Part 16: Jungle Temple

Update 16: Jungle Temple



Welcome back! Last time we learned about a dissident group who, for some strange reason, is against the rule of all-powerful, immortal beings with absolutely no oversight, and then fought a bunch of monsters to clear the way to the Jungle Temple. This time, we’ll actually be heading inside the temple, hopefully to find an actually working Relic.



Of course, when Kyrie and Reiner enter we see that a group has somehow beaten us inside.




I uh… We… Ahem. We are part of Sigil! We have taken control of the Temple in the name of the cause. The people shall be freed from the yoke of the Immortals!
That’s as may be. But we have our own reasons to be here, and we aren’t leaving.
You leave us no choice then!



Not what you’d call hardened killers, eh? Just youths with a cause. A tad overzealous, perhaps.

(Kyrie seems to sigh)

We still have to reach the Relic. Pass the word around to go easy on them.
Understood.




And we’re in the fight. Just a simple beat all foes mission, though it feels like this one’s difficulty has also been toned down. I might’ve just been a higher level, but I remember enemies having all or almost all of their skills by this point, which made this a big difficulty spike since there’s no way to separate enemies out.



Regardless, even if it feels easier this is still not a walk in the park. For this fight, I’m bringing Mongo and Hannah for a front line, Sophia and Selina for magic and support, and Reiner to try and take out the squishy units from range.



Down below, we’re dealing with a good chunk of enemies, though I think the only new one is the druid (think FFT red mage and you’re pretty much spot on). There’s a knight and 2 mercs who form a solid front line, a Ranger (who thankfully spawned with an axe instead of a bow), a gunner, the druid, a wizard hiding in the corner, and Antoine the alchemystic to round out the group.

Our big advantage for this fight is that we start up top, meaning it’s easier to reach their backline and harder for them to reach ours. The downside is that they have a lot more guys, and a good amount of their attacks don’t care about elevation at all.



Antoine opens up the fight by hasting the knight. Much rather that than having him target one of the ranged attackers.



While Reiner hits the Ranger, who doesn’t get rooted, but does waste his turn by using a potion.



And the merc runs up and hits Kyrie with a rock. She runs up to retaliate




And promptly starts getting swarmed by enemies.



Mongo’s able to get a big hit in thanks to his spear’s extra range.



We also take a hit back thanks to this wizard.



After an attack buff from Hannah, Reiner really weakens the first merc with a sneak attack.



And Kyrie goes to take him out.



But I hit that 2% chance and flub it instead.



This does a good chunk of damage and makes Reiner bleed. If I don’t heal him, he’ll probably go down since a lot of enemies go before he does. I have Selina recover him to semi-deal with both. Annoyingly, without Selina’s damage, Mongo ends up 1 damage short of finishing the weakened merc.



And then the Wizard takes advantage of my terrible grouping to zap my backline. Thankfully, these guys at least have decent Res, so it’s not as bad as it could be.



Hannah then chucks a rock at the nearly dead merc to get him before he takes another turn.



Meanwhile, the swarm of enemies nearly downs Kyrie. She has been slowing them, but Antoine’s been counteracting a some of her counters.



Sophia heals Kyrie up, but then gets hit with some magic that also nearly takes out Hannah.



I then remember how useful Taunt is, and promptly make the druid not my problem.



But the wizard stays a thorn in my side.



After a series of mostly unremarkable actions, the enemies group up enough that I can actually use Kyrie’s Wrathful Burst. Mongo takes a hit too, but he’s bulky enough to be fine.



In exchange, Kyrie gets both the druid and ranger, and takes a bite out of the knight as well.



I keep bursting, using Selina’s healing burst to keep my guys up top healthy.



Though the wizard does his best to negate it.



Reiner finally gets another turn and nearly takes out the wizard.



But Selina follows up with another rock to finish him off.



Hannah nearly takes out the remaining merc with a righteous blade.



And Kyrie finally makes her way down to hit the annoying gunner. However, she doesn’t take him out and then gets rooted for her troubles.



Up top, Hannah takes out the merc with a boost from cleansing blade.



And Reiner gets the wizard with a sneak attack.



Kyrie continues the slaughter.



The knight tries to turn things around by reviving the ranger.




But it doesn’t matter.



The knight himself just refuses to die.




But eventually having most of the team beating him up finally works.



Leaving just the poor alchemystic trapped in the corner. After beating him with some rods for a bit



Hannah comes in to put him out of his misery and end the fight.



Not too difficult, and the nail gun is a neat reward. It has a chance of inflicting root on any normal attack, which can be really convenient.



After the fight, it seems that we did go pretty easy on them since they’re all still alive.



You only heal the innocent, we only punish the guilty. These ones are not exactly innocent, but though they put up a fight, they were careful not to kill anyone. They will face punishment, but there will be no “body count.”
I’m sure you realize where you would be right now if we punished every crime with an execution.
Hmph.

Yates goes back to tending the wounded, and Kyrie addresses the leader.



Our leader let us in. He is a Marked.
The leader of Sigil, the faction dedicated to overthrowing the Immortals, is himself a candidate for the title of Immortal?!
I suppose I should be shocked, but in truth I am not.
Our leader has a plan, a brilliant plan! He has promised us this plan will end the reign of the Immortals.
What about the Relic? Was it motionless like this when you arrived?
No, it was glowing and twirling furiously. Our leader performed some work of magic and it fell still.
Hmm. Did your leader undergo any… changes afterwards? Turning purple for instance?
Purple…? I’m not sure I follow. He activated the Relic, instructed us to kill any marked who showed up at the Temple, and left. And then… Then we failed him. Sigil is dedicated to peace and a better future for all mortals!
I don’t understand his instructions, why he told us to kill any Marked who arrived here. Or how he came to be a Marked himself. It is all very confusing.
I cannot guess at his objective, but you were wise to disobey him and stay your blades.
So… what’s to become of us now?
You cannot exit the Temple without a Marked. You will remain here and reflect on your actions. We’ll come get you when this is all over.
I understand.



They approach the relic and Kyrie starts to drain it.



The familiar purple flame appears and then fades.



I feel a little stronger, and there’s more dark energy. But it’s manageable.
Since this relic has been drained as well, I’m not sure how useful it will be, but I will study it awhile. Hopefully I will learn something that will bring us closer to a cure for Anadine.
Thank you, Yates. To Reiner When Yates is done with the Relic, we’ll return to town and figure out our next step.



And that pops us back out to the world map. We need to head back to Thespeiros to meet up with Anadine, so that’s where we’ll be going next update!