Part 22: The Lady and the Trampoli
Update 22: The Lady and the Trampoli
New day for Bush, and our first real day of Summer!
Music: Summer(At last, the Summer seasonal theme! This one is one of my absolute favorites from Frontier. We'll hear it enough to get sick of it, but for now it's a jam. The main part has that distant up and down stringed instrument that reminds me of RF3.)
With this angle, you can see the grand amount of tomatoes we'll be growing soon enough. This wouldn't be possible to regularly manage without the Lion Can,let alone doing it all in just an in-game hour.
It's actually going to start lagging the game when they do grow.
ANETTE: You want this White Grass delivered, right? Leave it to me.
Anette's got nothing new to say today, unfortunately, but on other topics, I managed to get a Ruby out of some rocks in Green Ruins.
Nothing important about it really, just wanted to note that I found it here.
Now off to go check the mail. It's really easy to get wrapped up in early morning farming and end up with Anette already passing your house.
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~"It has only been a little while..." - Tabatha~
My name is Tabatha, and I am currently residing in the Viviash Mansion
in accompaniment to Little Miss Bianca for the summer.
Although it is only for the summer, please consider us neighbors.
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Well, there's the names of the last two bachelorettes. If you've played the first Rune Factory, you'll probably recognize them. You might have already recognized them from the intro movie in the first update, but here's the official introduction.
I'll come back to that last sentence in the letter later.
Crest Lv:4 was synthesized.
Before we go, I decide that Bush ought to make himself look sharp with some various high level monster parts I have sitting around. This replaces our Wappen, being +34 DEF and +24 MAG better than it.
So now instead of having a tiny wooly image on our shoulder, we've got an even smaller carving of a Runey. At least, I think it's a Runey.
Alright, looking our best, we head on over to the manor.
Music: Kross' Theme
KROSS: Bush...
BUSH: Yes?
But before we get there, Kross has a small event for us as he works on his roof.
KROSS: I'm sorry, but could you get that nail by your feet?
BUSH: Sure.
*He then proceeds to turn in place a few times.*
BUSH: Um... Where is it?
KROSS: Oh? I thought I put it there...
*Then he just jumps off the roof*
KROSS: That's strange... Oh, it was in my pocket. Sorry for calling out to you.
Nah, it's cool, man, that jump was pretty sick. Here have another weird mask thing.
This event is evidence of us getting Kross's friendship up a decent bit. It's going faster now that I'm actually using the right gifts.
Okay, now to the manor.
It has a little fountain in the walled area next to it, but I don't think this spot gets used for anything.
We enter to get another cutscene, after a long time of not having one. It'll be our last one for a long while.:
Music: de-Sainte Coquille(Two new tracks in the same update! What is this madness?! I like this theme, although it's short enough to become annoying rather quickly as it constantly plays whenever inside the manor.)
*She gives a small bow*
TABATHA: Welcome.
*At the sound of footsteps, she looks to her left*
BIANCA: Is someone there, Tabatha?
BIANCA: Ah!
...A brief smile, then it's gone.
And that's all! At least nobody got hurt this time.
VILLA DE ST.CROQUILLE
Croquille.
croquille
Possibly the most egregious typo/translation mishap yet, especially as it shows up in big letters every time you enter here. It's supposed to be "Coquille", a French loanword about shells and shellfish.
Anyways, it's a big place, and oddly structurally very similar to most of the de Sainte-Coquille manors in the series. I guess they really just like this building style.
TABATHA: Oh hello, Bush. I am Tabatha, Miss Bianca's maid.
TABATHA: Did you move here?
BUSH: Well... A lot's happened since before...
TABATHA: You haven't changed at all, Bush.
TABATHA: Miss Bianca will only be here during summer but I hope we will get along.
TABATHA: Miss Bianca may say some pointed things to you, but please don't let it bother you.
So, here's Tabatha! I kinda miss the country-ish accent she had in the first game. She is an elf, but she keeps her ears hidden... somehow. It visually used to make more sense, but now the maid cap sits further back on her head than before and it's kinda odd.
