Part 15: Episode XV: The Passing of Another Day

Episode XV: The Passing of Another Day



Well that was weird. If you’re familiar with the Shadow Hearts series, the Émigré Document might be a somewhat important manuscript in that series. Additionally, that mummy might look a touch familiar. But that’d be jumping ahead in Koudelka’s narrative. So we’ll refrain from touching on those further. Instead let’s grab that junk on the floor!



Wouldn’t you know it? It’s the final stained glass piece for that window in the church. That’s all of interest in this room. Koudelka has no further comment on the shriveled up corpse that just sat up and rambled for a bit nor does she hold any interest in the rest of the room.





Now that we have the final glass piece, there’s no sense in holding onto it. Let’s just have Koudelka spike the shard back into the window, repairing it instantly. That’s how glass works, right?



Not only do we unlock the door back in the Nave hallway, we also obtain the Greek letters to that locked chest we saw earlier. Like that locked chest with the Guard’s Diary back in Disc 1, this might be one of the few things Koudelka has which resembles a sidequest. Don’t worry too much about memorizing those characters or where they appear on the window...





Returning to this cabinet is entirely optional. But it does partially dictate the outcome of a certain grump ghost child’s storyline. Investigating this box will skip an unique boss battle and scene. Likewise, it’s not essential we check this out right now.



With that in mind, I didn’t mention writing down those Greek letters for this code. There’s a good reason for that...



There isn’t actually any puzzle here. The code is automatically input for us. I’m honestly not entirely sure why. I mean you’d clearly need to match the Greek letters with where they appeared on the grid covering the stained glass window. If I had to guess, the art department was doing all background and detail options pre-rendered. This puzzle would require either making actual 3D models to slide around or pre-rendering every possible combination of the tiles shifted. Both of which is kind of a waste of resources for a very simple puzzle for optional content. Who knows? In any case, inside we discover...



The box has “Happy Birthday” written on it and holds a corsage of dried flowers that crumble when you touch them. The letters are all signed “Sophia D’Lota”.

Investigating this chest inserts Sophia’s Letters into our Read menu. Sit back and get ready for some lore...



Letter #1

My Dearest Daughter Charlotte,

As I sit in silence struggling to write this letter to you in English, I sense the arrival of winter is near at Arden Castle. I feel it makes me a bad mother since I am unable to make you happy. I cannot lament enough how my selfish affair has entangled so many people, including you, my dear, who were sent to Wales to encounter many sorrowful experiences.

I probably will never see you, nor your brother nor your sister again. But one thing that will not change is that you are my beloved daughter. You are the daughter of the man whom I loved from the bottom of my heart, Phillip Christopher. I am sure you must resemble him greatly. You were blessed when you were born, and that you are still alive is testament to that fact.

I often wonder what the color of your eyes is, and how it would feel to run my hands through your hair. I can't help but to dream about the day I meet you, although deep down inside I know that day will never come. We might be far away in distance, but we are always together in my heart.

Please take good care of yourself.

Your mother,
Sophia D'Lota



Letter #2

My Dearest Daughter Charlotte,

Five summers have already passed since you entered this world. I think I must have written over 20 letters now. Despite my poor penmanship, how happy it makes me to know that my feelings are being conveyed to you.

I wonder what I should tell you today. I think I will talk about your father. Your father, Phillip Christopher, is a son of Count Von Koenismark, Sweden's Artillery Inspector General. Your father was a childhood friend of mine, and I am the daughter of a Duke. Unfortunately, Phillip and I eventually had to part. Due to the inevitable circumstances of our country, an arrangement was made so that I was to marry and be queen to Count Hannover and spend days filled with hardship. It was your father who came into my life again and saved me. Your father and I spent many years loving each other.

It's a fact that I fell in love with somebody, although I was already married. Some would call that a secretive affair, but our love is genuine and pure, especially when compared with the marriage arrangement with Count Hannover, which was stained with politics and power.

Please forgive your foolish mother.

Your mother,
Sophia D'Lota



Letter #3

My dearest Daughter Charlotte,

Please allow me to celebrate your 12th birthday with you. May God's blessings and grace be with you.

