Part 26: Three Become One

Klaus, Kiba's son, tells them to wait before they leave, and comes to talk to us.



: My name is Klaus, tactician for the 3rd Royal Highland Company. I look forward to meeting you on the battlefield. As a fellow soldier, I salute you and wish you good luck. Farewell.

see, not everyone who serves under Highland is bad





Surprisingly, the little brat has some sense.



He wanted to say the n-word but it got caught in his throat.



We follow Makai into the assembly hall to discuss what Ridley was bitching about.



: In any case, we don't have to worry about that now. Lord Kiba came to sign a peace treaty.





You're an idiot, Makai. Fitcher reasons that Kiba coming alone was to drive a wedge between the humans and the kobolds, once Ridley hears about it.



Makai doesn't really seem to care about the little details.



You stupid man.



We enlist the aid of the racism victims, duh! This is a jRPG.



There IS at least one good Winger.



This is going to explode quickly.





Susu: Lord Azure... could you please show me your right palm? The 'Bright Shield Rune'... this is the second time in my life I've seen it. Long ago, I saw it shining from afar on the hand of Lord Genkaku. Long ago, we lived in the forests of Tinto. But then they took our land. They punctured it with holes they called 'strip mines'. It was Lord Genkaku who invited us to this new land. But after his good name was dirtied by the State, once again we began to be mistreated by the humans.



blah blah blah destiny blah blah blah



and he's not returning our wallet, either. Fucking brat.



in a surprisingly not surprising Suikoden II twist, they've really come to attack us, the following morning.



that can be arranged





We get into a couple fights with Highland soldiers which are never threatening at any point in the game.



The first option makes you fight more, the other option makes you run back to Ridley's camp. I choose to fight.



Man, it seems like this battle is over before it even started.



Except the Wingers come in for the rescue! Who saw this coming? Everyone? Okay.



They drop rocks.. or like... poison bombs, I have no idea.



: Huh... why... why are you defending this town?

: You still don't get it, huh? Okay, I'll tell ya again. This town is our town too! You don't think so? Well I was born here!! I was raised here!! I like, no, I love this town! Why shouldn't I protect it?



are you feeling anything for Chaco yet? Do you like him now? No, you probably don't. This arc tries to make you jazzed about the wingers and kobolds and humans all coming together, but it happens so quickly and so easily that it comes off as incredibly cliché and rushed. I like it, however, because it actually affects the main plot.





The kobolds join the fight as well. Basically, when the town is threatened, the races unite as one. Where have I seen that story before... ?







We fight another battle with soldiers, which...



Doesn't go well for them. This is The Shredding, from the Wind Rune.

: If we leave this land, where would we go? This is our homeland! We will defend it!!!

: That's right, this is our home!!

: Yeah! Let's defend our town!!



: Also, it appears an army of volunteers from the Kobold Village is heading from the south. Our strategy has failed, we've got to retreat.

: Those lucky fools.



Like all feel-good cliché stories, Kiba and the Highland troops pull back.





I imagine Ridley laughing sounds like a lot of incredibly loud, scary, barks. Meanwhile, at the Highland camp...



Things aren't going so well for Solon Jhee. Word has spread everywhere of his defeat.

: Are you saying that our army is inferior to the Dinosaur Army?!

: No... I just think they had a brilliant tactician on their side...

: Apparently you're not up to the job. Well then, I shall relieve you of your duties.



It's not a good day to be Solon Jhee.

: Dying in battle is one thing but this... this is the ultimate disgrace.





: Is there a worthy general among you?



Yep... Jowy is now a Highland general.

: Hmm... don't be so confident. This isn't like the trifling task you accomplished in Muse. Do you really think YOU can lead an army of warriors?



: Interesting... give it a try, boy. If you defeat Greenhill as you say, I'll reward you handsomely. But if you are not successful, you'll meet the same fate as your unworthy predecessor.



Time to go meet Makai and Shu back at the meeting hall.



: No, without your reinforcements, the Highland army wouldn't have withdrawn like they did. That and the volunteer army from Kobold Village... was that your doing, Shu?

: All I did was tell them the situation. It was General Ridley's reputation that forced all those volunteers to join.

: Lord Azure, somehow we were able to protect Two River. But the Highland Army still hasn't withdrawn from State territory. Let's fight together. With your help, I think we can win this war.





Fitcher is promptly fired, which is great, but Makai sends him to work for us, due to his communique skills.



SEX SLAVE



Time to leave, I suppose.



But first, Chaco stops us.

: Hey, hey, Azure. No, I mean, great leader of the Dinosaur Army. Will you take me with you too?



Either 1 or 3 makes Chaco join. He has to join, it's required. He also returns the money he stole, but not Fitcher's.





Well that was a thing. Let's head back to Two River to check some stuff out.



Two River's runeshop is in its Human district. It has two rare Runes in its Rare Finds, the Warrior and Wizard Runes. It boosts your MAG or STR by your DEF/4, but halves your physical or magical defenses. These Runes both change over the course of the series, for the better, generally.

It also sells the Viper and Lion Runes. The Viper Rune can only be equipped by one-handed swordsmen/women and causes 100% instant death on an enemy, but reduces your hit rate by 1/3. The Lion Rune is much like the Boar Rune but nerfed heavily not in your favor. It causes 1.5x damage for claw/fist users, but reduces Magic and Magic Defense by 50.



The Winger item shop, the only shop in their district, sells these. They're only equippable by the (two) Winger characters we get, Chaco and one other. If you like using them, these are worth buying.



Susu also gives us Spinach seeds.



Finally, the Kobold district item shop sells some interesting food items. We need to buy a bunch of Fried Tacos for a character we'll get very soon. Boost is a status that I can't really describe well. It's either programmed poorly or I'm simply clueless as to what it does. From what I was able to research, it doubles your attack power for three turns in battle, then you receive half the damage you dealt to opponents in return, but people have experienced receiving no damage from the Boost status.

From what I can tell, it's like injecting adrenalin or something. The Dark Chowder gives you the Panic status, of which I don't know what that does. We'll talk about what the Fried Tacos do in the next update.

Suikoden 2 Tunes – We Are Number Wuff! ~ Kobold's Village Theme



This is what the Kobold District looks like. It has an armor shop which I'll be checking out right now. They have Silver Hats as Rare Finds, which boost your max HP.



Also kobold warriors perpetually train up here under not-Ridley.



Next time: Lots of new characters, and the beginning of my second least-favorite arc in the game.

Artwork:



Chaco – Tenkou Star

A little dickhead. That's all there is to say. He's actually useful in that he gets all three Rune slots, so you could make him into a pretty powerful character.



Fitcher – Tenritsu Star

Despite seeming like a fool, he's actually pretty smart.



Ridley Wizen – Tengou Star

Easily the most badass kobold in the series. Strong, tough, and a great military commander. He was one of the few members of the Jowston Alliance preparing his troops for war.



Jowy

A new portrait? New clothes? Enough of an excuse to be a giant prick that players like for some reason.