Part 50: Chapter XLIII - We cannot allow her power to be abused!

We cannot allow her power to be abused!

Previously:




Chapter XXXV: Auf wiener schnitzel, Nagapur!



Irina’s here?!
Apparently she’s in Duke Hermeien’s custody. I suppose you can rest easy, knowing she’s out of Wagram’s hands.
Irina’s got Marion’s Blessing!


Chapter XXXVII: …He’ll reign as the new God Emperor.



Dave, something’s been bugging me. The Conqueror used Mom’s Tablet to change the Valeria Heart into a Talisman, but I thought Wagram had the Tablet!?
How can that be?
This is the doing of one man.




A man using Wagram as a pawn in his twisted game. At the same time, he manipulates the Conqueror into sparking a war, for no other reason than to demonstrate the horrors Remnants are capable of. Once a world war erupts, the people will no longer believe the Lords fit to control the Remnants! If the descendant of Marion Marshall were to appear after all that, she would easily be given control of ALL the Remnants! With Irina by his side, he’ll reign as the new God Emperor!
By “he”, you mean…
The Chairman of the Congress: Duke Wilfred Hermeien.








Music: In the Shadow of the Dragon (Nagapur Theme)





A legend? About what?
Somewhere in the world exists a weapon of extraordinary power. With it, one can defeat even the strongest of foes.
That’s the most generic, USELESS legend I’ve ever heard.


Getting into Wyrmskeep won’t be easy.
…The Aquaducts!
Pardon?
Last time I was here, this old guy told me that we can use the Aquaducts to get into Wyrmskeep. Let’s go!





Moving on, I’ve plopped Roberto in and taken Maddox out, because I may as well get Roberto some use now while he’s relevant-ish. We’ll shortly be picking up a great many new party members, so don’t expect to see him for long. I’ve also updated the third post’s roster with the latest stats and arts for our party, if that sort of thing interests you.




To arms! To arms! All men to arms!
The Conqueror is heading for Nagapur!
The Duke of Ghor defends, but cannot hold alone!
If the Conqueror is heading for Nagapur, it must mean that Hermeien’s plan is almost ready!
Rush, we must hurry!
Right!




We’re in Sudenalm now. The gate between Emmy and Oswald is now open.




Granted… To this day, I have doubts as to whether that was a positive thing…
Yeah, I guess…
Rush Sykes, you must save your sister. Marina deserves to be with her family again – with you and your sister and your father.

Rush! Miss Irina is being held in the audience chamber of Wyrmskeep! These stairs will take us down to the Aqueducts, and we can take them all the way through to the castle. Lord David is waiting. Please hurry.






He reminds me of someone… But I can’t quite put my finger on who.
Miss Irina is right up here! Come on, let’s go bust some heads!




In case you haven’t got it by now, this is kinda a big deal. This is not exactly a point-of-no-return, we can leave the Aqueducts up until a certain point. However, once we reach the end of the Aqueducts, we’ll hit a point of no-return. So be sure to have stocked up and done all the quests you want to do before you enter.

Ready-steady!
Alright. Let’s go!




Music: Everflow


The Aquaducts get their own music.


- Dungeon Video: Aqueducts


There’s actually no flyby for this dungeon, which is unusual. Additionally, I’m actually going to do a video for this dungeon. It’s pretty much the closest the game has to a puzzle dungeon.



This map is fragmented and somewhat confusing, until you get the gimmick of the level. Oh look, here it is now…




Use the Device?
Why not?






The panel is now helpfully identified as “Mobile Bridge Control Panel”. To navigate this dungeon, we’ll need to hit all of them to move them where we need them… so I guess it’s not actually a puzzle.




Another Ring of the Patient Ear, and a +20% HP Justice Wristlet.




These Barbarossa’s are blocking the way to the panel, and teasing them, running past them, being on the same continent as them, will just make them Vehment, so they have to be dispatched.




Let’s see if this does anything useful.




Hard to say. That’s the biggest problem with potions – it’s hard to know if there’s enough of a benefit.

learned Kiss of Life II!
learned Rejuvenate II!
learned Mighty Thunderclap II!
class changed to Adept Cavalier!
class changed to Adept Scout!




