Part 29: The War of Rugnica Plains

Teams Decided + Engeve's Evacuation



As the voters requested, we'll be heading to Engeve. I think this is the better choice honestly, since it sets up a very nice moment for Luke.



We'll also take Tear along, as requested. Again, I'd probably say this is the 'proper' choice, if the game even has those.

: “Thanks for choosing me, let's get to work.”

: “Please, come with me, Ion.”

: “...Okay.”

Pretty much everybody prefers to go with Luke, with the exception of Anise. Guy doesn't get that upset, but Ion is pretty visibly sad.

: “First, let's drop Natalia's team off at Kaitzur. Then we'll head to Engeve in the Albiore.”

: “Sounds good, let's go.”



The world map graphics make the party look like giants. In this scene.



Nostalgic, huh?



I don't really plan to buy anything here, but this is an interesting mechanic I wanted to point out. As I've said before, Abyss has an in game economy that is influenced by both the player's actions and events within the game. During wartime prices are grossly inflated, and most products are out of stock. It makes trying to get new equipment during the war a particular pain, and puts a bit of a squeeze on the player. It's a neat trick to make the player feel invested in the current events of the story: make it actually affect them.



: “I think the defenses will hold a bit longer, but this village is in extreme danger.”

: “What should we do? We can't evacuate to Grand Chokmah. They've already activated the capital's defenses...”

: “Yes, Grand Chokmah becomes a fortress during wartime.”

: “Regardless this continent is still in danger. Think they could run all the way to Chesedonia?”

: “Yes, the Order holds a strong influence in there. It should be safe despite the fighting near by.”

: “But it would be impossible to take the entire population aboard the Albiore. Though having them cross the battlefield on foot is no safer.”

: “Could you take just the children and eh elderly on the Al-whatsitcalled?”



: “You'll still be in danger of the land falling!”

: “Falling...? Wait, you mean like St. Binah and Akzeriuth?!”

: “Unfortunately, yes.”

: “...Then we'll run to Chesedonia on foot. At least the bridge has been repaired.”

That would be the Rotelro Bridge the Dark Wings blew up way back in the third update.



: “Luke... yes, let's do that. But I think we will need more than just us. I'll speak with the Engeve standing forces. If they could spare even one platoon to protect our rear...”

As usual, Kirk Thorton's brilliant voice work is at it again here. Jade's 'Luke...' is read with a mix of genuine surprise and approval. It's this kind of selflessness from Luke that helps to have this scene parallel Luke's first visit to Engeve.



Noelle, despite being a pretty bland background character for most of the game, is essential to a lot of what the party does. Seen here: evacuating most of the city herself.

: “If she finishes transporting them earlier than expected, she'll return here. Though I wouldn't get my hopes up.”

: “Yeah... there's no telling how many trips she'll have to make.”

: “At least the Malkuth army lent us troops. We won't have to watch our back.”

: “Yeah. Anyway, let's just make sure that everybody makes it there safely.”

Skit: At War! - Jade

: “Dammit! Why'd they go and start fighting?!”

: “I should have kept a closer eye on Mohs... I didn't expect him to move this quickly.”

: “I hope Natalia can get them talking again...”

: “That would help, but right now we need to worry about getting the people of Engeve out before the town falls.”

: “I know, we don't have time to waste.”

: “Exactly. Also, keep in mind that it'll take more effort than you expect to escort civilians through a battlefield. We should prepare ourselves well.”

: “Yeah.”

: “We may not be able to replenish our supplies for some time. Make certain you have everything you need.”

: “Right.”

If you think I'm paying for jack at those prices, then you have another thing coming.



So this escort sequence is a little different than most. First of all, we're on the overworld map. Second, while there are random battles, they are all soldiers, not monsters. Soldiers move fairly slow, but they track you constantly and will always gun straight for you. For the most part you can swing around them, but sometimes they dick you over and spawn right on a bridge.

So why don't we just fight them? That's the gimmick for this section: the more enemies you fight, the more civilians will get injured or even killed. You get some awesome rewards for avoiding any fighting, so we'll be doing that. I will however have a bonus update some time later that goes over the soldiers here, because there are quite a few unique enemies you can only fight during this sequence.



