Part 8: You have 24 odds and ends on a table, 23 fall off, what's left, an odd or an end?

Alternate title: HOLY FUCK MY FINGERS HURT.



So, last time, Valnar was being a fucking idiot. And the time before. And the time before. And the time before. Sorry, I'll stop now. Anyway, this time, we're just going to be bopping around, taking care of some odds and ends. The FAQ I'm reading suggests being around level 15 before taking on the next part of the story, but personally, I'm shooting for level 25 instead to ensure that I won't have any money problems in the future thanks to the "transform silver into money instantly" spell, so that's where we're going.



On the way out, Asgar gives us another tip:

By the way, here in the castle, you can just fly over walls as a bat. That way, you can get from one place to another quicker here. It's particularly useful after you've cast Refuge and want to go sleep in your room or get silver from the inner rooms of the castle.

That's not the particularly useful part, though, the really useful one is that if you leave the castle in bat form, you instantly go to the world map as opposed to having to walk through those four pointless screens of a mountain path. Now, let's change into bat form and get going.



Born in the night, chosen for flight, may I be steered by my might!



And we're off again! We only get a minute, but that stretches further than you think. As long as you know where you're going, you shouldn't have any problems with getting stuck in the sea.



But first, I prove that I didn't know where I was going, and head to Asgar's mine first to max out our workers there. We get ten workers in total, because aside from the maximum amount of workers, there's also a limit based on level. Asgar needs to be over level 10 to have more than 5 workers, over level 20 for more than 10, and over level 30 for more than 15.



Young woman: NOOOO! HEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLP!

On a trip through Melsan to pick up some blood vials just in case something goes wrong, I notice that all the people on the street are in panic mode. This apparently triggered when Asgar put Valnar through that trial by fire, but it's kind of strange in that they're just going to be going crazy like that all the time while everybody inside houses - including the guard station - are just fine with us.



Next stop, Klennar. Here's the guy I mentioned earlier when I said I missed a sidequest.

Man: Hello! Welcome to my humble abode! Hey! You look strong enough to defeat Golbar!
Who or what is Golbar?
Man: Golbar is a monster whose head I would love to have as a trophy!
Hm... 1) ...I'll get you that head! 2) ...no, I won't do it.

Bringing things to other people and killing wildlife, that's the side quest life. Let's do it.

Man: Wonderful! Golbar is hiding in the forest north of here. When you find him, just cut his head off and bring it to me!



And sure enough, just a bit to the east and north of Klennar, we find the place where Golbar is hiding out.



And there he is! Our vampire senses tell us that he's a strong opponent, but I'm pretty sure we could easily take him right now. However, there might be another solution, let's talk to him.



OK, I'm guessing this here is Golbar!
UGHH! Geeert ouuurt!
Hey, this one can talk!
YOUUU GEEERT OUUUURT!
No, we're going to kill you!
YOUUU ME WAAARNT KILL? MEEEERCAY! ME WAAARNT LIRVE!
Tough, we need your head!
MY HEEAARD? UH... ME HAVE IDEAR! YOU INSTEAAARD TAKE THIS HEEAARD. THIS BE ENERMY HEEAARD...
Hm, that looks almost the same as you!
YES! THIS BE HEEAARD OF OTHEEAR LIKE ME!
We should kill him! All he does is moan!
Well, I would let him live and instead take the head he's offering us. The guy in Klennar won't be able to tell the difference anyway...

But why not kill him, then also take the head he's offering us and get double the reward? See, these people aren't thinking like business people, and you need to have a business mind for sidequests. Tell him you also killed Golbar's brother he didn't know about and sell it to him as "if one head is really great as a trophy, think of what TWO heads would be like!".

Well, I say... 1) ...we kill him! 2) ...we take the head!

If given the choice to avoid combat, I'll take it. I'll get enough regular, easy combat over time anyway, no need to do unnecessary boss encounters.

Valnar, you're a wuss!
Very good!
HEEAAR IT IS!
"Obtained 1 Golbard's Head!"
The guy in Klennar probably won't tell the difference anyway!

Alright, that's that problem solved. Off we go...



...after getting this ice dust from that chest I'm sure some of you spotted in the last picture, that is.



Man: Have you brought me his head?
Yes, here it is...
Man: Oh, THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH!
No problem, he wasn't hard to beat anyway...
Man: Hm, I guess I could have killed him myself then... oh well... anyway, here's your reward!
"Obtained one Two-Sided Sabre, 300 Filar and 300 XP!"

I never get gear when I actually can use it, except like really early in the game. Apart from the super-gear that you can only find, I'm not sure I'm going to be getting any regular equipment that I'm going to be really happy about - this is discounting the accessory things like the amulet, since I can't buy anything that goes in that slot.



With that done, I realize I kind of forgot what the other two tasks were that I was supposed to do, so let's check the tasks menu.

"Get a necklace for Marie in Klennar from her aunt Elena in Melsan!"
"Bring Marlene's letter to her uncle in Isthar and then get your reward from her."
"Find a clue as to where Aysha is!"
"Find a clue as to where Abraxas is!"
"Find Sir Esthir's employer."

You're not really getting any hints on those last three, though the last one shouldn't be too hard to work out. Anyway, now that I've remembered where to go, let's head to Isthar.



And one uneventful bat flight later, we're here.



Man: Welcome to Isthar, strangers. Should I give you a bit of a rundown on the city layout to you?
Um... 1) ...sure. 2) ...no, not right now, thanks!

Yeah, sure, we could use it.

Man: Well, there's not a lot to explain, but the most houses here are residential buildings. Isthar is a small city founded by a few lumberjacks that cut down trees in the forest here and then exported it to other cities. Even today, there are some lumberjacks living here, albeit not as many as there used to be. The only store of the city is in the east, but it has a good array of armors, weapons and potions for your wellbeing. We used to have a pub, but sadly, it burned down. Thankfully, ONLY it burned down.

Yeah, I'm not seeing a lack of things to burn around here. Every house is made of wood, which seems a given, what with the vast amount of building material around.

Man: I hope that was of help to you.
Of course, thank you very much!
Man: No problem.

Hey, a nice human, how about that. Let's go and rummage through some houses, then!



Hello!
Man: Oh... hello...
What's wrong? You sound so depressed.
Man: Well, I'm feeling so lonely...
Don't you have a girlfriend?
Man: No, that's the problem... nobody in this town wants to go out with me...
Hm... well, have you tried finding a girl in another city?
Man: Another city? No... I wouldn't even know where to go to find a good girlfriend.
How about the harmonious city Shannar?
Man: Shannar? Isn't that that city on that little island in the south?
Exactly, and I've heard that there are many nice women there too. And empty houses, too, so you moving there shouldn't be a problem at all.
Man: You're right! A move would be a good change for me! Off to Shannar!

