Testament to Your Faith

Testament to Your Faith is an Artifact in the set Scarlet Proof.

Description

Pantalone sits in the theater like a statue, with only his index finger showing any sign of life as it occasionally taps along to the music.
Today's performance features neither a celebrated artist nor a renowned play, and plenty of seats below remain empty. Still, he comes and he sits alone. His doctor prefers him to spend his leisure time in public, where he has no opportunity to engage in anything detrimental to his health. Besides, in the private box reserved for the Fatui, he is unlikely to be attacked by anyone other than his colleagues. All things considered, it's nearly the best place he could be.
The performers onstage sing of love and acceptance, but heartwarming tales rarely find much favor with audiences here. Not that the people of Snezhnaya dislike happy endings. Rather, before such an ending can be earned, the characters must endure trial after trial, giving voice to all that lies pent up in the hearts of those who inhabit these frozen lands. You must shatter the shackles of a decaying world and struggle onward, through forests and cold wind, before you can hope to glimpse the rooftops of a warmer world from afar.
But that is not the end. This seemingly warm world is no home of yours, either. If you have no value and can do nothing but beg for compassion never meant for you, nothing will change. Even so, there is no turning back. That is the lesson he has learned: once the shackles seize you again, the chains only tighten. To break free a second time, all you can do is wait for an opening, even if it may lead you somewhere worse.
He once touched on the subject in casual conversation. His birthplace sought to tame those who refused to comply through violence and confinement, while his friend's homeland chose exile instead. Even the same narrow-minded thinking could take different forms and give rise to different possibilities. At that, they both laughed, as though each took pleasure in the other's suffering.

For the first twenty years of his life, happiness came only in fleeting moments, such as the day his mother sold him to debt collectors, or those times when he made a fortune off powerful officials and nobles and mistakenly believed he might have a chance to join their ranks.
Make no mistake: he wasn't pleased with the price he fetched, nor with the fortune he made later. Rather, somewhere in his subconscious, he sensed his potential to appreciate in value (After all, how many people get sold twice in one lifetime? Ha). That woman finally found the chance to rid herself of the disobedient freak, but in doing so, she also gave him the chance to escape that frozen wasteland, a place even wild beasts wanted nothing to do with. From the makeshift life of his "foster father," he learned money could be made to multiply. The nobles in league with the criminal underworld lured him into a trap with the illusion of profit, but at the bottom of that trap lay a path to powers greater than the nobility themselves.
And since every one of these bizarre turns of fortune came only after he stopped praying to the heavens, he began to question the established rules of this world all the more. It was only after he abandoned his reverence for the gods and cast his lot with the world's outcasts that he became eligible to be recruited by those very gods. Whether audiences would condemn such a horror story is anyone’s guess. Fortunately, he has no intention of sharing it.

As the final song of the performance rings out, someone pushes open the door without warning. Only one person would be inconsiderate enough to interrupt someone enjoying the ending. If the newest Harbinger were here, the ensuing barrage of curses would make the disturbance twice as bad.
Speaking of his new colleague, Pantalone finds her very interesting. She begins voicing her displeasure with every manner of procedure the moment she arrives, perfectly embodying the rebellious spirit expected of a Harbinger. Pulcinella's attempt to use her to secure a share of the Adventurers' Guild's profits has plainly failed. The girl would never heed the honeyed words of that hypocritical politician. Besides, her creations have taken on the burden of all that tedious reception work. Though he cannot appear too willing, Pantalone has nevertheless ceded to Sandrone the share that is rightfully hers, and done so in complete sincerity. It is only fair exchange, a principle he fully approves.
Pantalone has spent much of the performance lost in thought, so naturally, he has little interest in its ending. He rises and turns to Dottore, who has evidently only just returned to Snezhnograd, and reads from his expression that all has gone smoothly. Some time ago, Dottore proposed a new idea for an experiment, and Pantalone happened to know the perfect place for it.
This, too, is part of a fair exchange, and he fully approves.

Other Languages

Change History

Navigation

Scarlet Proof Artifacts Flower of Life Honor to Your Devotion Plume of Death Glory to Your Legacy Sands of Eon Time Gifted Unto You Goblet of Eonothem Chalice of Your Blood and Sorrow Circlet of Logos Testament to Your Faith