Allie Guide — Stella Sora

The children need me to care for them.

Legend of the Dark-Footed Cat

The legend of the Dark-Footed Cat is told very differently in Emor and Mirage.
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In Mirage, she is described as this terrifying "Dark-Footed Cat" who lives at the orphanage and would attack any stranger attempting to trespass. As for how she fights, everyone tells a different tale.
Some said that she possessed incredible strength that could send one flying with a single touch.
Others said she was so agile you would already be knocked out before you could even see her.
Some even claimed that her icy gaze and menacing aura alone could strike fear into people's hearts and send them running for their lives.
Anyway, whether the tales are true or fabled, Daisy Orphanage has become a place no one dares to invade in the battle-ravaged Mirage.

Orphanage Schedule

7:00—Wake up, wash up, have breakfast
8:00—Clean the dining hall, do laundry
9:00—Learn to read, learn arithmetic
12:00—Lunch and nap
14:00—Wake up and indoor activities
17:00—Dinner
18:00—Play games, sing songs, storytime
21:00—Bedtime

New Star Stew Recipe

2 carrots, chopped.
2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped. (If tomatoes are too expensive, use Redspikes instead.)
3 potatoes, chopped.
Throw in whatever leftover meat or dough drops lying around.
Bring a pot of water to a boil, then toss everything in. Let it simmer on low.
It should be ready in about an hour. Season with salt or pepper, depending on what's left in the pantry.

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Threads of Fate

At the orphanage, Allie often spends her spare time sewing little things for the children.
Iris's hat, Noya's stuffed bear, Amber's scarf.
They aren't worth much in Dorra, but every stitch holds a silent prayer, staying by the children's side day after day.
To Allie, these gifts need no special occasion. Whenever her needle passes through the cloth, she has only one thought:
may these children grow up safe and sound.

Mother Cat's Nursery Rhyme

"At the edge of the alley, where shadows are deep, who hums in the dark while the city's asleep?"
That's the hook of Mother Cat's Nursery Rhyme, the number-one horror bestseller at the Manga Forest Bookstore in Emor's Silver District.
The book is supposedly based on a real urban legend out of Ash District.
They say if you walk through the old alleys after dark, you'll hear a faint, delicate singing.
It sounds just like a mother's lullaby, slow and soothing, yet dripping with a bone-chilling dread.
If you keep your head down and walk fast, you might just mistake it for the wind.
But if you stop and listen to the lyrics, you'll hear tales of creeping shadows, muffled sobs, and stars winking out one by one.
No one has actually seen "Mother Cat."
But everyone knows you never, ever answer to her song in the dark.

I'll bet my entire pudding allowance for the next year on this: she's easily the strongest Trekker I've ever met. I mean, Aunt Allie—wait, Mom—has been single-handedly keeping us and the orphanage safe since we were kids!
—Noya

Years of war in Mirage have left far too many children in town without parents. When Director Allie appeared, she gave these children a warm home.
—Kasimira

Unverified
Is she the "Aunt Allie" that Noya's always bringing up?
Well, if Noya vouches for her, I suppose she might actually be the real deal.
That said, I haven't seen her in action myself. She's nowhere in the old Trekker archives, and you certainly won't find anything on file in a backwater like Mirage.
—Willow

Nursery Rhyme

Sleep, little one, leave the shadows behind.
Dreams take you far where no sorrow you'll find.
Sleep, little one, for the night is now deep.
Winds from afar have surrendered to sleep.
Rock, little bed, with a sway and a sigh.
Don't count the stars as they quietly die.

Crash!
It's a daily occurrence at the orphanage. Sometimes it comes from the dining hall, sometimes the kitchen or out in the yard.
Everyone knows exactly what that noise means: Mom is doing chores again.

She's the clumsiest when it comes to cleaning!
The other day, she knocked her head on the wardrobe while tidying up the bedroom.
She lost her balance and hit the floor, then snapped the broom in half when using it to push herself back up!
By the time we heard the racket and rushed upstairs, there were broom bristles scattered everywhere. Thank goodness she wasn't actually hurt.

Mom can't do the dishes without breaking something!
One time, she smashed a whole stack of plates! We spent ages picking every piece of shard off the floor.
At least she tries to figure out what went wrong. Whenever she breaks a plate, you can usually hear her muttering things like, "Did I grip it too hard? Was my angle off?"

Hanging the laundry out to dry looks like she's fighting an invisible assassin!
The wind was really erratic one day, and every time she tried to pin a quilt to the clothesline, it would start flapping violently.
She ended up spinning around the yard like she was literally wrestling the blanket. We had to sprint over and pin down the four corners just to help her wrestle it into submission.