Either way, she's generally very pleasant and chill, yet also one of the hardest characters to get gifts for. There is an "easier" way to get LP for her that we'll take a look at later, but just know that almost all of her liked gifts are foods requiring hard to get assortments of fruits, and her favorite is 80 cooking.
(It's not the highest requirement though, that goes to Melody and her favored gift of Relax Tea, which requires 95 cooking. It's not actually that hard to make though.)
BUSH: Are you and Bianca the only ones here?
TABATHA: Yes. I care for Miss Bianca and manage the mansion myself.
BUSH: That sounds like a lot of work...
TABATHA: I enjoy it because it is worth doing.
TABATHA: It is quite fun to clean a large mansion. Why don't you try it, Bush?
BUSH: I-I'm fine...
TABATHA: Oh? That's unfortunate.
Tabatha is cool with being a maid.
The de Sainte-Coquille family has a long history of having elves in housework/management positions. RF3's manor is really the only one without an elven maid. Margaret from RF4 is a maybe...?
Also, if there are any Jasper fans out there, he'll be unfortunately absent from the game.
TABATHA: Miss Bianca is not a bad person. She's just a bit... proud.
TABATHA: But she doesn't have may friends because of that...
TABATHA: I just hope someone is willing to be her friend...
She's also going to spend a decent amount of time telling us that "Bianca's not a bad person, I swear."
Well, let's go meet her then.
BIANCA: Oh, Bush... Fancy seeing you here.
BIANCA: I, Bianca de Sainte-Coquille, had this summer home built to spend summers comfortably.
BIANCA: I only came here to cool off so I won't stay for long...
BIANCA: But if you find anything interesting, I'll take it off your hands.
And here's Bianca, the original blue-haired rich girl in the series, a position only held in the other games by her distant relatives. Seriously, almost all the women in this family have some shade of blue hair.
Unfortunately for her, the summer heat here seems to be as bad here as anywhere else. The last line is also a bit misleading, I'll show why in a moment.
What isn't misleading is that part about not staying for long. Bianca and Tabatha leave at the end of Summer. I'm not going to hide the fact we'll manage to find a way to keep them here, mostly because it's incredibly easy to have happen without trying.
Because while marrying the Gourmet in More Friends of Mineral Town takes over 25 years is funny in concept, in practice it's not that enjoyable.
BIANCA: Oh, good morning.
BIANCA: This summer home is a bit small. I wanted the bedroom to be much larger. Maybe I should have extensions built?
Bianca will usually be found in various places across her already enormous manor, and it makes her rather annoying to find some days. At least being inside this place doesn't move the clock any, so you're not losing working hours, just real life minutes.
BIANCA: This is my first time to this village but there's really nothing here. Father should have sent me to the city...
BIANCA: Do you know of anything interesting to do?
Yeah, you really have to have some kind of hobby to live in Trampoli. You can go to church, go get drunk, or go to the library, and that's about it.
I dunno, you want to take up monster
...I also just find the mental image of Bianca swinging a sword around to be funny for some reason.
BIANCA: What is this? Is it for me? I suppose I'll take it off your hands.
I hand her a Tree Runey because I have too many of the things and also because she doesn't care what you give her. In fact, the only thing that affects her FP and LP positively is just talking to her (...and festivals too, of course).
So yeah, you don't even have to bother gifting her anything. She's beyond such materialistic rituals.
Well, either that or the fact she's got enough money to buy anything she could ever want already.
Bianca- The young miss of the opulent Viviash household. Seems selfish, but has a tender heart.
Her bio and Tabatha's pushing pretty much tells you how her arc is going to go.
Her affection gain from conversation is somewhere between double or triple the usual amount, as she already mildly interested in Bush in some sense.
Well, that or the game's just compensating for the no gifts thing.
Tabatha- The elven maid under Bianca. Gentle and perfect in all her work.
And thus stands our last two bachelorettes. I'm thinking I'll exclude these two from the initial voting for now as they haven't had nearly as much screentime. Iris may or may not get that first round immunity though, as her LP is about to start flying.
With all that out of the way, it's off to explore this massive mansion. Bianca's bedroom is as large as our house used to be!
In fact, the same goes for this... guest bedroom?
