Part 31: Episode XXVI: In Which There is Much Chasing After a Damsel in Distress
Episode XXVI: In Which There is Much Chasing After a Damsel in DistressVerse 2: The Kidnapping - Music: Plains of Pity
As we begin this mission, we are treated to four KotS Heavy Soldiers running off to the four corners of the map. The reason for this quickly becomes apparent...
It seems after Manah hauled ass out of the district entrance to get away from Caim, she almost immediately ran straight into a band of Knights of the Seal soldiers who wasted no time kidnapping her. Why they're taking her alive now when Nowe and his band were quite clearly on the "kill on sight" shitlist of the Knights of the Seal is a bit of a mystery. But hey, plot!
Anyway, we're now tasked with tracking down the abducted Manah and rescuing her while Urick takes on Caim off camera. It doesn't matter which of the four heavies we pursue first. We need to take out all of 'em to complete the first objective
What? How incompetent all you Union pricks are? Yeah, it's like an endless cycle of failure on your end. I'm almost embarrassed to have fought under you jerkwads during the war.
"Please... Grant me the gift of eternal sleep. I'm begging you." Well, you're in luck tin grin. I'm goddamn Santa Claus when it comes to presents of murder. Just hold still and I'll take that can on your head off and gift wrap it for blondie's birthday. "What's wrong? Come at me like you did General Oror!" Who...? ...Oh! Was that the dual wielding bearded guy last time I was here? Yeah...where the HELL did that guy come from? When the fuck did the Union start getting generals? I won that stupid ass war and I never saw a single guy doing any kind of leading of those chucklefucks. Unless you count old man baldy. God DAMN did it feel good to finally cut that rambling old bastard in half! Man, now you're just rubbing it in how much less fun this is this go around. I think we're done here, masky... "ARGH!"
Pictured: The supreme competence of the Knights of the Seal. Granted, he's not giving much away when we've got a fantasy GPS pointing out the precise location of every enemy commander in the area. But still...
Nowe himself seems rather confused as to who exactly is holding Manah captive at this juncture. I think Nowe's short term recollection has roughly as much space as on board memory as a Commodore 64. It can only store a few key words like "Caim" "Manah" "captured" "my father, Oror" "Knights of the Seal" "Legna!" and his body just acts accordingly.
Four dead Knights of the Seal Elite Heavies later...
Turns out the first four targets were all just decoys. Manah has really been taken away to an airship on the far end of the area along with the captain of the guard. So, off we go to take those airships out before they get away. Manah can survive being at the center of the explosion of the vehicle she's on, right?
Four destroyed hot air balloons later...
"Another company has already taken her away!"
"Oh no! The ship is a decoy, and we fell for it!"
"Shame, that. Can we depart now...?"
"We have to go after her!" "Do we, now? And why is that?"
"She's in danger!" "Funny...she seemed capable enough in combat on her own up until recently."
"Well...Caim was here and...that probably caused her to umm...look, we just need to save her!" <sigh> "You humans and your hormones..." "!?" "...Ask your friend in the mask. I am not giving that talk to you, my boy. I'm not even sure how that works for your kind..."
Nowe backtracks to the other side of the map just in time to see the airship with Manah taking off. Great! I love lengthy missions that serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever.
Urick rushes over to see how things went with Nowe...
"Manah... Manah...! Manahhh!" "Things went that well, huh...?" "They got away! I couldn't catch them in time. What now?!" "Umm... Just gonna throw this out there but...you still do have a dragon, yes...? Of the winged, flying variety as I recall... And not petrified or anything either..." "Petrified...?" "What, never heard of a petrified dragon before? Hierarch Verdelet had one as a pact partner, ya know? He never told you about that?" "I...tried to keep clear of the former hierarch. He was umm...how to put it nicely..." "...An incredibly creepy, long-winded fossil?" "More or less..." "Yeah well count your blessings on that one. You could ask that guy for directions to the outhouse and you'd get a half-hour long spiel about how taking a dump is expelling sin from the body and some rambling about how the digestive track works and that would somehow loop back to how doom was approaching and gods...I'm getting a headache just thinking about it all again..." "...So umm..." "Oh yeah... Should probably go rescue the girl, huh...?"Verse 3: The Hostage - Music: Plains of Pity
"Are you alright, Urick?"
