Part 121: Renault
Support Conversations: RenaultRenault/Bartre
Anima/Thunder
C - Attack + .5, Defense + 1, Avoid + 5, Critical + 2.5, Critical Evade + 5
B - Attack + 1, Defense + 2, Avoid + 10, Critical + 5, Critical Evade + 10
A - Attack + 1.5, Defense + 3, Avoid + 15, Critical + 7.5, Critical Evade + 15
C Support
: Ho there!
: ...? And you are?: I am Bartre! I strive to be the best! What say you to a match?: ...What a strange fellow. Well, first off, I think you’ve chosen the wrong opponent. What use is there in fighting a man of the cloth like myself?: Do not try to hide your skill from me, man! You may say mass on Sundays, but you brawl your week away! Do you read the rites to your fallen foes, Your Excellency?: ...You are wrong about me.: You don’t fool me! I can spot a true warrior! Why, of the last ten men I spotted, nearly half were strong warriors!: ...So you’re only right half of the time?: ...Nearly half! But I know I’m right this time! That glint in your eye, that’s the shine of your inner steel, man! Now, have at you!: ...You must be joking.: W-Wait! And you call yourself the toughest priest alive!?B Support
: Wait!: You again... Look, there’s no time for this, is there?: Quiet! A warrior trains himself constantly!: ...It’s...Bartre, is it not?: Right!: Why do you seek strength, my son?: What?: ...I have seen many warriors. Most sought power for their own reasons... to acquire something or to control someone... What is your reason?: Ruuoooggghhh!: What is it?!: Difficult conversations make...head hurt!: ...What an odd fellow.: Hey, are you calling me stupid?!: I...don’t believe so. What is your dream, son? What do you seek?: I dunno! I don’t think about things like that! I want to be strong! That is what I seek!: ...How odd. Very well. Once this battle is finished, I will spar with you until you are satisfied.: Really?! Thanks! I mean it!A Support
: Renault!: Ah, yes, my son?: You’re no man of faith! You lied! You said we would fight!: ...So I did. But there is already fighting everywhere. We have no time.: Nggghhh! Don’t make excuses! Tell me, Bishop, why were you on the Dread Isle?! The time you spent there turned you evil! That’s why you broke your promise!: Now, I don’t think that-- Look here... Just calm down. You’ll never be the strongest if you die of a heart attack first. I can heal your pains, but you must relax.: I don’t need your prayers! Don’t heal me--just punch me!: Punch you? Me?: Yeah! Warriors speak with their fists!: I don’t really understand, but will my punching you really make you feel better?: As hard as you can!: Well, all right then. Like this?: Gwooh!: You hit me in the eye... Cra...zy...priest...: Bartre? Hey, get up. ...He passed out. ...So I have to punch him, and then I have to heal him? Elimine, grant me the grace to endure this man...Renault/Isadora
Anima/Dark
C - Attack + .5, Defense + .5, Accuracy + 2.5, Avoid + 5, Critical + 2.5, Critical Evade + 5
B - Attack + 1, Defense + 1, Accuracy + 5, Avoid + 10, Critical + 5, Critical Evade + 10
A - Attack + 1.5, Defense + 1.5, Accuracy + 7.5, Avoid + 15, Critical + 7.5, Critical Evade + 15
C Support
: Pardon me. You are an Eliminean bishop, are you not?: Ehh... Yes... I suppose.: How is that you came to join our company? I heard that you spent some time on the Dread Isle... Was it one of Elimine’s missions?: Ahh... Sort of... I guess.: ...? I may not be the most pious of souls, but I am a believer in the teachings of Elimine. It is an honor to protect one of her bishops!: I’m sorry, but... I don’t think I’m worthy of being called a bishop. Long ago, I was a mercenary. I led a bloody, thoughtless life, unconnected to the holy teachings.: Is that so? And then...what brought you to the light of Elimine?: I...lost a friend. A man I could have called brother. But when he died, I knew nothing of prayers, of forgiveness. I only knew how to bash another man’s skull... So I cast aside my weapons and knelt for the first time... to mourn my fallen friend.B Support
