New Content Discussion [SPOILER]

[Karmondia]

Okay, so this is going to sound crazy, but here is my conspiracy theory:

Spoiler: What if Ira is...

What if Ira is secretly Aridon? Okay, okay, here me out. There are clues:
1. Ira talks about her past, how she killed her brother, because there were... disagreements in her family, and she thought he was dangerous. Where have I heard that before? For a time she thought she did the right thing, but now she regrets it. She knows there is no redemption for what she has done, and wishes they could have talked it out. This is basically Aridon's story, with some things omitted.
2. She knows a lot about the undead. How can she know this much about the undead factions? Why does she keep insisting, that the rebellious undead have to be destroyed? Of course Gardon doesn't know, that the undead are having a civil war, so it's not suspicious to him, but it is to me.
3. They have similar abilities! Raise Dead, and Lightning Bolt to be exact.
4. Ira backwards is Ari... you know, Aridon.

This was a good mission, the side objectives were very out of the way, but that's fine. It was a bit easy, but I think it's difficult to balance a mission like this, so that neither Whitefield nor the Royal Army gets overwhelmed easily. I hope Catherine can help Gardon overcome his alcoholism, and the ghosts that haunt him. Also, at the end, it says we can talk to Zed, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I wonder what's going to happen, if Gardon meets "Theodor"? Will Gardon take the throne? I can't wait to see what happens next!

 

[krawg]

while i still on the 2d gardon mission i have to say brother the first one is great the 2d tho ai are winning alone might need a little nerf its going to end in 15 mns without me moving a muscle

 

[U.05]

while i still on the 2d gardon mission i have to say brother the first one is great the 2d tho ai are winning alone might need a little nerf its going to end in 15 mns without me moving a muscle

yeah i barely managed to complete the side quests before my allies finished the map lol.

 

[Scamator_crowned]

aC

Okay, so this is going to sound crazy, but here is my conspiracy theory:

Spoiler: What if Ira is...

What if Ira is secretly Aridon? Okay, okay, here me out. There are clues:
1. Ira talks about her past, how she killed her brother, because there were... disagreements in her family, and she thought he was dangerous. Where have I heard that before? For a time she thought she did the right thing, but now she regrets it. She knows there is no redemption for what she has done, and wishes they could have talked it out. This is basically Aridon's story, with some things omitted.
2. She knows a lot about the undead. How can she know this much about the undead factions? Why does she keep insisting, that the rebellious undead have to be destroyed? Of course Gardon doesn't know, that the undead are having a civil war, so it's not suspicious to him, but it is to me.
3. They have similar abilities! Raise Dead, and Lightning Bolt to be exact.
4. Ira backwards is Ari... you know, Aridon.

This was a good mission, the side objectives were very out of the way, but that's fine. It was a bit easy, but I think it's difficult to balance a mission like this, so that neither Whitefield nor the Royal Army gets overwhelmed easily. I hope Catherine can help Gardon overcome his alcoholism, and the ghosts that haunt him. Also, at the end, it says we can talk to Zed, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I wonder what's going to happen, if Gardon meets "Theodor"? Will Gardon take the throne? I can't wait to see what happens next!

Actually not a bad theory, but she could very well be the demon god as well. If I am not mistaken, Aridon tricked the demon god into killing the dark one, but probably not, since I can't see Aridon or the demon god disguising themself as a woman to get close to Gardon, since Aridon would take the first chance to kill him...and while the demon god would have probably had something to gain from sticking close to Gardon, i think it would be more likly that if the demon god its alive, he would be in the void, trying to comprehand what happend to his race

 

[krawg]

hey shar during the talking scene at the end in the 2nd mission of bloodclaw's path it says i can talk to zed but he is not present

 

[Shar Dundred]

Yeah, Zed apparently went to find a tree outside the city.
He will be back with the update.

 

[Scamator_crowned]

Yeah, Zed apparently went to find a tree outside the city.
He will be back with the update.

