Part 41: Peace Conference

Last time, we celebrated convincing the king by murdering the same five people in the arena over and over until they forked the most powerful weapons on the planet, which were all apparently locked in some back room in the coliseum. Now, we're on our way to get Malkuth to agree to a peace treaty.

Okay, let's go see Peony.

Peony's Agreement



: “I ask of you on behalf of the Kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear. Forgive our aggression and consider again a peace treaty with-”

: “Hold on, aren't you forgetting your position? Saying it like that will mean that Kimlasca has bowed down before us... and shame on you for not stopping her Jade.”

: “Was it that obvious?”



: “Let's just say it's... talks to end the battle of Rugnica Plains. Where should we hold them?”

: “Daath would be most appropriate, but...”

: “Not right now. Somewhere outside Mohs' influence would be better.”



: “But that's in the Qliphoth. Are you sure?”

: “Actually, they should probably learn what the Qliphoth is like. That's where the Outer Lands are going when we lower them.”

: “True. Well then, if it pleases Your Majesty, we'd like you to travel to the Qliphoth.”

: “Anywhere is better than when I was locked up in Keterburg. I'm there.”

: “We're going to need the flightstone.”

: “And Dist has it. We'll need to ask Tritheim in Daath to find out where Dist is.”

: “Daath... Mohs is probably back by now. It's going to be dangerous.”

: “Damn it, why the hell does Dist have the flightstone? What a pain.”

: “He has a freakish obsession with fontech and fon machines. Just like Guy.”

: “Excuse me?”

: “Luke! It's not nice to compare Guy to Dist.”

: “I didn't say anything!”



: “Oh, come now, enough of this foolishness. Tear is glaring at you.”





Off to Daath, then.

...I fucking hate Daath. Nothing good ever happens in Daath.

Skit: Dist's True Identity?

: “So we have to get the flightstone back from Dist huh... I hope he has it in Daath.”

: “Indeed. We may have to face him in person to retrieve it.”

: “I do not like him at all. That arrogant manner, that tone of voice...”

: “Yeah, almost like a lizard.”

: “A lizard... yes, he does seem like a lizard, doesn't he?”

: “I bet that chair he sits on is like a lizard's tail, and when he gets in trouble, he just snaps it off and runs away!”

: “Oh my! Then that chair is attached to him?”

: “Yeah! I bet if he loses it, he grows another one!”

: “Then he truly is a monster...”

: “...I can't believe I'm hearing this.”

: “Hah hah hah! Well, why not? It seems plausible enough to me.”

: “Hey...”

I feel bad about blowing my load this early in the update, but seriously now. Look at all this material I have to work with!





One uneventful trip to Daath later...

Dist's Invitation (You should watch this. Liam O'Brein is seriously the best voice actor in this whole game, and oh boy is he having fun.)





: “Who the hell did that?!”



: “What does it say?”

: “To my hated enemies, the Jade gang:”

: “Well! Since when did we become the 'Jade gang'?”

: “I, the elegant Dist the Rose, now posses the flightstone.”

At this point, Dist's voice takes over reading the letter.

: “If you want it, come to the place of our covenant. We will settle this once and for all! You're scared, aren't you? Terrified?! But no matter. You'll never get the flightstone back unless you meet me here. It's not in Daath. Most definitely not! Hurry! – Dist the Rose, God-General.”





One thing that isn't conveyed unless you're watching the videos: Dist is his usual over the top, hammy self. That is until the very last line, where he abruptly goes into a formal, subdued tone for “Dist the Rose, God-General.”

: “What do you think we should do, Colonel?”

: “Ignore him. Luke's right, the flightstone is almost certainly here in Daath.”

: “But Dist told us to...”

: “The promised place he mentioned is probably Keterburg. If we ignore him, he'll just wait there and freeze solid.”

: “The poor bastard...”

: “Just in case, let's ask Triheim whether Dist's come back or not.”

: “Yeah.”



: “My apologies, but I'm afraid I must be away a little longer.”

: “What about your duties as Fon Master?! Grand Maestro Mohs left as soon as he returned, taking a regiment of Oracle soldiers to Aramis Spring...”

: “Interesting... he must be planning to close off the Yulia Road and force us to meet Dist.”

: “If you're leaving, at least take another five – no, ten Fon Master Guardians with you...”

: “It's difficult to move as a large group. Anise is enough.”

It's not like I can fight with more than four people anyway.



: “Conductor Dist returned here briefly, but he hurried off again somewhere. His attendant, Cantor Reiner, should now the details.”

