Part 21: Chapter XVII - Talk about an epic failure!

Talk about an epic failure!




Caedmon, what exactly are the Silver Falcons?
What are the Silver Falcons? …Perhaps the most apt description is that we’re a group of knights who fight for what we believe.
That sounds kinda… generic.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t fully understand.
I’ve seen a few of them around Balterossa. Is that all of them?
There are many others in the organization, but not here… Operatives carry out their own missions across the continent. As commander, I give directions to local operatives and they take care of the rest.
That seems like a rather loose organizational structure.
Granted, there are certain inconveniences in coordinating large-scale operations. However, when necessary, everyone will assemble. You’ve no need to worry. Oh, yes. If the Falcons are called to act, would you be willing to lend us your help?
Uh, well, it depends…
Certainly, if it was an action against your beliefs, you could refuse, no questions asked. Think about it.

What a coincidence, the Falcons are about to be called to act. But we have to leave the Merchant’s Lot first.




Sure, no prob.

Heya boyo. Reckon we might have the time to look for some Anthrovore Fragment?
Sure, let’s go.
You’re a big help. Let’s be off, then.


Music: A Friendly Ear





That’s the latest news, Daddy.
Bartender: Inside the volcano… If it were to cause an eruption, there would be nowhere to run. Alright, daughter, I forbid you from getting close to the volcano!
O-okay…

When you’re out in the desert, you can hear this sad, lonely voice crying from beneath the Great Sand Sea. That’s the latest news, Daddy.
Bartender: Cries from the desert floor… That sounds suspicious no matter how you slice it! Daughter, even if you go to the Great Sand Sea, I forbid you from going beneath it!
O-okay…

Caedmon has moved inside the bar, I wonder what he wants.




Will you lend a hand?
Sounds dull.
Of all beings that deserve mercy, the Jhana are not among their number.
Oh. In that case, ‘Course!




I need two secs…
If you have other pending matters, so be it.




Because this is Caedmon’s sidequest, I am making him the union leader in honour of that. I also adjusted the formation because I was tired of the Blizzard’s speed penalty leading to constant Interceptions.

You get two chances to decline this quest. It’s another battlefield, so you should be well prepared. If you are not…

Music: Sliver of Hope



- Blooper Video: The Silver Falcons, Part One


This seems innocuous: Unions 1 and 3 start out to the north of the Jhana, Union 2 (David’s) starts out to the south. We’ve got this tiny force sandwiched between us.










It was a trap. The enemy gets reinforced on the first turn, and intercepts us immediately.




This dodge-counter doesn’t help much…




Because most of them pile on to David. The only thing the dodge-counter did was change what would have been a Rear Assault into a second Flank attack. It still wasn’t enough to save David’s union from destruction.

I can’t revive anyone yet, and without David’s union, I simply do not have the numbers to withstand all the enemies we’ll face.








I tried several more times, even disbanding David’s union and merging it with Caedmon’s (and moving Rush to lead Emma’s union), in the hopes that making them big blobs of HP would help.




Nope! After two attempts of the mega unions, I concluded that Union 2 was inevitably going to get piled on and killed. Since there’s no way to stop that, the only solution is to just roll with it and revive them.

In other words, if I want to finish this quest, I have to go do other things until some people pick up Vivication Herb. I went to Gaslin to pick up some Manticore Talons for David and found…




- Video: Rare Monster Bluejaws


…this guy, who is wanted for a guild task.

learned Flash Strike II!




Reward: Obtained Counteroffensive! You’ve learned a new formation!

The reward for Bluejaws. Looking around Athlum, Baulson wanted to talk some more:




When I was young, I’d run in with a bad crowd. Y’might say. Spent my time picking fights, making trouble. Me an’ the gang would loaf around the square here for hours… Hey, prolly sounds strange to wax poetic on bein’ a delinquient, eh? My folks died in the war …thinkin’ back, I guess I was lonely… any family would do.

So, we’re leaving Athlum behind to fight walking plants on the Southwestern Road, for some weapons components. I skipped them on our first visit because I didn’t have Caedmon and didn’t see the point in having Oakes get the XP instead of him.

I didn’t do the sidequest which is available in Athlum at this time. I didn’t think of it at the time. I did actually come back later on and record it, with the intent of pretending that I did it now… but I wasn’t terribly happy with the result, and this update is over-budget on images anyway. So screw it, we’re leaving the quest for later.






class changed to Adept Freelancer!
learned Focus Strike!
class changed to Adept Freelancer!
learned Restorative Herb III!

