Part 20: It's A Political Revolution

Well, we're starting to hit the home stretch, but there's a few loose ends to be tying up before that, namely the Children of the Apocalypse sidequests. First stop, the chest we were supposed to find is hidden behind a tree behind the weapons shop. Eazy-peazy.



Cult Member: Have you found the rune already?
Yes, here it is!
Cult Member: Ah, very good! Come back when you're ready for the next task!
"Gained 200 EXP!"

Um, we're ready right now. Like, there's literally no reason not to accept the quest right now. So we talk to the guy again.

Cult Member: So, are you ready for the next task?
Um... 1) ...of course! 2) ...no, not right now.

Really, why do all these "accept sidequest y/n" questions exist? I've just been letting them slide all this time, but it really bugs me. There is zero reason to not accept sidequests. You may or may not want to do them, but there's no reason not to accept them.

Cult Member: Good, then I'll tell you what you can do for us next. There's a thief in Esrik that stole a few potions from us a while back. Kill him!

Alrighty then.



Why hello there! Man, how many things that are hiding in this game are hiding behind trees?



Thief: Hey, what do you want from me?
You're the one that stole the potions from the Children of the Apocalypse!
Thief: Damn, how did you know...
Thanks, that's all I wanted to know!



This thief is a surprisingly theoretically tough fight. Here's the stat block for him:

HP: 1100
Attack: 300
Defense: 300
Intelligence: 180
Agility: 190

Attacks: Normal attack.

And here, to compare, the stat block for Queen Clara:

HP: 1100
Attack: 310
Defense: 300
Intelligence: 190
Agility: 160

Attacks: Normal attack (66% chance), strong all-party fire attack spell that can also cause Blind (33% chance).

Apart from the spell, they're nigh identical. Of course, this shows that stats aren't everything, as the most important factor is the attacks - or rather, having any sort of magic at all. The thief doesn't, which means that we just trade attacks a whole bunch until he dies.



Mission accomplished.



Cult Member: Have you killed the thief already?
Yes, we have.
Cult Member: Ah, very good! That'll be a lesson to all thieves not to mess with us! Come back when you're ready for the next task!
"Gained 400 EXP!"

NOW.

Cult Member: So, are you ready for the next task?
Um... 1) ...of course! 2) ...no, not right now.

YES.

Cult Member: Good, then I'll tell you what you can do for us next. There's a cave in a forest east of Asdion that has rare crystals in it. Bring me ten of them. But be careful, the cave is filled with powerful monsters!

I'll be the judge of that, thank you very much.



We find the forest here.



And the cave's about a stone's throw away from where we start, too.



So, the cave is, well, a cave. It's a bit maze-y, and it has exactly 10 crystals strewn about, so we do need to cover the entirety of the cave to finish the quest, which does mean a lot of random encounters.



The main enemy here are these "giant trolls", which however are no real threat to us. Regular attacks deal with them well enough. There's also regular trolls, which are red, and even weaker. No big deal, we gather the ten crystals, and we're back to Asdion.



Cult Member: Do you have the ten crystals?
Yes, we do.
Cult Member: Ah, very good! We'll be able to recruit some more with these...

Original line: "Damit werden wir wieder einige anstellen können...". "Anstellen", in this context, has to mean something along the lines of "recruit, hire". I have no idea what this guy is referring to with this, and this is never elaborated upon. I am confused.

Cult Member: Come back when you're ready for the next task!
"Gained 500 EXP!"

NOW.

Cult Member: So, are you ready for the next task?

YES GET ON WITH IT.

Cult Member: This time, you're going to steal a very important item for us. A very special measuring device. We need it to make the bottling of blood more precise. Currently, such a device is being stored in Castle Tranak. Find a way to get in, get the device and come back.

ALREADY DONE, NEXT PLEASE.

Cult Member: Do you have the measuring device?
Yes, we do.
Cult Member: Ah, very good! That will make the bottling that much more precise!
Cult Member: Come back when you're ready for the next task!
"Gained 1200 EXP!"

NOW.

Cult Member: So, are you ready for the next task?

YES AGAIN.

