Part 13: Hot Dogs
Update 13: Hot Dogs
Ah, another restful night of sleeping fully clothed and not using the covers at all!
Music: Rune Factory 1 - ParkIt's also raining again, so it's time for another alternate track! This is the track I meant to use last time. This link directly pulls from Zophar's Domain, an old hub for emulation stuff. I hope they don't mind.
Music: Rune Factory 3 - SpringHere's also another track that I figured I'd fit in sometime. This one's incredibly nostalgic for me- pretty much everything about RF3's soundtrack hits me with that feeling.
Neutralizer Lv:1 was synthesized.
Antidote Herb Lv: 1 was synthesized.
Before I leave, I do a little bit of pharmacy work. Antidote Herbs used to just be called Antidotes before, but as the name implies, they cure poison.
I reasoned it would be useful to have one around just in case.
With the Homestead taken care of for me by the rain, it's time for Bush to get some lumber work done this morning.
A bit of mining later and I'm making good progress on this side of the farm. I'd rather it be the other side, but those large boulders are going to be barricading us for a while.
A Silver Hammer is definitely the next thing on the list to be made.
ANETTE: Morning! Let's make this a great day!
ANETTE: Hey, there's a letter with your name on it, Bush.
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"Maybe you're right." - Danny.
I guess I'll see you around.
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Given the brevity, I almost would have guessed this was a letter from Cinnamon.
ANETTE: This is such a nice place. It's quiet and peaceful. Maybe I should move here. Haha, just kidding.
If you're wondering why I transcribe all of this dialogue personally instead of say, using a screen to text program, it's because the slight transparency on dialogue boxes makes everything get cursed, and I've not got any easy way of fixing that.
ANETTE: This i$ such a nice pーace.
ーt′$ quiet and peacefuー.
Maybe ー Sh0uーd m0VB he「e・
Haha, jUSt kiddーng.
And she leaves me in the dust, causing me to drop the strawberry on the ground.
At least this is the first game in the series where things don't vanish from existence when they touch the ground. According to RF1 and RF2, that turnip that you pulled out of the dirt touching the ground again makes it too dirty to ever be usable in anything and promptly smites it from existence for you.
After catching up to her at Mist's mailbox and giving her that strawberry, I get back to planting more fodder on the farm.
My intent with this stuff is to keep cutting it, rather than using it to produce Runeys. I want a lot of fodder for all the monsters we'll end up getting.
When it comes to the letters, it's most repeats today. Melody's got a letter from Camus, Danny a letter from his little sister, Anette's already forgotten about Chairperson Rosetta, etc.
ANETTE: Ganesha, you've got mail! Is it from your teacher?
I don't remember if we've seen this one though.
And Anette's food choice of the day is Pumpkin Tart.
I don't know if giving her the food of the day gives any more LP than it would otherwise, but I kinda doubt it.
At 9:00 AM, I run into Materia and buy another Moondrop seed. I'll remember to not plant this one on my farm.
ROSETTA: You came at the right time, Bush.
BUSH: Is there something you want?
ROSETTA: It's about this. I got it from a regular client because it's supposed to be rare, but it just looks so darn suspicious.
BUSH: What is that?
ROSETTA: It's snake soup. It's supposed to be good for your health but...still...
ROSETTA: This is where you come in.
BUSH: What? Wait... Don't tell me you...
ROSETTA: You got it. So... Want to give it a try?
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1. Well... you only live once.
2. No, thanks.
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I'd say it's time to chug! Ingesting strange drugs never did anyone any harm!
ROSETTA: Thanks, Bush!
ROSETTA: Now, chug it!
(*The sound used for drinking does play*)
BUSH: Gulp...gulp...
BUSH: ...?
ROSETTA: How is it?
BUSH: ...!!
BUSH: My mind... feels clear...
Bush's intelligence went up!
ROSETTA: Huh?! I heard that it's supposed to make you healthy...
ROSETTA: I guess I was right not to drink it. I'll be more careful about what that place recommends from now on.
ROSETTA: At least I got that out of this. Thanks, Bush.
Sure, but can you refer us to this line of business? I want more of these.
But, yeah, this is the effect of the Serpent Constellation that we triggered last update. Our INT is now naturally 17, our highest of the 4 base stats. Good stuff.
If we talk to Danny, he says nothing about his situation. I don't know if he's trying to save face or what, but he won't really do anything to let us help.
And he doesn't actually lower his prices!
GANESHA: I heard you went to Whale Island. Can I ask a favor from you?
BUSH: What is it?
GANESHA: Marco keeps asking to tag along...
BUSH: Don't worry. The monsters there are way too dangerous. I would never take Marco with me.
