Part 44: Chapter 16B: Ruled by Madness

Chapter 16B: Ruled by Madness



Looks a little more detailed than I remember.

After the twins' absence, seeing their home ruined by war brings them terrible grief.

Orson, a former Knight of Renais, had been assigned to guard Castle Renais. However, he switched allegiances, betraying his oaths of loyalty to his homeland.

Ephraim marks his homecoming by vowing to see Renais healed.



We've already seen the part where the group talks outside and Myrrh joins the group, so let's just jump to the relevant scene.



Remember that Lyon and Riev had come to call on Orson in Eirika's route too.



But something's different this time.



: These are the chambers of Orson, steward of Renais. There's no place here for a street urchin like you, boy.

: You... You fool! This is Prince Lyon!

: What? This whelp is... I-I beg your forgiveness!

: ...It's all right. I'm not the sort of person others hold in esteem.

Seriously? I know that they're trying to make a point about Lyon's self-confidence in this route, but do beggars and street urchins frequently teleport into castles while wearing fancy robes?



: Shh... He can hear you.

: You want to talk about creepy, that Orson's the one who chills my hide. What do you think he's doing back there? I've heard lots of bizarre rumors from the master of the mess hall. ...Do you think he needs help? Could he be dangerous?

: I don't care. I'm here for the money. As long as I get paid, I'm happy. But on the subject of rumors, have you heard the stories of the secret treasure? There's supposed to be some fabulous wealth hidden in Castle Renais. I tell you, if I find it, I'm gone.

Now, in Eirika's route, Riev was the one who spoke to Orson about the twins' arrival, but here:



: ...



: Yes, it's me, Prince Lyon. I'm the one to whom you are indebted for resurrecting your beloved wife.

: ...Get out. This is Monica and my place. I will not have our home disturbed by anyone. I did as you asked. I betrayed Renais. My promise has been kept.

: Yes, and I'm very grateful to you. I came by today to offer you a piece of advice. Nothing more. Ephraim is coming, Orson. He's on his way here to steal the happiness you two share.

: Prince Ephraim?

: That's right, Orson. And he's angry. I don’t think he'll forgive you for betraying Renais. You've done so much to free your wife from the grave. It's a shame she'll die with you.

: No! That can't happen--

: That's all I have to say to you. What you do now is up to you.

It's the same idea, but presented in a slightly different way.



In Ephraim's version, we enter the castle from farther away, and the enemies are different too.



Of particular note is the fact that the sage with the Purge tome appears to be missing, and these guys are here instead. Three druids with Eclipse. Not the most fearsome of enemies, but since we're bringing Myrrh, having them cut her HP in half three times might be a problem.



Orson himself has swapped out his Silver Sword and Spear for a more varied equipment set. There are so many differences in this map, it'd be a chore for me to keep track of them all.



Before we head out, we have a task to take care of. Making Natasha a Bishop was almost unanimous, since we had monsters ahead.



Now we're ready to go.



Since there's a thief arriving on turn 5, you can't send everyone through the main gate. I opt to send Natasha, Myrrh, and Cormag along the side with Rennac in order to head him off.



We'll have her combat-ready in no time.



There's a priest with a berserk staff just waiting for someone to come up the west side. I had a rather annoying reset the first time because he scored a 13% hit that resulted in Cormag whacking Myrrh.

This time, I had Natasha bring a Restore staff, and good thing too, because I have some rather unique luck. You'll see what I mean.



Since you guys voted for Knoll to get Metis's Tome, it's my solemn duty to make him a man.



It gets better, I assure you.



As before, this chapter has invisible triggers everywhere, like just inside this door, for instance.



Crossing that threshold makes the first batch of enemies move up to attack. They'd be sitting stock still otherwise.



Like Garcia cares about Fire at this point.



All that did was make him mad, but unfortunately, not a bit faster.



And these guys spawn in. The great knight has a red gem, but in my case, that's completely inconsequential.



While I do harp on people who want me to send all my promoted dudes, it is fun to just wreak havoc every now and then.