Cult Member: You really have done a lot for us! I'm very thankful for that! Because of that, I'm now going to give you a task nobody else could fulfill so far. Maybe you can do it... we've been looking for a very special sacrificial dagger for many years now. It's an ancient relic and nobody knows where one could find it. So you'll have to find it on your own... good luck!

And there we go, this is the final sidequest for the Children of the Apocalypse. We're supposed to find a thing and we're given exactly jack shit to go on. Well, turns out that we won't be finding this until we continue with the plot, because the dagger can be found in Abraxas's tower. And given that we're rapidly running out of things to do, that'll probably be on our agenda rather soon. First, a little side thing I never really went into detail on:



The "fate game". It got brought up once, I never used it, and that's that. Well, I guess now it's time to see what exactly this shit is. Essentially, it's a lottery. You bet one small, medium or large soul stone, and you get something... or nothing. Probably nothing. Here's how it works:

The game rolls a random number between 1 and 120, and depending on the number you get a reward or nothing. Here's the loot table:

For a small soul stone:

1: 1-3 large soul stones
2: 1-8 silver bars (worth 10 Filar each)
3: 1-5 itching powder (can turn enemies Berserk or Blind)
4: 1-5 blood vials (heals 20 BP)
5: 1-5 healing vials (heals 50 HP)
6: 1-2 heart protectors (protects against paralysis)
7: 1 save stone
8: 1-2 antique coins
9: 1-4 sickness medicine (heals Blind/Mute/Sleeping/Illness)
10: 3-8 bandages (heals 10 HP and Bleeding)
11-120: NOTHING!

For a medium soul stone:

1: 2-5 large soul stones
2: 1-5 flame potions (deals fire damage to enemies)
3: 1-2 life nectars (+1 HP permanently)
4: 1-5 blood bottles (heals 50 BP)
5: 1-5 healing balsams (heals 25 HP)
6: 1-2 barbed rings (+5 ATTACK)
7: 1 save stone
8: 1-3 life nectars (+1 HP permanently)
9: 1-2 Potions of Eternity (revives a party member)
10: 2-5 ice dust (deals ice damage to enemies)
11-120: NOTHING!

For a large soul stone:

1: 3-7 large soul stones
2: 1-5 holy sand (deals holy damage to all enemies)
3: 1 blood rune (+5 BP permanently)
4: 1-5 blood potions (heals 100 BP)
5: 1-5 healing potions (heals 300 HP)
6: 1 vampire ring (+1 to healing rate)
7: 1 save stone
8: 1-3 healing dust (heals 50 HP for every party member)
9: 1 vampire stone (heals everything, can not be used in battle)
10: 1 vampire helmet (+120 DEFENSE, the best helmet in the game, can't be found anywhere else)
11-120: NOTHING!

So yeah, you might have noticed in there that there's something quite good - the best helmet in the game. This is why I actually tried this game for a bit, to maybe get lucky. Of course, I didn't know the odds then, so I was a bit surprised when I tried it 25 times and struck out every single time. WELP. Not like the helmet is a major piece of equipment, though. We really don't need this. And to prove that we don't need it, let's go and murder those royal twats that beat our asses last time.



En route there, we sink the final ship. It had nothing interesting, but at least I know that I got them all now. Now, time to abolish the monarchy! I got a level 50 skeleton mage, let's do this shit!





Um. Let's try that again!





...OK, this isn't working. Time for some grinding.



We grind up to level 40, and level 40 means new spells!





A: "Light Explosion" - "Base damage: 140; all enemies are hit; chance to blind: 70%". Blood cost: 70
B: "Dark Shadows" - "Base damage: 130; all enemies are hit; chance to curse: 70%". Blood cost: 90

As usual, the light spell it is for Valnar. I do love how Marlex just had to sneak Dunkle Schatten in there just one more time.