Say, Asgar, why Shannar?
Eh, I thought that after I "cleaned up" over there, we could repopulate the city with some particular people. Besides, that way we'll always have a city full of good human blood.
And you don't want anything else out of this?
Nah, not really...

This is a sidequest that goes about through the entire map - in a lot of cities, we can find people that we can get to move to Shannar to fill the city up again. This will also include people that run shops there, and the FAQ tells me that the shops are the best in the game. And looking into the RPG Maker again, that means that they sell better weapons and armor at earlier levels. For instance, the armor shop at Shannar's level for the top sets of armor is 44, the one in Melsan sells them at level 45, same with the one in Klennar, the one in Lombar sells them at level 47, the one in Isthar sells them at level 46. So that's useful, because gear is really cool to have.



Blacksmith: Hello, I'm the blacksmith for this city. If you need weapons or armor, then head into the store behind me.
Thanks, we'll do that.
Blacksmith: I personally make the weapons, and I guarantee best quality to good prices.

The stores are nothing special. As you can tell from what I said earlier, the stores in Klennar and Melsan are better, so there's nothing new here. Well, there is something new here, but that's because Valnar hit level 12 on the way there, unlocking new armors in this store, but I'm going to stick it out for the next set of gear to save money. Now, to barge into more houses.



Hello!
Woman: Have you heard the latest? Elfriede is going to be having a child out of wedlock!
Uh, I see... well, ain't that something.
Woman: Yes, what a scandal. The child is surely from her lover, and her actual friend obviously doesn't know about it...
Um, I think I'll be leaving now...
Woman: Pffft... you're not interested in my gossip?
Uh, well...
Woman: Just like my man! All you men are the same.

Wait, so she's not married, but she's having a child out of wedlock? That's strange.



Hello! I think I have a letter here for you!
Marlene's uncle: Yes? From who might that be? Ah, it's from my niece Marlene! Thank you for your trouble.
No problem... I gladly did it.



Hello!
Girl: Hello, how can I help you?
Um, I don't know.
Girl: You might be interested to know that I found a wonderful little place east of the town. It's so nice there... I haven't told anybody about it yet, because I don't want everybody to know about it. But I can tell you! You won't tell anybody, or?
No, of course not!
Girl: Good.



Girl: Um, what are you doing in this house?
We just want to look around a bit and talk with people.
Girl: Yeah, yeah, of course! You're really thieves, going through every cupboard and then robbing the inhabitants if they don't find anything!
No, we're not!
("Yes, you are!")
Girl: Yes, you are!
(HARHAR, I knew it. These brats are all the same... delicious!)



Man: Hello, can I help you?
No, but maybe we can help YOU?
Man: Now that you mention it, there is one thing...
What is it?
Man: Well, for quite some time, I've been looking for a talisman for my daughter. She'll be travelling soon, and I don't want something to happen to her.
And we're spposed to get one for you?
Man: If you could do that for me, I'd be VERY grateful!
Hm... 1) ...alright, we'll get one! 2) ...no, not interested!

We already have one, so let's clear this right quick.

Man: Wonderful! Come back when you've found one!

We just go into the menu and unequip the one we've got right now, then talk to the guy again.

Man: Have you found a talisman already?
Yes, we have! Here it is!
Man: Oh, THANK YOU SO MUCH! You can't imagine the favor you've done for me! Now I don't have to worry about my daughter on her travels anymore! Take this ring that has been in the possession of my family for a long time now. Personally, I think it's a bit creepy, but I hope that won't be a problem for you!
"Obtained one Vampire Ring and 600 XP!"



Oh yes. The vampire ring is pretty great - it increases your healing rate on the map, which isn't that large to begin with (1 HP, and with not many opportunities to raise it), so this essentially doubles it. And that's it for this city.



And now for a demonstration. I've saved my game, and now we're going to bop around on the overworld a bit to see what we run into.



We run into this, an "old warrior". So, how badass is it for our crew at level 12?



Well, he does about 50% of our HP in damage to one party member.



And we do about 5 or less. And we can't run. Bollocks.



Good thing I saved. Let's take the bat transformation this time. We're heading back to Melsan, because I forgot about doing the sidequest the last time we were there.



Hello, are you Elena, by any chance?
Elena: You're right... ah, you must be here because of the necklace! Marie sent me a carrier pigeon telling me you were coming. I put it on the dresser to my left.
Alright, thanks.
Elena: Give her my regards.



And we get a "valuable necklace". There's no option to just go and sell it, so let's just head back and give it to whom it belongs.



Marie: Have you got my necklace?
Yes, here it is!
Marie: Thank you so much! Here, take this reward!
"Obtained 100 XP and 200 Filar!"

Meh, nothing that great. That's usually the standard reward, cash and XP. And now the other one:



Marlene: Hello! Have you already brought the letter to my uncle?
Yes, he was very happy!
Marlene: That's great! Here, take this as your reward!
"Obtained 150 XP and 200 Filar!"

50 more XP! Excitement!



While we're around here, let's check out Limm, Valnar's old home town.



Hello!
Young Man: Hello...
Say, did something special happen here recently?
Young Man: Well, they say some kids found a secret entrance somewhere north in the mountains. But I don't know anything else.



Hello... seems like you aren't from around here...
No, you're right about that. We just wanted to check out this city.
Well, Limm isn't really worth that. Except if you love these god damn crickets! Because we have more than enough of those here!
Why's that?
The climate is perfect for those critters, and especially the knee-high grass.
I see.
But whatever, they're not that bad apart from making such a racket at night. That chirping will absolutely rob you of your sleep...

Oh, Asgar would just love a city where crickets are the worst of their problems. He'd have so much fun if he wasn't babysitting Valnar right now.



Next, we listen in on a conversation in the west part of the city.