Also since you're going by foot, once you go a certain distance it turns night and you'll camp, along with a little scene.

: “Somehow we managed to make it here safely.”

: “Yes, good work. I thought you'd have more trouble. I'm impressed.”

This line changes depending on how many fights you have. It ranges from Jade praising you to Jade pretty much calling you out on being a murder happy idiot who needs to start avoiding soldiers instead of slaughtering them and getting civilians killed.

: “...Where are we now?”

: “We aren't even half way there yet.”

: “Oh... still a ways to go, huh?”



: “Yes, I commanded the Tartarus. Is there something I can do for you?”

: “Was there a soldier by the name of Marco amongst the crew?”

: “Marco? He was your aide, right Jade?”

: “The commander's aide! I had no idea he'd advanced that far! He's our son! Man, my wife is going to be so proud when she hears!”

: “But... he...”

: “So, what's he doing now? With the way things are now, do you think he could be sent out on the front lines?”

: “Uh... actually... your son is...”



Jade just cuts right through the bullshit.

: “Wh-when?! When did that happen?! He was doing just fine when the Tartarus came to Engeve!”

: “It was after that. We were attacked by forces seeking to capture the Fon Master. Your son died an honorable death in combat.”

: “...I see. So Marco died protecting Fon Master Ion... when Marco was born, as Scorer from the Order of Lorelei said to us: 'This child will one day aid a great and noble man.' They told us he needed to become a soldier... that stupid boy. No matter how admirable it may have been, hwo could he die before me?!”



: “That means Marco died because of the Score!”

: “Scorers will never read a Score of death. They mustn't. Even if they know the Score leads to death.”

: “That's just wrong... that's the same as what happened to Akzeriuth!”

: “Getting angry here won't help anything. Right now, focus on getting the people of Engeve safely to Chesedonia.”

: “...I know.”



The second day marks an interesting change: along with the Kimlascan soldiers, Oracle Knights show up too. They're even faster and gun straight for you. Nobody really remarks on this, but there are some interesting implications. Mainly that Mohs is having the Order directly intensify the battle. In fact, if you remember way, way back to the first time we visited St. Binah, McGovern said something to a similar effect:




This bridge is the biggest dick move in this sequence. If there a soldier spawns around or, dear god, on the damn thing, you're essentially just fucked unless you're willing to run way out of the way to despawn them, or just hit reset.





: “I'm a healer.”

: “Is someone wounded?”

: “No, I just hurt my foot...”

: “Who are you...? I thought we told all the women to get onboard the Albiore...”

: “We told her that, too. But Miriam said not to worry about her and to take someone else instead. She just wouldn't listen...”

: “Why would you do something like that...”

: “It's all right. Don't get me wrong – I don't intend to die here, either. But I lost both my husband and my child already, so...”

: “Because of the war?”

: “Her husband worked in the mines at Akzeriuth.”



Oh boy.

: “My son wanted to go visit him, and the city was destroyed right during the time my son was there...”

: “Um... I...”

: “I'm sorry to here that. But in that case, it's all the more important that you survive. So you can live on in their stead.”

: “...Yes...”

: “Tear, please heal her.”



And Tear walks off. This scene changes slightly if you don't have a healer in your party, in which case that party member goes back to help them get some gels instead.

: “Jade! Why didn't you let me apologize?!”

: “I don't want to cause needless chaos by exposing the truth here on this spot. If you want to escape your feelings of guilt, then do it later after she's been able to safely return home.”

: “You don't have to talk like that!”

: “If you know any Malkuth citizens who'd trust the criminal who destroyed Akzeriuth, I'd certainly like to meet them.”

: …

: “It's your business if you want to apologize, but I'd appreciate it if you'd choose an appropriate time and place for it.”

Jade lays the smackdown.



Day 3 passes without incident and we're at a new campsite.

: “Yeah, we made it here without anyone getting injured. Let's keep it up.”

Again, this changes from 'we're awesome!' to 'we suck!' based on how many fights you got in.

: “Yes, let's stay alert and see this through.”



: “It's you...”

: “Thanks to you, Tear, my foot is feeling better and I was able to walk today with no problem.”

: “You don't need to thank me. It's my duty as a healer.”

: “You're a member of the Oracle Knights, aren't you?”