: “Where can we find him?”

“Right now, he should be training at Oracle Headquarters.”

: “Let's go talk to him.”

: “Yeah.”

Fucking great, Oracle HQ again. Because of all the places I'd want to revisit...



: “I'm here to see Cantor Reiner. Please let me through.”

: “But... Grand Maestro Mohs said--”

: “Who is the supreme leader of this Order?”

: “F-forgive me! Please, go in!”

Seriously, what the fuck did we miss? Ion has gone from meek to manly in the span of like three updates. I'm not complaining () but still.

Dist's Welcome





: “Stand down! You are in the presence of Fon Master Ion!”

: “Locrian Colonel Dist gave orders not to let anyone through, no matter who they are.”



: “Wh-what's so funny?!”

: “My apologies. I wasn't laughing at you.”

: “No one makes fools of us! Fon Master Ion stays unharmed! Kill the rest!”

: “Whoa, here they come!”



One hilariously piss easy fight later...





: “About what?”

: “Strengthening security like this is like saying there's something important here.”

: “Oh, then the flightstone really is here?”

: “Most likely.”

: “I wonder where he hid it.”

: “Reiner may know.”

: “Then lets find this Reiner guy.”

Remember that big empty room from before that I said looked like we'd have a boss, but didn't? Well, we're going there. Still no boss.

Skit: Oracle Knights

: “We'll just have to search the Oracle headquarters for Reiner.”

: “Those Oracle soldiers just keep getting in the way...”

: “At this point, very few are left that will listen to me. If only I had taken a firmer hand...”

: “Booo. It's not you! It's them! They're totally ignoring their duties!”

: “We don't have time to persuade them. We may have to resort to more forceful means.”

: “Yes... we don't have much choice.”

: “I only hope the rest of the Six God-Generals stay out of the way...”

: “Yes, let us pray for that.”



You may remember the ladder all that time ago that was too high for us to reach. Now with Mieu wing, we can open them up to reveal a bow that is useless to us because arena weapons, and a sword that is useless to us because arena weapons. Welp.

Reiner and the Flightstone



: “What's he doing?”

: “Training for promotion from the rank of Bravo to Locrian Sergeant.”

Apparently training in the Oracle Knights entails endlessly walking in a square, stopping to pray at each of the corners. For months. Explains a lot, really.

: “Let's speak to him.”



: “Do you know of the flightstone that Dist has?”

: “Oh, I'm keeping it for him.”

: “Why you?”

: “I began training for Locrian Sergeant two days ago, so I can't leave here for almost a month. Therefore, he asked me to hold it for him for a while.”

: “Could you give it to me?”

: “I'm afraid not, even for you Fon Master. Dist instructed me not to let go of it... even for a moment.”













: “...I kind of feel like the bad guy now.”

: “I think there's a good reason for that.”

: “Is it truly all right for us to do this?”

: “This makes me uncomfortable.”

: “Cheer up. It's for a good cause.”









And of course, they make us walk all the way back.

Skit: Poor Reiner...

: “Let's take the flightstone back to Noelle.”

: “That was certainly... brutish.”

: “Heh heh heh...”

: “I'm sure Reiner will approve of a peace-treaty signing. There's no problem here.”

: “And I didn't like the thought of trying to talk him out of it...”

: “But could we not have at least explained the situation?”

: “Yes, Tear, you could have at least done that.”

: “Huh? Me?”

Jade is trying to systematically make me hit my smile cap with alone.

: “Hah hah... well, I guess it's a moot point now.”

: “Yes...”

: “Now, let's get going before the God-Generals return.”

: “Yeah...”

: “Did I do something wrong...?”



Astor's Support



: “Before we do that, I have a proposal.”

: “What is it?”

: “Kimlasca, Malkuth, and Daath can agree to the land lowering operation. But Chesedonia is an autonomous state, not a country...”

: “They're being left out.”

: “I know they wouldn't normally have this right, but could we let Astor participate?”

: “Yeah, it was quick and informal, but he was the first to approve of the plan. I don't see any problem with that.”

: “Then let's go to Chesedonia first. We'll have Noelle take the other heads of state on to Yulia City in the meantime.”

: “Yeah, that way we won't waste any time.”

: “Thank you, everyone.”



I don't know what's more awesome: getting the Albiore's flight back, or actually managing to get in and out of Daath without something catastrophic happening.

Next, Chesedonia.



Once you enter it you can't leave until you advance the plot. So then, Astor.

