[SPOILERS] The Bathers and events at Kasa -- next steps?

[big weird bird]

I've got to the point where the mill owner pieces together the events surrounding the murder of the Arch Sefra in Kasa. At this point I'm not sure about next steps. Do the Bathers want more objects from the Patterfoot gang, or what? Anyone have any insight?

[Gruff]

Good work getting that far. I've been stuck on the step where the Post Master suggests I hang around at the blockade for rumours.

I spoke to the kids at the blockade and the coroners, even went to the three blockades that are off of that map. I went back to the Bathers but their dialogue didn't change. I tried talking to the Padfeet kids in case that was the lead I'm meant to follow and bought a bag of Kasa rarities in case I needed to take proof back to the Bathers. Still no reaction. I've gone back to the blockade at day time and night and even spoken to every shepherd in the area but it hasn't moved the quest forward. I'm sick of making that trek. Am I missing something obvious?

[big weird bird]

Ah! The blockade is a bit of a red herring other than being where you learn that the Patterfoot kids are from Kasa. The first thing you need to bring back to the Bathers is the knot message that you can get from the Patterfoots. Then the second thing is the broken lute (or maybe you can bring them both at the same time, not sure, I did it in two trips). I wasn't able to log in during the daytime today to see if any of the other items from the kids trigger something else from the Bathers (it seems the Patterfoot kid only trades during the daytime).

[Gruff]

Those pesky kids didn't offer me a knot message! That would have stuck out. I was hunting on the ground around the blockade for knots even, I thought maybe I was looking for an S.O.S someone tried getting out.

Welp I'll have to go talk to the kids again. They definitely trade some nights, it was night when I bought the Kasa rarities. All three of them huddle under the shelter. Maybe they only sell the knot during the day? Thank you for the help, if I get any further I'll share

[big weird bird]

Gruff, glad I could help. It may be that I've reached a stage where the kids don't trade anymore, because one of them did mention that even the sewers they used to get in and out of Kasa were now blocked. So the next step might be something else altogether, maybe finding the Bathers' missing companion (who you'll learn about when you bring them the knot and the lute). Anyway, I'd love to hear more if you learn anything. Likewise I'll come back too and report any progress.

[Gruff]

the lute did the trick. I feel dirty about it but I server jumped until I found a Patterfoot selling the knot. I bought everything else for good measure lol. The lute was the only item that made the seller remark, they said "oh, you are interested in that?".

Anyway the Bathers didn't react to the knot, they went straight for the lute. I logged out and back in and left the map and returned to see if they would react to the knot but no luck. So Singer is the next clue I guess. I had to log out but my initial thoughts are the lute player at the Skald Lodge in the Burnings or a group of musicians I saw in the bottom southwest corner of Little Slip. Maybe both are wrong but that is what I'm following up later.

[Siloam]

If you don't mind me asking, where does this start? I've met these guys but they don't seem to lead anywhere.

[Gruff]

there is a post master that wanders around. She gives you a delivery quest and that is the very first step of the quest chain.

[Siloam]

Thank you!!

[Gruff]

Update: the bad tempered lute player at Skald Lodge has nothing to do with it.
Also the Padfoots had nothing new and there was no change around the blockade.

[Gruff]

Update for ijschaapman (or anyone that might care) very spoilery
so I found out several things. Mostly though I think the quest is bugged and currently badly designed.

I was on an alt and wanted to see how the quest would play out if I took the Bathers the knot first before the lute. Turns out there are two knots that Kasa children sell but to make it worse there are a few different sets of Kasa kids that appear at different times and they often don't sell a knot or the lute. I found this out by server hopping. The knot needed for the first hand in is a cobalt and something knot (I forget the second colour) that I bought off of a Petulant Child during daytime at the ravine. This cluster of kids has a dog with them (definitely isn't the iron tracking dog) and one is named Street Urchin that says something about seeing a body removed from the palace. No other child says this from any of the other groups.

The other knot I have bought from a different kid is called Wardens Knot and the Bathers don't seem to acknowledge or care about that one.

When I took the cobalt and whatever knot to the Bathers the Post Walker got me to give it to the Archivist. After talking to the Archivist the Farmwife had a speech bubble above her saying she has an announcement to make. When I talked to her she solved the whole thing and knew all about Singer despite me not having brought them the lute yet. I hadn't even bought it from the kids to make sure it couldn't effect the quest somehow from my pack.

So in brief, the Farmwife says Singer must have witnessed the death of the Arch Sefra during a ritual that involved Grandmaster Grahma and a servant girl. Grahma claims the servant girl was responsible for the death of the Sefra so Grahma killed her. The servant girls body is being kept at old Kasa graveyard and the Coroners are investigating. Midwife mentions a clue in the Bathers possession, a message from Singer that he tried sending out of the city via birds, that I'm assuming the player character brings them after the lute to resolve that part of the quest.

Farmwife clearly should not be solving the mystery at this point and the quest is broken with things out of order. On my alt I found a Singers Rosary knot randomly via a glimmer but I can't remember where.....I know I have found similar Singers Rosaries on other alts without having unlocked the Bathers. They seem to just be randomly scattered across the world.

