Part 37: Chapter XXXII - Shiny shiny. My shinies...

Shiny shiny. My shinies...


Previously:




Chapter IX: I Think I’m allergic



You here from Athlum?
Uh, sorta.
Ahh… how ya like seeing a real city? Celapaleis ain’t anything like your backwater hole. At least you make a good guard dog, haw haw! ‘S thanks to Athlum that those Ghor scumbags don’t try anything. Or at least, if they did, they’d have to go through you first, haw haw!
I don’t like you.
Heh, well, keep up the good work, Athlum schmucks!


His Highness, Lord Qubine may look young, but he is quite adept at mystic arts. I have heard there are rabble-rousers within the Ghor castle guard who are so afraid of his strength that they spread rumors about it… Outlandish claims like Lord Qubine is an alien or some Academy-produced magickal boy or something… Ridiculous. Of course, what else could be expected to come from a town like that? Those uncouth boors are lucky to be able to string two sentences together… It’s certainly not worth worrying about what they think.




Who was that?
Uh… *ahem* Yes... a messenger from Celapaleis, sent by the Duke of Qubine. He wanted to warn us of some unidentified troops invading Blackdale.
He believes they’re troops from the Duke of Ghor. We are to look into it immediately.




- Dungeon Video: Heroic Ramparts


Music: Swirling Sands



We’re finally moving on to where the main plot wants us to go. Sort-of. Also, I’ve changed the way I encode the videos. Let me know if you can see a difference for better or worse.




Heroic Ramparts: A massive castle wall built by an ancient Lord of Nagapur. It is often referred to as the Ramparts of Shame by those opposed to its existence.






The Heroic Ramparts are another connecting dungeon. It’s short, and sunny and open and there’s not much to say about it. There are two exits to the world map.




Finally… at last we are on the road to Nagapur.
I’ll lead the way, Dave! It’s east, right?





The wall stretches off into the distance.



FAR into the distance.




We’ll be in Nagapur in two shakes of a yama’s tail, Dave!


- Town Video: Ghor (Tour)


Music: The Crumbling Fortress (Ghor Theme)







Ghor: The Duke of Ghor rules over this town that shares its borders with the main powers of the world.




Ghor - Warrior Town: A town built at the foot of an old fortress, founded as merchants relocated to service the soldiers stationed there.

Huh… I could have sworn…
…
Umm… so, let’s look around!




Many brave soldiers are gathered here, sworn to follow the valiant Duke of Ghor.
Uh, I’m from Athlum, I guess.
You hail from Athlum!? That must mean you take orders from that toddler, Duke Qubine. If you have no business here, I suggest you leave immediately.
Not very friendly around here.




This town, with its ruin aesthetic, is pretty neat. I wish there was more to explore of it. There is only this one map plus the usual tiny castle room.

Is this your first time here? It's like a maze, isn't it?

It’s not. Darn it.




Ever since our lord made this place his home, strong warriors from all corners of the world began to show up. Which is how I ended up here as well.




The shops are all in the back alley, sadly, the least scenic and least interesting place possible in this town.




Though our lord does keep the Bilqis at his side. It has the power to bring out the best in people - the powers they hold inside. That big axe represents our lord's presence and the power he holds. I bet you can't find a fine weapon like that anywhere else in the world.

This is pretty interesting. Every town we’ve been to so far, including Athlum, has had a huge, can’t-miss-it Remnant as its center. Ghor does not. It is probably not a coincidence that Ghor is also mostly a huge pile of rubble.

That said, it also says something that Ghor is considered a formidable power on the world stage. At the start, it was suspected that Ghor was behind Wagram’s men. Ghor may not have a weapon of mass destruction, but it probably has a lot of troops, and the Bilquis probably makes them a formidable force.




Another guild we can’t open yet. This one has a particularly nasty and unintuitive requirement to get. On my first playthrough, I had to reload to before… a rather nasty section to get it.




The lords of Ghor have been faithful servants to the Hermeiens of Nagapur for the past three generations.




Don't tell anyone this, but I think our lord is much more competent than Lord Hermeien.




The local pub is called the Den of Heroes. Blocter has his own personal quest to do, but that will wait until the next update.

You know why the gang in Nagapur can rest easy? It's because of us! I don't think they see that. I feel like they take us for granted!

Our lord is too noble for his own good. Just because he feels indebted to Lord Oswald, the previous Nagapur leader, he shouldn't feel he has to repay his gratitude to that punk Wilfred.

Hey there! The Den of Heroes here to serve you!




Sir! What do you think of this?
Men are always on a journey to find out who they really are.

Almost done with the tour.




Ghor - Ghor Castle: A castle which also doubles as a stronghold. Its exterior is interesting, as it has the appearance of both..

