Part 19: Update XVIII - Puttin' The Band Back Together

Update XVIII - Puttin' The Band Back Together



♪ BGM: Alyda's Tower - gmawefoe.mid ♫

Alright, so, we have a time limit, and it's going fast. The time limit is very much increased for the lower difficulties - 10 minutes on Normal, and a whopping 20 minutes on Easy. Meanwhile, we're stuck with sev-





GOD FUCKING DAMNIT.

...anyway, we're stuck with seven minutes only.



Time also continues to tick down during combat, which means we really need to hustle.



I start using the Escape option fairly quickly, since there's no reason not to.



Good shit. Really good shit.



We make it out of the tower with plenty time to spare...



♪ BGM: The Cave You Think It Is - horror46.mid ♫

...and we make it to the cave pretty quick too.



We have to fight some guys that we couldn't escape from, but overall, we make it to where we want to using less than half of the time we can use.



All right, here we go...



HEY! STOP THAT AT ONCE!
Hehe... I always wanted a new shirt with the brand "Kelven Clein"!

References! Yeah, yeah, I know, glass houses and all.

ROAAAAAAAAAAARRR!



...



My poor Alaine!
What has that guy done to you?
I'm going to free you now! And everything will be fine...
At the very least, maybe...
Anyway, let's begin!



IN YONOR NUM THYR AS... RUH GHAR KOR NOMOS ITAK... ATROS BOLDAM XATUZ!





...



You damn bastard!
What have you done!? You have destroyed everything! And turned us into stone!
...
We should make him pay for his actions right here and now!
Hm, I didn't know you could be so aggressive, Valnar...
We never thought YOU would turn so insane! Valnar is right, you deserve to die!
But I already did... robbed of my powers... wandering lonelily...
Destroyer of worlds...
Listen to me! That wasn't me! Something took control of me and made me do all of that!
And that's seriously something we're supposed to believe? You, the most dishonest of all vampires?
Aren't you exaggerating a little?
You were the one who wanted to take that spell book back then! The spell book of the Elras! You wanted to create an army of vampires and rule the world! We had killed you! And somehow, you were able to come back to undead life! You have taken Jayna from us and corrupted her! OUR DAUGHTER! You have shifted the world! With the most powerful spell I have ever seen! And last but not least, you also turned us INTO STONE! Why should we ever forgive YOU of all people?
I... I... I...
"You" what?
I'm sorry! I have made mistakes...
Oh yes, you have!
I want to make up for them! Just think of all the good times we had spent together...
Good times?
Don't you remember? Our victory over Pharaoh Ustra... and over Abraxas, that wretched vampire murderer... our search for Aysha...
Aysha...
Stop talking of old times! You have done too many terrible things for us to forgive you!
Valnar, do you agree with her?
Um... 1) ...of course! - 2) ...no, actually!

The first option means gaining Humanity, the other means losing it. Given our goals, there is only one choice.

...
Listen! You have to believe me! I wasn't myself! I was possessed! Possessed by a ghost! And now, it's inside Jayna! And now she has stolen my powers and wanted to kill me! Only with a lot of luck was I able to escape, and I have been searching for a way to free you from that spell! And now I have finally found a way! Please believe me!
I don't know... I have never heard of a ghost that controls others.
It was an Elras spirit! The Elras have changed the world!
The Elras? Elras spirit?
It's the truth! There's got to be someone who can tell us about that!
Hmmm... perhaps we do know someone.
Who are you referring to?
That thing that saved us!
I had almost forgotten about that one...
Who saved you?



This creature here saved us...
Perfect timing. TOO perfect...
What is that?
I believe the time has come to tell you a little more. But first, you have to retake your castle! It is of high importance!
Our castle?
Yes, that's a VERY good idea!
Slow down! Who is currently occupying the castle?
Jayna...
Jayna? OUR Jayna?
More precisely, it's the Elras. But I will explain that later. At the moment, the castle is only guarded by a few Elras apprentices. The powerful Elras are currently trying to conquer the other eight castles.
So what are we waiting for? I want my... uh, OUR castle back!
All right, it wouldn't hurt us. But after that, I finally want some decent information!
You'll get them, don't worry. I will now bring you to your castle! Defeat the strange beast, and the problem should be resolved.
What kind of strange beast?
You'll see for yourselves... well then...





♪ BGM: Asgar's Castle - blood009.mid ♫

Well, that was convenient.

