Part 5: Dirt Is Magnetic to Faces - A Theory
Update 05: Dirt Is Magnetic to Faces - A TheoryWelcome back, all. Now where were we?
Oh. Right.
Well, this sure is a sight to disrupt a nice morning walk.
Music: Pinch
It seems like this unknown nun is here to save us. Thank the undefined god/s!
Music: St. Poli Churchlizard
*Morning birds chirping*
*Also these curtains sound like wind chimes for some reason*
Well, she done saved us. Is she Mist 2 now?
BUSH: Y-you're...
LARA: Bush! You really need to hold back! You might die next time!
Well, no. This is a familiar face for a lot of people who played Rune Factory 1.
STELLA: Lara came over just to work as a nun.
STELLA: But she's also a licensed nurse.
Lara was the nurse in Kardia, (the town, Bush, Mist, and Rosetta are from,) but is also a nun. If you abused passing out in RF1, you're probably used to seeing her face and hearing her voice line for "take care".
Had I not passed out on the day I met Anette, there's a bit of foreshadowing for this in the form of a letter from Wesley, (Lara's father and Kardia's priest), if you wait by the church on Spring 4th.
LARA: It's fortunate that you're fine, but you need to take better care of yourself.
BUSH: I'm sorry...
BUSH: You can go home for today, but please be more careful ths time.
Bush has ended up apologizing to most of the girls he's met at this point.
And with that, we're unceremoniously dumped outside the clinic at 6:00 AM like nothing happened. Lara's intro is really short and kind of stilted. It always happens the day after Mist falls sick, which is always Spring 04. Me being sick the day before was entirely planned to add onto the narrative presented by the game.
It was not a coincidental mistake I just rolled with, I assure you.
But the church isn't closed, and it being a Thursday, we can find Lara praying.
...As result, we can interrupt her prayers with zero respect to anything but my need for content.
LARA: I asked Sister Stella if I could stay in this village a little longer.
BUSH: Oh...? But why?
LARA: It's because you're so reckless, Bush! You're the first patient that has gotten me this worried!
BUSH: I'm sorry.
LARA: Never mind... Just please don't make me worry about you so much.
Lara is able smile at us while angry- a terrifying combination. In her transition to this game, she's gotten somewhat more pushy than she was before. She remains very polite nonetheless.
Presumably, she was here for just a short visit, but in finding us again in a state of face-to-dirt, she quickly negotiated more time to stay here so that we don't get ourselves killed. Overworking ourself and passing out is regularly canon for
...Yet Bush isn't so nearly reverently thankful to her as he is to Mist.
Well, luckily for Lara, I don't plan on getting knocked out any more.
LARA: There is no doctor in this village, so while I train to be a sister...
LARA: I'm also trying to maintain everyone's health as a nurse.
LARA: Please be quiet in the church.
This is a nice way of telling us to go away.
Erik is also here.
ERIK: Ah! It's the young agricultualist! Have you been using your sickle?
We've never equipped it- I won't equip it for a few weeks, really. After this he just reiterates what he's already told us about using it.
Music: SpringJust wanted to note that your shadow is affected by the time of the day, if you haven't noticed. It's a small detail, but rather neat.
I burn a little time on the farm, so this can happen. Anette's here!
ANETTE: Bush! Good morning!
ANETTE: You have to respond before they all start piling up.
After putting the letter in, she stops and waves at us, triggering this short little dialogue. If you catch her before she makes it to your box, you can also ask for your letters personally.
ANETTE: Hey, good morning! Bush, did you read your letters?
BUSH: Yes. Thank you for that wonderful letter.
ANETTE: I deliver mail every morning from both villagers and outsiders.
ANETTE: You can put your mail on the table at home and read it later when you have time.
ANETTE: Also, if you have something you want to send, just bring it to me.
BUSH: Okay.
ANETTE: I'm still making my rounds so I have to go. Bye!
An even more fun thing is that Anette's mail route happens in full in every day.
Also she runs fast. She breaks the sound barrier when starting up, and leaves dust trails behind her the entire time. On slowing down, she sends up sparks.
Forget mail vans, here's just calves of steel.
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~"I have a favor to ask of you." - Erik~
It looks as if you have tilled your farm quite nicely.
Well, young man, I have a favor to ask you.