Looks like I did indeed skip fighting Bloody Death from the bonus video. I killed a couple groups of the Vile Plants for their drops and then continued on to…




Music: Swirling Sands







class changed to Adept Ranger!
learned Rejuvenate!
learned Nimble Knee Splitter II!
learned Thunderclap II!




There actually are a couple harvesting points in the desert. This one sprayed Rush with something that charms monsters. They’ll follow him forever, but won’t attack him (unless they touch him, I think). Turning on Timeshift makes them Cower instead. I have one dig left, and I’m saving it…




For this morsel to upgrade the digs count.




There are only a few chests in the Great Sand Sea, but it’s the finding of them that’s the pain. Those tiny green pixels a bit to the left of Rush’s left shoulder are another chest. They contain a Qsiti-specific weapon Despair’s Edge, and another Wayfarer’s Ward accessory.


- Blooper Video: Rare Monster Gomei


When wandering around I found this guy. Fighting him is a really, really dumb idea. I knew this before I attempted it (and saved).




This is one reason why.








So yeah, do not piss off Dragons because you are crunchy and taste good with barbecue sauce.






Let’s go someplace else.


- Video: Vale of the Gods flyover


Music: Rolling Hills, Sprawling Plains





Vale of the Gods – The only path leading into Baaluk, it is said that an ancient deity split a mountain in two in order to lure people within.






The Vale of The Gods is another transition map, it’s a canyon with some water in it. We need to pass through to the other side to reach our second completely optional town.




Obtained Letter of Rememberance!

That question mark indicates one of the items that you can take to Jorgen. How it survived in a pond of all places escapes me. You’ll also want to kill 8 or so crabs in total for a Guild Task. That’s in-battle, not units on the field.




learned Confuse II!
class changed to Lordly Ranger!




It’s a really pretty area. While I’m here I harvest some Steel Ore that several party members want for upgrades.


- Blooper Video: Rare Monster Wrath


It wouldn’t be this update if I didn’t fail at a rare monster fight.




It did over 1500 damage.




- Video: Baaluk Tour


Baaluk – It is said that ancient deities beckoned people to start a town in this land, far from civilization. This town is quite nondescript and has little local flavor to offer.

Music: Free and Easy (Baaluk Theme)





Baaluk – Grentze Commune: The Brimuslabus looks down upon this pastoral town, a gathering spot for people from neighboring settlements.






Woah, Dave, check this map out! If it’s right, we’re about as far from Elysion as it’s possible to get!
… I’m going for a walk.
I think I’ll join you.
Me too.
I shall go as well.
Agreed.
…Huh, I wonder what’s eating them?




Welcome to Baaluk, the belle of the west – or the end of the world, ‘pending on who you ask. This is the Grentze Commune, our main settlement. We don’t get too many visitors, so I’m sure everyone’ll be real happy to see you!

This town, like Balterossa, is completely optional. In fact, there is no quest in this town for us at all right now. So all we can do is take the tour.




Yeah, kinda hard to miss those.
Town legend says there was some terrible monster running wild, but the Imperator took the Remnant and sealed it in that very spot.
Huh…
‘Course, that was hundreds of years ago… If’n there’s any truth to it, I sure ain’t the one to tell. Only half-believe it myself, actually.




Small-Town Man: Some o’ them traders were saying there’s s’posed to be some huge cities, a couple times bigger than here, even. Speaking plainly, I think they were just pulling my leg. Like someplace that big could really exist, some on, I’m no idiot!
… I should introduce you to Dave and the others.

Staring Child: See that sovani knight standin’ over by the cliffs? That’s Mr. Wyngale. Mana says he’s protected Grentze for a long, long time – even since before I was born!




I’ve stood here for hundreds of years, watching over the Remnant Brimslabus and what it seals.

And that’s all he says.




Hey! It’s you, Emmy!
Rush, good to see you.
Man, you sure get to the most far-out places. Why do you do all this anyway?
What’s the purpose of my training? Well… a lot of things. But in general, training the mind and spirit, I’d imagine.
I guess I can understand that. I’m kinda training too, I guess.
You guess? What are you training for?
Well, my sister Irina got kidnapped. I tried to get her back, but the guys who took her are really strong. I guess one of the reasons I’m way out here is so I can get strong enough to take them on.




