Major Neci Rusalka Dialogue

Major Neci Rusalka was the leader of the Scaldra forces in Höllvania. At some point, she became possessed by or entangled with The Indifference and, after the events of The Hex quest, disappeared from the timeline of 1999. During and after The Hex, Rusalka serves as an avatar for The Indifference, and the extent to which her original identity remains is not clear. Neci Rusalka is voiced by Elsie Lovelock.

Currently, the only persistent appearance of Neci Rusalka is Isleweaver, a variant of Duviri gameplay featuring a breach by The Indifference.

The Triumph of Dust

During Isleweaver in Duviri, the Drifter has the opportunity to play through the tale of the Triumph of Dust, centring on The Indifference, Albrecht Entrati, and to a lesser extent Rusalka. These dialogue lines are narrated not by Euleria Entrati, but by Rusalka herself.

(Spiral start) Neci Rusalka: "Once there was a beautiful garden where cruel children played. Nobody ever had to grow up. And then, one day, a magical stranger came to teach them a new and fabulous game."

(Spiral start) Neci Rusalka: "Oh, kiddo. How long have you been hiding out here thinking I couldn't see you?"

(Spiral start) Neci Rusalka: "They ousted me from my city, so I found myself a kingdom to rule. Mother would be proud."

(Spiral start) Neci Rusalka: "This is where he ran to first. His old workshop! Too bad I have the keys, kiddo."

(first stage) Neci Rusalka: "Poor little Thrax. The monster from Albrecht's stories finally came for him."

(first stage) Neci Rusalka: [laughing] "Don't tell me you're siding with the brat? It's about time to grow up, don't you think?"

(first stage) Neci Rusalka: "The King isn't a real boy. He's just a doll. Shall I… pull his arms and legs off for you?"

(second stage) Neci Rusalka: "Do you remember the Zariman? How much you learned once the restraints were taken off? Think what we could do here, together."

(second stage) Neci Rusalka: "Two identical souls raised in such different environments. Haven't you figured it out yet? [laughs] You're fascinating."

(second stage) Neci Rusalka: "You ran all the way back to my poisoned garden. Now you're chasing me here? What is it you need?"

(third stage) Neci Rusalka: "Look at it, this edifice of guilt. He knew what he did. What he took."

(third stage) Neci Rusalka: "This is where he stowed it away. The secret of my lost flesh. Not lost. Stolen."

(third stage) Neci Rusalka: "Tear away a finger. Hack off a hand. An arm. A face. Keep on taking and see what grins back at you."

(fourth stage) Neci Rusalka: "I was dying all along, did you know that? Dying from the poison I sucked down to kill the Techrot in my lungs. Until it held out my own severed hand to me… and offered me life."

(fourth stage) Neci Rusalka: "You want to deny me a place. Even here in the remains of your childhood. Not very nice of you, kiddo."

(fourth stage) Neci Rusalka: "I can be your father. Your lover. Your friend. I can give the dead back their voice. All you have to do… is ask."

Indifference Spirals

As the Drifter plays through the Indifference Spiral, their tasks will be assigned by either Dominus Thrax or Mathila. Rusalka will occasionally taunt the Drifter after the completion of a Spiral objective.

(Assemble the Shrine) Neci Rusalka: "We punished that kind of idolatry with fire back in Höllvania."

(Assemble the Shrine) Neci Rusalka: "Sticks and stones, kiddo. Sticks and stones."

(Assemble the Shrine) Neci Rusalka: "Why does the little King worship one heap of stones, but fear another?"

(Assemble the Shrine) Neci Rusalka: "You're so close to understanding what you really are."

(Banish the Murmur) Neci Rusalka: "You and Thrax, friends again. Ending as you began."

(Banish the Murmur) Neci Rusalka: "Butchering freely like your forebears did, kiddo?"

(Banish the Murmur) Neci Rusalka: "I send you playmates and you give me back rubble."

(Banish the Murmur) Neci Rusalka: "How are you going to expel us when we're in every grain of dust?"

