Part 22: Episode XIII: Cocoon

Music: Flowing On



So we cannot navigate the ice shelves out in the Northern Frontier without the aid of a guide of some sorts. Off we go to the nearby town of Royburg to seek someone charitable enough to hook us up for the pilgrimage. Funny, you’d think a region called the Northern Frontier wouldn’t have actual settlements beyond forest elf tent camps and like ice giant communes and shit.



There are a couple upgraded enemies taking to the field for the first time in this area. A new, much hornier (shut up) version of the giant enemy walrus, the Baloompa, makes an appearance. This one has much the same abilities as its predecessor, but it can now bellow a mighty roar to stun our party members.

Skullians have shed their previous shells for new spikey variants and began calling themselves Spikoons. These have much higher defensive stats and can Accumulate Power to greatly buff their attack power. A good Tech can still one-shot ‘em most of the time though. Their threat mostly comes in their numbers.



But overall, nothing too special is found here and the rest of the area is a rather straightforward march to the south and out to...



...Well more snowy wasteland. What were you expecting? A desert? You can take your varied biomes talk and stow it right now.



Continuing south, we can find our destination of Royburg off a ways to the east. But before we travel to our next plot point, let’s take a short trip further southward for some sightseeing. Specifically...



...the giant purple magical barrier spanning several hundred feet tall blocking the path much further south. Nobody seems to have any comment why a wall of magic energy is splitting the continent in half. We’ve got a Sherpa to employ. We can’t be bothered with nature’s mysteries!



So about Royburg...

Music ends...



You think they’re all hidin’, like in Kir’s village?
What? So the same thing’s happening here?
Man, I’m going on record right now. If someone else needs to go power up at that Spritnite Lump, I’m not escorting them all the way back there...



*shakes head* Still... it’s too quiet here... It could be that It’s been destroyed by monsters, like Serendale...
Hey, Serendale was just semi-occupied by monsters while I was around. I saw to that. It was still livable. Sort of...
Whadd’ya think, Endir?
The village is undamaged...
Check out that snowman over there. That’s a delightful snowman. No way a bunch of jerkwad monsters would let that thing stay standing.
Yeah, now that you mention it... It doesn’t seem like a village that’s been laid to waste by monsters, does it...
Which means... maybe everyone is hiding somewhere, after all.
Or they were turned invisible by a malcontent wizard’s carelessness. Wizards have no conscience. Err... Sorry Kir. It’s the truth. That magic you got has already morally corrupted you to your core.
...I’m not a wizard. At best I am a pyromancer. Besides, can’t Setsuna use magic too? And... you?
We can all use magic. It’s literally how Spritnite works. You channel your innate magic through them.
Hey! I’m not a goddamn wizard! At the very most, I’m a battle mage and even that is a derogative term I won’t accept outside present company.
...Can we get back to the town of missing people?
Well, shall we try having a look around the village? Maybe the villagers are all just hiding away somewhere.





Sure enough, the town is completely empty. There’s still fires burning, torches lit, and warm food left sitting on tables. It’s like they just deleted all the NPC models for the map everyone up and vanished all at once...



But, if we head to far northeastern part of town, we come upon a child getting jumped by a whole gang of Spikoons. We’ve got to stop running into unattended children like this...


New Music: Dark Caves





Naturally, we have to step in and waste the lot of them before they gank the kid. Who else is going to deliver some exposition on the next inevitable leg of the town’s plight? We’re a bunch of mercenaries and off-brand wizards, not detectives.

Several dead hermit crabs later...



Who... who are...
There’s no need to be scared... We’re travelers. Are the rest of the villagers all right?
*shakes head* Everyone was... taken...
! Taken?
*nods* To the cave...
Cave?
*nods* I... I can explain better if you stop rephrasing what I say in the form of a question...
Rephrasing?
......
Ignore him.

The Skinny Child turns around and points to the east...



Bah! Just what we need... The whole village has been kidnapped!?
Forget about them.
Here we go again... I know you’re worried about them, really!
You never say what you’re really thinkin’, Endir, do ya...
No... I’m saying exactly what I’m thinking. Forget them. Forget this! I don’t want to have to sort out another entire village’s problem. Again! That’s all we’ve done. Every town. Oh no this idiot town, no offense Kir, has some localized bullshit. We can’t continue on until we fix everything because nobody else lifts a damn finger. I personally do not care at ALL about this town. All these townsfolk could be dragged off to some freaky goat demon rape orgy cult dungeon for all I know, getting sacrificed to some decadent demon blood feast. I dunno. I don’t care! I’m sick of it! I mean... Hey, kid in distress. What’s your name?
Oh... I’m just a skinny kid. Everyone calls me that.
You see! You see what I mean?! He doesn’t even have a name! None of these people we’re gonna save will either. They’ll be like Fat Nosed Gentleman or Widow’s Peaked Sailor or Saggy Tits Grandma. We need a boat? There’s a dock right over there. Right there. Within sight. There’s boats. That should get us past the ice drifts. Let’s just jack one and get on our way for once! THERE! Now *that* is me vocalizing my thoughts!
*shakes head* Good grief... This journey’s been one step forward, two steps back the whole way...
Yes! You get it! Let’s just take two steps forward and then another step after that for a frikkin’ change!
Anyway, if we don’t help them, we’ll be stuck here forever...
What? No! Not remotely true.
*bends down to boy* We’ll bring all the others back safely... So you just stay hidden until we get back. All right?
Hey... Wait...
Yeah, let’s go find them.
But...
Sorry, man. It’s a 2-3 vote in favor of finding the villagers. I guess we have no cho—
Do not *even* finish saying that... Fine. What! Sure, let’s find the mysterious truth to why these people were kidnapped and fight an evil dog with a top hat or something. Whatever...
Glad you came around.
......