Valnar's ninth spell: Light Explosion







A: "Icy Armor" - "Increases Defense; increases defense against fire, entire party is affected". Blood cost: 50
B: "Dark Shadows" - "Base damage: 130; all enemies are hit; chance to curse: 70%". Blood cost: 90
C: "Strong Death" - "Chance of death: 50%; all enemies are hit". Blood cost: 63

This one took some time to work out - it was between Icy Armor and Dark Shadows. Strong Death is worthless, because much like other JRPGs, spells and weapons promising instant death are usually worthless against any decent enemy, and this game is particularly bad about making enemies immune to shit like this. In the end, Icy Armor wins out because I'm really starting to come around to stat boosting spells after White Power turned out to be a pretty good spell, and boosting Defense sounds a lot better than boosting Agility and Intelligence.

Asgar's ninth spell: Icy Armor







A: "Meteor Rain" - "Base damage: 160; all enemies are hit". Blood cost: 78
B: "Complete Cleansing" - "Heals all negative status effects; entire party is healed". Blood cost: 70
C: "Strong Death" - "Chance of death: 50%; all enemies are hit". Blood cost: 63

NO CONTEST. We needed that status effect healing spell yesterday because of Curse, and it's also going to really help against bosses that do other stuff.

Alaine's ninth spell: Complete Cleansing



Next up, because why not, let's pay a visit to Shannar and see how everybody's doing.



First off we're going to check in with our thief buddy we chased all over the world.



He's behind the dialogue box, I promise!

There you are...
Thief: Yep, that I am. Well, this place isn't too bad... expected something like this. Now, what am I supposed to do?
Well, you're going to steal for me. Anything you can find. And anything that's useful.
Thief: Well, if I can save my humble life with that...
Yes, you can.
Thief: Alright, but this will take a while... I'll come back and wait for you then.
Good, then get going.



And there he goes. Now, what does he do? Well, his tour takes 5 minutes, after which he comes back. When you then talk to him, you get one of the following items, each with a 1/17 chance:

1: Healing potion
2: Vampire stone
3: Potion of Eternity
4: Blood nectar
5: Life nectar
6: Healing dust
7: Itching powder
8: Holy sand
9: Ice dust
10: Flame potion
11: Barbed ring
12: Protection ring (protects from Blind, Mute and Stasis)
13: Blood elixir (full BP heal)
14: Healing elixir (full HP heal)
15: Sickness medicine
16: Yellow stone
17: Healing bottle (heals 100 HP)

Spoilers: I never actually return to see what the guy actually ended up stealing. Let's face it, it wasn't going to be anything great.



You know, I don't even remember where I picked all these people up. I think the girl was from Asdion.



Hello! Looks like you've met a nice lady!
Man: Oh, yes, I really am happy now! And all because of you!
Well, that's nice...
Man: Take this as a token of appreciation!
"Obtained 1 Warrior's Mantle and 400 EXP!"
Thanks!
Man: No, I have to thank you, now that I'm finally happy!



Lonely Woman: There you are! I really have to thank you for finally making my life worth living! Finally I've gotten to know a wonderful man with whom I want to spend the rest of my life.
I told you...
Lonely Woman: Please take this for all the help you've given me!
"Obtained 1 Mage's Ring and 400 EXP!"



Unsurprisingly, the artist has taken up residence in the atelier.



Hello, thanks for recommending Shannar to me! There aren't a lot of people here, but I've got plenty of time to pursue my trade! Might you be interested in a portrait? Only 300 Filar!
For 300 Filar? 1) Sure, why not! 2) No, not right now...

Yeah, sure, let's do it.

Excellent! Which one of you should I paint?
Hm... 1) ...me! 2) ...Alaine! 3) ...Asgar!

Doesn't matter, we'll do all three anyway.

OK, don't move!

A bit of a pause.

Done!
That was quick!
I am a professional, after all! Where should I have the picture sent?
Have it delivered to Castle Aldaines!
No problem! It should be there soon!

So we repeat the process for every one of the three - we'll get to see the pictures later.



The mayor's house has gotten a new sign!



And we can see somebody's been busy up here.



The weapons shop does indeed have better weapons for us, but I splurged on blood elixirs earlier, so we're a bit broke. And we'll probably get vampire weapons for both Alaine and Asgar soon.



The inn also has some new management.