Who are you? You don't look familiar...




The Bilquis is one cool-looking axe.

Hmph. You're friends of the marquis. Why have you come?
I thought Nagapur was this way.
It is not.

Okay, we’ve got a quest to do, so let’s get at it…




This guy looks important.


- Quest Video: Slumber of the Lost Fragment


…Uhhh, sure?
Oh! Me thank! In... in Blackdale... There was six... I dropped them, in the secret, secret passage. But, they was present, from tiny friend... Shiny shiny. My shinies... my treasure. Find them?
Uhhh…

Accepted quest: Slumber of the Lost Fragment




Music: Into the Depths





This freaky, huge white yama lost his six treasures, and wants me to find them. They're somewhere around the other Blackdale entrance.

So, we’re in Blackdale. But it is not the same Blackdale as from way back in chapter 10. This is the Second Entrance, and has its own spot on the world map.




Like the other Blackdale, this is mostly narrow pathways. This one has an interesting shape at least.




After the next plot point, I’ll get some quests that can recruit some party members. My BR is 22, their base BR is 33. Because my BR is generally lower than expected, I am okay with fighting most enemies in this dungeon, but don’t worry, I’ve edited all of the uninteresting fights out of the video.




Hurry up and learn Spark V already, David. Sheesh. The morale bar is in the middle at least, which is fantastic because I am sick of the low morale music. This first fight brought me up to BR 23, by the way.




Obtained First Treasure!
First Treasure – A shiny marble polished to perfection, given to the white yama by a child.
…The hell?




Obtained Second Treasure!
Second Treasure – A piece of white chalk for drawing, given to the white yama by a child.

learned Nimble Resonance Edge III!
class changed to Master Mysticknight!
learned Wind Shear IV!




I hate Vultures, mostly because it’s not safe to run by them.




learned Revitalize!

Okay, NOW I learned Revitalize. What I said before still applies. Revitalize is still a fantastic healing ability. It doesn’t matter much now, with all the unions having pretty low HP, but once we get a lot more HP, AND our other unions gain Revitalize as well, then it’ll be super-powerful. That will take a while, though. Rush does have the Ragnarock equipped for +2 Arts Growth.




Not only is there a treasure chest, but also one of the quest items, so we’re definitely fighting.

Music: Flamedrop






That’s a lot of Vultures.






Pagus doesn’t finish them off, and that will matter.




Because every. Single. Vulture on the field has targeted David, and they’re all faster than Rush and Emma’s unions. But now I can actually introduce these properly!


Massive Strike


An extremely rare situation, which occurs when a union surrounded by four unions and at Rear Assault stage gets attacked by a fifth union. They receive a Morale boost, and a massive bonus to attack. Very rare because very few enemies can withstand being attacked four times, and those which can usually are capable of a Multi-Deadlock.




But the Vultures are so weak that even with minimum morale and a Massive Strike, they can’t even break 800 damage.





Not that it matters when six unions attack one union at the same time. This is a second Massive Strike.




Finally, my other unions get a chance to move.




Any enemies which still stand – I shall cut them down!
Yeah, let’s kick some tail!

And the morale is nicely fixed again. Nothing interesting happens in the rest of the fight.

class changed to Master Cavalier!
class changed to Scout!
learned Vivification Herb III!

What the shit, Blocter? I turned Herbs off for him completely back in Chapter 13. (Note: I have now renamed that chapter to Soldiers of Athlum do not bow to threats _-OR- I didn’t expect such a large party)

I did turn Herbs off because Blocter was only a few uses away from becoming a Monk, which would have guaranteed him being a scout… but seriously, Blocter still only has Restorative Herb II.

He started with herbs, too, so he leveled up Herbs ONCE, that’s it. And despite me turning his Herbs off ages ago, that one extra level of Herbs was enough to kick him into the Scout line. Fucking unbelievable.

…So I guess the lesson is that if you don’t want Blocter becoming a Scout, turn off his Herbs IMMEDIATELY as soon as he joins the party in Gaslin caves, and never turn them on, ever. Because all he did under Rush’s control before he would have become a Monk was in Gaslin, Dillmoor, and a little bit of Robelia.

There’s no real way to get him out of it either – short of waiting until he learns Hexes and turning off anything else he could use. That has an obvious drawback, and I’m not going to restart the entire game for that, so he’s staying put.




Obtained Third Treasure!
Third Treasure – A pretty ribbon once on a doll, given to the white yama by a child.




learned Swift Devil’s Due V!

Our first Swift art. The prefixes are on a sliding scale thing.