He-llo… So, you crossed the Vale of the Gods all by your lonesome? You must be stronger than you look. The legend ‘round here is that the gods created the split in the mountain range to invite mortals to come to the area. ‘Course, if I were a god, I’d just invite a bunch of hot guys… Heheh.

I turn in the “Slay seven Crabs” quest.
Reward: Obtained Lotion Formula. Rush can now use Lotions!

Lotions are Item Arts that cure status effects. That’s useful, but the trick is that the first one, Antivenin Cream, cures poison, and poison is both somewhat uncommon, and something you can just power through with healing anyway. Because the only way to get to the higher level arts is to use the lower level ones, that makes it a struggle to raise Lotions to a high enough level to get to the really important stuff. The developers realized this and lowered the amount of XP you need to reach the second and third levels of lotions, but I’m not sure it helps that much.

Refresh does most of the same stuff Lotions can, BUT Refresh doesn’t work when you are Silenced, in which case you’ll really want the Lotion that cures silence.




Bartender: Well, well! It’s been a spell since we’ve had a new face. Welcome to the Rift!
Lively Old Man: Some amnesiac is wandering around the cities in the desert, looking for something that could regain his memory. …That’s the scuttlebutt, anyhoo!
Bartender: Izzat so. And?
Lively Old Man: Memories, schmemories! Remember what you had for dinner last night? I don’t remember the snack I had a few minutes agao! Gahahhahaha!

Hey, someone else from the “outside.” I’m not from here either… Last year I was hired to escort a guy out here. Thing is, once we made it to town, the guy disappeared without paying me! I’ve been trapped here since then… I’m just working to make enough cash to get out of this hole. Nothing happens here at all… this place is like a complete waste of space. I can’t wait to get the hell out!

The Rift Owner: What’s this? You, you are an unfamiliar face. Doing a bit of traveling, sport?
Yeah, I guess.
The Rift Owner: Take a seat, have some tea. At least it doesn’t have any problems with it… I’m the owner here, and you wouldn’t believe the troubles I’ve had. I actually started out in Balterossa. Never have to worry about having too few customers there, eh? It’s pricey, though. I couldn’t turn a profit. So… that’s how I ended up out here on the edge of the world. Sad thing is – and this is where it really adds insult to injury – even this tiny pub out in the boonies couldn’t be run all alone. So… I was desperate. I went to town, found two guys who looked like they didn’t have anything else to do, and hired ‘em. Talk about an epic failure!
What went wrong?
The Rift Owner: Where do I start? The younger guy’s a lazy dog. I’ve seen corpses that’re more productive, ugh. But you know how mitra can be… no offense. Then the old guy, bless him, he’s enthusiastic enough, but completely incompetent. Can’t remember customer orders for the life of him. The customers themselves are mostly down-and-out mercenaries, so not really the type you wanna get too friendly with, you know?
The Rift Owner: *sigh*
The Rift Owner: I always dreamed of having a bustling pub full of attractive patrons having stimulating conversations about adventure and intrigue…
Err…
The Rift Owner: Ach, sorry, sorry. You come in here for a drink and then I end up talking your ear off. Anyway, next time you come out here, come back and visit, alright? There’ll be a hot pot of tea waiting for you, my treat.




Heya, Rush! I bet you’re bored like me… How ‘bout we go do some fighting, show some monsters who’s boss, eh?
Sounds like a plan.
Yeahh, that’s more like it, C’mon!

Rush, if you’ve got a moment, let’s fight a bit outside of town, shall we? Trainin’s the most important part of being a mercenary, ya know!
Sounds like a plan.
That’s what I like to hear.

Baulson and Blocter have just upgraded their weapons. I don’t think there’s too much more I can upgrade for other party members, a lot of it requires drops from areas we haven’t seen yet. Remind me to go back to Blackdale for Imp Fang, though. Pagus needs it but not that urgently since there’s not much more fighting before he’s benched for a little while.

Baaluk really is small, this city map shows basically the whole thing. The only other stop is the Lord’s Manor. The only place that seems big enough to be called a manor is the building with the Guild, though.




Baaluk: Lord’s Manor: A simple but practical manor, the administrators of Baaluk use this building to conduct their business.

Qsiti Advisor: Baaluk is currently without a lord. The two sons of the previous lord do nothing but argue over who is more fit for the position… The closest we’ve got to a ruler is Wyngale. He’s protected this town for a long time. But without a lord, who knows when there might be a Collapse?


