Part 22

As we explore the mountains to the west, Oddler stops us...


What's wrong, Oddler?
Nigel... Knox... can you hear that?
Hear what?
Somebody is crying for help... just ahead.

Oddler leads the way to a small pond.


Look! Over there!


An... elven boy? He's stuck in the pond. He must be very tired. Let's pull him out.


I might have been eaten by monsters if you hadn't come.


Who said that?


Those who get stuck in the pond are mine. It's my rule.
Then, all the missing people were eaten by you?
They were in my pond. And this elf is my dinner for tonight. Got it?

Battle #20:



Attacking us are 5 Harpies, 2 Orcs, 2 High Priests, 2 Dark Madams, and an Arrow Launcher. The Harpies have 60 attack power. That's more than Nigel has. And to make things better, we start out surrounded. There are two harpies behind my group, just itching to swoop down on my more vulnerable party members. This battle is going to hurt.



Crap, I was taking up a defensive formation to protect against the harpies, but one of the Dark Madams was able to capitalize on that.




Ow.



Thankfully, Shaggy was able to land a Desoul, taking the first harpy out instantly.




Having been wounded by the Dark Madam's Freeze 2, Harvey gets finished off by another harpy.







It takes a combined effort from Darin, Wolfy, and Nigel to bring the Harpy down quickly. They've got really high defense.



Cherry finishes off the first Dark Madam.





While Darin and Ron take out the first High Priest. Darin earned level 21.




Ron takes a nasty hit from a harpy.



But he is still able to finish off the arrow launcher.









Darin, Wolfy, Knox, and Cherry bring down the third harpy. Cherry earned level 22.



The fourth harpy attempts to cast Dispel on Nigel and Ashley.



Thankfully, it doesn't work. Dispel prevents spells from being cast. It would've kept Ashley from being able to heal.





Nigel and Cherry take down Harpy #4.



This is probably going to get Shaggy killed, but it'll be worth it.




Looks like I was wrong. Shaggy will live on to inflict some more damage.



Knox finishes off one of the orcs.




Hahaha! Fuck YOU, Harpy! If only Desoul worked as often during the Kraken fight... In any case, Shaggy earned level 22 and learned Blaze 3.



Unfortunately, a Dark Madam is able to kill Wolfy. Still, if she had centered a Freeze 2 on Ron, she would've hit 5 targets, killing both Shaggy AND Wolfy in the process.



Ron brings her down, which earns him level 22.




Whoops, Knox goes down to an orc.



Ashley finishes off the High Priest.



And then avoids getting smeared by the remaining orc.



Cherry finishes it off, bringing the battle to an end.


You saved my life. Thank you.
You should thank Oddler. He heard your cry for help and brought us here.
It was nothing.
An elf always returns a favor. Please, let me help you.

Furlong joins our team.

As we leave the pond, Furlong shows us a secret hidden in the mountain to the north...







He reveals a secret passage, opening the way forward.

Next time: The Devil's Tail Peninsula

But first...


It's finally voting time!

With Furlong's arrival, we're up to 13 party members, and like in Shining Force 1, only 12 can be active. We'll need to vote one out. The choices are: