Part 11: Battle #7: The Bloodening

Battle #7: The Bloodening

This would be the battle where the game begins picking up its difficulty level a bit.




Oh, it's her again.







This seems to be a running theme.

Most of the enemies during this encounter are new!



Mannequins



Evil Puppets



Dire Clowns



And the boss, the Marionette.

Note the ?? for his MP. That means he has more than 100.



Our foes: 3 Giant Bats, 3 Mannequins, 3 Evil Puppets, 2 Dire Clowns, and the Marionette.

We do have a new party member, but...



Until you build him up a lot, Arthur is pretty weak.



We'll be going after the ones to the West first. The bats aren't even really a threat anymore, so I'll just wait for them to come to me.



Tao starts things out with some fireworks.



Attack 1, defense 1, MP 2.



And Mae goes right for the flank, killing the Evil Puppet.



Gillian finishes the injured Mannequin.



I send Arthur after a bat, since he can't compete with our big hitters.



See the green bottle in the upper right? That means Gort got poisoned from a Mannequin. Since none of the healers can cure it yet, I need to try to remember who's holding the antidote.



Mae swings twice and finishes off a mannequin.



Defense 2, HP 2.





Behold, Freeze 1!





Attack 1, Defense 1, Speed 1, HP 1.



Evil Puppets also know Freeze 1. This one managed to critically cast it on Hans for 12 damage.



Arthur kills a bat.





Luckily, Gong is right next to Gort, and is able to heal him.



Anri picks off a bat, herself.



Gillian moves in to shield Tao and Hans, and kills off an Evil Puppet while he's at it.



Sadly, Arthur doesn't hit hard enough to finish off the last bat.



Luke goes after the Mannequin.



Khris brings Hans back from the brink of death.



Gort starts working on the final Evil Puppet.



Attack 1, Defense 2, Speed 1, HP 1.



Ken finishes it off.



While Mae kills the final Mannequin.



Gong heals himself and levels because of it! HP 1, MP 1.



Arthur finally finishes off the final bat.



Now it's just us, two dire clowns, and the Marionette now, and there's no fucking way I'm sending Gillian in until I know how hard Freeze 3 hits.



So I'll send our ranged characters to pick at the Dire Clowns first and see what happens.



Oh, and Mae too.



Well, that answers that question. Fucking ow! Rather nasty for an attack that looks like a Dentyne Ice commercial.



I'm moving Lowe in. Hopefully he'll be useful as a decoy for long enough to finish the Clowns off.



Hans continues poking at a Clown.



And Anri finishes it off.



Attack 1, Defense 1, MP 1



Take one for the team, Arthur!



Defense 1, HP 1.



Now to begin taking down the Marionette. Gort starts us off.



And Luke goes for the assist.



Ken is the most able to survive an Ice III, so I send him right in.



Hey, why not?



Oh, snap!




Hans goes down for the count, but Gort weathers the storm.



Since the Decoy isn't working, it's time to send in the big gun.



Gort's a trooper!



And he gets some healing, though it might not be enough.





Ken finishes the Marionette off!

Surprisingly, our only casualties were Mae and Hans.





That sounds a bit... excessive.



A new shut-in is born!

In the chests, we find a Steel Arrow, a defense potion, and 50 gold.

Alright, time to go get us a ship!







And now our voyage begins!



What the hell?











Son of a bitch!



The best laid plans...







I can't very well get revenge if I'm not.







Alright, North it is.

But before I leave town...



Now that's more like it!














Next time: The Journey North