Part 58: The Baron in Black - Part 2

Last time, we stormed the gates of Manster. Standing in our way are Reidric and Galzus. It's time to end this. Sort of. There's still two more missions after this.

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(Player Phase)

(Enemy Phase)



We open on the right side of the castle. A giant man with an axe is murdering a Bishop. We cheer.



This guy here? He's got a Berserk Sword. I'm not a huge fan of status effect swords, they're ridiculously heavy (20mt), to the point where anyone who can use them safely on anyone worth Berserking can probably just kill them with a better sword. Sleep Swords are more useful, since you don't have to eat a counter if the first attack connects.



Rather then deal with him up close, Olwen is just going to use one of the Bolting tomes we have lying around to assassinate him.



Next, we open the door in the center segment of the map and Linoan silences a Dark Mage.



So does Sety.



And Seram.



And Sara.

We're swimming in Silence staffs, which was pretty useful. One of the staffs used to belong to Cyas, but we stole his stuff before he left. Thanks Cyas, in the end, you were mildly helpful.



In the left wing of the castle, we use door keys and do some fighting. Shiva has the Elite sword we got in Chapter 22 equipped, along with Dain, Neir and Hezul. He puts them to good use over the course of the chapter

[Shiva: Lv. 5, Hp: 42, Str: 19, Mgc: 5, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 16, Def: 14, Bld: 9]



Like always, the Dark Bishops prioritize capturing the escaping children to fighting. This is good, because there are one or two Hell tomes scattered about and you really don't want to be overwhelmed while those are about.



Meanwhile, some Dark Bishops on the other side attack our forces, but don't do so well. Xavier's hanging back because I let him do stuff the first time, and one Dark Mage attacked him, hit twice due to Charge, and killed him. Damn it Xavier. We should have let you die back in Lenster.



Bwuh! That's disturbing.



To make this whole recruiting Galzus thing easier, we're just going to let him come to us. And hope he doesn't get movement star. Which he has a 25% chance of doing. Fun.





[Seram: Lv. 18, Hp: 43, Str: 3, Mgc: 20, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 9, Def: 14, Bld: 7, Mov: 9]



[Makua: Lv. 16, Hp: 44, Str: 20, Mgc: 6, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 16, Def: 18, Bld: 14]



[Shiva: Lv. 6, Hp: 43, Str: 20, Mgc: 5, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 16, Def: 14, Bld: 9]

We clear out the Dark Mages for fun and profit. They're not very accurate, but they do hurt a lot when they do hit. And the poison, always with the poison. Here's a fun quiz, why is poison god damn bullshit now (more so then before)?



Dashin joins in one fun too. Even though people chose him for redemption based on the fact he can use Lances inside (or at least some people put that as a reason), I'm not going to bother. He can only use E ranked Lances, but we have plenty of high ranked Axes he can use. Weapon triangle is near non-existant here (+5 accuracy if you have the advantage, -5 is you're at a disadvantage), and since Dashin has the build for axes there really isn't a reason to use Lances.



A second Mercenary, this one with a sleep sword, is bolted to death. I already have a Sleep Sword, so it's not worth trying to capture him.



Between Marty and Carion, we clear the Dark Mages on this side. Carion gets a level, but it's not HP and Magic so it's functionally empty.



Oh look, Soldiers.



They can't even match Lara. I feel so bad for generic Soldiers, they're in way over their heads here.



Olwen can even one shot them. Poor dudes.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Shiva plows through a mass of Dark Mages.



[Shiva: Lv. 7, Hp: 44, Str: 20, Mgc: 5, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 17, Def: 15, Bld: 9]



[Shiva: Lv. 8, Hp: 45, Str: 20, Mgc: 5, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 18, Def: 16, Bld: 9]



Fuck.



Heh



This asshole slipped through the cracks of my web of Silence. Tina's the only person he can Silence that is actually worth silencing.



[Shiva: Lv. 9, Hp: 47 (+2), Str: 20, Mgc: 5, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 19, Def: 17, Bld: 10]



I know I normally don't cure poison, but I'm going to make an exception this time. The reason is related to that little quiz from earlier. If you're poisoned, Hell one-shots you. Not technically, but the poison damage will kill you from 1hp. Considering maps with Hell are normally also filled with Yotsmungand tomes, this can get kind of frustrating.



And here we go.

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Based on the amount of people she's killed, I think she knows. Also she could probably take you buddy, so the girl comment ain't cool

When I was under the control of that evil blade...I met my father in a dream. I was still little when I was separated from my father, but I still remember him. He was strong, kind, and gentle... Galzus... You're my father!
! ...
Say something! Please! Say that you are...!
You don't...hate me?
Of course not... I was captured by the slave traders because I disobeyed you. Besides, Lady Eyvel rescued me soon after. I've never hated you!
I'm sorry. I looked everywhere for you, but I could never find you... And my hands are far too stained with blood... I thought it best that you forgot about me.
No! No matter what happens, you'll always be my father...
...... The woman who raised you... Is she the swordswoman who was turned to stone?