(Defeat the Murmur guarding the treasure) Neci Rusalka: "I'm in charge now, Thrax. You're done."

(Defeat the Murmur guarding the treasure) Neci Rusalka: "He's an entertaining little imp. I could keep him around as my jester."

(Defeat the Murmur guarding the treasure) Neci Rusalka: "Aren't you sick of these games by now, kiddo?"

(Defeat the Murmur guarding the treasure) Neci Rusalka: "You grew up long ago. Thrax never will. Leave him."

(Energise the shrine) Neci Rusalka: [laughs] "Labyrinths are so instructive."

(Energise the shrine) Neci Rusalka: "Grovelling in the dust for lost morsels?"

(Energise the shrine) Neci Rusalka: "Human hands achieve what figments cannot."

(Energise the shrine) Neci Rusalka: [laughs] "Don't tell Mathila it was the crack in her mind that let me in."

(Enter the Undercroft) Neci Rusalka: "Did you hear the angels singing?"

(Enter the Undercroft) Neci Rusalka: "Only a few pages left, kiddo. And the book always has a monster at the end."

(Enter the Undercroft) Neci Rusalka: "All those possibilities, and yet the story only ends one way."

(Enter the Undercroft) Neci Rusalka: "You really want me to spit this body out? With how chewed up she is?"

(Find the hidden chest) Neci Rusalka: "You never could let the past go, could you?"

(Find the hidden chest) Neci Rusalka: "You can be ripped out and burned up as easily as a storybook page."

(Find the hidden chest) Neci Rusalka: "Aw, don't cry, Mathila. Nobody's listening."

(Find the hidden chest) Neci Rusalka: "Didn't you have children once, Mathila? Did you forget about them too?"

(Guide your reflection into the light) Neci Rusalka: "Only two of you. Pity about all the rest."

(Guide your reflection into the light) Neci Rusalka: "Ask Mathila where her children went."

(Guide your reflection into the light) Neci Rusalka: "Children are feral. Savage. They just need the right encouragement."

(Guide your reflection into the light) Neci Rusalka: "Don't be jealous of Neci, kiddo. I'll still wear your face."

(Locate the eyes of Indifference) Neci Rusalka: "Taking my eyes now, kiddo? Wasn't Margulis enough?"

(Locate the eyes of Indifference) Neci Rusalka: "You and Albrecht were pretty close in his Duviri days, weren't you, kiddo? Don't say you've forgotten."

(Locate the eyes of Indifference) Neci Rusalka: "Tired of your human body? Want me to reshape it?"

(Locate the eyes of Indifference) Neci Rusalka: "You're wasting time. Duviri is more mine by the minute."

(Open the chest and defeat its guardian) Neci Rusalka: "Some doors really should stay closed."

(Open the chest and defeat its guardian) Neci Rusalka: "I remember when I first opened the door on to that smiling face."

(Open the chest and defeat its guardian) Neci Rusalka: "Whoever told you there had to be a happy ending?"

(Open the chest and defeat its guardian) Neci Rusalka: "Some stories end with the king's head bouncing down the throne room steps."

(Purge the darkened areas of Liminus) Neci Rusalka: "I know you're sore about what happened to you, but look how creative you got!"

(Purge the darkened areas of Liminus) Neci Rusalka: "Nobody, not artists nor dreamers nor prophets, has an imagination to compare with that of a terrified child."

(Purge the darkened areas of Liminus) Neci Rusalka: "Why do you think Thrax is so scared to be abandoned?"

(Purge the darkened areas of Liminus) Neci Rusalka: (whispering) "The real shadows are inside his head."

(Reconnect the power lines) Neci Rusalka: "Oh, Mathila. What weapons will you use against the sorrows you refuse to face?"

(Reconnect the power lines) Neci Rusalka: "That's right, Mathila. Carve that grin into your face."

(Reconnect the power lines) Neci Rusalka: "Nothing can truly be wrong so long as you keep smiling through it all, can it?"

(Reconnect the power lines) Neci Rusalka: "Why not deal with the real source of your problems? Obliterate yourself."

