The notion that the Emperor (or someone in his employ) went to the trouble of writing an entire novel to serve as a wanted poster is really funny to me. I can just imagine him sat at his orbal typewriter suffering from bad writer's block as he's desperately trying to get back at those two, but he just can't find a good way to wrap up chapter 4 and he feels that his prose is just way too purple.

During Gaius's story about Barkhorn's death he mentions how he told Barkhorn about how he could sense the gale of ruin, and that Barkhorn "realized something" but that's when the Calvardians appeared. I'm curious if that's pretty much what it said in Japanese, because that seems like a pretty big hint to something else going on. Or at least to him already having a Stigma since he can sense mystical shenanigans. I know this is well trod territory at this point, but I'm getting antsy in the lead up to Hajimari lol.

There's been evidence that Gaius could have a Stigma since CS1 with his 'wind sense' letting him feel that the higher elements are acting up, plus the interest and influence a then-unidentified traveling priest had on him. His first S-Craft kind of resembling a Stigma summoning didn't hurt either, though that's obviously just cosmetic.

The reveal in CS2 that this priest just happened to be a Dominion had some of us calling the ultimate twist the instant we learned that fact.

Gaius' sense is slightly complicated by the fact that it's not unique to him (Lacan and Wallace both exhibit it as well) but Gaius seems to have a really strong case of it, and there are other times where he does things that are attention-getting, like his reaction to the orb at Lohengrin Castle.

Something Franz says at one point is a little confusing. He says something to the effect of "I joined the 13 Factories so I could get close to Epstein's top disciple." Now that makes it sound like he's implying Novartis is said disciple, but I also see it as him referring to Schmidt, since I recall there only ever being mention of 3 of them and we know of them all.

There was a point where you bump into Novartis talking to... to... the name escapes me. Rosenburg guy, and Novartis said I forget what exactly but made it sound like novartis was a disciple/student of rosenburg guy. Maybe rosenburg guy was a 'secret' first/best disciple much like Franz kinda is for schmidt?

Stigmas can also massively enhance the power of thaumaturgy as a passive effect and when the two meet again at the start of The 3rd, neither Kevin nor Ries treat the latter's assumption that Kevin's power has grown to the point that he could have literally read her mind as being out of the realm of possibility... it just happens that he knew her well enough to know what she was thinking already, but that would definitely have been a 'Stigma thing' if it had been the case. And Wazy's Stigma allowed him the hear the 'voice of god' from a young age, well before he absorbed the power of the same artifact he was hearing to have a fully awakened Stigma.

In Japanese, what's happening is that there are two sentences that are joined together by the particle し (in this case meaning 'and also') with the first sentence being about the Thirteen Factories and the second being about getting close to Epstein's disciple. So he's not actually saying that he did the one in order to do the other, they're separate ideas. However, since these two claims are run together in this way while every other claim is part of its own discrete sentence (with exclamation points, he's clearly enjoying a good old-fashioned villain rant) it's possible to misinterpret that as being two explicitly linked ideas.

One related issue is that Novartis is almost certainly connected to Epstein in some way. He's referred to exclusively as 'F. Novartis' which is the same convention as the other characters: C. Epstein, G. Schmidt, L. Hamilton, A. Russell. The last of these is the only one who's gotten a first name. There's a couple options to choose from: He's a 'secret' disciple that almost nobody knows about, he was a disciple whose name got removed from the histories for some reason, he's Epstein himself...

One other thing that might be relevant or might not be.

Novartis is appearing in Hajimari so maybe we'll get some more material to work with.

Novartis did learn the art of making humanoid automata from Jorg Rosenberg, who's really really good at it. Jorg is actually the one who developed the Gordias series (specifically Pater-Mater), but Novartis appropriated his work and began the activation trials that we read about in The 3rd with horrific results. Jorg has never forgotten this or forgiven Novartis, but they still work with one another.

