Part 71: Stillsnow

Music: Town Veiled in White



Welcome to Stillsnow, a small peaceful village nestled deep within the Frostlands. It's a nice and cozy place, if you ignore the sex trafficking of course.





There's a NPC with a similar tragic backstory in this town.



Several NPCs are selling items for a Side Story in this town. All in due time, of course.





We'll meet the fortune teller in H'aanit's Chapter 3. Meanwhile, this kid is a bit of a snowman menace, and has struck fear into the heart of at least one non-snow man.





These kids are going to be ruthless when they grow up.





You can tell this little girl is going to be a powerful sorceress in command of devastating ice magic.



My interest rates are quite reasonable, you'll find. Heh heh.



As usual, there are a few jerks mixed in with the other citizens.



Though at least we steal some of his ill-found riches from him.



Yeah, he's a nasty sort.



I'll pay you back when my daughter finally starts bringing in a bit of money, you'll see.



This man and the moneylender are part of a Side Story involving said daughter, yet another one we'll do in the future.



The mightiest of them all is probably that dragon that makes its lair in the cave just outside of town.



While there's a lot of talk of dragons, we will see a grand total of one in the entire game. Well, technically two I guess, but really only one.

I'm not counting the egg.





An artist truly before his time.

I mean way before, you know there's other, more permanent substances you can work with, right? Sculptures you can make that won't be destroyed by aspiring swordsmen?





I don't know if I'm buying what he's selling.





I am, however, buying what he's selling here. That hat is a real nice and cheap upgrade.





I guess killing Rufus wasn't enough to completely shut down the brothel's business, that or she didn't get the memo.



Third-strongest dagger in the game, and even the ElemAtk is higher than anything we currently have. The downside, of course, sucks when you consider the two primary users, Primrose and Therion, primarily focus on Dark and Fire attacks respectively. It's not a big loss though, as Therion barely uses his fire attack anyway, and if you want a magic build for Primrose you'd probably go Scholar or Cleric and can just use those attacks instead, plus in that case she wouldn't really use her dagger anyway. So it ends up one of the better Forbidden weapons.



It's kinda hard to tell, but there's a good bit of town behind the foreground. It's easy to skip over all this due to how the town is laid out, and how the path back here is kinda obscured a bit, being right next to the alehouse.



That's why I'm here and not there. If you value your life, I suggest you follow my lead.



Another widow being pushed by their children to take part in their community.

Remind me never to raise a family in Stillsnow.



The fortune-teller's house is nice, but since she's a plot-relevant NPC, of course she's not in. Plot NPCs generally don't show up until they're needed, then disappear after their chapter is done.



It's the seat of our faith--a magnificent city with a great cathedral.



It could be a couple of the Chapter 4 towns he was driven from, but no telling which one.

And no, I'm pretty sure this guy is not the creepy bishop from the last update.





This is around the same strength as my strongest polearm, except with a Critical boost instead of an Accuracy penalty. Pricey, but a reasonable price for a three-digit PhysAtk weapon with a nice bonus stat.



And mine are like nothing you've ever tasted! You see, I let them rest nice and cozy beneath the snow till they're simply bursting with natural sugars. The flavor is simply to die for!



I wish I could be this passionate about anything as much as this man is about beets.



Speaking of, this guy might be relevant later on.





Fun fact, the snow-sculpture guy has an item hidden in her house.

It's always fun to see how much people from all walks of life want to be a famous dancer in this game.





Challenge has a ridiculous L40 requirement for her, but she's not too bad with H'aanit.





There's one item of note. The snow artist's hidden item is a Soul Bow, which isn't as strong as the Soldier's Longbow we have, but does give a hefty ElemAtk score.





The Swordbreaker is underwhelming in comparison. Crit's alright, but I'd take Evasion or Speed boosts any day.





Finally, some potential armor upgrades. That Elemental Hat in particular is daring me to buy it, and I may just take it up on its offer...



Unsurprisingly, the vote came down to Tressa and Therion, and Tressa pulled out by a good margin. So after the next Side Story, we'll revisit Quarrycrest and continue Tressa's quest to become a great merchant.