Old Man: Have you heard the latest? The Wellmar's kids found a cave in the Magic Mountains in the north... but nobody has been brave enough to check it out so far. The people are saying that every once in a while, they can hear a loud roar coming from there, and that there are monsters everywhere... very spooky, if you ask me! But if I were younger, I'd have explored it by now! You know me...
Old Woman: Yeah, yeah, you old braggart, I've known you for more than 40 years now, and in that time, you have NEVER done anything brave. When the other men went out to hunt, you suddenly had to go to the bathroom and were stuck in there for hours...
Old Man: Hey, wait a minute! I very much have done a lot of brave things in the past...
Old Woman: And when was that, if I might ask?
Old Man: Ummm... a lot, of course! You were just never there!
Old Woman: Yes, of course...
Old Man: HONEST! For instance, who caught that great big bird?
Old Woman: Nobody... it left on its own!
Old Man: You only think that! I scared him away!
Old Woman: Of course...
Old Man: Don't push it! And what about the wolves that plagued the town?
Old Woman: They were killed by the hunters! And YOU weren't amongst them!
Old Man: Of course I was there with them! I was just disguised... as a BUSH! That way I could sneak right up on them and smack them across the head...
Old Woman: You really are just an old braggart!
Old Man: Hmpf! I'm not even old! I'm only 66! And I'm stronger and braver than ever!
Old Woman: If you're so strong and brave, why don't you explore that newly discovered cave north of here?
Old Man: Umm... err... damn, I really have to go to the bathroom!
Old Woman: How could it be any different?

So far, we're getting this "cave in the north" thing pushed a lot.



Hello!
Young Woman: Hello... can I help you somehow?
Not really... we're just checking out the city.
Young Woman: You do that. Limm is very nice. I love these crickets!

Well, at least somebody does. Now, to barge into houses again.



Woman: Hello... hey, would you maybe like to help me? I've been looking for somebody to bring me an old bracelet for a long time now, but nobody's brave enough!
What kind of bracelet?
Woman: Well, it was... er... stolen and then hidden in an old cave. The thieves were eventually arrested and executed in Shannar, but their loot was never found. The only thing I'm interested in is the bracelet, though. If you find Filar or something like that, you can keep it. So, are you going to help me?
Um... 1) ...of course! 2) ...no, most definitely not!

Yeah, sure, this isn't a trap or anything bad at all.

Woman: Oh, thank you so much! The cave is in a little mountain range northwest of Limm. Come back when you've found it! I'll give you a handsome reward!

Alright, cave to the north and cave to the northwest. Any more caves we need to explore at some point?



Hello... may I ask what brings you to my home?
Um, your house just looked so pretty, we thought we'd take a look inside!
If you want to see something pretty, go and check out the old ruins to the east of here!
Old ruins?
Yeah, they're a bit hidden, but if you pay attention, you can find them. Just go straight west from Limm, you'll find them.
Thanks for the tip!

Cave to the north, cave to the northwest, ruins to the west. Gotcha. This game takes a good bit of the Morrowind type quest guidance, where you get a rough idea of where the thing is on a map and that's about it. Like it gives a shit if you can't find it.



Hello... what is the reason for your visit?
Well, we're just traveling through, and we thought...
...you'd just go into strangers' houses and steal everything?
What now? Of course not! We're no thieves!
(HARHAR. He's starting to get better at lying...)
We just thought we could meet some nice people here.
(More like "EAT some nice people here"...)

Even if Asgar has to take a backseat to Valnar, he still gets a good line or two in every once in a while.

Oh, alright, you can take a look around. But don't touch anything. I just cleaned up!
Of course!



Hello... can I help you somehow?
Well, it depends... anything unusual happen around here lately?
Well, some kids claim to have found an old cave north of here. But aside from that, nothing much happens in Limm.
OK, thanks...

Again with the cave north of here.



Long-haired Woman: Are you looking for something particular?
Yes, some information on what happened around here recently.
Long-haired Woman: Nothing much, apart from our kids finding a cave. But I'm not a gossip, so I no longer want to talk with you. Please leave.
Um, of course.



Bald Man: Hm, what do you want here?
We hoped to get some information here.
Bald Man: About the discoveries my kids made? Well, there's not a lot to say. Apparently they found a cave in the northern mountain range. But that's nothing special, we have lots of caves. And nobody in this village is brave enough to explore it anyway - not that there's probably anything else but rocks in there.
Thanks anyway.
Bald Man: No problem.

Maybe we should talk to those kids.



Oh, hello there! You sure look scary! Almost as scary as those animals in the cave north of here! BRRRR... those scare me!
(Just you wait until you see how scary I can be!)



Oh, hello!
Hello, young lady! Could you tell me what you've discovered recently?
Of course! My brother and I found a big cave north of here! But there were big animals in there, so we immediately left again. Those animals were really scary! But we're safe here.
(HARHAR. Oh, you would think that!)

You might notice that a lot of these people here have pictures. I don't know why that is, because a lot of other towns don't have this. It's like Marlex designed this town first, and then eventually noticed that he either doesn't have enough headshots or just couldn't be arsed. More houses!



Um, do you always just barge in through the door uninvited?
No, not always.
But more and mo... what am I saying? GET LOST!
Hrmpf...

So there, we just randomly had a reference to a slogan from a nonalcoholic beer - "nicht immer, aber immer öfter". Because why not. I can't complain, more than 50% of my update titles are random references, just to Vocaloid music titles and George Carlin amongst others instead of commercials.



What do you want here in the storage?
Um, just looking.
Yeah, yeah, of course! Get lost, or I'll help you with that!
(Oh, I'd just LOVE to see you try!)

That's it for people in houses, but there's one more thing for us to do in Limm.



In the top right corner, we find this guy hidden away.

Thief: ...so with this sun blocking coat, I can...
Hello!
Thief: ...what? Damn! I've been found!
Why are you hiding here?



Well, how about that... strange guy!

This is another overarching sidequest. We need to find this guy in several cities until we can eventually pin him down in Shannar, and then we can convince him to work for us. Then, we can send him on missions, and he'll eventually bring back random items. Nothing major, but he can bring some good shit. With that done, let's go and check out those places we've heard about.



First, here's the cave in the north. You might notice that this is the same mountain range as the one Valnar and Alaine crashed into when they fell into the clutches of Abraxas.



Might we find a way into his hideout this way?



RED SKULL ALERT! NOPE!



Now, here's the cave in the northwest where we're supposed to look for the bracelet.



Will we have better luck here?



RED SKULL ALERT! NOPE!



Finally, here's the rui-



NOPE! Clearly, we need to be stronger to do these things.



So, now that it's time to grind again, let's sample the local wildlife around Klennar. First, we have these "basiliskic lizards". I thought basilisks were already lizards? What makes these fuckers so "basiliskic"? They don't have a death stare, they just attack normally. However, they're still quite strong for now.



And here we have the other creature we find around here, "giant flies". They're annoying bastards, because they have an attack that can put a party member to sleep, which is always bad, because it means the killing goes slower. And nobody wants that!