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We're just going to wait. One of the guys has a Fire Sword I want to loot for Karin, so I want to be able to swarm them.



We're not killing him. We're capturing him. We're somewhat out of his league.



oh no

[Dashin: Lv. 2, Hp: 42, Str: 20, Mgc: 3, Skl: 15, Spd: 15, Luk: 9, Def: 20, Bld: 18]



Lara normally wouldn't lead the charge, but the only Dark Mage who can attack in the little coral there is this guy, who can't actually kill anyone.



We get charged by these guys. One dies. Now the fun thing about Galzus and Marita is that they both support each other. The super fun thing about Galzus is that Marita supports him for +20 instead of the normal +10. They make a good father/daughter murder squad



Galzus starts us off with a crit, instantly capturing the Mercenary with the Fire sword. He then gets a movement star, letting him drop the Mercenary this turn.



We proceed to massacre the rest. The middle group drew the short stick build wise, and so we can't capture anyone else.



Behold, the power of movement stars!



Sety goes where he's needed.



With this fellow dead, there aren't any weapon having enemies in the right wing of the map, so we can start pilfering some sweet, sweet loot.



Back in the left wing of the map, Fergus takes a hit from Yotsmungand, but dodges a second.



In the right wing, Marty levels from killing one of the soldier reinforcements.

[Marty: Lv. 14, Hp: 64, Str: 20, Mgc: 7, Skl: 18, Spd: 20, Luk: 19, Def: 20, Bld: 20]



[Fergus: Lv. 14, Hp: 46, Str: 20, Mgc: 4, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 18, Def: 16, Bld: 13]



[Shiva: Lv. 10, Hp: 48, Str: 20, Mgc: 5, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 19, Def: 17, Bld: 10]





One of those guys has Hell, so Sety's going to take care of them.



The one without Hell goes for Shiva. Shiva shows him hell

[Shiva: Lv. 11, Hp: 50 (+2), Str: 20, Mgc: 5, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 20, Def: 18, Bld: 11]



Before we can take care of Reidric, we want to capture these guys. They have Psychic staffs, and will heal him which is annoying.



One of the Dark Mages in the right wing burned all the uses of his M Up staff, even though nobody else could do anything with a magic boost. We could have spared you Dark Mage. You forced us to do this.

[Dashin: Lv. 3, Hp: 42, Str: 20, Mgc: 3, Skl: 15, Spd: 16, Luk: 10, Def: 20, Bld: 18]



Flash forward a couple of turns. The right wing of the map is still capturing, the left wing of the map is moving along the corridor towards the closed door, and the center group is ready to take down Reidric.

Alright Leaf, it's time. Time for your dramatic duel. Show them they were wrong about you. Show them you have what it takes. You're the man now Leaf



no godammit Leaf



No what are you doing Nanna. You're the love interest, you're supposed to stay back.



Silly that's Leaf's Lord weapon. You can't use that.



God fucking damn it Leaf. Other people can use your ultimate weapon. You're just the worst.

Yeah, anybody with Holy Blood can use the Blade of Blagi. Well kind of. Marita and Galzus supposedly have Minor Odo, but they can't so it's not entirely consistent. Leaf, Delmud and Nanna all have Holy blood as far as the game is concerned, and so can use the Blade of Blagi. And uh... Fergus. Fergus can use it too.



Hmph! So you've come to kill me? Ha! You're the ones who are going to die!



Augh... This can't be... How could this happen... Bishop Berdo... Where are you... I don't want to die... Some...one... I don't...want...to... Gah...!

And he's dead . Killing him with Nanna is fun, as karma for the whole kidnapping thing earlier in the game.



Oh hello there.



Why yes, go ahead and unlock that random door sitting in a disembodied island in the middle of nowhere.



We then kill him. That was certainly a thing.



Sara rescues Shanam. What going on over here?

Also Shanam you can be carried by a 14 year old girl who's defining trait is her frailty. Pull it together.



Two Dark Mage reinforcements show up. They'll spawn for 10 turns. We use the chance to farm some levels for Ronan and Linoan.



He didn't get much, but he shored up his luck from Ulir and Blaggi, and got another point of move.



Pretty much only more Hp, although since she can only get that, defense, build and strength, and only Hp and defense matter so it's not terrible.



Marita picked up one level, and got Hp, Magic and Defense with it, which is phenomenal.



Sara rewarps to the mystery island.



So does Sety.

