Part 5: Update V - I Just Realized How Many Towns There Are In This Game And I'm Scared Now

Update V - I Just Realized How Many Towns There Are In This Game And I'm Scared Now



♪ BGM: Thyrik - 7thguntz.mid ♫

So, last time, we walked around town, talked to people, found items in barrels, and did nothing of real consequence. This time... we're going to be doing the same. Fun!



There's somebody we're talking to hiding behind the tree, honest!

Hello, my child!
Do you want to suck me dry?
What ever gave you that idea?
My mom told me stories about vampires that especially suck the blood of little girls who weren't behaving! And today, I didn't finish eating, so my mom said that one day, the vampires will come for me!
Don't worry, we surely don't want to suck your blood!

Yeah, sucking blood from little girls is woefully inefficient - you get the least amount possible from them!

My mom said all vampires say that!
What makes you think we are vampires?
Um, um... Mom said you can never know if a stranger is a vampire!
Heehee, you really have a wild imagination!

Oh, are these two vampires? Mom warned me that vampires would suck me dry if I don't start to finally behave! But I'm still so young.



Hm, this house looks familiar. I think we'll come back here later.



over... we no longer need any weapons!
Of course, you're right...

Alright, guess I don't have to go over equipment just yet.



We heard there are a lot of kind people in this village!
Well, it might have been like that back in the days. Many years ago, the most beautiful girl in the world used to live here! Her name was Nyria... but one day, she decided to enter the ranks of King Gerald's army. Who knows what brought her to do that. At any rate, after that, about 90 percent of the young men decided to enter King Gerald's army as well. Only because they were all hopelessly in love with her.

So basically, they entered the army looking to fuck Nyria, and instead got murdered by vampires. Good job, guys.

I was too young back then, otherwise, I probably would have done the same thing.
So, isn't there anything else going on here these days?
Looks like it. You're not going to find another person like Nyria ever again.
I see.

What a boring day. If only I had joined King Gerald's army back then together with Nyria!



Well, we just wanted to have a nice chat.
Oh, I'm very sorry, but there are a lot of different things on my mind at the moment. I don't feel like talking right now...
It's all right...

Does he even love me anymore? Or not? Somehow, he no longer seems to find me sexy at all. Could it be that I gained weight? Or do I have to improve my wardrobe? Why doesn't he go out with me anymore? Did I become to ugly for him? Does he have another girlfriend? Just why!?

Well, judging by the tastes this village has, there seems to be only one option:



We have the extensive version back at home, if you are interested in reading it.



"Unterwegs in Düsterburg", and "Tara's Adventure".
I know all of them, they are pretty good.

So Unterwegs in Düsterburg is now a legend in this universe, even though the main character of that legend is currently sitting in an inn in this very village, and is talking like his story hasn't even finished yet. My mind is breaking. The other titles being mentioned are RPG Maker games as well.



You must be new in this village.
Yes, we're here for a visit, so to speak.
Is there anything I can do for you?
No, we're just taking a look around.
As you wish. If you do need something, you can just tell me.
Excuse if I'm being too personal, but do you live here alone? This house is pretty large.
Sigh, that was a saddening question you asked me there. I had a wife and a daughter once. My wife died 2 years ago. She had become very bitter since that one day, and she lost all her joy for living. She cried herself to sleep almost every night, and I was unable to console her...
What happened?
It was so sad... my daughter died because of a snake bite. It was the bite of a Kronus-Adder. She died very quickly. It makes me so endlessly sad.
I'm so sorry...
My wife was never truly able to move past our beloved Jona's death... and now I'm alone. But my time will also come soon. Then, I will be reunited with them...
...we'd better go...
My only comfort is my cat Mira, but she's always running away... and there's also Ms. Erys, who visits me from time to time. She's the mother of my little Jona's best friend...
That's wonderful... we really need to keep going now, though.
Thank you for your visit. I'm so lonely... and where is my cat this time?

We're going to end up having to find that cat, aren't we?



"Postology - The Chosen Ones". Sounds peculiar. Hm, looks like it's about a cult, and its members supposedly found enlightenment. Apparently, there are only a few of them: PsychoSkull, Jeckel, Blackmirror and someone called Genohunter. I find this to be highly suspect.
Odd, I've never heard of this cult before. Hey, what's written in here?
"... and so, the cult had to disband, and its members are now acting from the shadows, in order to proclaim the great 'Time' again one day. Until then, they are part of other cults and wait..."
Put that away, Valnar. We don't want to have anything to do with cults anymore!

Here is a book about the basics of magic. Hm, the spell "Ice Bolt" is written here.
Pfff, clearly one of the weakest spells in existence.