Zed such an rebel, also i must ask, how many more ghosts its Gardon going to get? cause soon he's going to go real crazy, i am going to draw an guess and say at least Aveen its going to show up at least, but i dont think Edward and the other will, anways i enjoyed the latest chapter, specialy the new units of the Imperial army, also i was wondering, why don't u use the custom model for the black legion catapult by johnwar? i would think it would fit more with the zayanor army then the standart one

 

[Shar Dundred]

also i must ask, how many more ghosts its Gardon going to get? cause soon he's going to go real crazy, i am going to draw an guess and say at least Aveen its going to show up at least, but i dont think Edward and the other will

Maybe Ira can help with that. If not... well, there are still some ghosts missing, aren't there?

also i was wondering, why don't u use the custom model for the black legion catapult by johnwar? i would think it would fit more with the zayanor army then the standart one

I never felt like giving the Ironfist their own catapult - as in with different stats and whatnot - and didn't want to give them
a new model just to look different (also something about tech trees); but with how tech trees have evolved in Legacy,
I might decide to change it in the future.

 

[g4ndalf]

Okay, so this is going to sound crazy, but here is my conspiracy theory:

Spoiler: What if Ira is...

What if Ira is secretly Aridon? Okay, okay, here me out. There are clues:
1. Ira talks about her past, how she killed her brother, because there were... disagreements in her family, and she thought he was dangerous. Where have I heard that before? For a time she thought she did the right thing, but now she regrets it. She knows there is no redemption for what she has done, and wishes they could have talked it out. This is basically Aridon's story, with some things omitted.
2. She knows a lot about the undead. How can she know this much about the undead factions? Why does she keep insisting, that the rebellious undead have to be destroyed? Of course Gardon doesn't know, that the undead are having a civil war, so it's not suspicious to him, but it is to me.
3. They have similar abilities! Raise Dead, and Lightning Bolt to be exact.
4. Ira backwards is Ari... you know, Aridon.

This was a good mission, the side objectives were very out of the way, but that's fine. It was a bit easy, but I think it's difficult to balance a mission like this, so that neither Whitefield nor the Royal Army gets overwhelmed easily. I hope Catherine can help Gardon overcome his alcoholism, and the ghosts that haunt him. Also, at the end, it says we can talk to Zed, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I wonder what's going to happen, if Gardon meets "Theodor"? Will Gardon take the throne? I can't wait to see what happens next!

Honestly? this theory isn't too far fetched, Ira claims to see the future and she is a necromancer and only one other character relates to this traits.
Not to mention her obsession with the undead rogues specifically.
I was already comparing the two since mission 1 and with your theory it just solidify it even more.

 

[Jorgonson]

Man the dramatic irony just continues to heap on huh? Not only do we know that Aridon is trying to destroy the world in the background we now get Gardon launching a daring raid that we basically know is going to fail. I feel like there's no way that Tregakh could actually be killed here. I get the sense he's too powerful, and if not would almost certainly be able to escape the attack on the capital. Right now The Circle of Mages is kind of throwing tbh, this is literally a golden opportunity for them that they'll probably miss because Cora didn't stay in Gardon's good graces. Then again who knows, maybe Cora could show up and be the really powerful mage needed to open the portal if Birram isn't available (though Ira could probably just do it).

Gameplaywise the new mission was pretty good, realistically the war between Zyainor and Kerrel should be pretty one sided (that's the impression I got at least from the short stories and previous missions) so it makes sense to have a mission that reflects that.

 

[Scamator_crowned]

Man the dramatic irony just continues to heap on huh? Not only do we know that Aridon is trying to destroy the world in the background we now get Gardon launching a daring raid that we basically know is going to fail. I feel like there's no way that Tregakh could actually be killed here. I get the sense he's too powerful, and if not would almost certainly be able to escape the attack on the capital. Right now The Circle of Mages is kind of throwing tbh, this is literally a golden opportunity for them that they'll probably miss because Cora didn't stay in Gardon's good graces. Then again who knows, maybe Cora could show up and be the really powerful mage needed to open the portal if Birram isn't available (though Ira could probably just do it).

Gameplaywise the new mission was pretty good, realistically the war between Zyainor and Kerrel should be pretty one sided (that's the impression I got at least from the short stories and previous missions) so it makes sense to have a mission that reflects that.

