Part 58: Dragon Omelette

Going back to the Rage Chamber so soon after the last trip may seem a little boring, but there is still something waiting for us there.



This time, we're taking this quest. It's one of the few quests in the game that you must accept before carrying it out - otherwise you'll never be able to get it done.



After taking the Rage Dragon Egg quest, the next time you enter the Obel ruins you'll be transported directly to the Rage Chamber. There is no need to go through the first five floors and you don't even have to time your arrival to a fire day. If it were possible to get the Legendary Hammer on this map, you can bet your ass I'd have done so, but alas, no.



The intro looks a lot less impressive with the other plugin.



The quest note warned that the eggs are guarded by the males, but I can't really tell the difference. Most notably, this thing is the highest level thing on the map.



But look what else we have waiting for us! It's been a while. If they can get all the way down here on their own, they're more competent than I give them credit for!



Where the hammer was on our last visit, we will now find the item we seek - the dragon's egg. Opening this chest ends the map regardless of how many enemies you have left...



...and it is in fact possible to send a flyer around the side of the map to grab it without lifting a finger against the mercs (but you may have to tank a hit from the dragon) but of course that is the boring way to handle this and any encounter with these idiots that doesn't end with me kicking tremendous amounts of elfbutt is just a waste, so let's get started on the opposition.



The encounter is actually horribly unfair. There's four of them, and we can bring six people. Even if we count the dragon as being on their side (which technically, as far as the game is concerned, it is, but you'd think it would be interested in keeping the mercs away as well... unless the mercs are environmentalists trying to protect an endangered species from Chiepoo's ruthless exploitation) we still outnumber them. Numbers don't matter much, however, because I'm going to have Lazlo kill everything and use my other character slots for supports and treasure hunting.



Speaking of which!

Hello, Mitsuba. Full of energy as always, it seems.

Whaddaya expect? I'm young!

Yeah...

Come on, don't be so serious. Let's go!

Very well.

Mitsuba, being Mitsuba.



Reinhold decides to seek out a less hyperactive conversation partner.

Hello.

Ha!

Wh-What?!

They were coming at you from behind.

They were? Oh... Thanks.

Now that is a good will building exercise! (Even if there were, of course, absolutely no enemies coming at anyone from behind.)



And of course, Jeremy also has a support with Trishtan.

*cough* Hi.

You just showed up with Princess Flare, right?

Yes. *cough*

You disappeared all of a sudden, so I was a little shocked. I thought maybe you were dead or something.

*cough* Sorry to... *cough* Worry you... *cough*

Hey, hey, don't pass out, now.

I'm fine... *cough*

And that's good will for him, too. Even though this is just another "hey look at Trishtan, what a silly man" thing, I actually rather like it. vv



Jeremy rounds it out by going up and talking to Mitsuba.

!
You!

How've you been?

Not bad... I've been training, you know. You aren't gonna get me this time!

Hah! Wanna bet?

I won't lose to you anymore, because I won't fight with you anymore!

You're no fun.





I think it's best to think of Mitsuba as a very large and very affectionate puppy, except instead of knocking you over and slobbering all over your face, she hits you with a gigantic sword... uh, actually never mind; that didn't sound right. Moving along.



Well aren't you clever



The mercs spend a couple of turns turtling on their platform, but eventually they'll start moving. It's too late to reach the player's starting platform before Flare reaches the chest with the egg if you want to take that route, but of course we're not doing that.



Nope!



Flare just shoots the chest instead. This isn't terribly impressive at this stage of the game.



The dragon starts charging Explosion.



And the red merc pulls a Magic Sword out of his arse and actually deals damage to Lazlo!



This is quite unfavourable!



Die anyway.



Why yes, Lazlo does trivialize most of the game.



Still, he doesn't want to eat that explosion, so he withdraws for now. More than enough time to kill the other three later. As usual, Red and the leader are the strongest of the lot; the archer and lancer tend to deal less damage.



If you allow them to deal damage, that is. And letting them get one hit in on this map was quite enough for Lazlo.



He barely even gets experience for this.



What's worse, the dragon took the opportunity to charge Explosion again, and...



...this time, it goes off!



Lazlo is wounded, but it doesn't matter. Piss off, bitch.



Wow, what a treasure.

Merc leader actually uses a fire rune here (well, would use if we gave her the chance to) and has the skills to go with it, too. Just having an ordinary fire rune and nothing else is pretty crummy for a caster at this stage of the game.



Lazlo gets another turn before the dragon gets to act again and, well, you know how this plays out.



I might have to equip this on someone and show off what it can do at some point.



And since the dragon's level was higher than his, Lazlo actually gets some personal profit out of it as well. Now for the treasure.



fffffff



If you let characters stand around for a few turns, they'll have a comment about it when you hover over them. It's a neat touch, but I don't like hurting fictional people's fictional feelings so I tend to shuffle them around a bit even if they're not doing anything in particular.



Again, the treasure is accessible without flying. I bet someone over at Konami thought they were really clever with those platforms...



This is okay.



This is not okay. As in, it's dead.



This is pretty crappy. We already have a couple that are outright better, as well as a few that are almost as defensive but also give additional boosts to other stats.



It leads to a level-up, though.



And finally, Mitsuba and the guys have been standing around long enough to come up with a unite of their own.

Let us set forth!

Oh, well... Guess I'll join the party!

Unfortunately...



...the formation (and AoE) is identical to the Adonis Attack, meaning it's sort of painful to set up.



There are no enemies left to show it off on, so I'll just grab this...



...and be done with it. Amusingly, spending all that time killing the enemies and digging for gold results in a better rank than simply grabbing the egg without a blow being struck, but, oh well.



You certainly did! That's what you get for having no eyes.



We're booted straight back into Obel after the battle...



...and can go back to Middleport to claim our reward: 10000 Potch and 1200 Skill Points. But hold on a minute!



After beating the mercs yet again, it seems we've really pissed them off.



This quest is somewhat unique in that it actually costs us money - but it's just a fifth of what we got for the quest we have to complete in order for this to show up, and honestly I don't really care about money any more.



We've done a good job today, so let's kick back and relax.

Remember when we brought down Fort El-Eal? Seems so long ago now.

I wouldn't quite put it like that. It's not exactly ancient history.

I suppose so. And the Kooluk are still around. Still...
I hear the Kooluk have been through a lot, too.

Darling...

Oh, no... I didn't mean to defend them or anything like that.

I know.



I suppose so.

Still, we'd be in danger if they set after us again. We have to remain vigilant.



For the honour of Maximilian's Knights!

The only complaint I have about this conversation is that by the time you can see it, Kooluk has essentially collapsed already, but that's a minor quibble. Next up, we settle things with the mercenaries once and for all!