usually, the chieftain can be found shirtless, with nothing but a set of saddlebags adorning his equine shoulders. All in all the ensemble combines to create a very "fatherly" figure. |
” |
—Appearance description | ||
Combat Stats
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| Dislikes | Drops | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First Encounter
Taldahs is the final boss of the Centaur Village dungeon in Harboring a Fugitive.
After fighting through the other corrupted centaurs of the Centaur Village (Eubicha, Genova, and the Behemoth), the Champion approaches the Chieftain's hut at the north of the village. From it steps a centaur covered in corrupted, living crystal. The monster calls Ahmri his moonlight snowball, happily looking forward to her and the Champion taking their places in Kasyrra's plans. Ahmri corrects him: the Champion has come to fix the corruption. The corrupted centaur laughs and invites the Champion to enlighten him about what needs fixing.
The Champion can engage the Taldahs monster in a conversation battle to convince him to fight Kasyrra's influence or engage him in physical combat. This choice determines the end of Harboring a Fugitive. Winning the conversation battle leads to freeing Taldahs of corruption and purifying the tribe; choosing to go straight to physical combat ends in Taldahs's death and maintains the village's corruption. Losing either combat results in a bad end.
The options available are:
| Option | Tooltip | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Full Blessing | Did you hear him correctly? | Starts the conversation battle. |
| Convince | He wouldn't stop to listen if some part of him didn't want it. | Starts the conversation battle. |
| Nickname | What kind of a nickname is moonlight snowball? | Starts the conversation battle. |
| Attack | Fuck this. Attacking before you talk Taldahs down will result in the village's corruption. Ahmri will NOT like this, and will probably run. | Starts the physical battle. |
Combat
Conversation Battle
There are three possible routes in the conversation battle. If the Champion stopped to Talk to Ahmri at the start of Harboring a Fugitive, they can purify Taldahs completely through conversation. If they did not, they can get partway through to him, but complete purification will require physical fighting in addition. If the Champion fails by losing all their health (see the Full Guide), they experience the Eternity of Tentacles Bad End.
Victory Routes
While the Champion can take as many detours as they'd like, (it is possible to read every dialogue option without losing), the routes below take the Champion to victory.
If the Champion chose to Talk to Ahmri at the start of the quest and asked her about Stories her father tells (see Harboring a Fugitive for more details), the victory route is Convince->Berate-->Family-->Single Dad.
Taldahs angrily renounces Kasyrra and peels away the corrupted physical mass covering his body.
If the Champion chose to Hurry instead of asking Ahmri questions, or did not choose Stories from her Talk options at the start of the quest, (see Harboring a Fugitive for more details), the victory route is Convince->Goad-->Berate-->Family-->Single Dad.
A network of cracks appears in the corrupted physical mass covering his body, but the Champion isn't able to get through to him entirely, and they must engage Taldahs in combat. If the Champion is victorious, Taldahs angrily renounces Kasyrra and peels away the corruption.
Content
The conversation battle reveals lore and information about Taldahs, his family, the Centaur Village, and Harvest Valley.
The Champion observes that there may be some humanity left in Taldahs. They may be able to help him recognize that in himself, but they shouldn't be reckless.
When the Champion asks Taldahs what he meant by that he and Ahmri had yet to receive Kasyrra's "full" blessing, the chieftain shares that Kasyrra promised him more power after he completes his task of corrupting the valley. She eventually hopes to do similarly for the Champion, he adds. The Champion wants to change the subject but notes that this means Taldahs isn't fully corrupted!
The Champion remarks that the Taldahs monster wouldn't be open to a conversation if he didn't want to be convinced, but the centaur scoffs. The chieftain says he has never been stronger, and now he has magic to back him up: he's become the strongest being in the valley. Why, Taldahs wonders, would he go back to being nothing? The Champion observes that there's a note of disinterest in his words, as if Taldahs doesn't quite believe them himself.
The Champion tells the Taldahs monster that he's fooling himself if he thinks he's stronger than Kasyrra. The chieftain replies that he's proud, but not foolish: he won't challenge her, and she will reward him for aiding her throughout the valley.
The Champion will need to choose a different angle... but something he just said resonates with them. They need to remember this.
The Champion will need to choose a different angle.
What, the Champion asks, does Taldahs mean by returning to "nothing"? Is that all he thinks he had? They remind the Taldahs monster of his friends and daughter, who certainly can't be nothing if he wants her to join him so badly.
The chieftain replies that he may have mispoken: he only meant to reflect on his own strength. Given the promise of power, he made the only sensible choice--didn't he?
