Ariste Atreides
| Ariste Atreides | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Character Type | Major Character |
| Affiliation | House Atreides |
| Status | Alive |
| Aliases |
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| Relatives |
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| Added in Version | 1.1.0.0 |
Ariste "Ari" Atreides is the daughter of Duke Leto and Lady Jessica. Born in the year 10171 AG, she is arguably the most pivotal character due to the game's Alternate Timeline.
Dialogue
First encounter, during the Journey The Footsteps of the Fallen:
Stranger: You are no Maas Kharet cultist. Who are you? What do you seek here?
Player:
1. [DECEPTION] I just wandered in here. I wasn't expecting to be ambushed.
2. [TECHNOLOGIST] I'm interested in Fremen technology. Primitive, yes, but extraordinarily robust.
3. [POLITICAL] You have me at a disadvantage. Let's trade names first, then motivations.
4. [HONORABLE] The Trials of Aql brought me here in search of the Fremen.
5. [CULTURED] I came in search of knowledge, as did you.
Stranger:
[1.] Great. I spent three years in the bowels of the Arrakeen archives translating hundreds of Fremen texts before I even found a reference to this place. And you just wandered in?
Player:
1. You're right. It was more of a saunter.
2. You don't believe me?
Stranger: What are you doing here...really?
Player: I'm looking for the Fremen.
Stranger: [2.] The Fremen are long gone, their sietches abandoned. Only their ghosts remain to haunt these halls.
Player: Tech endures where flesh does not. I'm searching for the Fremen - their technology may have clues.
Stranger: [3.] I think not. Since, as you so eloquently put it, I have you at a disadvantage. Tell me why you are here. Player: I'm looking for the Fremen.
Stranger: [4.] The Trials of Aql? Knowledge of that name lends you credibility. But... you seek the Fremen? You must know they are dead?
Player: I've seen them in my spice-fueled dreams. I've seen enough to doubt that they are really dead.
Stranger: [5.] What makes you say that? Player: Your accent betrays you. Well educated, probably highborn. Adventurous. Seeking dangerous knowledge. Stranger: How astute. And your accent does the same. Born on Chusuk in a wealthy village to the south, unless I miss my guess, but you've fallen on hard times.
The stranger removes her hood and mask, revealing her face.
Stranger: That security door is encoded for Fremen biometrics. How did you bypass it?
Player:
1. It just opened--I don't know how.
2. I guess they were expecting me.
3. You followed me in. You tell me.
Stranger: Perhaps we can help each other.
Player:
1. Why? What do you want out of this place?
2. The door opened for me. You're the trespasser here. Why do I need you again?
Stranger:
[1 and 2.] I'm a scholar of Fremen social, cultural, and philosophical constructs both past and present. They... fascinate me. And I've studied the layout of this place--it's a deathtrap. Between the Maas Kharet trying to blow their way in and the structural damage left by the Sardaukar, the whole thing could come crashing down.
Player:
1. The moment demands cooperation. I have your back.
2. You go first.
3. Just stay out of my way.
Stranger:
[1.] Then I have yours. The name is Ari.
[2.] Why don't we go together? And you can call me Ari.
Player:
1. Who sent you? This all seems a little coincidental.
2. Who's coming after me if this all goes wrong, Ari?
3. Who do you work for, Ari?
Stranger:
[1, 2, and 3.] I serve no one. Let's say I'm something of a freebooting academic. And like you, my interests lie in discovering the true extent of the Fremen eradication. Or more to the point, discovering if that eradication even occurred.
Player:
1. If they're not dead where are they?
2. You're the great Fremen expert, where are they?
3. And where do your 'freebooter academic' senses figure they're at?
Stranger:
[1, 2, and 3.] South, maybe. Arrakis is a big place. And while we like to think we're at the center of all things, in relative terms, the sphere of Imperial influence is rather small. They could be anywhere beyond the Deep Desert or the Tanzerouft, as it is known to the Ichwan Bedwine.
Player:
1. So the Emperor is a liar?
2. Shaddam says they're dead. Do you say different?
3. Do you dispute the Imperial account?
Stranger:
[1, 2, and 3. ]Not entirely--I'm sure the Sardaukar massacred them by the thousands. This sietch bears evidence of that. But you're right, I don't believe the Imperial account. And I'm hoping the truth, or part of it, awaits us inside. If we survive.
