Part 18: Episode XV: Pillar Man

Lot of running around this collection of tents they call a village up in this chapter. Fine... Back to Hydor’s sorry excuse for a house we go.


New Music: The World of Snow



Setsuna is back up... sort of... They’ve not really been able to decide if Setsuna is barely conscious and ready to keel over or if she’s just kind of winded and could use a good night’s rest.



As your guard, your life is more important to us than anything else... Even our own lives...
*disapproving grunt* Ehh...
You would be wise to stay lying down... While the monsters are gone, I shall go and gather some medicinal herbs.
I hope you’ve got a license for that, pal.
Falls under religious practices. Completely on the level.
Ah. Smart.
*walks toward the exit* I shall return before long.



......
Thanks.
*shakes head and leaves*
Kir... Thank you. This is all thanks to you.



Just a minute ago you were ready to burst into tears!
*stunned* What!? No I wasn’t! You’re the one who was getting all worked up, old man!
*raises arm to protest*


Music: Deadly Gamble



!
What was that!? Wasn’t that Hydor’s voice!?
It was. I’d recognize that “AUGGHH” anywhere!

A random villager bursts into the tent...



They attacked Chief Hydor! I think he managed to get away into the forest... but...
What!? You mean monsters showed up again already!?
They were lying in wait just outside the village? I think they were waiting there to ambush anyone who came out!
! To ambush them!? But nothing like that has ever happened before!
Hey kid, you ever done a speedrun before?
What? No... Why?
No reason...

The villager is done delivering his lines so he wordlessly exits the scene...



It’s like something’s starting to change... and if it is... Then it might mean that you’re no longer safe even inside the village...
Rotten timing to come here the day the whole hiding in tents plan fell apart.
Little bit.
*navel gazing* Just because our life spans are short, we live hidden away like part of the forest...


Music: The Warmth of Life



Is staying alive really all that’s important? If we live our whole lives in fear, mightn’t we just as well already be dead?
Kir...
I left this village for the outside world because I wanted to change things here. I thought that what I needed to do was find another way for us to live longer... But I was wrong. Even if I do find a way, it won’t change anything...
First, you need to change yourself.
*nods* Yeah... Exactly, Endir... If I want this village to change, first of all, I need to change...
The important thing is that you follow your own heart, Kir...
Yeah, you’re right. Meeting all of you helped me make up my mind. So thank you... I know what I need to do now. First of all, I need to change myself.
......
Endir! Everyone! There’s something I need to ask of you!
You want a mask, right?
What? No.
Hey, you’re the one who wants to change yourself. Step one: sweet mask. This whole owl boy hair and thick glasses thing you got going on? Lame. It’s lame. You look lame, kid. Now, you slip on a badass mask over that whole nerd kid face and that’ll be a start.
No... I’m good. And I need my glasses.
That’s the beauty of a good mask – built in glasses. Vision impairment is no joke.
Yeah I... Maybe some other time, Endir... What I really need is...
There’s somewhere I want you to take me...
Where do you want to go?
Gonna be honest, I don’t think there’s many good maskologists in these parts.
To the place where my true power lies sleeping! The Spritnite Pillar! I’m gonna get back my magical energy!
! But you can’t... If you do that, your life span’ll be shortened!
I don’t care. I’ve realized something... What’s important isn’t how long my life is... It’s how I use it! I want to use my life the way I want... I want to use it to help all you!
...With sick magic spells?
Heck yeah!
*sagely nod* You’re learning, kid.
You’ve sure taken a 180 from the gremlin business in a hurry.
Hey! I was wrong about that and apologized. I’ve only got a bit of speciesism bias, not racism. Give me some credit.
......
Please, Endir!
*nods* All right.
Let’s turn you into a goddamn wizard.
Damn straight!
Thank you, everyone... There’s a path behind this house that leads to the Spritnite Pillar.
All right! Let’s do this!
Say ...Didn’t Hydor get attacked?
We ain’t got time to be worryin’ about that now.
......
*turns to Setsuna* You rest here, Setsuna.
Don’t worry, we’ll be back in no time at all.

The party shuffles out to go cheerfully help Kir halve his lifespan. But...


Music: The World of Snow



What is it? I’m in a hurry.
Either that kid is going to turn into a rad wizard or he’s going to die in a spectacularly over the top way. Either way, I’m not missing out on that show.
Sorry... I know you’re in a hurry... but I wanted to make sure I said this to you.
(Oh boy... I don’t like where this is heading...)



But you weren’t there, Endir. I called your name... Endir... But you didn’t come. I felt so sad, so lonely... and then I opened my eyes. So now... even at a time like this... as long as you’re here, I feel safe. I feel like you’re protecting us all, Endir... So please... Please see my journey through to its end... Please stay with me... until the final moment...
*nods*
Yeah... I’ll do that... I’m gonna... go now... We’ll talk about how I’ll make sure you die at the end and how you’re kinda into that later... *slowly backs out the door*





As Kir said earlier, there’s a path behind Hydor’s house that leads towards this Spritnite pillar.



