Part 32: Dahngrest

And we're back! To recap, last time we left Heliord with a few objectives: Get to Dahngrest to find out more about Barbos, get some info about forming a guild, and go to the Forest of Keiv Moc to take care of Alexei's request to investigate the plantlife there. Last update ended right outside of Dahngrest. So let's enter it!



Watch the cutscene!



This is Dahngrest, my hometown.





Well, it's the second largest city after the imperial capital. It's run entirely by the guilds.
I'd thought it would be more dark and dank, you know? Like a den of villains.
That's just a prejudice people have about the guilds.
I'm sure the bad reputation of the Blood Alliance is to blame for that.
Yeah. Jeez, Yuri. You make it sound like I'm a villain.
If you're a villain, what does that make him?
Point taken. So, how should we go about tracking down Barbos?



"The Union. A guild collective run by the five so-called 'master guilds.'" ...Right?
Yeah. The Union also serves as the city's government.
But, how is this gonna work? Isn't Barbos' Blood Alliance one of the five master guilds?



...We won't know the answer to that until we ask the Don.
The Don is the boss of the Union, isn't he?
Yep. Don Whitehorse, leader of Altosk, the most powerful of the five master guilds.
All right, let's go see what the Don has to say then. You know the way, right Karol?
Hey wait, he's not the kind of person you can just meet... I don't really know if...
Please?



Dahngrest probably has the best town music in the game. Apart from that, it's a nice town with a few interesting things to check out.



Such as the shop!



Store #2 is in the inn, and has exactly the same stuff as store #1, a fact even the game admits:



Anyway, I buy and/or synth:


Void Attack: Occasionally prevents staggering when getting hit with a physical attack. Can be useful I guess, but I'm not a fan of things that only trigger randomly.


Rise Attack: Expend 1 TP per normal attack to increase your attack's power. This is actually surprisingly good if you can keep up the TP cost. I usually don't equip it, though, as I already run out of TP in dungeons halfway in anyway.
Magic: Increases Magic power by 5%.


Charge Hold: Maintain a charged Mighty Charge when attacking, but missing, an enemy.
Recover


Yes! The Winged Boots are great, as they increase your movement speed in town, the world map and dungeons by a noticable amount.




If we walk (with higher speed!) towards the left exit of town, we can find this building here:



It's just used for a lategame sidequest involving cooking, but if you're playing the PS3 version you can actually enter it.





It's less exciting than it sounds, though, just a couple of NPCs and an ingredient shop that's currently not available.




There's a few more things in Dahngrest, but as we hit the town center, we trigger a cutscene.

Watch the cutscene!



As the party walks along towards Union Headquarters, Karol suddenly stops.



What? Uh, n-nothing.





H-hey! Wh-what's with you?!
Man A: Yeah, I don't see Nan. She already ditch you? Ah hah hah hah!
N-no way! She wouldn't stop nagging so I took off!
This would explain why Karol wasn't too eager to go to Dahngrest.
Man B: So are you the latest guild to take him in? You could do a lot better than that loser!
Man A: All this kid can brag about is the number of guilds he's joined! Oh, right, that's a bad thing.



Man A: Wh-what did you say?!
Such undignified men!
Man B: Shut up!
You sure have a way of saying things. I mean, you're right, but...
Man A: Yeah, you just keep talking...

Some bells start ringing in the distance. (Also, the music cuts out.)



Man A: Damn it... They're back again...
Man B: Come on!
The alarm... Monsters are here.
Monsters? ...Wait, is this shaking the monsters' footsteps...?
If so, they've brought quite an army.
Yeah, but don't worry. Even if there have been a lot of monsters around here lately...



And the guilds take care of the monsters outside the barrier...



The barrier starts disappearing.



The barrier...disappeared...?
What the hell is going on?! The monsters are going to get inside!
Damn it, why do things like this always happen to me, no matter where I go?
You gotta be cursed.
...Maybe.
Yuri, we have to go stop the monsters!



Watch the cutscene!



This is crazy. Where are all these monsters coming from?
Something isn't right...!
Doesn't something seem different about the monsters as well?
Here they come!



This battle is pretty much just local random encounters, not worth talking about.


Don't let up, there's more coming!
Why are there so many!?

Dammit! It's just one right after the other!

You get thrown into another battle here.

Damn, there's no end to these things!



The woman trips.

Woman: Aah...!
Damn...!

Yuri rushes in to protect her from the monsters.