I am in dire need of a Turnip. If you have any, hand it to Anette
during her rounds, and she'll deliver it to me.
I'll give you something in return for your service, of course.
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~"We're neighbors again!" - Mist~
Good morning, Bush.
Or is it good evening...?
Maybe just a hello?
Ahaha, it's kinda hard to tell time when you talk through letters.
So weird.
Anyway, keep in touch.
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Like a fool, past me checks my mail instead of doing the more fun thing here, which is following Anette through her entire mail route. There's short dialogues at everyone's mailboxes, and she's not as hard to keep up with as you think.
Alas. I get around to it tomorrow.
In regards to the letters, Erik wants a turnip from us, and Mist is being Mist.
While doing the farming thing, I notice that I have collected 41 weeds.
That is all.
The farm is in varying states of growth thanks to yesterday, so if you were already bothered by the arrangement, you can be even more bothered.
You're welcome.
MIST: Good morning, Bush.
When it hits 9:00, I stop farming and go about and do that talking thing.
MIST: Good luck with your farm. The more crops you grow the more fertile the earth will get and the more Spirits will gather.
This does happen, but it's not as good as the other options involving runeys. This is pretty much the only interesting thing Mist said today, so it's off to other places.
Hey, look, it's Marco! I finally found you!
MARCO: I've never seen you before... Who are you?!
Reasonable response.
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1. I moved here recently.
2. I came to kidnap you!
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Yeah, I don't even know what to say here. I do know that's one conversation branch I'm not going down.
MARCO: Oh, so you're the guy that moved in next door to Mist. That girl is so weird, don't you think?
Correct on both accounts there, Marco.
MARCO: I'm Marco. My mom is the blacksmith here.
BUSH: I'm Bush. Nice to meet you Marco.
Nice to meet you too!You didn't think we were gonna get through an update without Bush introducing himself, did you?
MARCO: Let's fight some other time. I think I'e gotten a lot stronger so I think I can take you on!
Marco's whole thing is he wants to grow up to be a swordsman and adventurer- that second dialogue branch is likely the option that says more about that and explains this bit of otherwise random daily dialogue. For all I know, this whole thing could just be another translation mishap, but... just, no.
To rewrite this with little effort, I'd append something like "Who are you- friend or foe!?" and make the options those two choices. There's a lot more you could do to expand Marco's intro (and Lara's, for that matter,) but I'm not here to rewrite the game.
Anyways. Marco is cool, just kind of hard to find without checking a character schedule guide. Unlike Roy from RF2, he appreciates his cool blacksmith mom and is therefore leagues more cool.
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*Changing Room*
Please keep the changing room clean.
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Before we leave the beach, I will note that this is the first Rune Factory to actually feature swimsuits and stuff, but that's for the Summer season, not now.
Now that it's normal opening time, Lara is in the clinic. She has the classic "cure all my status effects for some cash" option, as well as an outright store where she sells some basic medicines and oddly, chemicals to boost crop growth speed.
EUNICE: The bar is open at night so please come during then.
I promise you, game, I will do this.
...It just takes me almost another in-game week to do so.
DANNY: What's up, Bush?
DANNY: What do you want?
BUSH: How is your store, Danny?
DANNY: Hm? Yeah, business is fine. There's only one general store, so it's a guaranteed profit even if there are only a few customers.
That's... that's not exactly how profit works, Danny.
I accidentally water the floor of the inn. It's not the first time- I end up doing this a lot all across Trampoli, and it costs me RP every time because I keep forgetting to unequip the watering can.
TURNER: I recommend going to Lake Poli when it's sunny. Now all that's left is to wait for guests I can guide there.
It ends up reminding Turner of Lake Poli, and he gives us a recommendation of it. We can head there whenever we feel like it.
RITA: We have such nice weather today. Eunice is getting carried away with the laundry, so I better keep up, too.
I would like to note that I never see Rita doing anything. She's either here, or at the spot just above the stairs.
Music: Kross' Theme
KROSS: Oh, it's you. Good morning.
KROSS: I don't really like it when it's so sunny. Heh....
KROSS: The sunlight is so cruel. It shines upon all the beautiful things as well as the dirty things. Don't you think so?
KROSS: Oh please tell me, monsters. Where, oh where, have the lovely monsters gone?