And now, it's time for the Dragon to take the stage once more.



Remember, we've got 50 shots of this. We are going to set so many people on fire.



I really do lament Cormag's lack of magic defense. It makes him...not the best choice for this map.



Turn 5, and the thief spawns as expected.



No matter. We're at the top end of the treasure room.



And the power leveling begins. Two of these shrimps is enough to give her a level, and if, by chance, she happens upon a promoted enemy, that's another level.



And Gerik's doing quite well too.



Dozla's lack of critical hits this chapter saddened me, especially since his head is on the chopping block.



I am happy, however, that Myrrh managed to avoid all the Luna flying about. That spell is her natural enemy, since she doesn't have much HP or Luck.



While removing that obstacle, I accidentally trigger another flag, one that I should have waited on.



While you chew on that info, here's another Myrrh level.



It took a 40+ percent chance for Dozla to actually get his berserker on. I consider that a breach of contract.



That trigger I should not have trigg'd activates all the remaining enemies who were holding their position. Quite literally, the only people not in motion now are the three druids with their Eclipse tomes and the boss himself.



Speaking of the druids, I should mention that even they are having issues with hitting one of my slowest members, if that tells you anything about Eclipse's usefulness.



Oh, and the Purge Sage? As it turns out, he was just hiding, and he brought a Sleep staff friend.



And then...this. If you want to avoid this mess, you can always duck through the treasure room instead, since the trigger doesn't extend that far.



Fortunately, I've got a crazy sort of luck. I've begun to notice this a lot in these recordings, but whenever there's a crisis situation, everything suddenly comes up aces. It's kind of odd.



I guess it helps a little that I pulled out Ephraim's pride and joy. The thing's running out of uses, but that's what the Hammerne staff is for.



But really, I did not deserve to survive this assault. Not one bit. But the weirdness isn't over yet. Just watch.



Anyway, once Dozla's survived by the skin of his teeth, we fight back, earning Innes his second level in our care.



And yet people will probably vote him in anyway.



This isn't the thing I was talking about. I just wanted to show off how moronic my past self was, tempting fate twice.



So uh...bad news for the group up top, I guess. Everyone, and I mean everyone, wants a piece of them.



And the thief makes it to the Tomahawk before us. But Rennac can't steal weapons. How do we get it back?



Not to worry. If a thief nabs something from a chest, it automatically becomes his droppable item. Unfortunately, if he robs another chest, that new item becomes the droppable item and you can't recover the first one.



The thief's next target is the chests in the upper right, so we're going to be on a merry chase. Insert your merry chase music of choice where appropriate.



In the meantime, it's Myrrh's turn to shine. Her task? Kill almost everyone here.



A job she takes with gusto.



Cormag helps too, earning him his last level. Unfortunately, that means that anyone who wants a piece of him will be wasting experience.



Meanwhile, everyone else makes their way over in what turns out to be an unnecessary rescue mission.



As you can see, we're already making progress.



Yes, Myrrh...kill them all!



Since the weapon triangle is cool and all, and I suspect the enemy AI doesn't know about the Hoplon Guard either, Knoll is going to take a decent number of Purge shots to the face. We could theoretically take the Purge tome from the sage if we got him to switch to Divine, but the jerk runs off if we get too close, so it's a little hard.



At least Innes can partake in Longbow shenanigans.



~Everybody's Super Sonic Racing!
Try to keep your feet right on the ground~





While that silliness is going on, Myrrh continues doing her Myrrh thing.



Odd point: even when the attack's guaranteed to do no damage, crits still happen. The screen even shakes and everything.



Despite his stunning Michael Jackson-esque dance moves, the Swordmaster is ill-suited to hitting the brick wall that is Cormag. So much experience gone...



I am luckier with Luna than I deserve, once more.



But that's fine. Any landing you can walk away from, and all that.



Bad news about Innes: he got slept, and L'Arachel had my other Restore staff. But considering that everyone's off killing themselves against Myrrh, he'll be fine.



