Part 14: The dank SMELL of death

(it starts playing from the vocal part at 28 seconds or so, if you care about that sort of thing)



This scene actually allows us to choose who speaks, like with dinner dialogue.

Check it out. We're closing in on Liligue. And from there, the St. Heim Papal State.

Miss Elena, were you startled? Tomorrow, we are leaving Liligue and crossing the Granacliffs on the Skyway.

Then, off to the St. Heim Papal State. I have never been there either. I cannot wait...

The Granacliffs are incredible...! You must see them to believe them. The world is really in a pitiful state.

It sure is a hassle that the world is split in half by these Granacliffs...

Now I remember! It was the Battle of Good and Evil that made these Granacliffs, right?



Now that you mention it, I haven't heard the full story of the Battle of Good and Evil...

I don't really know very much myself, but... they say long ago the people lived happily, bathed in the light of Lord Granas.
Then Valmar came and tried to take the light from the people. And so began the Battle of Good and Evil.
At the battle's end, Lord Granas' sword which he raised to cut down Valmar, went right through Valmar into the earth,
creating a huge fissure across the land... and that is how the Granacliffs came to be.

You'd think that if Granas had a sword big enough to carve out the continent, he'd be a bit more careful about where he'd drop it.

It cannot be helped! Just think what the world would be like without Lord Granas!



I cannot believe it! That Valmar is inside me...

People must not be caught by Darkness. They will be able to live only in Darkness. They will no longer feel for other people.

Darkness warps a person's soul... If someone is truly caught by Darkness, that person will have no future...

Hmm, then I guess I've... no future either.

This is getting shadier by the moment. For some reason, I don't see sunshine and puppy dogs in the near future.



You say "Darkness," I say "whirling black vortex of doom." What's the difference?

I do not really understand it myself, but - Darkness makes people sad and lonely... I hate it.



MUSIC: Crickets



What's wrong, Elena? You were screaming in your sleep...

A huge tongue-like thing... was coiled around me... And it was... devouring me...

MUSIC: Silence

... Shhh!

That's strange... It's too quiet. Hey! Roan, WAKE UP!

VIDEO: Grrrowwwwwl...! (warning: don't have your volume up. Ctrl+F "traumatized" to skip screenshot version)



Shh. Something's here...

Elena screams REALLY LOUDLY as someone pulls away the tent!





The Beast-Man gets his numbers pumped up by the hard hack, but he's more of a story fight than a boss. Interestingly, however, he only attacks Ryudo...



WHAT? What's the meaning of this? Why'd you attack me?

Your SMELL called me. The same SMELL as that of the villain who destroyed my village.

The SMELL of that scum... drives me crazy. I must find him... this... Melfice.

WHAT! He said Melfice! Ryudo!?

*FLASH*



*FLASH*

I smell like Melfice? Is that... true?

You, you know Melfice?

... I might.

I see... Your SMELL does not have the dank SMELL of death... I had forgotten myself.



Melfice is a demon-man, bringer of ruination... My name is Mareg. I am sorry for attacking you.

Mareg leaves through the tall grass.

Ryudo...

Demon-man? Bringer of ruination? He's just a common murderer!

He can't still be alive... I never thought I'd have to relive that nightmare again in such a place.

... What is all this? Who is this Melfice?





Our party having been depressed, terrified and traumatized, the music changes to fit the mood. There's still a bit of dungeon to go until we reach Liligue.



Not much of it, though. It's just a straight path with easily avoidable monsters - you could skip through it in 5 seconds if you wanted to. You'd miss out on a Shell Armor (+26 DEF), though.













Liligue is quite a far cry from the strictly medieval aesthetic of Carbo and Agear.



Woman: You mean, "if this town weren't cursed by Darkness... it would be a nice town."

Oh my, what is the matter?

Woman: I can't live here any more! We're leaving.

Leave them alone, Elena.

Man: You planning on staying in town? I advise against it. Besides, the gates won't open until tomorrow.

Isn't the Skyway running?

Man: Not until tomorrow, but don't get your hopes up. They don't let people on it.



Huh!? But people were on it just now...

Woman: For the private use of that miserable Gadan. Maybe it's for the best, since anyone who visits this town wants to leave as soon as possible.

Man: Hey, just forget about it.

Um, if there is anything I can do...

Man: Thank you for your kind offer. But we can't stay in this town. There's nothing left for us here.

The family leaves town.



But, if I listened to every piece of good advice I heard, I'd have killed all of you already and run off with your gold.

I am exhausted. Shall we find an inn?

Don't worry, miss Elena. I heard this place has, what was it...?

It is a delicacy around here... If I could remember the name, we could try it.

That's the end of the cutscene, but we can't actually explore the town until tomorrow. For now, we'll settle for doing some shopping.



He's not kidding, they have a ton of cool stuff. Among it:

The Flame Staff, our first weapon that can be used in battle to cast a spell - in this case Burn!
Guardian Hats, which give Sleep resist without taking up a valuable accessory slot;
Guardian Robes, performing much the same function for Poison;
Charms giving lv5 resist to , some more useful than others;
Healing Herbs (heal 250 all) and Yomi's Elixirs (revive) available to buy for the first time;
Last and decidedly least, Kuko Berries, which confuse one enemy in battle. They're useless, but it's neat to have a callback like that.

The Baked Plains actually showered us in gold, so we can stock up on everything we need. After that, our only option is to go spend the night at the inn.



Whatever. Just serve it up quick. I'm hungry.

That's it! The delicacy I forgot to try last time! Boy, are we lucky!

Inn Master: Ahem. Yes, the... delicacy. Anyway, that's all we got, take it or leave it...

Quite a sales pitch, how about it?

C'mon, let's try that stuff Roan calls a delicacy!





This food... it has no flavor... the texture is really weird.

... Yyyyyyyeecchhh!!! How can this be a famous local delicacy?! This must be an acquired taste...

Agh! This CAN'T be edible! It's like eating sand!

I have never eaten anything like this before... It has the most disgusting texture...

Ugh! People actually eat this stuff?!

Is this all they have to eat here? I think I will abstain from meals from here on out. Can we get on the Skyway soon? Please?!




A terrible day for our party, all around. Tomorrow, we'll hopefully be getting some answers.

Official Art: Liligue

New Voice Credits: Peter Lurie (Mareg)