Elder Lord Candidate: The next leader of Baaluk is gonna be me! My little brother’s such an idiot he tried milking bulls! Like I’m gonna leave Baaluk to him!
Younger Lord Candidate: I-I’m going to be the next ruler of Baaluk… I hope! My older brother is too hot-headed… I-I don’t want to leave the Brimslabus to him!




O-okay… time to go…

Really, there’s nothing at all to do here right now. But keep some of that stuff in mind for later.

I like how well the world-building holds up on closer inspection. In Tales of Vesperia, monsters are such a big problem that people cower in cities protected by shields, but if I remember the LP right, they never really gave a good explanation of WHY monster attacks were so bad, never mind how human civilization could have gotten to the city-building stage.

Here, Remnants collapsing attracts monsters, and there are countless Remnants all over the world, many still probably undiscovered. But humans have learned how to use Remnants as tools and weapons, which makes the use of them critical, and a Collapse can be avoided as long as a Remnant is bound, so there’s a good reason why people are living around these potentially dangerous artifacts.


- Video: Rare Monster Longhorn


Music: Sliver of Hope



I took another trip through the Vale to get the shot of the map (I forgot to get the first time), and found this guy.

I highly recommend that you watch this fight, as it shows how hilarious the Ranger’s [Side On] ability can be. When you are flank-attacking an enemy, they can’t touch you except with AoE attacks, which this guy does not have. Better yet, as long as you continue to flank, you keep getting “Strike from the Sides” commands. I took the morale bar all the way from left to right just from the morale bonus from flanking.

I also have two blooper attempts at him, but the first one I won the fight with two unions dead, and the second I stopped the fight once someone died. There’s no real point in including them, so I didn’t bother.

Music: Clash of Opposites





This fight is also a great example of how to rotate unions. When an enemy union is multi-deadlocking two of your unions (and it is the only one on the field), it is completely safe to break deadlock to heal. As long as one union is still deadlocking the enemy, the one you retreated can’t be Raidlocked. Mind you, it can still be hit by AoE attacks. In this battle, Rush flank-attacks while Emma and David alternately engage and disengage (if injured).


Music: Reversal




The downside to The Last Remnants battle commands system is that you don’t always have the options that you want to perform, and you don’t always know what options you’ll get. The UPSIDE is that sometimes, you will get surprised when your unions do something unexpected in a good way. Here, I had just given Rush’s union the standard “Strike from the Sides” command, but the AI, all by itself, recognized that Emma’s union was hurting and reassessed to heal her back up to 1052 HP.




FINALLY.

It’s about time that we’ve learned Vivification Herb. David and Baulson have been with us the longest so that they learned it first. Caedmon will take a little longer, but I’m not going to wait. Two unions who can revive will do for now.

I turned off Baulson’s other Herb skill in the faint hope of delaying him falling into Scout, but it probably won’t work. It’s a bad idea because if his union ever REALLY needs healing, Emma can’t get it back up to full on her own, so I’ll probably turn them back on if I remember.

I think I also hit BR 15, which is a “red line” for recruiting certain new people. Enough stalling, there are Jhana to murder!

Rush, what do you think I should focus on? Is it really enough to maximize my command of mystic arts?
I’ve seen your “Thunderclap”’s damage. Definitely mystic arts!
Exactly! Goodness, look at me, doing all this worrying over nothing…

Would you allow me to borrow your Wayfarer’s Ward?
Sure, no prob.
Thank you.





- Video: Balterossa Tour


At a request, I recorded a tour of the town. Watch the video if you want, it’s a nice looking town.


- Battlefield Video: The Silver Falcons, Part One


Yup!
Accepted quest: The Silver Falcons: Part One
Glory to the Falcons!

Music: Sliver of Hope





Ha, we’ve surrounded them! Close in!

I’ve decided to do something special for party member quests that we get while they are in the party: a day in the limelight, where they are the leader, even if they weren’t before. That’s why Caedmon is leading. We once again start split up, with Caedmon and Emma’s unions north and David’s south. I have everyone target union C.








It’s an ambush!
Crap, Dave’s surrounded!

David takes out the group of Nidhogg’s (E) attacking him. Emma takes out the Jhana Archfighters (B), and Caedmon eliminates Jhana Archfighters (A).




Yes, I do sometimes screw up the QTE’s, especially on defense.