"Your clothes are...kind of covered in a lot of blood... How did you say Caim got away, again?" "Yeah. What's your plan for the princess? You're going to leave her to die?" "We'll save her!" "Good boy, good boy..." "Heroes have got to save the princess. It's just how things are done. Just don't settle for any half-assed plumber rescuer kiss on the cheek when you save her, eh kiddo?" "...?"
So this is a gimmick stage. The airship flying through the area has the abducted Manah onboard. Unlike the last two times an airship had an important character riding along, this one is not equipped with plot armor plating on its hull.
As such, we need to stop and run down a Murder Meter of every support aircraft on the battlefield but AVOID shooting the airship. This is easier said than done, as Legna will still lock homing shots onto the thing regardless of its VIP status.
If the airship takes too many hits, it will lose altitude, crash into a mountain, and explode into a fireball killing Manah in the process. And having the female lead violently burn to death in an airship crash is not in the game's script. So it's best to avoid that.
After a tedious cherry picking of enemies from the skies, the airship safely lands at the Grand Shrine. Which begs the question why we couldn't just fly there in the first place. Welp, that's two utterly pointless missions in a row...
Verse 4: The Return - Music: Exploration
"It doesn't matter how many there are. We're going in!" "And here I thought we were just going to light a bag of poop on fire at their doorstep and watch the ensuing chaos from the bushes..."
This mission is basically just Nowe going on a berserker rage, periodically screaming for Manah as he kills hundreds of knights standing in his path. And...also no...that's just about all there is to it...
Seere has rightly gotten the hell out of Dodge, considering what happened to his predecessor last time an angry Caim was in the tri-state region. The Knights of the Seal will mumble something about Manah being brought to Gismor's chambers on the third floor. So, off to a meeting with the general we go. But first, just outside the good general's office is another quite special weapon for Nowe. Let's have a look.
Drakengard 2 Weapon Stories posted:
OROR'S LIONBLADE
History:
Violence. Death. Ruin. Eighteen years ago, Oror was a general in the army of the Union, and led his forces against the armies of the Empire. During one fateful battle, a catastrophe befell the world and lightning rained down from the skies killing Oror's men where they stood.
Loss. Starvation. Disease. The heroes saved the world from chaos and the war ended quickly, but the wounds caused by catastrophe were felt by mankind for many years to come. During that time, Oror traveled the world trying to bring hope to the people. Their pitiful plight broke his heart.
Flags. Armor. Spears. Oror had learned that the heroes had formed a band of knight, sealed the "fire", and were now working to save the needy. Knowing that he could not save humanity alone, Oror willingly joined the knight. With knights under his command, he dedicated his life to saving as many people as possible.
Death. Love. Hate. Caught up in the internal politics of the heroes, Oror lost his life. Gismor was the culprit. However, Oror did not hate Gismor for his crime. His love for humanity would not permit such hatred, ever for his murder. And so Oror remained true to his way of life, until death.
Description: Wards off the curse of Black Armor.
Traits: Unknown...
Magic: "Horn of Justice" - Holy light dances around the wielder's body, protecting against damage.
You see? Charity will GET YOUR ASS KILLED! That said, you may notice that this is the second weapon with an "unknown" trait. An unknown trait in weapon stories is Drakengard 2 code for "Huge buff against an upcoming boss fight." You can usually deduce what boss fight it is meant for just by reading the story. This one is, obviously, meant for kicking General Gismor's ass. This is good, since it is getting a workout very, very soon.
Also, I just wanted to mention what a clusterfuck of a stage that last mission proved to be. I killed more people in that level than the last chapter and a half combined...
Music: Formidable Enemy
"Oh, silly me, dragon boy. I forgot you grew up with a pile of rocks and some mud as the closest thing you had as a front door. Lizards never were very good at teaching proper etiquette." "Gismor! Let Manah go!" "Hmph! Your woman, is she? Well, how about this? You traitors can enjoy your love in the afterlife." "Heh. I'll even stuff your ravaged carcasses together into the same shallow hole in the ground. It'll be just like a honeymoon for you two lovebirds."
"Says the immortal coward! So, you finally show up..." "Hiding behind an angry child now, are you? And that mask...what...do not wish to show that lip quivering in fear in front of your new traitorous comrades? Shameful as always." "Well, never fear, Urick! You shall spend all eternity inside a cell. You'll wish you were dead. Hahaha!"
Chasing Manah Cutscenes
Armored Gismor Concept Art - I dig the bladed elbow pad. Just in case any upstart tries to chop off his arm...again...