NIER Part #20 - Episode XIX: Hollow Dreams

Part 20: Episode XIX: Hollow Dreams

Episode XIX: Hollow Dreams

Following our adventures in delinquent parenting and heavily armed tweens, Nier and Weiss suggest we go visit the Aerie what with the whole being overrun with Shades thing. But, that is leading to a big fat boss battle and plenty of drama and I think we need a bit of a breather first before engaging in such a strenuous task.

There was actually one side quest in the Village that I skipped past during our earlier series of odd jobs. Mostly, because it involved a trip to the as of then yet unexplored Junk Heap. But, now that we've ventured to that lovely place, we can commence with the proceedings.

We need to venture to the village tavern for this one...

Sidequest: The Ballad of the Twins

This quest is initiated by talking to one of the drunks at the tavern leering at Devola.

"Sure. Devola sings here all the time."

"I ain't talkin' about that! I'm talkin' about the two of 'em singin' TOGETHER!"

"Uh...no. I've never seen that."

"Sounds hot, eh? Heh... I wonder if they like...ya know...do other things...together..."
"I am literally sitting right here, guy..."

So, the seasoned alcoholic suggests convincing the twins to get the band back together and have them sing a duet together. Well...you know, we really didn't have a reason to bug the shit out of Popola today and we do have that daily quota to maintain so...what the hell...?

"You're asking ME for a favor? Well, now I've heard everything!"

"I heard you and Popola used to sing at the tavern. I never got a chance to hear it, so..."

"Wait. You want to hear us sing? Ah ha ha! Well, Popola's been swamped lately, so I haven't sung with her in forever. But if she's up for it, I'm willing."

Nier rushes off to the library for the daily harassing Popola session...

"Sure, what is it?"

"I heard you and Devola used to sing at the tavern, and I was wondering-"

"Oh my goodness! We haven't done that in a long time, and I don't... No, I'm sorry. I just don't think I can do it."

"Why not?"

"Well, I need a certain drink before I can sing in public. ...I'm a little shy, if you know what I mean."

"It's a tavern, Popola. I'm sure they'll have it."

"Actually, they don't have this drink anymore. But they used to order it from the tavern in Seafront, so maybe you could ask there."

So, our new objective it to get Popola tanked so she'll sing a song with her sister at the local bar. That is literally the entire sidequest. Getting Popola drunk for music. There is...no other reward other than that... I do not think I have ever done a sidequest in a video game which involved intoxicating a woman for the reward of music...and been totally okay with said reward...

A trip to Seafront tavern later...

"Popola, eh? Yeah. I know the drink. Sadly, I don't have the ingredients on hand. It's a bit of a special brew."

"That's too bad."

"Now, if you wanted to go fetch me some of those ingredients, I'd be happy to whip one up for ya, on the house."

"Fair enough. What do you need?

"I need five lizard tails and five mouse tails."

"....."

"What, seriously?"

"Hey, I know it sounds crazy, but those are the ingredients."

"Well, if you say so..."

Yeah... So Popola boozes up to some weird ass shit... Christ, and I thought tequila with the worm at the bottom was dicey indulgence...

Anyway, we now need to go harvest lizard and mouse tails for our favorite irritation target ginger's fucked up brew. Luckily, both ingredients aren't too hard to nab.

A trek to the Northern Plains later...

Lizards and their succulent tails can be readily found beneath the Iron Bridge to the Junk Heap. They also hang out over on the road toward the Lost Shrine. The latter is probably the easier harvesting location, as lizards will respawn by simply exiting and re-entering the area.

At least those poor bastards will grow their tails back... Time for some animal cruelty for the next leg of the journey...

Mice spawn in the field between the Junk Heap and the Two Brothers' Armory. Usually, they only come in packs of two or three for Nier to violently relieve of their back end for Popola's intoxication. But, hopping in the Junk Heap and quickly retreating from its cybernetic horde will quickly respawn Nier's rodent prey.

On the trip back to Seafront...

Hey, folks! It's a long walk back to distant Seafront. Let's take this intermission for some trivia time! It turns out that Popola and Devola's names are actually a Drakengard reference lost in translation. You see, in glorious Nippon's Drag-on Dragoon the Skald's Song (a weapon obtained by Caim in Chapter 1, Verse 8 by raiding the Goddess' Castle's armory) was originally known as something like the "Debol'popol" The original version of the story included the names of the sisters in the story above, Dobo and Popo. Add a "la" and turn a rogue awkward sounding "b" into a "v" and you've got our angel voiced twins of NIER's name origins.

Said bard in the tale is still a major playa if you bagged a pair of redheads for his wives.

Back at the Seafront Tavern...

"Popola's the only one in town with the guts to drink it. Even my regulars won't touch the stuff. Could you tell Popola that I'll have her drink sent to the village once it's done."

"Got it."

Nier and Weiss depart back toward the Village...