Part 35: Tonight, Iodine in Hell!

Last time...



...we got some new clothes and named our army.

And it was about time, too. As a brief reminder for those of you who followed my previous threads, by the time we hit update 35...

...in Suikoden IV, we had just chopped off Snowe's head for the second time and were about to start reclaiming Obel.

...in Suikoden Tactics, we had picked up Corselia and were setting out for Haruna.

...and in Final Fantasy VI, the world had frickin' ended and we had just finished breaking the game into tiny pieces by learning how to stop time.

I was not kidding when I said this game is long!

Incidentally, in maybe one more chapter, the combined size of the text files for my updates will break 1 MB of pure text. As a comparison, the Suikoden IV and Tactics threads in their entirety (45 and 60 updates, respectively) are just around 8-900 KB. I wasn't kidding when I said it had a lot of words, either!

'course, that's including things like tags and image addresses... but still.

Works for me.

Anyway. Suikoden V. Raja would say that even if we named it the Raja Sucks Army, but we'll let that slide for now.

Now, then, Prince. Let's talk about our first military operation as the "Iodine in Hell Army."

I hope we all find this just as amusing in another 50 updates.

Now that Barows is gone, I'll take over the organization of our forces. In the meantime, I want you to go to Lordlake. This is very important, Your Highness. For I feel... the fate of Lordlake is intertwined with the very fate of Falena itself.

I feel you're full of shit, but Frey seems to disagree with me, because he nods and then the scene ends.



We're going to be putting off Lordlake for as long as we can, but before we get on with the interesting things, we'll do the usual rounds. Feel free to listen to the Raftfleet theme while we're working.

Good luck with Lordlake, Your Highness. I'll do whatever I can from here.

We'll see about that next time. Maybe.

That old coot must have been hiding the Dawn Rune all this time because he couldn't figure out how to bear it! He's a damn fool... and his foolishness has thrown Falena into chaos!

I'm sure someone will be along and thump him upside the head soon.

The people of Lordlake have been suffering from the Queen's actions for two years. It won't be easy to win them over to our side. But we have to try.

Don't rush me!

You can walk to Lordlake from here.

But I don't wanna!

That bastard! I'll drag him to Lordlake so he can kneel down and beg for forgiveness.

...on other hand, there are some very compelling arguments to be made for going to Lordlake right away... but no, I shall remain strong.



Along with Frey's new clothes, we also have a new, updated load screen to show them off.


He'll probably take his army across that revolving bridge. But if that bridge didn't work...

Everyone else has set up shop around the Dahak, which has more than enough room to accommodate them all. Boz gives us a little sidequest hint.

Suddenly I find myself upon a ship, for reasons distressingly unknown... But I hardly mind! As long as I get to trounce those FILTHY GODWIN DEVILS, I'd travel to the VERY CENTER OF HELL!

Egbert doesn't, but that's okay.

These confounded DoReMi Elves! Why must they avoid me so? Oh, shall I ever be able to collect them all? Of course I shall! The world of art and music demands it! I shall not fail my muse!

DoReMon: Gotta catch 'em all.

...

I kind of hate you now, Cornelio.


I had no problem storing all the things I brought!

And as promised, our storage is accessible from here as well.


I'm also a student in the art of war, but these past few days have shown me just how little I really know!

Lelei and Cius (off screen to the right) can be found just outside.

This is the first time I've been aboard a ship this big! It's a lot different inside from all those military ones!

Yes.

It's better.

Cius is standing to the left of the stairs leading down to the rest of the fleet. On the other side, we have Takamu.

Lord Barows was hiding the Dawn Rune... Why would he do such a thing?

Because he's literally Stalin, that's why.





Your outfit today certainly is an improvement. I dare say it has a faint scent of refinement to it. So faint as to be nearly imperceptible, yet nevertheless...

Gee. Thanks.



Nah, we tried that a while back and it wasn't much fun. I want a castle on solid ground this time.


I love a busy city, though, so this is great!

Logg, just like before, will sail us around the place and we'll take him up on that soon, but there are some people we need to talk to here first. The NPCs have the same lines as before...



...including this idiot who apparently can't see that she's standing right there...


I've never even met General Guisu!

...but this is new. We can't recruit him yet, but he'll be sticking around here until we can.



The inn also has new guests.

There was a big battle after that, so I was worried about you. What a relief to see you again!

Would you like to join us?