GANESHA: Really? That's good to hear.
Part of me would like to take Marco with us as it'd be a neat little side thing to do, but it's also probably not a good idea to take the 10 year old to fight sword wielding goblins.
Speaking of Marco, he's upstairs with Candy today.
Since the last time I checked my grass farm, we now have 28 Water and 28 Grass. I haven't been doing that good of a job at managing it each day.
The kids have nothing interesting to say, though I do learn that Public Square, the amphitheatre place with the singing rock, has a really high 36 Water Runeys.
I think past me got confused about which area was Public Square though as I started taking water from the main streets of Trampoli.
There's still about another 5-6 days of me poorly managing the Runey Situation. This is what I get for playing so far ahead, I guess.
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~Ask a Ninja: Part 2~
"Know yourself before your enemy. No enemy is greater than ignorance. Knowing the pros and cons of the weapon you hold is the first step to victory. This book will discuss weapons other than swords."
"*Spear
Spears have a long reach but a small attack range. Special attacks involve lunging forward, which also paralyzes the enemy."
"*Hammer
Hammers have tremendous raw power. However, the attack speed is very slow. Special attacks stun all enemies within a certain radius."
"*Axe
Axes have great power and a higher chance of critical attack. However, attack speed is slow and is very limited in range. Special attacks deal heavy damage to a single enemy."
"To close, it is recommended that you read this book, not only when you acquire a weapon, but at all times. Never forget that unpreparedness is the most vicious enemy!!"
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It only took us about seven updates, but we've finally read the sequel to our first book pamphlet thing. How about that?
When it comes to weapon choice, I'll eventually be leaving that up to the thread's decision, but that'll have to wait until I get the upgraded forge. I'll still be using magic regardless, because I've seen a number of people say it sucks in this game, and it really doesn't.
Alas, Selphy has nothing new to say today.
She also doesn't react at all if we read the "shocking" book she has left open on the table next to her.
LARA: When I think about what if some unknown sickness made a lot of people sick at the same time, I get so scared...
BUSH: It'll be fine. You're not alone, Lara.
BUSH: If it comes to it, we'll all help out. Of course, I will, too.
LARA: I suppose. I really shouldn't be so weak-hearted since I'm the nurse. I'm sorry.
That part about an unknown sickness infecting lots of people is kinda topical for the times sadly. I only bring it up because I hope it dates this LP and rightly shoves off soon.
Lara does sell the means by which I could grind making Neutralizers and then Antidote Herbs, so I might end up doing that some time have lots of money to spend.
STELLA: When I went to the bathhouse the other day, Melody kept lecturing me on how good baths are.
STELLA: She really must love baths.
I'd say that's an understatement! I'm guessing Stella does have one of these lines for all the bachelorettes in town from what I know. She only picks one per day, and I think it might be LP based as most days I get Mist here.
KROSS: It's raining today... It feels like it could wash my soul.
I believe Kross shows up in the church on any rainy day. I could check a character schedule guide to be sure, but I don't feel like it.
CINNAMON: Did you find the Serpent Constellation?
BUSH: Yes.
CINNAMON: Aside from controlling the weather, serpents are also supposed to bring you a good harvest and health. It comes out in legends in all sorts of ways.
CINNAMON: It's also not a bad animal so you should take care of it.
They're not really, but that doesn't make me not mildly afraid of how ornery some of them are. Most of the snakes in my area are highly poisonous!
CINNAMON: You have a talent for magic. Use it.
I will eventually. Believe me, I've got big plans for even just the Fire Staff we got.
KANNO: I was thinking of going out for some fieldwork today, but it's raining. How unfortunate.
Oddly, while most of the people in the Rune Factory world are hindered by rain, just as in real life, it makes Bush's job a whole lot easier for the most part. The same thing goes for really any RF protagonist.
Rain means no watering, and no watering means a bunch of time and RP saved.
Speaking of water, I add some more of those Runeys to the grass farm. I won't really be noting this very often, at least once my plan to manage the ecosystem goes into full swing.
My dungeon strawberries are getting closer to being ready at least. This patch alone will keep me sustained on all future gifting once we leave Spring behind.
UZUKI: I heard that you are adept with the sword, but I am underwhelmed. You need to train more.
She gives us an open welcome to go visit her, and then she drops a harsh critique of our skills right out the gate.
Since it's raining, Uzuki will just be found inside her inn room most of the time instead of training herself. It's fully styled out with what you'd expect, tatami mats, wall scrolls, the whole shebang.
Now it's time for Bush to become properly informed on culture.
BUSH: I wonder if this picture drawn on the scroll is from Uzuki's home country. It's strange, but beautiful.