And now we come to the point where my main batch of footage ends, and the sporadic recording between batches of grinding begins. After all, I did spend like six or so hours grinding while watching Youtube videos on the side, and I didn't want to have to search through all that for the actual important bits. But now I don't know how they're ordered chronologically. To be exact, I have the following bits of footage:

- One video of going through Iranis, the ice town to the northeast.
- One video of going into and claiming a second mine.
- One video of going into and claiming a third mine.
- One video of getting new gear.
- Two videos of getting new spells.
- One video of getting new gear, getting new spells, and exploring Asran, the city where we had that Vincent Weynard interlude.

However, I can reconstruct the order because I open the menu in every video once, so I can see what level the party is, and can sort it like that. Hooray for lucky breaks! This is the result:

- New spells I: Level 15.
- Iranis: Level 16.
- New gear: Level 18.
- New spells II: Level 20.
- Mines II and III: Level 21.
- New gear II, new spells III, Asran: Level 25.

So as we go through all that, just imagine our level constantly going up from off-screen grinding. Now, spells!





A: "Time Distortion" - "Calls upon the day or the night". Blood cost: 15.
B: "Cloud of Death" - "Base damage: 39; one enemy is hit; chance of death: 50%". Blood cost: 23.

You know, that light spell is really useful if you need to transform or drain some human on the quick. Clearly, that's why I shouldn't take it, because I'm not doing these things, but it's a light spell, so it gets taken.

Valnar's fourth spell: Time Distortion







A: "Frost Blades" - "Increases Attack; entire party is affected". Blood cost: 23.
B: "Cloud of Death" - "Base damage: 39; one enemy is hit; chance of death: 50%". Blood cost: 23.
C: "Life Giver" - "Base healing: 40; one person is healed". Blood cost: 18.

Now, this is something I've been waiting to bring up. Remember when I told you to remember Dark Blades, the other Attack boosting spell? Well, this is where we bring that back. I've always remembered this part from Goons Chatter About RPG Maker Games, a compilation of Vampires Dawn and other RPG Maker games chat from the Düsterburg LP. Don't read that, by the way, it has spoilers in poster "a cartoon duck"'s good rundown of the game. I wanted to bring up one particular point from poster Tallgeese:


I've always wondered about that, and now I can finally dig into the code to see just what's up.

Dark Blades:

Blood cost: 14
Effect rating: 8
Success rate: 40%
Intelligence influence: 10
Variance: 0
Increases attack.

Frost Blades:

Blood cost: 23
Effect rating: 20
Success rate: 50%
Intelligence influence: 10
Variance: 3
Increases attack.
Imbues your attacks with ice.

Now, we need to work out what these numbers mean, mainly Intelligence Influence and Variance. Here's a rundown on the numbers I found on the RPGMaker forums, by poster LockeZ:


Now, I don't have an easy way of testing this, but as far as I can tell, this means the values for the spell boosts are calculated as follows:

Dark Blades: 8 [Base] + (Caster's Intelligence/4) - [Intelligence Influence] + 0 [Variance, or lack thereof]

Frost Blades: 20 [Base] + (Caster's Intelligence/4) [Intelligence Influence] ± 0~15% * (Base + Intelligence Influence) [Variance]

I dropped the "Target's Intelligence/8" part because I don't think that applies to buffing spells.

So first off, we cut out the Intelligence Influence, since that's the same in both cases.

Dark Blades: 8 + 0

Frost Blades: 20 ± 0~15% * 20

Then we cut out the variance in both cases, since that, on average, evens out to zero. Then we divide by blood cost to get an average Attack boost per blood point.

Dark Blades: 8/14 = 0.57

Frost Blades: 20/23 = 0.87

This should mean that Frost Blades is actually superior. HOWEVER... it's not.

That's it. It's not. I don't know why. I don't know how. It just isn't. To test, I just went and added both spells to Valnar, who has an Intelligence of 81, and went out and tried it a couple times.

Dark Blades gave me a constant +28 boost when it hit. Let's put that into our formula: 8 + 81/4 + 0 = 8 + 20.25 + 0 = 28.25, rounded down: 28. Perfect.

And Frost Blades hovered around 20~23. This is just wrong on several levels. The base alone should get us up to 20, and it seems like the variance only acts positively, with the Intelligence Influence being completely cut out. I have no idea what causes this, but de facto, Dark Blades is superior to Frost Blades. How bizarre! Here I was thinking I was going to prove something that seemed entirely implausible wrong with the power of ~*mathematics*~, but no, turns out that that was entirely right! I'm reminded of a quote from Freeman's Mind: "Is my education on electromagnetism wrong, or is the WORLD wrong?" That's how I feel. My math is correct, it's just that the world, or rather, the engine, is wrong! However, this shows that this is not something that Marlex fucked up, but rather a problem in the engine itself that I presume nobody caught in testing.

Oh, right. Which spell does Asgar get? Well, we need healing. So let's get that.

Asgar's fourth spell: Life Giver







A: "Rain of Fire" - "Base damage: 31; all enemies are hit". Blood cost: 25.
B: "Blessing" - "Heals curses; entire party is healed". Blood cost: 16.
C: "Life Giver" - "Base healing: 40; one person is healed". Blood cost: 18.

This was a close one between Rain of Fire and Blessing, because curses are a bitch to get rid of, but at the end of the day, Alaine is the spellcaster of the group, but she needs good offensive spells to make use of that.

Alaine's fourth spell: Rain of Fire


Next stop, Iranis.



This is quite the frosty town indeed. Also, cute little snowmen.



Woman: Hey, you're here because of the "Cloud Musicians" too, right?
Who's that?
Woman: It's a great group of musicians from Asdion. They're currently playing in the pub here!
Hm, we might check that out, thanks.
Woman: I can't recommend you check out the pub enough.

Well, let's check out the pub then.



Lots of people to talk to here.

Old Woman: If only I wouldn't keep misplacing my wallet! Now I'm here and don't have any money with me! Damn! Hm, you look like some honest folk! Would you get my money? I left the money in a cupboard - 400 Filar. You'd get 100 Filar from me.
Hm... 1) ...alright, we'll get the money! 2) ...no, we don't have any time.

Yeah, sure, we can make some time for that.

Old Woman: Oh, thank you! My house is in the northeast section of the city! The wallet should be in one of the cupboards on the ground floor.
Alright, we'll look for it.



Blonde Man: What do you want from me?
Nothing, really...
Blonde Man: Nothing? So why are you pestering me?
Lack of communication?
Blonde Man: No wonder with the way you look!
(I would just love to tear this idiot's guts out!)