: Bishop, may I have a moment?: Mm...: Will you hear my sins? It has been a...very long time since my last confession.: Confession... I am not so good at these priestly matters.: Please, do this for me...: ...Very well. If all I must do is listen... I do not mind.: Your Excellency... I was born as the youngest daughter of a country nobleman. I wanted to become a knight from my earliest childhood, so I spent many long, bitter hours in training... I hoped to someday protect my country proudly... But... There was one thing for which I was not prepared... To protect, one must do battle with one’s enemies... And to do battle with one’s enemies, one must...strike...those enemies.: ...: I have taken many lives in battle before now... For justice, for peace, for my lord, and for my country... I have fought all this time as a brave knight.: And do you regret this choice?: No, I... I think we fight for the right reasons... However...at times, I grow uneasy. I grow sorrowful for the lives cut short on the end of my blade.: ...: Your Excellency... Am I wrong for feeling this way? What should I do?: ...: Bishop...: Forgive me. I am a fraud. I can offer you no solace.A Support
: Are you all right?: Your Excellency?: You don’t look well... We can’t have you die here. Try thinking about your village...: I shall...: ...Isadora?: Y-Yes? What is it?: About earlier... I may be a poor preacher, but please listen to me now...: Of course. What have you to tell me?: You asked me what you should do. If I could give you one direction, one step along the path... It would be...to let yourself be lost.: Lost?: Forgiving your sins is a small task for a bishop... And if that were enough to save you, I would recite the words. But you suffer... and you seek answers...: ...: And that is the greatest pain of all... The pain of doubt. If I dispelled this doubt, I could free you from your pain. But then you should be nothing more than a puppet that kills. Use your doubt. Use it to become something more. I think it makes you...human.: Bishop Renault...: Whether you will ever find answers, I do not know. But you must live with your doubt until then. If you can, then all of the joy and sorrow you experience... will truly belong to you.: Your Excellency...: I have lived this way since I found myself... Some are sustained by faith, but for me, there are no answers.Renault/Wallace
Anima/Thunder
C - Attack + .5, Defense + 1, Avoid + 5, Critical + 2.5, Critical Evade + 5
B - Attack + 1, Defense + 2, Avoid + 10, Critical + 5, Critical Evade + 10
A - Attack + 1.5, Defense + 3, Avoid + 15, Critical + 7.5, Critical Evade + 15
C Support
: Are you Bishop Renault? Let us fight side by side, Your Excellency!: As you will.: Ha! It is good indeed to have allies who are strong of spirit. Mm? You? No, you couldn’t be...: What is it?: It is not possible. No...surely not... Forgive me, Bishop Renault... You just look so much like him... You could be the very image of a man I knew...: Oh?: I thought you might be him, but that is certainly not possible. There is no way he could be as you are now... And the last time I saw him was some thirty years ago...B Support
: I was only ten years old or so at the time... I was a squire in the service of a knight of Caelin... I was so puny and slight that some teased me, called me a girl.: ...Sorry. That’s a little hard to imagine.: The man I knew was a mercenary also in the service of Caelin. Yes, and his name was also Renault. Renault the Impervious, they called him. He had no fear of death, and his bravery was well known. Did you know him?: No...: I learned much about fighting from him... I owed him a great debt as my teacher... I wanted to meet him once more time in my life.: Why do you want to see him?: I made a promise to him when I was young. I told him I would fight always for the sake of the people. I told him I would never use the skills he taught me for evil. I want to tell him that I have kept this promise... But...surely he is long dead.: ...A Support
: Lord Renault, are you all right?: Yes.: You know... It is somewhat strange, but... though we’ve only just met, I feel as though I’ve known you for quite some time. I feel we could be good friends.: It would be an honor.: Would that I had met you sooner! Soon our journey ends... And will we fight together no more?: Keep your guard up, Wallace. Victory is not ours yet.: Aahahaha! He said the exact same thing to me once! How could I forget! His teachings are all engraved on my heart!: Wallace. Would you still like to see him again?: Of course! But...it feels less urgent now. Having fought alongside you like this, Bishop Renault... It has given me the feeling that perhaps... He has been watching me from heaven...: Perhaps...: I must thank you, Your Excellency.: But I have done nothing, really. Let us go now.: Onward!Renault/Lucius
Anima/Light
C - Attack + 1, Defense + 1, Accuracy + 2.5, Avoid + 2.5, Critical + 2.5, Critical Evade + 2.5
B - Attack + 2, Defense + 2, Accuracy + 5, Avoid + 5, Critical + 5, Critical Evade + 5
A - Attack + 3, Defense + 3, Accuracy + 7.5, Avoid + 7.5, Critical + 7.5, Critical Evade + 7.5
C Support
: My goodness...
