Part 51: Star Door 7: The Epstein Foundation

-Primal Grounds-



This door just wants to see what you got.















-A Gravestone Struck By Lightning-





The Moon Guardians went easy on Tita, but these guys can be tricky.



The Mischiefs petrify on every attack. There are already eight of them, and they divide when damaged.

But there are ways around it.







Any character who can strike all the enemies at once while wearing the Lunar Seal and Super Gladiator Headband will gain almost 120 CP. Obviously it's easiest for full-screen attackers like Josette, but I assume it would work for anybody.























Unfortunately Josette only got 60 CP back from this one...



...but the Star Guardian was kind enough to ding her right back up to 200.





-This Is Our Real Power!-



Told'ja I could handle this!

-Primal Grounds-



-Tetracyclic Tower-



Orbments are devices that use the orbal energy contained within septium to cause a variety of useful effects.
It has only been a little over half a century since they were first invented...
but even in such a short time, they have already revolutionized the world as we know it.

From daily necessities, such as lighting and heating, to tanks and other similar weapons used to defend our nations, orbments are used in just about every facet of our lives.
In fact, it's now hard to imagine life without them--so much of what we take for granted in life now involves them in some way.
And it is to proliferate and advance the development of these orbments that we exist.
We, the Epstein Foundation.

Our foundation was first established in year 1155 of the Septian Calendar, the year after Professor Epstein's passing,
and was created by his brilliant-minded disciples in order to honor his wishes.
The foundation is based in his home state of Leman, where it remains in operation to this day.

It was rather limited in size in the beginning, and its attempts to spread orbal technology were initially met with little success.
Sensing that the professor's dream would never be realized at the rate they were going, three key researchers left Leman to try and spread the seeds of orbal technology across the continent themselves.

One of these was Professor G. Schmidt.
The professor, who had gained a fine reputation of his own for his skill in the field of mechanical engineering, went around and visited corporations in various nations to persuade them of the benefits of orbments.

The second was Professor L. Hamilton.
Mindful of the technological gap between regions, he long believed it was rural and remote areas that needed orbment technology more than any other.
As such, he enlisted the help of the Bracer Guild, which already had a close relationship with the foundation, and formed a mission with the intent of promoting and spreading the technology where applicable.
The professor himself also toured the regions with the aim of spreading public awareness and laying foundations for others to build on in the future.

The third was Professor A. Russell, now known far and wide as the 'father of the Orbal Revolution.'

Professor Russell returned to his home nation of Liberl and continued to work tirelessly to advance orbment technology there...
and within a year of returning, he had set up the Zeiss Engineering Factory (now known as Zeiss Central Factory/ZCF) and created the first orbment to be made outside Leman State.
Three years later, the reigning king of Liberl at the time, Edgar III, visited the factory to inspect it, and he decided to donate a large amount of money to further its research.
With His Majesty's endorsement, orbments began to spread like wildfire throughout the kingom, bringing such prosperity that the people of other nations were filled with envy.

Up until then, most people didn't see orbments in a particularly positive light, but their success in Liberl changed those impressions virtually overnight.
One nation after another began to reach out to our foundation to share orbment technology, and both our foundation's financial and social standing became that much more secure.
In the eyes of the world, the Orbal Revolution was a sudden, far-reaching transformation...
but it was only because of years of reaching out to people and diligent, largely-unnoticed research that it was able to happen at all.



The foundation's activities center around the following three guiding principles:
1. Carrying out fundamental research on orbments.
2. Spreading orbal technology and informing the public of its benefits.
3. Contributing to world peace through technology.
Now, then, let's discuss each of these three guiding principles in more depth.

[1. Carrying out fundamental research on orbments.]
The foundation's most important mission is, naturally, the improvement and development of orbal technology.
The fundamental principles behind how orbments work need no improvements as such, but their architectures--their internal structures--have been improved upon countless times in the past and will surely continue to be perfected by the curious mind as the years go on.
Orbments' architecture concerns the mechanical parts inside them such as the cogs and screws, and there is still plenty of room for change as this new technology develops.

These improvements can reap great rewards, but the research necessary to make them is known to be as lengthy as it is expensive. As a result, companies who prioritize profit above all else are less inclined to pursue them.
That makes our foundation's research all the more important from a social perspective.

[2. Spreading orbal technology and informing the public of its benefits.]
Two other important goals of the foundation are to spread orbal technology as widely as possible and to educate the public on the correct way to use it.
While orbments have become part of the daily lives of most who live in advanced nations and populated urban areas, the reality in remote and mountainous regions is very different.
To counter this, we have long worked to send missions of engineers and bracers to those regions to try and better the standard of living for these people, and will continue to do so.

We also continue to work on other ways to spread awareness of orbal technology, such as working closely with the Septian Church to have it added to the curriculum of Sunday School classes.

[3. Contributing to world peace through technology.]
It is to pursue this noble yet extremely difficult goal that the foundation has had a close relationship with the Bracer Guild ever since its initial founding.
The guild was established as an international peace-keeping organization and can mediate on conflicts between nations from a neutral point of view, making it essential to the stability of our world as it stands.
The Epstein Foundation continues to back them up fully in their cause, both with financial aid and using the fact that Leman State is the only place where tactical orbments are produced to provide them with equipment.

Just as well, this relationship also provides ideal feedback towards tweaking the quality of tactical orbments as they are used in combat, too.
Every machine and every invention goes through a long, grueling process behind the scenes before eventually reaching its finished, refined form, and tactical orbments are no exception.

Then, in S1190...
our foundation unveiled the Orbal Network Project, which will be implemented in partnership with ZCF.
Said project aims to join all of Zemuria together with a single united communications network, but our hope is that it will do much more than that.
Our hope is that it will help to realize a peaceful world through communication.

Sadly, orbments' relationship with peace as a concept has become somewhat complicated. Are they aiding in its realization, or are they doing the exact opposite?
Professor Epstein expressed his hopes that their ability to realize the limitless looping of energy would be able to bring lasting peace to the world.
Instead, recent years have thoroughly betrayed those hopes, and the post-revolution world has been a chaotic one indeed.
The conflict between Liberl and Erebonia, for one, made significant use of orbal weaponry--airships included.
It seems beyond a doubt that orbal weaponry will continue to become more and more advanced, making war an even more tragic event than ever.

In the face of all this, how should we go about trying to create a peaceful world?
We believe the best way to do this is to rely on the power of communication and a means to do so with people of different nationalities and races.
If these people can more easily interact and more easily deepen their understanding of one another, perhaps that will allow us to create the world we all so dearly desire.

In the end, one thing is for certain: our challenges to try and realize Professor Epstein's ideals are only just beginning.

Side Story [The Epstein Foundation] finished!
Received Ingenuity 2.
Received 7,000 mira.



On top of Ingenuity's 2-3 EP per second in the field, this new and improved version also restores 3 EP per turn in battle. It's lovely.