the secret with Openbound is the same as the secret with Act 6 in general - so much so that, now that I'm typing it out, that could very well have been the point? like, asking that the reader suddenly start caring* about a whole bunch of new characters all at once and challenging them to figure out just what relevance this has to the overarching story being told... great, now I have a whole new thing to think about. thanks, Openbound Discussion Thread

anyway, the secret is that these AREN'T