: “Y-yes... I am.”

: “Aren't you parents worried about you?”

: “...They're both dead.”

Okay, batman.

: “Oh... I'm sorry. I see. You must be lonely.”

: “No... I'm fine...”

: “Come on now. I lost my husband and son, and it felt like a hole opened up in my heart... I wonder when the Score will finally tell us the war will end.”

: “The Score is... regardless of the Score, we must put an end to this fighting.”

: “But if the Score ays it will continue for another ten years, then that’s what will happen.”

: “...Even if the Score says that it will continue for ten years... I believe we have to put a stop to it.”

: “Tear...”

: “...I never thought I'd hear someone from Daath say something so frightening. But... I do agree with you. I hope the war ends soon. Anyway, thank you, Tear.”

Miriam can kind of have this conversation with Anise and Guy, but it really loses a lot of the impact and it's obvious it was set up to be a defining turning point in Tear's character.



: “...To be honest, I'm scared of leaving the Score. But... now that I know the truth, I'm more scared to depend on it...”

: “I can imagine. I understand how you must be feeling.”

: “But normal people really are dependent on the Score. Because I was trapped in my manor, I didn't have much to do with the Score, so I don't really understand myself.”

: “Yes... the Score is part of their lives.”

Tales games don't really live up to the whole 'subverting JRPG cliches' thing, but they do like to play around with them. Abyss basically takes the idea of prophecies and runs with them, creating a world where the prophecy is so comprehensive, so widely accepted, and so ubiquitous that the entire world has become dependent on it. People consult it every day. Rulers use it to guide their national policies. Wars are started and stopped at the drop of a hat based on what the prophecy says. Most importantly it's very hard to say 'screw destiny!' and ignore it. Since everybody else relies on it, they're also inherently relying on you following it, and so there is immense social pressure to do as the Score says.

For example, if an apple merchant reads he's going to work today but decides he wants to take a holiday instead, he fucks up not only his Score, but the Score of those who said they'd be having apples for lunch. Those people then have to eat somewhere or something else, which fucks up other peoples Scores, and so on and so forth cascading outward in a ripple effect.

So I'll say it again: I agree with Van right now more than anybody else. And funny enough, it's looking like the party agrees with him, too. Perhaps not so much his methods, but definitely his goals. It's just a great level of depth that I think many games, and most definitely the rest of the Tales series, fails to grasp or employ. It's the little things like this that add up to Abyss being my favorite in the series.

Sorry for the wall of text, I like to gush. Let's finish our run.



Rotelro Bridge is the second area where you can get fucked if an Oracle Knight spawns right next to it. Luckily, we're in the clear.



Past the bridge you're back in the normal world map, with normal monsters. There's no penalty to fighting anymore, but there's really no benefit either.



: “We didn't lose a single villager. Though a few did trip and injure themselves.”

: “Yeah... I'm really glad everyone's safe.”

Again, this varies from losing nobody to almost total casualties.



These two will give us a list of items, determined by how many battles you fought. Since we fought nobody, we get all of them.

We get: Hourglass, Magical Pouch, Ether Slash, Life Bottle

You know what the Life bottle does. Ether Slash is a nice new bow for Natalia, Hourglass is a too good to use item that temporarily freezes all enemies in battle for about 5-10 seconds. Yes, this works against bosses. I'll be hoarding these like a motherfucker, since there are two, maybe three battles late game that they can be very, very helpful in.

Finally, the Magical Pouch is a key item, and an odd one. It has a small chance of producing random cooking ingredients after a battle, which is... helpful? It's also needed to get a title and a recipe much farther down the line. Not that the game ever tells you that.

: “Wow... heh.”

: “You should be proud Luke, you did an admirable job.”

: “No, I owe it to the support I had from you and the others.”

: “Flattery won't get you anywhere with me.”





Well that wasn't too bad. Wonder how Natalia is doing?


A Call for Peace





: “Princess Natalia?! You're alive!”

: “Yes. There's no longer any reason to fight. Call your troops back at once.”

: “My deepest apologies, but I lack that authority. Lieutenant General Almandine is in command of this operation.”

: “Then take us to him!”

: “Unfortunately... he's headed to Chesedonia to meet with Grand Maestro Mohs.”