What would you like for your birthday? Would you like a raspberry cake? I should like to get you a beautiful dress along with a golden hair ornament and brooch. I want to braid happiness into each loop of your hair. Then you could dance in the Court like a precious jewel.

My dear Charlotte, are you well? I hope you haven't become sick. I only wish to make you happy even if I have to sacrifice my own life. Is that a wish that cannot be granted? I would like very much to get to know you. Even if it's only a glance, I want to see how you've grown up. There isn't a day that goes by that I do not pray for your well-being. I try not to lament, but...

I love you from the bottom of my heart.

Your mother,
Sophia D'Lota



Sophia D’Lota is supposed to be Sophia Dorothea of Celle, the wife (and first cousin) of King George I. She allegedly had an affair with the Swedish count Philip Christoph von Königsmarck which came to light via a series of discovered love letters and a couple of attempts to skip town. Guess she had a thing for writing... This resulted in George I having Königsmarck abducted and almost certainly ganked by assassins and Sophia getting imprisoned in Aldhen Castle for the last thirty years of her life. George I went on to have a shit load of mistresses because surprise – Kings of Britain were all huge dicks.

The Shadow Hearts series enjoys taking vaguely historic events and adding some JRPG spice to them. Like a lovechild of this historic affair being sent to Wales and ending up a very pissy ghost girl. In any case, this series of letters is the first of two requirements for getting the Good Ending to Charlotte's storyline. But that's a ways down the road



That’s it for our history lesson and this brief sidequest. We could continue onward to the church proper and see what’s beyond that newly opened door. But the end of Disc 2 is arriving and it might behoove us to beef up Koudelka a bit before gathering our party and venturing forth.





So as not to power level too much, I made a trek back to Vigna and Valna to train all of Koudelka’s offensive spells to Level 2 with Flare making it to Level 3 to add some spice. James also got Heal to Level 2 and all of his important Fortify abilities (Strength/Intelligence/Agility) to at least Level 2-3. So that should have us set for a decent time.





Now then, back on track. We find ourselves in the main hall of the church. This isn’t a huge area. But it is home to a few new enemies we may as well check out before closing off Disc 2.


Music: Waterfall





Ravens are hanging out on the church grounds. They peck multiple times in a row. It stings a bit, I suppose. Being just a regular ass, albeit really mean, bird they go down very quickly to just about anything. You ever punched a bird? Total glass beaks.





Commonly hanging out with Ravens we have Wights. Not to be confused with the zombies, skeletons or exploded walking corpses. These are their own undead things. Wights just kind of shamble along and smack folks (and by folks I mean Edward) with poisonous slaps. And... that’s kind of it. What more do you want out of an undead lady?





Lastly, we have these creepy shambling little things. These are Chikon, apparently. They’re extremely weak and can only manage to occasionally fire off a Hadoken when threatened. While they themselves aren’t much of a threat, they do drop a nice little goodie...



A Rosario. This accessory offers 8 Intelligence, 6 PIE and 10 Mind. Not a bad boost for magic users. Managed to get a couple of these so Koudelka got one and traded down Bessy’s Ring to James. Edward also got one as well so he can gain a little bit of additional magic attack protection in the future.

Music: ENDS



The Nemeton Monastery church is in quite the disarray. It’s important to pay attention to Koudelka’s head as she’s investigating the clutter. Completely invisible to the player but seen by her neck turning to face it, there’s a weapon here that will be lost forever if we don’t pick it up now.



It’s the Shotgun 2 – the sequel to the Shotgun. What’s that? You never saw the first Shotgun? Ehh... It’s alright. The prologue for Shotgun 2 has an opening crawl that cover everything you missed in Shotgun: Origins. But on a more serious note, the Shotgun 2 refers to the number of shells it is loaded with at a time. This being a double barrel shotgun means it has two shots before it needs to be reloaded. Which ain't great... Additionally, Shotguns take their own ammunition apart from Pistol and Rifle bullets. Ya know, since we needed more inventory clutter.



Tucking away our newfound boomstick and continuing onward, the far end of the church has nothing of note. But we do receive a rather ominous message. Guess we’ll just have to investigate the other end of the chapel to see what’s causing a ruckus behind us.





