Part 9

Update 9



"So… did we ever figure out a different route around that locked door?"

"I think we got distracted. I guess we'll just look around the tower. Maybe we missed a turn somewhere."

"Wait, what door?"



"This one. We got this far and kinda got stuck."

"I know how to open it."

"Well, isn't that convenient."

"I've heard that in order to get into Stavery Tower, you need to use royal tears."

"Salah, you're ugly and nobody likes you."

"Funny, Rooks. But not, it's a bit more complicated than that."




"Salah, are you OK? How did you do that?"

"I just thought about the puppy I had when I was a little girl."

"…I don't think I want to know about that."

"Trust me, you really don't."



"Hey, look, some armor for you Salah!"

"You're provisionally granted a stay of back-stabbing."

"I wish I was sure you were joking. You're going to be one scary Queen."



"I think that there's something a bit… strange about this floor."

"It seems like there shouldn't be this much space inside of a tower."

"Marid, what does the map look like?"



"…Marid, why are all the floors on the same sheet?"

"Because you didn't give me that much parchment, you jerk. See if I do anything for YOU."

"Don't be too hard on her, Rooks. Time and space are a little weird inside the tower."

"At least somebody understands. If only you were a Card Masters, Axs."



"With this, your insolence with only giving me a shield is forgiven."

"If we find something else, what do I get?"

"Some kind of noble title. I'm sure that I've got plenty of empty ones lying around since most of the nobles have probably gotten killed in the last 10 years."



"It's just weapons and armor all over for us."

"You say that, but all the stuff I bought you is getting resold and put into the honey fund."

"…should we be staging an intervention for him?"

"After we deal with Rimsala. We need him all hopped up on honey until then."



Rooks has been confused the entire time, but at this point he's truly mastered it. That said, a status effect spell is usually the worst way you can be using Rooks turn. At the same time Salah picks up a an Attack Impair All spell, and Axs learns Flee.

"It took you this long to figure out how to run away?"

"Really, really terrible at magic."

"I don't think fleeing counts as magic. Most people classify it as common sense."

A little further along...




"Didn't we already kick your ass once and prove that you're not?"

"Wait, you've this… thing… before?"

"Aye, we beat it up and got the Earth Spirit… or we thought we did."

"So his entire plan was to get beaten, pretend to be the Earth Spirit, and then announce himself and get into another fight after you'd picked up more help? That's..."

"Completely stupid, yes."



"Ugh, and I want nothing to do with it. They're even uglier than normal enemies."

"Not even to help me out?"

"Well… one little spell. Maybe two."

"…this man is dangerous."




"Good job, Efrite. It's time to finish this with Sylph."

"ARE YOU SURE? I CAN STOMP MORE."

"It's all about type matching, buddy. That drooling idiot is the first target, and Fire and Water isn't a good matchup for you."




"There we go. Feeling a bit lonely there new guy?"

"I don't care if it's feeling lonely, it looks pissed. I'm out of here before it roasts me."

"If you can't take the heat? Then I guess I'll have to stand in…I'd say I win, but this isn't even a competition."

"Will you two stop fighting?"



"Besides, I've got this."

"Thanks, Axs. Now, are you going to behave yourself this time?"



"The complete Dao of Earth, at your service. No tricks."

"Damn right. You know what'll happen to you if you try that again."



No idea what all of this accomplished, other than adding another mini-boss to this chapter. The new Dao isn't any different than the previous version when you factor in the levels I've gained since the last update. He even comes with the same spell selection.



"Ooh, stylish. Did they decide to make the whole place fancier as it went up?"

"More like ran out of local materials and had to import it from further away. it just happened to be a bit prettier."

"And a lot more expensive. The kingdom was way over budget for a number of years when this thing was being built."




A new color scheme means new enemies, mostly all recolors. The gold border signifies a wind elemental enemy, which is one that you really only see once or twice in the course of the game.

"I should probably have told you earlier, but there are rumors that this tower is haunted by the ghosts of the laborers who built it and the people who tried to plunder its treasures."

"So… kind of like us?"

"Well, at least that explains a few things."



Most of the elemental spirits have an instant death attack that they'll pick up at some point. These are every bit as useful as such abilities are in most RPGs. They're also the most expensive spell for their respective elementals. There is, however, one exception.

"All things exist to be buried."

"As long as that doesn't include us."

"Hmph. Boys will be boys… do they ever think about anything other than destroying things?"

"You've got that right."



"Aww man, why do I never find anything for me?"

"Probably because you claimed all the honey for yourself."

"He can keep his honey, as long as I keep getting armor like this."



For whatever reason, there's a complete set of weapons and armor for Axs stowed away here. It's pretty much his ultimate equipment, and turns him into a pretty balanced tank. Considering that his stats aren't as good as Rooks, it's actually fairly impressive.



Above - the exception to the "all elementals get an instant death skill" thing.

"Isn't that much better than burying everything?"

"I'll take your word for it."



At the 7th floor we're halfway up the tower, and at the end of my current map. Despite all of the floors, Stavery Tower is actually a substantial improvement over the Ice Mine.

Character Update



Somehow despite joining us at 3 levels behind Rooks, Salah is now 4 levels behind. It's magical, and I'm glad we could save some cash by finding her equipment in the tower. She's still not THAT useful, but she does have a few attack spells that can help clear out the rabble. Axs has become a grim harbinger of bloody destruction in his demon equipment, and that's just fine with me.




With four spirits you can start to see patterns in their stats. Sylph and Efrite both have two high stats, a medium stat, and a low stat while Marid and Dao have two high stats and two low stats. They've done a pretty good job of giving each spirit a role to play, though, so the stats don't matter as much as you'd think.