Bartender: Hello! Sit down and enjoy the music!
Thanks for the offer, but we're just looking around!
Bartender: You do that, as long as you don't cause any trouble, you're welcome here!



Man: They're just great, don't you think?
Well, they're alright.
Man: If you want to hear a different song, then just throw 10 Filar into the bowl to the left of the stairs! Then they'll change what they're playing!

I did that. I couldn't recognize what they were playing before, couldn't recognize what they were playing afterwards. Checked in RPG Maker, couldn't recognize any of the five songs they can play. Meh.



Dancing Woman: Oh, how I love this music! They originally come from Asdion.
Well, they're not that great.
Dancing Woman: I think they're really great!

So that's that for the pub. We'll have to remember to come back when we've found that wallet.



Guard: You best not make any trouble, or I'll have to throw you out of the city!
I don't think that will be necessary.
(I'll tear off your head before I let me get thrown out by you!)



There's a potion shop here, but it's just more of the same.



Man: Hi, what do you think of my costume? It was pretty expensive, but I think it's really grand!
Well, actually I think it's pretty ugly!
Man: Pffft... you don't have a clue! This is top chic!
If you say so...



We find our first church here in this city, too, which should be fun.



Praying Woman: Please don't disturb me, I'm praying!
Excuse me.



Praying Woman: Please be quiet, I have to concentrate...
What do you have to concentrate for?
Praying Woman: To talk with God!
And has he answered yet?
Praying Woman: OF COURSE! WHAT is with that question?
Oh, just curious...
Praying Woman: God exists in all of us, and he talks with us, and he helps us, and...
(Stupid little slut!)

Asgar's anti-theism still going strong. If he can't go to heaven and kick God's ass out of his throne, he can at least take the piss out of his believers.



Man: Please leave me alone, I want to pray!
Alright.



Pastor: Welcome to our church. In terrible times such as these, we have to pray and hope...
Why "terrible times"?
Pastor: You don't know? Well, sadly, last week, there has been another sacrifice. You see, we have a problem with a community that is "of different faith". And this community is evil, very, very, evil. Once again, they've abducted somebody from the city and probably sacrificed them in the name of their god!
Sounds like a really bad problem!
Pastor: You aren't capable of taking care of this group by any chance, are you?
Umm... 1) ...yes, we are! 2) ...no, not really!

Yeah, sure, we can take them! We're vampires! We're kick-ass!

Pastor: Really? Oh, God must have sent you! I don't know where exactly they are, but maybe one of the townsfolk knows more. If you can really take care of them, I will give you a VERY rare and incredibly valuable set of armor, which has been in the possession of the church for a very long time now. It's a relic of the Holy Crusade...
We'll see if we can find them.

Alright, so that's another sidequest. We'll see what we can do with that later. First, finding that wallet.



The next house we go into just so happens to be the right one!

There's 400 Filar laying here in a wallet...
"Obtained 400 Filar!"

And upstairs...



Young Man: Hello, you look like somebody that could use a few good tips...
So you've got some tips for us?
Young Man: Yeah, for instance, east of here, in the forest, there have been reports of strange sightings.
The forest east of here? We'll check that out, then.
Young Man: You do that.

OK, with that done, let's tour the rest of the city before bringing that wallet back. Another house to visit.



Woman: What is it?
I just wanted to ask you the same thing...
Woman: Well, there isn't much to tell for me. I do the housework every day. I'm not exactly having anything exciting happen to me.
Then we should probably just let you be.



Man: Hey, seems like you're new here! At least I haven't seen your faces before...
You're right, we're new in town.
Man: I suggest visiting the mountains. They're really beautiful.
Thanks for the tip, we'll check them out later.

Alright, forest to the east, and mountains. If I didn't know exactly where everything is, I'd have to be writing this shit down somewhere.



Young Lady: Hello! Have you heard? They say there's ghosts in the forest west of here. But I don't believe that kind of nonsense...
Ghosts, eh?
Young Lady: Oh, sorry, I didn't even know why I told you that. I don't believe it myself...



There's a weapon and armor shop here too, but again, nothing special. There's a set of better gear available, but I'm holding out until the next set to save money, since I know I'll be grinding more.



Man: Hello, what brings you to our cold place?
Well, we're just curious about what this town has to offer.
Man: What the town has to offer? Not a lot, really - a few houses, a pub, some shops...
I guess we'll take a look around.
Man: Of course, I wouldn't want to stop you!



Man: Hello, how's it going?
How should it be going for us?
Man: Hey, I just wanted to be friendly! After all, it's YOU who just barged into MY house!
I didn't want to be here anyway. We're leaving.
Man: Well, what are you waiting for? Get lost!

I'm getting a really weird vibe from Valnar. He's kind of bipolar about how he treats these random shitheads, and it's kinda weird.



Woman: Hello, what brings you here?
Do you maybe know anything about unexplored caves or anything similar?
Woman: No, sorry, I can't help you there at all!
OK, thanks anyway.



And finally, let's bring back that money.

Old Woman: Do you have my money?
Hm... 1) ...yes, we do! 2) ...there was no wallet there! 3) ...no, not yet.

Option number 2 lets you keep all the money, but take a Humanity hit. But we don't want that, Valnar is a nice guy.

Old Woman: Oh, thank you so much! I promised you 100 Filar, but since you've been so honest, I'll give you 150! Therefore, I should get 250 Filar from you!
Here you go!
"Gave away 250 Filar, gained 200 XP!"

Experience is better than money anyway.



Now, this is the place that guy mentioned where there have been strange sightings. This is where the cult is. Can we take them?



NOPE. Take a look at that. Not only is the red skull there, telling us that the regular enemies are out of our league, but there's also one enemy that is decidedly stronger than the regular enemies, making that one double out of our league!



As an aside, the enemies here are "snow flies", which only have normal attacks, and "ice mages" (which I didn't get on video), which have normal attacks and ice spells, both in single and party-wide attack variations, and both those spells can paralyze, which really sucks. However, these enemies are the first random encounters to drop normal souls, which is big, since medium soul stones let you get more workers in your mines, and you want that cashflow fast.



We've now leveled up enough to get more better gear. So here's what we get for armor:

Armor: "Heavy Titanium Armor" - "Improved titanium armor (+48 DEFENSE, -20 AGILITY)".
Helmet: "Frost Helmet" - "A helmet made of special metal (+29 DEFENSE, defense against ice)".
Shield: "Tower Shield" - "Large and rectangular shield (+29 DEFENSE, -10 AGILITY)".