Player: Goodbye.
Exploring the sietch with Ari:
Ari: This would have been the central water repository for the entire Sietch community. The Fremen water above my commodity. Feel the dampness in the air? The smell of wet stone. It reminds me of a special place... far away from here. To the Fremen, water is holy, water is life. Consider the stillsuit. A design that is both a testament to Fremen ingenuity and a metaphor for their almost religious determination to never waste a drop.
Ari: Did you encounter the Maas Kharet on your way here? They're some kind of cult. Worm worshippers based out of an abandoned power station far to the west. It's odd to see them this far east, but if they found this place... they'll be coming.
Ari: Down here, water discipline would finally be relaxed. Visitors could shed their dusty stillsuits and find refreshment.
Ari: Looks like there's no other way forward. Hope you brought your cutteray.
Ari: We'll probably find that a lot of corridors and sub-chambers are collapsed and impassible. Some would have been brought down by the Sardaukar to deny key areas and resources to any survivors. Others would have been brought down by the Fremen themselves, to crush the invading assault force or channel them into a kill-zone.
Ari: The Fremen were known to keep large nests of scorpions in order to harvest their venom for blades. That's a door I don't want to open.
Ari: Strange to think these corridors once echoed with the hopes and dreams of a lost multitude. Mothers, fathers, and children beyond count. And now, only silence. A silence this rock hasn't known in ten thousand years.
Ari: Don't touch the dead. It's standard Sardaukar doctrine to booby trap the bodies of their fallen enemy.
Ari: I believe the sietch power plant would probably be through there. And the air filtration systems beyond that. Many of these doors also led to exterior passages where the Waterkeepers would have maintained external dew-collectors and windtraps. An extensive lossless pipe system would deliver the gathered water to various catch basins and cisterns throughout the sietch. However, all water would eventually return to the main reservoir.
Ari: Barracks were through here, I believe. And likely an armory. It's probably for the best that this way is impassible.
The player completes a Fremen ecology lesson.
Ari: Congratulations, you share the knowledge of a Fremen preadolescent. Good work. This must be the way.
Ari: Now we come to the private living areas of the sietch proper. In a sietch community, the leader was known as the Naib. And the various Naibs were often jealous of each other and liked to measure their relative influence by the number of hearths they commanded within their sietch. Sietch Ta'lab is a smaller sietch hosting roughtly five hundred hearths. Sietch Tabr, by comparison, the community Pardot Kynes lived within, was said to host well over two thousand.
A blast is heard.
Ari: That's the Mass Kharet! I was hoping it would take them longer to arrive in force.
Ari: This must be the Cavern of Council, the cultural and political heart of any sietch community. It is here that sietch dwellers would gather to hear a traveling crier regale the community with news from beyond. And up there, upon that great terrace extending over the room, is the reason we're here today.
Ari: The place all Fremen end up at death, so they may return their water to the tribe. That script upon the platform reads, "the Water of the Tribe shall reveal the Path." And I believe "the Path" in question is related to the secret that has brought us both here. And while you are clearly no Fremen, you were able to pass their biometric locks without tampering or delay. Whatever lies beyond here, I believe your blood is the key.
Ari and the player character watch a solido projection, which directs them to find a safe.
Ari: Tricky, tricky Fremen. I believe more than half the technology in this room violates the first eleven Butlerian Proscriptions. Probably more. "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind." And while the Fremen were ingenious, this technology far exceeds their reach.
The player is scanned by the safe, which opens.
Stranger: Who are you really?
Player: What do you mean?
Stranger: This film is encrypted with a kind of protection I've only encountered in the restricted section at the Mnemosyne Library on Artisia. I believe that encryption was of Ixian origin.
Player: So how do we decode it?
The room shakes.
Stranger: That's not good... We need an Ixian decoder to access whatever is on this. And I have access to the resources of a Great House.
Player: How do I know you won't just run off with that thing?
Stranger: Don't be concerned. I'll reach out when I have more information. If we Atreides are known for anything, it's our stiff-necked honor. Besides, as a mystery, you rank right up there with this film. "Parting with people is a sadness; a place is only a place."
Epilogue: Wait for contact: Wait for Ari to find information about decoding the Minimic film.
