Part 67: Chapter Forty Nine: Harvest Moon
Music: 27 – Breath of Fire000.png)
We’ve cleared out the fog so the way to the southern continent should be clear.
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And presto, it’s all gone. The party now consists of Ryu, Rand, Aspara and Nina. This small area does have some random encounters, but like in the Elder Tree’s memory they’re a hodgepodge of enemies we’ve already encountered.
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Aside from these Burner Orcs, that is. Burner Orcs hit fast and hard, dealing around 70 damage with their physical attacks. They also have a high counterattack and critical hit rate, as well as the ability to use Fire Breath, so getting into a protracted fight with them is a bad idea.
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: Okay, which way do we go?
: South. The eastern path leads to a dead end.: Okay…how did you know that?: I used to live near here. And that’s all I have to say about it.004.png)
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The party thus emerges onto the southern continent. As usual there are new enemy encounters to catalogue.
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This unusual looking fellow is a Gallop. Gallops are physical attackers who hit hard but are also quite frail. They also occasionally use Ice Breath, but I’ve only seen it happen once. They honestly aren’t much trouble.
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The horrifying Ayyiyis are weak enemies who like to spam Drain, stealing your HP and healing themselves at the same time.
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Marble Golems are slow, but pack a mean punch. Their physical attacks deal over 80 damage to a single target, and they are very resilient to your own physical attacks. Magic is the best way of taking them out.
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: Hey, there’s a village down there.
: It will be good to stop over and get some rest. We’ve been travelling and fighting for quite a while.: A word of warning? That place is full of hicks. Enter at your own risk.Music: 02 – My Home Sweet Home
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: The people here all appear to be physically similar to Rand. Might I assume they are your clansmen?: You might. *Sigh* I thought I’d said goodbye to this place for good. Trust fate to drag me back after all this time…You can talk to the NPCs here with Rand and get a different reaction out of them, but most simply boil down to “Rand? Wow, you came back!”.
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:…Hey, Ryu. Do you mind if I go visit someone for a moment? She’d kill me if she found out I had come back without stopping by.: Sure. No problem.: Thanks.012.png)
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: Ngh! Watch out!014.png)
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We don’t need your fancy church clutterin’ up our countryside! Scram! Git!019.png)
…Bah!020.png)
:…Whoa.:…Yeah. My mother can get…upset…about things pretty easily.: Um…how to put this politely…maybe we should put this visit off for now? I mean, she can’t be in a good mood after that…: Nah. Best to get it over with.021.png)
: Hmm. She’s probably in the kitchen.022.png)
: Hey, ma. I’m home.023.png)
: Ngh!024.png)
Whadda ya think it was for, idjit boy! You haven’t sent me so much as a ‘wish you were here’ in goodness knows how long…025.png)
: Ma, it ain’t like that…I can explain…026.png)
But no! Gotta go ‘see the world’ or whatever such nonsense!: Ma- Probably got a million hussies out there, every one of them holdin’ one of my grandkids! It breaks an old woman’s heart…027.png)
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: And now I’ve found these people! Please, ya gotta believe me… Shush!029.png)
You’re going to earn your keep in this town for a change!030.png)
: Aw, not that, Ma! Anything but that!031.png)
And you! You’re Rand’s friends, right? You can help him! You start tomorrow!: Y-yes ma’am!032.png)
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Put some elbow grease into it! No supper for slackers! 034.png)
:…Your mother is pretty terrifying, Rand.:…Yeah.: Hmm. The land here is quite fertile. Unfortunately there seem to be a great many obstacles that prevent it from being used.035.png)
Okay, now we get to do some ploughing. The objective here is to walk up to a stone, stump or weed patch and press ‘A’.
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The party will then proceed to beat the shit out of the obstacle until it ceases to exist. This is totally how people in medieval times actually ploughed. None of the obstacles can attack so it’s just a case of beating on them until they die.
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Here’s the stone obstacle…
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And here’s the stump.
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The only different encounter is with the stone in the upper right hand corner of the field. Trying to get rid of it results in a boss encounter.
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Music: 10 – I’ll Do It!
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Marl can be difficult if you aren’t paying attention or aren’t expecting it. It usually opens the fight by casting Inferno and dealing over 100 damage to the entire party. I’m not sure if he can cast it again after that, but his physical attack is also pretty deadly seeing as it does 90+ damage to Ryu, the most heavily armoured character in the party. The best way of beating him is to spam ice magic at him, since he’s weak to it and will take over 200 damage from a single hit of Ice Blast.
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: That…was difficult…:…Do the rocks in your fields normally fight back?: Yeah. Occasionally.042.png)
Now that it’s cleared, that field‘ll make great farmland, just you watch!043.png)
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: But as long as you do what she tells you, she’ll warm up to you after a while.: She seems to be a woman of integrity.: Yeah, and a dozen other things. Better go see how she’s getting on.045.png)
Your job today is to go to the Earth Temple and ask Namanda for his blessing!: The Earth Temple, huh. It’s been a while since I’ve been there. Follow me, everyone – I’ll show you the way.046.png)
And off we go!