: “Chesedonia?! How does a commander leave the battlefield in the middle of a war?!”

: “We need recognition from the Order that this operation is justified retribution. He went there for the proceedings.”



: “That's merely a formality, but I expected this might happen. Perhaps I should have stayed in Daath...”

: “If you'd done that, they'd have used you to open the Sephiroth seals.”



: “Are you saying Malkuth has a weapon that can do that?”

: “No! That's not what it is, but it's dangerous.”

: “I don't really understand, but unfortunately I lack the authority to pull the troops back.”

: “Then I'll go see Count Almandine.”

: “Traveling by sea is dangerous in wartime. I cannot permit Her Highness to board a ship.”



: “Understood. I'm keeping my troops waiting. I apologize, Your Highness, but I must be going. I'll inform the authorities at Kaitzur port of your presence. Please await their escort.”

: “Be careful.”



: “If we're taken to Kaitzur, we won't be able to do anything. Let's go to Chesedonia by land!”

: “If we're going to Chesedonia, I suppose that's the only way.”

: “It's too dangerous! I can't let you do that!”

: “But it means we'll be able to meet with Count Almandine. Once he learns we're alive, he should understand that this war is meaningless.”

: “Let's go, Anise.”



: *sigh* “I know better than to try to stop you. I'll go too. But be careful, okay? If you die, it defeats the entire purpose.”





Much like Luke's segment, you want to avoid fighting the soldiers as much as possible. This one is a bit more lenient in that I think you can fight a battle or two, but not much else. I escape regardless.

Also I know I was asked to show off a little something with Anise, but I'm saving it for the arena.



: “We still have a ways to go before Chesedonia...”

: “Is someone there?!”



: “General Frings... what are you doing here?”

: “Indeed! The Kimlascan army is deployed in this area!”

: “My troops reported seeing you.”

: “I can't imagine a general going out scouting on his own. Don't tell me you're trying to make use of Natalia in this conflict...”

: “Please don't misunderstand. I haven't come here to harm you, nor to scout. I just want you to leave this battlefield.”

: “What do you mean?”

: “If things stay the way they are now, we'll have to kill you, because you're from Kimlasca.”

: “We're heading to Chesedonia to end this fighting. No matter the danger, we cannot turn back.”

: “You can't possibly make it. The fighting is only going to grow fiercer. I can't tell my troops to try to avoid attacking just you.”

Er... why? I mean if not for Natalia, Fon Master fucking Ion is with us, are you really going to just let your troops tear him to shreds? Is it really so hard to explain to your troops not to slaughter the Pope and his escort?

: “Well, yeah, we understand what you're saying. But we can't back down. Um, but I don't mean we want to fight either!”

: “I see... I'll try notifying those who understand the situation not to attack you. But... if it does come down to battle, please don't hate my soldiers.”



: “But if this war continues, they'll be caught by the land falling, right?”

: “...Yes. I hope w can at least avoid fighting Malkuth.”

: “Yes, let us proceed carefully.”



At this point some Malkuth soldiers will still attack you, but others will just kind of pivot in place; watching you but not attacking you.



: “Somehow we managed to get here without encountering any Malkuth troops.”

: “I hope we can continue like this.”





: “How did you know we were here...?”

: “My troops reported seeing you. What are you doing in a place like this?”

: “I told you. We're going to see Almandine in order to stop this conflict.”

: “You can't be serious! Right now, you're still withing our forces' area of control. Please, return to Kaitzur. It's too dangerous.”

: “if this war continues, everyone will die.”

: “Our forces will not lose.”

: “That's not what we mean. This battlefield is in danger. As things stand, both armies will be wiped out.”

: “Your Highness... please understand my position.”

: “I'm sorry to do this to you. But this is my duty.”

: “...All right. Then at last let me assign you some protection. Please.”

: “...All right. I appreciate the concern.”

: “But a large number of soldiers could actually draw attention to us.”

: “Understood, starting tomorrow I'll have one platoon accompany you from behind. Please be careful...”



I almost got screwed here, but luckily this soldier was very sluggish to turn to face me before moving forward, and I managed to skate by.







Welp.

: “Kimlascan forces!”

: “Malkuth troops!”