I somehow doubt that Gardon invasion its going to fail, Brain will sure come to bail him out, plus this its the path of bloodclaw, kind of akward if Gardon loses

 

[Jorgonson]

I somehow doubt that Gardon invasion its going to fail, Brain will sure come to bail him out, plus this its the path of bloodclaw, kind of akward if Gardon loses

I don't think he's going to die or anything lol, I just don't think they'll be able to kill Tregakh with a straightforward plan. I kind of envisioned an invasion that breaches the throne room, at which point Gardon's magic allows him to realize that the Emperor has been replaced by Tregakh and has to call the attack off as he probably lacks the power/resources to kill a god at the moment. That being said, Shar Dundred liked your post and not mine, which of course should be heavily read into as a spoiler for how the plot will develop. I suppose Gardon might be able to reveal Tregakh, or force him to abandon his position as emperor, which could result in the coup attempt succeeding if Rodan's nobles back Gardon with some concessions.

 

[Shar Dundred]

That being said, Shar Dundred liked your post and not mine, which of course should be heavily read into as a spoiler for how the plot will develop.

Lawl no.
I don't use reactions (or lack thereof) to communicate or spoiler future story developments.

 

[U.05]

I'm not sure if someone already mentioned this in the thread or if it was addressed in an update, but I think the Imperial Army needs its own cinematic. To me, their arrival felt too sudden like, "Yeah, the Imperials are here, go kill them."
A bit of buildup would help, maybe a guard/Whitefield mentioning to Gardon that there are unknown soldiers nearby, at least. They aren’t just some random faction or regiment, after all.

 

[gaurdian of the flame]

I think the elves and general whitefield forces needs to be nerved a bit because they destroyed the imperial army base while I was doing the side quests and I couldn't even finish the undead side quest because they destroyed the base before I even managed to reach the undead, and I literally didn't even need to move a finger against the imperial army base

 

[U.05]

I think the elves and general whitefield forces needs to be nerved a bit because they destroyed the imperial army base while I was doing the side quests and I couldn't even finish the undead side quest because they destroyed the base before I even managed to reach the undead, and I literally didn't even need to move a finger against the imperial army base

did you play on the recent update? i think it had nerfed your allies.

 

[gaurdian of the flame]

I'm not sure if someone already mentioned this in the thread or if it was addressed in an update, but I think the Imperial Army needs its own cinematic. To me, their appearance felt too sudden—like, "Yeah, the Imperials are here, go kill them."
A bit of buildup would help, maybe a guard/Whitefield mentioning to Gardon that there are unknown soldiers nearby, at least. They aren’t just some random faction or regiment, after all.

I think it feels that way because maybe they just landed in or near the city and no one knew about their arrival before it's too late

 

[U.05]

I think it feels that way because maybe they just landed in or near the city and no one knew about their arrival before it's too late

yeah that's why i think a cinematic after we destroy the royal kingdom castle could help, like we had for the Scarec nexus during risen resistance in the true story.

 

[gaurdian of the flame]

did you play on the recent update? i think it had nerfed your allies.

No I didn't but shar didn't say anything about nerfing our allies in the update description, he just said that he add some new production buildings for the enemy and buffed their defense, which could work I think

 

[DD Mikasa]

Haven't been able to play the new version yet due to real life but judging from the video Shar posted.

Therapy Direwolf Zed when?

 

[Nicolas Warchief]

What if Ira is secretly Aridon? Okay, okay, here me out. There are clues:
1. Ira talks about her past, how she killed her brother, because there were... disagreements in her family, and she thought he was dangerous. Where have I heard that before? For a time she thought she did the right thing, but now she regrets it. She knows there is no redemption for what she has done, and wishes they could have talked it out. This is basically Aridon's story, with some things omitted.
2. She knows a lot about the undead. How can she know this much about the undead factions? Why does she keep insisting, that the rebellious undead have to be destroyed? Of course Gardon doesn't know, that the undead are having a civil war, so it's not suspicious to him, but it is to me.
3. They have similar abilities! Raise Dead, and Lightning Bolt to be exact.
4. Ira backwards is Ari... you know, Aridon.

Is a pleausable theory, but Aridon said that no more games, no more intrigues would be played, he will just launch his great war, i think that he doesn't need to manipulate everyone like Kerrel and Ziyanoir to destroy them, even without the nexus he has power enough to do that. And, Aridon doesn't want the death of undead rebells he want to control them again because they are more useful in the upcoming war (And kill them after!)

One that i thought that could be Ira is Ebira and i will not elaborate i will let the time cook!

