Part 17: Rolling on the River

After saying goodbye to Haswar and Lym, we head straight to Raftfleet. Not because we're in any particular hurry, mind; it's just that there's nothing else left to do in the area. (music)



The camera pans north up to the big dragon-headed ship we saw last time.

Wh-What're we gonna do? Your mother's gonna be hollerin' like mad...

Don't turn into a sissy on me now, Pop! You're making me feel like crying, now, too!

Our prisoners don't seem very enthusiastic about it. I wonder why!

That's enough, you to! Let's go!



Well I was going to, but then this furry spectacled spectacle showed up.

Hey! Meroon!

Oh, Lun!



Can't Meroon! Kinda busy today...

Nuoh... Too bad...

Next time, all right?

Okay!



The little furry thing runs off. Wouldn't be a Suikoden if they didn't introduce a new race of furries! I don't think I'm going to like these as much as the ducks...

It's rare to see a beaver out and about in these parts.

A beaver?

A Queen's Knight who ain't heard o' beavers?! Who letcha in them ranks, anyway?!

Hey do you want to add another count of treason to that list

I'm still rather new to Falena.

Beavers live deep in the southern mountains. They're always working on wood projects. They can be friendly and social, but lately, very few of them have been out.

Meroon comes here all the time to play! She doesn't like to go to Lordlake, though...



Let's get going.

Aw, shucks! Guess we're really goin', then!

You idiot! This is NOT the time to give up, Pop!

No, save that until your wife finds out.



So, Raftfleet. Raftfleet is made up of both boats and actual rafts, with walkways between them.



Most of the boats have a little cabin like this, although most of them are less interesting as they don't sell salt.



Or have people with portraits in them.

Me? My name is Sairoh. I'm just a retired, old man. Not much to my days but fishing and the occasional game of Blind Man's Bluff.

Ho ho ho ho ho...

Well, he seems to be enjoying himself.

I was a merchant in the past... But the world was practically new then! Ho ho ho ho ho...

I can't wait to recruit you so I can have my own personal salt dispenser.


Had our run-ins with the Sun Palace because o' it, too. Sayin' we're settin' a bad example bein' too free an' easy! But when Raja became Commander o' the Royal Navy, we reached a kind o' understandin'. They recognized our independence an' agreed to us not payin' 'em taxes. Things've been just fine since then.

What a bunch of freeloaders!



This is probably the nicest thing we're going to find here (that's not salt.) Another 40 hours down the line when I find a fourth one of these, I'll be very happy to have picked it up! Aside from that, this ship isn't very important right now.

There's also a second chest in this shot, on the boat to the right. It holds another rune piece, a Fire Sealing one. It sets your fire defence to S and your water defence to E (so, no damage taken and +50% damage taken, respectively). It's not quite as good.

Suikoden V also has a Water Sealing rune, which does the same thing in the other direction. Fire Sealing showed up in II and III, but Water Sealing is new for this game.

Let's get on with the tour.


Lun! What're ya doin'?! Why are ya with the Prince?

Well, er... It's kinda complicated.

Not that complicated. We're taking these two idiots to get keelhauled, is all.

There's also a dude in a yellow hat to the right.

Man: Hm?! Is that Logg and Lun ya got with ya there? You two been causin' trouble, have ya?! Oy! When are ya two gonna stop causin' Kisara all this trouble?!

What's it to ya?!

Okay already! I hear ya!

This guy would much prefer us dragging the two of them back to Sol-Falena and throwing them in the dungeon so he can hit on Logg's wife in peace.


Make sure ya watch your step. The rockin', ha know? Of course, we're used to it. We start feelin' queasy on dry land, 'cause it don't sway about!

Raftfleet can be a bit confusing to navigate, but there are signs pointing where you need to go to get to Raja's ship, the Dahak, which is the most important location in this area.



Some of the paths lead to dead ends with nothing in them.



Also, there are times when you have to pass through a building to continue, which makes it take more time getting around than it probably needs, but I don't really mind that much. It's a neat looking place with all these colourful boats floating around.