The Champion refuses to agree, and Taldahs asks what they would have had him do instead: ally with the marefolk or mousefolk against "everything [he] ever wanted?"
The Champion rejects this outlook. The Taldahs they've heard about was never so hung up on the respect or subjugation of others. There's another reason the chieftain accepted this power... Taldahs interrupts, in an angry and pleading cry, to ask what, then, did he want?
This moves the Champion to Menu 2.
The Champion doesn't know enough to push this. They need to delve a little deeper in more conversation.
Taldahs, bored, threatens to take his daughter if the Champion can't think of anything.
The Champion asks Taldahs about his nickname for his daughter, "moonlight snowball," and the chieftain muses out loud about Ahmri's mother, a beautiful centauress from the north. He shares that he doesn't know why she stayed with him, given his own aging and his declining tribe.
The Champion prods Taldahs again about the odd nickname, and the monster replies that Ahmri, like her mother, has snow-white fur and a love of the cold. As a child, she would sneak out at night to play in snow, and he would watch her silently, making sure her bedding, when she returned, was warm and dry. His eyes soften, and the Champion considers that this might be worth pursuing.
The Champion asks Taldahs what happened--when did Ahmri change--and Taldahs retorts that she didn't: he did. He, who once beat five marefolk in single combat, felt his strength waning, and although no one had yet made the push to unseat him as chieftain, it was only a matter of time.
However, the Taldahs monster avoids the Champion's eyes as he explains himself; something is off.
But Ahmri told the Champion how the village works: chieftains keep their positions for life. The Champion points out that the village nursed him back to health, even when he was weak and ill, and a crack appears in the crystal covering Taldahs's face.
The Champion responds that Taldahs was just telling them that the village was helping him to corrupt the known world--not something they'd do for a weak chief--and a crack appears in the crystal covering Taldahs's face.
The Champion doesn't know enough about how the village works to push him on his claims, despite their intuition.
The Champion accuses Taldahs of using Ahmri to replace his wife, and the centaur chieftain sharply rebukes them: his wife is alive, and he loves his daughter as his child, and he will not respond to vile insinuations. The Champion realizes they misjudged the depth of Taldahs's corruption: it's not that deep.
Taldahs continues to reminisce. He shares that the first time he told Ahmri not to play in the dark, she agreed--and then, of course, did it anyway. He recounts feeling dumbfounded, but that Ahmri had claimed she wasn't even cold. Tiki, his wife, explained to him that it's that the winters in the Marches are warmer than up north--he adds he never wants to find out how cold it gets up there. The chieftain pauses, and then glares at the Champion, waiting for them to continue.
The Champion is pleased to confirm that they were right: Taldahs doesn't want this after all. They suspect they know why, but will need to lead Taldahs carefully to the same conclusion.
The Champion responds to Taldahs's cry by asking him what it is like being the leader of the centaurs, to which he responds that, nowadays, it's mostly boring. Chieftains used to have to consider battle tactics, but the marefolk of the valley haven't been a problem for years, and were on track to mingle freely. Kasyrra, he adds, supported that outcome, and he states that she helped create the Behemoth, one example of what the union between marefolk and centaur could create.
Taldahs is bored with this subject, but shares that on a regular day he picked up breakfast for Ahmri, and then checked for visitors to the village. They got a lot--more than the rest of the Marches, at least--because of Harvest Valley's comparatively more temperate climate and good growing season. In the summer, they'd frequently get traders from Jassira; he bought the rugs that decorate his lodge from them, as well as learned to read from them, both to read Tiki's letters, and for Ahmri's sake.
On a regular day, he'd follow this up with gossiping with the villagers, or playing with the children. The Champion observes that it seems like he enjoyed his life, and Taldahs agrees but, stuttering, asserts that he doesn't regret his decisions.
Taldahs excitedly shares that he's been planning a way to take on the Marefolk Village, now that he has new powers. The Champion quickly backpedals from the subject.
Taldahs shares that he once helped a family of Mecians clear a large boulder in front of one of their burrows, and they shared their dinner with him in thanks. He couldn't fit inside, so they ate in the foyer.
He doesn't have much to add, he says, since his duties didn't mean interacting with the Valley's other communities much, although they'd spare the manpower to help if anyone came asking, if they could.
The Champion responds to the Taldahs's monster's question with a question: what about his family? Since Ahmri was young when Tiki left, they'd love to hear more about her. Tiki, Taldahs shares, was a visitor from the Far North who planned only to overwinter with the tribe, but whose pregnancy changed her plans. She handled the unwelcome heat by swimming often, although she always slept close by Taldahs, regardless of the temperature. She always planned on leaving, though, and did so within a weak of Ahmri's weaning. Taldahs says he lacked the confidence to ask her to stay, although it might be different now, with his new strength.
