Part 13: Obel Palace
We just keep running into people from our old crew. Now, we're about to see even more of them as we head to:
It's not a beach house on a deserted island, but it'll do.
The trip to Obel takes several days, so it's a perfect opportunity for a chat.
Last time you came, you were after Rune Cannons, right? And then we ran into Steele...And no one involved has any fond memories of that encounter.
So I guess I just assumed you were after Rune Cannons again. Sorry if I'm off the mark.Kika does sound a little less chill-to-the-point-of-
here than she did in IV. Maybe she has a soft spot for kids. (Or perhaps Lazlo's cheerful demeanour was a good influence.)
No, you assumed right. We're going to Obel to see their king, Lino en Kuldes. He fought the Kooluk head on, so he should know a lot more about Rune Cannons.Hey, you were no slouch yourself back then when we fought together in the War of Succession - no, wait, sorry, I don't know where that came from. I imagine you and your crew know as much about them as anyone still alive, but... well, Lino is pretty cool, so I don't mind visiting.
Really?! Well, I've got lots of questions to ask.
Before actually heading to Obel, however, I'm going to check out Kika's pad. It has all the usual stuff, including an outfitter. These are the rare finds. The Bucket Rune, as you might imagine, gives your attacks a chance to inflict Bucket status on enemies, much like the bats before. I buy it because... well, why not? It's just 1000p, and I might have someone to put it on, at some point.
Also, their store carries new hand/arm gear for Andarc (because he really needed more PDF)...
...and Seneca. It's not as defensive as what she has, but note the description. I'm not sure if this works even if you don't have the skill equipped, though.
As always, there are NPCs to talk to, and who might it be but our old friends the Jolly, Rowdy and Drunken Pirates!
Until they all finish blasting each other to bits, there's no way we can set sail.
To us, having our Rune Cannon stolen was like being stripped naked, you know?
...I don't know, and I don't want to know.
Huh? His Rune Cannon? Now that ya mention it, I heard he was carryin' a broken-down one onboard. Sorry, but that's all I know.
You're not very helpful, and you're not rowdy at all.
But we ain't got no other way to earn a livin', so we're fishin', washin' dishes... *glug glug glug*
Ugh... I've become a model citizen! *burp*
I bet he's best friends with Dario
Finally, here's a nice stat boost. Andarc is the only character in the party who can actually wear this, for some strange reason. He's been getting a lot of goodies lately... which is nice for him, but I'd have liked to throw this to Rita for the crit boost. Oh well.
Speaking of Rita, she can now complete the last quest.
It's worth 1000 Potch and 300 SP, and moves us ever so slightly closer to the next quest rank. But, despite the lack of any more quests to undertake, we're not quite there yet.
Well then! Time to head over to Obel.
They took our Rune Cannons...We put up our best fight, but...
Well, don't be too hard on yourself. I'm just glad you made it out alive.Lino: still chill, still the best king.
We'd better find out what's going on over in Kooluk. But bear in mind...The truce is still officially in place. We have to keep quiet about our investigation.
Why, this sounds like a job for someone who is used to sneaking around, like maybe a ninja!
Our actual ninjas agree.
E-Excuse me! Kyril, however, does not.
Um... How about letting us handle the job?"HEY HEY HEY! I'm the protagonist here! Don't you dare ignore me!"
Kyril! You? But you're just a kid....you say, as if that ever stopped you before...
I'm not from around here, so they won't suspect I'm working for you.
(Also, the whole protagonist thing.)
I can vouch for them. We go way back. Oh, do you, now...?Instant respect! (Thanks, Kika.)
All right, then. Here's the plan. Kyril, right? You go investigate as you please.Mizuki! Akaghi!
Your Majesty?
What, me too?Yes, you. It's entirely your own fault, too. Didn't you say you were leaving once the war was over? Guess that was before you found out Mizuki was staying, huh.
You two stick with them. Report anything important to me. Understood? Yes, Your Majesty. Then it's settled. Officially, I'll deny all knowledge of this mission. "Weapons and equipment OSP?" "Yes. This a top-secret black op. Don't expect any official support." You should be able to enter Kooluk by going ashore at the place where Fort El-Eal once stood.
Proofreading!
(He actually says "a feeling" in the video, though.)
Make sure they don't see you. "If you need to contact me by codec, the frequency is 140.85." Got it!
And then we're officially joined by Kika, Mizuki and Akaghi!
Kika is as you have seen, and just like last time, she's better than the people who join along with her. The ninjas aren't bad, though. They use claws, a new weapon class (well, new for this game) and once again, Mizuki comes with her own Shrike Rune to go with it.
However, this time around, it's actually somewhat of a drawback. Shrike doesn't compare entirely favourably with the generic claw-specific rune, the Lion Rune - but we'll go into why when we can see them in action.
Elsewhere, Sinister Plans Are Afoot. And Roget is involved!
It wasn't easy.Superior Officer: Is that so...?
Hmmm... Okay, Roget. I might have another job for you.
Huh? Really? Thank you! I won't let you down!
And that... is the whole of this chapter! But since that's so short and I didn't even get to kill anything, I'm going to draw this out a bit longer.
Mind you, since he became the leader of the Island Nations, he's away from the palace even more than before. Maybe he has too much on his hands.
