Part 35: Dahngrest again

Skit: The Don
Don Whitehorse...
I can see how a man like that could rise to the top of the Union. He's pretty impressive.
I'm just relieved he's the sort of person who's willing to listen. I didn't think he'd give us a chance, considering that he's never met us before.
That's what makes the Don so great! I told you, right? Man, he's so cool!
Do you run his fan club or something?


The first thing I do back in Dahngrest is check out the shop, and it turns out I was able to synth a crapton of items:


This is a nice item, especially for those Secret Missions that require you to be a specific character. There's some other uses for it, too, such as switching characters around during multiplayer or just getting the CPU out of a bad situation.


Defend 2: Increases physical defense by 10%.
Resist 2: Increases magical defense by 10%.
Magic Guard Plus: Reduces damage taken while Magic Guarding.


Landing Step: Cancel some actions with a Backstep. Backstep itself is also part of those actions, so I mostly use this to Backstep repeatedly in a row, which is a nice way to gain distance from the enemy.
Combo Voltage: Recover extra TP when doing multiple consecutive combos of hits divisible by 3.
Heavy Hit: Increases chance of stunning an enemy with a physical attack.


Half Damage: Halves damage output.
Quarter Damage: Reduces damage output to a quarter.
Minimum Damage: Reduces damage output to 1 per hit.


Strength 2: Increases physical attack by 10%.
Swords Up: Increases physical attack when equipped with a sword.
Taunt 2: Click the right stick (R3) while standing to taunt an enemy. This does a short animation with voice clip to gain some Over Limit. Animation and/or voice clip differ from "Taunt", otherwise those two skills act identical.


Backstep
Step Away: Avoid staggering when hit during a backstep.
Combatir: Increases physical attack when equipped with an axe. Name is a reference to Presea Combatir from Tales of Symphonia, who uses axes.

(spot the typo)
Item Thrower
BA Force: Increases strength of Burst Artes.
Spirits: Increases Max TP by 20.


Magic Guard Plus: Reduces damage taken while Magic Guarding.
Cross Counter: Increases damage given to enemies that are currently attacking.
Taunt: See "Taunt 2" a few items up.


Critical Magic: Allows magic to deal critical hits.
Stun Magic: Increases chance of stunning enemies with magic.
Taunt 2: See "Taunt 2" a few items up.


Item Thrower
Step Away: Avoid staggering when hit during a backstep.
Guard Plus: Decreases amount of damage taken while guarding.


Recover
Taunt 2
Spirits: Increases Max TP by 20.


Synthesizing a total of 20 items gives an achievement/trophy; I'm not entirely sure when I reached that number but it seems appropriate after that mass of items above.

Achievement/Trophy:

Little Mad Scientist


Skit: Fishier and Fishier
I never would have thought Raven was a member of Altosk.
It looked like he and the Don were close. The old man probably has a pretty important job.
Y-yeah... It's hard to believe, but he's probably one of Altosk's top officers. The fact that he can leave town on guild business shows that the Don trusts him.
That old man...
You can't judge a book by its cover, Rita.
Fishier and fishier...


And with that, we'll head off to Union HQ.








The inside isn't terribly big, but there's a few things to check out.



For example that weird thing in the back right, which turns out to be a Wonder Chef teaching us Minestrone Soup.





The guy in the back left is part of a small sidequest thing where he wants us to make his "Bunny Guild" popular, but for all intends and purposes he just hands out attachment parts based on your title collection. I don't have enough titles to get an attachment yet, though.

The door in the left of the room leads to the prison area, while the door to the right is off-limits and can't ever be entered.



The door in the back is the Don's chamber, and where we want to go to advance the plot.

Watch the cutscene!



...Yuri.
What, you two know each other?
Yes, we're old friends...
Ya don't say.
I see you know Yuri as well.
We crossed paths during the assault on the city. Now then, what business did ya have?
Uh...



It looks like he's the one behind the recent string of stolen blastia cores.
I see, so Barbos is tied up in your problem as well.
...You have a problem with him, too?



Other guilds have begun to follow Barbos' example, abusing blastia in other areas and disrupting the order of society. If we can count on your assistance, I feel that together we should move to put an end to the Blood Alliance.
...Barbos. He's been testing the limits of my patience lately. Looks like it's time to remind that brute how a proper guild behaves.
A clash between the guilds and the empire was avoided the other day, largely due to your intervention. However, if Barbos is left unattended, the relations between our two states may yet again be torn apart.
That's not gonna be fun for anybody.
The time for stopping Barbos is now.
Since we'd be cooperatin' with ya, I assume we'd be on equal standing with the empire in this.
Yes, sir.
Humph. If that's the case, a united front with the empire might not be such a bad idea.
Then...



The Don turns to the guild member next to him.

Hey. Send a message to Belius. Tell Belius that Nordopolica's gonna help us.
Man, this is serious...





(to Raven) Read it aloud.
"If Don Whitehorse is taken out of the picture, we are willing to overlook the Union's responsibility in the Barbos affair."
What...?!





Looks like you and the young master see things a bit differently.
There must be some mistake! Master Ioder would never say such a thing.
Show our guest here to his own private suite!





Why would you...?
Hang on. If we screw up, it'll only make things worse for Flynn.
...



Try and make a fool out of me?! I'll tear these little messengers limb from limb!