Promoting doesn't change your growths in this game, so far as I can tell, but I'm having no...benefit with these levels. What's wrong with everyone?



Everyone except Myrrh, that is, but I'm sure I could somehow mess her up too.



That is not a Bishop level, unless you're Moulder.



Coincidentally, the thief happens to run by just as Ephraim's group makes it to this intersection. That gives me an idea.



Colm's lockpick only has one use left, and I'll need him for Chapter 19, so off this goes.



This Warrior marks the second to last of the folks up top. He has a Hero Crest, too. Always handy.



And Myrrh deals with the last fellow. They're in the clear.



Next turn, the sage who previously had the sleep staff comes down to play, so I have Rennac take him out, because why not?



Oh, that's why.



And what of the thief? Well, Garcia has a solution to that.



Yeah, that's not happening.



The Divine sage is up next, and it occurs to me that Natasha could use a touch more power.



No worries, Garcia has plenty to spare.



As Innes recovers from sleep, we also notice that a new thief has arrived. That could be problematic.



But first, let's get Cormag promoted, aye?



I hope there aren't any objections to making him a Wyvern Lord again. I like swords.



Though the lack of speed isn't the best thing, under the circumstances.



Even though almost everyone around them is dead, the druids still refuse to budge. Their funeral.



What else is there to say about Myrrh? She's an adorable little (1000+ year old) enemy remover.



Assisted by the Swiftsoles, Garcia is easily able to overtake the thief and lay down the smack in the usual fashion.



And stabbing a defenseless priest in the stomach gives Eirika...



A surprisingly useful level.



It's a Luna duel! Everyone back away from the mediocrity!



Knoll comes out of it okay.



So let's get to the boss. The Runesword is dark magic-based, so Natasha should-



Huh.



WHAT?!



The last druid has Nosferatu, and thanks to that, Gerik isn't able to drop him.



Good thing there's a friend around to help with that.



Good job, Dozla. Now get back on the bench.



5000 Gold, a Knight Crest, and a Talisman. Very useful items.



Now I know what you're thinking. "Blastinus," you're saying, "why not just use the Swordslayer and smack him but good?" Well, for whatever reason, the Swordslayer and Swordreaver don't react to the Runesword. They're basically just neutral to each other.



I don't know whether to tell her to stop getting defense or to keep going. Bear in mind that we're working with a 15% growth here.



Eventually, I just get tired and go for the tried and true method.



: Renais is already lost. It's too late...

: Orson... You will move from that place. That is my father's seat. It is his throne... You've no right to sit there.

Wait...is he sitting on his horse that's sitting on the throne while engaged in intense combat? Is that the picture we're supposed to get here?



Since Orson switched to his Silver Lance to fight Ephraim, we can now shell him with our folks.



Even Knoll could take a shot at him. But no, that's silly.





...What.

Let's...just skip ahead a bit, shall we?



: What is this? Are they reacting to the light of the stone?



Yes! At last! No more stressing out over wasted experience! Fat horse is back, baby!



And we got some legendary weapons or something.



: They were enshrined generations ago, to be used only by the king... I don’t know if this is a burden I’m capable of bearing... but I do know that this is no time to curse my fate. I will fight. For my father, for my country, and for my people.



: We found it. Here it is.

: Wow! It truly is spectacular. This goes some way to brighten the dark shadows that loom over us.

: Our countries' Sacred Stones have been shattered by Grado's men. The Stone of Renais is our last remaining weapon.

: No, it's not. You have forgotten the Stone of my beloved Rausten. Remember, there were five Sacred Stones for our five nations. The Stones of Grado, Frelia, and Jehanna are gone, but hope is not. We have the Stone of Renais, after all, and that of Rausten is safe. Our road is clear, my friends. I must guide you to Rausten.

: Lead the way, L’Arachel.

: Of course. And you will all be welcome to stay in the palace.

But first, we have to face Lyon once more and fight in a random volcano area.

Next Time: We round out the roster and get some more folks promoted in Chapter 17: River of Regrets.

Total Resets: 39