There's these little raised sections with chairs and tea tables on both sides, even on the second floor.
Oh, and there's even more to this place when you go through the center door.
Over here on the left a rather large dining room and kitchen combo.
To the right is what I believe is Tabatha's room, it's rathe roomy...
As well as a big storage room.
BIANCA: I heard you went to the Lava Ruins this time.
BIANCA: What's so fun about such a hot place?
The monsters in Lava Ruins aren't much fun, honestly.
One of Bianca's easier to find spots is right here on the edge of her indoor fountain, drinking tea.
BIANCA: It seems that you're saving money, but that's still mere chicken feed.
What is this chicken you speak of? I only know of cluckys.
The de Sainte-Coquilles are ungodly rich in a way that should horribly unbalance the economy, and it remains an eternal mystery as to where they even got the money from. They've got so much they personally fund festivals and other philanthropy just to have something to do with all of it.
What I'm saying is that it'll be a long time before we'll have earned enough to be considered even marginally wealthy by Bianca's standards.
Speaking of feed, why does this manor have an indoor barn? Even if there was a monster in here, wouldn't you have to march it through the rest of the building to let it outside?
And to end our tour, opposite of the indoor barn is a large collection of wine. It's probably Jasper's and he just sent it here to make more room. I think he just likes collecting the stuff, given the Rollabouti sidequest from RF1.
Either that, or he knows how to break the laws of matter and duplicate wine like Bush knows how to. Now that I think about it, it would explain all that money...
No, wait, we've got just a bit more to explore in this place first. Not much of what is spread about the manor can be interacted with, but these paintings can. I'll spare you the screenshots and just list the descriptions of the ones I did look at.
BUSH: It's a painting of a mountain trail. It feels good looking at it for some reason.
BUSH: A beautiful painting of flowers. The flowers are blooming so gently, it's pleasant to look at.
BUSH: It's a beautiful painting of flowers. The flowers are in full bloom.
Now we're done. They honestly put an absolute ton of work into the manor, but it barely gets used for much. Props goes to whoever did the modeling and design for this place, I wish we had more reason to explore it.
Music: SummerBack to the Summer theme!
EUNICE: I heard you were a friend of Mist... What exactly is your relation to her?
BUSH: Let's see...
oh no she's collecting evaluation info for the ringleader
BUSH: I had no water, no food, no memories, no friends, and no home. Yet, she gave me everything...
BUSH: And she saved my life...
EUNICE: I see... It seems you've been through a lot.
BUSH: Well, I don't remember anything about myself before I met Mist.
BUSH: But I really enjoy my life now.
EUNICE: I guess so! You can always make new memories!
BUSH: I guess you're right.
Bush and his great reverence for the girl who gave him her breakfast once and her rundown farm continues, but you do you, bud. It'd honestly be a pretty chill life to have.
TB: Did you hear me? Just because there is no one to wake you in the morn, that does not give you the right to slumber on!
UZUKI: I know...
BUSH: What happened?
TB: Oh, it's you, Bush... I had some business to tend to this morn so I was not at the inn. It caused milady to oversleep.
UZUKI: Oversleep? I only woke a mere 5 minutes later...
TB: Graaaggh! That "mere" 5 minutes will be the death of you! Besides...
BUSH: There he goes again...
Tsubute proves himself to be once again not only crochety, but unrealistically strict. The dialogue between these two does get better later, but Uzuki is really slow to gain LP.
Also doesn't help that her favorite item is a level 45 accessory with a complicated recipe.
UZUKI: Ah-ahhhhh!!
BUSH: W-what happened?!
UZUKI: Something black and quick scuffled by my feet... Ahhhhhh!
TB: Milady! Please get a hold of yourself!
UZUKI: I-I hate black things that are quick and small!
This is the usual "girl hates bugs/mice" thing, but the concept of courage and bravery is somewhat important to her story arc at least.
I ain't gonna judge, bugs make me jumpy too.
RITA: A tip? How nice of you.
Rita's favorite gift is pretty much any accessory. Apparently those are tips to her.
For reference, the only non-favorite accessory is Cheap Bracelets, which are only liked.