It actually briefly pops us back out in the world map with the only path being a small stretch leading to said Spritnite Pillar. I guess it’s supposed to represent it was a bit of a hike. Ehh...


New Music: Faith



Wasn’t the real Sephiroth frozen in this thing at the Northern Cave? Alright, let’s get this thing underway.



It’s been a long time since I last came here...
So this is the Spritnite Pillar?
Yes, that’s right.
Looks more like... I dunno... an orb but stretched... Is there a word for that?
I think it’s still a spheroid, just a prolate one.
I dunno what any of those words mean. Point is that ain’t no pillar...
Everyone born here has their magical energy extracted by channeling it into this spritnite... I guess you could say this thing is like a crystallized mass of all that energy. What I’m going to do now is get back my magical energy that was sealed away...
*turns to Endir and Nidr* I want you to make sure that no monsters come near me.
Not a problem, kid.
Wait... nobody told me this was an escort mission. This just got decidedly less cool.

Kir approaches the Spritnite Pillar...



You even need to ask?







This is... Augh! This is my... big moment... so don’t... get in the way... all right...? Heh... hehehe... Aughhhhhh...
Alright. Got it. Just don’t explode, kid.
What?!
Well, you’re getting pumped with magic energy from a spritnite the size of a barn. You’ve gotta be worried it could like overload you and cause you to explode or something, right?
WELL I AM NOW!
Oh... Well, don’t worry! Full body explosions are really rare.
O...Okay...
It might just blow off both your arms if it goes wrong. You can survive that. Sometimes...
!?
!





Looks like some monsters wanna rumble. Weird that the magical energy isn’t constantly drawing them here. Or maybe has been and the only reason the not-elf village is under constant attack is that they settled directly in the path of the magic beacon like a bunch of idiots. Nah... An elf-esque race would never fuck up that badly by adhering to unwavering traditions...



We’re given the chance to shuffle our party consisting of three characters from a pool of three characters... I sort of get the feeling a really shitty, unpowered version of Kir was meant to join and be playable before this segment, but it got cut since... who’d want to use a mage who cannot cast magic?


Music: No Turning Back



In any case, there’s not actually any danger to Kir being disturbed from his magic power siphoning and exploding. All the monsters showing up are only interested in rumbling with Endir and the active party gang. This is actually just more of a multi-fight gauntlet, starting with a pair of Roly-Polies...



Then we’ve got a trio of upgraded killer penguins...



After that, a solitary angry eyebrowed penguin joins forces with another pair of squirrels with large snowballs. Oh, collusion.



Following that, they just combine the first wave of Roly-Poly and the first wave of the palette swapped Pengy whose proper name I’ve clearly forgotten and don’t care enough to look up. Easily dealt with...



For the final wave, we actually encounter a brand new enemy type. One that is not a cutesy mascot critter nor a palette swap of something we’ve already seen at that. Instead... okay, it looks like someone's furry OC from Deviantart. But ehh... At least it’s new.





Meet the Versa. They are... actually kind of jerks. To start off, they can use a Powder Cloud to potentially inflict our party with Confusion. Confusion works a bit strangely in this game. It doesn’t make characters uncontrollable jerks that strike their own party members like in many RPGs. Instead, it makes it so friendly fire is turned on and AOE attacks will also strike our own party. So if Endir was to perform a Cyclone, he’d hit both the Vera but also give Nidr another scar and lop Aeterna’s arm off in the process.



On top of that, they’ve also got some fairly hard hitting Ice magic spells that can do between 70-100 HP of damage on one or two of our party members.



Finally, they can also just slap the shit out of one of our allies, causing a Momentum Lock like the Wolf Baron could. Indeed, knowing the party will be spamming Momentum buffed attacks and locking that shit down seems to be a common trait among Intelligent class enemies. The pricks.





Still, there’s two of ‘em and three of us. Vera will be a common enemy in coming areas, so there isn’t a significant amount of strategy to dealing with ‘em beyond what works with most cannon fodder.


Music: The World of Snow



It’s coming back... My magical energy is coming back! I’ll be fine now, everyone! You go back to the village! I’ll follow after the rest of you later!
Will you be alright alone?
I mean I could stick around and fight monsters for days.
I’ll be fine now... Thanks to all of you. You don’t need to worry about me... Please go back to the village.
All right.
Be careful, kid! C’mon, Endir, let’s go.





And that’s it for the Spritnite Pillar business. Tune in next time when the village definitely won’t be under attack in our absence while powering up a monster drawing beacon.