Part 3: Shrine Island

The next morning.



This is Vyse's bedroom in the attic of his house. Strangely, very few buildings in the game have stairs - everyone seems to prefer ladders.



Yeah... I'll be right down. Give me a second.

Vyse's Mother: Vyse, if you're going to Shrine Island, I want you to take this with you. I've included enough for both you and Aika.

You've received 2 “Sacres Crystals”.

Vyse's Mother: If you ever need to take a break, don't be afraid to come back home and rest. You shouldn't push yourself too hard.

Thank you so much for everything you've done. First, you rescued me... and then you let me stay in your home... I'm eternally grateful. I suppose you'll be leaving now to retrieve that Moon Stone that fell yesterday... please do be careful. Good luck!

Vyse, here... take this. It's your share of the loot for yesterday's raid.

You've received a “Purple Moon Stone”.

That Moon Stone has been processed already, so you should be able to use it on your weapons. Now you'll be able to change the colour of your weapon to Purple, and give it the power of ice in battle.

I see. Thanks Dad. I'll use it carefully.

Dyne goes on to give an explanation of magic exp here, but I'm skipping that and heading straight outside. After all, it's impolite to keep a lady waiting. You can watch the video for it if you're really that interested.



Yes, Thank you.

Fina, will be heading over to Shrine Island to get that Moon Stone in a few minutes. You can stay here and relax at my place if you want.

That will be fine, Thank you.

Alright Vyse, let's get going. The boat is on the upper dock, and it's ready to go!



This is Vyse's little sailing boat, parked at the upper dock like Aika said. Where was it before when we were up her in the last update? I have no idea.



And this is what the Purple Moon Stone does. Vyse's attacks now do ice damage and he'll gain purple magic exp from this battle. It's not limited to one character per colour either, you can have every character using the same colour weapon if you like, and often will in elemental themed dungeons.



Remember the Maroccas that were such a pain before? They really, really hate ice. They're basically designed to force you to learn about the elements - they don't just have sky high defence, they take half damage from elements they're strong against like red, but double damage from elements they're weak to like purple. They're also weak to green elemental weapons, so I could have done this before if I'd remembered that.


Click for video!

Random encounters aside, this is Shrine Island, where Vyse saw that Moon Stone land.



The Moon Stone must have caused that. It must he huge... Aika look! Water is flowing into the Shrine! In the Old World, this island was a sacred place. These ruins used to be some sort of temple. Nobody's been here for generations.

Yeah, I've heard stories about this place too. I've heard that there are monsters crawling around the building inside. But Moon Stones that big are rare! We've got to go in and get it! You know I can't pass up a treasure hunt. Besides, how bad can it possibly be?

You're right. We're going treasure hunting!





... Aika! Look! The Moon Stone at the bottom!



So, Vyse... How do you plan on getting it out of there? The water is pretty deep...



This is actually not a Swashbuckler choice, it makes no difference which you pick. I'm going to show off both.

"Swim down to the bottom"

Let's swim down there to get it. I think the water is still shallow enough. What do you think?

No way! You know I can't swim! How am I supposed to help you carry that thing back up here?!

Hahaha... Ever since that one time you fell into the well when you were a kid, you've been afraid of the water.

Besides, I doubt either of us could swim while carrying that Moon Stone back to the surface. It looks way too heavy!

Yeah, you're probably right!...

"Find a way to drain the water"

Let's try and drain the water from this place. That way we can just carry the Moon Stone out of here.

Well, considering that I can't swim, I like that plan better...

But there's still one problem... how are we supposed to drain all of this water?

The game then carries on as normal from here.

Hey, Vyse. Look over there! There's a door over there. Maybe if we can find a way to open it we can drain the water out of this place.

Hm... you might be right. We'll use the doors as drains.

Alright! Let's go!

The layout of Shrine Island is a bit strange. All that's inside the front door is a spiral aroun d the edge of that new pool in the middle, leading gently upwards to a door above where we came in.



Outside it is this strange looking technomagic crystal. It's a bit hard to tell right now, but this is actually right above the walkway where we came in.