 

[krawg]

hi shar our Ai is still very powerfull they busted the imperial army and the royal army once again without me doing a thing dont know if this is intended afterall this is arkain we expect some hardship we expect "suffering" im playig on hard by the way maybe that is why our allies are this powerfull

 

[DD Mikasa]

Oh boy this one was a wonderfull chapter!

Lemme start with the gamepla aspect of the game. The Friendly AI seems powerfull, while they did not steamroll the enemies entierly they still slowly grinded them down, maybe the layout of the map might have something to do with this, since when both the Kerrel and the imperial armies leave their bases from different paths they rarely concentrate their force, while Whitefield and the boys blob up and run down anything in their path.

I love what you have done with the thematic feeling of the empire. This Roman-esq vibe they give off seems very fitting of an empire such as Rodan.


As for the lore implications this chapter really shifted my PoV on the whole matter. While beforehand i was aboslutley sure that it were the sisters that instigated the assasination of Garan (to the detrament of their own half-sister) this totally out of nowhere invasion from the empire amidst a war between Kerrel and Zyainor makes it seem like Largoth might have been the culprit after all (much to my dismay).

However hear me out there is still a posibility that the sisters might be the ones doing all this, after all they are Imperial they might still have a network of connections back home and might have tipped the empire off that there was a war going on between a weak Kerrel (in a succession crisis) and Zyainor the premier power in Arkain, hell Cat being as good as she is in subterfuge might be invovled with the sisters (i am going full tinfoil hat now so dont judge me to harshly) this still would "justify" their agenda of getting rid of the three remaning brothers playing God.

But if i have to lay of the copium tank, chances are that Largoth is the main factor behind this.


Cat seems surprisingly competent, sharp, witty and isn't afraid of anything and for one it does not seem like she is playing any tricks hell i might say that she still has a soft spot for Gardon from the way she spoke to him, harshly but told him what he needed to hear (his schizophrenia is getting worse and worse after all), if anyone with a better grasp on the story lore aspect of arkain can tell me, was Lerring her husband, she clearly states that Gardon killed him but if i remember correctly Lerring was married to a daughter of a Imperial court noble (but said daughter was an only child).

 

[Shar Dundred]

if anyone with a better grasp on the story lore aspect of arkain can tell me, was Lerring her husband, she clearly states that Gardon killed him but if i remember correctly Lerring was married to a daughter of a Imperial court noble

She was married to Lerrig.
I don't recall having claimed that his wife was an only-child.
Lerrig being married to a daughter of Renald however has been established since the Second Book era. Her name was revealed later as well.

I have also written a short story for her before the chapter was released.
It just needs some polish.

 

[DD Mikasa]

She was married to Lerrig.
I don't recall having claimed that his wife was an only-child.
Lerrig being married to a daughter of Renald however has been established since the Second Book era. Her name was revealed later as well.

I have also written a short story for her before the chapter was released.
It just needs some polish

Lerrig's character sheet states he was married to an only child, at least way back when i last checked it.

Catherine and Lerrig sure make up a weird combo.

 

[gaurdian of the flame]

She was married to Lerrig.
I don't recall having claimed that his wife was an only-child.
Lerrig being married to a daughter of Renald however has been established since the Second Book era. Her name was revealed later as well.

I think van durce son flavius hinted that larrig was married to Catherine when he said that gardon became a kin slayer when he killed larrig that if I remember correctly

 

[Shar Dundred]

Lerrig's character sheet states he was married to an only child, at least way back when i last checked it.

Interesting. I must have misread that as "oldest" when I updated the character sheets pre True Story. Or just outright missed it.
Thanks for pointing that out, I have fixed it.

 

[Navy45]

Played the latest chapter :

On the gameplay side of things :

• The AI ally is indeed extremely powerful. They destroyed the royal castle and the imperial base without any assistance (I just had to protect Whitefield's base from the initial imperial attack, but he would have won his offensive regardless). I don't have a big problem with the mission being easy. But this makes getting the secondary objectives extremely difficult if you choose to do so. Not because defending is hard, but because if you invest too much time into defending your base or your ally's, they will win the mission before you have time to do anything. In the end, the only way I found to complete the secondary objectives was to completely abandon my base after training some units and rushing the elemental and the undead before Whitefield wipes out the imperials. I think his offensive should probably be toned down a bit, and maybe he should get some additional defenses at home. The imperials could also use some much stronger defenses so that they can only be broken by an attack of both your forces and Whitefield's.

