Part 32: Episode 4: Part 5: Market Day!

Episode 4: Part 5: Market Day!

A new day, and a new series of, I'm sure, unrelated events.


Rhue's new room is off a hallway in the main part of the building.

Anyway, let's go check with the clerk for messages.


I walked right by that park with Kloe last night.
So let's get going. On the way I explore a little and find a couple things. One is a guy doing this for a bet:



Sacrifa's mansion hm? Exploration to an area south of here is also blocked off due to the Vigilante Council and the Guided having some sort of important meeting.


And apparently the Phantom Slasher hasn't made an appearance in Estrana yet.





Rhue somehow doesn't notice the scummy man with red hair which you can't see due to the dialogue box cutting off the top part of his head. Maybe he was looking for a kimono or yukata or something?



Uh... hey.

I haven't seen you here at the park ever before. Are you new to Estrana?

Yea, I've only been here a few days.

How do you like it so far?

It's nice.

Good, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself.
Any particular reason you're here in Estrana?

Heh. Not really.

Please, I know that laugh. It's obvious you have some sort of business here.

Well, I'm kind of looking for somebody. I thought someone in town might be able to help me out with my search?

An old flame?

Someone I care about, yes.

You mean someone you're in love with.

Okay, yea.

Have you been looking for them a long time?

Yea, for several years. Not in the right place apparently.

They must be really special to you then.

They mean everything to me.

You look sad, but I understand why. It's difficult to be apart from the one you love.
Don't ever give up hope. Love is powerful. It's not something that can be defeated or destroyed.
If it wasn't for love, I know I'd surely have been dead long ago.
Truly it's the only thing keeping me alive.

Hmmm...

It's been nice talking to you. I've got to run home real quick and fetch some more seed for the birds.
I hope to see you again sometime. Bye.

Goodbye.
This woman used to not have a portrait so now its even more glaringly obvious she'll be important somehow. Anyway, I've always really liked it when Rhue just has nice, normal conversations like this... It's a good break from... Well, you've seen what he's like, and thats without me posting every NPC he gets in a tiff with too.





This guy also once lacked a portrait. Anyway, we cut to...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ze5BfLk0J8



You heard wrong. I wasn't responsible for all those deaths.
Just some of them.

Right, right. Anyway, my name is Stoyko. Sorya and I are of the same organization.
We've got a little meeting with one of the bosses today.
If you're lucky, we might even have something special in store for you.


Wonderful.

First I have to make a little stop somewhere though.




No problem.



There's four groups of Blue Scarves to fight on the way there. They're mostly harmless. They can do a bit of damage and likely get Both Rhue and Stoyko on low health by the time they die if you just mash attack but you'd likely still win, unless they focus fired one of them down early.


Speaking of Stoyko, he's by far the best party-member we've had thus far, even better than Traziun and he has 99 hp like Rhue. His damage is only a bit behind too, and hey he seems to have maxed his Piercer Aura if he has Psycho Stab.



Also Air Edge levels up again.



In this house there's an easter egg.







Cocoa was a strange poster on the forums, and he's listed in the credits for The Way on occasion too. My memory of like 2004 is very fuzzy but I think he helped Lun out a bit with the series, and was also known for writing up insane theories on the forums. Though the last bit could have been any number of people.

Anyway, I make my way around to the actual house we're meant to be headed to.





(I'm not so sure this was such a great idea.)

(I really don't have any OTHER ideas though.)

I'm going to have to be exceptionally careful with the way I handle things from here on out.

STOYKO: Pssst! Come on in here kid!

(Here we go...)





You get +1 Sorya point here or nothing happens at all. I go with nothing.


Well obviously, dear.



*laugh* Okay.

Luckily we have something for you to do today anyways.
Have you ever been to the market place of Estrana?



This dialogue choice has no affect on anything so I have Rhue be a smartass because he is.


What a funny kid. It's funny because you have no idea who you're talking to.

Aw, give him a break. He's new in town.