That McBurn/Epstein connection is a very interesting possibility! That said, McBurn's human form seems awfully young to be Epstein, if we assume that's what the "host" originally looked like. I don't suppose we know how old Epstein was when he apparently died, but you'd figure it'd be older than that. Then again, when has age ever held anyone back in anime?

Actually, it occurs to me, I'm not sure if you were even implying that they were the same, lol

I've always been partial to the Novartis is Epstein idea, but again, the age thing seems to be screwy, since he honestly looks sort of younger than Albert and Schmidt.

We don't really know what Epstein and his disciples might have been doing incidental to their work on the fundamentals of orbal science, but we do know that it involved studying artifacts with church permission. It's possible they indirectly gave McBurn the means to arrive in Zemuria. Or they could have done it directly, who knows? How involved they were (assuming they were for purposes of argument) depends in part on what sort of wiggle room you want to give the whole 'fifty years' statement McBurn makes, since fifty years to the day puts his arrival two years after Epstein's death and a little while after the three disciples split up.

And now you've gotten me looking over old scenes to check whether McBurn and Schmidt are ever in a position to meet face to face, because that would be the most obvious way to completely eliminate 'McBurn merged with Epstein' as a crack idea.

Probably a really stupid question but I'm really drawing a blank. I just finished Azure, and at the end where it has little flash sequences of the cast it shows Wazy, Abbas, and... some guy in a red trenchcoat... I don't recognize him. who is that? He also shows up again at the end game full cast portrait thing on the far left. That's not Wald is it? It said they 'took him in'. But didn't say anything about dressing him up to be the next Casanova or whatever.

edit: While ranting about Azure in another thread, it just occurred to me I had another question that actually matters more but I just didn't think of it at the time.

This is based on me playing Azure with a translation that I really appreciate, thank you folks who worked on it, but I do think it isn't the same level as Zero, so I wont have total faith that my interpretation is in question, or the translations, or something else in these matters.

But what is a Homunculus in Kiseki? It seems to be a broad term 'artificial' human.. Though in a world where magic is real, what makes it artificial? I mean human born from asexual means. Human being.. you know.. 2 arms,legs,eyes, a nose, mouth, hair, do I really have to spell it out!? (except they are all girls? is there a male homunculus?). That's not the important part. The reason why I ask is because of souls and bodies. Mariabelle says kea doesn't have a 'real' soul... But......what the h eck, I forget her name. I'm really bad with names sorry.. Blue short hair older sister of Altina, OH Millium... Millium was sacrificed by accident instead of Altina, because a SOUL had to be sacrificed... so.. did people sacrifice their souls to Millium and Altina like they did KeA using a certain drug? Heck how is Kea's not real? I got the impression hers was caused by growing from the experiences from those who used the drug, but even then she didn't 'consume' their souls, because they were eventually cured... Soo... 

 

Ugh.... I realize talking about souls when many people IRL believe souls are fiction TO BEGIN WITH is... difficult, but... That's another topic if someone wants to bring it up, not my point here. So uhh...there's that soul thing between kea and other homonculus. The other is their  body. Specifically the doll joints. If Lapis is a proud homonculus, why does she have doll joints when the others don't? Does anyone else important in kiseki have doll joints? I don't remember them...

Super hard doubt anyone has any idea question... Why didn't Kea re-write history to save the sorrow of the first Demigorous (spelling)? OR DID SHE?! (new grandmaster theory)

Posted by: @ghaleon

Probably a really stupid question but I'm really drawing a blank. I just finished Azure, and at the end where it has little flash sequences of the cast it shows Wazy, Abbas, and... some guy in a red trenchcoat... I don't recognize him. who is that? He also shows up again at the end game full cast portrait thing on the far left. That's not Wald is it? It said they 'took him in'. But didn't say anything about dressing him up to be the next Casanova or whatever.

Yeah, that's Wald. He's taken to Arteria for treatment due to his use of Gnosis and eventually joins the Gralsritter. This was mentioned way back in the book Crossbell Archive and just reconfirmed a couple of days ago since the last round of Hajimari updates shows his new look.

