Part 31: Desert Temple

Update 31: Desert Temple



Welcome back! Last time we fought a bunch of guys with mystic shield out in front of the Temple. This time we’ll be heading inside to confront the leaders of Sigil.



We jump in to see Grim Eye moving along the pathway



And that hooded figure draining another relic.



A purple flame envelops him as the relic stops beating.



We are so very close…
Superb!
It was fortunate that Marked Arbiter drained the floodwaters for us. What could have possessed those Bzils to submerge the Temple anyway?
They were just tryin’ to help. Not everyone knows, or understands, your purpose in visitin’ the Temples.
Speaking of Arbiters, it appears we have company. She’s on her way here now.
We have what we came for. No reason to tarry.



The camera pans down to see our party moving in.



You there! Are you responsible for this?
…
We cannot afford any delay. Grim Eye, if you would?
As you wish, Raife.



Grim Eye starts chanting and a purple flame envelops him.



It fades and then a bunch of purple flames appear around the Temple.



And some demons appear from within them!



Ever since we’ve been traveling together, it’s been one exciting twist after another! Really gets the hemolymph pumping!
Ahh… uhh… pardon me? Wait. No. Stop right there. Forget I asked.
The energies surrounding us now are very similar to those which plagued Anadine. This Kawa is very intriguing. And also very dangerous.
That cute little Kawa summoned all of those things? What terrifying sorcery!
Is that something they, uh, usually do?
No, Anadine. It definitely is not.



While our heroes have been having as many reactions as an anime, Katja’s been essentially spinning around, looking at all of the demons.



I have simply arranged for some allies to ease our departure. Do not concern yourself.
The hell you say! I didn’t sign up with Sigil to ally myself with… whatever THAT thing is!



Katja throws down a smoke bomb and books it down one of the holes while Grim Eye starts chanting again.

Leave it.



And Raife and Grim Eye then proceed down the other path, out of the Temple.



And at a leisurely pace at that. Bastards. Nothing to be done about it.

Reiner then pops up next to Kyrie

(whispering): Kyrie, are you all right?
It’s that man. He is familiar somehow.
Never mind. We must focus on the task at hand, or it may be our last. No one has faced this many demonic creatures since the days before the Council, so be on guard. We have no idea what they’re capable of.




After all of that dialogue, it’s finally time to fight. This one’s just another basic win condition.




Our units start split apart, so I put Anadine and Bzaro down low. They’re mobile enough that it won’t matter. Up top, I have Reiner, Mongo, and Sophia for more damage and some healing.





Up against us are 3 Malcubi, 1 Sincubus, 2 Harvesters, and a Huntsman. They all have a weakness to holy damage and a bit of resistance to dark damage. The Malcubi base enemies are flying casters with access to the dark II spell as well as the ability to inflict sleep with a boosted chance. Meanwhile the Harvester base enemies are mobile physical attackers with ranged attacks that can inflict bleeding.

To be honest, compared to other enemies I don’t think these are too threatening. They’re both pretty frail and don’t necessarily hit too hard. Though they can definitely mess you up if you just throw care to the wind.



Anyway, one of the Harvesters with a great name starts the battle by trying to stab Sophia from a distance, though he misses.



So Reiner retaliates by shooting him in the back for a crit.



Which is quickly followed up on by Mongo for the kill.



Over in the far corner, one of the Malcubi revives the dead Harvester.



Down low, Anadine buffs herself and moves up.



And Bzaro takes out just under half of a Harvester’s health with a sacred bolt.



A Malcubus throws a rock at Sophia, while the lower Harvester stabs Bzaro in the back.



With some help from Kyrie, Sophia is able to take out the Malcubus in return.



Though another one takes advantage of Bzaro’s dark weakness (which I totally forgot the Ericnee class had) to nearly kill him.



Reiner pops down to root another Harvester



Then gets blasted by the Sincubus. Bzaro, unsurprisingly, goes down.



Anadine gets hit by a cast of Dark II as well, but she uses the opportunity and damage boost to kill one of the Harvesters



And then teleport up top to hit 2 more enemies with a whirling blow.



Kyrie finishes one off.




And Sophia’s a little short to hit the other one with a holy attack so she uses Quetzalcoatl to at least take a chunk out of 2 enemies.



Things are largely uneventful until Anadine’s turn comes around again, at which point she uses corrupted blade to kill one Harvester



And then teleports down to kill the other one by shoving it into a wall.



Reiner snipes the remaining Malcubus.



And after a bit more maneuvering a newly revived Bzaro finishes off the Sincubus to end the fight.



Overall a pretty easy one. It is nice to immediately unlock both of the new demonic classes for Bzaro though.



Afterwards we cut to our team investigating the Temple itself.

First we had to defeat the demonic Alphonse, and now we’ve fought a score of them! Something must be seriously wrong with the Pilgrimage
I think this had more to do with that Kawa, Grim Eye, than the Pilgrimage.
If I was a gambling man, I’d wager that Kawa and the leader of Sigil were behind every weird thing that’s been happening with the Relics.
Hmm, are you not in fact a gambling man?
Erm. Touché
I agree those two are extremely suspicious. But I can’t picture Alphonse working hand-in-hand with Sigil members. Their goal is to strip the Council of its power, which would negate his noble status.
Unless he was playing for even bigger stakes.
There is certainly more at play here.
That does seem to be the way of things these days. Now that we know Sigil members have been draining the Relics for some nefarious purpose what are we going to do about it?
The Council is already aware of the threat posed by Sigil, and we still know precious little about their larger plan. Therefore we stay the course and proceed to the next Temple.
Makes sense. I bet the Sigil members are headed that way as well.
But first…




Everyone looks up at the relic, where Yates has been crouched.




And then there’s a quick cut for everyone to pop up top.



Kyrie puts her hand up to the relic and the purple flame engulfs her yet again, before fading.



The dark energy feels somewhat stronger than before, but I’m adjusting to it. Let’s be on our way. The last Temple awaits.
The final Temple is deep within Kawa lands, so you’ll get to see plenty of the little folk, Anadine.



And with that we head on back to the world map. Our new path winds to the west, as we will sail back down to Gelligh. There’s also a new event on Baaz island, but we’ll let that sit until next time!