First up, the townspeople of Obel. (The music is the same as always.)
This one has nothing of interest to say...
Unfortunately, there've been reports of monsters roaming about the ruins lately. Please realize that you must take sole responsibility for anything that happens to you within the ruins.
...but this one does! We'll have to check that out at some point. I smell treasure
But for now, let's get out of Obel and look around a bit.
I bet you didn't even tell Lino you were leaving.
And for some reason, this guy, too. Well, not as if I mind having extra people to throw at my enemies!
Flare is still an archer, and not a bad one either, with great skill and luck and thus also crit rate. She does lack Extra Move, though, but it's not quite as big an issue for ranged attackers.
Trishtan was kind of terrible in IV, but here, the weak-but-fast-and-skilled thing is actually quite viable. He is insanely fast at this point (he has 22 SPD, twice as much as Kyril; Mizuki is the second fastest with 16) but according to what little information I have, his gains aren't as impressive as his base, and he'll only be around average by endgame. His skill isn't actually that great anymore, but he's still quite defensive, with good PDF and HP. That should make him a pretty solid unit, but he has several other problems that will drag him down. He's one of the two 1H sword users who don't get Parry, and he doesn't get Extra Move either. Lastly, he's a one handed sword user.
This may require a little more explanation. One handed swords were quite common in IV, and they are still common in Tactics. Unfortunately, due to the changes in gameplay, they are are rather less useful than they once were. The problem is the 1H Sword command rune, the Viper Rune, which has no attacks that can deal more than 1x normal damage and offer little in the ways of ranged attacks. Its first and second level techs cause ailments and the third is an AoE (much like Kyril's second level tech), so they do have some options - but it still means that swordsmen will generally be outclassed by other characters with weapon runes that don't suck.
We're now free to poke around the ruins of El-Eal, but several other islands have also opened up for visiting. So we'll visit them!
Nay is... much the same as always, and so is the music. It has a blacksmith who can sharpen up to level 3 (something we really want!) but it costs 1500 per character so we should probably hold off on anyone we don't plan on using/getting into fights with (coughANDARCcough).
Stop being so racist.
Callbacks!
All the young people of Nay have left for other islands... It's so lonely without them.
Move after them, then.
Also holy mackerel that's a lot of mackerel! Twenty of them, in fact. Boy, I wonder what we could do with 20 mackerel.
The regular inventory also contains some interesting things. The Fur Cape is available as a rare find in Razril, and I already have a few; it ups DEF by 3. Crab Stew heals you and boosts MDF for three turns; the Puffer Fish Sashimi and Seared Bonito do the same for Magical and Physical attacks, respectively. I'm going to load Andarc up with this shit and then sit around giggling whenever he needs healing.
My clever plan is going to backfire when he goes through battles without needing healing because he's still the tankiest tank I have and will be taking single digit damage from most attacks.
Here's That Fucking Place. You know. Home to the biggest scumbags in the Island Nations. (And probably the worst music, too.)
Fortunately we won't need to deal with Chief Pointy Eared Bastard of Chief Douchebag this time, so at least we're unlikely to get thrown in jail.
Again.
I mean, I know I'm strong, but I'm no match for the Chief of Na-Nal Island!
does this mean the previous one is dead
please tell me it means the previous one is dead
I'll, uh, pass, thanks.
The island may be populated by assholes, but the next generation here seems to have the right idea. Maybe there's hope for this place after all.
There's also this guy, who only shows up on water days.
Yes... And you are?
My name's Eugene. I heard you'd be coming to the island. So, what can we do for you? I'd like to join you guys. I wanna get stronger.Eugene got a taste for blood under Lazlo's command and now he can't get enough!
(Don't ask me how that happened, I know I never brought him anywhere.)
Plus, I heard you guys were heading for Kooluk to destroy some Rune Cannons. Well, we are after Rune Cannons, but...Name. Portrait. Just give in. It's inevitable.
Hmm... What do you think, Andarc? I'll leave it up to you, Kyril."Since we both know you'd ignore me if I told you not to anyway."
Okay, you can come with us! The more the merrier, right?There we go!
Great! I'll do my best to help!Eugene is still a spear user, and still has his Firefly Rune equipped, meaning enemies will prefer to target him when possible - so he makes excellent bait. Fortunately for him, he also has one of the highest PDF scores in the game, so it works out. As a spearman, he comes with the Deflect Missiles skill which I'm sure needs no detailed explanation.
It's not all great, though - on the downside, he is slow, has a movement range of 5 and doesn't get Godspeed, which is not so good for a melee unit.
Na-Nal does have one good thing going for it: Killer Orbs! It's a lot of money, but I couldn't resist Rita's pleading look so I bought one anyway.
Finally, Iluya. No rain this time! And the rebuilding is going well, by the looks of it. (The music is still sombre, though.)
But thanks to everyone's efforts, it's become a perfectly beautiful place. Look at that building over there, with its beautiful row of sparkling windows!
Nataly is helping.
Well, I originally left Nay just because I was bored, but now I'm seriously trying to help.
Good for you! You're setting a great example for those assholes over at Na-Nal.
And more callbacks!
I'm sure the buns are very tasty, but the important thing is that they sell higher level Force Beads as rare finds. I like it!
I also like coming back to a nice big heap of