Part 35: Drakesmouth Seaway

Update 35: Drakesmouth Seaway



Welcome back! Last time we rescued Katja from her former allies and then forcibly recruited her. This time, we’ll be going through an event and then sailing back to Gelligh.



For the event, we come in on our group standing around the fire at camp.



Sometimes we do-
Not tonight, though.
Och, aye. Just as I imagined it.
You keep your goggles down, even at knight?
Why, is there someaught to see? Haha Actually just forget I’m wearin’ ‘em most of the time.
This must be very different for you, from what you used to do I mean.
Aye, you’re right about that. In me old profession I almost always worked alone. At least, before I joined Sigil.
…
Now I suppose I must get used ta travelin’ in a group. I think it suits me, though…
Say there, uh, Captain, I’m a big fan of clemency for the criminal type-
Obviously.
but don’t ye ever worry that the beneficiary of said mercy might show up later and stab ye in the back.
The only thing I worry about is dispensing justice according to the Council’s will. For an Arbiter, mercy is a matter of individual judgement.
And as for getting stabbed in the back, it hasn’t happened yet. One of the advantages of not working alone is having friends nearby to watch out for you.
I cannae argue with that. I think I might even sleep just that little much sounder too.
*yawn*
*yawn*
*yawn*
*yawn* It’s contagious!
I can’t keep my eyes open. I’m going to turn in.
Me too.



Anadine and Kyrie head off to sleep, leaving Katja and Reiner around the fire.



She’s my sister.
Ah. That would explain it then. Nice to have, that, a sister.
…
Quite a wee fire for such a chilly night. And my flask that dry, besides. Do ye know any other ways to stay warm there, Captain Reiner?



Huh. Maybe I will at that.

Reiner starts walking away and Katja turns sideways

Then again, maybe I won’t.



And the scene fades out as she walks towards a tent.



With that done, we reach finally reach the other end of the swamp and the town of Fenfjord. There’s nothing here except for shops.



The merchant for it is quite rude too.



We can go down from there to Port Grendel, which is even more of a nothing right now. The merchant doesn’t have a unique portrait so we’ll just skip over it.



And now it’s time to make the final leg of the journey towards Gelligh. Though that big red dot in the path seems to have something to say about it.






We pop in at the top of the ship and pan down to see that a bunch of monsters have made it onto the ship.

I had heard these were rough waters, but I didn’t realize it meant they were teeming with monsters.
Let’s get this over with quickly.




And it’s time to fight. After the string of escorts, this one’s just a good old defeat all foes.



We get 6 people this time, and I decided not to show off Katja, because she came in at level 29, solidly above my average of like 26. Instead, I brought Bzaro, Selina, Eustace, Mongo, and Reiner.




Up against us are some Arpia variants, some Pekites (including one close to my guys but in the water), and a bunch of a new enemy type: Bulldrakes.

Bulldrakes are pretty bulky, but don’t necessarily hit too hard. They’re all elemental and have access to breath skills that target the typical T area. But their real gimmick is that they have a passive that, if they’re asleep at the start of their turn, they’ll hit every enemy on the map with an elemental attack (between 0.65x and 0.95x). Additionally, they have an ability that, for 12 mp, heals them, buffs their defenses, and puts themselves to sleep. And then to add on to that, any upgraded variants have haste as a reaction ability, making their AOE damage turns come around faster when they fall asleep again. Overall, I’m a big fan of the design because they present an interesting dilemma with what I see as 3 options. 1st is just ignore them and eat the occasional attack while they sleep. 2nd is to interrupt their sleep, but don’t try and kill them (cutting down on the all map attacks, but lowering your overall damage output). Finally, 3rd is to just try and focus them down, which leaves you open to other enemies and can be difficult thanks to their healing and buffs. It’s a bit of a moot point this time, because Eustace will automatically counter all of their magic attacks, but it’s at least something to take into account.




I start the fight a bit back, so Reiner’s out of range of any enemies. So Mongo does the actual first move of the fight by buffing Bzaro and Kyrie.



And because I’m a genius at positioning, I left Reiner open to getting hit by the Pekite for quite a bit of damage. Since Selina is too far away to do anything either, she just uses her turn to heal him back up with a potion.