UZUKI: That's called a "kakejiku." Back in my home country, we hang it on a wall to entertain guests. Make yourself at home.
When I read "strange, but beautiful," I know it means Japan, but I for some reason thought of Mother 1's Magicant.
BUSH: This desk is very low, and the chair has no legs.
UZUKI: Hm... We call that a "fumizukue." We sit directly on the floor back in my home country, so tables are made to stand very low.
BUSH: What about this ink and brush? Are you going to draw?
UZUKI: We call the ink "sumi" and the brush "fude" in our country. I was just about to write a letter as I always do.
TSUBUTE: Now that you know, get going! Don't bother the little miss! Go, go!
UZUKI: 'Tis all right, Tsubute... You are more bothersome than he is actually...
Uzuki just throwing shade today.
BUSH: Uzuki, this is just a guess, but is this lamp used by the bed?
UZUKI: Good guess. That's called an "andon." We lay our quilt, or "futon" as we call it, along the edes of this tatami mat.
UZUKI: H-how dare you!
And for whatever reason, we can't escape Bush's unusual habit of wanting to sleep literally anywhere he thinks would be comfortable, thus getting the two briefly angry at us.
Yet, this is the first time anyone's actually responded negatively to us about to take a nap in their bed, which happens to be weirder than anything else.
EUNICE: Is this... for me? Th-thank you!
On the other hand, (or rather, other side of the inn,) Eunice still lacks anything interesting to say. The only accessible gifts for her right now are flowers, the thing we unlocked midway through Spring. I thought she liked chocolate, but no, it apparently has to be chocolate cake.
The game really doesn't do her many favors in the competition between available choices.
Back at home, I spend a while making a bunch more food. Rice balls for Selphy, pickled turnips for cash, and the odd sashimi or two for Uzuki.
A while back I caught a Taimen in the Trampoli's main street waterways, but it's sashimi skill requirement is 48. We're presently half that.
We need about 38 to even attempt it as right now the dish would instantly fail if we tried.
This requires more skill... Failed Dish made.
Praise be to savestates. This fish is going to be sitting in my pockets for weeks.
Having drained my RP on making all that food and with nothing else to really do but cut more lumber, I opt to head up to Whale Island. I can pick up a level up while I'm up here to get refilled.
Alternatively, it'll take me until almost 3:00 PM to reach the tower again, so either way it's pretty much the only course of action.
Music: Whale Island CaveFirst thing to do is to show off the Fire Rod.
Instead of the weak puffs of fire from the previous two games, the fireball launched by the rod is flashy, fast, and makes an almost comically large explosion.
You can also bonk enemies with the staff instead, which applies the Weapons skill instead of Magic skill. Since changing weapons does take in-world time, I can see why you might need to not switch in some high tension moments.
The Fire Rod's bonk is pretty weak, but the other staves actually hit quite hard. Just the next staff up the list will hit Buffamoos for 30 and knock them back quite a bit.
But right now, we're focusing on that spellcasting. To a normal Orc, the fireball strikes for 50 damage with our Magic skill and INT. However, the catch is that the fireball has a habit of hitting multiple times.
It's incredibly broken, in fact. I'll demonstrate why in just a bit.
I will say it's very easy to miss with said fireball though. The hitbox isn't that big, and the way Bush holds the staff to fire it can make it miss some short enemies.
Music: Whale Island Outside
Before I go plant those moondrops, I show off how Woolies get their wool burnt off if you hit them with a fire weapon.
It's a small detail that I don't know why they included it, but it's there.
BUSH: So if I plant Moondrop Flowers here, they should grow really well.
The game is very forceful about telling us what to do, but we have to do this to progress Whale Island's story, so I guess it's fair.
Takes me until about 5:00 PM to finally get them planted. I'd have had them done by 3:00, but my detour to get some levels with the fire staff took a bit longer than I'd thought.
Now, to demonstrate the true power of the Fire Staff, I head back up to those Silver Wolves. You know, the ones I could only hit for 1 damage a while back and almost instakilled Bush?
We makin' hot dogs now. If placed right, each shot of the fireball can easily double hit, if not triple hit. That's about 120 damage going out per shot there, meaning we can now 1-shot them.
I've found a really good way to farm levels and Magic skill here, and I'll show it off in a few days from now.
What only makes it better is that you can cast spells from HP in this game, not just RP like it's predecessors.
I drop a gift off for Melody and grab a bath even though I don't need it. The
scene for Lara triggers this time.It's two lines long, and all that happens is that she's briefly surprised when a water droplet hits her on the back.