A caved in gateway. That’s less than helpful. Though there does seem to be a hole in the rubble that maybe a person could squeeze through...







...You know what? On second thought, let’s not try squeezing into the room full of writhing barbed plant vines. I know to avoid a Plant 42 when I see it.



Yeah... yeah gonna say a plant getting pissed and slamming on a wall repeatedly is probably a bad sign in most cases. I don’t think we’re going to gain a bearded dad with a flamethrower to sort this out if we got into a jam...



However, an unusual plant blocks you from going further.



Welp. No use going that way. Seems like the church is a bust. Except when we venture back towards the center of the chapel...



<looks around> What the--!? What’s that bell!?



Just the passing of another day.
Geez. November already? This year is flying by...



......
Oh no! Today’s All Saints’ Day!





Aww beans... A little known fact about the Catholic faith: all their churches open a portal to the Hell Dimension at precisely midnight on November 1st. They try to keep that little quirk to the religion under wraps. But every once in a while it causes some serious issues to some unfortunate travelers. Unfortunately, the gang had the rotten luck of bumbling in just at the wrong time.





The spiritual energy is coming together. What power. It’s like...



A monster...
Is that all? Pfft. It’s not like we haven’t handled a bunch of monsters alrea—



Frick!





Our trio gets launched a good twenty feet. Considering everything else in the chapel gets utterly flattened, I think they got off easy... Somehow Koudelka manages to get flung in the complete opposite direction of Edward and James, despite the fact they were all standing right next to each other a moment earlier. Demonic energy forces are just volatile like that.



In any case, a devilman is here and he doesn’t seem too thrilled to be in Wales. Really, who can blame him?



<shakes head> What...? What’s happening!?



This can’t be...
OK... It doesn’t seem like it’s moving. Maybe it’s dead? Did we win...?
I am not so sure...
I bet you were all worried. What’s All Saints’ Day got to do with a mo—
<looks in Edward’s direction>



FUCK. THAT! <immediately hauls ass>



Jesus CHRIST!



And so our heroic duo of Edward and James fucking bolt back out of the chapel, just narrowly action rolling to safety in order to avoid a demonic shoulder check from their new acquaintance.



<pants> That was a close one. That thing meant business.
.....
...I feel like we’re forgetting something.
The heathen...
Tch. What? Did you bang your head? I’m right here, Father Jag-off.
The other heathen...
......
Oh sh—



No! Koudelka!





Whoops! Leaving a third of your party behind. That’s a real gaffe. Ed and Jim must feel quite the fools right now.





Oh well, I’m sure Koudelka can handle one measly little inter-dimensional demon. I mean she has Flare Level 3 now. That’s got to count for something!


Music: Incantation Again



I guess we’ll find out as we’re immediately tossed into a battle with the Gargoyle -- the Disc 2 Endboss. Though calling it a “boss” at this juncture is really stretching the definition. This is an unwinnable boss battle. But not the sort where Koudelka needs to get stomped in order to progress.





Instead, the Gargoyle has a flawless defense and will evade any and all attacks against it, magical or physical, much like Valna and Vigna. Likewise, the demon just kinda... hangs out there doing nothing. It can attack and does a good 700+ HP of damage. But after four minutes of just hanging out attacking it non-stop it opted to strike Koudelka all of once.



Our only real option in this battle is escaping to fight another day. Turns out Edward and James had the right idea all along.

Music: ENDS



The Gargoyle smashed open one of the locked doors into the Nemeton Monastery Church, so Koudelka flees in a different direction from the boys into uncharted territory. What mysteries might she find on the far side of the church grounds?



Why the end of Disc 2, naturally. Yeah... it just ends abruptly at the screen transition at the bottom of the stairs in the previous screen. And I you thought the Disc 1 ending was unceremonious. Tune in next time as our heroine begins her solo RPG adventurer career for the foreseeable future as Disc 3 of Koudelka begins!






Video: Episode 15 Highlight Reel (You should definitely watch this.)





Edward Plunkett Concept Art – Doing his best sassy pose to hide the big geeky backpack he’s wearing.