There we are. Well then, get your castle back.
And what will you do?
Well, I'll wait here. You can do it without me.
Hrm...
Don't worry. As I already said, the strong Elras have already left. This is a very good opportunity to conquer the castle!
If you say so. Well then, let's begin.
I wonder what kind of strange beast is waiting for us here...
Before you go, use these rune tablets...
Rune Tablet: Slight Healing received! Rune Tablet: Blue Light received!
A rune tablet? What is that?
With these, you can learn more spells. I'll explain more about this later...
Fine then, off to the castle!



And with that, the band is back together!

Just to be clear: I HATE you, Asgar! The only reason you're still alive is because of the fact that we have no idea what is going on here. And whether you or some ghost reformed the world will reveal itself eventually...
And if I had the choice, I would prefer a different kind of company, too.
You have greatly disappointed me. I will never forgive you.
Listen, we deal with the issue about the Elras, and then we never have to cross paths again... but until then, we need each other. Only with the three of us we might stand a chance. Weak as we are.
One mistake and your head's off.
I'm looking forward to it.



And we get a free save. Now, we're back at Asgar's castle, and that means...



...more letters!

Thank you for writing me back. I haven't downloaded the VD2 demo yet, since I am not a fan of demos, and it took too long. When does VD2 come out? Also, is it normal that it takes 1h50min for me to download the VD2-demo. Please write back.
Yes, that is surely normal. The server has a specific speed limit which sets the download time for Vampires Dawn to exactly 1 hour and 50 minutes, independently of your internet speed!

its really an awesome game! i don't usually like tehse role playing thingies... You really made me addicted! hopefull i don't have to wait too long for part 2! (i'm almost a mummy with 30... g) Smooch!!!!!!!1
*Smooch back*

Hello Marlex ....I hope this mail reaches you...^^ I am a big fan of you and your games...... I just have a question and I wanted to ask you if it's okay to ask you the question. P.s.: There must have been gods working on Vampires Dawn ....xD
Please ask questions DIRECTLY, and don't ask for permission first! I am only a demigod

Hello I just wanted to ask when the game Vampires Dawn 2 gets released??? (day, Month, Year).
Okay, I have answered questions like this about 102344613423 times already. Unfortunately, even my crystal ball was unable to tell me an exact date

hi your game is really good and i have a few questions oh never mind your game is dumb eternallegend is better
Hey, I think you're really cool! Oh, never mind, Uncle Sam is way cooler

Eternal Legends is another RPG Maker game. I remember playing it back then and it being really impressive.

Well, that'll do for now.



Now, let's check out these rune tablets. These essentially just allow us to learn spells. In this case, we get our first healing spell. I decide to drop it on Alaine, since she doesn't have a spell yet and Asgar has Ice Crystal to burn through his MP with.



Blue Light is an attack spell similar to Ice Crystal, and since it can only go on Valnar, that's where it goes. These spells, and more importantly, now having three party members, is going to go a long way towards making combat a bit less of a slog. Let's head into the castle.



Don't worry, Alaine! You will see for yourselves that I wasn't lying!
That would be a first!
Spare me your sarcasm, Valnar. Haven't you been wondering yet where that thing outside knows our names from? You haven't told him yet, have you?
I think we should be really careful WHOM we trust... that includes you too, Asgar!
...



And thus, it's time for us to trek through Asgar's castle again!



Around here, we get to fight dudes in robes, and of course I don't manage to avoid them.



The Elras here have a surprising amount of tricks up their sleeves - they can do regular attacks, cast Silence, can regenerate health, and can attack with both fire and darkness spells.



We can kill them relatively easy, but the regeneration thing really sucks. Much like the Bleeding status, it heals 10 HP every single action, and so we're basically doing half or less damage with our regular attacks (we do somewhere around 10~20 damage to them right now with regular attacks, and they automatically heal 10 of that), which makes everything take a lot longer and makes us burn through more resources.



Nothing much to see here for us, we're just heading back to the center of the castle, where the "strange creature" awaits, fighting Elras along the way.



Let's cut that thing to pieces!
I hope that beast isn't stronger than us...
Don't worry, kids, I'm there with you!
That's the reason I'm worried...
We'll talk about this later! For now, we're going to beat the crap out of that thing!



