Part 10: Episode X: Village Handyman

Episode X: Village Handyman



Music: Village Tunes


Welp, those sidequests are not gonna do themselves... There is about eight or so opened up after the first major dungeon and a new slew will usually crop up following the completion of subsequent boss fights and/or dungeon crawls. I'll be trying to do a round-up of sidequests in big chunks, so we do not get bogged down and stall out on main plot progression for too long.


I'll just be summarizing the quest giver conversation for the BS mini-quests. Most can be boiled down to:

"Hey, bro! Just the guy I was looking for! Hey, you busy? I have <menial task> I need help with!"
"Gee, I'm kind of busy but uhh...you paying...?"
"Sure thing!"
"Well, why didn't you say so?! Let's hear it!"

Sidequest: The Lost Eggs


This first jerk seems to have chickens he uses for eggs to feed villagers, but has never heard of the ancient alien concept of a chicken coop to prevent them from running off and laying eggs wherever suits their fancy. As a result, the moron needs Nier to find where the chickens are "hiding" their eggs.




If we talk to folks around town, they'll tell us the chickens usually like to hang out in dark corners around the fountain.


To be honest though, chicken eggs are just a common random drop in the village and there are multiple locations they can potentially spawn. I've found them around the fountain, up on a hill at the outskirts of the village, all the way at the southern gate, and right next to Nier's house before.


We just need to find any single egg and Nier will just sort of bullshit the results of his investigation as the chickens laying eggs by the fountain, regardless of where they were actually found.


The reward for the quest is a Health Salve, the second best recovery item in the game (60% of HP restored.)

Welp, that's two down. Only...way too many more to go...

Sidequest: Old-Fashioned Home Cooking


Remember how I said it was a good idea to stock-up on mutton? Well, this is one of several reasons as to why. This old lady wants 10 pieces of mutton and is offering to buy 'em for above market value. I was only at eight pieces at this point, so a bit of hunting is in order. But, that's okay. This quest has banter!


"Those are sheep."
"What is the difference?"
"Well...you know. The fur is different, and they move differently, and eat different things..."
"People are different as well, yet you're all just called humans!"
"Yeah, yeah..."

Music: The Northern Plains

A quick jog to the Northern Plains...


"...you!?"
"It's a lot harder than it sounds, Weiss. ...These little bastards are fast."
"So smite them with magic!"
"Aw, crap!"
"What is it!? Shades!?"
"You're right. I SHOULD use magic!"
"....."
"Might I make another suggestion?"
"What!?"
"Stop yelling like a madman every time you come to a realization."


A few people have mentioned it earlier, but Nier has an Orders command in the menu. Later in the game, it is used for setting allies' tactics.


But, it can also be used to whistle for a boar to mount. In addition to that, it will cause all the wild game in the area to happily trot over to Nier and graze by his feet.


"Weiss, you are a genius..."
"Isn't this a bit less than sporting?"
"You weren't there when one of those sketchy little bastards knocked me ten yards on my ass. Lambchop and I have a score to settle..."

Enough animal cruelty to make post-apocalyptic PETA shit a brick later...


And we get a tidy little profit for that minimal amount of effort. Drinks are on Nier tonight.

Sidequest: Shopping List


A woman sitting on a bench near the rest of the quest-givers tasks Nier with obtaining a few items from a town we both have not visited and do not have access to at the moment... Yeah, lady...you're gonna have to wait for that one... Weiss still has some choice words about the engagement.


"...trips?"
"I don't think these trips are inane. I'm a father in a dying world. I'll take whatever job I can get. Everyone has it tough around here, so I've no right to complain. They give me honest work, and I'm grateful."
<sarcastically> "I see. Well, then, keep up the good work!"
"Yeah."


So, this quest isn't within our ability to complete yet, so it is going straight where it belongs. It'll get a friend or two in a few minutes.


Welp, that's all the quests available right at the front of the town square. If Nier pushes further into the village, we'll overhear singing coming from the tavern. Well, it's five o'clock somewhere...

Music: Song of the Ancients - Indoor


Devola has relocated to the town bar and will remain there for quite some time. Since we're in the area, she has a bit to gab to Nier about.


"Yeah."
"But that's crazytown! You know how hard that's gonna be!?"
"...Not as hard as watching Yonah die."
"....."
"Well, wanna let a girl buy ya a drink?"
"...Little early, isn't it?"
"Hah! When you live in a place where the sun never sets, what difference does it make!? Anyway, I love this tavern. It's the nerve center of the whole village! Folks come here to relax or swap stories or even look for work. Come back whenever you have a free minute!"

So, in the future we can come back to Devola in order to learn where sidequests have cropped up, even in other towns. It's pretty handy, really.

