Part 45: Stratum 1: Ashes

The magic of Zalis, the Dark Realm, is hereafter forbidden in the Kingdom of Valdia.
- Royal Proclamation, unknown year

The Wolf, the Witch, and a Child

Now where was I last time? Oh yes, Besek returned.

Video- “Thage Lead In”

Click For Video

Ah… Here…



Indeed.



Besek… the unholy realm.

There was a human child inside Besek.



(I won’t last long at this rate!)
Huh!?
What’s a child doing here…?
Wh-Who are you guys?
Hm, how interesting…
Huh? Wh-What…?
What’s your name?
Don’t people normally introduce themselves first?
I’m Thage. And this is…
Ranunculus. Raki, for short.
A-A talking dog!? Y-You’re a…!
The phrase you’re looking for is “wolf Majin,” I believe.
A Majin!?
Now what’s your name?
Retica.

I think children should learn something every day. Today’s lesson was about talking to strangers.



Thage!
A contract? But… why?
Are you ready?
Wait, what are you doing…!?
Beckoned by the Dark Queen, secured by the spirit, and bound by flame…
I hereby forge our contract of body and mind.
Wh-What…!? Aaaaargh! It burns!!!
Oh goddess, bow before me.
STOOOOOOOOOOP!

I mean you’d think it was the end of the world the way he screamed. But that’s still at least a week off.



Our bond has been sealed.
*pant pant pant *
Thage, there’s Majin approaching.
Let’s go.
Hey, wait!
What’s going on…!?

Things got off to a really strong start I think.

Video- “Ashes”

Click For Video with Commentary



Ally Team:
Let’s take a quick look at our core team. First is Thage.



Thage is our main character in this story. So the first thing to note about Thage is that she is totally immune to anything magical. No magic can hurt her nor land a status effect on her. At the same time, no magic can heal her, buff her, or remove something from her. Make sure you keep items around to make up for this, or you’ll be in some shit. Thage can use Staves and Librums from the start, letting her theoretically use any type of magic. More than that, in the long term she’s at least A rank with every type of magic but Light, so she’s actually awesome with every type of magic for the most part. Once Thage starts rolling level wise she’s simply unstoppable.



Raki is a pretty special party member. He’s a Majin, but he doesn’t follow the normal rules for one. He can level up and store actions like a normal character. Instead of weapons he gets a Claw and Bite attack, allowing him to do either Slash or Pierce damage. He can’t equip armor either, which does kind of suck. He’s got Air magic and the awesome Martyr skill, which allows him to take hits for allies within two squares. He’s mainly vulnerable to Fire, Light, and Pierce attacks at this point.



Retica is an archer with healing and support abilities. He’s pretty vulnerable at the start but as he levels up he’s going to get seriously powerful. For now we want to keep him back and safe so he can use his heals and plink away with his shortbow.

Enemy Team:
We’ve got four level two Caprus and two Pyromotes here. Let’s look at the lowbie Pyromote.



As you’d expect, this Pyromote is nearly immune to Fire and Strike and very vulnerable to Pierce and Water. It’s also pretty vulnerable to everything else, which is nice. We’ve got lots of Pierce, so it’s easy to bring him down.

Deployment:



We want to keep our party together, we outclass the Majin but we’re outnumbered. The only way we can lose is if they can bring their numbers to bear.

Tactical Objectives:
- Get the chest
- Capture the pathetic Majin

Map:



The Oath of Obedience. You are now my servant.
Oath of Obedience? S-S-Servant!?
You really wanna talk right now…? We have company.

This is Thage’s Tale and we don’t fuck around here in Thage’s Tale, so we start the map out by charging Raki straight into the near Caprus and doing more than half its health. Retica then takes a shot at it too.



Huh? “Izel”…? What are they saying?
Optationem expleo.
These Majin don’t pose us any real threat.

And then we blow the Caprus up with Thage. Boom.



Don’t worry. They don’t stand a chance.
Ha, fitting words from my master.

We capture it then get ready to go for the next one.



Are you scared? How pathetic.
I-I’m not scared!
Why’re you shaking?

We keep getting our positioning right to hit the next Caprus, no point taking hits we don’t need to.



Zalis!? The forbidden sorcery!?
Hm, you’re more informed than I thought you’d be.