GANESHA: There are lots of monsters in the Lava Ruins that are resistant to heat.
GANESHA: But they're also weak towards cold so you should adjust your equipment in that way.
We'll be working towards some water damage gear soon, but I've found that in practice a lot the current available water weapons are kinda sub-par. There's no water axes, and the lower level water staff is kinda eh. The higher level water staff needs a Magic Crystal, which is going to be a pain to get.
ROSETTA: Thank you for shipping so many things out every day. Thanks to you, business is really good.
Oh, just you wait. I'm going to be shipping out more than triple what I've been selling by the end of this week.
Then following that, I skill up in fishing by accidentally hooking Danny. He has nothing to say but that Rosetta is a cheater, unwilling to accept her superior capitalism skills or risk-taking nature.
SELPHY: People say that I'm not really feminine or ladylike.
SELPHY: I learned a lot of manners and etiquette of a lady from my tutor when I was little.
SELPHY: But they were all such a pain so I ended up forgetting all of it. Hahahaha.
SELPHY: ...
BUSH: Um...
SELPHY: ...
BUSH: (She's concentrating. I should leave her alone.)
Not just concentrating, she's metabolizing the knowledge gained for sustenance.
Oh, hey, the magic book club has expanded!
MELODY: It's better to boil the red plant there!
LARA: Oh really? If you add in the red plant here, you'll make something that can be hazardous to your health.
MELODY: That's what makes it good! Homemade stuff should always have some kinda weird side effect to it!
LARA: We can't give those to sick patients then...
Where Marian mostly just ends up making weird potions, Melody's out to make them.
CINNAMON: ... Then... just add ths herb in.
MELODY: Ah... Now we can get that side effect while still making it an energy drink! ♪
LARA: It smells a bit odd, but it sure looks like it is good for your health. Good job, Cinnamon.
CINNAMON: ...Done. Bush, try it out.
BUSH: What? Why me?!
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1. Bottoms up!
2. No, thanks...
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It's what you get for listening in on the conversation.
But we also get choices! First the refusal option:
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No, thanks...
BUSH: I-I'll pass... It has a strange color and besides, is this even safe?
LARA: It should be just fine.
MELODY: A drug with no side effects isn't a real drug! ♪
MELODY: Melody! Don't chug it down!
*(I don't know who this line is supposed to belong to, but it's definitely not supposed to be Melody.)*
BUSH: Melody! Nooooo!
BUSH: ...
LARA: How... is it?
BUSH: I feel...
BUSH: Much better! This drug is really good!
CINNAMON: ...As expected. No problem.
BUSH: But it tastes terrible. Yech...
CINNAMON: The taste was not considered. Still has room for improvement.
BUSH: Please do so...
I'm pretty sure this would be an ethics violation if Trampoli had any sort of medical committee that wasn't just these three girls. Now for the first option.
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Bottoms up!
BUSH: Here I go then...
BUSH: ...
BUSH: I feel...
BUSH: Much better! This drug is really good!
CINNAMON: ...As expected. No problem.
BUSH: But it tastes terrible. Yech...
CINNAMON: The taste was not considered. Still has room for improvement.
BUSH: Please do so...
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So it's mostly the same, but as usual in this game the second option has more to it.
MELODY: Lara learns so fast. I think she'll catch up to me soon.
MELODY: I'm going to try even harder now!
MELODY: I usde to travel to hot springs around the world.
MELODY: Up north, they bathe in hot water and then jump in the snow. It felt so good!
That sounds like... an experience. Apparently this is a real thing for saunas in Finland and has some health benefits?
LARA: Having adventures is good and everything, but please be careful. Staying healthy is the greatest blessing.
LARA: When you get knocked out by monsters or collapse from overworking, you will be brought into the infirmary. But please try to be careful so that it doesn't have to come to that.
Frontier never really explains how you end up in the infirmary, but it's better than dying!
Cinnamon has nothing for us today, so it's time to be off to go do other stuff.
Music: Lava Ruins"Other stuff" means it's time for some more Lava Ruins.
I'm mostly farming ants, but here's what happens when you strike the bombs spread about. The explosions will hurt quite a bit, but also destroy these rubble piles.