But if ya jump too high, it might start a-splashin'! Plonk! All wet!

Children in JRPGs tend to be terrible characters, but I like Suikoden V's NPCs. Could be that most of them are nicer people than the adults...



...although the adults in Raftfleet are, indeed, quite friendly as well.

Old Man: Met the Admiral, have ya? She's the pride an' joy o' Raftfleet!

Can't say I enjoy typing up their dialogue that much, though.


Er, I mean, what're ya doin' with Lun?

I swear I didn't touch her!



Raftfleet has all kinds of stores, including a smith who can sharpen up to level five. After returning from Stormfist, the smith in Sol-Falena also upgrades to level five (used to be three before we left), but they don't tell you that, so there's a good chance you won't get around to sharpening until now. (I knew, which is why my stuff is already upgraded, as you can see here.)


This here's a little token o' goodwill. Here, take it, will ya?

The boat we're standing on here is the item store, and it sells fish badges...



...but we don't need to buy any because the nice lady hands us one for free.



Fish badges increase MDF a bit. In II, they had a slight chance to nullify magic damage, but it doesn't look like it does that here.



Such a nice looking place!



And here's the Dahak. The Dahak is huge, and even with the camera zoomed all the way out, we can't really see much of it.



TEETH.



Yeah, I like it!



It has some big-ass wheels. Rune powered, presumably - I don't think Suikoverse really does the whole steam thing.

Which also means that another 1000 years down the line or so, they won't have steampunk. Maybe runepunk? But I think that would be even less "punk" than actual steampunk.



Raftfleet's tutors are hanging out inside, and upstairs...



...there's a really nice looking bath. As far as I know, it's only for decoration; we can't actually use it.



On the highest floor...



...we finally find the person we're looking for.



That was a compliment.

I like Raja. There's not enough badass grandmas in video games. (music)



That's me. Hello.

That cute little kid I knew is this big already?





A well informed badass grandma. Be still, my heart!



Logg? If you're going to hide behind someone in this outfit, you should probably pick Georg.


She helped fight off the Armes Army when they invaded eight years ago. She's a national hero.

What?! You mean this is the famous "Admiral Raja"?!

Of course! We all know names are only good for one use in this universe. (music)

(Unless it's Sarah, in which case fuck you, I guess.)

Well, that was a long time ago. These days, I'm just an old lady trying to live a quiet life on the river.
Oh, yeah. Let me introduce you. This lady is my second-in-command.

How do you do? My name is Kisara. It's very nice to met you.

And, for reasons that escape me, she's also the wife of that idiot hiding over there.

Say hello, Logg.

Ack!

Yikes!



Looks like these two caused some more trouble, eh? Tell me what they did this time.

I'm a little curious about how many times they've been dragged back here for equally silly stunts.

Anyway, one exposition fade later...



Logg...

Well, Dear... Ya see... uh...

Why can't you think just once?! Your haphazard schemes get us all into trouble!

Ya gotta forgive me! Lunas is all holy an' stuff, so I figure'd we'd have the loot all ta ourselves! Ya gotta admit, no one else'd thunk o' a plan like that!

Nobody else would have thought of it because it's such a terrible idea!

I-I'm sorry, Mum! I tried to stop him, but then he explained it, and I kinda got excited, too...

Well, that's too bad... You're old enough now to know better.

Yes, Mum...

Kisara, you can discipline them as much as you like in the back. You have my permission.

Thank you, Admiral.


You, too, Lun.

*moaning* D-Discipline...?! Nooo...!

Suck it up, Pop. We brought this on ourselves.

Logg and Lun disappear out the back with Kisara.



I'm sorry about all this. And I'm sorry you went through all this trouble just to keep the matter between us.

It's all the fault of those two lunkheads. You don't have anything to be sorry about.

That's not exactly true. I'm the one who gave the order to gather gold. Of course, I didn't say they could take gold dust from a holy land.

How come you need gold all of a sudden?