Moving the bridge from its utterly useless position down there to up here.




Grates block the passages down and up. I suppose we should be thankful that unlike most “sewer levels”, this is not a maze.




You do want to cross this bridge to the right to get the Lure and Trap upgrade to the Bait and Hook formation.




These Rockshell crabs can be dodged if you’re careful. Just past the bridge is the door to the next section.








East Waterway control mixes the “puzzles” up a bit.




There’s no water in this section, letting us use ladders to get to the bottom.




The way forward is to our left, but I want that chest.

learned Dragon Crush!

Oh nice. Dragon Crush is another pretty awesome 2H art. I believe it’s a low strike which immediately thrusts upward into a high strike. The chest just has Sickbed, another formation upgrade. Hey, I don’t memorize what the chests have, I just want to open them.




The bridge goes nowhere useful, so we need to move it.




Now we can take the ladder down and move on. The chest just has the map, which is not so useful since we’re over halfway done, and it’s a linear dungeon anyway.






Another bridge which needs moving.






Here’s the exit and a teleporter to the World Map. Somewhere in here is an item needed to make Jorgen into a Warrior, so if you want, you can do that. Also, stepping foot into the Aqueducts unlocks Unique Leader Gaou for recruitment. He’s a Yama magus, and has no sidequests, so he can wait until later.






Almost at the end now.






This treasure chest has some healing items and a neat new sword. It’s 2-Handed for Mitra like Rush.




This right here is the point of no return. Once you go in, you can’t get out until you’ve completed the boss fights and story.


- Boss Video: Harpylia








Oh, this is SUCH a trap.




Irina!
Rush, wait!






You okay, sis?
Rush…




You!

Even Rush can sense something wrong.
















Mission: Defeat the Enemy!

Music: Struggle Eternal





So, we’re faced with five Harpylia enemies, which are of the Phantom Type we’ve never encountered before.




Come on, let’s kick some A!



You’re through!!




This union is knocked into critical on the first turn.




As is this one.




This one gets off a pretty solid hit with Blaster, though.






Nothin’ to do but fight, is there?
Obviously, something is going on.

I’m going to play a little cautious with Caedmon, just because I don’t want to end a fight with him dead and hence not getting XP, but otherwise, this fight is easy enough that there’s no need for Omnistrike.








Those guys must be pretty frickin’ weak.

This is not a boss fight, it’s a “You must be at least this strong to proceed” gate. If this fight gives you any trouble - at all - or goes longer than 5 turns, you should stop, because you’ll have big trouble with the real boss. I in fact played this a little too safe and could have ended it on turn 2 if I had ordered Blocter to attack instead of redundant healing.




Dave! Crush ‘em with Ex Machina!

Get out of my way.








Beautiful!

learned Caustic Blast II!




Seriously dude, get better at spotting obvious traps.
Hey, I stopped before I got TOO close, didn’t I?
Impressive.




Wagram!




My dear Marquis, you know as well as I that Duke Hermeien would prefer if you bid a hasty retreat. Your life will be in jeopardy if you don’t.




Duke Hermeien can’t be serious about using Marion’s Blessing!
My place is not to question these things. You have been warned, Marquis.






Lord David.
We must protect Irina at all costs. We cannot allow her power to be abused!
Yeah! Yes, my Lord!




With that we get control back, but…




The stairs on the north and south sides lead to these things and we can’t pass…




And the way we came is shut tight. No turning back now. If you try to save in this area, the game specifically warns you that if you overwrite your only save and can’t beat the boss, you could become stuck.




Sorry for keeping you waiting, Irina, but I had sidequests to do. I’m sure you understand, right?





New Arts Summary
learned Kiss of Life II!
learned:

• Rejuvenate II!
  
• Dragon Crush!

learned Mighty Thunderclap II!
class changed to Adept Cavalier!
class changed to Adept Scout!
learned Caustic Blast II!



Dungeon: Aqueducts
Boss Video: Harpylia

Flowers Count: 8
“Irina” Count: 10
“Rush” count: 5


Next Time: The Marquis of Athlum wishes to die. Fulfill his request!