Part 11: Sage Joch's Spiritual Ancestor

We're wake from our flower-induced sleep to a set of nice warm beds and an amazon watching us sleep. Just another Tuesday, in other words.



"Really? How the hell did I miss this?"



"I see. It's okay, though, you're alive…"



"Sure.. I wonder why I woke up first, though? HEY! HAWK, WAKE UP!"

"AHHHH!"



"After you're exposed to them once, they won't affect you anymore."

"That's a pretty convenient property."

"It does neatly explain why you were more resistant than us, since you were near something similar when Navarre attacked Rolante."



"Yeah, it's kind of hard to miss."



"This is terrible. We've got better equipment, and we haven't even hit any major cities."



"Now it's been conquered, and we have to take it back. What shall we do?"

"D'you think that maybe the fact that you can't figure out a successful strategy and the way you were depending exclusively on walls and weather systems could be somehow connected?"



"If it makes you feel any better, you're probably the world's only Amazon army.. so you're still the world's strongest."

"Okay guys, enough. Could you lay off my kingdom a bit?"

"Hey, nobody has conquered either of our kingdoms."

"Big words considering that Wendel's entire defense strategy is an old man and his barrier spell. One broken hip and it's all over."



"Calm down, take it easy!"

"Before you break a hip or something."

"Oh, I'm all right…"



"We obviously don't have enough troops for a direct assault…"

"Why the hell are you looking at me? You're the head of the Army!"

"Crap. You're right."



"Oh, wait, I know! We could ask the age, Don Perignon!"

"Don who?"



"His advice led Prince Richard to victory against the Dragon Emperor.."

"Ohhh… so he's most likely senile. Great."

"Where does he live?"



"Corobokkle?Okay old man, now you're just making things up."

"His village is west of the Rabite Forest, south of Jad."

"Well, let's go find him!"

"Uh.. Lise, what about that whole finding your brother thing?"

"He'll keep. This is about making sure he has a home to come back to."



"Corobokkles do't like humans… I'm not sure if he would even talk to you."

"So what should we do?"

"I have a bizarre feeling that we're about to go halfway around the world going from person to person until we get what we actually need, and I don't know why."



"You can do that if you have the legendary Chibikko Hammer. I think someone in Byzel owns it."

"Hit someone with this hammer, and they'll become very small… perfect for mimicking a Corobokkle."

"I hate being right."



"Oh. Alma. I didn't really expect to see you again after the whole business with the castle being sacked and my brother being kidnapped… yeah, you're fired."



"That was pretty good, even if I'm not sure you're a very good waitress."

"And it probably wasn't necessary, since you'd practically have to stab one of them before they'd pay attention to you spying."

"Yeah, Hawk was framed for murdering their prince and they just let him walk right through the middle of town."

"Thanks. I feel much better now."



"You fool, you've doomed everyone living here!"



"Are these really the people who defeated us?"

"I'm as ashamed as you are."

"Hey!"



"Now they've taken over Rolante. What possessed them to do such a thing?"

"An evil sorceress who bewitched the chief, convinced him to create a kingdom, murdered, his son, and put a magical cursed necklace on the new king's daughter."

"That's.. a more detailed explanation than I expected."



The Navarre Soldiers, as expected, don't have much to say.



"Wait, do I know you?"



"Oh, you know him? I'm his cousin, Merci."

"We need to get to Byzel. May we use your cannon?"

"I guess you've gotten over hating the Cannon Travel Service."



"Shut it, Hawk. Let's go."



Transcontinental Cannon Away!



"Huh. I'm pretty sure that girl wasn't here. She looks like Alma."

"I don't like her already."



"I'd rather just go home and sleep. Here, you can have one of my dead grandpa's things."



"Wait, you mean you don't want some rare trinket at the bottom of a monstrous labyrinth or that belongs to a hermit living on top of a remote mountain?"

"Hey, be quiet before you give her ideas."



Unfortunately I ran into a little quirk of SD3's engine. You have a huge storage, but you can't have more than a certain number of items in the ring menu. I have a full ring menu right now and the Chibikko Hammer has to go there at first… so I have to rearrange my inventory.



There's still not cannon to Jad, so we're stuck with the boat once more. Of course, since we've already heard that the beastmen have been thrown out of Jad it's perfectly safe to go back there now.



The dialogue and everything has changed a bit, and the shops are open as well.



Nothing more than minor upgrades, but a point of defense is a point of defense. Also, it's not like we're hurting for money.



In case we missed it, there's some verification of the Elder's story.



The monsters in Rabite Forest have had their level raised up, but since they're weak enemy types this doesn't make much of a difference. This myconid is about one hit from exploding and even level 8 rabites go down in one shot.



The Priest of Light has Faerie-proofed his barrier, as well, so we've pretty much got one path open to us.



There's a new enemy in the form of a re-paletted Rabite, but Rabilions aren't terribly threatening either. Presumably they prey on Rabites?



"Hey! There's one right behind the statue! Get it!"

"A little bit too fast.. but he headed northwest. The village has got to be there."



The statue actually plays a role now, although it was previously inert."



"Geeze, you two need to go on a diet.."




The effect isn't really spectacular. Also, it doesn't do an immediate reversal of the condition so the Chibikko hammer isn't really more than a plot coupon.



Corobokkle Forest is.. peaceful. No monsters, just a bunch of tree houses and a little bearded guy sitting beneath some trees.



"We're from another village. We're only stopping here for the day…"

"Hmm. You smell like humans to me. I'd recognize that smell anywhere."

"Hey, we don't smell that bad!"

"I'm sorry, but we were chased here by some humans… I think we picked up their smell."

"Right. Whatever you say."



"Dunno. Why don't you go look for him yourself…"

"Geeze, so unfriendly in this village."



"You're right Carlie, this is just a village full of douchebags."




You pretty much just have to go around to every single tree house and talk to the inhabitants before running out of options. Then..




"But.. I asked you where he was, and you didn't tell me!"

"Ah, but I was walking around at the time. So I wasn't in any single place."



"Something wrong? You seem a little nervous."

"Hawk! She's reaching for her spear!"

[Not pictured - Hawk dive-tackling Lise out of the way]

Well.. we need your tactical advice…"



"That's a problem… Rolante… Rolante… hmm. Oh, I know!"

"First you need to find the wind spirit, Jinn…"



"When the wind god statues turns in a different direction, the wind will shift and the way will open."

"The wind Mana Stone, and Jinn, are somewhere at the end of the tunnel."

"Then, go back to the garden with the sleep flowers."

"Use Jinn's power to control the wind, and spread the sleep pollen into Rolante castle."

"This plan sounds awful familiar, somehow…"



"Mmm, yes… Hey! How did you know about Navarre!?"

"Hahaha, do you really think you can fool me?"

"You're the ones that the faerie chose. I can sense this sort of thing."



"Normally I wouldn't even bother with a pack of humans running through my village…"



And this, right here, is why Don Perignon and this game are awesome. You've actually got a wise sage who sees right through your clumsy attempts at deception and decides to go along with it.. because he recognizes that there's something bigger than his own feelings and prejudices and acts with that in mind.



Even if he's still a bit of a jerk about it.