Part 13: Tetyth, Part 1

Had a fair amount on my plate the last couple of days, so this update's a little short. But hey, shorter updates means higher frequency. It'll work out! Trust me!





Ein's party departs from Elendia after learning the whereabouts of another Accursed. They must journey next to the sunken city of Tetyth.

Legend has it that Tetyth was submerged beneath the sea because its inhabitants angered the gods.

As a representative of Asgard, Ein approaches the city with heavy footsteps and a heavy heart...






















pfffahaha i'm sorry i couldn't keep a straight face

guy doesn't give two shits







Wow. Beautiful city. How come the Accursed are never hanging out in a nice hotel or something?
It's freezing in here!
All the water makes it chilly.
Wait...water?
Yep. Apparently someone here managed to piss off the gods, and being the mature and level-headed people that they are, they decided to flood the place and kill everyone.
I can see how you ended up working for them.
Nobody told me this was going to be a water dungeon.
Is that a problem?
What do you mean "Is that a problem"?! Water is the very nemesis of life! You have blithely marched us into the jaws of death incarnate!
It's just water, Cierra. It's not going to kill you.
It is pure evil! I refuse to go near it!
So what exactly do you drink?
Hot sauce. Gasoline. Pepto-Bismol.


Nothing of note on this screen, so we'll just move forward.





Water...water above and below, in front and behind. I feel it closing in on me, roaring and gurgling, yearning to violate my lungs. These aqueous fiends it has summoned mark the beginning of the end. All of Riviera will drown in its cold embrace.



NO! I will not be deterred! I am the Scarlet Witch! I am the righteous inferno! Burn or boil; I care not! THE FLAMES WILL QUIET THEE!



...that was decidedly non-fiery.
Oh, I forgot to tell you. I picked up a new staff for you while I was in the magic guild. It uses holy magic instead of fire.
What?! Where's my old one?!
That thing? It was all worn out, so I figured I'd just toss it. You don't mind, do you?
...
Oh, don't worry. I checked first, and this one does more damage. It's way better than that busted-up fire stick.
...
Plus, it has fifty charges! If you play your cards right, it could end up lasting you through the whole adventure!
...
What do you think? You like it?
_{...yes. It's wonderful. Thank you.}
(Justice is served. Eat up, voice-thief.)



Something's moving over there!



Oh. It's just a grasshopper.
EWW SOMEBODY SQUASH IT
Don't look at me. My wrath is reserved strictly for the Sciuridae family.
What about demons?
Them too. I guess.



I'm going to catch it.
What for?
Think about it. I picked up a fishing rod and a pouch a little while ago, and now we're in a water level and there's live bait in front of us. This is not a coincidence.
So the fates are guiding us towards a fishing trip, is what you're saying.
I dunno about the fates, but Sting definitely has something in mind.







You know, it depresses me when we have to travel through multiple screens that all look exactly the same, because I post these screenshots and I worry that people are thinking "God, why the hell is he spending so much time in one place? Get on with it!"

I don't think I could deal with that. I desperately need to be approved of on the Internet. It's the only source of ego nourishment I have left.







Meanwhile...





Bingo! They're here! Ein's here!
It's about time. Now we can start our plan.
You sure you wanna flood the place?
That's right! We'll make them suffer!
But won't he drown?
He is a heartless demon murderer. So yes, that is the general idea.
Oh, duh.
Open the gate!


(One of these two is supposed to be male. Have fun guessing which.)





We can examine the rocks on this screen, but doing so just results in an unfortunate chain of events that ends with us getting us drenched.



That, in turn, will destroy the Book of Nanai before its time. So let's not do that.

However, this is as good a time as any to clear up a mistake I made a while ago. In the Nelde Ruins, I claimed that if you were carrying Bread or Meat upon getting wet, they would eventually turn into Mouldy Bread and Rotten Meat, respectively. That's actually not the case. The items do exist, and you do obtain them by having Bread/Meat in your inventory at a certain point, but getting drenched doesn't do it.

Moving on!





Nothing particularly special about this battle. The woodlouse is vulnerable to lightning damage, and by the time he's dead, you should have built up enough Overdrive to finish off the spider with a Disaresta.



Is it just me, or is there more water than before?
No.
Come to think of it, there are ripples now...
What are you talking about? There's absolutely no difference. Look. Screenshot then...



Screenshot now.



Exactly the same.
Would you go easy on that fourth wall? It's the only one we've got.


This screen actually has stuff to do that doesn't screw you over. How nice. Let's take a look at the water first.