The Agility hits kind of suck, but really, you don't care about that. The bigger that Defense boost, the better. The ice defense is also great for grinding in the icy region around Iranis.



As for weapons (don't mind the fact that I can't buy this crap, I end up doing some runs to pawn off silver so I can buy everything I want):

Sword: "Sword of Flaying" - "A sword with poison needles (+44 ATTACK, may inflict poison)".
Claws: "Titanium Claws" - "Light and sharp claws (+38 ATTACK, +6 AGILITY)".
Sabre: "Sabre of Revenge" - "Sabre with a barbed hook (+43 ATTACK, may cause bleeding)".

Note that what I'm hovering over is described as "a sword with a barbed hook". That's not what a bastard sword is, though. A bastard sword is essentially a step between a one-handed sword, or short sword, and a two-handed sword, or long sword (or Zweihänder!). A "one-and-a-half-hand sword", if you will. And really, what's so "flaying" about a sword with poison? Also, that sword actually has "poison cannulas", but who the fuck puts cannulas on a sword? It's a god damn needle. Also also, why the fuck does titanium armor make you much slower, but titanium claws are light and make you quicker? Anyway, that'll be our equipment for now. Now, more spells.





A: "Ball of Light" - "Base damage: 45; chance to blind: 70%; one enemy is hit". Blood cost: 26.
B: "Bad Omen" - "Base damage: 20; all enemies are hit; chance to curse: 70%". Blood cost: 32.

This would be kind of a tough one if I wasn't going all light. Blind is great because it can make a lot of enemies practically useless, but cursing them is also fantastic. However, as it stands, Valnar gets the light spell.

Valnar's fifth spell: Ball of Light







A: "Rain of Ice" - "Base damage: 41; chance to paralyze: 30%; all enemies are hit". Blood cost: 31.
B: "Bad Omen" - "Base damage: 20; all enemies are hit; chance to curse: 70%". Blood cost: 32.
C: "Quick Death" - "Chance of death: 50%; one enemy is hit". Blood cost: 24

Kind of wary of "death" spells, since they usually don't work against anything you'd really want to use it on. Bad Omen again looks interesting, but I go with the ice spell because of a lot higher base damage.

Asgar's fifth spell: Rain of Ice







A: "Explosion" - "Base damage: 60; one enemy is hit". Blood cost: 30
B: "Silence" - "Chance to silence: 90%; all enemies are hit". Blood cost: 30
C: "Quick Death" - "Chance of death: 50%; one enemy is hit". Blood cost: 24

I did this wrong. I should have taken Silence and combined it with Valnar's blinding spells to make it easy to take enemies completely out of the battle by making them incapable of casting spells and nearly incapable of attacking physically. Instead, I go for the big damage again. D'oh well.

Alaine's fifth spell: Explosion

Now, with spells in hand, let's go take over some mines.



We find the first one close to Isthar.



And guarding it is this thing!

What is that?
Fire Elemental: Who dares enter my cave? You will pay for this crime!
A fire elemental! And a quite presumptuous one too! Let's make it taste our cold steel!



Alright, so this fucker is bad news. I looked this up, and the red skull appears in this level if you're level 11 or below. I'm at level 21 right now, and this thing could kick my ass. This is mainly due to two problems:

1) It can cast a weakness spell, which lowers our Attack. We don't have anything that raises our Attack, so this is bad. Particularly, this means that soon, we can only really attack with spells, and that costs BP, and we don't have an infinite supply of that.
2) It has a party-wide fire attack spell, which does big damage - about a third of our HP right now. This means we do have to heal somewhat regularly.

So this just turns into a big slog - the fight takes about four minutes, and I play pretty quickly.



In the end, it came down to Valnar and Alaine just feeding Asgar blood vials so he could keep casting Rain of Ice, which was the only real thing that did major damage. Valnar was out of blood and only had a dinky Ice Ball, and Alaine only has useless fire spells. But eventually, it does go down.



We're stronger than all the elements of this world!





This cave looks like we could mine silver in here well. And we should do that.



So that's another mine for us. I fill it up with ten workers and move on to the next one.



This mine is close to Uruya, a bit to the southwest.

Hm, somehow, I feel danger in the air!
Quite a lot of skeletons here...
That can't mean anything good...



And we very quickly find out what made all these skeletons.

Ah, here's the problem!
Wretched lizard!



So now we're fighting a big-ass lizard. Is this harder than the fire elemental, since this mine requires level 15 for the red skull to disappear? Well, no. Because it can't really do anything except attack physically, and heal itself, we just use Valnar to blind it, then wail on it. No problems with Attack-lowering spells here! It does have a spell that can inflict Blind, Mute and Paralysis, but really, those just slow the battle down. No threat of killing us.



And the thing eventually just gets beaten to a pulp.



And now die, you stupid animal!



So, I think we could have silver mined here as well...

And another skeleton shows up, and we put ten workers in here as well. So now we have thirty! Making progress! Now, offscreen, we grind up to level 25, which means: New spells!





A: "Holy Storm" - "Base damage: 40; chance of confusion: 40%; all enemies are hit". Blood cost: 40.
B: "Black Aura" - "Increases light and black defense; entire party is affected". Blood cost: 27.

Another easy choice. Apart from the roleplaying thing, the aura seems nice, but again, I think it's situational. Not a lot of enemies will have light or black magic. It might come in handy in the big final battles, though, since those enemies usually have a wide array of shit they can throw at you. On the other hand, they usually have a wide array of shit they can throw at you, meaning that just defending against a few of those still leaves you vulnerable, even if it's somewhat less.

Valnar's sixth spell: Holy Storm







A: "Frozen Meteor" - "Base damage: 70; chance of paralysis: 40%; one enemy is hit". Blood cost: 40.
B: "Black Aura" - "Increases light and black defense; entire party is affected". Blood cost: 27.
C: "Poison Rain" - "Base damage: 50; chance of poisoning: 90%; all enemies are hit". Blood cost: 40.

This was one I had to think about, but the 90% poisoning chance and multi-enemy attack clinched it over the larger damage.

Asgar's sixth spell: Poison Rain







A: "Great Ball of Fire" - "Base damage: 80; one enemy is hit". Blood cost: 37.
B: "Free Movement" - "Heals paralysis; entire party is healed". Blood cost: 30.
C: "Poison Rain" - "Base damage: 50; chance of poisoning: 90%; all enemies are hit". Blood cost: 40.