Here are just some boring books about taxes and things like that...

I wonder if that "Ice Bolt" spellbook is going to be handy later.



Doing fine, and you?
Well, so-so. For some reason, there is no girlfriend here for me.
Why is that? There are a lot of girls here.
Sure, but they aren't appealing to me.
The world is big, go and find one!
Well, I don't have any money. Besides, I like it here.
Well, then we can't help you, either.
It's all right, not a big deal...

Pfff, why is no girl here interested in me? Probably because I'm poor! But I really should start earning some Filar. But then I would have to wake up early... oh, rather not, then!



We're looking for a pretty girl in this village.
Pretty girl? Only Jayna comes to mind. She lives with her mother in the center of the village.
Thanks for the tip. We're going to look there.

Oh hey, somebody who actually gave us some useful advice!

Hm, what could these people possibly want from me? I am just a simple house wife. Very odd.



Well, of course I noticed that immediately, Valnar.
Of course...





So, these healing phials are another healing item, sitting in between the two we've already found. Exciting!



Thank you for the warm reception! My girlfriend here is Alaine Frynia and my name is Valnar Darnus.
Pleased to meet you, my name is Dante-Farnel!
THE Dante-Farnel? The author Dante-Farnel?
Yes, that's me. My work "The Sovereignty of the Human Existence" made me pretty famous...
(I haven't read such nonsense in a long time, but I'll be nice anyway...)
Yes, it truly is such a marvelous piece wf work with so much... truth!
Thank you. I let all my life experience flow into it. The domination of mankind over every other living creature and so forth.
And what are you currently working on?
On the book "Human or Animal", which is about me explaining why the human alone is destined to be the highest race.
(Just listening to this and I need to hold back my laughter...)
Yes, I guess that's true. Very well, we'll be on our way now...
As you wish...

And that is why I think that only the human can and must rule over the animal. After all, nothing can compare to the strength and intellect of the human, and that is why we must continue not to forget to extend our control over nature, and so on and so forth...



I don't think so. Dante-Farnel probably doesn't want competition from his own family.

Dozens of books written by Dante-Farnel.

Hey, here is a book that was not written by Dante-Farnel!
Oh, never mind, I just misread that.



No, not really. We just like to look around.
I bet you also think Daddy's books are great, right?
Um... sure...
That's good! Daddy is the best! And he is my role model.
Uh... that's nice...
I'm also writing my own books! My first book was "Adventures of Alex". Daddy said I would become a great writer one day. Just like him!
Uh, that's really great. I think we have to leave now, though!
Hey, should I tell you about my second book? It's called "Adventures of Alex 2". Isn't that a great title?
Yes, yes... we really have to leave now...

Soon, I will finally have finished "Adventures of Alex 2", then I can start my next big work. Hm, what would that be? Ah, I know! "Adventures of Alex 3"! Yes, that will be good!

There are two kinds of games in the RPG Maker world: Games that use Alex as a protagonist, and games that take the piss out of Alex. There are no alternatives.



A lot of books on this shelf. Hm, here are at least 10 copies of the book "The Sovereignty of the Human Existence".

More copies of "The Sovereignty of the Human Existence".

Here are more works by Dante-Farnel.

And a few more works by Dante-Farnel.

I think Dante-Farnel doesn't have any other books aside from the ones written by him.
What an ego.



No, we actually wanted to speak with you.
With me? Strange, people normally only wish to speak with my husband. His books are very famous and popular, after all.
Say, how come you look so much younger?
Well, I AM 30 years younger than him. But it doesn't trouble our love in the slightest.
Glad to hear it...
Thank you, but please excuse me, I still have things to do.
Of course.

I always have to cook for that old geezer. That's so annoying... Oh well, what wouldn't you do for money and fame. At least he doesn't want to sleep with me, that would be horrible. It's about time for that snot to kick the bucket, so I'll have all the money to myself!



Human Existence".

I'm starting to think his book was never as successful as Dante-Farnel claimed. He probably just got himself all the copies to his home and claimed that the book sold thousands!
I have that impression as well.

This shelf is full of copies of "The Sovereignty of the Human Existence".



Another healing item. Useful!



You like cats, don't you? There must be hundreds of them here?
Now, there aren't that many here, but you're right, I love cats more than anything! I love playing and cuddling with them! There is nothing more wonderful!
(The question is, where does all the feed come from...)
Do you also like cats?
Well, I never had one before.
And it's going to stay that way!
I see. Well, feel free to look around, and be sure to pet them a lot!

