Part 5: Chapter 6

Before leaving the generator room, I chug a Tonic during a fight with a Hound and take the extra Rope.



I backtrack through the garden and the lightning hallways, and then take the shortcut door back here. The lights are all on, now, so exploring is much easier. Additionally, the Wax Candles are no longer necessary.



I abandon the extra Rope in favor of another Tonic that was sitting here. Also, corpse.

"Tread not on the patterned floor..."

This warning is a bit late, it seems. It was warning me about the fire traps.



I don't have any Wood left, so I can't grab the Club down there. It's okay, though. It would've been nice earlier against normal-type enemies, but it's going to be vastly obsolete by the end of this update.



Let's go check on that room from way back when. Maybe the lights took care of the shadow problem in there.



Well, I'm not getting kicked out anymore, but... we have a new problem.

Just off screen to the right is another Tonic.



So, Armor. It's worth about 42 experience. And it hits for around that, too. Praying for your first attack isn't a bad idea, because it's got over 100 HP.



(Upper Floor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A8O5KA3m5o#t=4m32s)

So, we're in another new section of the Mansion.

Kazuo: A silent cat...

Cats don't do anything but meow. Even though they're supposed to be silent. Eh, whatever.



Kazuo: A wide chasm...

Turns out I was mistaken about the Rope. It does have one other notable use.



Sadly, since I left the spare behind, Akiko and Emi are going to have to hang out back with that cat while the others look around for a bit.

Kazuo: A courtyard is below.

Yes, we're supposed to go down that pit.

Kazuo: 2 pegs? A Rope won't work.

Umm... why not?



Whatever. Let's check out this room first.



Looks... sticky.

Corpse, Pick, locked Diary, Note, Silver Axe, Skeleton. The nearest corpse says:

"Beware! Four steps and you will be trapped..."



These are all warnings about the muck in this room. You can take four steps safely, but a fifth will result in the character becoming stuck to the spot until someone comes to rescue them. Fortunately, the rooms are all built in just such a way that you can safely take four steps if you figure them out ahead of time. Also, stepping on a plain piece of floor will reset the step count.

I was considering another vote here, but the update is way too short to end now. So, let's send Kazuo on alone.

Kazuo: We better split up from here.

Taro: Take care.

Kazuo grabs the Pick easily enough...

Kazuo: A diary... it's locked!

Kazuo: A note: Takashi, I discovered something terrible! Lock the diary and hide the key i- Oh no! The most important part is torn!

Kazuo: A skeleton!

As I'm heading right...



Kazuo has to face a new enemy alone!

Walls are fairly weak in attack power, hitting for around 10 to 20 damage. But they can inflict Fear/Curse. This doesn't have an immediate effect on a party member, but after the battle ends and a certain number of steps are taken, the curse kicks in and they can't move until they're healed with the +Kit. Very hairy situation in a place like this.

Fortunately, Kazuo dispatches the Wall in a few turns without succumbing to the curse and gains 27 experience.



A Note, Fresco and a Long Sword. Since Kazuo performed so well, I think I'll let him have the sword.



Oh yes. OH YES. That works. Kazuo went from one of the weakest hitting to the hardest hitting character.

...Oh, right, the dusty Fresco. A Vacuum/Camera combo works wonders.

"3-8 My wife... killed... our child... by... by accident..."

Oooookay.

Taro: A note: Takashi, Courtyard... reach with... Hung on 2 pegs...

This refers to an item which will let us go down into that pit.

So, let's go back out-



Zuh? Hey dude, what's up?



KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT



All hail the powers of Pray! 35 experience.



Back outside, I separate Kazuo from the others and retrieve Akiko and Emi. Break time's over, ladies.



After burning a rope...



We come to a door which is unlocked with Emi's key, a Note, and another Pick.

Kazuo: A note: Takashi- You can walk on sticky floors with boots. Pull out stuck friends.

Once we find these boots, one person will no longer be susceptible to the four step limit. As for the rest of the group...?



Ahh, fresh air. And a Note.



Kazuo just says this randomly. Nothing is going on at the moment.

Kazuo: A note with fresh ink! To those who follow, The Diary Key is hidden. A clue is in the basement. You must escape this house of residing evil!

(Residing Evil. Sound kind of familiar?)

Kazuo: This is meant for us!





More immovable bronze statues and an unlockable door.



FireX, Doll, Corpse. The doll doesn't do anything.

Corpse: "Pick... wouldn't have been washed away..."

Since Emi's not in the current party, we'll try the open right doorway first.



Skeleton.

Kazuo: A skeleton with a note: Coffin in the basement... Is this from the diary?

We also meet our first recolored enemy in here.



Banes are much, much, much tougher than Wisps. They're also hard to hurt; even with my current weapons, most characters can't do over 10 damage without Pray. 40 experience each, which isn't bad, but they hit so hard that it makes you wonder if it's worth it.



This happens to everyone down here because I wasn't paying attention to the sticky floor. I manage to get Taro and Kazuo out of it, but Asuka is stuck for a little while until someone can go more than four spaces and pick her up.



I decide to send in the girls to see if they have any more luck with this door.



Emi: A note: The hole... Ladder... No... Rope ladder...

Right. Anyway.



Over here is a Soul Sword. Is it good?





Oh yeah. It's good.



Back down into the muck, which is a little more manageable here.



We'll worry about that axe in a bit.



Armors are wandering around down here too, just to make your life a little more interesting. A little Pray goes a long way when your team is split up like this.



That door won't open from this side. We've seen doors like this a couple of times, but they're fairly rare. Another idea ported over to Resident Evil.







Team Girl is really kicking ass down here. You can't see it from the pictures, but they've taken down three out of four of the Armors down here, two Banes, and a Man(!).



Lots of goodies in here. Note, Rune Spear, Tonic, and Boots.

Now that we've found the boots and are able to unlock that left door for a shortcut back, we'll go grab Asuka out of the bog. First, though.

Akiko: A note: Shogo, Enter the basement by the courtyard... Bring medicine... Look! Blood trails over to that door!

Well, I guess we can safely say the worst is behind us.



On our way back from picking up Asuka, we find the Heavy Axe from before, and another Soul Sword.





Don't worry, Akiko is keeping the Shiv. I just wanted to show off the power of that axe.



South of the eastern entrance into the Boots room, we find...



A plot device. I mean, Rope Ladder.











Well, everyone, I'm calling in another vote. We're going back to the courtyard pit, but... I'm only sending in two people to scout out the area. So, who's it going to be this time?

I'm not sure when I'll be updating again, probably next weekend at the latest, so voting can continue until my next update. See you next time!