Well, I just got Explosion, which was an error, so I guess I go for the status one now. Paralysis is a big problem too, so being able to heal that, while maybe not as nice as being able to heal curses, is still pretty good.

Alaine's sixth spell: Free Movement

Next stop, the crypt.



Master, your servant Ronak found a spell for you that can convert silver directly into Filar. However, you get 20% less than what you'd get if you sold it normally, so 8 Filar per bar. But you don't have to go through the hassle of bringing it to shops anymore. However, the spell also requires that you convert ALL the silver at once...
Ronak, you say? Finally, he did something right for once!
Yes, master...

So, this is going to help a lot. We have quite a bit of silver accumulated from when I was grinding. Let's turn that all into money.

Master, you currently have 2813 bars of silver stored here! Do you want to take some with you?
Hm... 1) ...yes, I'll take some with me! 2) ...no, not now! 3) ...I want to convert it!

CONVERSION, ENGAGE!

As you wish!

And in a bright flash, all our silver disappears...

Here are your 22504 Filar...

...but we're in the money! This should be enough to get us the new gear I've been waiting to buy!



...or not! God damn, look at those prices. Well, this is what we're targeting:

Armor: "Odos Armor" - "A magic set of armor (+70 DEFENSE, protection against fire)".
Helmet: "Odos Helmet" - "A heavy helmet (+46 DEFENSE; protection against fire)".
Shield: "Knight's Shield" - "A large and bulky shield (+41 DEFENSE; -10 AGILITY)".

We totally could have used that shit against the fire elemental. Oh well. Also, look at those defense boosts! Being overleveled isn't great because your stats get higher, but because you can buy new gear that makes your stats a lot better. At least it feels like the major improvements come from gear, not from level.



And for the weapons:

Sword: "Sword of Fate" - "A double-edged sword (+74 ATTACK)".
Claws: "Tri-Claws" - "Claws with three blades (+66 ATTACK)".
Sabre: "Poison Sabre" - "Sabre with poison needles (+70 ATTACK, inflicts sickness)".

Sickness and poison are used weirdly in this game. For instance, Valnar's sword from a bit back? That also inflicts sickness. But the spells? They inflict poison. It's weird. Also, I need to go back and edit the second update because I totally missed the "poisoned" status. You saw nothing. We buy a full set of weapons, but the armor will have to wait. For now, our next stop is Asran, south of Castle Tranak on the main continent, because there's something in particular I want from here.



Asran... how long has it been since I've been here? 400 years? Half an eternity to be sure. Doesn't seem like a lot has changed in that time, though. A few houses here and there, but aside from that...
Isn't this the place where the Holy Crusade started?
Yes... and this was where I became a vampire.
Hm... why does this place seem so familiar to me?
What? It seems familiar to you? Very strange...
Oh, I must just be imagining things!

Ominous foreshadowing. Speculation is welcomed. Of course, "it actually is just her imagining things" is also an option! Let's go look through some houses again.



Rich Woman: Hey, you riff-raff! Get out of my house immediately, or I'll call the guards!
Calm down, we're going!
Rich Woman: You better!



There's somebody we're talking to there, honest!

Old Woman: I hope my spoilt daughter hasn't yelled at you yet!
Spoilt?
Old Woman: You must have noticed it too... since we've won that large amount of money, she changed... became bitchy and arrogant.
And why aren't you doing anything about it?
Old Woman: I'm trying, but she won't listen to me... sigh...
Well, we better leave then.



Woman: Yawn, what a boring day today is again. Day in, day out, always the same.
Maybe you should find something interesting to do.
Woman: Eh, that's nothing for me. I'd rather be bored than put any real effort into something...
Tsk, tsk...



Poor Man: Hey, why are you talking to me? I'm just a poor man.
And what's that got to do with anything?
Poor Man: Well, because nobody that's rich wants to talk with me because I'm too poor!
The people here are pretty arrogant.
Poor Man: Pretty is an understatement. They're terrible around here!
Then go somewhere else.
Poor Man: Where? Nobody wants to talk with a guy like me in any city!
Oh, I know a little town where that's not the case. And I have a house there, too. It's empty right now, because... er... well, because nobody is inhabiting it! You could move into there!
Poor Man: You're kidding me, right?
No, not at all! I'm really going to give you a house in Shannar!
Poor Man: That... that's incredible. But where can I get the money to go to Shannar?
Um... 1) ...here are 100 Filar! 2) ...that's your problem!

Of course we're going to help this guy!

Poor Man: You really are the nicest humans I've ever met!
(And now he insults me, calling me a human! Hrmpf...)
Poor Man: I'll set off immediately! Again, many, many thanks! And I'll find your empty house, don't worry!

It's probably harder to find the houses that aren't inhabited. I think the population of Shannar will be two when this guy arrives.



Praying Man: Excuse me, but I'm praying to our almighty God. At least somebody around here has to do it.
The church isn't that popular around here, it seems?
Praying Man: Well, ever since Vincent Weynard died, the church has lost many believers...
Vincent Weynard seems to have been an idol for them.
Praying Man: Of course! He is our savior! And when evil returns to this world, he will be reborn. At least those were his last words on this earth...
Interesting.
Praying Man: But now, please let me continue praying!

That's the first time we hear of this resurrection prophecy. Interesting indeed.



Father Herald: Welcome, my children! Sit down and pray to God, the almighty!
Um, we hadn't planned for that.
Father Herald: Are you not one of God's children? Could you possibly belong to a cult like the "Children of the Apocalypse"?
No, we don't belong to a cult.
Father Herald: Then there is still hope for you! Pray, and you will be saved!
Come on, let's go. I can't stand this! No wonder the church is so empty!

To be fair, this religion does seem to be rather chill as far as "being saved" goes. They could be asking for a lot more than just prayer.



Another ghost, he increased the duration for our demon summoning spell we don't have yet.



Now, for what we came here to do.

Wise Man: Hello, are you here to be taught by me?
Taught? What?
Wise Man: The old language of the Elras. It's a quite complex language, but shines with its grace. The Elras have written many books, so you could use this to understand these books. Amongst them many spell books, which is why I've had many students over time.
Sounds good, how much are you asking for these lessons?
Wise Man: Because of the complexity, I have to ask 500 Filar of you.
500 Filar? Hm... 1) ...alright, let's get going! 2) ...no, that's too much for me!

500 bucks is a bargain!

Wise Man: Alright, then come over here...
A few hours later...
Wise Man: Incredible! You've learnt such a complex language in only a few hours! I've never seen anything like this before!
Well, I guess I'm just a natural talent!
Wise Man: Truly incredible. However, you now have mastered the language, so I must ask you to leave. I'm expecting more students today.
Thanks for the lessons.