Taldahs shares that he gets packets of letters (around four) every month or two when tradesmen from the Far North make their way to Harvest Valley. He's glad of them, and wants to continue their correspondence, but wants to see her again--and will, he says, when Kasyrra's power extends that far north.
Taldahs happily reminisces about their very active sex life--which was frequent, in order to take advantage of their time together, and animalistic when Tiki's pregnancy allowed. A bushel of throbbing, flared cocks appear from underneath the Taldahs beast, and the Champion thinks they should probably change the subject.
The Champion observes that it must have been hard raising Ahmri alone, and Taldahs corrects them: actually, having her around made his life better. He found meaning in being there for her, and even when he was unable to help with her coming of age, their relationship stayed strong. Ahmri tells him that he was always like a hero to her.
A network of cracks appears over the Taldahs beast's heart, connecting with the previous cracks. The Champion is sure they are close! This leads to the Finale.
A network of cracks appears over the Taldahs beast's heart, searching for additional gaps. The Champion is sure they are close! This leads to the Finale.
The Champion asks Taldahs for more details about his adventures, and he responds with eagerness, more than happy to share stories of his prowess. The Champion considers that to trip him up, they may have to ask about a story he'd be unfamiliar with telling.
The Champion asks for another story from Taldahs's time as Chief, and he responds by telling them about the time he went to take a bath in a small pool, only to find it was a slime elemental in need of additional energy. The elemental took the form of a centauress, and he fucked her until it could make at least one other core--if not two--and helped it back to the lake. He muses that that slime's form probably influenced his current form, and that he should go back to the lake.
The Taldahs monster recounts a time when a giant scorpion took over a cave with a temple to Sorra, and he and several other village centaurs dealt with the beast. Although they could not fight it head on, nor make it through the small back entrances, they used a barrel of flaming pitch to distract and disable the scorpion, and then Taldahs was able to spear it in the head. He happily remembers the cheers, and notes that he could probably take on a scorpion all by himself, in his new form.
Taldahs stutters, and says there probably isn't anything from that time that the Champion would want to hear about.
The Champion asks about the cooking mishap Ahmri told them about, and the Taldahs beast rolls his eyes in amusement. Ahmri spilled the batter over the entire lodge, he explains, but at the time, he thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. It was a bigger mishap than she said--she kept trying to make additional cakes.
Taldahs absently wishes he could go back in time in order to help her fail to bake a cake, and a split cracks open from his bellybutton to his chest.
The Champion doesn't have any particular examples to ask about, so they'll have to look for another way forward.
The Taldahs beast stamps his feet and asks the Champion once more why he took power, if not for glory. The Champion has the answer: For Ahmri. The fight drains from Taldahs as he processes the Champion's words.
Taldahs recoils, and then falls to his knees as the corruption falls from him. He's revealed to be a strong middle-aged centaur, if a little pale from lack of sun. He stamps at the blue clumps of corruption as it tries to worm away, yelling that he will keep his daughter safe without Kasyrra's lies.
He narrows his eyes and approaches the Champion, but a lancing network of cracks interrupts his approach, and he staggers. Taldahs isn't free of the corruption, but the Champion's words at least made some impact. They'll need to fight him to help his true self break through!
Mechanics
Some dialogue options cause the Champion to lose health and some cause them to regain it. To explore the mechanics and the full victory guide, see the Harboring a Fugitive: Conversation Battle Mechanics.
Physical Combat
The Champion can choose to fight Taldahs by selecting Attack before starting the Conversation Battle, or anytime before reaching the finale. Doing so triggers the Corrupt Village end of Harboring a Fugitive. They also fight Taldahs if they did not Talk to Ahmri about Stories at the beginning of the quest.
The Champion doesn't have time for this. They tell Ahmri to go hide, and muse that the village would be better off under their control. Taldahs welcomes the direct attack, and tells the Champion he will give them to Kasyrra--or keep them for himself.
Ahmri begs for the Champion to reconsider, but when they do not, she dashes off. Taldahs takes an intimidating stance, triggering combat with the Champion.
If the Champion is victorious, Taldahs staggers and falls to the ground for the final time. The Champion, pleased, heads off to introduce the rest of the village to their new boss.
After the Champion partially purifies the Taldahs monster through conversation, the corrupted centaur, visibly jerking around in internal struggle made external, calls his spear to himself, triggering combat with the Champion.
