Part 20: The Death of a Moustached Bean Bag

Chapter 19 – The Death of a Moustached Bean Bag

Where we last left off, we had just murdered Elliott and Marienne like they were nothing to us.

Now we must continue on into the bowels of Drokonia and find the Sacred Burning Stone.

For quite possibly the first time in this LP, we won’t be wasting time on side content first. We’re just gonna keep walking.



Just beyond where Elliott and Marienne died, we find Drokonia’s sole unique enemy, the Blaze Wheel. It’s a gimmick enemy that mostly serves to inflict status ailments. It can cause Petrification, which is fairly obvious in what it does, and has a “roulette” attack that causes random effects like halving MP or HP and decreasing stats. We don’t see it do any of these things, because of course, we’re killing them too quickly.



You might think these weird little lava thingies on the ground are barriers of some kind, but no. What happens is occasionally when you walk across them, there’s a chance a corona of lava will rise up and hit you, causing a bit of damage. I don’t even come close to having that happen here.

Beyond these lava paths, we find another campsite. Yet another boss lurks beyond, so we cook, rest, and chat…

Right and Wrong



“Hey, what’s the matter with you? You’ve been moping around and sighing for a while now! We put our lives on the line. So did they. One of us had to die in the end. Don’t tell me you think WE were in the wrong?”

We get a choice. “Maybe we were”, “Nah, we were right”, and “It’s not a question of right or wrong”. Cocky Lang didn’t give a single shit about killing the dumbass siblings and kicking their corpses into the lava.

“We weren’t in the wrong! We’re out here trying to get the world back to normal!”

“Why do you look so unhappy, then?”

“It’s not about who was right and who was wrong. It’s repenting for the act of taking life…But we must go on. If we can’t go on, can’t get over it, then the meaning of the victory is lost. Don’t you see that?”

”You know you weren’t this “repentive” when we killed Raynoff the Brave. In fact, you just made fun of him. What, did he rate as less of a human being than those two creeps?”

”Um, well, you see…”

Kazan’s Painfully Obvious Past



“If she knew…If Sharon ever found out I was ‘Thunder God, Nazak,’ what would she do? I wonder if she’d hate me, thinking I left you? Listen, Alphis…Someday….I just might have to tell her…”

As we’ve all figured out, Kazan used to be part of Alphis’ pirate crew. Frankly, this revelation just makes the way he acts more confusing. He was clearly good friends with Alphis, and yet acts like the pirates are some gang of evil criminals and acts like a petulant child towards Sharon on multiple occasions. What gives? Shouldn’t he know Alphis’ former crew aren’t bad guys? And why be so harsh to your old friend’s daughter?

What’s Ahead

“Those two were willing to go just THAT far to protect this place. We’ve gotta be careful!”

“??”

“That mustached bean bag…Doplin….He’s definitely up to something!”

“’Mustached bean bag…?’ I have to see this guy!”

“Trust me, you don’t want to see him!”

”Holy Banderas, guys, he might be ugly, but he wasn’t that interesting!”

Now, let us cease conversing, and actually behold the mustached bean bag for ourselves.

Now Playing – Evil Desires




That’s what Slogar was before he got the Kabel makeover. Doplin also calls this thing Slogar, so I assume it’s a type of monster.



“Elliott and Marienne…What happened to them?!”

“We defeated them!”




To absolutely nobody’s surprise, Doplin is a 2 dimensional evil villain.

“Oh well. They were just strays anyway…At least they slowed you down for a little while.”

“You…You bastard! How can you say that?!”

“How awful…They thought of you as their real father…They died fighting for you!”

“Ho ho ho ho ho! They thought we were a family?! Oh, that is rich! Ho ho ho ho ho! I found those two after their own parents had dumped them in the woods. Since when are strays part of the family? Ho ho ho ho ho! I can’t stop laughing! What does that make stray dogs and cats?! Ho ho ho ho ho!”





“Every person has the capacity to be dishonest and mean…But I’ve never met anyone as rotten to the core…This is not a man, he’s garbage.”



“But that’s about to change! I’m going to be more than a man! The gods have chosen me above all others! I will prove it! See for yourself! The power of the gods!”












“There are no limits to the secret Kabel techniques! Witness the ultimate living creature! It transcends all others! And the one that controls it’s every move is….Ho ho ho ho!”




“What?! You’re not going to stay and watch? You’re missing a great show! See the power of the ultimate being, Slogar!”

“Eh, do what you want. But I’m staying to watch! I’ve wanted this bunch dead for a long time! Ho ho ho ho ho!” Show them, Slogar! Show them your awesome power!”




And she’s gone.



And now we fight “Slogar”. Way back in Chapter 8, I pointed out a book in the Kabel Ruins called “Val Kenus, the Primeval Fire”. Yeah, they foreshadowed this that early.

For once, we don’t annihilate the boss before they can use some attacks, although in Val Kenus’ case, it’s strategically intentional on my part…




Val Kenus hits pretty hard. 2200 is over half of Ayne’s HP, and he’s got the most of all characters we have.

But he only uses it twice before we kill the bastard. He’s meant to have an all hitting attack with a charging period, but he doesn’t use it.

But the fight’s not over yet…







Doplin’s voice actor sounds more annoyed than worried here.




“Stop it, Slogar! Le…let go of me!”

“What is the matter, your excellency?”



“Isn’t that the follower of god that you’ve always wanted…?”

“Tha, that’s not funny! Hurry! Help me NOW!”




“You…!!! Traitor! You have turned against Avalon and I….Uggg!”