RONAK?
He's alive!?
MASTER ASGAR? ...MASTER ASGAR!
RONAK! It is really you!
MASTER ASGAR! FINALLY YOU HAVE COME BACK TO ME!
All right, all right! Stop yelling around!
AS YOU COMMAND, MASTER!
Damn it, Ronak! I said: STOP YELLING AROUND!
OH MASTER! IT'S JUST LIKE BACK THEN AGAIN!
...
Ronak, how did you get here?
You had left me! Ronak was all lonely! Then some evil knights showed up and entered the castle! I was able to kill a lot of them, but they were too many! They had overwhelmed me and tied me up! And ever since then, I had to live in a cage, and was forced to let a bunch of people stare at me all day! I hated them all! But one day, there was a huge earthquake; everything exploded and burned! Fire fell from the sky! Due to an explosion, my cage was destroyed, and I had been flung through the air! People everywhere were screaming! And dying... then it turned very bright... when I woke up again, the world was completely different! I was in pain and I was walking over multiple corpses... I had no idea what happened, but I walked around. But everything was different. The land masses were moved! There were mountains where none were before. I was wandering around alone, until a man dressed in black saw me and offered me to join him. He said he needed strong creatures like me, and that he would give me food if I served him. Since you had left me, he became my new master! And now, I am to protect this castle!
I'm sorry that we had left you behind, Ronak! But so much has happened!
What's important is that you are now MY servant again, Ronak!
As you command, Master! Please don't leave me behind all on my own again!
Don't worry. But tell me, what kind of guy was it who told you to protect this castle?
I don't know, Master! He was dressed in black and seemed to be very powerful! There was also a young woman, with fiery red hair! Just like yours, Alaine!
That must have been Jayna!
So it seems Ronak's master was one of the Elras! Speaking of which, I would really like some clear answers now!







Who is this, Master?
My name is Jinnai! I have saved you, Alaine and Valnar. I know that Asgar was possessed. Possessed by a Shadow Wraith!
Shadow Wraith?
Shadow Wraiths are the souls of the Elras mages. Similar as to how vampires become Blood Spirits after their death, Elras mages become Shadow Wraiths. But whereas Blood Spirits suffer never-ending pain, Shadow Wraiths have full control of themselves. They are capable of flying around freely, and what's more important, they can take over other bodies. They enter their host and take full control of them. The soul of the victim gets suppressed during this. They are aware of what the Shadow Wraith is doing, but they can't stop it. The more powerful the host is, the more powerful does the Shadow Wraith become. They rob the host's body of all its energy to cast powerful spells. Almost all of the hosts die after this process. Asgar, fortunately, was very powerful, and only lost all of his powers, but not his life.
He stole our powers, too, though!
Yes, they are like parasites. They steal all energy they can get their hands on in order to cast their spells.
And by using the power of all three of us, the Shadow Wraith shifted the world?
Yes. Asgar couldn't do aynthing. He was being controlled...
But why? Why did he reform the world?
Well, that I cannot tell you, sadly. That is something to find out...
Hmmm...
But what is even more important is the fact that I can tell you how you can return the world back to the way it was!
How?
Listen, many thousands of years ago, the Elras created a spell that gave them the power to change everything. They wrote it on a stone tablet...



♪ BGM: The Dark Lord Exdea- ...Elras - death.mid ♫

Hmmm... this seems familiar.

I'm about to carve the last remaining lines into the stone tablet! This will allow us to make this world our own!
Excellent! At last, our time has come! Just a few more moments!



This doesn't, however.

What?
Who dares disturb us!?



That's what YOU think! WE see things differently! Run and we will spare you...
You will die now!





Once more, combat ensues!

You think that will stop me?





Damned Elras!



ROAAAAAR!







I will stop you!
NOOOOOOO!





Now I have to destroy this stone tablet and keep the pieces safe! So that this spell may never be cast! The Clan of Holy Warriors surely will be able to keep the pieces safe. Their castle are well defended...