Bzaro uses his 5 pairs of shoes to fly over and hit the Pekite for a good chunk of damage.



And a Bulldrake pops out of the water and breathes on him.



There’s some clustering as the groups close. The Termagant heals the Pekite and the Seireen poisons Eustace, though he counters back for about a quarter of her health.



Reiner teleports down and hits the group with a mutlishot.



And after another hit from Kyrie, Mongo takes out the Termagant.



Or at least tries to.



In response, the Pekite zaps Kyrie and Mongo, and one of the Bulldrakes goes to sleep.



While another Pekite zaps Eustace, which is then followed up by a whack from a Bulldrake who jumped out of the water (I had no idea that they could jump that high). He barely, barely survives.



And then he zaps the Termagant and Seireen, ending up just short of killing both of them.



Seriously. 1 HP! The Termagant skyjacks Mongo for 1/3 of his health and the Seireen fully heals itself with a heavy potion.



But Reiner finally takes down the Termagant on his turn.



Followed by Bzaro getting the Seireen on his turn.



After a whack from Kyrie, the Pekite is also weakened enough for Mongo to chuck a rock at it for the kill.



A Bulldrake had fallen asleep in the water, hits everyone, and then gets statused and woken up by the counters.



There’s some general fighting on the deck, with some Bulldrakes breathing on people and a Pekite nearly killing Reiner. He was weakened by a Bulldrake, so instead of healing he snipes a Redcap who’d come on as a reinforcement and killed Eustace.



Continuing a trend this fight, Kyrie falls 1 hp short of killing a Bulldrake, which is instead finished off by Reiner on his turn. The weakness also wears off, so Bzaro fully heals Reiner.



Another Redcap came as a reinforcement and nearly killed Bzaro.



And the last Pekite focuses on Reiner again, hurting him a lot.



So Selina takes him out with a Pulsar.



Kyrie lands a killing blow on one of the Bulldrakes.



The sleeping Bulldrake hits everyone again. Reiner dodges and Bzaro auto-revives.



But I can’t do enough damage to the Redcap to stop it from killing Selina. Kyrie does avenge her at least.



After a round of healing and waiting, the now awake Bulldrake hops up top.



And I suddenly notice that there’s a chest hidden in the bottom corner of the lower deck, so I stall a to let Kyrie reach it.



It gives me a neat maul that has a 35% chance each of inflicting a bunch of status effect and pretty solid stats.



And with that, Reiner obliterates the Bulldrake to end the fight.



Not too bad, and thanks to fortitude passives only Eustace was actually injured.



Back on the world map, we see that there’s another event available.



Going in, it just pops us back on the ship. I’m a fan of Bobby apparently captaining the whole thing.

Aye-aye, Captain!



Katja walks off and Bzaro approaches the women.

Ah, Kyrie, this is a good opportunity for us to talk.
Of course, Bzaro. What’s on your mind?
You recall the secret assignment entrusted to me by my contact on the Council, to find the Marked murderer? Good. I find myself in a bit of a predicament…
How’s that?
Naturally, I have no wish to challenge your authority. You know I have nothing but respect for-
Bzaro, the point, please.
When we reach Illuster, I must report the results of my investigation.
…
My conclusions about the murder. Which I have now solved.
You solved the Marked’s murder? How exciting!
I’m referring to Katja, of course. She is the murderer.
Oh. Right.
I cannot promise Katja will remain free – or alive if it comes to that- ater I report to my Council contact.
But we can’t let that happen! Right, Kyrie?
Relax, both of you. Katja’s conscription into the service of an Arbiter overrules any judgement she would normally face.
Even the judgment of the Council?
It is true that the Council has the authority to intervene in exceptional cases-
And this is definitely that!
-but remember they are currently dealing with Sigil, the Pilgrimage, and very strange activities around the Temples. I have a feeling Katja is not going to be a priority.
Ah yes, excellent point! It most likely will be a good long time before the Council has time to consider the matter at all. Perhaps by then, Katja will have redeemed herself in Kyrie’s service, or Kyrie will have a greater influence in Council affairs.
I sure hope so.



And the scene fades to black. That’s where we’ll leave things until next time, when we return to Gelligh!