More Strength <------Peerless------Mighty------No Prefix------Nimble------Swift------> More Speed

Any combat art can get any prefix. The specific weapon you’re using (not the general type) determines which you’ll get. Going from Nimble to Swift means this costs 2 extra AP to use, but the amount of damage it does goes up a rank.






Three dead ends, so where the treasures are is easy to guess.




Obtained Fourth Treasure!
Fourth Treasure – A small cog, given to the white yama by a child.






Oho, a Rare monster… Let’s clean all this up.


- Video: Rare Monster - Madman


Music: Clash of Opposites





The spiders aren’t even a factor in this fight.












learned Bluff IV!
learned Spark V!
learned Nimble Bladedancer IV!
class changed to Lordly Monk!

About time. We’ll get to see why I’ve been waiting for Spark V next update. This fight kicked us up to BR 24.




We want to go left here.




class changed to Cavalier!




The treasure chest just has the map. These are for Jorgen, but probably not the class the thread decided he’ll become.




Obtained Fifth Treasure!
Fifth Treasure – A small, silver bell with a pleasant jingle, given to the white yama by a child.

This is in the tiny nook off the main path.




And no boss at the end, so I might as well show this fight.

Music: Flamedrop





Hopefully this caustic Blast will take out more than one union. (It didn’t, because the union was killed before David could fire it off.)






All right!
Looks like that hurt!






This doesn’t matter for David’s union, thankfully.






Revitalize I healed for 3250 HP, more than double Restorative Herb V.






And that does it for the fight.

learned Nimble Flash Strike III!
class changed to Lordly Monk!
learned Wind Shear!
learned Crossbreak II!




Obtained Sixth Treasure!
Sixth Treasure – A piece of white chalk for drawing, given to the white yama by a child.

The chest contains an Ondine’s Pear, a gem for crafting something or other.




Eh? Heyyy, what's this? Nice ta meetcha, tiny customer! What can I do ya for? Need some heads busted? Some annoyances erased? I gots an assassination special goin': buy one, get one one-half off! - 'Dat's a pun, get it? Yeah, I bet ya do, har har! Yeah, so like I always sez, Zuido's is the place to have it your way every day. How you want it done, kid? Sliced and diced? Splatterpainted on the walls? Smashed flat like a pancake? I takes pride in what I do, so all my contracts come with a lifelong guarantee. Now, come on, spit it out, my wimpy little mitra friend!




...I found your treasure?
I asked for this junk? Were you dropped on the head as a kid?
(As they say, the jury is still out on that one.)
Ah hell, it was him. Dammit, not again, that worthless idiot! Argh! Goddammit, I finally wake up and I'm already pissed. I gotta kick some asses until I feel better. Piss off, kid, or I'll start with you.

Reward: 4000 G
Obtained Aen Salia!
Aen Salia – A red stone known as the roc’s feather.
Completed quest: Slumber of the Lost Fragment

The white yama went psycho on me! He didn't even want his stuff! And I went through all that trouble...

Salia Count: 8. Just one left. Next update should cover the final two sidequests, and then there will be a bonus update showing off our benched party members, then some main plot.




New Arts Summary
learned:

• Nimble Resonance Edge III!
  
• Revitalize!
  
• Bluff IV!
  
• Swift Devil’s Due V!

learned Nimble Flash Strike III!
class changed to Master Mysticknight!
learned:

• Wind Shear IV!
  
• Spark V!

learned Nimble Bladedancer IV!
class changed to Master Cavalier!
learned Crossbreak II!
class changed to Scout!
learned Vivification Herb III!
class changed to Lordly Monk!
class changed to Cavalier!
class changed to Lordly Monk!
learned Wind Shear!



Dungeon: Heroic Ramparts
Ghor (Tour)
Quest: Slumber of the Lost Fragment
Rare Monster - Madman



Alternate Dialogue



...Uhhh, no?
Oh... ohhh... *sniffle sniffle*




You forgot me already?
Hey hey hey, whatchu talkin' 'bout? I never forget a face, 'specially not a face what wants me to beat in the face of others. Huh? Heyy, what's the big idea? I take money, not trash, kid.
You asked me to find this stuff.
I asked for this junk? Were you dropped on the head as a kid? Ah hell, it was him. Dammit, not again, that worthless idiot! Argh! Goddammit, I finally wake up and I'm already pissed. I gotta kick some asses until I feel better. Piss off, kid, or I'll start with you.


Discussion question: Is anyone seeing a pattern here?


I'll try to get another update this week, but the timing will be tight. It will also cover two side-quests... I hope. The good news is that there are only 4 battles and no dungeon, so I can dedicate essentially all the space to covering the battles. I'll just have to try and only cover the highlights, though.

Next Time: How can that not get your soul burning?