Ari: Are you there? I've been trying to reach you for a while. I haven't managed to find an Ixian decoder for the minimic film anywhere. And that is unusual given the resources I have access to. It's as if they've been deliberately removed from the face of Arrakis... I'll keep looking, but I wanted to let you know. Keep your eyes open, maybe one of the towns has a black market trader who kept one in stock? I'll be in contact.
A communinet transmission heard at the beginning of the journey A Sign from Above
Ari: I have something for us but you must act quickly. An Ixian freighter lost contact with the spaceport at Arrakeen on its descent from the heighliner. I don't know what it's carrying - but it's a safe bet that the command deck will carry the Ixian Decoder technology we need. The problem is that Ixian tech is rare and valuable - so you'd better get there before the wreck is picked clean by scavengers. You'll know it by its name - the Hephaestus. I guess that makes you Prometheus in this story.
A communinet transmission after the player character escapes death within the wreck:
Ari: Are you there... Did you make it out? Kull wahad! I swear Gurney is going to go too far one day. My father will have to bring him to heel. My father. I should have mentioned who he was. Duke Leto Atreides. The Red Duke. Wait... you're not Harkonnen are you? Actually, don't tell me, it doesn't matter. Let's just focus on decoding this film. I... I can't meet you right now. My parents... Mostly my mother, are watching me very closely. They weren't impressed by my brush with the Maas Kharet. Keep the decoder safe and I'll meet you as soon as I can.
A communinet transmission after escaping the facility in the Journey Searching For Answers:
Ari: Hello? Are you there? So you made it out? Good. I want to hear all about it but... it's complicated. After Feyd-Rautha was spotted in Arrakeen, Mother and Father have put me on lock down. For different reasons, of course. Father thinks the Harkonnen want to abduct and force me to submit to the betrothal with Feyd. (MISSING LINE HERE, FILL IN LATER.) Speaking of 'the most wanted man in the Imperium', he's disappeared again, hasn't he? Did he say when he'll make contact? The man is frustratingly hard to pin down. He does love playing the dashing outlaw. I'll reach out again when I can find the time. Be safe.
A communinet transmission at the start of the Journey The Bloodline:
Finally... I've been trying to find a moment to contact you but mother is relentless. Luckily she is distracted by a social event so I can get out of the palace for a few hours. Meet me at the Salusan Bull in Arrakeen? Same table as last time.
Meeting at the Salusan Bull:
Ariste: Finally! You have no idea how frustrating it's been. Trying to find a moment to get away from my insufferable mother and... I'm sorry. You've just gotten here and I'm already venting at you. Bene Gesserit poise be damned, I'm just glad to see a friendly face. Now tell me what happened in Old Carthag.
Player:
1. I have to talk to you about Zantara.
2. It was terrible! Zantara--
3. I finally got my chance at Zantara--
Ariste: Shhh! I should have warned you. Father has tightened up security since your ...mutual friend was spotted here last. Don't mention him. Don't say his name - either of them. Thufir Hawat has eyes and ears everywhere.
Player:
1. Doesn't that mean they are listening to us right now?
2. But it's important! Zantara is--
3. It's important... but it can wait.
Ariste:
[1.] Almost certainly. Thufir Hawat even has men who can read lips in case of a cone of silence. But don't worry, Thufir has certainly judged you not to be a threat. Else you wouldn't be talking to me at all.
Ariste: Now tell me about Old Carthag. What did you find there?
Player: Describe the Bene Tleilax lab and your discovery of your origins
Ariste: The Bene Tleilax? But what could they possibly want here? And why this obsession with Finding the Fremen? And that recording we decoded. The Sleeper. Why would the Bene Tleilax send you after him?
Player:
1. The recording we found mentioned "a particular Fremen". Could it be this Stilgar?
2. Maybe the Sleeper escaped the Bene Tleilax? He seemed to be searching like us?
3. Doesn't it bother you that I am a ghola?
Ariste:
[1.] Stilgar was a leader among the Fremen. Duncan Idaho made diplomatic contact with him before we came to Arrakis. I remember that meeting. I thought Gurney was going to start a war when Stilgar spat at my father. It's a sign of respect amongst the Fremen. Duncan had to explain it. But Stilgar. A hard man. As hard as this planet. He disappeared with the rest of the Fremen. If he is alive, I wouldn't even know where to start.