But what is a Homunculus in Kiseki? It seems to be a broad term 'artificial' human.. Though in a world where magic is real, what makes it artificial?

A homunculus is a very specific alchemical concept, which ties into who created KeA and (indirectly) led to the creation of the Originator Zero series. Kiseki doesn't quite use the literal homunculus concept, as they're fully grown individuals (albeit in the form of children) but they're drawing on that tradition. So yes, a human body created through artificial means, capable of all the things a normal human would be but not possessed of a natural soul.

(except they are all girls? is there a male homunculus?).

Not that we've seen but there's no theoretical reason there couldn't be one. And if you want to delve into crack speculation, the idea that Campanella is a homunculus would explain why he hasn't aged a day in the nearly fifteen year span of time that we've known him.

That's not the important part. The reason why I ask is because of souls and bodies. Mariabelle says kea doesn't have a 'real' soul... But......what the h eck, I forget her name. I'm really bad with names sorry.. Blue short hair older sister of Altina, OH Millium... Millium was sacrificed by accident instead of Altina, because a SOUL had to be sacrificed... so.. did people sacrifice their souls to Millium and Altina like they did KeA using a certain drug? Heck how is Kea's not real?

What we're told is that while they're born without a soul, they can develop one. The entire point of sending Altina to Thors was to put her in an environment where she would grow to the point that she had a soul suitable for the ritual, with the test of the Goliath Noa being the final demonstration that she was 'ready' for Alberich's purposes. Millium had already developed her own soul and so was also a suitable candidate to create the sword.

As for KeA's soul, two points. First, Mariabell is an awful troll and using the opportunity to torment KeA to the point that she'll lose herself to her powers and become Azure Demiourgos. Second, same point as the OZ duo where she has a soul now even if she didn't before.

The overall idea seems pretty analogous to the metaphysical 'heart' in Kingdom Hearts. Through connections with others, those who have lost their hearts or never had one to begin with can develop a heart

Ugh.... I realize talking about souls when many people IRL believe souls are fiction TO BEGIN WITH is... difficult, but... That's another topic if someone wants to bring it up, not my point here.

For what it's worth, souls are very much confirmed to be A Real Thing in Kiseki. xD

So uhh...there's that soul thing between kea and other homonculus. The other is their body. Specifically the doll joints. If Lapis is a proud homonculus, why does she have doll joints when the others don't? Does anyone else important in kiseki have doll joints? I don't remember them...

Lapis isn't a homunculus, she's a Rosenberg doll who... just happens to be able to move completely independently, talk, think and feel. We're not sure how yet but we've gotten hints before that there's something up with at least a few Rosenberg dolls, since there's that quest in Ao that involves a pair of them that was never really explained.

Super hard doubt anyone has any idea question... Why didn't Kea re-write history to save the sorrow of the first Demigorous (spelling)? OR DID SHE?! (new grandmaster theory)

Two reasons: First, she didn't have the power to affect major changes until the very end of the game at which point she wasn't really in control and almost immediately lost those powers. Second and more importantly, what KeA does is really complicated. Literally every change she makes has to be considered because whatever she does has a potential effect on everything that happens in history from the moment of the change down to the present. Changing things so the original Demiourgos didn't fall into despair would not only require altering twelve hundred years worth of events (almost impossibly daunting on its own) but would also pretty much guarantee that KeA's own existence would be negated, since the only reason she was created is because the Crois family wanted their Sept-Terrion back. The whole reason that the people behind Azure Zero tried to get the SSS to join them at the last minute is because they wanted help guiding KeA's work, clearly anticipating they'd be spending a lot of time working through the 'best' way to accomplish their goals before actually rewriting the timeline... and they weren't planning on rewriting history anywhere near that far back. So trying to save the original Demiourgos would probably be impossible in general and certainly impossible in the timeframe that KeA had to work with.