Part 8: Thundercats Ho!
I find myself becoming increasingly displeased with the thread title. Is this normal?Anyways, I didn't want to leave you hanging for two weeks again with nothing at all, so here's a sort of mini-update. It's much smaller than normal, but on the plus side gets the boring gap the last update (where lots happened) and the next update (where lots will happen) out of the way.
8: Thundercats Ho!
Leaving the graveyard puts us at the foot of the mountains, specifically at the base of the pass that crosses them.
Aye, but we stopped them. Those bastards won't be a problem any more.
My father...? Bowman didn't make it. I'm sorry.
I failed to warn you in time. No, without your warning none of us would have escaped. Did anyone else make it out? We don't know. Chosen ships and soldiers are locking down the city.
The Chosen lord is named Doskias. We got here by hiding in one of his general's battleships. He intends to use your city as a supply station on his way to the lower shells. Why? The Chosen haven't left the upper shell in a thousand years. Maybe he's going to the Core. Damn the Core, we have to take back our city! We can't defend this mountain, let alone take back Wind City. We need help, and from someone who's a match for the Chosen. What about the Shell 5 nations, Ankara and Jinam? Their military strength is renowned. And usually aimed at each other, I'm afraid. But they might be our only chance. I'll go and request their aid. You must remain here and gather our forces. Giving me orders, my love? Stating the obvious. ...and the truth, I'm afraid. Who will accompany you? I will. Are you sure, Maya? Doskias is willing destroy whoever gets in his way, just like he did my city. I won't let that happen to the rest of the world. Besides, he and I have a score to settle. Corgan, you must do one favour before you go. We need supplies to hold us for the time being. Perhaps Armstrong's hidden reserve can be liberated? I'll talk to the Mayor of Armstrong myself. Consider it done. You know the way? Of course; Armstrong is my hometown. It lies beyond the mountains, and you'll never get through them without me. Let's go, then!
Layla tosses us some items and lets us have control back. This isn't our first Potion, but the Core Relic is new; it's a more powerful Core Rune, restoring 75 Core to the party. Also, while we're talking, the other guards have vanished into the snow.
There's not much to do at base camp other than talk to Layla. I'm trying out a way of indicating what was talked about (general conversation or which specific topic from the conversation menu) - feedback on this would be appreciated!
[talk] How can I get through the mountains to this town you spoke of? Take Corgan with you. He knows the way. [talk] I won't be gone long, my love. Be careful. I've already lost my father. I don't want to lose you too... [talk] How is Wind City powered? By cables that run from the windmills to the north. Then, we could cut that power and stop the Chosen... A good plan, but one that will have to wait until we have more strength.Apart from that, there's two points of interest.
First of all, we can frob the tent to rest, restoring all health and Core.
And secondly, the three-balls-connected icon on the menu is active as long as we're standing near Layla, letting us change party members. If we try to swap out Corgan and then leave, however...
Layla stops us. Normally I would give you guys some say in who I use, but for now I'm sticking with Maya/Corgan/Grubb; I can't really afford the Core or speed hit that would come from swapping Grubb for Runner, and without Grubb he's hard to keep healed, too. I'll open the floor to voting once things open up a bit more, about a shell and a half from now.
Personally, though, I think we could get through this just fine without Corgan acting as guide.
The mountain pass is infested with these guys. Each bend has a few, and some of the straight runs as well. They have one ability of note...
...Mass Haste, speeding them up significantly. However, they're so fragile it doesn't help them; with 32HP, if I hadn't been deliberately waiting for them to cast this, they would both be dead already.
Towards the end of the run, we run into this guy. He looks just like a normal Grey Wulf, but hits a bit harder and can take a bit more punishment. It doesn't help him.
This guy guards the exit. You can actually sneak past him, if you're careful; if you're not, he calls in those two wolves to help.
Observe claims it's a Thundercat, but I think it's an imposter.
Killing it yields our first accessory that's actually good, the Cat's Paw. It boosts Agility, and by extension Speed, Strike, and Power. Corgan could use a little Power boost to bring him up to Maya's level, so he gets it - I'll probably move it to Grubb (or Runner) once I pick up a better weapon for Corgan.
He's the last encounter in the mountains. You can run back to base and heal without anything respawning (which I did), which is a good idea. That city to the west is Armstrong; despite the earlier claim that there's "a few isolated towns" across the mountains, Armstrong looks a lot more substantial than the capital - and it's our next destination.
Next time: we visit Armstrong and