Hm, should I pet Minka or Jessi? Or rather Mimi? Or Surri? Elmar? Bummi? Damn it, why don't I have more arms?



Upstairs, we find another serum. It probably won't come in handy, but it's something we can sell if need be, so it's always useful.



For some reason, I always have to smirk because of those.

Here is a book about ghosts, which supposedly only show up at night, and who want to pass on their powers to someone. Well, we also have seen a lot of ghosts, right, Alaine?
Countless, Valnar, countless...

Hm, here is a book about necromancy. "...and skeletons only have a short life span and usually very narrow range of vision, which is limited to a linear area in front of them, while zombies are capable of seeing in a cone-like area.

...that sounds like a stealth mechanic. Please don't be a stealth mechanic.



Free money!



My apologies, just continue.
Yes, I'm sorry that I am unable to take care of you...
Ah, not a problem, we can take care of ourselves.

Did I already put in the salt or not? And paprika, oregano, pepper? Just where are the rest of the spices...



Hm, here is a book with introductions to all the cities in this world. Shannar, Asdion, Lombar, Thyrik... and a lot more.

Well, I guess the section on Shannar will need a bit of an overhaul.



Oh, hey, an interesting item!



You might remember items from the first game that could be used in battle. Most of those were items that inflicted damage of some sort and maybe had a chance of inflicting a status effect, but these are different. They don't do damage, but instead inflict different status effects. They may or may not be useful, depending on how status effects work in this game. We'll get to that later.

Also, to note, I'm missing things in this village. I missed two staircases leading up in different houses (including the one we're in right now), and I missed two people walking around in town. Whether this is because this town is massive or because I'm just thick is left to an exercise for the viewer. I'm trying to be thorough, but it's hard at times. We'll have to see how this goes as we go along. The floors in the houses I missed aren't too interesting, but the two people outside I'll show you at the end of the update, because they're interesting.



Um... 1) ...not now, kid! - 2) ...sure, we're game!

Eh, sure, why not.

That's great! All right, I start running and you try to catch me, okay? Every time you catch me, I'll give you one Filar. That's my pocket money.
Well, start running then!



And off he goes!

Hey, the kid is pretty fast!



We catch him fairly easily.

Thanks, kid.
I'm here if you want to play with me again.

We can play catch with him three times. If we do it the third time, he gives us a ring that would give a +5 Defense and would sell for a bit of money. Of course I don't do this, because I only learned about this in post. God fucking damnit. I'm going to end up having to scan this entire game with the RPG Maker before I do anything, aren't I?



Golbar? That name sounds familiar.
It's a large lizard with a cape. Smells pretty bad. That's what I heard.
Ah, THAT Golbar. Well, you won't have much luck.
Why is that?
Heh heh, well, no reason...
Now I want to know what you meant by that!
Don't bother, you won't get anything out of us...
Hrmpf...
(Hehehehe...)

Golbar, where are you? One day, I will find you, and then you're done! And then I'll get the reward! Yes, that will be sweet. And the rest of him will become a delicious soup. Yummy, yummy, lizard soup...



All right, I'm sure you have a lot of work ahead of you.

Clean, clean, clean! Even my mother used to tell me: "Child, you have to clean!"



A book about miscellaneous items: "Flame Potion - Engulfs all enemies in deadly flames", "Ice Salt - Freezes the blood of the enemies", "Lightning Dust - Deadly charged up particles cause the enemies to whimper in pain".

Hm, here is a book with the title "Diary of Dreams - Das Tagebuch der Träume". Someone called Marlex seems to have written down his dreams. ...
My goodness, those truly are intense...
I can only agree with you...

Here is a book about the cult of the Children of the Apocalypse. Do you still remember, Alaine?
Of course. It was those who had their headquarters in Asdion, and who had secret shops located in other cities, which they used to sell blood.
I wonder what happened to them ever since there aren't any vampires left aside from us?
I assume they looked for another occupation...



So yeah, here's one of the items we just read about. This inflicts the Burning status on enemies, and only that. It doesn't actually inflict any damage like in the last game.



it's only because we invited them! And YOU were definitely not invited in here!
We apolog...
Or could you be the new cleaning staff? Hmmm... the readheaded one looks like she'd be great at cleaning dust. You boy, however, don't look like you could be of any use.
Come, Valnar, we'd better go before some kind of accident happens!
Well, I haven't heard something so impertinent in a long time! LEAVE AT ONCE, YOU RABBLE!

Fie, what sort of poor suckers are those two? You really just have to take one look at their clothes, and you can immediately see that they are from the gutter! Miserable rabble!



thoughts at work?