See? This is why playing with technomagic is a bad idea. The entire shrine dropped down one level so that the door and crystal are now at the end of the walkway



Now that the technomagic island is active again these technomagic flames burst into life as we walk past. There's absolutely no reason to do so, but I hit all of them just because.



Going back inside the shrine and back out through what was originally the entrance leads to these walkways around the lower parts of the island. If you're trying to understand the layout just from the screenshots your head is probably starting to hurt right about now.



Augh. The big fish thing is a Grouder. They're the first random encounter enemy that can really mess you up if you don't know how to deal with them. As well as having a ton of hp and hitting like a truck they can cast magic. Specifically, they can cast Wevli and Panika, spells of the Blue and Purple schools. Wevli causes blue/water damage in a small area, while Panika inflicts confusion on a character. This particular battle is actually fixed – you'll always fight a Grouder and pair of Maroccas here, but they'll also appear as random encounters. Fortunately, they're weak to Red magic.



This door looks suspicious leaky. Remember how Vyse said we want to open the underwater doors to drain the water?



Sploosh!



Another Moonberry! Just what we need.



It teaches Aika Delta Shield. Aika has some of the most useful skills in the game and this one is no exception- it completely blocks all magic on the party for the turn. Considering this game has instant death spells, that's a very good thing.



One last catwalk leads to this ominously huge and leaky door with a save point next to it. We all know what that means.



Sploosh!



We finally made it. That wasn't too bad!

Yeah, but look at the size of the stone! It'll be an adventure and a half just to get that thing back outside.

Aaaahh!

Aika?! What's wrong?

Vyse... Those rocks... They're... They're moving!






Click for video!



Boss fight time!

This is Sentinel, the boss of Shrine island, and he can be one tough cookie. His HP, attack and defence are almost double Antonio's and he basically exists to teach you that you are not going to get through this game just hammering the A button.



This is what him such a threat. He'll open up with a Target Search...



...and then on his next turn will toast your ass with a Blaster beam. The key, of course, is to guard after he uses Target Search. One unguarded Blaster probably won't kill you, but there's no way you can just let them all through and hope to survive. He'll throw out regular attacks as well from time to time, and while those are still pretty damn painful they're a welcome break from Blaster.



Taking him down with regular attacks is pretty much impossible. In fact, even Cutlass Fury spam would take a while to whittle him down, especially if you didn't upgrade your weapons at the shop in Pirate Isle. Fortunately, I did a couple of extra fights off camera and picked up a new trick.



Hell yes. Increm is the second spell of the Red school, and it is awesome. It boosts attack and defence by a whopping 25%. If that wasn't enough, it never wears off unless removed somehow.



Compare that to the earlier attack. See what a difference that little red arrow makes?



I did another run of this boss just now without Inrem and upgraded weapons and was doing less than a third of this damage with Cutlass Fury. Even Sentinel doesn't long under that kind of punishment - he has just under 1200hp, if you were wondering.



Most bosses have a 100% drop on a Moonberry, but a few drop even more valuable loot. This particular Moonberry is getting saved for a while. Besides, later skills cost more than 1 Moonberry and both Vyse and Aika need 2 to learn their next skills.



Some kind of ancient guardian, I think. Who knows? Okay Aika, we need to hurry up and secure the Moon Stone.

I love this reaction. "Ancient technomagic golem? Who cares, treasure!"

That's my kind of plan!



Yeah, it was definitely worth going through all that trouble. We won't have to worry about fuel for a while!

It's beautiful... Treasure hunting is definitely my favorite part of being an Air Pirate. Wait till everyone back home sees what we found!



This is the end of Vyse and Aika's celebratory high-five ritual. I'm not going to try to show it off in screenshots. Watch the damn videos.


Click for video!

Meanwhile, on Pirate Isle



Ben the Lookout: Well, there's the bell... Time to get to work... I gotta loosen up a little.









Ben the Lookout: It's the Imperial Armada!! They've got a full battle squadron! They're in attack formation!!!







Damn... I never thought they'd find us...!







Good... They seem very organized for a small village that is under siege. I don't know who their leader is, but he seems very capable. Perhaps Alfonso was in over his head.

... Perhaps.