Frey even gets a new portrait to go with his fancy outfit.

Join you? What do you mean?
...
...
Wow! You're the Prince?! Amazing!
I'm sorry, but we have to find that amazing wizard I told you about!

Sadly, we can't pick up these two until we find the wizard.

The other innkeepers won't let me stay if Ernst is with me. But this innkeeper is really nice!

Even worse, we're still hours from being able to do so, so they'll hang around here for a long time, taunting us.


It was very painful, but it needed to be done. I'm glad I could help expose Lord Barows.

There's someone a lot less stubborn in the next room, though!

Even so... I still need to pay the price for what I've done.

Then how about joining us?

Your Highness... Are you sure you want a guy like me to join your cause?

I'm truly honored to have this opportunity to help you, Your Highness!

And then we had a drunk guy.

I'll make preparations immediately, Your Highness!



Norden walks off, bottle still in hand. He's a B-rank infantry/combat ship commander, which is somewhat surprising for a guy with a bottle welded to his hand, but not terribly exciting.



But I've saved the best for last. Oboro's ship is now docked in Raftfleet, and having gone through his entire sidequest in Rainwall, he should now be prepared to join us!



...if we could only find him.

And neither is Fuyo. Something's not right...



How the fuck did you get here?! (music)

You...

I'm shocked to see you here... Mismar.

That's not my name! Why are you here?!

I'm here to speak with someone, but actually, this is rather fortunate. I must speak with you, too.
Will you rejoin us?

What?! You're kidding! Why should I do what you ask?! I'm the Prince's bodyguard! And that means protecting him at any cost! ANY cost!

I see.
...So if His Highness were to disappear, would you rejoin us?

No! You can't! I won't allow you to get close to him! If you try anything, ANYTHING at all, I'll kill you! I swear!

Your eyes... just now... They're the same as ours. Can't you tell?

I don't care WHAT you say! I'll protect the Prince till my last breath!

And I'll protect you.



No.

Prince...



I wondered where those guys had gone off to.

?!



You're finally back.

Indeed. One moment...



That won't be necessary. I know who you are.

Oh, is that so?

I have something I wish to speak with you about.

Ah, yes, so it seems! Anyway, if it's detective work, I'd be more than happy to listen!

...No. Forget it. Let's leave it for another day.





Detective?

Hmm?

Thank you!

For what?
Ah, you were surely thanking me for the opportunity to witness a hard-boiled sleuth in action, I bet! Right?
Swift investigations, privacy guaranteed, nothing but the straight facts!



Crisis averted, the detectives go back to their ship, and Frey, naturally, runs after them. (music)


Oh, sorry. Guess I fell asleep. Must be catching bad habits from Shigure.

Heeh.

Where did that little brat find out about us...?
Ah, who cares! I've got better things to do than waste time thinkin' about it. Thinkin's a pain!

You really are a terrible influence, you know that?



Most importantly, however.

I'd like you to join us.

Me? Join the Iodine in Hell Army? Really?

Here it is, the moment of truth!

Hmm, maybe... Just maybe. Maybe I can't just stay indifferent to what's going on anymore.

And... we pass!

Fuyo! Starting today, we'll be providing His Highness the Prince with our utmost cooperation!

Wh-What?! Right now?!
Well, if that's what you wish, Detective Oboro, then that's what you'll get! Shigure, I expect you to work hard on this move, too!

What the hell?! Ugh... What a pain!

Umm... Is it all right if I take a pass? I'm sorry, but I'd rather not get involved in fighting.

Sagiri...

Well... I can't force you. But you don't have to leave. You can stay with us, same as always. Sound all right, Shigure?

That means I'll be forced to do Sagiri's job, too, right? Ugh... What a pain!

Sorry...



That's a good boy!

Your Highness... Starting today, the Oboro Detective Agency works exclusively for you!



Hell yeah.

Fuyo and Shigure join along with him, leaving only Sagiri...



...who has her own reasons. If we're really lucky, we might even find out what they are, but that will be a long time from now.



Oboro's place has two functions, one of which I don't care much for, but I'll show it off quickly.

You know, I do a lot of waiting around while Detective Oboro and the others are out investigating, right? So I started playing this game just to pass the time. Now I'm hooked!

That sounds familiar, somehow...



Now, we can play Feitas with Fuyo, which sounds a bit like some kind of cooking show or something. We also get to listen to this music while we're doing it.