Alright, that’s all there is to do in Royburg with the entire town kidnapped. The jerks even took all the vendors so we cannot even do any shopping. Rude.





Sure enough, Blackwhelm Cave is a short distance to the east past the town. Though this looks less like a cave and more like an unstable hole in the mountain that is about to collapse at any second from the world map’s view.



Inside Blackwhelm Cave we find... err... the exact same assets used to make the Frost Caves in a somewhat different configuration. Huh... That’s a wee bit dull. This version of the ice cave dungeon sort of weaves in a big snake like pattern from north to south while advancing to the east. A short jog further in also reveals...



What the hell happened here!?
Quick, we need to help whoever’s inside!
Oh heavens. Musky Young Fisherman is in peril. We must hurry to his rescue. Unless that’s just a shriveled corpse drained of all its bodily fluids. That’d at least be new.
Geez, what’s your problem today, Endir?
I think I stated my issues with the scenario clearly.



The final upgraded enemy of this chapter reveals itself in this fight: the Prickly Puff-Puff. Ugh. It’s like a bloated seal boned a Spiny from Super Mario Brothers.



These have all the same tricks as their predecessors, just with adjusted stats. Their self-destruct suicide bomb now has a much larger radius. Though a well-placed Cyclone tech from Endir is still usually enough to fling them far enough to destruct harmlessly away from our party.



Following the battle, Setsuna and Endir rush over to free the cocooned villager from their ensnarling. The rest of the party stands around idly watching like a bunch of slackers. Aeterna cannot even be bothered to watch the proceedings. Though, Aeterna feels like she’s sort of been mentally checked out of this journey for a couple chapters now.

A short while later...



We’re passing travelers... We came here to rescue you and the other villagers.
Actually, we just need one of you to... wait first, what was your name...?
Oh, I’m just a Well-Built Man.
Of course you are... Do you know how to cross the ice drifts up north?
Oh... heavens no. It’s much too dangerous!
Great... Yeah. We’re here to rescue more villagers I guess. Carry on...
I am in your debt, travelers... While I was asleep, my limbs were bound by means of magic... When I awoke, I found I had been brought here...
Did you see the monster?
Just point us in the direction of the boss so we can get the inevitable over with, eh?
My consciousness was hazy, but I’ll never forget the sight of it... It was a small but hideous creature.
Was everyone captured? The whole village was empty...
Probably. That traveler may well have been captured, too...
Traveler?
That’s right... He said he was looking for a spritnite... If he left the village after that, he’s probably all right, though...
That’s exceedingly vague...
Anyway, you go back to the village and stay hidden. We’ll take care of things here.
*nods* What strong people you are... Unflinching even when faced with such a fearsome monster...
As well-built as I am, I feel I’d only get in your way.
Thank you... I shall leave it in your hands. I hope we can meet again!
*turns to Endir* Let’s head further inside. We need to make sure no other people are still being held captive!
I know you’re cranky about doing this, but deep down you know it’s the right thing to do.
Yeah, boy. Wrong person in this party to be counting on their strong moral compass...
*frown*

The man runs off back to the village...





As we continue our trek further into the ice caverns, we come upon a sole treasure chest containing a Fire II Spritnite for Kir. It’s a Fire attack that hits all enemies, instead of just the one. In other words... it’s actually the fire attack he used in the cutscene to introduce his magical abilities and not the watered down ass one when he became playable...

Equipping Kir with his extra pyromancer technique, we continue onward to find yet another cocooned civilian guarded by an assortment of spikey versions of common arctic critters...



What’re these things doin’? Guardin’ the food supply?
Whatever it is they’re doing, I don’t think they’re going to let us through without a fight...



This pilgrimage is going to be in some deep shit if any sort of animal rights group forms in the region...



Once again, Setsuna and Endir do all the work ripping away the gross cocoon from the villager’s body while the rest of the party zones out until they’re done. C’mon Aeterna, you have a dagger which is specifically the best tool out of the whole party to be helping to cut open oversized webbing. Step up!

Some time later...