Let's get to the good part though.
There's a merchant at the marketplace who is straying from an agreement we had with him.
His name is Aaron.
We need you to go down there and tell him that we won't tolerate another screw up.
Don't mention who sent you. He'll know. Make sure to get the point across though without making a scene.
Understood?

Yea.





The first two options both give +1 Sorya, and the last is -1. I go with the +0 option here. After this we should be able to go ham getting all the Sorya points from here on.

But I'll do it.

Good.
Rhue leaves.



I'm sure we'll hear all about it later tonight.

Cut to... Sacrifa's Theme Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oquad3rnZSI

and this scene.



"There is no reason for her to stay locked up in the tower."
This is Zedicus and he once lacked a portrait. He's the old guy in blue near the centre. Lord Wyst, over at the desk at the right responds.

LORD WYST: That's preposterous! She hasn't even had a fair trial yet.

What foolery is this? She's guilty of many horrible crimes and everyone knows it.
Sacrifa, why are you silent?

We do not find an immediate execution without a trial to be... acceptable.
You are too eager for death it seems to me.
Please note, that the death penalty requires my vote of confidence in order to be carried out.
Sacrifa also once lacked a portrait.

Yes, we all know that, but the Council sees no reason for such obstinate behavior.

This is a mass murderer we are talking about!

Heh. A mass murderer? Really?

You assume too much. Dancing Violet is locked up in maximum security and is going nowhere.
We have plenty of time to sort through her crimes and separate truth from fiction.
There is no need to act with haste.

We will discuss this matter again later then.
There is also the issue of the tournament to discuss. Have we come to an agreement on this subject yet?

Wyst, handle this.

WYST: Yes, we feel that both the Vigilance Council and the Guided Party should be allowed to enter one competitor to represent their party at the tournament.
However, no one else affiliated with either side will be allowed to enter. Is it true one of your children is entering the tournament?

Yes. However, they are not affiliated with the Vigilance Council in any way.

Oh no? That's very difficult for me to believe. You are affiliated by blood after all.



"They are independent in every way according to our agreed upon laws."
This is the guy in the top left. His name's Medmur and he also once lacked a portrait.

We will have to check into this. If what you are saying is true, we will retract our objection.
I believe that we have completed our agenda for today.
Unless there is anything further, this meeting is officially dismissed.

Cut to...



I captured Dancing Violet. I'm the one who brought her here. They didn't do anything. How can they put off the sentencing?

This is absurd...

Calm yourself Shadow Foot. That's just the way things work here in Estrana.
They're just trying to buy some time so they can figure out a way to steal some of the credit for Dancing Violet's capture.

Pathetic.

Don't worry, I'll make sure the Vigilance Council gets all the credit for the capture.

Why would they want to steal the credit in the first place?

To gain popularity in the eyes of the people.
The opinion of the public, as stupid and as misconceived as it may be, matters greatly.
Thus we must use whatever we can to control it.
People are simple and don't know what's best for them. Yet they are invaluable for the resources they provide. Manpower for one.
The Guided and the Vigilance Council cannot coexist forever. There will be war. It's unavoidable.
When that day comes we must control the masses in order to destroy the Guided.

...


You've done your duty Shadow Foot. We're all very proud of you. Take some time off and relax a little.
But keep your eyes and ears open. I fear we are in the early stages of a great conflict.
And with that dire warning, Zedicus leaves and... the woman who sat beside Medmur approaches Slade.


This track is labelled Patura in the gamefiles and is used for her theme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE7hqbXXy98



She also once lacked a portrait.
I know. You're on the Council with Medmur and Zedicus.

You certainly are observant.



...

Of course you're strong. You ARE a Shadow Foot now, aren't you?

I must say, I've always been quite fond of Shadow Foots.
Always out on their own, bringing dastardly criminals to justice.
Tell me, what is your name?

...

Slade.

Slade. Slade. I like it. I like it very much.

Now Slade, don't you ever get lonely when you're out on the Way on your own? Mmm?

No, I prefer being alone.

I don't believe you. You probably just have never had the proper company...

Uh...