The fact that Frings does not draw his sword implies to me that he's been fighting this whole time using nothing but his fists. I like this guy.

: “General Cecille, sheathe your sword. This man will not harm us.”

: “But!”

: “General Cecille? THAT General Cecille?!”

: “Who are you?”

: “...Brigadier General Aslan Frings.”

: “General Frings!”

: “We're headed to Chesedonia to stop this war. We're not going to let you start a fight right in front of us.”

: “That's why I'm here. I want you to remove the Kimlascan escort that's following behind you.”

: “What are you saying?! From here on is Malkuth-controlled territory! I came here to ask permission to increase their escort!”

: “I've explained the situation to my troops in the area between here and Chesedonia. We can let Princess Natalia's group through alone, but if Kimlascan troops are with them, we'll have no choice but to attack.”

: “We can't possibly trust that!”

: “General Cecille, wait. General Frings is a trustworthy man.”

: “But...”

: “I've made up my mind.”

: “If anything happens to them, I'll take my own life.”

: “Cecille, don't make me order you.”

: “...Your life is hardly worth that of Princess Natalia's, but I will do as Her Highness wishes.”

: “Thank you.”

: “Now both of you, return to your camps without fighting.

If you're looking for JRPG cliches that actually are subverted, Natalia is a pretty good example of subverting the usual useless princess who spends the entire game in a castle. Instead she's a master archer, a great healer, one of the more politically active characters in the game, and takes absolutely no shit from nobody. She gets sidelined by a lot of people because they don't use her in combat that often, but overall I really like Natalia's character.



: “That doesn't mean we should be careless. We don't have any support, either.”



Oracle Knights start popping up now, and fuck these guys. Not only are they fast, but they spawn really, really close to you. Personal space!



Unfortunately one manages to nick me, but I run immediately and still get the best items. There seems to be a little room for error here.



Also the writers ran out of ideas, so the final camping scene contains no dialogue.



An oracle knight spawned right next to the bridge, so I had to kite him around and approach from the other side. Yes, that is three oracle knights all up in my grill. Fuck these guys.



There's a subtle little filter effect as you reach Chesedonia that makes it look like the sun is about to set. Nice touch.



Again, this can range from no bloodshed to all the bloodshed.



Oh, and because there are no random villagers to save this time, the items just materialize out of thin air.

We net: Rebirth Doll, Efreet, Specific, Apple Gel

I've explained the last two, but Efreet is an interesting spear for Jade that has very low physical attack but very high fonic attack. Not too shabby! We also get the Rebirth Doll, an accessory that revives the wearer automatically once per battle if they hit 0 hp. Really this is a lot worse than it sounds, because lifebottles are cheap and it's taking up an equip slot that could be used for other things.







: “What are you doing here?! What happened with the truce?”

: “I was told that the commander-in-chief, Count Almandine, went to Chesedonia to meet Grand Maestro Mohs, so-”

: “Y-you crossed the battlefield?! Are you stupid?! You know how dangerous that is!”

: “You all did the same thing, didn't you?!”

: “Calm down, you two.”

: “Yes. The people who can stop this war are here in this city. Let's save the arguing and go talk to them.”

: “Ah... yeah. You're right. That's what's important.”

Skit: Safe Reunion

: “That was a pretty reckless thing to do.”

: “The same could be said of you.”

: “Well at least we all managed to meet up again.”

: “Yeah!”

: “I'm glad the people from Engeve made it here safely as well.”

: “But we still have work to do.”

: “Yeah! We have to go find that Count Almandine and talk to him.”

: “Yes, let's hurry.”

Let's.

A False Princess



: “Princess Natalia?!”

I don't know if I went over this before, but Almandine was cut from the anime as well. So no portrait, sorry!

: “I presume you received a message from Emperor Peony the Ninth stating that the news of my death was an error!”

: “His Majesty believed that message to be a Malkuth scheme...”

: “Indeed, I should have returned to the castle sooner. But you have now witnessed that there is no justification for this war. Stop the fighting at once.”



: “You're... alive!”

: “I'm the one who caused the destruction at Akzeriuth. The blame should be placed on me alone... Luke fon Fabre!”

: “If this war is one born of misunderstanding, then it must be corrected at once!”