Sara then drops Shanam, and...



Secret Shop! If you're holding the member card you in Chapter 18, the tile where the door used to be here turns into a shop that sells stat boosters. Not all the stat boosters, but some.

Oh yeah, I also did some cleaning of our inventory. We now have 84000 gold. Enough for 21 rings.



Meanwhile, the children start escaping to the left.



Except for this chucklefuck

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Chucklefuck here will open the door to this segment of the map. It can't be opened by conventional means, only the kid can open it. The exact kid is random, so better save them all!





I didn't give the Left wing team a chest key, so Tina just picks the lock from afar. For her reward, a staff rank, and...



The Kia staff. Since it hasn't come up in ages, Kia is the staff that can cure petrification, and can only be used by the Manfroy bunch.



Two Dark Mages show up in the staircases. These guys show up indefinitely, so you could farm them for exp if you want, but I don't particularly care by this point. Saving weapons and fatigue is probably more useful.



So we kill them real quick like, and block off the stairs.

[Seram: Lv. 19, Hp: 44, Str: 3, Mgc: 20, Skl: 20, Spd: 20, Luk: 9, Def: 15, Bld: 7]

We would have just seized if it weren't for secret shop related shanamigans.

The secret shop is frustrating because shops can't sell things to your supply, and so you can only hold so many rings before you have to give them to someone else to hold. Which is immensely frustrating because you have to warp to the shop, and warp away from it. There's a bug to get around this (letting you shop from afar), but only a staff user can do it and so you can't use Shanam's Bargain if you do that.

Let's end this sucker.

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I've normally been omitting this stuff, but here's an example of what the patch looks like half the time nowadays. It's not a great patch.

But did we really kill Reidric? When I finished him off, his body simply disappeared into thin air.
This palace seems to be surrounded with some kind of dark, ominous force. It's probably coming from the secret Lopto temple in the castle's underground. We cannot say we truly liberated Manster until we destroy that temple.
A secret temple... It must be the Lopto headquarters of Thracia.
Yes. Berdo, one of Manfroy's most trusted bishops, is in charge of it.
Bishop Berdo... What kind of man is he?
He is the mastermind behind all of the Lopto Church's activities in Thracia. He is the one who started the child hunting and sent the Schwarze Rosen to burn down uncooperative villages. Reidric was simply one of Berdo's henchmen. Also, apparently Berdo was the one who turned Lady Eyvel to stone.
What! Berdo... I'll make him pay!

You see how angry he is? Berdo is totally a legitimate endgame villain we as an audience all hate, saying otherwise is ridiculous. Sure he last showed up in Chapter 5, but he's just such an asshole.

But we have to rescue Eyvel first. What do we need to do, August!
We have the Kia, but as I mentioned before, only those of Manfroy's blood can use it. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do right now...
Damn! Something... There has to be something we can do! I didn't come this far for nothing...!



Yes. That staff... It's Grandpa's.
Grandpa...? Wait... Manfroy is your grandfather!?
I don't want to talk about Grandpa. I don't like him. Who cares about him, anyway! Come on, Leaf, let's go. And don't forget to bring the Kia!

That'd be real stupid. Also a thing you can do.

If we haven't met any of the conditions to save Eyvel (don't have Kia and Sara), Leaf doesn't even consider saving Eyvel and just says this instead.

August! Do we know where the secret temple is?"
Yes, we do. However, Berdo is hiding there with a squad of powerful magicians, so securing it will be no easy task. We could wait until Lord Celice's army arrives, but then we may risk letting Berdo escape.

No c'mon lets just let them handle it. They're so much better than us
What Reidric did to Thracia is nothing compared to Berdo. We can't let him escape alive! Right, August?

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New Recruits:

Galzus:



Level. 20

Hp: 54 (50%) Spd: 20 (50%)
Str: 20 (40%) Lck: 17 (70%)
Mag: 9 (45%) Def: 14 (15%)
Skl: 20 (55%) Bld: 18 (10%)
Mov: 7 (1%)

Class: Mercenary Weapon Ranks: A (Swords), A (Axes) Movement stars: 5 Skills: Astra, Luna PCC: 3

Galzus is pretty damn good. He has great stats, great skills, a great PCC, you name it. If you've barely made it this far, Galzus will be a godsend, in a more prepared playthrough like mine, he's still really useful. His (+20) support with Marita is especially exploitable.

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Current Resets: 46 47 (Xavier, why must you torment me forever?)

Next Time on Thracia 776: ...Why?

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Oh, right, I forgot. We used the 21 rings from the secret shop to boots everyone's stats a little bit, getting most of our units up to a baseline of 15 defense and mid forties Hp...


























No god damn it Shanam, those rings were supposed to be for the team!

You look like an idiot.