What's that? A fish?
We could catch it if we had a rod and some bait...
Told you.
OK, I'll concede the point. But I still don't see why you needed to go chasing grasshoppers. We have live bait already.
...why are you looking at me?
As intrigued as I am by the idea, I think Lina's a little too big for that.
That's easily fixed.
Nooo!
GET BACK HERE





OK, Serene. I already caught one. Lina can remain un-dissected.
Just one? One fish isn't going to feed all six of us.
...good point. Continue.
AAAHHH!
TAKE YOUR DICING LIKE A MAN
I AM OF COURSE SPEAKING FIGURATIVELY HERE



Now let's examine the rocks.


(Look, Ein! It's a rock!)
Why are you so happy?
(Well, don't you like rocks?)



That brief conversation is completely unedited. I know Rose is probably taking the piss, but it still seems a little harsh to suggest that Ein has some kind of rock fetish just because he happens to have picked up a couple of rocks in the past. We always found a good use for those rocks!



Speaking of taking the piss, there's that damned musical note as always, dripping with sarcastic jubilance. I don't know why they didn't just go all out and give you a fanfare and some fireworks.



A chest!
open it open it open it open it open it open it open it
Hold your horses. Jesus.



lewwwwwt
There's something crawling around next to it...



It's a snake!
Ein! Do something!



If you fail to get rid of the snake, two things happen:

1. Cierra freaks out and blows the chest up.
2. You lose affection across the board.

Apparently everyone in the party can cross swords with the legions of Hell without so much as flinching, but they're still terrified of a little grass snake. Go figure.



Did I detect a hint of fear, Serene? From you? That's a new one.
I was NOT scared! I just...I thought Lina might get bitten. That's all.
You were worried about me?! I knew you cared!
OK FINE I WAS SCARED FUCK OFF


The chest contains the Tarot item, which I'd just end up tossing, so I'm not actually going to open it. You do get points and an affection boost for dealing with the snake, though, so this wasn't just a waste of time.

For reference, the Tarot does a small amount of percentile damage to all enemies. The amount of damage (and the element) differs depending on the character.





Uh...does anyone else hear water flowing?
Ein! Look behind you!





Oh balls.
The city's flooding! At this rate it'll be completely submerged in about 50 turns!
Hey, what happened to going easy on the fourth wall?
_{I tried to warn you. I tried. Alas. We are doomed.}


This is not one of those "hazards" that will wait for you to progress before worsening and thus never actually catch up to you. The city IS being flooded, and if you don't move your ass, you will die. You still have enough leeway to explore the area and collect everything, but you need to be efficient about it.

Fortunately, I am always efficient. Let's get to it.



Also, there's a book floating in the water now.



i don't even know



Let's open the chest here before we go anywhere. It contains a Burning Sun, Flame Whip, or Estoc.



With that out of the way, we'll go down the east path first.





The dude in front is weak to ice, but since I just discarded the Ogre Blade to make room for Burning Sun, we don't have any ice items that'll actually hit him. Doesn't really matter, though, since our other weapons are still powerful enough to do a big whack of damage anyway.





Doesn't look like we're getting through this door.
Hey, Cierra. Any chance you can blow this thing up?
_{I pine for you.}
Come again?
_{Where is your gentle, sunset light? Your soothing warmth? Gone. Quenched. Without you, I am lost. A helpless prisoner of this sodden labyrinth, cold and blind. All is dust. All is dust.}
...so that's a "no", then?



This tile looks odd.
Looks like some kind of panel.
Will stepping on this open the door?
Probably.
So the heaviest one has to stand on it, right?
...heaviest one...?



There's no way to weasel your way out of this. The only ones who won't take offence at being asked to do it are Rose and Lina, and of course neither of them is heavy enough for it to work. You can't leave the decision up to the ladies, and you can't have Ein do it himself. If you want that door opened, you're just going to have to piss someone off.

We're trying to get Serene's ending, and Cierra's currently out of commission, so that leaves...



Yep.
Why me?! I'm not the heavy one! That's supposed to be Cierra's running gag!
Fia, don't be silly. I'm not choosing you because I think you're heavy.
...really?
Of course not.
Oh. Well, thank y-
You are, however, totally useless, so it's best that you stay behind.


(She'll also find a Holy Crest for you once you get back.)



Holy carp. Three chests on one screen. Is the game feeling generous all of a sudden?

Of course not! Both of the blue chests are empty and exist solely to waste your turns so that you're that much closer to drowning! You really think Sting Entertainment are going to miss a chance to sucker punch you?

We do get a Rusty Key from the green chest, though.





Heh heh...they'll sell for a nice price. Just stay still.