[2.] And in return, they sent you after him? That might be the case. But it doesn't help much, does it? We still haven't found the Fremen. And we don't know where the sleeper went.
[3.] (continues to next line)
Ariste: I've always felt there was something special about you. But what about you? Does it bother you?
Player:
1. I don't remember anything about who I was. Hard to be bothered by it.
2. It bothers me to think I am wearing someone else's skin. How much of what I do is me, and what is them?
3. I haven't really had time to absorb it. Too busy surviving.
Ariste:
[1.]
[2.] I understand. It isn't so very different to me. How much of what I do is my mother and her training. I could have ended this war... The reality is that I am in no position to judge anybody.
[3.]
Ariste: Do you remember the last time we met here? And I saw somebody at the bar? His name is Feyd-Rautha, the na-baron of House Harkonnen. My betrothed. All I have to do is accept it. Marry the dashing nobleman. And all of this strife can end. My mother wants it. My father...well he will accept it. But I can't. I can't bring myself to do it. And it isn't because of Feyd-Rautha at all. He's actually very charming, in spite of what he did to that bull. It's because...I want to choose. So believe me when I say that I would never judge you. Because of who or what you were. I could end this war tomorrow. And I won't do it. That's who I am. And perhaps there is a way to figure out who you were. I have an idea but... no it's probably too dangerous.
Player:
1. I'd like to find out.
2. I'm not afraid of a little danger.
Ariste: You don't know what you're signing up for. This would mean going up against my...mother.
Player: Is she worse than a cannibal or a Face Dancer?
Ariste: So much worse. With luck, she'll never know. If I can sneak you into the archives beneath the residency, we can...search for your bloodline.
Player: That sounds vague. Search how?
Ariste: Best not to give too many details. We're being watched, remember? Bring this token to Liene. She's one of the guards on the barricade outside the residency. She'll bring you inside. And I'll find you there.
Player:
1. I'll bring your token to Liene.
2. I really hope you aren't setting an ambush for me.
Ariste:
[1.]
[2.] If I wanted to do that, I'd simply have the bar surrounded. Now, will you try?
Communinet transmissions during the mission Sneak through the Upper Archives, as Ariste attends a social event elsewhere:
Ariste: You need ot stay out of sight. The troopers in the upper archives are good people--don't hurt them.
Ariste: Get to the lower archives as quickly as you can. A lot of memories down here. Ten thousand years of recorded Arrakeen history. Mother had me spend hours down here studying. I used to carve answers into the tables to help me pass her tests. The letters I carved into those tables - pay attention. The Bene Gesserit have an archive of their own, buried in the lowest levels. The symbols I esd to carve are the order of the test.
Ariste: Wish me luck, I'm about to start mingling with the guests. Count Fenring is here--I can't abide that weasel of a man. Father says he is a deadly fighter--but he hides it beneath that mumbling veneer...
Ariste: Just be glad you aren't stuck at this banquet. One of the Bewts, a water shipper, is pawing at a banker's daughter. This could end in a duel if it escalates.
Ariste: Yous till moving? The staircase to the lower archives is guarded. You'll need to distract them. Just keep it simple--too much and they'll call for others to help them investigate.
Ariste: You might have trouble hearing my signal in the lower archives. The stone interferes.
Ariste: Down there, it's more like a catacomb than a library. THe history of ten thousand years, mouldering in the darkness. No human guards, but the glowglobes have motion sensors and automated alarms. Don't let them see you!
Ariste: If you get too deep in the archives, we might lose contact. Just keep moving forward and I'll join you as soon as I can slip away.
Ariste: Can you hear me? If you can, listen. Do not try to find the entrance to the bloodline archive. I will come to you. There is a solido projection and a deadly trap. Be careful. I'll slip away as soon as I can.
Ariste: The lights are sensors--
Ariste: The four stones.
Commentary from Ari as she follows the player into the Bene Gesserit vault:
Ariste: One thing you can say about the Bene Gesserit--they don't think the word 'forbidden' applies to them. Spectacular, isn't it? It's impressive that they managed to hide this down here for ten thousand years. Of course, I imagine the breeding matrix that they have at the chapterhouse is much more impressive. This one is simply a copy. Still, it has access to the complete bloodline registry of the entire Imperium. We can search for who you were.
Gallery