KROSS: Aren't there any monsters I can relate to...
KROSS: ...where I want to stick a blue rose into their fluffy fur...?
BUSH: That sounds like a very sad song...
KROSS: Heh... Yes... There used to be monsters in the village and we all lived in harmony.
Daily dose of sad songs. Seems like Trampoli underwent some large change at some point.
Music: SpringChecking out Lake Poli happens to have an interesting bonus today.
LUTE: Hi there. You're a new face, aren't you?
LUTE: Um, are you from this village?
BUSH: Yes. I just moved here and my name is Bush.
LUTE: Nice to meet you. I'm a traveling painter and my name is Lute.
LUTE: But I'm still a fledgling painter so I'm also a peddler on the side.
Lute's our resident, or non-resident rather, traveling merchant. He's much more like Ivan from RF1 than Yue from RF2, as he just sells utensils and furniture. He's also similarly absent- he only shows up to sell stuff at the amphitheater place on weekends. He's likely to be here on Thursdays as well, but he doesn't carry any merchandise as he's just here to paint.
BUSH: Oh really? What kind of paintings do you do, Lute?
LUTE: I paint all kinds of scenery. I think it's fate that we met here, Bush!
LUTE: Tell me if you need anything!
I don't believe we can buy any paintings until we get a house expansion, which is unfortunate, but his other merchandise will be must-haves as time goes on. Regardless, he's a cool guy, and I really like him in spite of how little we see him.
LUTE: I want to make a living by painting but things never go the way you want them to.
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1. I'm sure you can do it, Lute.
2. I'm sure it'll be hard.
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Oh hey, a dialogue choice!
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I'm sure it'll be hard.
LUTE: If you say so. I guess I may have some talent in me.
That was... brief. Anyways, he's chill and I'd rather support his efforts.
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I'm sure you can do it, Lute.
LUTE: Really? If you say so, it makes me feel like it can come true.
LUTE: I'm thankful you're saying that, but...
LUTE: Can you buy my paintings?!
I don't think he gets much business, and unfortunately it will be quite some time before we can buy said paintings.
I get on the gondola for a bit, and it controls pretty simply: left and right make you start turning, forward makes you go forward. You hit B or swing the remote to speed up, which then goes on a brief cooldown. The strength of the speed boost is dependent on some timing that's a bit hard to explain.
I guess it's almost more of an audio cue with the water splashing.
Suddenly, this is Animal Crossing and we have cartoon cherries high up in a tree. This row of trees and those two back on the mountain path all bear seasonal fruit, but we currently lack the way to make them fall.
So, uh, back to the farm I guess.
Having finished everything to do on the farm by 1 PM, I spend the rest of my RP and HP on another particularly important activity: cutting lumber.
30Bush is particularly aggressive in both visibly and audibly with the axe in this game, having rather pronounced battle cries of "hyuh!" and "yuuugh!" with each swing. They're the same has the larger weapon sound bites, and while it may get tiring, I usually kinda find it hilarious that he's going around just smiting these branches out of existence.
Also, yes, the axe has a gigantic blade on it because while they may have downsized the hoes to be really thin, they kept the comically oversized axes and hammers from the DS games.
Honestly, I wish I had kept all those weeds- it was starting to be quite the collection.
Curse your lack of foresight, past me!
"Marco- Ganesha's son. Still a child but trains hard to become a great fighter."
Some more profiles while I'm at it. I think it would've been neat if you got to see Marco swinging his sword around.
"Lute- A painter and a peddler. Dreams to one day become a renown painter."
Lute's got a hell of a look going on.
"Lara- The nurse/sister at the church. Nice to everyone but tends to worry a bit too much."
And here's an odd angle of Lara because I forgot to wait around long enough.
I did wait around for Rosetta's daily event again.
ROSETTA: Oh...
Music: Sadness/Resolve
ROSETTA: Jeez... You're shipping out weeds again...
Part of the reason why I sold the weeds was to see this line. Supposedly this makes her dislike you, but it only went up for me.
Guess that's a myth debunked.
Ah, a new day. I'll eventually be able to start going more than two days at a time, I swear.
It'll still take a long time to get there though.
Here's that farming guide I mentioned in some previous update. I'm not going to go through it all, just showing that it's here at the bookshelf by the chest.