More insect hides for our new forge. I'm hoping to get a Silver Bracelet to help boost our magic power, but I'm also hunting Killer Ants for the better chance at higher level skins as I've got some higher level silver off those Golems from before.
A little more than three hours of hunting and I've got enough. Despite how long this update has been so far, it's been rather short in-game.
I seem to have gotten level 8 insect hides somehow
Silver Ring Lv:5 was synthesized.
With the materials I had at hand, this was the best I could manage. Still, +10 ATK, +36 DEF, and +30 MAG is fantastic. That's a gain of +6, +26, and +20 in the respective categories.
Bush is really starting to seriously gear up now. The golems will still put holes clear through him, but he's getting there. The later floors of Lava Ruins will still have to wait though. The damage spike is crazy.
I still just need an Oven to make toast though. Toast will be a truly reliable source of HP if Lute would just sell the darn thing at some point. I always have problems buying the oven in the earlier RF games.
I've remembered to start bringing Erik some strawberries. It's just rather annoying that he's out in his field before 12:00 PM because I have to run through 4 loading screens just to talk to him. If he's behind the store counter, it's only 2 screens.
The loading screens are still not that fast on emulator, and they add up over time.
NOLAN: The people of this village are all very nice people.
NOLAN: They talk to me like I'm one of their own.
You're here more often than you're not. You pretty much already live here!
I hope Melody doesn't mind me tearing up the floor as I cast spells to burn HP/RP.
I nab a knife piece on my way to visit Iris. I'll need this to upgrade my sickle.
IRIS: Zzz... Zzz...
If you visit the Tower of Rest before 6 PM, Iris will be asleep.
IRIS: Is this for me? Thank you! I love tomato juice!
And with this, we finally can gift someone their favorite item. She'll start catching up with the other gals rather fast and start bringing more conversation to the table. Given she doesn't really leave this place, new dialogue from higher FP/LP is really all we get with her.
IRIS: There are plenty of monsters that are stronger than you, Bush.
IRIS: Please have caution.
This isn't bad advice as the next areas of Whale Island will start to hit like flaming trucks even with our currently boosted DEF.
Before we close out the day, I grab Phanty and head back down into Lava Ruins to hunt some Ignis. The magic staff book we have happens to be the only book for magic staves in the game, meaning we know all the recipes already. With an expanded forge, we can start to make some of the later level ones, but first we need magic powder and crystals.
This spot to the south of the farmfields spawns two Ignis at a time, which makes farming a bit easier.
Ah, finally. I'll nab as much of this as I can before I leave as it is also Kanno's favorite gift.
The danger of these monsters is that they can inflict Seal, as has been done to poor Phanty here, which prevents use of special attacks. Given those are what Bush primarily uses to defeat enemies, we really need to avoid getting hit with it.
At least it doesn't block the ability to use the teleport like RF1 did. That was just pure pain.
Bush does eventually get hit with it, but by that time he's already tapped out, so I was already planning on jumping ship. I managed to get 6 magic powder, so it turned out pretty well.
I do need to get a hold of some roundoff, the seal cure medicine, when we start doing more adventuring for real.
Before we close out the update, I've got one last weapon I'm looking to make: the Gaea Rod.
It boasts a respectable 70 ATK, 7 more than our Tomahawk, and also the extreme requirements of 40 required Magic skill and use of 40 RP per cast. We're only a little more than half of what it wants right now, but we can still make use of it from time to time. The magic boost it grants us is also lower than the earlier staves, but that's to compensate for the stronger spell.
Bush lets out a large yell and causes a minature earthquake when he uses it. Not only does it deal some decently high earth damage that can hit twice in a deceptively large area of effect, it will apply some serious knockback to enemies.
The per hit damage of the bonk is comparable to our axe with decent knockback as well, but the axe's special attack still keeps it way ahead for the moment. Our later axes will easily outmatch it as well.
With Bush moving up in the magic world, it's time to call it for the night, and the update. A bit shorter than usual, but the de Sainte-Coquille manor took up a lot on it's own. Next time we should probably be able to fit in two days.