On the story :

• So the imperial navy brought its entire armada to shore, disembarked across the entire western coast of Arkain, and no one spotted them early enough to warn Guardon before they're in front of him. Someone's gonna get fired for this (if they're lucky)
• So Catherine is very reasonable for someone in her position. Then again, she had to be to be the only one fully going into politics in a family of warriors. Though I remain unconvinced on how uninterested she sounds about revenge. I am ready to believe that the empire is her first priority, but she seems too smart not to have thought about ways to accomplish both goals. If Guardon tries to claim the imperial throne, he might find there's a suspiciously prepared insurgency ready to take it off him.
• This attack on the Throne feels like it won't achieve anything good. Even if it somehow works and Gardon is able to at least get Trekagh off the throne (which is one hell of a big if, I doubt he's defenceless, or only has human forces), there's no garanty it will drive out the expedition sent to Arkain. Trekagh might rely on magic, but I'm sure he also used some good old propaganda, and that won't go away even if he does. Rather than retreating, they might just double down on punishing the "emperor's murderer". And I doubt claiming the title of emperor would reduce Gardon's enemies.
• Now that I think about it, is Trekagh even still on Rodan ? Apart from the official reasons, this expedition is likely aimed at attacking Aridon and Brian (if only because they're likely the only ones Trekagh aknowledges as real threats). I doubt Trekagh would just send men and not go himself, that's too personal for that. I think it's likely he's among the expedition and that his servants are handling the empire. If I remember correctly, the short story stated that the expedition's leader was noticeably less fanatical than the rest. That would seem like a pretty big oversight by Trekagh... unless he is Trekagh himself. If it's the case, Guardon's attack might succeed and reveal the whole thing, leaving the expedition still under Trekagh's control but stranded from the Rodan mainland.

Lerrig's character sheet states he was married to an only child, at least way back when i last checked it.

Catherine and Lerrig sure make up a weird combo.

I just checked, it still states he's married to an only child. Probably a remnant from a much earlier draft, since him marrying into the van durce been established some time ago if I remember correctly.
I don't think they make such a bad combo. While Lerrig was always quite... flawed on the battlefield, he's always seemed pretty diplomatically savvy. I mean, he somehow convinced the king of Salria, the kingdom which barely contributed to the war against the demons due to the... situation with the centaurs, to send an entire phalanx before Lor had even fallen. That always seemed like a big achievement to me.

 

[Shar Dundred]

I just checked, it still states he's married to an only child.

Edited while you wrote this message.

 

[DD Mikasa]

Interesting. I must have misread that as "oldest" when I updated the character sheets pre True Story. Or just outright missed it.
Thanks for pointing that out, I have fixed it.

Nothing bossmon! Glad i could have been of any help.

 

[Apprentice Darkmoon]

So we have all children of Bloodclaw in the same place? Madness.
Apart of Ira, the girl with Hotar is Claire's daughter, right? And the man with the half elves is the former tormentor of Parlea if I'm not mistaked.
Let's see how they get along...

 

[Mvicio]

It seems Vail is missing for the family photo

 

[Apprentice Darkmoon]

It seems Vail is missing for the family photo

And Larine as well.

 

[Navy45]

Yeah ! The Heirs of Zyainor unite ! Even Garan is there technically... as a hallucination in Gardon's mind, but it counts ! Now let's all thrust them into a portal into the empire's mainland ! I'm sur nothing wrong will happen ! (I'm kidding, they still need to get the empire's portal scrolls and I doubt Gardon would let in his family with him)

Now I'm even more worried about Catherine. After all, Gardon killed a lot of her family, so even if she doesn't want to kill him because he's necessary for the empire... she has the opportunity to get even.

 

[Shar Dundred]

Even Garan is there technically... as a hallucination in Gardon's mind, but it counts !

Damn, you actually noticed the Garan I hid in there!

 

[Scamator_crowned]

I wonder who the dude between the elf princess is. Also, I can't wait for the family reunion.

 

[Shar Dundred]

Reading the short stories Heirs of Zyainor Vol I & Vol II may not be the worst idea to "prepare" for the upcoming chapter.

 

[Scamator_crowned]

Reading the short stories Heirs of Zyainor Vol I & Vol II may not be the worst idea to "prepare" for the upcoming chapter.