: “And the battlefield on the Rugnica Plains could fall – and be destroyed just like Akzeriuth!”

: “Now cease this conflict and open the border immediately!”



: “How dare you! Even a Grand Maestro cannot speak of me in such a manner! To insult me is to insult the kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear!”

: “For some time, I have received the sorrowful confessions of a certain pious believer. It appears the daughter that he fathered with an attendant to the Queen was substituted for Her Highness the Princess.”

: “That's a lie!”

: “No it's not. Look at her eyes. Her hair. From time immemorial, the royal family of Lanvaldear has had red hair and green eyes. But this woman's hair is gold. And the late Queen had hair as black as night.”



: “If you go to Baticul, His Majesty will punish you for conspiring against the Kingdom!”

: “That's impossible... that can't be true...”



: “Count, shouldn't you be returning to the battlefield?”

: “...Ah, uh, hmm. Yes.”



: “What's your point? As long as the war occurs, the Score will be fulfilled. Why are the people in Yulia City worrying about a little collapsing land?”

: “Grand Maestro Mohs... that's horrible...”

: “Hmph. It's your brother who's doing the unthinkable. Now, Fon Master Ion. Do you still intend to demand a cessation of hostilities?”



: “Ion?! Are you serious?! The Commandant will make you open the Sephiroth seals so he can destroy the trees!”

: “I won't allow that. Having any more of the Outer Lands collapse would be a problem.”

: “...And if he comes by force?”

: “If that happens, then you'll come back to rescue me, Anise.”

: “...What?”





: “W-w-wait a minute! Ion! Don't do this!”



Ion is whispering this, by the way.

: “Please, take good care of Anise for me.”



: “Yes, Fon Master.”



: “Leaving Anise here means he intends to come back. Right now, more importantly...”



: “...If you're worried about me, I'm fine. We should go to Baticul. The only one who can stop the Kimlascan army now is Fath... His Majesty the King.”

: “Then we'll need to find a way to cross the border.”

: “The border runs through this city, there must be a place we can slip through.”



: “Yeah.”

Next Time: The dev team is told that since so much happened so fast, they need to stall out the game for an hour before more interesting things can happen. The dev team naturally obliges.

Synopsis:

Jade consulted with the people of Engeve, and it was decided to have
Noelle carry the women, children, and elderly in the Albiore, while the rest
crossed the battlefield on foot, heading for Chesedonia. It's dangers, but
given the limited space on the Albiore, it's the only way we'll make it in
time. We'll have to be careful not to get caught up in any battles if we can
help it.

We heard a lot of shocking things on the way to Chesedonia.
It seems that both the incident at Akzeriuth and this war have disrupted
the lives of many people.

When we reached Chesedonia, for some reason Natalia was there as well.
Apparently she had crossed the battlefield to meet Count Almandine, the
commander-in-chief, about a cease-fire.

We found Almandine with Mohs near the border in the center of Chesedonia.
But just as we tried to persuade him to order a cease-fire, Mohs said
something unthinkable. He claimed that Natalia was a fake princess. That's
impossible! I couldn't believe it, but Mohs said he had proof. That made
getting a cease-fire hopeless, and Count Almandine returned to the
battlefield. Mohs seems satisfied in getting the war started like the Score
says. And to think that Yulia City is so concerned about St. Binah
falling...how can he still think the war is the key to prosperity?!

As if that wasn't bad enough, Mohs suggested to Ion that he return to
Daath, and amazingly, Ion agreed. I don't know what he's planning, but I'm
worried that Master Van will capture him again if he leaves our side.

But Mohs denied that possibility. He doesn't seem to approve of Van
destroying the Sephiroth Trees and making the Outer Lands fall. It looks like
Mohs and Master Van have different plans. Then I guess Ion's safe for the
moment...

Ion left Anise with us, then returned to Daath with Mohs.

We decided to head for Baticul as a last resort and try to convince Uncle
to stop the war. But the Albiore is being used to carry people from Engeve,
so we can't use it right now. Worse, we entered from the Malkuth side, and
with the war going on the border is closed. If we can't cross over to
Kimlasca, we can't reach Baticul. There must be a way around... We'll just
have to search every nook and cranny in the town.