I've got business to attend to. Please excuse me.

We will speak again later then.
Slade quickly leaves due to his overwhelming fear of female sexuality. Though I guess this actually counts as sexual harassment.



And then we're back with Rhue!




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj9TJ5pCB4U



So, the marketplace. To get the best results for this sequence we have to not do a couple things. While most of the NPCs are fine, there's two that wander around to the different stalls in a loop. If you bump or even try to talk to either, you get less of a reward.
You can actually see both of them on this screen. The guy with the green hair to the right of Rhue and the girl with blue hair just in front of Rhue. If you do disturb them, they flip their shit... so yeah.





The Unguided all speak complete nonsense.


Anyway all but one of the stalls will have Rhue just say he's looking around when they ask what can they get him. This makes them think various snide comments at him. But one vendor is different.



Hey, yea.

SELLER: It's only 50 seru.

I'm kind of short on seru.
Did the Guided not actually pay you for the mines job Rhue? Wasn't the citizenship upgrade in addition to it being well paid? Maybe they made up an excuse that since nearly everyone died they only bothered to upgrade citizenship. The dialogue with Kloe afterward did kind of imply that when she said 'at least they upgraded our citizenship' or something along those lines. Anyway... let's move on.







This is incredibly out of character for Rhue. He's insulted children for less. Or even no reason at all.





Rhue's not the only one suprised(SIC) to see her too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HRd5g8NsNs&feature=youtu.be&t=31



Kloe pursues the quickly fleeing Gaius.









Kloe runs all the run back to the entrance to the markets, stopping a couple times to call for Gaius.
Then we cut back to Rhue and the Spekkio track.



Moving on to something optional...



"Vut khan I do for you?"

You have quite an accent there Jacques.

JACQUES: Yah, eezn't it?
Vun hundert pearscent veel too!
Don't let dat veezil to me left, tell you uddervise!
There's another guy in a turban hidden by the dialogue box, but he was too busy to talk.

Oh, he doesn't think it's real?

JACQUES: His nahm eezst Marco.
He eezst jealous of me and me speech.

Why?

JACQUES: Dee ladies luv de acksent! Dey buy many tings!

Oh, it's a selling point.

JACQUES: But my acksant eezst... How du yu say? Nah-chu-rahl?

Right, well I've got to go.
Yeah, cos now Marco is ready to speak to us.



Hi, so what do you sell?

MARCO: I zell duh finest furs frum uhcrahz duh Way!

Fur huh? I've never been big on fur.

MARCO: Ah, but mah furz are very speshial!

How so?

MARCO: Dat eezst uh zecret! Hahah!



MARCO: Vut? Vy vood yu even zuggest zuch ah ting!



Stirring shit for no real reason, geheheh.

MARCO: Tell Jacques dat he eez uh beeg baby aun dat I vuz uzing dis acksant lung before emm!
We go speak to Jacques again.

JACQUES: I cood not elp but noteez dat yu ver talking to Marco.
Vat did he say to you?



And he said you got your accent by copying the way he talked.

JACQUES: Vut!! Grrrr!

MARCO! You lying beece of paapa!

MARCO: Please, stup, you're (SIC... probably) fake acksent eez su ubvius ven you yell!

JACQUES: How der you!!!
Yur acksent and yur furz both stink!
Everyone knows you get yur fur by skinning diseased rats!

MARCO: An eensult!!! Vut du you zell dats suuu great?
Ull you hab eez crap!!

JACQUES: You liddle beetch!

MARCO: Bring eet on buddy!

JACQUES: I'm going to kill you, you motherless goat!

MARCO: Take a swing! Come on! I'm begging you to!

(What the heck, neither one of them really has an accent.)
Why the Way would have accents at all is another thing unless racial groups/factions with their own languages travel their own ways largely or on different branches. It's never made clear just how wide the Way is, just that it seems to stretch on forever in at least the one direction everyone that hasn't settled down is heading. Though there's the rumors of the literal End of the Way fast approaching, and the Rolling Mists at both ends to boot.