The rest of the day is just spent cutting up more logs and continuing to till out the front rows of the farm. One of my strawberry plant patches doesn't line up with it, but that won't be an issue come Summer.
And if you're wondering how Bush spends the last of his energy for that day, it's warming up his bed with fireballs.
Music: Trampoli Daily Life(I'm going to be popping in and out of buildings a lot like usual, so just keep listening to this. Or any of the other tracks I've already linked in this update, really. It's up to you.)
Today is Spring 18th, a Friday, and the only exceptional thing is that it's not raining! It's really more of a busywork day.
First off, a status update on how Bush's stats are looking after all the fighting I did yesterday.
Level: 5 - > 9
Max HP: 138 - > 151
STR: 12 -> 16
VIT: 13 -> 16
INT: 12 -> 17 -> 19
AGL: 13 -> 16
Weapons: 18.9 -> 18.99
Magic: 2 -> 10.5
Farming: 27 -> 27.5
Lumber: 15.5 -> 18
Hammer: 13.5 -> 13.9
Fish: 9
Cook: 22.8 -> 24
Lab: 4
Forging: 8
Crafts: 2
Stockpiled Wood: 132 -> 182
Phew. That's a lot.
I also have to spend time this morning depositing a bunch of materials.
ANETTE: You have to respond to it before they all start piling up.
Anette, I don't have any letters to answer
why
These star-shaped flowers are the Moondrops I planted. Had I planted them on the island earlier, I could have already had the story progress involving that tower done already.
One of the biggest time sinks after watering is actually harvesting crops. It's not a very fast process in this game, and it's why I'm hoping I can get some monsters to do it for me in time. All those turnips I planted a few updates back are ready now, and alongside the strawberries and moondrops being ready today, most of my day is going to be spent pulling these up.
Before that is the usual daily talking to everyone. Compared to it's predecessors, this game has a decent amount of incidental daily dialogue. It's nowhere as much as RF3 has, but it's still a core part of it if you ask me.
EUNICE: Wow, thank you! I'll be sure to cherish this flower!
After 17 days, I finally have a gift for Eunice that she likes.
UZUKI: Ha! Ha!
UZUKI:I am in the middle of my training. Do not speak to me right now.
UZUKI: Ha! Ha!
ROSETTA: When Mist moved here, I thought it was the end of our seemingly inseverable ties, but now I'm here...
ROSETTA: I still ask myself what kind of sick joke this is.
Ah, I see you're finally awake. Walked right into that girl's web, same as us, and that nun over there.
Damn you turnips. Trampoli was fine until you came along-
Oh, wait, wrong game.
BUSH: You don't like being with Mist, Rosetta?
ROSETTA: Are you asking me if I hate Mist?
ROSETTA: When all is said and done, she's still the oldest friend I have.
ROSETTA: What, were you worried for me? Thanks.
And after that normal conversation, I went to go fishing but accidentally equipped our spear instead as the icons look similar. Spearfishing is a thing, just not in this game.
BUSH: Oh... I haven't read this book yet.
On our daily rounds to the library, Bush starts working on leftmost shelf, nestled behind the ladder.
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~The Way of Magic~
"'I want to be a magic user but I have no talent!' For those of you that fit the description above, the heavens have provided you with the 'Cane'. This book will discuss the basics of using canes to do magic."
"First, get yourself a cane. A magic cane can be easily created by any magic user, so try asking one you know to make one for you."
"Just swinging around your magic cane like a regular stick won't do you any good. Use a special attack to first trigger magic. To perform a special attack, hold down the B Button and press the A Button."
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The opening lines are kinda pretentious.
Anyways, bonus day, since magic is kinda topical for this update.
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~The Way of Magic: Part 2~
"In part 2 of 'The Way of Magic' series, we will cover magic use."
"Magic has the following 4 elemental affinities: fire, water, earth, and wind. Most things in this world belong to one of these elements and are strong or weak against the others. Use this wisely in battle."
"There are also weapons forged by master smiths with magic elements embedded in them. With such arms, you can strike at your enemies' elemental weaknesses simply by swinging your weapon!"
"Topics covered up to this point are the basics of basics. Magic is very complex, and it is up to you to unlock all of its secrets."
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Of note is that elemental weapons aren't nearly as hard to make as "master smiths" suggests, and that the weaknesses go
Water > Fire
Fire > Earth
Earth > Wind
Wind > Water
Or something like that, I think. I might be wrong.
Oh, un-frabjous day! Selphy is not here in the library!
Well, she's not in the infirmary again. Lara has nothing interesting to say today, which is a shame because if she did, this update would have been called "The Lara Episode" from the simple but sad fact that she doesn't really feature in updates very often.