Now that everyone’s in position, we can get started on the next guy.



Yeah, I know.
Besek’s upper Strata prey on the mind and materialize it.
This place must be an illusion from my past.
Hey, what are you two talking about?
Hahaha, don’t worry about it.

Raki runs up and bites it, we’re going to use the same routine on this guy because we want some easy exp for Thage.



Huh!? Of course they will!

Retica takes a shot at it now too, taking it down to easy Overkill range.



How annoying. I’ll trap you in this librum soon enough.
Explere.
I don’t know what you’re saying…
But let’s not make this more difficult than we need to.
Why do they keep talking about your librum?
We conjurers use librums to cast our spells.
But… that librum is feeding on the Majin!?
There’s no other librum like this one in the whole world.
I’ll seize all the Majin. That’s why I’m in Besek.

We blast this Caprus the same way we did the first. Then we start moving our party over to hit the side that has the chest.



You must be out of your mind…
And just what’re YOU doing in such a dangerous place?
Th-That’s…
Hahaha, I see…

The Caprus does move up and attack Raki, which is fine really, he can take it.



If you tell me, I might let you live…
Did she just mention the… Eternal Poison!?

So that Raki and Retica can potentially get experience I have Thage burn the Caprus nearly down with a spell.



Are you referring to this? You want to taste its power?
Iste librum frange.

Pyromote moves up now too, and does quite a lot of damage to Raki. It’s quite a hassle, especially since we need to deal with Caprus first.



It can’t be helped. These Majin don’t know anything.
They probably don’t know what the Eternal Poison is…
Hm…

Raki finishes the job nice and easy on the Caprus, getting a level in the process. His stats and resistances improve a little bit, about what you’d expect.



Hahahaha… You’ve already seen so much.
What else do you need to know?
Wh-What’s that supposed to mean?

Raki needs healing, so we do that now.



Those who tread on it will disappear into the librum.
Don’t lose focus. I’ll take care of these Majin.
I want to destroy anything that treads on this illusion.
(I-I hope she isn’t referring to me…)

The Pyromote then casts on Retica, which isn’t so good for him. Raki gives it a savage bite while Retica heals himself back up.



Izel ek Glenthage?
It’s useless. They’re only good for grinding up.

We whack it with Thage’s librum next to soften it up a bit more and get her some more experience. It casts on Retica one last time then pulls back, letting us unleash a Combo on it with Raki and Retica, who levels up. We don’t see what he gets quite yet, it’s more casts of his Cura I and Restore. Even better, Thage levels up from capturing it.



Thage hasn’t quite gotten a new spell yet, but it’ll be soon and it’ll be awesome. We get the chest, which has a Bard ring in it. It’s a nice accessory that increases speed and air resistance. Retica heals himself up with his last cast, since he’d certainly die if attacked again. Now we just need to deal with the other side. Raki runs up and bites the Caprus, which gets him hit with a Pyro from the Pyromote and then a relatively sad little slash from the Caprus. As the rest of the party advances he bites the Pyromote as well, taking them both down to overkill range and getting him a second level.



We’re also getting close to a really useful skill for Raki, but that’ll come next time. Caprus and Pyromote both hit him again, taking him down low. It’s not going to matter, though, because both of them are doomed. Thage chars the Caprus and then Raki bites the Pyromote, finishing the map.



Hey, I hope you aren’t talking about me!
Thage, it’s just a child. You can’t expect too much.
The Guiding Sage’s wisdom… such cold logic.
Argh, you two can leave me out of this!

Battle Result:

Levels:
Thage 5->6
Raki 3->5
Retica 3->4

Majin:
Caprus Lv 2 x 4
Pyromote Lv 3 x 2

Refugee:
Elizabeth

Retica doesn’t seem to be a good learner, though.

Video- “Ashes Lead Out”

Click For Video

It turns you into my slave. Wasn’t that obvious?
No, I mean, why did you force me under this oath?
Because you were there.
Huh?
Quit talking in riddles!
If that explanation wasn’t enough, then there’s no point.
What do you mean by that?
Thage.
Majin…
Thage, there’s a Falsin nearby.
“Falsin”…?
It means “human” in the Majin language.
People are of no use to me, Raki. Let’s keep going.