JACQUES: Die!!!


Jacques leaps over the crates and the two begin pounding on each other. Naturally, this draws the guards. Though, I thought the Guided handled the east side of the city.





The removal of the two merchants and two guards also lets us do some very... questionable things.





There's a maid looking for sold out expensive wine for her master nearby.



It'll cost you 50 seru.

SERVANT: 50 seru? That's quite a markup!

Oh well, I guess your master will have to do without his favorite wine tonight.
Maybe if you're really lucky he won't throw you out on the streets when he finds out you passed up a golden opportunity.
Oh well, the city streets aren't TOO bad. Just got that nasty Phantom Slasher and all those weird gangs to worry about.

SERVANT: OK!!! OK!!!
Here's your money, give me that bottle of wine!

You've made a wise decision.
This is a new low for Rhue and we haven't even reached the end of the update. Anyway, with the seru in hand, I go buy the Heart Stone.



And here's something foreboding right at the back of the market.



"Hello there, are you Aaron?"

SELLER: Yea, what can I do for you?



An item I bought from you appears to be defective. It couldn't be helped, but I thought I'd bring back. (yeah he left out 'it')

AARON: Let's go out back. I may be able to replace it with something I have in storage.



Rhue!
She rushes over to Rhue. That other guy also gets a bit close... Also I'm sure I don't have to point out the presence of you know who.





"How about you?

I'm doing well. Just getting my shopping done.

AARON: Miss, if you don't mind your friend and I have to get some business taken care of.

Oh, I'm sorry. I'll just step aside for a minute then.

(Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! I can't have her around to hear me threaten this guy!)



I might have to be here for several more hours and I don't want you to waste your day sitting around waiting.

Aww, you're so considerate Rhue! I wouldn't mind waiting, but I understand what you're saying.
I'll make sure to find you tomorrow at the grand casino! The qualifying round of the tournament should be fun!
Bye.

Later.




ANSGAR: Have a nice day Lexus.
Lexus leaves...



... and that man leaves too.




A rather ominous track starts playing named B-eclipse[1](Repetitive), it sounds like a snippet of something large but no one ever figured out what.

You should already know who sent me. Unless you're a fool.

They just wanted me to drop by and say hello.

Oh, and one other thing.



ANSGAR: You little jackrat! Don't you dare threaten my father!



ANSGAR: Oh?

AARON: Listen to him son. This is just business.
Is that all you came here to say?

Yea.

Don't forget now, that would be quite disasterous. (SIC)



Rhue moonwalks out to keep his eye on the two and then sprints away.



ANSGAR: A total punk is more like it.

AARON: But he did a good job. I think the boss will be pleased, at least with his speaking skills.

ANSGAR: He sucks.

AARON: Oooh, I know why you think that. That girl you like seemed to be quite interested in him.

ANSGAR: There's just something about that guy. Something wrong. Did you see the way he acted in front of Lexus?
He was a totally different person around her. Not even a hint of his other side.

AARON: That's the nature of the business. We all have to do a bit of acting to protect ourselves.

ANSGAR: Yea, but I have a bad feeling about this guy. And I don't like the way he looked at Lexus.
She deserves much better than a jerk like him.

AARON: You're letting it get too personal. We were just here to test him. Let is go son.

ANSGAR: ...
I've got some things to do. I'll see you at home pop.







ANSGAR: Hey punk, you've got quite the mouth on you, don't you?
Do you think you're bad?
Well you're obviously new around here you little twit!

... Stop wasting my time. I'm a busy man.

ANSGAR: Are you busy tonight? Cause I've got a great idea. You and me, one on one, at the small strip behind the marketplace.

Sorry, my schedule is booked.
Rhue turns the other way and starts to leave.

ANSGAR: Does Lexus know you're such a big wimp? Is your only skill talking big?!

(That does it.)



He turns around and punches Ansgar. Cheapshot from the very easily provoked Rhue!



And then we cut to...



...

Did you have a fun day, dear?

Oh yea...

