Part 6: "The King is damaged mentally."

Last time, we tried to stop the Warship and failed. Now let's revisit the Empires-free Bafsuk.





uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh



Everyone in Bafsuk is alright, though everyone's shitting their pants about this Warship destroying everything.



Anyway, our next mission is to go back to Altea and tell Hilda we completely failed.





Along the way, we need to talk to Cid to pick up a new password.



So let's do that.





She's not kidding. A ton of townspeople are dead. You see, this game has no problems killing off NPCs, and this Warship is the first (but far from last) instance of the game using a plot event as an excuse to wipe out a ton of characters.

On one hand, it does a great job showing how ruthless the Empire is, considering they're constantly killing people off during the course of the game. On the other hand, it really gives the game a dark, empty tone. It's like, why should I care that all these people are dead? You know, besides not being able to mock their stupid lines.

This is why I've been doing a population counter for each town. I've always been curious how many people this game kills off, and this LP should answer that question for me. So...

Revised Poft population: 11 (-11)
DEATH COUNT: 14

At least the shopkeepers don't die.

Anyway, let's talk to Cid again about the Airship.



Hey, a new password! Sunblaze, you say?

Sunblaze is very difficult to control. Too much flame causes malfunction and eruption.

And Warship?

Engine breakdown means a big explosion to a warship!

So now we've got a lead on actually destroying this monstrosity.





L3 Fire torches everything. Too bad the gameplay at this point is dull due to my party's great strides in kicking ass.



Also bumped Ruse up a level from random castings.



Next is Parm.







These guys are the only ones left besides the shopkeeps and the "Sail to Poft" guy.

Revised Parm Population: 11 (-3)
DEATH COUNT: 17



The only reason to visit Parm is to see how many people died. On to Altea!



There's nobody around, though everyone inside a shop, including Tobuel, is still fine.



I have a bit of cash left over, so I get Luna Lit so she has something to do besides stab. It's also pretty fitting for a dragoon to have a spell that slams something from the sky into an enemy, and nobody in the series ever really specializes in lightning magic.





You see, everyone's hiding in the rebel base. Or rather, who remains from Altea. Let's do some calculations...

Revised Altea Pop: 10 (-3)
Revised Rebel Base Pop: 18 (+4)

Oh, huh. We gained a person. Oh well.



In case you didn't talk to Cid yet, you'll get told to do so, as you need the Sunblaze password to continue the plot.



The Rebel Base is a safe spot, apparently. Then again, I guess any building is safe considering the shopkeeps aren't running scared either.





Good.



...They're still going with Agitating Point? Also, despite how it looks, there's no extra text here. This is all the guy says.



"I was right! We're all going to die! Told ya so!"



Can't we help?
All living things are born to die ...... But I was born to help those in pain. I must stay here. I will part from you now.



So now MingWu has left the party, and we're back down to three. MingWu's great in the beginning, but at this point we can hold our own against these enemies. Now the game really begins...sometime soon, maybe.

Anyway, we gotta talk to Hilda again to start asking about passwords.



Let's tackle the Sunblaze.

I have heard about the Sunblaze, the symbol of Casheon. It is still burning on the 1st floor .. And .. Sunblaze does not light on an ordinary toach .. [sic]
We can destroy Warship with Sunblaze.
Truely? Oh, please! Quick! Cid will take you there. But, we don't know the way to take the flame from the Sunblaze ....

Warship?

Many people died of Warship's attack. How should we fight with such thing .. ?

While it sounds like our next destination is Casheon, we don't actually have a way to get in. Gotta do a bit more asking around for that.





He doesn't seem very mentally damaged to me. We can ask MingWu about Sunblaze.

Festival of the Flame is held once every 3 years. Moving the Sunblaze to the Torch to purify stand.

And the Airship?



Honor, fame, glory ....and .... family ....

Uh, alright. Warship?

Warship and Airship both work on same theory.

Let's try the King now.



Let's ask about the Airship.

Cid used to be a noble and righteous person. People can change ..

Which implies Cid gets a redemption arc. Anyway, to advance the plot, we need to ask the king about the Sunblaze.



And that unlocks the next word, Chime.

Only the members of the Royal Family of Casheon know where the Chime is.

And of course Gordon is gone. How about asking MingWu about the Chime?

Gordon should know where the Chime is. But we cannnot [sic] find him. Someone close to Scott or Gordon might know. .... Princess Hilda ..?

You know the deal. To get an idea of what to do next and finish this game of password tag, we tell Hilda about the Chime.



And that Chime is hidden deep in the cave of the Snow Field ...... Oh, no! Are you going there?! You didn't have to face such danger if Gordon was here ..... Well ..... I can only wish you luck. Josef knows around there. He may help you.

So now we need to visit Josef to get a chime to open a dungeon to get a flame that we won't even be able to carry to blow up a warship.



In the meantime, here's a picture of post-Warship Gathea.

Revised Gathea Pop: 7 (-3)
DEATH COUNT: 20





And here's Bolt in action. Not bad damage, thanks to Luna's high starting Intelligence.



And this was hilarious enough that I had to share it.



On the march to Salamand, I have Dude dual-wield Shields again just so he might have a small chance of gaining a god damn Agility point.



Anyway, the trip back to Salamand is uneventful because the enemies are pathetic now.



We need to talk to Josef about the Chime.



It is behind the wall by a blue rock on the first floor. Now, hurry up!!

Hopefully you pay attention to this, because he only tells you this once.



And that's because he joins you immediately afterward.



Josef's pretty much a pure monk. No magic, but he hits decently hard. I still shuffle him to the back row because why waste effort building up someone in the disposable fourth slot?





Here's Josef in battle. He looks dapper as hell.





Before we can do the Snowfield, we have to backtrack to Semite Falls to get the Snowship. It's a short, uneventful trip that just wastes a bit of time. We'll tackle the actual next dungeon next time.



MP +9, Fire +1

The weak overworld battles slowed leveling down this update. Still, Nathan Fillion's magic is getting a bit better.



STR +4, AGI +1, VIT +1, INT -3, MAG +1, MP +5

Last update, I was worried about Luna's slow Strength growth. I had a lucky string of Strength gains that update, which made up for it. Otherwise, she's advancing nicely, though she suffered a few INT losses as well, which I'll have to make up with Lit later.



WILL +3, Ruse +1

Nothing terribly exciting, I'm afraid, other than Dude becoming better at the whole White Mage thing.

And here's everyone's magic so far: