Part 53: Chapter XLVI - I win, slowpokes!

I win, slowpokes!


- Video: Six Months Later


Thus, half a year passed. After taking control of the Congress, the newly appointed Chairman Ghor deemed Wilfred Hermein a casualty of war.

This video is just David narrating over a black screen, so I spiced the LP up with some semi-relevant pictures.




The official story was that after the Conquerer killed Hermein, the Conquerer’s forces were destroyed in the subsequent fighting. Without an army to fight, the war was over. However, the scars left from the war cut deeper than we’d thought. Violence erupted around the world. And the lords, frustrated from the abundance of futile efforts, devised the ultimate plan.




The Remnants powers were to be used to suppress the violence. Suddenly, the Remnants meant to protect the people were being used against them.




However, The Duke of Ghor did not accept this. ‘The people had placed their trust in the Congress,’ he said, ‘and it was their duty to repay that trust.’ Thanks to Chairman Ghor’s efforts, things finally began to change.




He declared that we had to uncover new Remnants.‘Something for the people to put their trust into. The Congress spread his message to the people. Their hearts were moved, and the violence subsided.

A new age was dawning. One without the horrors of war. At least, that’s what we all believed.


So uh, yeah, it’s been 6 months since the destruction of Nagapur.


Music: Life without Remnants






Other than the narration, “Disc 2” doesn’t have an intro. It dumps you into Athlum Castle, and you can do what you like. Several sidequests have opened up, and we can do them right away… but I’m going to hold off on them because there’s a party size increase coming up soon, and I may as well maximize the number of units which get XP.




He's learnt there is a major Remnant located at Fornstrand, on the dark sea to the north of the continent. Let's not waste any time, Rush.
An unknown Remnant at Fornstrand... Well, it's known of now... No doubt some shady types are going to go after it. Don't let down your guard, Rush.
Fornstrand, huh? I don't really like that place... The sky's always covered with dark clouds... It kinda gives me the willies.
It's been some time since the Congress elected the Duke of Ghor as the new chairman, but still... I'm continually astonished at how he can work people so hard.
It's imperative that we find a new Remnant to restore the faith of the Athlum people as soon as possible. Without the Valeria Heart, the unease of the people is palpable.




No prob!
Ohh! As always, I appreciate your generosity.

This is the sword we picked up right before the Haryplia boss.

So, how about your Justice Wristlet? Why don’tcha let me take care of it for a while?
Sure, no prob.
F’r real? You’re alright.

Would you allow me to borrow your Ring of the Patient Ear?
No prob!
Thank you. You’ve been a big help.

Rush, my boy, I’ve found myself in need of Tanned Archfiend Hide. Have we the time to obtain one?
Sure.
Excellent! Then let’s get a move on.

Rush, I really need a Reprocessed Metal. Think we could go find one?
Yeah, let’s go.
I owe you one.

Ah, Rush, do you have a moment? I am looking for Reprocessed Metals… Would you come with me to find one?
Yeah, let’s go.
You’ve my gratitude.

Rush, I have need of a Reprocessed Metal. Have we the time to obtain one?
Sure, no prob.
Thank you. Then, let’s not waste any time.

Actually, let’s. All towns have fresh dialogue, so let’s tour Athlum and see what’s going on. No, I’m not going to stop posting these messages. I have to suffer through them, so you do as well.




Fire…fire and rubble everywhere. So many bodies…

Even after losing the Valeria Heart and Lady Emma, Lord David hasn't missed a beat, going out to the battlefield and leading the troops. It's moving, isn't it? He's going to lead Athlum to a bright future, I just know it.

So, word is that that new Congress chairman, Ghor or whatever, he's told Lord David to go off to find more massive Remnants. Seriously, are you just supposed to be stumbling over them as you walk down the street? If they were that easy to find, you'd see them in shops down here all the time, eh, pops?

Rush, I have need of a Raptor Hide. Is there to obtain one?
Sure, no problem.
Thank you. I am in your debt.




Are we supposed to be such superstitious old biddies that we can't have any confidence of our own? Our strength doesn't come from any Remnant - it comes from ourselves!
Yeah!
...Well, that's what the bartender was going on about earlier, anyhow.

So, it seems the Congress has delegated people to find new Remnants to replace those stolen by the Conqueror. And now that everyone knows what the Gwayn did to Nagapur... Fools! Are they looking for a repeat of that performance across the continent?
That’s NOT gonna happen! I won’t let it!
…?
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell…


Now that Duke Ghor has become chairman of the Congress, the search for the new Remnants has been going with full force. Along the way, people have found all sorts of previously undiscovered areas.