I know you did! I was watching your every move today.
Let's review...
You were quite flawless in your efforts today. I'm suprised(SIC). I guess there's more to you than I might have thought, Rhue.

I'm proud to give you this piece of Stricite and a Blan Rock.
And why don't I throw in a Lyn Rock on top of all that. We're a generous organization.

That will be all for today. We know you have a little get together with someone tonight. *laughs*

Rhue, listen to me.
Don't kill him.

Ansgar? You're worried about me killing him? Please explain this, I don't understand why you would care.

Killing him will prevent you from ever speaking to Dancing Violet. I'll leave it at that.

... I wasn't planning on killing him any way.
Rhue leaves.



I certainly did.

What's your impression of him so far?





"He'd better."

We make our way to the market. The streets have emptied out due to the rain. Except for...



"A long time ago the Purpose created swords of justice that were used to help maintain order and peace in the land.
They would not harm the innocent, but only those who deserved death by the judgement of the Purpose itself.
These swords were called the Illuminati.
Rumor has it that the Shadow Swords were created by the Lord Below in response to the creation of the Illuminati.
I guess it goes without saying that Shadow Swords are pretty much the opposite of the Illuminati in every way.
Both are no longer anywhere to be found, although some think the Phantom Slasher wields a Shadow Sword.
Maybe being evil ain't so bad afterall..."

Wow thanks guy. Yet more easy to miss information about the Illuminati... the Shadow Swords too, but, well, its not a spoiler to say that we'll find out more about Shadow Swords in the plot. The Illuminati though? Well... uh... thats a hard question to answer... But lots of the actual details about them aren't stated in the course of the story.



Just showing this because it's the first time we have to use the gate out of downtown.





There's a few CTP Spouts around so I make good use of them. We also hit the new classification rank.

Not too far from the market a woman underneath shelter mentions she researches past menaces of the Way.
When Rhue asks, she says that while the Phantom Slasher is a present menace, there's -A LOT- of strange mysterious thing documented in the Ways past. Rhue neglects to ask for any details here, but we'll hear at least four more very interesting old legends before the end of Episode 6.



Of course we do!



It's a good thing it's raining. Your blood won't permanently stain the pavement this way.

ANSGAR: You're all talk newcomer. You've got nothing to back it up.

Oh no?

How's your mouth by the way?

ANSGAR: Cheapshots don't mean anything you punk.



ANSGAR: I've been looking forward to this all afternoon.



To make a short story even shorter...





Second pass. Yep!





ANSGAR: *groan*

How about that. Look who's lying on the ground bleeding.

ANSGAR: You're still a punk...





...
You messed with the wrong guy at the wrong time Ansgar.
You don't understand all the crap that I've been through.
I've just been waiting for the perfect time to snap.

ANSGAR: You're going to KILL me?

...

ANSGAR: Please man... don't kill me!

Lucky for you, I was strictly forbidden to kill you tonight.

ANSGAR: Hahah... I knew they wouldn't let you lay a hand on me.

Hmmm?

ANSGAR: My father and I are apart (SIC) of the same organization as Sorya and Stoyko. You were sent to threaten us as a test.

...

ANSGAR: You couldn't figure that out? You ARE an idiot!

So that's why they told me not to kill you...

ANSGAR: Yea, so you better not lay a hand on me.

Sorry Ansgar, but they just said not to KILL you. That's the key word...



We hold on a black screen for a while as a few biff and pow sound effects play as Rhue presumably beats and/or kicks Ansgars shit in. This is our hero everyone, a vindictive, arguably psychotic, asshole. I love him anyway.
Has any reading this ever played the first Baten Kaitos by the way? To completion even?

Anyway Rhue heads back to the Casino and checks for more messages. There is one so...



"Roses are red, violets are blue..."

What the hell?
""You really suck, so you're going to lose." See you at the tournament tomorrow blue boy!
Strata"

Wow, this is some real premium grade trolling from Strata here.
Why that little...
He's going to pay for this.

I hope I see him tomorrow.

And then after that, Rhue heads straight for bed.

the end