Something tell me u plan something "evil", i could totally be wrong however

 

[Shar Dundred]

Evil? Me?

 

[krawg]

I wonder who the dude between the elf princess is. Also, I can't wait for the family reunion.

that my friend would be 'tojaz ' nice models btw gardon's son by far the best

 

[Shar Dundred]

gardon's son by far the best

No argument from me, @Rhapsodie did a great job with that one!

 

[Navy45]

Sorry, a bit off topic, but, since Tojaz was mentionned, I just remembered a question I had about the previous level.

When we mention the Thunderlord when speaking with Ira after winning, Gardon wonders why it keeps following them and says "Is it really just because of the order of Lightning ?" and Ira says it's obvious since it complains about what was taken from it.

Shouldn't it be the order of Air ? Or is that meant to imply something happened with the revival of the order of lightning Birram offered to Taray in Isalmur ?

By the way I was reading through the heirs of Zyainor short stories and Tojaz mentions without Taray's offer, he would have had to join the army or another order within Zyainor. So did Zyainor ressurect the destroyed orders that existed on its territory(like the order of Earth, or the order of Frost), or did they just keep the order of water Cora took over and recreate the order of lightning, since he promised Taray ?

 

[Shar Dundred]

When we mention the Thunderlord when speaking with Ira after winning, Gardon wonders why it keeps following them and says "Is it really just because of the order of Lightning ?" and Ira says it's obvious since it complains about what was taken from it.

Shouldn't it be the order of Air ? Or is that meant to imply something happened with the revival of the order of lightning Birram offered to Taray in Isalmur ?

Not a typo. The implication here is that the order of the Reshikhan's element is now "enslaved" by Zyainor.

By the way I was reading through the heirs of Zyainor short stories and Tojaz mentions without Taray's offer, he would have had to join the army or another order within Zyainor. So did Zyainor ressurect the destroyed orders that existed on its territory(like the order of Earth, or the order of Frost), or did he just keep the order of water and recreate the order of lightning ?

This refers to the new orders that Zyainor has set up, such as the Order of the Black Fist or the Guardians of the Grave.
Zyainor made no attempt to re-create any of the fallen mage orders.

 

[Scamator_crowned]

Not a typo. The implication here is that the order of the Reshikhan's element is now "enslaved" by Zyainor.

This refers to the new orders that Zyainor has set up, such as the Order of the Black Fist or the Guardians of the Grave.
Zyainor made no attempt to re-create any of the fallen mage orders.

Interesting, so basically the lighting lord is salty that his element is used in service of Zyanor. Did the original elemental orders do some kind of deal with the elemental lords? Since otherwise I don't see how Gardon enslaved the order of lighting. Actually, Progaderas the smoking didn't seem to care too much about his order. Hope we will get to see the other elementals lords in the future

 

[Shar Dundred]

Hope we will get to see the other elementals lords in the future

Considering it took 11 years until you saw a second one, don't hold your breath just yet.

 

[Scamator_crowned]

Considering it took 11 years until you saw a second one, don't hold your breath just yet.

I am going to be fair with you; I didn't even realize other elemental lords could have existed other than the Firelord we use as a punching bag., speaking of good old Progaderas the Punching bag, wonder if we will have the chance to beat him again during this path

 

[Kuras2003]

imagine if they allied and we would need to fight 2 of them at the same time

 

[Nicolas Warchief]

Considering it took 11 years until you saw a second one, don't hold your breath just yet.

A portrait of Shar Dundred when the whole project of Arkain be finished:

 

[Mochi King]

Just a quick question, in the Bloodclaw/Dragon Path, will we be able to play other major characters like the family (Hotar, Zurae) or the generals (Zoia, Zora)? Though it will mainly center around Gardon and Ira, I really wanna see and play more new characters, and what they've been up to. Playing Blackguard, Ca'Rach, Dragon Cult, Wolf Regiment, and even the Zyaise Navy would also seem really fun.

 

[Shar Dundred]

It looks like the dialogue/camp section in Bloodclaw Three will be preeeetty dialogue heavy (for those who want to read everything)
Moreso than the one in Prelude One.
This is mostly the result of a number of new characters showing up.
Like always, it will be completely optional/you can only read what you are interested in.

The next mission (Bloodclaw Four) probably won't have any though.