I thought I was a goner...
? Hmm? I don’t recognize any of your faces... Who are you...?
*surprised* Oh, no one of any real importance... I’m Kir, and this is my band of adventures!
*sweat drop* All right, don’t get carried away...
Nobody likes an uppity sidekick.
Hey, who are you calling a sidekick?!
See? That’s exactly what a sidekick would say.
......
We’re passing travelers. We heard the villagers had been kidnapped by a monster, so we came to help.
Mostly, we can get help to get across some obstacle we totally could have just taken our chances walking past. And then all this junk happened with a snatcher or whatever and here we are...
I see... Thank you. I don’t know what might have happened if you hadn’t shown up...
In my experience, depending on the creature... it would have either embedded an embryo into your body, either orally or anally, which would have gestated for several hours or days before bursting out of your chest or neck area. Alternatively, it would have injected an acidic agent into your body that would have boiled your organs from the inside while you were fully conscious and aware. Then come back when you were on the verge of death in order to suck out the slurry that was your innards, while you watched in agonizing horror... Or it was possibly pi—
THAT’S ENOUGH! Thanks...
Hey, you should always be educated on near death monster experiences.
I can’t believe that monster waited for the knighthood to be gone before making its move...
The knighthood?
*nods* Yes, the knighthood. The knights led by our beautiful princess!
Where are those knights now?
And which duke or king or baron or whatever local monarchy do I report them to for dereliction of post?
They left the village to slay some nearby monsters.
Yeah? Where? We just came from the other direction and never saw any knights.
Oh... you know... Around the... *trails off*
So it waited for them to be gone before striking...
*shakes head* The monsters are definitely becoming more cunning! It’s not like before at all... Perhaps this can be the theme for my next research project... Hmm. Still, how did you find this place?
A little boy back in the village told us... We didn’t ask his name.
He was a skinny child.
*ponders* That’s strange... I thought all the children were brought here...
Plus all the children in the village are rather plump. There’s a major health issue with obese children in the area. It’s sad, really...
I suppose one of them must have managed to escape...
*long sigh* _{...That kid was evil, wasn’t he?}
What was that, Endir?
Oh... Hopefully nothing... Just... speculating, is all.
Anyway, you need to get outta here before more monsters get here. We’ll handle the rest.
I spend all my time in the village studying old texts, you see, so I’m hopeless at fighting... So thanks... I’ll leave it to you. See you later!
Aww you guys, I was really hoping to see what Aspiring Researcher brought to the table in battle... Shucks.



This dungeon is fairly lengthy but none of it is of interest between the villager cocoon scenes. Speaking of which...



Just wait there, we’ll save ya!



It’s going to be quite the payday whenever we see the Magic Consortium again. All these monsters are damn material piñatas up in this joint.



Aeterna decides she’ll tag in and use her bloody dagger to help clear the last of the cocooned civilians. Kir at least has the excuse of weighing about 80 pounds wet and being armed with just a stick. Nidr though? You’re on notice you damned slacker.

One last freed villager later... Also zero children among them, I’m assuming they were all eaten despite claims of their capture...



*shakes head* No, it appears not... You’re so brave, I was just sure you were from the knighthood!
No, we’re just travelers. We ended up comin’ here to help you purely by chance...
Well, even if it was by chance, I’m very grateful to you for having rescued me!
Will you be alright by yourself?
Look, we’re reluctantly rescuing everyone. We’re not doing escorts on the way out. You’re adult, handle yourself.
Oh, yes! Don’t worry about me! I may not look it, but I can hold my own. One day I want to join the knighthood, so I keep myself well trained!
Anyway, I’m glad you weren’t injured.
Yes... After they captured us, the monsters didn’t touch us, you see. I think perhaps they were planning on keeping us as food reserves.
If that’s true, these must be pretty intelligent monsters, I can hardly believe it...
Anyway, I won’t get in your way any further. There’s no need to worry, I can get back by myself!
You’ve certainly got guts, miss. Just what you’d expect from an aspirin’ knight, eh?
Look at you, thirsty to do some knighting of your own, huh?
...Wha? I’m just complimentin’ her. Nothing wrong with that!
Mhm. You go for that low-hanging NPC fruit.
*glares*
If you come to our village, you should ask after the knighthood. Their leader is an amazing woman! Anyway... take care!

The Enthusiastic Girl runs off to go tell someone else about how great knights are...



Who knows... We still don’t seem to have reached the deepest part of this cave...
Also no boss yet. Pretty sure we ought to have run into a boss...
Some base they’ve got here... I wish our village was this secure!
We’ve just rolled up in here and massacred everyone inside basically unchallenged.
Yeah but... well... Alright. I guess when you put it that way, it might have SOME issues...
Let’s keep going.



Continuing further into the caverns, we come across the telltale save point meaning the boss is right up ahead. Spoilers: We 100% want the usual suspect team of Endir/Nidr/Aeterna here. I had Setsuna and Kir in for most of the dungeon to continue their remedial leveling catching up. But it’s time to bench all our casters.

Tune in next time to see who is behind the kidnapping of the villagers and possibly the eating of all the town's children. Was it the child we met who sent us on this quest? One of the villagers trying to trick us? Maybe those knights mentioned up to some nefarious shit? Or perhaps an unrelated monster just doing its thing? Who knows!










































...But it was probably the kid.