“Heh heh heh…You still don’t understand, do you?”




“Avalonnnn!! I am the High Priest! The Lord has chosen me….Arggggh!”

“You are just another human. You are simply unfit for this world.”



“…Ve, Velna! Dddd….Don’t do this to me…..!”




The commentary you get here is dependent on who you brought with you.




That I’m aware of, Ayne doesn’t have one of these. Obviously I got Sharon with him and her, Maya spoke when I had her and Kazan, and Kazan spoke with him and Ayne. Maybe it’s an affection thing, but I had no way of prompting Ayne to comment.

No matter what happens, Lang says this…





It’s a whole new battle now. Val Kenus has become “Var Zelph”.



Also here is “Var Kurtz”. I think it’s meant to be the hand Var Zelph used to melt Doplin, but why it popped off and became a boss monster, I wouldn’t know.

I refrained from using Variable Arts against Val Kenus because I knew this was coming.



We immediately flatten Var Kurtz with one, preventing it from acting. It didn’t have any exciting attacks anyway, it just added to the damage you might take every round.




That’s quite a bit of damage. Fortunately, we can heal almost all of that with a single “Silver Barome”, a healing item that gives 1500 HP to every party member. Sharon’s great agility lets her put out healing items faster than most bosses can act.



Volcano Storm is just Lava Storm but it hits a bit harder.



This is the prelude to a nasty multi hit attack, giving us a clear indicator to put up our guard.




Honestly we may have done just fine tanking the hit without guarding.

After this, Lang finishes off Var Zelph, ending the fight.

Click the image below to see Val Kenus, Var Zelph and Var Kurtz in action.






Oh look, the Origins are out. They haven’t had screen time outside battles for a while.




And that’s Ayne’s first line of dialogue since we got here.

“We still need the Aerolith…I don’t even know where to start looking…I seem to remember seeing it on the tablet. It was on a pedestal in some ruins in the clouds.”

“In the clouds? Wouldn’t that mean somewhere in mid-air? How’s that possible?! There’s no way there could be ruins up there, right?!”

“Not necessarily…Perhaps it is a reference to the Wind Tower?”

“Wind Tower? Where’s that?”

“I believe it is an island to the north of Jinga. I have head the ‘Chief of the West Winds’ talk of it.”

“But even if that island is the right place, how would we get to the clouds…? Lang, I think we’d better go to Jinga again and have another talk with the Elder.”

“Then it’s settled! We’re going back to Jinga!”

That whole scene passed with the Origins out but they said absolutely nothing. What gives?

Anyway, we’re done here, so I guess we’ll have to make our way out of Drokonia. Sure was a long, winding path leading here….



Hooray for convenient dungeon exits!

Once I exit Drokonia, I decide to stop for a camp chat.

Power Corrupts



“What do you mean?”

“I mean, having all that power….too much power to handle, really, and ending up filled with greed and desire. I think that’s what happened to Doplin once he got a hold of the secrets of Kabel. If we’d ever used our powers like that, summoning our Origins for our own greedy desires, we might’ve ended up like him, too.”

“Desires can ruin a person. But without desires, man can’t live. I guess the key to everything is moderation.”

“Yeah, you’re absolutely right.”

But funnily enough, Doplin had no power of his own. The secrets of Kabel came from Velna, and he only had the power to command people due to holding an office.

The Awful Sound of Music

“Hmm, the moon is beautiful tonight. Why don’t I sing you a song?

Oooooooooo…In the eastern kingdoooooom, in a land of freeeedooooom…!”

(Holy….! What an awful voice! It sounds more like shrieking than singing!)

“….Lived the greatest thieeeeef….Gifted beyond belieeeeeef. No treasure he couldn’t steal!”

“He stooooole the sacred scroooooll from the eastern hold, ♪ from the western mine, all the gooooold. ♪”

“Sharon?!”

“You…You know this song?”

“My father always used to sing it when I was a kid. I just learned it naturally…But no sad stories tonight! Come on, Kazan, pour me a drink!”

“What? A drink? Sure…!”

“Sharon, you’ve got a lovely singing voice.”

“Me? Thanks! There was a time when I thought I wanted to be a singer…Or did I wanna be a dancer…? Or maybe I wanted to be a waitress? Oh, well. It was a long time ago. I forget.”

Funny that Kazan is surprised to learn Alphis’ daughter sings a song Alphis knew.

I’m actually going to end the chapter here, but I want to take a moment to mention something I thought of after re-experiencing Drokonia: Elliott, Marienne, and Doplin are all completely worthless to the plot of this game.

What did Elliott and Marienne do? They capture Lang in Gale Canyon, sure, but that could have easily been accomplished by any other character (Bubba was right there). They spend most of the game off screen just to die a cheap death on Drokonia. They accomplish nothing and leave no lasting impression besides how obnoxious and disgusting they are.

One might say Avalon needed Doplin’s resources as Bishop, but did he? He found the Aqualith all on his own, and Doplin didn’t seem to know where the Pyrolith was (they repeatedly mention Doplin searching for sacred stones, even after Avalon had Velna put the Pyrolith back personally). I can’t think of a single thing Doplin did that advanced the plot in any way. He was just there to twirl his moustache and claim importance while other people did the work for him.

You could have cut all three characters from the game and the plot would still make sense. It would be much shorter, but it would still make sense. Avalon still gets the stones on his own, the Eclipse happens, people want to stop him. Bam, you have the plot of this game.

Well, that’s enough ranting for now, I think.

Join me next time, where we do a little side content, complete some more guild quests, and maybe find out our next objective at the end.