I’m not sure why but he wanted to save this person the Majin had grabbed.



If someone’s here, they might need our help! Didn’t that ever occur to either of you?
If we’re not going to help them, who will!?
You aren’t trying to order me around, are you?
Did it sound like an order!?

Anyway it turned out not to be a hassle to help them.



Huh…?
That’s…!?
Truh uoy era? Anook! Anook!
Oh, my, and what do we have here…?
Count eht! Count eht! Ehehehe!
You must be Count Duphaston…
I am honored that you know of me, My Princess.
What do you want?
You seem to be in a spot of trouble.
Well, we saved someone in Besek…
But we don’t know where to take them.
There is no need for worry. A safehaven is nearby.
A safehaven?
It can be dangerous here. Let us move on from this place.
Okay.

If he’s going to offer hospitality of course I’m only too pleased to exploit that offer to its fullest. Though I have to wonder whether he’s thought through this whole lord of Besek thing.



Your surprise is understandable, but here you are safe from harm.
Besek appeared in my domain, engulfing my fair town of Isapolis.
I see…
Therefore, I am the lord of Besek and am obliged to greet its guests.
This isn’t a safe place to live, don’t you think?
I think you’ll find we are quite safe here in this magnificent town.
I have prepared lodgings for all of you at Twilight’s Rest. Please, make yourselves at home there.
Lodgings, huh…
Thank you very much!
There’s no need for thanks. The comfort of his guests is all the thanks a host needs.
It’s not very luxurious, but I guess we’ll try it out for a night.
Thage!
If you need anything else, I am at your disposal. Please don’t be afraid to speak with me.
We won’t, and thanks again!
I am but a humble host in these trying times. To do any less would be uncivilized. Now, get some rest.

Retica seemed to think I should treat our new ‘friend’ with a level of respect he’d certainly not earned.



I don’t care about people’s social status.
That’s a great way to find yourself in jail one day.
You know, not all aristocrats are as nice as him…
Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.
You’re pretty confident in yourself. How’d you get that way?
If you were me instead of you, you’d understand.
Hmph, whatever you say…

Our illustrious and trustworthy host showed us around the town a bit. The Koona who are working for him are all around.



Toma: Anook deen uoy! Suoregnad Besek’s.

As a hint from professional to professional: Don’t introduce yourself as a thief.



Leon: I’m Leon, the world’s greatest thief! Well, not yet, but I’m working on it…
Test my knowledge! Just ask me anything! Hmmm… the Eternal Poison!?
Well, er, uhhh… I don’t think I should talk about it…
I mean, I could easily get it for you myself, but where’s the fun in that!?
You wouldn’t feel any sense of accomplishment, but I can still help.
I’m an expert at gathering information. Anything you need? Just come find me!

What a loser. There are some real warriors in town, much more reliable than Retica. Ares the slayer is around but seems to be resting from the trip still.



Ares: Oh, the Eternal Poison…? Sounds like fun.

We did find an old man, though. Hopefully he doesn’t have a heart attack out on the battlefield.



Komori: Aha, so you’re looking for something that’ll make your dreams come true?
I’m here with my adopted daughter, Nena.
Hey, would you like to hire us? Nena and I make one tough team!
All we need is food and shelter, and we’re set. Let’s go slay some Majin!

I appreciate irony so I’m particularly amused that we’re also joined by the Beast General.



Alexei: I’m here to investigate Besek, under direct orders from the Council!
Your group looks a little thin… How about bringing me along?
Hahahaha! Good choice! Now you have the “Beast General” on your side!

It seems someone in town got lucky and wasn’t traveling with the band who was taken.



Muse: I’m Muse, and I’m a dancer.
I used to be in a traveling band, but I decided to go solo!
I like being alone. It builds character.
I’m still inexperienced, but I hope you like my dancing!

Also I need to remember to make Retica pay for insisting we rescue this… person.



It was nothing.
Elizabeth: It must have been a delight when you realized who you were saving.
…
Elizabeth: I am the daughter of the famous Count Modle!
I will shower you with gifts!
Instead of that plain old dress of yours…
I’ll adorn you with lavish, magnificent gowns!
Even if I say no, that’s not going to stop you, right…?

Then again, his continued existence is probably punishment enough.
- recovered text fragments