I suspect this is an item needed to hand in after the lute stage but the Bathers aren't reacting to it currently so either it isn't the necessary item and there is a message from Singer to be found or bought somewhere or the quest is broken.

This has all left a bad taste in my mouth. Other parts of the game are buggy but with some patience work as intended eventually. This quest is a mess where certain elements waste the players time. It works ok up until the Kasa children but then numerous variables mean that the player may only be given the option to purchase the right items after they have revisited the children numerous times.

It took me seven server hops to eventually find the right knot. Most players, like me originally, are going to think they are looking in the wrong place after not seeing a logical quest item the first time they visit the kids. The kids do mention they might have other items to sell later but having it take up to seven visits for the right item to appear is crazy. Before I saw this Steam post, after two visits when I bought the Kasa specialties bag that the Bathers didn't react to I thought buying things from the kids was a dead end. It just isn't intuitive to keep going back for an item the player doesn't know exists.

Then Farmwife solving it early is clearly broken. At this point I feel like I might just step away from the game and wait a few months then come back. I understand it is Early Access but having the major story quest chain be a time wasting buggy mess makes me wary of what else in the game is currently unresolvable and will just end with me chasing my tail.

Update: I've kept persevering. There is a feather that can be bought from the kids that the Bathers react to. Now I am thinking it might be the case that you just have to keep buying things from the kids until the Bathers finally move out of their default text where they keep stating their name.

[big weird bird]

Thanks Gruff for the interesting info! I've been coming to the same conclusion about the bugginess of it all, because I went back to read the Farmwife's long spiel and it sank in that she mentions a ton of evidence that I hadn't even collected yet (like the rosary and the feather you mentioned; I gather the feather is from the slain messenger bird). I'll check out those two items, but like you said, the Farmwife's revelation is definitely bugged and coming way too early in the chain of events.

I agree with you that the randomness makes some of this stuff quite frustrating, but I have to say that I did enjoy the feeling of success when I initially and on a mere hunch brought the Bathers the blue and marble knot and then the broken lute. The story's intriguing, and figuring things out feels worthwhile, but hopefully the devs can adjust the frustration factor a bit. For me in addition to the random vendor inventories, one of the most frustrating things is trying to get the NPCs to deliver the relevent dialogue instead of their generic spiels... I wish they could 'remember' that they've already introduced themselves to you and wouldn't repeat that stuff. Maybe they could somehow give us an option to review a dialogue that we've already read.

Anyway, that's getting into completely different territory. I'll also keep persevering with the Kasa/Bathers story. Haven't seen any of the Singer's rosaries, so I will be keeping an eye out for those.

[Gruff]

I was really salty earlier lol. Having calmed down I think if the devs just have the knot always be available for purchase from the Kasa kids that would be enough to make that part of the quest flow better. I did eventually have the idea to buy something from the kids when I was first trying to solve the quest but the right items weren't available so I bought a wrong one and when the Bathers didn't react I assumed the kids were a dead end.

When the Bathers get the knot it would be way more helpful if afterwards their text changed to something along the lines of "That was an interesting discovery, I wonder what else those children might find" rather than default introductions again.

[Solstius]

Sorry I'm abit lost here. I've yet to do this quest line? Who are the Bathers? Is it like another name to describe an already named group? Also, just out of curiosity, how many of these types of long series of quests have been found?

[big weird bird]

Solstius, the Bathers are a group that meets at night at the little bathing pavilion west of the Kuro Orchard mill. But the whole quest line starts during the daytime, when the 'friendly post warden' (Vastila) who wanders on the road in the Orchard and the Western Harvest Route, gives you a delivery quest. It's more or less the main story so far (I guess?) since it involves the events that caused the closure of Kasa.

As for other longer quest lines, I guess the Magic Arrows (the speed mystics) might count? The only other one I know of with certainty is the chain of events involving the Myr lighthouse and the Sleeper... but I'm still trying to figure how to progress that one. I feel like there might be quest lines having to do with the chest on the wrecked ship on the South West Coast and the goings-on in Mountain's Secret, but I haven't been able to figure out how to get those started.

[Solstius]

Originally posted by ijschaapman:

Solstius, the Bathers are a group that meets at night at the little bathing pavilion west of the Kuro Orchard mill. But the whole quest line starts during the daytime, when the 'friendly post warden' (Vastila) who wanders on the road in the Orchard and the Western Harvest Route, gives you a delivery quest. It's more or less the main story so far (I guess?) since it involves the events that caused the closure of Kasa.

As for other longer quest lines, I guess the Magic Arrows (the speed mystics) might count? The only other one I know of with certainty is the chain of events involving the Myr lighthouse and the Sleeper... but I'm still trying to figure how to progress that one. I feel like there might be quest lines having to do with the chest on the wrecked ship on the South West Coast and the goings-on in Mountain's Secret, but I haven't been able to figure out how to get those started.

Oh. So by going along with that, I guess I did start it. The problem is that I gave him his Armwear after I passed on that game move he did via message but after that, nothing. Is the quest glitched or am I missing something here?