Overview
The destruction of Hirogawa marks the player’s first irreversible loss (1326 AE). The blaze follows external aggression and leaves the town in civilian ruin.
Narrative role
Establishes the stakes of the campaign: loss is permanent, memory is unreliable, and the world will not reset. It pushes the party out of its origin safe zone and frames later conflicts around responsibility and retaliation.
Known facts
- Occurred in 1326 AE; civilian casualties and displacement.
- Triggered by external aggression; true instigator disputed.
- Witnesses report temporal distortion; fire spread behaved unnaturally.
Mechanics impact
- Locks out certain local services/shops; alters NPC availability.
- Unlocks refugee/aid questlines and travel out of Hirogawa.
- Potential anomaly hooks if temporal distortion is investigated.
Relationships
- Conflicts with raids from Seigetsu and response from Ninth Wave (origins of retaliation).
- Ties to characters from Hirogawa (e.g., mentors, family).
- Links to anomalies/time rifts if the fire’s behavior is probed.
Sources
- docbase/kb/hirogawa_town_fire.md
- docbase/kb/galport_trade_federation.md (context of external pressures)
- docbase/kb/cosmology_and_epochs.md (temporal distortion framing)