A Tale of Waiting by the Night Sea · Bulbly Family
A little light that doesn’t know what a lighthouse is
Bulbly · Veilfloat · Luminelle
Why a Jellyfish Lights Up a Sea No One Visits
Introduction by MOANIIMO · not game text
The bulb on a Bulbly’s head grows brighter or dimmer with its mood. Tired of the old stories the Alpha tells, the Bulbly hopes a stranger will bring it new stories of the sea. And it still remembers a single word, its meaning unknown, that someone once shouted.
Game text
*The bulb glows a little brighter* Viff... Well, you’re a stranger too. Will you bring stories from the surface?
Contents of this story
From here the story is told in the game's own words. The source (dex, dialogue or quest) is shown under each quote.
CHAPTER 01
The Bulbly that Watches the Sea
MOANIIMO noteIn the journey “Is That a... Lighthouse?”, a Bulbly is always gazing at the sea from a cliff on Tideblossom Coast at night.
Game text
Using the research notes, you finally manage to communicate with a Bulbly through electrical current and learn that it is tired of the Alpha repeating the same old stories. It also tells you a legend about a huge smoke-spewing fish out at sea and a new tale in the making. It takes you for one of its kind and hopes you might bring some fresh stories of your own.
I see... then I don’t dislike the alpha. I just don’t like how it tells the same old stories... day and night... night and day.
I heard there are huge fish on the surface... swimming back and forth... and they puff smoke. The alpha said they used to come here—and strange Veilfloats would bring stories with them.
But no strangers have come in a long time. The alpha keeps going up there to look... but never finds anything. So... he just tells the same old stories.
*The bulb glows a little brighter* Viff... Well, you’re a stranger too. Will you bring stories from the surface?
What does ━ ．．|．|━ ．| ━ ━ ．|━|．━ mean...? Did I hear it wrong?
I don’t get it... I just wanted to know what ━ ．．|．|━ ．| ━ ━ ．|━|．━ means.
Every time he calls out that word, my currents leap... Is that what "like" feels like? I like the word? But I don’t even know what it means.
Open the rest of this chapterSpoilers · includes the quest ending
Game text
You tell a Bulbly the story of the adventurer Hayes, who was once saved by a Bulbly’s light and came to regard it as a "lighthouse," but may never return. Saddened, the Bulbly finally realizes that the signal Hayes kept repeating meant "lighthouse." Once it understands the meaning of "waiting and hope," it evolves into a Veilfloat. You can say goodbye and let it stay to await your return, or invite it to join your adventure.
*Electric currents leap* Lighthouse... you want to be the light that shines in the darkness, waiting and hoping?
Viffo... I’ll stay here and be your lighthouse till you come back to me, with new stories perhaps?
A Bulbly who loved sea stories stood at the cliff, staring at the night ocean, unaware of what it waited for. One day, Pathfinder Hayes arrived, hugged it, and spoke words it couldn’t comprehend. It didn’t know that it had become Hayes’s lighthouse, only remembering the way he always said that word. Staring stubbornly at the waves, it tried to understand, waiting for Hayes without knowing what waiting meant—until you solved the "lighthouse" riddle. Now it knows: to wait and hope is to shine against darkness.
CHAPTER 02
Leah, Looking for a Lighthouse
MOANIIMO noteOn Tideblossom Coast, you meet a girl named Leah searching for a lighthouse in broad daylight.
Game text
During the day, you meet Leah, who’s out searching for the lighthouse. She calls this place the "Land of Legend," home to the tale of a golden shooting star, though she won’t say what the star actually is. She’s here because her adventurer friend Hayes once told her this place held "the brightest lighthouse in the world," and he hasn’t returned. She misses him deeply.
Hmm... I haven’t been here in ages. But a Pathfinder friend told me the brightest lighthouse in the world is here.
Still... Hayes hasn’t come to see me in a long time. I don’t know why, but what he said about that "brightest lighthouse" just sprung to mind... so I came to take a look.
CHAPTER 03
The Truth About the Golden Shooting Star
Game text
When night falls, golden shooting stars sweep across the skies above the Tideblossom Coast and Bloomville. People say it’s a blessing from Aeolus.
Alpha Luminelle? You mean the golden shooting star that likes to wander in the sky?
CHAPTER 04
Sayn’s Research Notes
MOANIIMO noteSayn, an Aniimo researcher at Polaris Institute, is studying the electric language of the Bulbly family.
Game text
Researcher Sayn noticed that the electric currents of Bulblies contain a unique language which is hard to understand even after twining. He observed them and recorded till a Luminelle stunned him. Then he woke up to find that the note was gone.
Right. All members of the Bulbly family are scared of the dark—that’s why they keep their bulbs on even when they’re sleeping. So, I’m not at all surprised by the lighthouse story.
But then again, maybe those bulbs are a signal that they’re looking for friends in the dark... Oh, what curious minds those Aniimo have.
Well... just as Veilfloats can’t understand the word "lighthouse" in Idyllian, perhaps they’re curious about other species as well.
You return Sayn’s lost research notes and tell him about either the Veilfloat and the lighthouse or the Alpha Luminelle and the ship. Sayn adds that Bulblies are afraid of the dark, then reflects on how resonance allows different forms of life to connect with one another. He thanks you for your help, says his research has taken another step forward, and hopes you can keep working together.