Woman: Th-thank you so much.
Forget it! Run!



Damn! I'm not gonna make it!

Yuri won't, but someone else comes in to rescue the people!







It's the Don! That's Don Whitehorse!
So that's him, huh?
Man A: It's the Don! The Don's here!
Man B: Let's kick this monster scum outta here! Defend the city!
Man C: Nobody messes with the Clouds of Dawn!!




Flynn!



Hold yer horses, knight-boy!



Is this really the time for that?!
Each and every one of these people left the empire of their own free will and joined a guild! There ain't a soul in this town so spineless they'd go runnin' ta you guys fer help.
But!
These're the rules of the life we've chosen. It's up to us to make sure those rules don't get broken.




So that's what a real guild is like.




I have a name you know!! Wh-where are we going, anyway?




Guess that's my only option.


Skit: What's Going on Here?
The barrier failed right as the monsters appeared? What the hell is going on in this city?
I've lived in Dahngrest my whole life, but I've never seen anything like this.
So why the hell do we have such terrible timing?!
How should I know?
What? You don't really think I'm cursed, do you?




The device managing the barrier is to the left of town center.



Watch the (unvoiced) cutscene!



Outta the way!



Hmm, I might be able to do something with this.
Rita, watch out! Behind you!



What the hell! It's just one thing after another! I'm sick of this!



Another easy battle here. Slightly harder than the previous monsters, but not by much.


Destroying a barrier... but that's...
We have to repair the blastia quickly!



But why?



So, the Don's little lecture didn't stick?
I'm just doing what I can to help. How's the repair of the barrier blastia going?
That'll depend on our genius mage, here.
...The core is still there. They just fiddled with your formula a bit and stopped it, didn't they? What the...? This is...an amplifier?! And this formula again... The same as they were using back on Ehmead Hill...



...Probably not.
So does your appearance here mean this is tied up with all of the empire's problems?
I don't know. That's why I came here to check things out.
...That goes there, and this goes...here!



At this point the regular Dahngrest music starts playing again. I believe that the device here is not actually a barrier blastia, but rather a jukebox.



That's our Rita!
All right, time to clean up the monsters outside the barrier! The guilds won't be able to complain if we fight monsters outside the city.



You really trust Flynn, don't you?
Only because there's no one else I can trust. That's how I look at it.
Yuri, I don't get you sometimes.


Skit: The City of Guilds, Dahngrest
Dahngrest has a very different atmosphere from the capital, doesn't it?
The city seems so energetic. Everyone here is so full of life!
Of course! It's the largest guild city. Everyone lives according to their own principles. Do you like Dahngrest, Estelle?
Yes, I think it's lovely.
What about you, Yuri?
Mm? I think it'd be a really great city if the barrier wasn't crapping out.
Yuri, will you please let that go?
I'm kidding! The city's not bad at all. It even feels kind of like the lower quarter.


Union Headquarters is further back from the town center.







We need to talk to the Don about something. Help us out, could you?
It's a matter that concerns the five master guilds.
Guild Member: I haven't seen you around here recently. What guild do you belong to?
Er, we don't belong to a guild, exactly.



He went after the monsters?
Guild Member: Yes, he plans on taking out the monster nests in one fell swoop.
I see... Thanks for the information.
Guild Member: No worries.
...If I went and helped them, I could prove myself to the Don...

Yuri and crew walk away.



...What? We're not going to help the Don?
So you know where the monster nests are, then?
Oh, good point...
Since it seems like you won't be making progress anytime soon, I'm going to go check out Keiv Moc.
How selfish!
I just want to get it out of the way as soon as possible.
Then does that mean Estelle's going along with you?
Yes. I told Alexei I was going to go, after all... Don't worry. We'll be fine between the two of us.



You're going too, Yuri?
Well, we don't really have any good leads around town that we're following, anyway.
Then it's decided! Let's go to the forest of Keiv Moc.






Skit: Why Was Flynn Here?
Come to think of it, why was Flynn in Dahngrest?
The empire and the Union have never gotten along, so Knights don't show up here often.
I doubt they're here to see the sights, either. It's gotta be tied up in one of their duties.
Do you think Flynn's all right? Those guild people were being really mean to him.
Flynn's no delicate little flower. He can take some heat.
Don't forget. Before he was a knight, he had to make it on the streets of the lower quarter.
I hope you're right...




Keiv Moc can be reached from the left town exit.







And after a short world map trip, we're already there. We'll leave entering for next time, though.