Part 20: Oldebzar

Update 20: Oldebzar



Welcome back! Last time we fought a bunch of monsters on a trail through the desert and found what are essentially some giant moon shoes. This time, we’ll be heading into the next town, Oldebzar.



However, when we reach it we get thrust into another battle screen!





As Kyrie and Reiner enter the town square, we see a bunch of people looting the place and setting fires. Including one familiar face.



Who then stabs the guy kneeling in front of him.



Slay any that get in the way, but only if they’re in the way! Remember that we’re here for business, not sport!
It’s that bastard Mercier! Again! Unbelievable.
How in the world did he get free? Never mind. Right now we have to help the townsfolk
We need to figure out the source, how they’re able to keep mounting regular attacks. I’m going to fall back and investigate. Handle this one without me.




Reiner runs off screen as we’re shown the battle conditions. This is another defeat the leader one.



It also splits your group in half. On the right side I have Anadine, Kyrie, and Selina who’re going to charge in.



And the left side has Azure, Sophia, and Mongo who’ll hopefully lure people over to keep them from concentrating fire.



Which is needed because there are a lot of people in this fight. To start, we have Mercier and another ranger up top.



Below them there are a gunner, vangal, alchemystic (who knows the AOE haste buff), and a warmage.



And then below them there’s a duelist, merc, and a wizard that can easily threaten the whole lower floor. So we’re dealing with a 9 v 6 where they have pretty good positioning and can pretty easily overwhelm any one group.



The alchemystic open up by hasting himself and the gunner and vangal, which is less than ideal.



After a few more rounds of buffing, the duelist draws first blood by chucking a rock at Azure.



Who’s then shot, brought down to half health, and berserked.



On the right side, Kyrie weakens the warmage to try and lower his damage output.



I healed Azure, but she takes another solid hit from the merc.




On the right side, things are going just about as well as the other one, with Selina and Anadine taking heavy damage from the wizard and warmage.



Then I lose Azure to a series of hits from the gunner and duelist.



And then in my brilliance I leave Sophia next to the watering hole and she gets shoved in for an instant kill. Soon afterwards I also lose Anadine to a combo from the warmage, which makes me decide it’s time to restart.



I keep the same people but shift around their positions to get a better first turn and, most importantly, give Anadine those jet boots so she can get around the map. This time, the goal is to just rush Mercier and take him out ASAP before they can bring their numbers to bear.



Merceir decides to oblige me and poisons himself instead of getting any buffs out of the gambler skill.



Meanwhile, Azure goes and roots the wizard down in his corner. This way, he’s just barely too far away to threaten any of my people turn 1.



Meanwhile, Kyrie debuffs the much higher attacking stat on the warmage.




Back on the left side, it’s like the opening of FFTA as Mongo gets pelted by rocks.



Anadine moves up behind Kyrie and buffs herself.



And then she and Kyrie both get whacked by a burst from the warmage. Thankfully, without the extra hit from the wizard they both end up in much better shape than last time.



Mercier continues to make my job easier by moving up to shoot Kyrie.



Who retaliates soon after with a dark bolt to weaken him more.




And then, thanks to the jump boots, Anadine is able to scale the walls and run up to him.



And then take out Mercier with a 100% accurate strike.



Much better results this time. I did get lucky with the poison, but it wasn’t totally necessary. If he hadn’t poisoned himself, I think the only difference would’ve been that Kyrie would’ve gone down before Anadine took a second turn to finish Mercier off.

After the victory screen, we see that Anadine and Kyrie have cornered Mercier.



In that you are mistaken. Always so cocksure of yourselves, aren’t you? You Arbiters are all the same.



Mercier throws a smoke bomb down and runs off. I missed the screenshot, but Reiner can be seen just off map, jumping down and running after him.

He’s getting away!
Don’t give chase.
But he’s going to escape again!
Don’t worry, he’s not going far. Reiner is right behind him.
Reiner is following him? We wouldn’t need to follow him is you’d let me-
Don’t you find it odd how we captured Mercier not that long ago, and he’s out here raiding again already?
He must have escaped the Arbiter who took custody of him. What was his name? Dolman. Right?
That’s one possibility, yes. But let’s see what Reiner uncovers. In the meantime, let’s see if anyone here needs our help.



The scene cuts to Kyrie talking with a guy wearing a peddler outfit, while other people seem to be taking stock of the damage. The guy walks off and Kyrie returns to Anadine.



There’s always someone who takes advantage of the misfortunes of others, no matter the circumstances.
What? But we can’t allow that! Are we going to arrest him?
I might find his behavior reprehensible, but but we can’t just go forcing everyone to do what WE think is right at swordpoint. There would be no justice in that.
I understand. It seems I still have much to learn.
You’re doing fine. Keep asking the right questions and you’ll be a full Arbiter before you know it. Sylvia would be proud of you, I think.
I hope so, but I still have a ways to go before I can measure up to my mother’s legacy.
I know she was your mentor, but were you and mother close friends as well?
We were. She was an exceptional mentor and a true friend. Reiner should be back soon, I think.



And speak of the devil, Reiner then walks up to the ladies.

That took longer than I expected.
Mercier is quite the slippery fellow, cautious and difficult to track. It took all of my considerable cunning not to be seen. They’ve hit other settlements beyond Thespeiros and Oldebzar, and I wager they’re not finished yet.
That’s disquieting.
I tracked Mercier to a local rendezvous point. In my opinion, we should strike quickly and hard, and break up their operation for good. How we handle it is up to you, of course.
That was good work, Reiner.



If you decide on the latter, I warn you it will be a challenging fight against a large and well-equipped force. From what I saw, they seem to be hunkering down for a while, so we will have time if you wish to return later, after we’ve had a chance to prepare.

With that, we’ve liberated Oldebzar and found the Mercier’s meetup point. There’s also a new event available in Oldebzar. So next time, we’ll be checking that out and then heading back to Centina to fight in the arena!