: Y-Yes?: Your face...you don’t look so well. Are you hurt? Let me take a look.: No...please don’t. I have a...condition... This is just a...passing attack. It will soon...disappear...: What is this illness? Should you even be fighting?: My bishop told me that it was a sickness of the soul... But it’s gotten much better.: Of the...soul?: Yes... I offer relief to those who hurt inside, and yet, I, too, am...afflicted... I strive daily to overcome this curse... ...but still I am weak.: Sickness of the soul are the most difficult to heal... ...But please do not blame yourself for this... Doing so could even aggravate your condition...: Th-Thank you. ...Your words...have brought me some peace.: So...what is your name?: It is Lucius.: Lucius? I am...: I know. You are...Bishop Renault, are you not?B Support
: Lucius?: Yes? Ah, Your Excellency!: You look much better. Have you...recovered some?: Yes. I took your words to heart, so to speak... Thank you.: Ah, good. Then you will overcome it in no time.: ...How I wish that could...: You said the blemish lies on your soul? Speak of it to me, son.: I... I grew up in an orphanage... and I faced much grief in that place... Poverty and despair can eat one’s very soul... There was one teacher there who was particularly cruel to me... Even now... I pray that this evil man might be led away from darkness...: I see... ...and were you there from birth?: No, Your Excellency. ...I remember living with my mother and father until the age of three.: And why did you go to the orphanage?: Our house...was invaded by a thief. My father was a famous mercenary, but the man was too strong. I saw my father fall before me. I recall it sometimes, even now... The eyes of the thief who killed him. ...Like terrible dark stones set in his hate-filled face... All he left behind was this dagger protruding from my father’s chest.: Ah!: After my father’s death, my mother fell ill... ...I was alone. In a cruel twist, this dagger is all I have of my father... ...Bishop Renault? What is it!? Your face is bright red!: Excuse me...: Of course...A Support
: Bishop Renault...?: Lucius.: ...Did I do something? Something...to...to... Have I angered you? If that were so... I would truly... Please... Forgive me...: Lucius! ...Control yourself!: Yes... I am...sorry.: Ah, your affliction... ...Forgive me...: ...Bishop Renault... Why should you...apologize? This scourge upon my soul... It is my own doing...: Do not speak... It will exhaust you.: ...Ah... Sorry...: ...He is asleep... ...Forgive me, son. In those days... I only thought of myself... I trespassed against many in my singular drive to regain the friend I lost...and to satiate my own...monstrous greed. I even sacrificed... the lives of others... Forgive me... Please...forgive...me...: I forgive you...: You--: I forgive you.: But you... You cannot know the evil I have wrought... I did it! I killed your father...: Even so, I feel your grief, and it feels like my own...: Lucius...Renault/Canas
Anima/Anima
C - Attack + 1, Defense + 1, Avoid + 5, Critical Evade + 5
B - Attack + 2, Defense + 2, Avoid + 10, Critical Evade + 10
A - Attack + 3, Defense + 3, Avoid + 15, Critical Evade + 15
C Support
: Ah, excuse me. You are...on our side, are you not? Fighting with us?: ...I suppose I am. I am Renault.: It is an honor. I am Canas. I have a question.: ...You don’t waste much time...: Ah, yes, well, excuse my manners. But I am on a journey to gather knowledge...: A scholar, eh...: Yes. Well... For the moment, I am more like a shaman traveling to hone my skill in the ancient magic. But at heart, I am still just a scholar, as you say. I heard, Bishop, that you have been to the Dread Isle... Could you perhaps tell me a little about it? About the creatures to be found there? About the ones with eyes of gold?: You mean...morphs?: Ah! So you do know of them! Where did you learn that name?: Well. A long time ago, I...: Bishop, I must ask you... Do you think these morphs have souls?: Souls?: Yes. I am dreadfully curious to know. The Elimineans say that all creatures possess souls... All those created by the gods, that is. But what of those created by man? And these manufactured beings... do they dream? Do they think--and suffer--as we do? Or must their emotions be...crafted...by another?: ...Well... That I do not know.B Support
: Did you know that the word “morph” appears even in a few ancient texts? Brought to life by man, crafted to resemble him... I never thought any of us would actually have seen one.: ...: Renault, where did you first learn of these morphs? Are they mentioned in the Eliminean scripture?: A long time ago, I... Enough. I don’t want to talk about this.: Oh. Well that is... truly unfortunate. You see, we know so little of Nergal.: ...: Why, for example, did he begin creating morphs? After his falling out with the Archsage Athos, did he feel alone in the world? Did he need the company of someone who could understand him? Was he forced to...create...such a being?: ...Not exactly.: Oh?: He has no care for his creations... He merely brought them into this world to serve him. His only interest is himself. Those...things...that he discards... They lose their way...and wander. And he cares not. Morphs...are the mere fact of existence...once meaning has been stripped away.: Renault... How do you know so much?: ...: Nergal began creating morphs centuries ago. Even Athos knows so little... So...how could you...?: ...I don’t know. My own past is...a mystery.A Support
: Ah, Renault! Wait for me! I must ask you something!: What is it?: ...Now, I ask you this, only for the sake of knowledge... Knowledge...is the reason for my journey... I understand there are some things you would rather the others did not know... So, please do not answer if you do not wish to.: As you wish.: Please tell me... These morphs Nergal has created... How can you know so much about beings that are centuries old?: ...: I will give you the answer I suspect may be true. You know, because you were there. Nergal was alone after he and Athos separated. The only ones around him were his morphs... Perhaps then, you are...: ...What?: ...I have never thought one should back away from knowledge, but...I hesitate to ask...: Is that so... Then I will ask you a question.: Yes?: You asked me before... Whether or not morphs had a soul... What do you think?: ...Before...I would have said that I do not know... But now, perhaps I do... Morphs...do have souls... That is what I believe...: ...That is not a bad answer. Your reply deserves another good answer... When Nergal first created his morphs, he was not alone. He had one assistant. A mercenary who wanted desperately to bring back a friend he had lost in battle. This mercenary volunteered freely for Nergal’s experiments, knowing they would make him less than human...: Bishop Renault, are you saying--: This was a long, long time ago...