Now that we've learnt the language of the Elras, we can read that spellbook in Valnar's room. We'll do that once we're done with Asran.



Woman: Have you heard that something happened in Tradan? At least I've heard something about that. But you know how rumors are...
Tradan, eh?
Woman: But maybe somebody really should see what happened there. IF something happened there.

We might have to go and check out Tradan in the near future then!



Arrogant Man: Hey, you! You look like you need some money bad!
Oh, do we?
Arrogant Man: Yes! And I am your salvation! I'm offering you work. You're going to get an item for me that I've hidden in Iranis. When you get it for me, I'll give you 300 Filar!
Hm, and what kind of item is that? And why have you hidden it?
Arrogant Man: You don't need to know that! All you have to do is get it!
Hm... 1) ...alright, we'll get it. 2) ...sorry, not interested!

Sidequest hooooo!

Arrogant Man: Alright, I've wrapped the item up well, to protect it from the cold. It's hidden in one of the snowmen!
In a SNOWMAN?
Arrogant Man: Yes, nobody would look for something in there. So, you go to Iranis, look through all the snowmen and then bring the item to me. I can't remember where the snowman was, so you have to look in every one. And under NO CIRCUMSTANCES may you open the package! IS THAT CLEAR?
Yeah, yeah, we got it! No reason to start screaming! We'll get that thing.



Young Girl: Are you friends?
Why do you want to know that?
Young Girl: Because daddy says that I can't have any friends, otherwise I won't grow up properly...
Strange methods of education!



Old Man: Hello!
Um, hello! You're really nice compared to all the other people in this city!
Old Man: Well, I haven't been living here long... and I'm old... so why get used to the way other people act here?
Good to hear.
Old Man: Say, do you happen to have any antique coins? I'm quite a coin collecting enthusiast, and I'll offer you 100 Filar per coin!
No, we don't have any antique coins...
Old Man: Then come back when you have some!

We're probably not going to do that. The FAQ says that there's a better thing to do with those coins, and we'll probably be doing that, especially since our money problems will be disappearing soon.



Woman: What are you doing here?
Not so unfriendly, please, we don't mean any harm...
Woman: I don't believe a word you're saying! And not to mention that you're walking over my freshly cleaned floor! AAAAAARGH! That cost me 15 minutes of my valuable time! Get lost!

This seems like a household that's tough to live in.



Man: Hey, could you help me? My wife keeps yelling at me when I walk over the floor downstairs. Because of that, I'm practically trapped down here. And that even though I really need a special butterfly for my collection! I finally want to complete it!
And that's so important that you can't wait?
Man: You have no idea how picky my wife gets when she's done cleaning! It'll take hours before I'm allowed back down there! But my wife's bitching doesn't have to bother you, so would you get that butterfly for me? I'll give you a bottle to catch it in.
Hm... 1) ...alright, we'll get it. 2) ...no, not interested!

Butterfly catching as a sidequest? Yeah, sure, I'm down.

Man: Good, good. Alright, so you stick the butterfly in this bottle here. You can find it on a field south of Asran, but you have to make sure you've got the right one, because it's pretty rare and can easily be confused with another butterfly. The right one is blue.
We'll find it, don't worry!
Man: I hope so! Good luck!



Old Woman: Oh, we rarely get visitors! What brings you here?
We like to hear stories about assorted mysteries.
Old Woman: I see. Well, you're in luck, because I know a little story. "It was a time of darkness... but heroes came... the evil died... for all eternity!"

Sounds familiar.

Pardon me, but that doesn't sound all that helpful...
Old Woman: Well, the story is supposed to entertain, and not help.
Don't you know another story?
Old Woman: Oh, of course I do! Now, a long time ago, a boy named Alex lived together with his girlfriend Christin... the two fought all the time, but they were still head over heels in love with each other! One day, a great tragedy happened, and Alex freed a demon from its magical prison. That demon then destroyed Alex and Christin's home village and so the two were off to try and find the demon, which was named Gargasch.
Hey, that's a good one, but I already know that one!
Old Woman: You know "Dark Shadows"? That's my favorite story!
Excuse me, but we really don't have any time to listen to stories anymore!

Man, Marlex sure loves pimping his own work out.



Little Boy: Have you seen a clown?
Clown? No, I haven't.
Little Boy: WAAAAAAAAH! I want to see a clown! With a red nose!
Strange brat.

Would you believe me if I said this was a sidequest? Probably. Would you believe me if I said that I'm pretty sure that you can't solve this quest without murdering somebody? Probably not so much. I'm not 100% sure myself, but we'll come back to this.



Guard: Hey, seems like you're new here! So don't cause any trouble, or you'll have to leave right away again.
Don't worry, we won't cause any trouble.
Guard: You better.



The inscription is unreadable - the rock is too weathered. A shame, I really would like to know who's buried here!
Well, it's not ME!
You don't say...

Well, take a fucking guess.

Also, I don't think that just saying "weather..." is proper. Also, the lack of portrait seems to indicate that something has been deleted here.

Anyway, to cap things off, let's check out the pub.



Barkeeper: Hello! Do you want something to drink?
No thanks. We're more interested in information.
Barkeeper: Information? What kind?
Where something happened, for instance.
Barkeeper: Well, I've heard that there have been plumes of smoke sighted over Tradan. Maybe a fire broke out there?
Thanks, that sounds pretty interesting.
Barkeeper: Then have a good day!

Another mention of Tradan. This might really be worth looking into.



Drunk Man: Heeey, wha you wan?
Good grief, this guy is drunk!
Drunk Man: I... Iiii'm not druhnk... uhhhh... I think i neehd to puhke!
Come on, we should leave.

Good idea.



Finally, to cap things off, let's read that book we went through the trouble of learning an entire language for.

Hey, the lessons I got with that old man in Asran were worth it! I can read this book now!
Good, Valnar! Learn the spell that's in it! It will help us!
"Learned 'Ghost's Gaze'!"

This is a spell that's great for regular players and pointless for me, because it shows us hidden passages. I can already see those in RPG Maker, and I prefer not having to burn through all my BP to make sure that I'm not missing any hidden passages. Anyway, that's it for now. Next time, we'll go check out what happened in Tradan, because I'm pretty sure it's kind of related to that whirling dervish of destruction Valnar ended up unleashing last time. Also, fucking Christ my fingers hurt. That's like 65000 characters, almost all typed by hand. Over two days, but still. I should somehow split these things up more.