♪ BGM: Asgar's Castle - blood009.mid ♫

He wanted to prevent anyone from ever casting that spell. And so he gave the stone fragments to the Clan of Holy Warriors, who had hidden and protected the 9 pieces inside their castles.
And how is that connected to us?
Well, the spell that was written on that stone tablet can return the world to the way it was before.
Ah, now... in short, if we can somehow reassemble that stone tablet, and use the spell, it would be possible for us to change the world back into its original shape?
Yes. The pieces of the stone tablet came back to the surface after the world shifting. Over the course of the centuries, the castles were deteriorating, since the Clan of Holy Warriors disbanded a few decades after that incident. And because of the slow destruction of the castles, the stone fragments, too, were buried under all the stone and rubble...
Wait a minute... didn't you tell us shortly after our rescue that you didn't even know what the spell on the stone tablet does? And didn't you also claim that Pharaoh Ustra died in the battle against the Elras?
Yes, Pharaoh Ustra was indeed injured so badly that he died due to all the magical injuries a few weeks after... fortunately, he was able to hand over the stone fragments to the Clan of Holy Warriors before that! But you're right, I didn't tell you everything back then because I didn't want you to because I didn't want you to be completely overwhelmed with your new situation.
And why do you know our names?
The same reason why you guys can't read my mind. I do know my way around the arts of magic a bit... I can defend myself well if I have to! And finding out the name of my opponent is but a trifle to me... I also know what you are. Even though I have never seen vampires before...
All right. You know we're vampires. But we don't know what YOU are!
...well, to be honest, I'm not sure myself. I can't really remember my birth, or whatever caused the beginning of my existence. The only thing I do know is that I barely age, and that I've already been alive for many centuries.
Well, can you at least tell us WHERE the Shadow Wraith that took control of Asgar came from?
I remember the book, and that I mur... uh, sent home Strife.
A book? What kind of book?
It was a red and heavy spell book, full of powerful spells that required souls.
Then it must have been a spell book of the Elras. Only they use such spells!
Speaking of which, where is the book now, Asgar?
After Strife stole it from you, I opened it, and then there was a dark shadow and tingling sensation in my body. After that, I no longer had any control over myself! And after the world had been reformed, the shadow left my body and went inside of Jayna! She's also the one who has the book!
I seems the world shifting made you lose all of your power. You should be glad you're still alive, though! Also, we're going to get back that book, then I can take a closer look at it...
Hrmmm...
The Shadow Wraith must have some kind of connection to the spell book.
We will find out about that. What matters now is that you get your hands on the 9 fragments of the stone tablet!
And how are we going to do that? Surely, the castles are well defended? With our current strength, we're never going to make it!
Well, we'll need help. We have to fight against the Clan of Holy Warriors, who of course are never going to relinquish the stone fragments voluntarily, since a world shifting would mean their death. Also, they would never cooperate with vampires. On the other hand, we also have the Elras, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the stone tablet. Both sides are vastly outnumbering us... both sides would love to eliminate each other entirely.
Hm, well, there is only one thing that comes to my mind!
NEVER, ASGAR! We will not create new vampires!
So you prefer to stay in a world you don't know for all eternity?
At least that's better than unleashing the vampire race upon the humans once again!
There has to be another solution!
Well, I have already noticed that the mercenaries have also returned to this world. If we can pay them, they will fight our battles for us for sure...
Are the silver mines still around?
I'm afraid not. They have all been destroyed. However, paying taxes to the castle lords seems to be the order of business these days. Since we have become the controllers of this castle, the payments should flow once more. That is, if we kill the monster on the bridge in the west. It prevents the tax collectors from getting here...
Where do we get the money?
Every castle rules over a big area, as well as a capital city. That's where all the taxes come from. However, because of that, the capital cities are very well defended. You should conquer the respective castle first before you enter one of the cities. That way, the guards from the nearby cities will be sent to the castle for defending, and die there. This castle controls the town Syrahs. As soon as you rid the bridge in the west of the monster. I will take care of everything necessary in order for you guys to receive the taxes.
Very well. But what do we do after that?
Then you look for the mercenaries. They can be found in the forest west of here.
How do we get to the other castles? We can't transform into bats anymore!
Well, I heard there is a group of thieves who are in possession of a couple of spell runes. Perhaps such a spell can be found with them, as well...
Spell runes?
Yes, magical runes that allow you to learn specific spells. However, they are rendered useless after using them once.
Well, at the very least, that sounds like a good opportunity to get our hands back on some magic... since our soul device has been destroyed due to adverse circumstances, after all...
That was a really great accomplishment, Asgar! You can be proud of yourself!
Silence, you fool! I wasn't myself. You should have understood that much.
Stop arguing! That's not going to get us anywhere!
Then let us first kill that monster on the bridge, and see what we're going to do next afterwards.
But first, let us rest a bit. I'm feeling awfully weak.
If I remember correctly, the tower we're on right now should have a bedchamber. But I don't have a key for the doors!
Master! I do have a key for the doors here!
Well then, hand it over, Ronak!
✝ Iron Key received!
Very nice!
By the way, couldn't you just teleport us around, Jinnai?
...no, unfortunately, the spell only works on myself... I'm going to eliminate the remaining Elras in the castle now. We'll meet again soon... but this here should help you. It is a very rare artefact, and you should take good care of it. This ought to be unique...
Damnation Blade received!



And once more, he just disappears. So, next time, we'll be taking a look around the tower and exploring the castle once more, now that there is time for reading - though this update was also a lot of reading. Also, this Jinnai guy seems totally on the level, guys.