Sidequest: The Tavern Keeper's Grandmother


So, the tavern keeper's grandmother is sick and he's trying to make an herbal remedy. Medicinal herbs and berries are both random drops all over the place in town. But, the royal ferns are a bit more of a rarity and are only available way out on the ass end of the Northern Plains at the moment.


"No medicine in the works of man can hope to stand against it."
"There has to be something!"
"Perhaps a drug exists to temporarily ease the pain, but none can truly eradicate the disease."
"Dammit..."
"But if the legend is true, then I hold the key to saving your girl!"
"You're right. I have to hold on to that."
"Ha! That's the spirit!"


That's the spirit, Papa Nier. But, as for the barkeep's granny...that's a little out of our way at the moment...


Our next pair of sidequests takes us back to the ever popular library. The first of the two located here is held by a woman on the upper level walkway of the book depository.

Sidequest: Book Smarts


This one is probably given by the laziest damn person in town. Her task involves just shoving a couple books into shelves she directs Nier toward, since she cannot be bothered walking across the library.

Dammit, bitch. This is like our twelfth trip across the damn library and the game is only two hours in!


"Yes?"
"Aren't you all powerful? Can't you just...you know? Use magic to zap this place into shape?"
"The infinite power of Grimoire Weiss is not to be used for such trivial tasks!"
"I'm not asking for much."
"You are the one so enamored with hard, honest work!"


The lazy librarian thanks us for putting away those two wayward books and hooks Nier up with 500 gold. Why do I get the feeling gold's value in 3361 is equivalent to modern day Yen, and we're just getting pocket change for this bullshit...?

Sidequest: Herbal Remedies


Popola needs two herbs. We have 10 in our pocket. She gives us 500 gold. End of quest. Pot joke.

The Gatekeeper's Errand


The northern gate guard gives us this one and it is extremely simple. We just need to run over and speak with the blacksmith's wife. The blacksmith is located just south of the tavern.

A quick run across town...


The blacksmith's wife will gab about how the northern gatekeeper smells nice but she wants to jump the bones of the eastern gate guard. In any case, she'll send over the weapons to our client and tip us with 500 gold for our troubles.


While we're in the neighborhood, let's speak with the local blacksmith and perhaps inform him that his wife is a whore. Other than that, he has something in his meager inventory that is well worth dropping a few coins on.


The Lily-Leaf Sword is reasonably priced at just 2,400 gold and is the best sword we'll come across for quite some time, so it is best to pick it up at the earliest possible convenience. The Beastbain is significantly better, but it is also pricey as hell and will be out of our reach for a good long poverty stricken time.


Sadly, I cannot find the Lily-Leaf Sword's NIER weapon story translation. But, it too is another hold-over from Drakengard.


It was once known as Writheheart: a sword obtained by waiting 25 minutes in a mission which involved the hero Caim massacring a camp full of child conscript soldiers while a pedophile berated him for murdering all his potential love interests his mercilessness. Drakengard!




Someone mentioned that I didn't show off the weapon stat pages earlier. Well, that is because we do not get a proper pause menu until Weiss joins the party. Now, we can thumb through Grimoire Weiss (who is apparently totally cool with us tapping Polaroid shots of collected weapons and post-it notes into his pages) and see the descriptions proper. So, there you go. Exhilarating stuff!

Sidequest: Fragile Delivery


The other guard at the northern gate also has a sidequest for us. I guess these guys don't get off duty very often. Well, at least they don't have to worry about working the night shift. Hur hur...


Anyway, this guy's quest is...kind of a pain in the ass... The package he gives us to deliver is for the mayor of the Aerie. Hey, that's where we're going anyway, right? Easy money! But, there is one little itty-bitty hitch... Said package is very, very fragile.


And by very, very fragile I mean you cannot evade roll or get hit by any enemies between here and the mayor of the Aerie's house. Doing so...well...


"That did not sound good..."
"I think we broke something."
"Well, there is little point in finishing the delivery now. We had best go back and apologize."
"...Yeah, I guess."


So yeah...kind of a pain in the ass, that one. Since we have yet to even venture to the Aerie and our first visit is marked by more Shades than normal, it is best to just blow this one off until our initial visit is concluded. Luckily, Nier can simply return to the client and apologize and the sidequest will reset with a new package. You can do this as many times as necessary with no penalty to the reward whatsoever. But, that is for another day...


And that is it for sidequests at the moment. Some more will unlock after we finish our business in this Aerie joint. But, that is a ways off. For now, let's say goodbye to Yonah before heading off into the great unknown.


"I'll even drink that medicine Popola made, even though it's really gross."
"Just...just come back for me. Okay?"











Sidequest Highlight Reel



Music: Song of the Ancients - Indoor