Into the Depths

 is a quest in Torment: Tides of Numenera.

Synopsis
The Memovira told me that the First Castoff is alive. However, she will only reveal the First's whereabouts if I can rescue one of her people - a scholar named Ishen. Apparently Ishen was abducted by the Bloom and taken to its Heart. The Memovira no longer knows how to reach the Bloom's Heart, so I'll have to find the way myself. She suggested that I seek advice from someone who understands the Bloom well.

Walkthrough

 * To reach the heart you first need to penetrate the depths of the Bloom. Head to the Shrine of Great Chila and talk to The Observant Speck. Talk to her and she will tell you how to reach the interior: Through a maw. Conveniently enough, the maw will appear in the shrine itself. To access it, you need to feed a predator to it:
 * The Jar of Iron Wind you receive from Skoura for completing her quest works.
 * Matkina and Callistege count, but neither will enjoy that - and you will face an echo of them in the Gullet.
 * Waits-for-prey also qualifies, though you first have either defeat it or convince it to feed itself to it with (Persuasion).
 * Finally, you can offer yourself for the nomming if you killed 80 people or more. Actions in meres count as well.


 * Welcome to the gullet. The Gullet is three chambers arranged around a central pool of foul liquid. To enter the Nethermost Cavity and eventually the heart, you need to climb down the drain after stopping the flow of liquid.
 * The first tube can be sealed using the Sealant Spray or Sealant Bomb you can recover from a downed armored suit on the ground, in the far room of the Gullet.
 * The second tube can be tied into a knot using (Quick Fingers) or use the Obedient Rope to do the same (the rope does cause the Predatory Echoes to go berserk).
 * The third requires you to use the Sealant Bomb or the White Synth Egg pilfered off the murden to plug up the tube.
 * Climb down the pool to get into the cavity below.


 * The goal is to enter the Heart on the other side of the area. You will be attacked by enemies (none if you are favored by the bloom, a shitload if it hates you, like if you went through it with the scalpel, carving the maws open). You can force the sacs open (displeasing the Bloom) or seize the tongue clusters.
 * To open it, you need to take control of all four tongue clusters or:
 * Cut it open with the Transdimensional Scalpel. Doing so will also spawn Inkpot and his lovely group of morons.
 * (Lore Natural) allows you to pry the muscles apart.
 * (Healing, Lore: Natural) allows you to try to relax the muscles of the sphincter.
 * (Smashing) means you can try to pinch off one of the tubes.
 * Enter the Heart.
 * Commune with the Heart. You can ask for your companions' help, with (Persuasion), to gain access to their ability pools. To show it you mean business, you need to resist.  allows you to rip one of the bloom-tongues out,  to resist, and the Transdimensional Scalpel to slash it.
 * Next you can try to start forcing it into submission. does the most here, allowing you to search its memories, take control of its systems, and of course, search for Ishen. Probing the memories in-depth gives you a permanent +2 . Summary of dialogue options used as a Nano w/o Bloom Favor for +2 Int are: Attempt to pull out tentacles, Infiltrate the Bloom's mind, Control arteries, Control sensory apparatus, Examine memories, Drift deeper into the memories.
 * Locate Ishen with, then use it again to pull him out of the body of the Bloom.
 * After your commune is gone, the Bloom will also reveal that the Memovira is actually the First Castoff, Maralel. And Ishen is actually Mazzof. Talk to him to reveal quite a few secrets. You also receive the Frictionless Merecaster.
 * If the Bloom likes you, it will try to bond with you. You can surrender - or try to resist it with.
 * Return to Memovira's Courtyard through the portal. Once you are ready to face the First Castoff, talk to Brusca and enter the Fortress. Secrets will be revealed and the First Castoff will describe her plan: To use the resonance chamber herself. You can allow her to do it, avoiding the initial fight, but giving the First its full powers (the Resonant Power fettle) or fight your way through it. The Sorrow will appear in the second stage of the fight (you can skip to it straight if you let the First carry out her plan). You need to wait until the Resonance Chamber has charged, dodging the Sorrow's attacks. Then...