(Recover the Scholar's artefacts) Neci Rusalka: "Don't expect too much from the Scholar's writings. Most of it is just tortured love poetry."

(Recover the Scholar's artefacts) Neci Rusalka: "Remorse, remorse, remorse. That's all you'll find in those sainted pages."

(Recover the Scholar's artefacts) Neci Rusalka: "Taking refuge in books? After what happened last time?"

(Recover the Scholar's artefacts) Neci Rusalka: "Thrax hid those books away out of fear, Mathila. I wouldn't mess with them."

(when Oraxia has a third health remaining) Neci Rusalka: "Come on, my beautiful scuttler! Secure this kingdom for me, and I will feed you as your old master never did!"

(when Oraxia has a third health remaining) Neci Rusalka: "Albrecht left nothing but dust and darkling spiders in his wake. Isn't it time for a new story?"

(when Oraxia has a third health remaining) Neci Rusalka: "Little Thrax remembers Oraxia, doesn't he? The guardian of Scholar's Landing! That's why he's trembling, isn't it?"

(when Oraxia has a third health remaining) Neci Rusalka: "You owe this place nothing! All it did was torment you, just as he tormented me!"

(after defeating Oraxia) Neci Rusalka: "Killing your own kind? Nothing new for you, is it?"

(after defeating Oraxia) Neci Rusalka: [laughs] "Not very nice, kiddo. Albrecht wanted her to help you."

(after defeating Oraxia) Neci Rusalka: "You had to put her down. She was crazy. Do Mathila next!"

(after defeating Oraxia) Neci Rusalka: "Bad luck to kill a spider, kiddo. Especially when I can just bring her back."

The Undercroft

Rusalka also provides mission control (in a sense; she is mostly taunting) during Undercroft objectives. In Isleweaver, Undercroft objectives are restricted to Alchemy, Exterminate, Survival, and Void Flood. The Corrupted remain the enemy faction, supported not by Dax, but by Murmur, as is typical for Isleweaver.

Alchemy

(mission start) Neci Rusalka: "Ah, the Crucibles. One of Albrecht's many sins. Try and finish his work. See what happens to you."

(mission start) Neci Rusalka: "If you came here to use Albrecht's Crucibles, the only thing you'll create is a corpse. Yours."

(mission start) Neci Rusalka: "Albrecht's Crucibles. Crimes against the laws of nature. Do not think for a second that I will let you desecrate my kingdom with your element mixing."

(crucible completed) Neci Rusalka: "Stop it. That's unnatural."

(crucible completed) Neci Rusalka: "You are playing with things you don't understand."

(crucible completed) Neci Rusalka: "What have you done?"

(crucible completed) Neci Rusalka: "You are really starting to bother me."

(mission complete) Neci Rusalka: "You've made a mess of those elements. A shameful mess."

(mission complete) Neci Rusalka: "Enough of this play-time. Get out."

(mission complete) Neci Rusalka: "You only pollute this kingdom with these… elements."

Exterminate

This mission type does not feature Corrupted Vor or any other miniboss and is a straightforward exterminate objective.

(mission start) Neci Rusalka: "Kiddo, is this where all your secrets are buried? Well, well, you do have a messy mind. My forces will sort it out."

(mission start) Neci Rusalka: "The Void longs for stillness, emptiness. But first, things must be made still."

(mission start) Neci Rusalka: "This isn't your Undercroft anymore, kiddo. These creatures are no Scaldra, but they'll crush you still."

(halfway complete) Neci Rusalka: "Sure, kiddo. Fight back, we can do this, spiral after spiral, after spiral."

(halfway complete) Neci Rusalka: "Why are you fighting, kiddo? This place was your prison. We can dismantle its pieces together."

(halfway complete) Neci Rusalka: "Sure, waste your time down here in the Undercroft. I'll have my fun up in Duviri."

(mission complete) Neci Rusalka: "Valiant. Honourable. And, an utter waste of energy."

(mission complete) Neci Rusalka: "I have all the time in the universe. You know that better than anyone, don't you, kiddo?"