And it looks like he's forgotten all about talking with us.
I don't think the Don's in much of a talking mood right now.
I have to return to the empire and find out what's really going on!
I said hang on. We should sit still for now and see what happens.
I...I suppose you're right.


Skit: The Conspiracy and Flynn's Trouble
I cannot believe that Ioder would give a letter like that to Flynn.
There must be some mistake!
We've met His Highness, too, and he certainly didn't seem like that kind of person.
But you heard the letter--it said to take Don Whitehorse out of the picture!
So maybe it was sent by someone who wants to throw a wrench into what Ioder and Flynn are doing.
But that's nothing more than a hunch right now.
Yeah, you're right. The only thing we know for sure right now is that Flynn is in trouble.


Before we leave here, note that the walls here the flags of all the five master guilds, as well as the flag of the Union (the big red one in the back). A nice touch. From back to front, it's:



- The flag of Altosk, also known as Heaven's Arrow. A guild led by Don Whitehorse. The most powerful of the five master guilds of the Union.
- The flag of the Blood Alliance. A mercenary guild led by Barbos.



- The flag of Fortune's Market. A merchant guild led by Kaufman.
- The flag of the Soul Smiths. A smithery guild producing armors and weapons.
- The flag of Ruins' Gate. A blastia excavation guild.


Leaving HQ, we notice that the prison area is locked off. Poor Flynn.



Outside, Yuri notices something.



What's the matter, Yuri?
...It looks like I dropped my wallet somewhere.
At a time like this?!
Maybe it fell out of my pocket at the Don's place? I'm going to go look. You wait here.
O-okay. Don't take too long!





Back to prison we go then! Turns out that it's no longer off-limits either, kind of weird but works in our favor I suppose.





Watch the cutscene!

Yuri...



So, you've come to have a laugh at me in this sorry state?
Yeah, I wanted to see what kind of expression being locked up put on your face.



What the hell you think you were doing, coming here with a letter like that?
That was the red eyes doing. They attacked after you left.
You don't screw up like that. Was it one of your people?
Even if it was, the responsibility is mine.
I see. If the red eyes are involved, then Ragou's gotta be behind it all.
But how do you know...?
At the harbor, we saw Ragou giving orders to one of their assassins.
I hadn't heard about that.
Do you know what they're trying to do?



That'd be bad. You think another one of those false letters went to the Knights?
Yes, to put them in a fighting mood.
If you know that much, then get out there and get the real letters back.

Yuri opens up the jail cell using his sword.



...
You've got to stay here.



You're just itching to get rid of me, aren't you?
Yuri, if I don't make it back... You'll have to die in my place.
Yeah...



...



This coming from an old man who gets rid of his own guards on purpose.
Humph. I had a special favor ta ask that rookie knight.
You mean Flynn?
The rats that plan these sorta stunts usually like ta enjoy their handiwork from somewhere nearby.



If I didn't make a good show of things, whoever's behind all this wouldn't bother ta come watch. Besides, we've got a lot of hotheads around here who'd never let me hear the end of it if I didn't raise hell. So that's where it stands. Of course if our friend the knight doesn't show up again, your life is mine.
I know. Tell me one thing, though. What made you want to start a guild in the first place?



There have to be some things that were easier to protect when you were on the other side, though. Even in the lower quarter where I'm from, we still had the barrier to protect us.
Sure, but were ya happy with just puttin' up with all the things ya didn't like?
Well, I...
So if the rules the empire sets don't suit ya, you've got two choices. You can do like your friend is, and put everything you've got into changin' the system. Or ya can turn yer back on the empire, and live by the rules ya set fer yerself.
That's pretty clear cut...
...Yep. I think yer gonna have ta take responsibility for lettin' my prisoner go.
You want me to do something besides rotting in this cell?



I'd been plannin' on askin' yer armor-wearin friend ta hunt 'em down for me, but...
So what, you want me to find them?
Your job is ta pay this debt back ta me. How ya go about it is up ta you. That young lady ya brought with ya is runnin' all over the place helpin' with the injured folks. Yer not the type ta be the only one sittin around twiddlin' his thumbs, right?
...Estelle. Huh, that sounds like her.



Outside, the Don already started putting up his show.



Is he really planning on going to war just to lure those rats out of hiding?






Have you finished healing the injured yet?
How did you know that?
The Don told me. This is from him--his way of saying thanks.
But Yuri, things have gotten really bad!
Yeah, I noticed.
No, that's not what I mean.
What else?
I saw them!
You saw...who?



Rita and Repede are shadowing them right now.
Just what the Don wanted...



Yeah.


Skit: What the Don and Flynn are Thinking
Where were you talking with the Don, Yuri? You were gone for a long time.
We had a nice little chat through some thick iron bars.
...Yuri, did you get Flynn out of prison by trading places with him?
No, it's nothing like that. Flynn would've been released even if I hadn't gotten involved.
What do you mean?
The Don planned all along to capture Flynn, and use him to find out who's behind this whole mess.
So both the Don and Flynn know that there's someone else manipulating things?
Yeah. Why do I keep letting myself get caught up in this stuff?
Now the Don's making me do his dirty work... What a pain!


And that's it for today. Next time, we'll check out those Blood Alliance guys... or are we!?




Also I remember to finally put on Estelle's glasses I've been carrying around for a while now.