I really am just getting repeats of the "don't get attached to money" and her default line.
CINNAMON: The other day, I saw a meteor shower in the southern sky. It was early morning so waking up for it was hard.
KANNO: This is a great place. Runeys grow only in a very specific environment.
Yeah, and I'd still prefer Trampoli not being one of those environments.
KANNO: It is rare to find a place that can grow Runeys at such a stable rate. I cannot wait to research this.
KANNO: Now then, what should I have you do next as my student?
"stable rate"
MIST: I like seeing people who work by the sweat of their brow.
Mist has been out of the picture for a while now. Really nothing interesting coming up with her since the turnip constellation.
Heading on off to Kross, I can't remember if I've showed off the upgraded forge area expansions. They are Cozy, Cool, and Creepy. I don't know what any of them look like presently, but when I can build this, I'll check them out with the power of savestates.
Which one we go with will be up to the thread, as usual.
It'll cost us 20,000g and 240 lumber, of which we only have 1669g and 182 lumber. We're gettng there on the wood, but the gold is going to take some saving up.
ERIK: Spring is the best season to grow crops.
ERIK: Young man, how is your field?
Erik exists. I kinda just forget to talk to him because he's not always standing in an easily reached position. If the thread so desires me to talk to him more, I can start doing that.
Oh, hey, here's Selphy! She's at the mountain pass of all places, with a little parasol she's twirling around.
It's the first time we've seen her outside of a building since we first met her collapsed outside our house.
SELPHY: These ruins are always so interesting. But, it's not that old, right?
BUSH: What kind of books do you like, Selphy?
SELPHY: I like legends, stories, and plays. I'm not interested in cookbooks or blacksmith reipes so I hope you'll buy those.
BUSH: But isn't that the property of the library? Are you even allowed to sell them?
That's... a good point. Why can she do that?
SELPHY: It shouldn't be a problem if I sell them to villagers! Don't sweat the details!
BUSH: ...Are you sure...?
She's just been selling public property and keeping the profits I guess. It's a business model, just not a necessarily legal one.
Then again, the closest this town has to a guard or police is like... Marco. The only authority in town is Stella, I guess?
Welcome to Trampoli. It's like incredibly chill anarchy here.
After this, I kinda just go and manage the Runeys some more.
And then I launch the Homestead into prosperity with the stored up Runeys I have. This was all still being done before I knew exactly what I needed to be doing, so the setup is rather inefficient with way more Runeys than is necessary being released here.
Ideally, in the future, I'm going to migrate all of these to some other easily managed zone to take advantage of that 10/10/10/-2 growth when stocked at 50/50/50/35+. The Homestead Rules prevent that gain in theory, so I'm not getting anything out of the Homestead being prosperous aside from not having to spend Grass Runeys on it.
Alongside this I'm going to drain all the other zones as well, of course.
Harvesting all these crops takes me right up against 5:00 PM, but I've got enough time to slip into my house before Rosetta arrives. This way I can cook a large portion of these turnips in the span of 1 minute.
Time not moving while inside houses is just one of those things you have to use to your advantage.
I'm not in major need of cash right now, so I only ship out the 9 pickled turnips I made and 1 Moondrop just for the sake of having it in the sale records screen. I'll keep working on squeezing every last gold piece I can from these turnips.
After that it's off to take an obligatory bath.
NOLAN: This strawberry looks delicious.
Neither Nolan nor Melody have anything interesting to say today, but I did want to point out that the little heart effects come from the cat and not Nolan. This would suggest it is alive in spite of it's incredibly chill nature and the unusual position at which it remains.
2 in-game hours later, and I've made it back to the tower on the Whale Island Fin. I have to water those seeds every day after all.
Also, the cutscene with the mysterious girl in white shows up every time we come here after 6:00 PM.
And now...!
TIME FOR ULTIMATE TAMING
BUSH... VERSUS... WHALE ISLAND WOOLY
Combatant Bush takes a light blow, but he holds in there! Look at that practiced brushing motion!
Oooooooh! A nasty combo attack! Can he do it?
BUSH: There, there. It's okay.
He's done it, folks! What a show!
So yeah, as mentioned previously, taming monsters is all about getting punched in the gut until they decide that punching you in the gut is maybe kinda rude.
I caught this Wooly for the specific reason that the younger me would always name one "Fluff" or "Fuff". This is for you, younger me.
If the thread wants more Woolies, then that's fine by me.
That's all for this time! Join us next time as Bush begins his journey to become the Ferocious Frymaster! The Super Sizzler! The Savage Skilleteer!
...Um, he buys a frying pan. Some other stuff happens too.