'Ello 'ello. What's all this, then?
COR BLIMEY MATES IT'S THA FOCKIN BOBBIES
YOU WUZ SUPPOSED TO BE KEEPIN WATCH YA PLUMCOT


Of course if you choose "Ignore", the imps attack you anyway and the Undine escapes unharmed, because hey, JRPG. Lord forbid the dialogue options actually affect the story. However, your lack of gallantry screws you out of a unique item later on, so we're not going to do that.



Blue-palette imp was a regular enemy way back in Lacrima Castle, so he's a complete joke by this stage. Red-palette imp is tougher, but still not too much trouble. However, purple-palette imp is an advanced enemy that isn't supposed to appear until later on, so he's much stronger than anything else you're fighting at this point. His Break Out can seriously mess you up if you aren't prepared for it, so you actually have to be sort of careful in this battle.





145 damage altogether. That might not seem like cause for concern, but two of those attacks missed, and Lina's resistant to Lightning damage. Also, it hits everyone in the back row, so if we'd had two non-resistant characters in there instead of just Lina, the results would not have been pretty.



Fortunately, Ein's spear attacks hit every enemy on the field, which is useful as shit. (Shit is useful.) Also, imps happen to be susceptible to holy damage, which the Cross Lance inflicts. The simplest thing to do is take down the two in front quickly, let Lina soak up the ensuing Break out, then nail the last one with a Disaresta while he's recovering.



The Undine escaped.
(What was it doing this far out of the water anyway?)
Maybe she just wanted to be here. Up where they walk.
(Up where they run.)
UP WHERE THEY STAY ALL DAY IN THE SUUUUUUUN
Wanderin' free...
Wish I could be...
...
Cierra! Finish it up!
_{And like a dying lady, lean and pale,
Who totters forth, wrapp'd in a gauzy veil,
Out of her chamber, led by the insane
And feeble wanderings of her fading brain.}






...OK, it's been a while since I heard it, but I'm pretty sure that's not how it goes.





---NEW ITEMS---
Burning Sun: Scythe-type weapon. Physical/fire damage.
Holy Crest: Support item. Raises Dark resistance.




---NEW OVER SKILLS---

---LEVEL 1---
Holy Magic
Item: Moon Wand
Effect: Three-hit Magic combo, power of 88.
Target: Random enemy.
Additional: Absorbs HP.

Quake Flash
Item: Burning Sun
Effect: Single Attack, power of 242. Physical damage.
Target: Nearest enemy.
Additional: Low accuracy. Unblockable.


---LEVEL 2---
Trinity Strike
Item: Cross Lance
Effect: Three-hit Attack combo, power of 129.
Target: Nearest enemy
Additional: Unblockable.


---LEVEL 3---
Lightning Strike
Item: Thunder Blade
Effect: Five-hit Attack combo, power of 114.
Target: Nearest enemy




---LEVEL 1---
Dark Resist
Item: Holy Crest
Effect: Raises Dark resistance.
Target: All allies.

Holy Edge
Item: Cross Lance
Effect: Two-hit Magic combo, power of 93.
Target: Front row.
Additional Not-Vit.

Spark Edge
Item: Thunder Blade
Effect: Three-hit Magic combo, power of 83.
Target: Nearest enemy.
Additional Ineffective against air enemies.


---LEVEL 2---
Silver Syphon
Item: Moon Wand
Effect: Four-hit Magic combo, power of 93.
Target: Back row.
Additional: Absorbs HP. Ineffective against air enemies.



---LEVEL 1---
Chaotic Flare
Item: Burning Sun
Effect: Single Magic attack, power of 180.
Target: Front row.
Additional: Low accuracy. Unavoidable. (I still don't know.)

Milky Way
Item: Cross Lance
Effect: Two-hit Magic combo, power of 137.
Target: Enemy with lowest HP.



---LEVEL 1---
High Voltage
Item: Thunder Blade
Effect: Three-hit Matic combo, power of 80.
Target: Nearest enemy.
Additional: Piercing.


---LEVEL 2---
White Flash
Item: Cross Lance
Effect: Four-hit Magic combo, power of 87.
Target: Front row.
Additional: Ineffective against air enemies.


---LEVEL 3---
Serene Inferno
Item: Burning Sun
Effect: Five-hit Attack combo, power of 102. Fire damage.
Target: Front row.
Additional: Extra damage against human enemies. Last two attacks hit nearest enemy.



---LEVEL 1---
Holy
Item: Holy Crest
Effect: 20% HP damage.
Target: Front row.
Additional: May inflict Purify status.


---LEVEL 3---
Holy Blast
Item: Moon Wand
Effect: Five-hit Magic combo, power of 137.
Target: Random enemies.
Additional: Absorbs HP. Last attack hits all enemies.


























Part of that wooooorld!
Thank you!