This doesn’t unlock a new area yet, but remember him for later.

Shit, just 'cuz the Valeria Heart's gone don't mean the town's got to be all doom and gloom and destruction or whatever. Lord David's already findin' us a new symbol, right? So, I was thinking I should help out, an' go find one too. Then won't nobody have a thing to worry about. I could find us a new Remnant in a hot minute!




This guy is new to the bar.

Seems like they've started rebuilding the Numor Mines. They've still gotta clean out the monsters what live there, so it'll be a bit before the grand re-opening. It'll be pretty rough not to be able to freely harvest there anymore... I heard they've finally got the lift working to the lowest level, though. If ever there was a time to hit the mines, this is it.

Talking to him unlocks additional areas in Numor Mine. We technically could have gotten access to these earlier if we’d done Ophelia’s quest, but there is no good reason to do it.

Pub Regular: That new chairman of the Congress, Ghor, he's the one that lives in that run-down fortress, eh? When he came into office, I figured he was all brawn and no brains, but he's done quite the job of getting things under control. And now, he's even sending folks to find us all new Remnants? That's a good sort if I've ever seen one!




Pleasant Young Man: … That’s the story, anyway.
Bartender: Rocks, pfft. I’m looking for three wonderful men! That’s something that would be really important to the entire world… or at least the me-part of it.




Sky-Gazing Woman: Besides... I've already gotten used to seeing the sky without it...

Ever since Duke Ghor became chairman of the Congress, supply patterns have changed a lot! I guess all the stuff that used to be saved especially for Nagapur is being routed to other cities.

Huhhh, so is that Conqueror bastard really s'posed to be dead? Rumor is, his army wasn't completely destroyed... Damned if there's anything I wouldn't rather hear, though.


That’s all for Athlum. The new conversations for the other cities will be shown when we get there.




Music: Breakers on the Shore





Fornstrand – Strong winds and waves speed the erosion of this seaside cliff. The atmosphere of the area changes every few decades from calm to stormy. It is currently in a time of calm.






Fornstrand is the first new dungeon of Disc 2. We have generally seen most of the dungeons in part already, but there are new ones like this one. It’s a seashore area, but it’s closer to a shipwreck beach than a vacation beach. It’s sunset, but it’s not even a beautiful sunset. The sun is hidden behind the clouds. The water is dark and murky. And always… always there are monsters. It also gets unique music as well.




I’m going to swing around that rock formation to get the chest. There’s also a harvesting point there which has Reprocessed Metals in it – convenient, because some people want those right now, so I grabbed a bunch of them. The chest only had the Maelstrom formation. One of these days I should probably stop ignoring my formations and check again for what ones are good. It’s just that I have dozens of the damn things.

Also, something I never noticed until now, but as Roobanguy pointed out, at the start of Disc 2, Rush got an armor upgrade. Now his formerly bare arms are covered, and he has additional armor behind his back left leg. It's still totally cosmetic, but it's a nice touch.




Pretty.




The enemies ahead are Vanargand’s. They dropped some items that Emmy and Roberto wanted. But note that up ahead on the pillar is a Spiritlord.




Music: Beat the Odds



I engaged another large group of enemies - Vanargand’s and Armorshells. Beat the Odds is the new Low Morale music. I enjoy it a lot more than Sliver of Hope. This fight took nearly 10 minutes. I declined to make a video of it.

class changed to Expert Cavalier!
learned Vivification Herb IV!
learned:

• Nimble Blue Streak!
  
• Nimble Blue Streak II!

learned Vivification Herb!


- Video: Rare Monster Seething Wind



Seething Wind is a tough cookie. I’m already underlevelled for most of the enemies here, but it’s worse versus this Rare monster. Its BR starts out at 49. Although granted, BR differences are not THAT big a deal.






The usual Spiritlord Curse happens. Violet also falls.








On your feet!
Pardon me for troubling you.

This was a bit of a waste of revival herbs, because they’re still cursed, and the only cure is death.




Damnit…
This isn’t over yet!

David brings Rush back.






A nice dodge-counter, and oh, what’s happening with Torgal?




Ah, he’s leveled up one of his arts. That hit for about 7200 damage.




I thought about using Ex Machina, but decided to continue flanking instead.

Music: Clash of Opposites







Ouch.




I hate it when they spam these things.




I decide that maybe this fight IS tough enough to pull out the big guns, so David will keep Seething Wind busy with Ex Machina while Blocter starts to pick people up.








This was a really lucky break.