Once again, David’s union is piled on and is left with 200 HP at the end of the turn.




Caedmon’s union is too far away to fight anyone up close. Evocations are long-range and I could use those to attack from a distance, but that won’t really help. So I order him to close in. I tell David to break deadlock and heal – not that it would really do any good. I order Emma’s union to save David’s no matter what.




David and Pagus heal themselves to full, which unfortunately results in Emma healing herself instead of closing in on the target. Oh well.




This was pretty unavoidable.




This time, though, FINALLY, we can do something about it. She will get Raidlocked by union G, but that’s a fair trade for bringing back David’s Division.






On your feet!
I was only taking a little nap!

Emma follows that up with a Restore III taking David back up to 1052 health.


Forward, show no mercy!




Evocations don’t do as much damage as Invocations. The silence status is also useless on these physical attackers.




That turn was a little rough on us, to say the least, but the good news is that there are three targets for the enemy to spread their attacks among, which helps a lot. I’ve got no choice but to have Caedmon and Emma break deadlock to heal, but David is free to engage one of the flanking unions, so the damage gets spread out a lot more.




I immediately regret turning off Restorative Herbs III on Baulson, as Emma’s Restore only takes her up to 611 HP. Still though, David takes out his target, and the other union freed up attacks him as well. Emma’s union is fortunate to get two blocks on three attacks.




I don’t really like any of the options David has with his union. I could tell him to keep his HP up, but instead I have him “Play it by ear!”. The smart choice is for Emma to break deadlock to keep her HP up, but there are no other enemy units free, so I actually decide to have her go all-out for the kill, ignoring her low HP.




Rush gets Blacked out, and he was supposed to perform a healing action. David’s “Play it by ear” just had them attack three times normally. Not very effective.




At least Emma’s attack went according to plan. Blocter and Baulson went first and crushed the enemy, and Emma reassessed to heal, because there were still enemies left on the field. The AI can be pretty smart at times. Unfortunately, this isn’t over yet…





They got reinforcements!

Five more enemy unions pop up. I have Caedmon and David keep their HP up. I decline to send Emma charging at the 5 distant unions, instead she’ll pile on the union deadlocked with David, with instructions to heal him.






After a couple turns of grinding it out, we’re back down to 3v3. I give “keep your HP up” orders to the injured unions.








Oh, come on. One final wave to deal with. But by now the morale is leaning in our favour, and this is only mopping up.




Battle Rank: 15
Total Number of Turns: 9
Total Enemies Defeated: 37

learned Spark III!
learned Refresh!
learned Rejuvenate!




‘For now?’ Are you kidding? After that, the Jhana’ll be crapping themselves at the mere mention of the Silver Falcons!
Fear is not an emotion they sustain for long periods of time. Here, take this.
Reward: Shamshir, 3000 G.
I may ask you for assistance again in the future. Until then.
Completed quest: The Silver Falcons: Part One
The Jhana were getting out of control, so I helped Caedmon suppress them a bit. I think they got the hint. Hehe.


All right, Rush. Enough is enough. We must return to Elysion at once. I’m sure all of the other Lords must be there already.
Actually, Marquis of Athlum, you are mistaken.





Mysterious! Oh well, it’ll have to wait until next time. (Also the main quest will resume in Chapter 19.)


New Arts Summary

class changed to Lordly Ranger!
learned:

• Flash Strike II!
  
• Focus Strike!

class changed to Adept Ranger!
learned:

• Confuse II!
  
• Spark III!

class changed to Adept Freelancer!

class changed to Adept Freelancer!
learned:

• Nimble Knee Splitter II!
  
• Nimble Knee Splitter III!

learned

• Restorative Herb III!
  
• Vivification Herb!

class changed to Adept Magus!
learned:

• Restore III!
  
• Rejuvenate!
  
• Refresh!

class changed to Adept Monk!
learned:

• Thunderclap II!
  
• Mighty Double Strike II!
  
• Vivification Herb!

learned:

• Restore III!
  
• Rejuvenate!

Blooper Video: The Silver Falcons, Part One
Video: Rare Monster Bluejaws
Blooper Video: Rare Monster Gomei
Video: Vale of the Gods flyover
Blooper Video: Rare Monster Wrath
Video: Baaluk Tour
Video: Rare Monster Longhorn
Battlefield Video: The Silver Falcons, Part One
Video: Balterossa Tour


Next Time: Good luck, Rush Sykes. My country is in your hands.