The Miasma



: “I can offer explanations of what to look out for, the effects of the miasma, and other such issues.”

: “Yes, that should be useful to hear when preparing for the descent.”

: “What effect HAS the miasma had, anyway? Have people been getting sick?”

: “Some of the children and elderly who were exposed to the miasma became bed-ridden. People from Yulia City have taken in the most critical, but they can't take in all of them... I'm also worried about our emergency food stores. They were depleted because of the war.”



: “Yes.”

: “By the way, when are we leaving?”

: “Noelle won't be back for a little while yet.”

: “Let's rest at the inn. That will also give Astor time to prepare.”

: “All right, I'll cover the cost of the inn for you. Please, relax and get some rest.”

: “Thanks, we appreciate it.”

He's only spared us like 200 gald, but it's the thought that counts.



: “Yeah, I'm worried about the miasma. All I know is that the miasma is bad for people. That's it... it's not going to kill everybody all of a sudden, is it...?”

: “Like I said before, it's only bad if you inhale a lot over a long period of time... but if things stay like this, then I think the population will drop 80 percent by the next generation.”

: “Damn it! Even if we lower the Outer Lands, it won't change a thing.”

: “That's why the peace treaty includes an agreement to jointly research the miasma.”



: “I hate this! I caused all of this, but I can't...”



: “One person probably can't do much alone. But people can work together. I... we're with you.”

: “...Yeah. Sorry for talking like that again.”

: “It's okay... I'll see you tomorrow. Good night.”

: “Night... thanks.”

The following morning...



: “Noelle! Welcome back! How did it go?”

: “Everyone is safe in Yulia City. I arrived here earlier than I expected, so I went ahead and took Astor as well.”



: “I'm fine, don't worry. I took naps when I had the chance.”

: “Thank you for all your hard work.”



: “Shall we be going to Yulia City ourselves, then?”

: “...Yeah. It's all finally coming together.”

So it is.



The Peace Conference starts the moment you enter Yulia City.

Conference of Peace, Truth of War







: “Good. With this, we conclude the formation of the peace treaty.”

: “...Wait just one minute.”

: “Guy!”





: “You made an agreement like this right after the Hod war. Can you keep it this time?”

: “This is different from Hod. That was to bring us prosperity through the Score...”

: “That's why you destroyed Hod?! There were Kimlascans there, too! Like my mother!”



: “Guy! What are you doing?!”

: “Your mother...?”

: “Eugenie Cecille. You sent her to marry into House Gardios as a gesture of peace. Don't try to say you've forgotten.”



: “I'm the one who killed Countess Gardios. Because she refused to aid in the invasion of Malkuth.”

: “Father! You really...”

: “It was war. You do what you must, in order to prevail... just as we used your death to cause the battle of Rugnica Plains.”

: “My mother at least knew what she was doing when she married into that family. But what possible reason was there to involve everyone else? To destroy Hod?!”



: “...Your Majesty?”

: “Kimlasca didn't destroy Hod. It destroyed itself... no... WE destroyed it.”

: “What are you talking about?!”

: “Fomicry research was being conducted on Hod. Jade knows what I'm talking about.”



: “There just wasn't time to deal with the fomicry research.”

: “The previous Emperor – my father – decided to destroy the Kimlascan army, and Hod with it.”

: “I heard a test subject was connected to a device that artificially generated a hyperresonance.”

: “So that's how Hod was destroyed...”

: “My father presented the event as Kimlasca's work to quash anti-war sentiment at home.”

: “That's horrible... I feel so sorry for the test subject...”

: “Yes. The records show he was only 11 years old at the time. You may have known him, Guy.”

: “Me?”

: “He was the son of a knight who served House Gardios. I believe their family name was Fende.”



Now that's a name.

: “You know him, Tear?”

: “If he's the son of Fende, she more than knows him. And so do you, Luke.”

: “What?”





: “So that's how he knew about animate replication even though we sealed the information...”

I'm just going to step in here for a moment, because this line caused a little confusion. Van knowing how to make living replicas is kind of a big deal in universe, because only a select few people knew how to do it.

The history of fomicry is kind difficult to chart if you're not paying attention. More or less in order:
1. Jade creates fomicry.
2. Jade shares this knowledge with the Malkuth military once he joins up.
3. Sometime after the Hod war, Jade bans all fomicry research on living beings. He also seals all all the information Malkuth had collected on it (being BFF's with the Emperor helps here, I take it.)
4. At some point after this Dist steals Malkuth's fomicry research and flees to the Order for protection. Mohs and Van get their hands on it via this. Van uses it to further research into perfect isofons and create Luke.
5. Van and Dist share the research with Kimlascan researchers in Belkend and jointly create a secret replica lab in order to further the research. Why? Who knows.