The house maids all say the same thing, but think different things for some reason.





a lot. Hm, here is a book with the title "Scars of Apokalypse - The Masterpiece".
Sounds like somebody heavily overestimated themselves...

There are only a few financial books here. To be more precise, there are 16 books full of entries of the fortune owned by the family in this house. My goodness, they have a lot of Filar... the question is WHERE they hide it.
Valnar, stop thinking about that...
Hey, one is entitled to wonder...

Hm, I also like this one a lot: "The White Tribunal". It's about the fear of sorcery and its prohibition.

Ah, here is a good one: "Panik Manifesto - The Fear of the Dying Swan". A very philosophical book.

I have no idea if those are books, or RPG Maker games, or just shit he made up.



Looks kind of like you, don't you think?
Well, it is VERY abstract! But you still have a point, though.
I wonder who painted this?



Hey, this looks a little like me!
Yes, truly, the hair and the nose... and the very expressive eyes!
Yes, it definitely does resemble me to some extent. Even if the body was drawn in an unproportionally abstract way. But it has its appeal...



Hm, who is that supposed to be? Looks a little weird.
Well, there just are some undefinable pieces of art in existence...
Right you are!



Someone will get fired for this, I guarantee!
Now, calm down!
I must have misheard you!? I am Lord Gabo, the most noble man in this village! My intellect and my wealth downgrade every other person!
I believe somebody has a slight ego problem.
Out with you, you filthy vermin, you paltry rabble!
I can't take the presence of this person any longer. Come, Alaine, we're going!

Oh, what is this unbearable smell? Gross, gross, gross, this pathetic rabble in front of me downright disgusts me! So miserable, so unintellectual...



a lot. Here is a book with the title "Vincent - The Executor". It's about a maniac who kills one person after another with his sword. Not exactly to my taste for literature.
Not to mine, either.

Hm, here is a book with the title "The Love of Today's Generations". Apparently, it's about two children who endlessly love their parents, and who are called Schirp-Schirp and Winnie. Interesting study about the parent-child relationship, in my opinion.
Speaking of children, we should get back to finding an appropriate daughter for us.
True, somehow these bookshelves are always distracting to me...





Another item to throw on the pile and probably sell to fuel the war chest.





a lot. Oh, and here is a book I haven't read in a long time: "The Black Mirror". A book about the dark side of the soul. Slightly exaggerated, but still recommendable.

You might notice that every book case in this place brings up that "strikingly good condition" bit. I just cut it out when I'm not making a screenshot.

Hey, I know this one!
"Little Angel, My Great Love!" Very romantic...



make some money this way!



a lot. But when I take a closer look, I do see a few dust grains...
What? Oh, I have to remove those at once! Otherwise, there will be nothing but trouble!



Alright, so that is it for exploring this town. Next time, we'll check into Jayna's house and actually progress the plot, but before that, I still have two people to show off.



First, this guy is standing all the way at the top of the map. I didn't look at the top of the map in the center, just on the sides, where I didn't see anything. This guy's name is "Lord Mandrake", which is... a name, I guess.

Hey, you are one of the Children of the Apocalypse!
You mean I am one of what used to be the Children of the Apocalypse. Because of the extinction of the vampires, we lost all our source of income, and were therefore doomed. I am one of the last who still run around in this cloak.
You didn't find a new ocupation?
Not yet. And it seems there is nothing to be found in this village, either...
I'm sure you will find something new.
I hope so...

Where did all the good times go? Back then, when there were lots of vampires, our future was secured. But then, everything changed. Abraxas, I hate you! Just why did you kill all vampires?



And this guy is standing in around in the middle of the map, where he probably was hiding behind a tree when I walked past. He is a "mysterious man".

Hey you! Interested in some hot goods?
What kind of hot goods?
Well, you know, hot goods. Hard to come by books like "Mega Duran - The Life of a Legend", "The Secret Arts of Dr. Man Tu Chi", or "UiD - Walkthrough". All hot stuff!
Where did you get those books?
Hey, I acquired them totally legally, trust me! For the more fancy people, I also have some totally hot leather armor. With really tight belts. You know...
Hm, sounds interesting!
I think I didn't hear right, Valnar! I will NEVER put on something like that! If you like it, you can wear it!
All right, all right. I guess we're not interested, thanks.
Should you change your mind, you will find me here.

Oho, she looks spanking hot. I bet I can get her to buy the leather armor. With top-notch prices, obviously. Top-notch for me, heh heh... and the guy looks like he could need "The Secret Arts of Dr. Man Tu Chi"...

So that's that. Next time: PLOT! And sidequests!