Looks like you've taken over this building.
Man: Yeah, it was empty... and nobody could tell me who owned it. So I just took it over and opened a store. Do you want to buy some potions?
Hm... 1) ...sure! 2) ...no, not right now!

I love these entirely pointless choices. Of course we want to buy! And when we do, because we're over level 40...

Man: By the way, I've gotten a strange shipment...



Why hello there! This is one of the best items in the game. The "vampire mantle" - "60% protection against all negative status effects" is this game's equivalent to the ribbon, and it's invaluable to beating the endgame. In fact, I sell off everything I don't need and sell some of the blood elixirs I bought earlier just so I can get a full set of three right away, they're that good.



Oh, what's this?

HARHAR! It's still laying around here!
Now don't tell me that this was your handiwork!
No... not THIS... but don't wonder why there's nobody else around here...

Poor Magemaster. He doesn't even get his corpse cleaned up.



And finally, here's that poor guy we picked up in Asran.



Poor Man: There are my heroes! Once again, thank you so much for letting me live in this house!
Not a problem. It's great that we could help you!
Poor Man: Such a pretty, large house all to my own! Wonderful! Heavenly!
Now don't start overreacting.
Poor Man: But I haven't been this happy in my life! Thank you so much!

That's it for Shannar.



Now, new spells and vampire mantles in hand, let's finally give these oppressive tyrants what for.



Taking Icy Armor out for a spin here, and results are nice, with boosts of about 100.



Iray and Aires, as usual, are murdered with little problem, and the skeleton mage, when capable of doing damage, does massive damage.



Of course, this is where things get rough. Valnar starts things off with a lot of White Power, Asgar mixes it up with Icy Armor and healing, and Alaine largely only heals too, while the skeleton actually does some decent damage by casting poison spells on the advisor, who is actually vulnerable to them.



In fact, the skeleton pretty much kills the advisor on its own while the rest of the party boosts stats and heals.



And then it punches the queen to death.



At this point, we've hit a certain safety threshold where the remaining two can't be THAT dangerous to us, especially since I've stocked up on blood elixirs, so we're not running out of BP to heal with, and now that Alaine has her super status effect healing spell. Furthermore, with Valnar having the vampire sword, he can deal some good damage to these enemies, which is excellent.



The skeleton then punches the mage to death...



...and Valnar procs the Bleeding chance on the king, which further stacks the deck in our favor.



Finally, the bleeding does its job, and the king goes down as well. Rest in pieces, King Shithead.



Accursed advisors...



...arrogant mages...



...useless queens...



...and of course the incapable king!
NO! Please don't...
Long live anarchy!



Actually, I think I changed my mind... down with anarchy! The king is dead... long live the king!



Evil laugh counter: 11

God DAMN, it's been a while since I got to bust that one out! It's like Asgar used up all his evil laughs at the beginning of the game and only recharged them now that we're starting to reach the endgame.

Stop playing around, Asgar!
Oh, alright... always when I'm having fun! But I'm taking the crown with me! It fits me so well...
If we have to...
"Obtained 1 Crown!"

Vendor trash, if you're wondering. Sells for some decent cash, but I don't think I ever bother selling it.

And now what do we do?
Hope that nobody noticed our murdering...

Everybody in the castle is dead, Alaine.

Maybe we should take a look around here. We might find something.
Do you think so?
Well, the king has to store his tax money somewhere around here.
Then let's take a look around this room. Maybe there's a secret passage or something...

Well, we want to move around, but we have a little problem, we're boxed in by body parts!



Even his head is in our way...



HARHAR!

That's better. Now, the place we're looking for is over to the right.



There's a hole in the wall here. Looks like a symbol or something like that fits in here!
Hm, who knows what that means. It's probably a switch or something similar!
I can feel that the wall here is also magically reinforced... probably from that pseudo-mage of the king!
Damn it! I'm sure that all of the king's money is right behind that wall!
Well, looks like we have to find the piece that fits in there first!

And there we go, that's our next lock-out. We need something to open that wall and continue the plot.



And that something we will find in Abraxas's tower. So next time, that's what we're going to be slogging our way through. And it will be a slog, believe you me.