No matter, it appears the battle is over. Retreive the girl and bring her to me. Capture the Air Pirates. We'll need to interrogate them when we return to Valua. And be sure to destroy their ship as well...

And if they resist, Lord Galcian? What does Your Excellency wish me to do if the situation arises?

I don't think they're foolish enough to resist. However, if something should happen... Burn the village and kill them all. Let the bodies rot in the sun and leave one of our flags to set an example for others who may defy us.

Well that can't be good. But then, if you will insist on naming your secret island base Pirate Isle...



Oh boy. Even from the world map the island looks a mess. On the bright side, that ladder is toast.



Ben the Lookout: ...They just attacked us out of nowhere...I barely had time to warn the others...everything's been destroyed. The women and children took refuge underground but the Captain and the others...they were all captured and taken prisoner...

Lies! Matthew the Deckhand is nice and safe underground, while Mabel the Raider is nowhere to be seen, so I can only assume she was taken. But anyway, underground we go!





Martha: They just came out of nowhere and attacked us without any warning! Then they took all of the men back to Valua! They...they even destroyed the Albatross...your father must have been heart-broken...

Tut tut. Clearly Galcian has never read the Rime of the Ancient Mariner.



Lindsi: And...our houses...our whole village...it was all destroyed...I don't know what to do, Vyse!



Vyse's mother is in Dyne's office. I have no idea why she's the only inhabitant of Pirate's Isle without a name, by the way.

Vyse's Mother: Vyse! Aika! Thank the Moons you two are safe!

What happened here?

Vyse's Mother: It was the Imperial Armada... They came out of nowhere and attacked us.

What happened to Dad? Where is everyone else?!

Vyse's Mother: Your father said that if we fight, too many lives would be lost. So, he... He surrendered.

So Cap'n Dyne... and the others...

Vyse's Mother: They were taken prisoner by the Armada and taken to Valua.

Damn! ... Fina! What happened to Fina!

Vyse's Mother: I'm sorry, Vyse... The Armada took her too.

In Valua, the punishment for Piracy is death! Fina will probably be killed too! Vyse, what should we do?!



The choice here is obvious.



What do you think Aika? We have to save our families... and Fina! I know rescuing everyone isn't going to be easy, but it's not impossible! We can't let them get away with this. Don't worry, we'll get them back... somehow.

... Yeah, you're right! It's up to us. We can't give up now! Alright,
let's go! Let's show those Valuans what happens when they mess with the
Blue Rogues!...

Vyse's Mother: ... Wait... you. You won't be able to do anything against Valua
in the shape you're in right now. Don't just rush after them.
You'll need a plan first. It's not going to be an easy fight.

But, but... If we don't hurry, everyone might...

Vyse's Mother: My husband always said, "Acting quickly and rushing are two completely different things". Especially in times like these, you must calm down and plan every move carefully. Don't worry... Everything will be alright. He... your father won't let things end like this, not him.

Yeah Mom, you're right. Aika... Let's rest up today. We'll leave for Valua first thing in the morning!

Okay!





All of the Valuan commanders get a personalised flagship, named after a constellation. Galcian's flagship is of course Serpens, the Serpent. I'm not sure what Alfonso was doing on that ship at the start, because he has a flagship and that certainly wasn't it. His flagship is exactly as gaudy and ostentatious as you'd expect.



Excellent. You may leave.

Valuan Soldier: As you wish...

At leat we meet... Fina. You cannot imagine how much trouble the Armada has gone through to find you.

...! How did you know my name?

I am Galcian, the Sworn Protector of Valua and Supreme Commander of the Imperial Armada. I am under direct orders from her Royal Highness, Empress Teodora, to find you and bring you back to Valua. As a citizen of the Silver Civilazation, you have information that is useful to us. Will you help us?



Unlike Dyne, trying to call Galcian's bluff would be an astronomically bad idea. Galcian is exactly as cold and ruthless as he appears.

I see. I did not expect you to help us without the proper motivation. However... I believe we have the same goals. So, wouldn't it be best for us to help each other?

......

... We will reach Valua in half a day. Enjoy the comforts of the brig until then.

So tonight, we rest. Tomorrow? Valua won't know what hit them.