If the Champion is victorious, Taldahs denounces Kasyrra, and he and the Champion destroy the remnants of crystallized corruption that fell from his body. Ahmri gives him a huge hug, and he wonders how he could have been so blind. The Champion tells him it's Kasyrra's fault, and with his leadership, he could help save his village from her influence. He agrees, and tells the Champion to come with him, in order to have backup. As he, Ahmri, and the Champion head into the village, the Champion notes that the structures, while damaged, seem repairable; the village's goods are the greatest losses.
Bad End
If the Champion loses to Taldahs in the conversation battle or in physical combat, they are enveloped and penetrated by the tentacles covering Taldahs until they lose the will to resist. See the Eternity of Tentacles Bad End.
Post-Combat
Purifying the Village
The Champion follows Taldahs through the Centaur Village as he convinces Genova, Eubicha, and the majority of the warband to abandon Kasyrra's goals with compassion, strength and belief in his people.
After most of the village returns, he sets them to restoring the village, which happens with startling quickness--by the next night, Taldahs decides to throw a party, in order to celebrate his people's survival and to raise morale. See Harboring a Fugitive for more details.
Interactions
Taldahs can only be encountered again in the purified Centaur Village, as he is killed and removed from the game in the corrupted village playthrough.
Taldahs is found on the tile just north of the village's center. The first time the Champion approaches him, they'll find him chatting with other villagers at the bakery. When he splits away to talk to the Champion, he'll share that it's odd to be adjusting back to normalcy, but that talking with other members of the tribe helps both him and them. On subsequent visits, the Champion will track his loud, outgoing voice to find him.
Taldahs's menu depends on the Champion's relationships with, and decisions about, other residents of the Village: if the Champion has married Ahmri or turned her down, and killed the Behemoth, Taldahs's menu only includes the Appearance option.
| Option | Requirement | Tooltip |
|---|---|---|
| Appearance | - | Take a look at the chieftain. |
| Behemoth |
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Ask about the whereabouts of the behemoth. It's not like he could have gone far without being noticed. |
| Wedding |
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Speak to Taldahs about marrying Ahmri. You've got the flowers, what's next? |
The Behemoth
In the purified Centaur Village, the Champion can ask Taldahs about the Behemoth's whereabouts if the Champion spared the corrupted centaur during Harboring a Fugitive. Taldahs shares that the tribe's shamans are keeping him sedated, unwilling to kill him while he sleeps. The Champion asks if it would be possible to move him while he's still asleep, and Taldahs says yes, and the village would be very happy to have him gone. He asks if the Champion has a plan. With that, the Champion has two options:
| Option | Tooltip |
|---|---|
| AlaruneGarden | Yes, actually — the Alraune's garden would be the perfect location to keep the behemoth. |
| Not Now | You can't think of anywhere you'd want this guy at the moment. |
The Champion shares that they do have a place for the Behemoth: the Alarune's garden. Taldahs is more than happy to help move the corrupted centaur out of the village, and he, the Champion, and six other centaurs manage to transport the Behemoth all the way there. See Behemoth for details.
The Champion can't think of anywhere at the moment. Taldahs is understanding, but clearly would like relief from the pressure of keeping the dangerous centaur sedated.
Marrying Ahmri
To marry Ahmri, the Champion must talk to Taldahs twice, both using the Wedding option from his menu. In the first conversation, Taldahs is very supportive and explains the process: the Champion should pick one of the red or blue everblossom flowers growing on the outskirts of the Village, present the flower to Ahmri, and pick a date. It's a simple ritual, although he recommends that the Champion do it earlier rather than later.
He then shares that for (at least this tribe of) centaurs, monogamy is not expected or requested--both the Champion and Ahmri are free to have other relationships, although she probably won't--and tells the Champion to come back after they've asked Ahmri officially.
After asking Ahmri and picking their flower of choice, the Champion must return to Taldahs to progress the wedding celebrations, by choosing Wedding from his menu again. When Taldahs sees the flowers in the Champion's hands, he excitedly tells Mars to go ask Genova to prepare for a wedding, and then tells the Champion all they need to do is give Ahmri the flower, and prepare for a really big hug. He then leaves to go help Genova with the wedding preparations.
See Ahmri's Marriage for details.
Corrupted Centaur Village
Taldahs is not available, as the Champion killed him to gain control of the corrupted village.
Quest Related
Harboring a Fugitive
Taldahs is an event encounter in Harboring a Fugitive, and the Champion's approach to dealing with him determines the outcome of the quest.