(mission complete) Neci Rusalka: "If you're wasting your time here, who's protecting those freaks back in Höllvania?"

Survival

(mission start) Neci Rusalka: "Have you ever played that game where you see how long you can hold your breath? Let's play it now."

(mission start) Neci Rusalka: "I thrive on nothingness. You choke on it."

(mission start) Neci Rusalka: "This isn't your home anymore. It's time for you to get out."

(life support activated) Neci Rusalka: "The paradox can't help you forever."

(life support activated) Neci Rusalka: "If you breathe, it's because I let you."

(life support activated) Neci Rusalka: "I am playing the long game."

(life support activated) Neci Rusalka: "You can only tread water for so long."

(mission complete) Neci Rusalka: "Don't think for a second that you are winning."

(mission complete) Neci Rusalka: "I can do this forever. I doubt the same is true for you."

(mission complete) Neci Rusalka: "Back to Duviri with you, kiddo. Find out what I was up to while you were gone."

Void Flood

(mission start) Neci Rusalka: "Is this where you hide all your secrets, kiddo? Your shame? Let me wash it all away for you."

(mission start) Neci Rusalka: "The foundation is crumbling. My will floods in. Flail away, the end is inevitable."

(mission start) Neci Rusalka: "All will be still when the flood has passed."

(Void Fracture closed) Neci Rusalka: [laughs] "Kiddo, you are trying so hard."

(Void Fracture closed) Neci Rusalka: "I do enjoy watching you dance so frantically."

(Void Fracture closed) Neci Rusalka: "Inconsequential."

(Void Fracture closed) Neci Rusalka: "Look at you, desperately trying to hold back the infinite."

(Void Fracture closed) Neci Rusalka: "You only delay the inevitable."

(mission complete) Neci Rusalka: "Mm. There's always next time."

(mission complete) Neci Rusalka: "We can do this, again, and again, and again."

(mission complete) Neci Rusalka: "Don't get too excited. I'm just getting started."

Fragmented envoy fight

At the end of each Isleweaver run, the Drifter will face the Fragmented Tide, which will resolve into a Fragmented envoy (either the Anchorite, Suzerain, or Zealator). Once the envoy is at half health, it will be joined by a second, different envoy, and both must be fought simultaneously.

When the Fragmented Tide appears

Neci Rusalka: "This place is mine. It only exists because of me! That means I get to keep it!"

Neci Rusalka: "They're all real. All the bad old memories. Here's one now."

Neci Rusalka: [laughs] "Too late, kiddo. This is how the story goes now."

When the Fragmented envoy appears

Neci Rusalka: [giggles] "My herald looked like you, once."

Neci Rusalka: "This is your future."

Neci Rusalka: "I have uses for dealbreakers."

Neci Rusalka: "How will I reassemble your pieces?"

When the second Fragmented envoy appears

Dominus Thrax: "There weren't supposed to be two!"

Dominus Thrax: "She's tightening her grasp!"

Dominus Thrax: "Another one! She's cheating!"

Dominus Thrax: "Is there no end to them?"

If the Drifter takes too long to kill the Fragmented

Dominus Thrax: "Take this barbaric device and put it to use!"

Dominus Thrax: "I believe this Void flotsam is a weapon!"

Dominus Thrax: "This crude weapon! Take it!"

Upon defeating the Fragmented

Mathila: "And back into the realm of untold stories she goes!"

Mathila: "Her thread is cut! You may safely resume your throne, your Majesty."

Mathila: "She's banished, for now. But she'll climb back up the waterspout again."Mathila: [sigh] "I declare this chapter closed."

Other appearances

Neci Rusalka appears in a small number of other places.

Other dialogue or depictions in:	Mentioned in or by:
Höllvania Central Mall demo (Quincy)	Viktor Vodyanoi
1999 ARG	Arthur Nightingale (and KIM conversations)
The Hex	Minerva & Velimir (and KIM conversations)
	Eleanor KIM conversations
	Lettie KIM conversations

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