Hope that helps.

: “Guy, why don't you sheath your sword for now? It's beginning to sound like you'd have to kill almost everyone in this room.”



: “...I stopped wanting revenge a long time ago.”

: “I never thought Van's name would come up like this. Let's adjourn this meeting for now. I trust that suits everyone here.”

Well that was certainly heated. Though it's a shame Guy didn't make Ingobert's head roll...

At any rate, we'll end it here for now.

Next Time: Sidequest Hell 2: The Revenge

Synopsis:

Emperor Peony had no reason not to want a truce with Kimlasca. He agreed
to the lowering of the Outer Lands, and to holding a conference on ending the
war in Yulia City. But if it's going to be in Yulia City, we'll need to get
the Albiore flying again. Apparently Dist has the flightstone, the fonstone
that controls the hover drive, so we'll have to go to Daath to get it back.
Let's go!
When we reached Daath, Dist threw a letter at us, saying to come to
Keterburg if we wanted to get the flightstone back. But it was an obvious
lie, and Jade, who knows Dist best, said to just ignore it. So we went to see
Maestro Tritheim to check whether Dist had returned to Daath.

Tritheim told us that Dist had come back once, and left again immediately.
It sounds like he really did go to Keterburg. Did he take the flightstone
with him?

We were told to ask Dist's assistant Reiner for details, so we headed for
Oracle Headquarters to find him.

As soon as we entered Oracle Headquarters, we were attacked by Oracle
soldiers under orders from Dist. ...So the flightstone's here after all.
Let's go find that Reiner!

We found Reiner performing service exercises, and he was indeed holding
the flightstone for Dist. I was trying to think of how to convince him to let
us have it when Tear used a fonic hymn to put him to sleep, and we just took
the flightstone from him. It's for a good cause, but we're almost like the
bad guys here...

But then again, with Jade here we're already pretty close to bad guys
anyway. Anyway, let's get out of here.

We were pretty much all set for the conference and were going to go pick
up the rulers of both countries, but then Ion proposed that we include Astor
to represent Chesedonia as well, even though it's not a full nation. I have
no problem with that--the more people we can get to agree to our plan, the
better.

So we decided to head for Chesedonia first and talk to Astor, while Noelle
transported the other heads of state to Yulia City.
We separated from Noelle at Chesedonia. She'll take care of getting Their
Majesties of Kimlasca and Malkuth to Yulia City, so let's go see Astor.

Astor agreed readily to joining the conference. I asked about how life in
the Qliphoth has been, and he said that it's pretty tough. Once we get the
Outer Lands lowered, we'll still need to do something about the miasma, but
what...?

In any case, we took care of inviting him to the conference, so we headed
to the inn to rest while we waited for Noelle to return.

I couldn't stop worrying about the miasma, so I asked Tear about it. She
said that if it stays around too long, the situation would become really bad.
But even my hyperresonance can't eliminate the miasma...

Tear cheered me up then. There's a huge difference between the times she's
nice to me and the times she's cold...does she hate me after all? If so...

In any case, Noelle rejoined us the next morning, and told us all the
heads of state had arrived in Yulia City. At last, we'll get the peace treaty
signed. Let's go to Yulia City!
With Teodoro as mediator, the peace treaty was signed. But we learned some
startling truths at the conference.

It started off with Guy. Apparently he'd been waiting for this moment, to
find out from the rulers of both countries why Hod had been destroyed.

He was about to exact revenge on Uncle and Father (though I don't think he
was serious--it looked more like a bluff), but then Emperor Peony and Jade
revealed the truth behind the destruction of Hod.

It wasn't Kimlasca that had destroyed Hod, but Malkuth, in order to keep
Kimlasca from learning about the experiments it had been performing on Hod.
Malkuth then used that as an excuse to declare war on Kimlasca. That's just
the same as Akzeriuth!

Hod was destroyed through hyperresonance, which was already being
researched at the time. They connected a fomicry subject, a child, to a
device that artificially generated a hyperresonance. And that child was none
other than Master Van!

I finally understand why Master Van knew so much about hyperresonance,
about fomicry. He was a subject of fomicry experiments, too.

With everything that was revealed, it was decided to adjourn the
conference for a short time. At least the peace treaty was signed, but
still..