There's been a lot of demand from the nobles for raw gold. It's sent the market price through the roof.

The nobles want gold...?

Must be trying to hire mercenaries.

Seems likely. Mercenaries prefer raw gold to gold coins.
The Barows faction seems especially desperate. They've been trying to scrape up mercenaries ever since the Sacred Games, by fair means or foul. I don't know what they have in mind, but you don't gather mercenaries for a nice, civil chat.

But I'm sure Her Majesty the Queen and His Majesty Ferid have been aware of this for quite some time. It's not something you guys have to worry about. So, chin up!
Since you came all this way, you should take a look around Raftfleet if you're not in a hurry. It's not the most sophisticated place in the world, but people here are so alive and vibrant, I doubt you'll get bored.

I wouldn't mind a look. I think we'll do just that.

Or we would, if we hadn't already. We're free to run back out now, but I'm curious about that "discipline" they were talking about...

Kisara's already started laying down the law on those two! They should start crying any second now!

Oh dear. Let's listen in, shall we?



Lun: Yuuuuuck! These guts smell like puke! I'm gonna reek for days!

Kisara: Stop your complaining, and get back to work! You should be grateful you got off this easily! You're not leaving here until you've cleaned a thousand barfish!

Logg: Uuuuugh!!!

Lun: Aaaaack!!!

I'm starting to feel very slightly sorry for those two.

But only very slightly.

Raja has an explanation for us.


When dried, barfish are absolutely delicious, and they last months without spoiling! But no one likes to clean them -- their bones and scales are hard, and their innards smell like rotten waterweed! Whenever we need to punish anyone, we send 'em right over to the barfish! Heh heh heh...

"Barfish" is such a great name.

But the fun doesn't end there. We can go listen in some more, so let's!

Kisara: Hey, you missed a scale!

Logg: So? Ain't nobody gonna notice after these've been dried--

Kisra: Hmph! I don't think I care for your attitude! How about I add another 200 barfish to your pile?

Logg: No! No! I'll be gettin' that scale off! Don'tcha worry! It'll be the cleanest barfish ya ever did see!

Lun: A lotta good fightin' back did ya, idiot...




Argh, it's a cryin' shame! A waste! I'm sure ya agree, huh, Your Highness?

But since we've explored the place well enough already, it's about time we went home. Nothing of interest happens on the trip back, so we're cutting straight to the palace...



...where there's a welcoming committee waiting for us.

What, only Ferid and Kyle? That's hardly a welcome.

There's nothing "only" about Ferid.

Ouch. That hurts.

Ha ha ha ha ha! Sorry about that. I thought it'd be better if we kept the little matter of your visit to Raftfleet quiet.

Miakis filled me in on what happened. Thank you for taking care of that.
Georg, Lyon, sorry for all the extra trouble.

Nah, it was hardly what I'd call "trouble."

And we got to meet lots of new people, and it was fun, too.

Ha ha ha! That's good, then!
I'd like to hear what you have to say, too, but you must be tired. Why don't you go ahead and get some rest now? Oh, but before you do, you'd better say hello to your mother. I think she's in her chamber now.

Well, I guess I'll take a bath and freshen up, then.

Oh, I'll join you!

Kyle...

Sorry. Just kidding.

You'd better be.



Only several times today, Your Majesty.

I'll just go make myself comfortable in the guard room for now.

Oh, Georg, by the way... Come visit me later. Sometime this evening would be fine.

Got it.



We'll get to it shortly.



First though, Kyle is idling away outside.

...Oh, c'mon! You know what I'm talkin' about! The purification rite! You must have taken a peek, huh? Am I right? I'm right, right?!
Hey, who looked the hottest? Well, no need to ask, really -- it had to be Sialeeds!
...You're kidding me. You DIDN'T look?!
WHY THE HELL NOT?! That was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

If by that you mean that if Sialeeds caught you, you most certainly wouldn't be doing it again for one reason or another...

I can't believe you passed that up! Damn! I gotta say, you just let down every man in Falena...