Things are going pretty well, so I’ll just lower the morale instead of Omnistrike.




Music: Turn the Tide


Turn the Tide is the new High Morale music. Unfortunately, it’s not as good as Reversal, but that is a high bar to beat.






Pagus is not very useful for physical attacks at this stage of the game.




Very nice!

learned Mighty Four Winds II!
learned Nimble Cutting Lunge II!
class changed to Master Scout!
class changed to Lordly Scout!
class changed to Lordly Monk!









I wonder if this is low tide? … I wonder if this world even has a moon and tides.




*sigh* Such are the risks of harvesting.




Switch is a nasty attack which lowers morale and also hits each unit in the union for some damage, making it dangerous for the same reason that Revitalize is so good.




This is another nasty one. It killed David’s Division, and so they get no XP for this encounter.

class changed to Expert Cavalier!




In the middle here is another morsel to increase Mr. Diggs count. I haven’t really been obsessing about getting them all, because I got 20 or so on my first playthrough, and when combined with a guide about where to dig, that’s pretty much all you’ll need.




We’re almost at the end.


- Video: Enter the Seven




Ha ha! I win, slowpokes! In your face, Blocter!
No way, y’cheater!
Please, remember why we’re here.




Lord David is still hiding the fact that you and your sister share Marion’s Blessing. And that’s a significant risk. Do not make all his efforts be for naught.
Yeah, I know. Sorry.




Come, now. You don’t have to worry about that.




Or… maybe you do?






















The Remnant we came to find is transformed into a Talisman by Roeas.




Ha ha ha ha ha…

Roeas catches the talisman.

Music: Enter the Seven





So, they survived.
(I hope they didn’t hear all that.)



She flips it to Castanea.




Hold it! What are you gonna do with that Remnant?
And why should we tell you?
Uh…. Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work?
Your little group can’t do a thing about it either way!








And Milton catches it. Wait, Milton?






H-hey! You guys? I did a side-quest and you were there, and you were there, and you were there…

So it turns out that most of those guys we did quests for between finding Marina Sykes and David’s meeting in Nagapur are actually villains working for the Conqueror. I was actually surprised by this on my first time playing, because getting side-quests from bad guys isn’t something that happens so often.




















We return to Athlum. Now!
Yes, my Lord!

We’re pretty lucky that they didn’t care to fight us. It also makes sense – they already had what they wanted.





New Arts Summary
class changed to Expert Cavalier!
learned Vivification Herb IV!
learned:

• Nimble Blue Streak!
  
• Nimble Blue Streak II!

learned Vivification Herb!
class changed to Lordly Scout!
learned Mighty Four Winds II!
learned Nimble Cutting Lunge II!
class changed to Master Scout!
class changed to Lordly Monk!
class changed to Expert Cavalier!


A lot of sidequests expired after pasing the point of no return in the Aqueducts. However, for each and every quest which expires, there’s a good reason you can point to and say “that’s why”.

The six-month timeskip is one reason most of the sidequests expired. I looked at the list and almost every single sidequest which expired was a matter of some urgency – the kind of situation which would change if you come back half a year later. This includes the ones where the optional cities have a crisis.

Most of the other ones which expired were given out by the Seven, which have been revealed now as additional lackeys of the Conqueror, and it would not make sense for them to be asking us to do crap after this reveal.

The Khrynia quest chain, up to and including the one where she appears in Nagapur also expire, because you need to do them in order to get her to move on to the next city.


I’m just going to spoil the names of those we didn’t know because it’s not that secret, and we may as well have something better to call them. For reference:

Hannah & Hinnah:

Chapter XXV - You owe me a corpse, asshole!

Young (Dishonest-looking Man)

Chapter XXVII - Ice burrrn!

Sneivan (White Sovani)

Chapter XXVIII - I hope that next time you wash your hands, at least.

Ludope (White Qsiti)

Chapter XXIX - And they wail so loud, already, it’s as if my head would burst

Milton

Chapter XXXI - It overflows with the desire for blood!

Zuido

Chapter XXXII - Shiny shiny. My shinies...

I made sure to use a line by them as the chapter title. As some people suspected, they are the people who would be part of your party if your PC was the Conqueror. I’ve now added a “Forces of the Conqueror” section to the cast list.

It is most definitely intentional that most of their quests reward you with Salia stones, which are drawn to the powerful.



Video: Six Months Later
Video: Rare Monster Seething Wind
Video: Enter the Seven


Discussion Question: Was anyone surprised that some or all of those guys we met turned out to be evil?

Next Time: Terrible things are all the more necessary to remember