Well, time to go outside-
what is with the dirt in this place, and why are faces magnetic to it
BUSH: !!
BUSH: Ah! Someone collapsed!
BUSH: Are you all right?
For some reason, we needed a fade to black to move 4 steps.
UNKNOWN GIRL: Ugh...
BUSH: Thank goodness... Looks like she's still conscious.
UNKNOWN GIRL: W... Water...
Bush obliges in the only way he knows how as a farmer.
UNKNOWN GIRL: N-no... Not that kind of water...
UNKNOWN GIRL: Are you doing this on purpose?
BUSH: I better hurry up and get Lara!
BUSH: Lara! Someone is passed out in front of my house!
LARA: That's terrible! Let's go right away!
Untrained in the art of rescuing people lacking food and water, despite having been through it himself once before, we need the aid of the local nurse nun. Nunse? Nurnse?
UNKNOWN GIRL: Huh...
One more fade to black later and we seem to have rescued her.
This act being done, I can only wonder if we can now pawn off our farm and house on her.
LARA: Are you all right? Do you know your name?
SELPHY: I'm Selphius Josephi... Selphy.
SELPHY: I'm Selphy. Where am I?
LARA: This is the infirmary of Trampoli. You were found collapsed on the ground and were brought here.
SELPHY: Right... I ran away... I mean, I was traveling and hadn't eaten anything in a long time.
SELPHY: I guess not eating for a week will do that to you. I better write that down somewhere.
Hey, Bush hasn't eaten anything in a week either now that I think about it. Maybe we've got a lot more in common than I thought.
BUSH: A week?!
LARA: You really didn't eat for a week?
SELPHY: Yeah, I often forget to eat! But one week is certainly a first for me. Hahaha!
Selphy thinks this is funny.
Music: Pinch(This wasn't even playing until just now. I think Lara might trigger this more often than the story will.)
LARA: This is no laughing matter!
Lara disagrees. Heavily.
LARA: I'll be keeping you here over tonight!
LARA: Starting tomorrow, you'll be staying in this village to recuperate.
Well, looks like the town population just increased by one.
SELPHY: Seriously? That sounds like a real pain in the...
LARA: Did you say something?
SELPHY: N-nothing...
Music: St. Poli ChurchLARA: Good morning, Bush.
LARA: If you get sick or poisoned, please come to me.
I like to think this is the first time she's had to give a proper greeting, and everything this morning was a mad dash. It's a pretty Lara thing to do.
LARA: Why are you walking around in that state?! Please get some rest right now! This is an order to you from your nurse!
I presume this is aimed at the new girl and not us.
SELPHY: So you're Bush?
SELPHY: Thanks for saving me. I really thought I was going to die. Actually, I was dying.
SELPHY: Ahahaha.
SELPHY: Th-thanks... This is a really weird present...
Okay, maybe we don't have as much in common as I thought.
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Alternate Timeline
BUSH: If I give a gift without saying hi first, it would seem weird.
The game apparently has a prompt for trying to gift someone something before properly meeting them. It makes sense, yet it remains rather peculiar to me.
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Unfortunately, this is all we get out of her today. Her proper introduction is tomorrow, but it's safe to say she's an interesting one.
While we don't get to see any more of Selphy, we can see a lot more of Anette today. I was late in getting here because I still had to run from the church, (and I forgot to Return to save time,) so we won't see a comment on Erik's house, but we'll get to start with Kross.
Music: Title ThemeKross's theme does play here and is good as always, but instead of re-linking the tracks, have one we don't hear very often.
ANETTE: Oh? Was the address written wrong? Who lives here again?
ANETTE: Let's see... Um... I got it! It's "Kross"! Silly me! I even wrote his name on the mailbox so I wouldn't forget!
ANETTE: Whoops... that was close. Why do I always forget about this house when I do deliveries? I wonder why.
KROSS: Hello, Ms. Mailman.
ANETTE: Did someone call me?
KROSS: Good morning.
ANETTE: That voice again... I knew this area was haunted... I'm scared!
KROSS: Heh...
KROSS: ...
This plays out similarly every morning, with Anette unable to see him for some reason, and Kross always trying to communicate but being similarly unable to.
I can't just keep using
but every time I can't help it.
BUSH: (Speaking of which, I was supposed to get Erik some Turnip...)
