Part 28: Long Live The King
"I thought we were going to storm the castle?"
"Scouting and resupply first. See, now we know we don't have to worry about this Balzack guy."
"Well.. yeah. We already kind of kicked the shit out of him."
"It's Keeleon that we have to worry about." "Oh, he can't be THAT bad."
"That's.. nice, I guess. Good luck?" "I think Joy gets to make up her own mind."
"I'm afraid we won't be able to take a walk at night anymore."
"Yeah, you've never been outside of town, have you? You especially don't want to take a walk outside at night."
"I'd put you in for some kind of brother of the year award if I didn't know that you weren't just going to end up chasing her after two beers." "Okay, I think we're ready for that castle you promised me." "Brey, Mara, Nara, I want you three to wait outside the castle in case we need backup."
"You talk pretty big, but I notice that you're standing a good distance in front of the door and aren't moving to stop us."
"I think even the castle guards are starting to hate the king.. that takes a lot of bad ruling." "I'll say. It's not that hard to keep the populace below the simmering rage and eventual revolution stage."
"Umm.. Hi. You must be Ragnar?"
"And you must be Hero Ragnar has been searching for. Ragnar has finally found you!"
"How did you know it was her?" "Lady Hero is just like lady at House of Prophecy described her. Down to axe Ragnar wishes he could have."
"We should be crushing them and finding out who sent them!" "Ragnar... you're alright with me."
"And you just noticed this now? Isn't it a bit late when we're already in the throne room?"
"All the soldiers, while we deal with one monster?" "Ragnar is only soldier in castle. These are just garbage."
"We're the people who are about to make sure you're unemployed."
"It looks like Ragnar's being merciful so far and not killing them."
"Well... if you're sure..." "Ragnar is sure, and is surely giving weak guards lesson in pain."
"This will be a fun way to pass time. I'll show you how inferior humans are." "Regret being born with such fragile bodies!"
"Wait, what the hell was that?" "I mixed up the spell words, okay? Magic is hard!" "Uh.. guys? The giant 8 legged lion behind you is about to..Author's Note: There's no easy way to go back when you make a mistake in the spell menu.
Author's Note 2: Keeleon is one of the first really difficult boss battles in the game, and evidently one that gets a lot of people. I might have screwed up that first round, but the real reason for this is because he can cast high level fire magic, use an icy breath attack, hit you for 50 damage or so, and can sometimes do two of these things each round. It' s a brutal fight and the options are to either grind or hope the numbers will turn in your direction.
A Short Time Later:
"What the hell just happened?" "The guy we warned you about kind of balled you up, put you inside of a pillowcase, and took a board to you. At least, that's my medical diagnosis." "Oh, and pushed you out the garbage chute." "Sucks to be Ragnar, stuck there afterward."
"Judging from the sounds of shouting and fighting echoing throughout the castle I think he got away." "I think we're going to need something extra to take him down this time." "Ahh.. okay, I think I got this."
"Go, my merchant army!" "Wait, your what?"
"That.. was truly vile. I guess it would have to be for Keeleon's sense of humor, but.."
"You didn't have to do that. I already put a StopSpell on him." "Sometimes you just have to dance."
"Witness the power of merchants!" "Where... where did that come from?" "The situation just seemed to call for it."
"This day just keeps getting better and better."
"I feel like we've really accomplished something today. And it looks like the guards have all pretty much given up."
"You're not going to live long enough to find out. Reserve a room for Necrosaro in Hell when you get there."
"Hmmm.. does this mean that Necrosaro still doesn't know that he failed?" "That could actually be the case. If so, he's going to be REALLY surprised when I show up."
"Setting new lows for being a shitty guard." "I would have fired you. Even if I was a monster."
"Welcome to the team." "Thank you Lady Hero. Ragnar will go sit in the wagon."
"I don't think so. I wouldn't miss this for the world."
"Give him hell."
"Not so strange. We kind of killed that guy."
"What's the Secret of Evolution, anyway?" "It's basically that whatever characteristics you acquire in your life get passed on to your children. I still don't know what the monsters are trying to do with it."
"The Secret of Evolution is already in the hands of Necrosaro." "You're not worth murdering in cold blood, but I have a feeling that the mob will have an entirely different view on the matter when they come a' knockin'."
"The things you're seeing are people's homes and villages being burned to the ground by monsters, in all likelihood."
"Santeem? Is he the one responsible? I'll kill him!" "Even if he's not responsible, he's certainly connected.. let's make him talk." "Your information is minimally valuable. You can live."
"Oh, the castle is still great... it's just short a Keeleon now."
"And I, Healie, thank him greatly... Farewell!" "You were a good friend Healie. We'll tell him." "Should we consult that fortuneteller that gave Ragnar such good advice before we head to Santeem?"
"Did.. she just die trying to tell us the name of our enemy?" "See. I told you I was a better fortune teller."End of Update Snapshot
Having picked up a fair few levels, our Heroine is starting to turn into a combat monster. We're starting to pick up a few useful spells for her as well, making her the most invaluable member of our party. For this level that HP total is monstrous.
Ragnar is now very much behind in levels, but his strength and vitality keep him in the game. Even 5 levels behind, his attack power is only 8 less than Lamarck's. His defense is suffering a bit from agility, but he'll probably have even more HP to make up for that soon enough. I think our other Meteor Bracelet should probably go to him.
Alena's the only person with more HP and attack than Lamarck, and will probably continue to be at this rate. Her defense is still terrible, but she hits like a truck and still has another weapon upgrade to come.
Taloon really showed his worth in that fight with Keeleon. Right now he's a prime candidate for some equipment upgrades when we can get him, but his special abilities are coming in more and more useful. For his antiquated equipment, his defense is actually fairly respectable.
Cristo is starting to shine more and more as he gets levels and equipment. He needs a new hat, but he's been doing pretty well thus far. His HP is a huge selling point if you want a durable healer, and his attack power is at least going to contribute something. Unfortunately, he's still stuck with no offensive spells.
Nara's doing pretty well, although that HP total is starting to hurt. She's got some pretty decent defensive power, but that could be because generally female characters have slightly better hat selections.
102 HP? That's absolutely insane for a caster, and the Robe of Serenity is making sure she stays alive longer than you'd think. Mara's actually starting to look pretty decent as a character, and she's picking up levels pretty quickly as well.
Poor Brey. His defense is hurting at this point, and he's got very little HP. I need to see about more gear for him. Still, he does lead the pack in MP and he's also picked up an osmosis spell.
Voting Time
Now that we've got all the characters, it's time to start switching people out. For the next few updates I'm going to play with whatever team you guys suggest. Rules are as follows:
Must be 4 people
Must include Lamarck (You can create a team without the Hero, but you can't control any of them.)
This doesn't mean other people will be going away or not heard, but it does give me some idea of who I'll be using in battle and who should get a bit of spotlight.
I'll be counting votes from now until Sunday morning, so speak up and give me some ideas.