Sure, watching her do housework is like watching someone survive an arduous adventure, but she's still the best mom we could ever ask for.
She remembers who's afraid of the dark, who hates their vegetables, and who kicks their blankets off in their sleep.
She'll stay awake all night to watch over us when we're sick, and she's always there to patch up our scraped knees.
That's why these days, whenever we see her reaching for a broom, we'll just snatch it right out of her hands and tell her, "Mom, please, go take a break!"

"Wait... What is that smell?"
"It smells amazing..."
"Did a new bakery open up nearby?"
"Don't be stupid! Bread doesn't smell like that!"
As a mouth-watering aroma drifts through the crack in the kitchen door, the starving kids waiting in the dining hall start buzzing with excitement.

"Hey, is Mom back yet?"
"Shh. Don't call her Mom. Call her Aunt Allie."
"I don't think Aunt Allie's home yet..."
"Then who's cooking?"
That was the question. Aunt Allie had specifically mentioned she'd be back late from her commissions today. So clearly, someone else was in the kitchen.

"Who's in there?!"
Gathering their courage, the kids burst through the kitchen doors, fully prepared to tackle whoever intruder had broken into their home.

"Amber! Grab those potatoes for me!"
"Coming..."
"Noya, I got the tomatoes peeled."
"Awesome! Thanks, Iris."
They found Noya standing over the stove, wielding a massive ladle and vigorously stirring a giant pot, and it smelled incredible.

"Oh, getting impatient out there, huh? Hang on, it'll be ready in a minute!"
"Noya, what are you doing?"
"Making dinner, obviously! Aunt Allie's gonna be wiped out when she gets back, so I figured I'd handle the cooking tonight."
"Dinner? You mean something that smells this good is actually food?"
The kids crowded around the doorway, watching wide-eyed as Noya casually tossed ingredients into the bubbling pot.
She was doing it so effortlessly the kids were left completely stunned:
Could a kitchen really produce something that smelled this heavenly?

"All done!"
After what felt like an eternity, Noya raised her ladle and proudly declared the dish complete.
"Alright, one scoop per person! Don't hog it all, we have to save some for Aunt Allie!"
Despite her warnings, the starving children practically inhaled the stew. The massive pot was scraped clean in record time.
Noya carefully scooped the last remaining portion into a bowl and set it dead center on the dining table.

Hours passed, and familiar footsteps finally echoed outside.
When Allie pushed open the front door, she didn't find the usual dark, empty dining hall. Instead, she was greeted by a table cluttered with warm bowls, surrounded by kids beaming up at her.
"Welcome home!"
They swarmed her before she could even take her boots off. One grabbed her weapon, another dragged her toward a chair, and someone immediately shoved the reserved bowl of stew right into her hands.
Stunned, Allie just stood there. She looked from the steaming bowl to the kids' eager faces, and a soft smile broke across her face.
"Did you ... make this?"
"Noya made it!"
"Amber and Iris helped!"
"And we saved this bowl just for you, Aunt Allie!"
Sitting quietly at the head of the long table, Allie looked down at the stew and took her first bite in total silence, her eyes soft as if caught in a distant memory.
For her, it was a meal she would remember for the rest of her life.

"It's her first time using them, yet she made it look so effortless..."
It wasn't just the people around her who thought so. Even Allie herself had never realized how naturally they came to her.
The clothesline pole and cleaver were nothing more than old things she'd dug out of the orphanage basement and carried all the way to Mirage... Yet somehow, the two worked surprisingly well together.

In fact, this wasn't Allie's first time wielding such "weapons." Or rather, what she'd used before could hardly be called a "weapon."
"Hey! So you're the director here?"
"We're the new gang around here. This is our turf now. If you don't want any trouble, pay up before we make you do it! Got it?"
The children huddled fearfully inside the wardrobe, while Allie stood at the door, smiling at the short but cocky Ash District gangsters.

In Emor's Ash District, weak law enforcement had left a power vacuum that the gangs were only too happy to fill.
Gangs often fought among themselves, so territories changed hands all the time.
But these "thugs" were clearly newcomers who had no idea they had just barged into the territory of the "Dark-Footed Cat."

"Kids, Aunt Allie has something to take care of. I'll be right back!"
Still holding her broom, Allie gently closed the door behind her and stepped into the courtyard.
"Hey! D-Don't try anything funny, or you'll be sorry!"
"Oh dear. Looks like we've got some naughty kids here. I think you could all use a little discipline."
Allie's smile hadn't changed since she opened the door. Yet somehow, it sent a chill down their spines.

"No, no, no! Don't come any closer!—"
As the gangsters scattered and fled, the children pushed open the door and came outside.
"Aunt Allie, why did they run away?"
"They were naughty kids, so I gave them a little spanking. You'd better not grow up to be like them, okay?"
"I never want to get spanked! I promise I'll be good!"
"Hehe... That's my girl..."