Bush will remind us if a request needs something whenever we first talk to Anette each day.
ANETTE: Hey, there's a letter with your name on it, Bush.
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~"Hello to my new neighbors." - Lara~
Hello, I am Lara.
I had just moved to Trampolie as a nurse.
I will be taking patients at the church in the mornings.
I may be absent due to other duties on some days,
but please feel free to come by any time with
concerns regarding your health.
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~"I forgot." - Mist~
I forgot to mention something very important in my last letter.
Apparently it is considered bad manners
if you do not write back in this town.
So... as a test, could you reply with a Turnip?
Hand it to Anette during her rounds, and she'll deliver it for you.
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Mist also wants a turnip. Shocker.
Bush won't be replying to many letters, but that's because the game just won't let us reply to most letters. I feel like more was planned for this feature, possibly for it to be a lot more like the request system of RF2 and 3, but it didn't get implemented all the way.
ANETTE: You want this Turnip delivered, right? Leave it to me.
I happen to have exactly a single turnip in the field grown, (I've lost track as to why,) so let's deliver that. This will go to Erik by default, as he asked for a Turnip first. Should've been faster, Mist.
ANETTE: Mist! You got mail!
Speaking of Mist...
Music: Confusion(This track is pretty self-explanatory.)
ANETTE: Mist seems to get a lot more mail than I thought. Seeing some of those letters written in some weird foreign language makes it feel kind of off.
ANETTE: Stella. You got mail! ♪
ANETTE: That's a really thick book. I wonder if it has the teachings of the church in it...
ANETTE: It feels so much lighter now with the books gone! On to the business district!
DANNY: You're late today! Come on, Anette!
She's not late, but okay whatever. Danny's usually outside to meet her, and in this case is shouting from across the district for some reason.
ANETTE: Here's your mail, Danny.
ANETTE: You've got mail. Isn't it nice to have someone send you so much mail?
Yeah, he's like way over here. This happens some days.
ANETTE: Ganesha, you've got mail! Is it from your teacher?
Ganesha gets a number of letters referencing the other games. This isn't one of them. Well... it could be, but I have no idea if it is.
Just in case you didn't believe me when I mentioned it before, here's Anette sending sparks everywhere after flying up the steps.
ANETTE: Turner, you've got mail!
Mail to the Snowstyle is usually the least interesting, which I find a bit odd. You'd think the local inn would get all sorts of stuff.
ANETTE: Wow...!
When she finishes her route at exactly 9:00 AM, she does this stretch and says that voiced line.
ANETTE: There! Now I'm done with the deliveries for today. I'm feeling a bit hungry now.
ANETTE: I just love to have some "Cheesecake" after a hard day's work!
This is also how you most easily learn what gifts she likes, but she also likes strawberries equally, so you're probably never going to give her anything else.
I'll be honest, this is one of those slow days that not much else happens on, so I'm going to speed through it as tomorrow is going to be quite eventful. Our playthrough won't truly open up until about Spring 14th, but we'll meet some more characters soon and I'm definitely getting to the point where I can fast forward through stuff we've already seen a lot of.
So, here's me highlighting the only few interesting things that happen on this lazy Friday.
EUNICE: I used to feel lonely but I have many more friends now.
EUNICE: I often have tea with Mist.
Eunice is possibly in cahoots with Mist.
I show off the things in Kross's house, revealing some interesting details. Lots of blueprints, but a few war chronicles too for some reason. We'll look at these again when he's around so we can get his input on the matter.
KROSS: When I see the flowers scatter, it reminds me of my old friends...
KROSS: I thought we would always be together. But now they're all gone...
BUSH: Did everyone move to the big city when they grew up?
KROSS: Heh... Something like that. Everyone became free.
Kross proceeds to exceed the
capacity for this update.
ERIK: It's not much, but please accept this as a token of my gratitude.
You got Formula C!
Erik rewards us with the highest tier growth booster that I will likely never use. These only work on 1 tile at a time, and I rarely find that to be useful. I suppose I could find a use for them but...
I then get axe happy in the field and miss two swings and uh
My promise to not pass out didn't last long.
At this point, I may have enough gifs of Bush hitting the dirt.
Well, join us for the next lesson in which I, er, continue to show you what not to do! Yes, that's what I'm doing. Exactly.