Feitas is about removing tiles; you pick two of the same, and they disappear, giving you a certain number of points. Most are worth 20, some are worth more. I don't care to remember which. Runes are special tiles that do... some shit I also don't care about.







More importantly!



Oboro himself does exactly the same thing as all the other detectives in the series. You pay a small amount of money, he disappears for a bit, and when he returns, you get some minor details about the character's past or personality. Blue characters are ones we've met but not recruited yet; picking one of them lets you research their whereabouts. We already know all of these (Sagiri is right there!) so we're going to be picking names in white.


I'm prepared to lay down my life for you, to make up for my family's misdeeds.

With every available character in Raftfleet recruited, it's time we made ourselves a party and headed out.

Okay, I'll go with you!

We'll be bringing all our newest recruits, and some other people to fill out the roster.

Aw, man. What a pain.

I gotta make sure you stay out of trouble!

Why, of course, Your Highness! I wouldn't miss this for the world!

Hear me, filthy devils! My wrath shall rain upon you! To WAR!

I shall chart us a course at once!

Oh? You've got a use for an old geezer like me?



Something like this!



New recruits tend to come with two D rank skills equipped. We still can't go above C rank, but it's a good thing, in a sense - upgrading skills is expensive. I dip into the party funds to get Shigure a level of agility, but that's all I'm willing to do right now.



Also, the boots we picked up last time. Not too bad!



Then, we have a lot of other stuff to go through. Kyle is probably the best Magic Sword user in the game, and unlike Suikoden III, it can be very effective. The damage is calculated using your Magic Sword skill, your affinity for the appropriate element (so water in this case), and the strength of the spell.

[Element] Sword
(Each of the five normal elements has a separate magic sword rune, each named after the second tier rune of that type, so Flowing Sword, Rage Sword and so on.)
1: [Element] Sword - Attack gains [element] property; damage up 10%, Self.
2: [Element] Guard - Raises [element] resistance, self.
3: True [Element] - Attack gains [element] property; damage up 20%, Self.

Right now we don't have a lot of skills, but Kyle has an A rank in water, which means a 20% boost multiplied by 1.2 for the True Flowing spell, or a 44% damage increase when using the third level spell. Not too shabby, though a Power of Boost Rune would still be better right now.



The Raftfleet armour store has upgraded its wares, but we are low on funds and can't outfit everyone as well as we'd like. Instead, we'll just have to move along.



Haud is the closest harbour to Lunas North Woods.



We need Takamu for this, but at this point he doesn't have a lot of competition for the support slots.

Yikes! What was that?

It was exactly the thing I wanted to hear, is what it was!



Urda is waiting a bit up the hill, but we're thoroughly ignoring her...



...and heading for the top, where we first saw Logg and Lun. Here's a familiar face!

I'm glad to see you. This is more meat than I can eat myself, and it would be disrespectful to just let it rot.



I have not seen you in a long time. How have you spent your days since?
...
...
So, you left the House of Barows. That's good. Barows was not an honest man.
As you can see, I have been living here. I survive off what I hunt. Some might call it a primitive life. It fits me, though. There are enough dangerous animals to keep me happy.

Could I ask for your help again?

As with Oboro, Zegai requires a certain level of affection before he'll join. If you don't have what it takes, you get one point every time you come back after a new plot event, but if we've played our cards just right...

Hmph... Very well. As long as you promise that you are not associated with the House of Barows anymore, I can rejoin you. The beasts here are growing familiar. Perhaps it will be good for me to find new opponents.

...it's possible to persuade him on the first attempt.

It's pretty easy to forget or miss talking to Zegai in the Sun Palace dungeon, and it's not entirely obvious what he wants you to say, but he'll respect you if you tell him you don't know when he'll get out instead of saying you hope it won't be long. Since we did that, we're all clear!

Zegai is as you left him; he retains his gear from the escape, and his stats are as before, strong but slow. We'll bring him with us on our next mission, since he hasn't had much time to shine.



Now then, it's off to the revolving bridge.


It's quite frustrating, as you might imagine! Of course, there's nothing to be done about it, since the bridge can only be operated from the opposite shore. But I wonder if there's not a way to disable the bridge completely... I heard that the inventor who designed this bridge lives in Estrise.

It seems we have our next destination!

Coming up... the most awesomest thing evar.

No, really. That's a direct quote.