What happens?
A battered prostitute named Ms Terri, working in The City in a brothel called The Dime, is pregnant to a client. Determining that she cannot stay in the brothel with her newborn son Hunter, she sets her room in the brothel momentarily alight and flees, following a nearby River downstream to the safety of the Lake.
She establishes herself and Hunter in a cabin at the junction of the Lake and the River. Though she manages for some time, she does not have enough money or resources to support herself and Hunter indefinitely, and returns to prostituting. As Hunter grows older, she gives Hunter a knife, teaches him how to hunt, and returns to her old job at the Dime. She does this to quarantine her sin from Hunter, so that his life at the Lake and the River may remain innocent.
Time passes. Ms Terri is balancing a dual life as a prostitute at the Dime in the City, and as a mother at the Lake and the River. The stress of maintaining these dual lives is immense, as the clients of the Dime are brutal. Though she does not wish for affairs from her prostitute life to influence Hunter, Ms Terri lets slip in a moment of weakness that Hunter was not born at the Lake and the River, and that the place where he came from is dangerous.
This information piques Hunter’s concern and curiosity. Fascinated with the possibilities of what he could become under his own agency, and eager to help Ms Terri with her struggles, Hunter considers leaving the Lake to face the darkness of the world outside. He ventures to the outer bound of the Lake and the River, but finds the size of the world outside too intimidating, and turns around, returning to Ms Terri.
Hunter decides not to press the issue, as Ms Terri would plainly prefer he stay ignorant. Trusting her judgement, he lets his apprehensions fade and allows himself to be doted upon and sheltered as Ms Terri desires.
Things for Hunter are peaceful. Of course, that peace can’t last forever, and one day, he’ll have to grow up…
What is the purpose?
Here we’re introduced to the setting of the story, some of its major cyphers, its overarching conflict, and our major characters — the protagonist and antagonist — Hunter and TP&P. But taking the spotlight from both of them, for now, is Ms Terri. The actions and decisions she makes in Act I are what lay the foundations of Hunter’s character, and later motivations, that kickstart his journey into becoming a bit of a wreck.
In essence, this act is a prologue, preparing us for the themes and meat we’ll be battered with over the next five (four) acts. Don’t let that undersell it though — after going through the other acts, coming back to this one is refreshing, and makes me sad for Hunter knowing that his life wasn’t always, or didn’t need to be miserable.
What’s in a name?
So why’s the Lake south and the River north? Well the specific significance of those directions beats me, but what it sounds like this title is describing is the location of Hunter and Ms Terri’s residence. They’re at the junction of the River and the Lake, with the River to their north, and the Lake to their south. Since Ms Terri follows the River downstream to get to the Lake, we can also plot the City as being to the north. With that information…
…ta-daaah! A very crude map! I’m pretty sure there exists a proper canonical map floating around somewhere, but I haven’t been able to find it. Let’s see what I can plot out song-by-song on mine, then, for fun.
Song Index
Battesimo Del Fuoco
The Lake South
City Escape
The Inquiry of Ms. Terri
1878
The Pimp and The Priest
His Hands Matched His Tongue
The River North
空劫罰 祟りネコ | JP -> ENG / TDH 