Every man in Falena is a big pervy pervert and I'm going to tell Sialeeds you said that.



But first, we shouldn't let mummy dearest wait too long. There's a path behind the drapes at the back of the throne room...



...leading to the queen's quarters.

All right...


Isn't Lyon with you?
I see... She wanted to give us some time alone, did she?

Video
Music



*nod nod*

Come on. Come a little closer.


What did you think? They're nice people, aren't they?

Well, Haswar seems a bit flaky, but...

Yes.

Actually, nearly everyone we met was nice to us! It was just that one grumpy guy.


And... that day might not be very far away, I'm afraid.
Gizel is coming the day after tomorrow. I want you to know we're not just waiting around without any plan. We're taking every measure we can. We're certainly not going to let Godwin have everything his way.



Frey nods.

Now, go back to your room and get some rest, okay?

We're just about to do that, when...








I want you both to know how truly proud I am to have you.

It's all very sweet, but I can't shake the feeling that I'm going to be an orphan when I wake up.


Huh? Your face is all red...
Well, I guess it's none of my business, then...

Nnnno.

...

All right, that's enough of that. Let's go.


But we can discuss that later. After you go see Lym, you should get some rest.

I don't know if seeing Lym is actually required, but as always, we're not in the business of being a terrible person, so of course we'll pay her a visit.


I mean... Well, I don't know why I said "really," really. I was just, uh... Never mind.

Okay then.

Trying to enter Sialeeds' room or talking to the other maid...

Maid: Oh, Prince Frey. Lady Sialeeds is in the bath at the moment.

...both result in the same line.


How was Raftfleet? I wish I could have gone with you!

Lym is up next. There's not much to this.

Hmm... I can't believe I'm actually getting engaged! None of this seems real to me...



Welcome back, Prince!

Miakis doesn't have anything of interest to say either. Finally, we'll chat up the maid by the window.

Maid: *sigh* I don't know... Will Master Gizel look after the Princess properly? Oh, I hope he will.

If he doesn't, someone will find him floating face down in the Feitas.

Maid: The Princess seems to be in denial about the engagement. She's just refusing to accept it. I don't blame her, though...

The other one isn't much more cheerful.



On the other side of the palace, there's a familiar face.

What am I doing here? Ferid summoned me. He wanted to speak with me about something. Though, I don't know what he wants to discuss. I just got here myself.

We'll leave him to get settled in.


Gizel will bring even more power and glory to Falena!

The rest of the knights are hanging around the guard room like the bunch of slackers they are.

I'm glad you made it back safely, Your Highness. Is it true that people from Raftfleet desecrated the holy land? If so, they msut be punished to the maximum extent ot the law. A public execution would seem appropriate. The leader of Raftfleet must also be held accountable.

Whoa, calm down there!

Disturbances of order weaken our nation. Any affront to the royal family must have swift, severe consequences.

You're getting creepy and I don't want to talk to you any more.

Welcome home, Your Royal Highness. It's good to have you back.

Better.

Georg is hanging around the back as usual.

You look tired. Things are gonna get busy soon, so make sure you get plenty of rest.

That sounds suspiciously like instructions on how to progress in the game to me. What do you think, Lyon?

Prince, are you ready to turn in for the night?

That's not helping!



Truth to be told though, there's not much left to do now. We can't get into the dungeon any more, since the guy who opens it has disappeared, so that's all the named people we can get to.

Yes, I am.

All right, Your Highness. Good night.

Lyon leaves, and Frey heads straight for his bed.



A while later... (music)

Is that... Is that why you invited me to Falena? To ask me to do that...?

I can't say that wasn't part of the reason... If that time ever comes, I'll do it myself if I have to. No matter how hard it would be...
But if, for whatever reason, I can't, someone else will have to do it. We must be prepared for anything.

So you want me to be your backup plan, is that it?

Yes. You're the only one I can trust completely.



I hate this.

I do, too.



We may not know exactly what they were discussing, but after lines like that, I don't think anyone expects it to lead to happy things.