Andoain
| NPC | Enemy | Trivia |
Andoain is an NPC in Arknights. He is the antagonist of Guide Ahead.
Background
Andoain is a Sankta pastor of Iberian origin hailling from the coastal village of Rocamarea. His faith was first challenged after Rocamarea was destroyed by a combination of famine, the Seaborn's invasion, and the Church of the Deep's infiltrations following the Silence of Iberia. At the time, a young Andoain went to Laterano and begged them to save his hometown, only to get a cold reply that his townsfolk were not Sankta.[1] Dumbfounded that the Sankta of Laterano could spend their lives living in an idyllic paradise with a promise of the afterlife while the rest of Terra (particularly the Iberian Liberi, who were the most devout followers of the Lateran faith) suffered, Andoain became determined to reform Laterano, becoming the Guide of the "Pathfinders", an organization dedicated to carrying out his beliefs and ending Laterano's isolationism. On the other hand, Andoain is implied to have visited the Sanctilaminium Ambrosii at one point, leaving a journal behind where he would recall his experiences.[2][3]
Eight years ago (year 1091), Andoain served as a captain of the Pontifica Cohors, with Lemuen, Mostima, and Fiammetta serving under him. During a mission, the group managed to uncover the Black Lock and White Key, only for Andoain to see something unknown within them. Deeply unsettled by what he saw, he turned on his squad and attempted to take the staves for himself, using his Arts to put Lemuen into a coma and leaving her paraplegic. However, Mostima fired on him and took the staves before he could obtain them, albeit becoming "fallen" in the process. Following the events, Andoain felt guilt and fled Laterano, leaving Fiammetta (who was not present when he did the deed) traumatized and deeply resentful of him.[4]
In battle, Andoain fights with his patron firearm which resembles a flintlock pistol, as well as light-based Arts that can be employed to both harm others and defend himself or his allies.
Story
Guiding Ahead
During the Summit Meeting between nations, Andoain returned to Laterano for his to-be plan to confront the Pope, but not before paying the bedridden Lemuen a visit; there is surprisingly little animosity between the two, and Lemuen warns him that Fiammetta would be out for his blood once she knows he's back. Meanwhile, the Pathfinders have infiltrated Laterano and disguised as sweets vendors. Two such infiltrators are accidentally discovered by Ezell and Cecelia, and later chased by Fiammetta. As a blinding light obscures the Pathfinders from Fiammetta and secures their escape, the Liberi recognizes it as her former unit leader's Arts and shouts his name in rage.
Ezell brings Cecelia to a plain, run-down church located in the outskirts of Laterano where her mother's dead body lies, intending for her to say farewell to her mother, and to try to get her to comprehend the unfamiliar idea of death, the first time in her life. As Cecelia starts to realize her mother is forever gone, she grieves, and the church's resident priest approaches and soothes her gently. The priest then reveals himself to be none other than Andoain.
While having his followers accompany and talk with Cecelia, Andoain informs a still suspicious Ezell that he never intends her any harm, and, just like Ezell, he wants to give her a proper chance to mourn her mother's passing. A Sarkaz follower of Andoain, Rosella, converses with Cecelia at length, sharing to her what familial joys that even a Sarkaz can experience, and Cecelia, getting emotional from the topic, opens up more and reveals that her father is a Sarkaz (as she recalled him to have horns similar to Rosella's, and singing the same Sarkaz ballad that Rosella sings). Ezell agrees tentatively for Cecelia to stay for the night in the presence of Andoain and the Pathfinders.
As dawn comes, Cecelia takes a spade and puts dirt on her mother's coffin with Andoain officiating the funeral, but the rites are interrupted as a Fiammetta, fuming with rage, barging into the graveyard. Faced with his former teammates, Andoain asks them to cease the fight until the funeral concludes, but Fiammetta fires at him anyway. Andoain uses his signature Arts again to both block and counterattack, and Ezell is separated from Cecelia as Fiammetta pulls him out of harm's way of Andoain's Arts.
Andoain shares to Cecelia, when they hide at her mother's former residence, a final lesson he intends for her: the tale of a Sarkaz man who, despite being viewed as a low-life by his townsfolk due to oripathy infection and alcoholism, still rings the bell when bandits have come at night to ransack the town; and though the town is saved because of his effort, he is killed by the bandits who try to stop him from sounding the alarm. He also tells her that her heritage (of a Sarkaz-Sankta hybrid who still has a halo—a perceived impossibility, as it is believed by all that only two Sanktas can give birth to a halo-donning Sankta) must mean something, and she is perhaps the key to the "change" that he longs for throughout his quest. An inspired Cecelia then, out of her own will, goes to Laterano's Bell-tower of Revelation, and successfully sounds it with a hymn that she sings, startling the whole city and the Pope.
As the Summit Meeting is nigh, Andoain deploys his followers to cause mayhem, forcing the Papal Knights to ensure the safety of the diplomats and leaders that have gathered in Laterano, and seizes this opening to confront the Pope himself, putting forth his beliefs and raising questions that attack the very doctrines of Laterano itself. The Pope tries to get Andoain to understand that the only reason Laterano can be a heaven on earth is due to the innate ability of Sanktas to empathize with each other extraordinarily well through their halos; as the other species cannot attain this (and will remain deceitful, resentful and paranoid to each other), they can never form a Laterano-like society and any attempt to replicate its perfection outside its borders will only cause the resources of Laterano to be spread thin; ironically, at the same time, Laterano has to remain to the believers of its religion a heaven on earth, so that they will have something to hope for, even if that hope only lies in the afterlife. Seemingly separated by two irreconcilable moral systems, Andoain and the Pope abruptly draw their guns and fire at each other; miraculously, neither of them have fallen, despite just pulling their guns on a Sankta and violating the very law that binds all Sankta together.
The Pope then leads Andoain down deep into the catacombs beneath the city of Laterano, and shows him something unseen (but implied to be mechanical and whirring). Whatever Andoain sees in the bowels of earth smashes his remaining faith to splinters as he realizes that Laterano's "Law" and mere existence forbids his quest from coming to fruition, and despairs at the uselessness of his actions. When Fiammetta and Mostima catch up to him, they find him dazed and despondent; Fiammetta angrily demands Andoain to snap out of it, as she can't exact justice on someone who has gone mad, but Andoain apologizes to her before telling her that given a second chance, he would still do the same thing as eight years ago. This gesture infuriates Fiammetta beyond reason, and the final fight between her and Andoain breaks out.
During the battle, Lemuen snipes from afar, the shot knocking the gun out of Andoain's hand, and it is that moment he snaps out of his crushing nihilism, and renews his faith from the ground up: instead of placing his hope on spreading Laterano's "heaven" to the world (which is implied to be impossible from what he saw in the catacombs), he is ready to stay on earth and save those who suffer with his very hands, embarking again on a quest across Terra; he knows it is very likely to be fruitless, but is determined to tread it anyway. He silently thanks Lemuen for shooting the gun out of his hand, content with the notion that this gun will remain in Laterano in place of himself. As Fiammetta readies her shot to finish Andoain, the roof they're on is demolished by Oren under the Cardinal's order, securing Andoain's escape.
Andoain is last seen gathering up the Pathfinders, ready to leave Laterano and filled with newfound purpose. As Cecelia watches him leave, the sight reminds her of a word that she herself doesn't understand, but one her mother taught her the value of – "martyr".[5]