Part 11: Chapter 4-1: Grave Misfortunes

Chapter 4-1: Grave Misfortunes



Well, here we are on B4. I'll try to cut down on the punny titles going forward.



Level 6 ninjas lurk around the cemetery. They're even more dangerous than usual because of how ridiculously high their critical hit and evasion rates are. Hold Attack is good for landing a guaranteed blow, but be sure to keep Restrict Shot on too to reduce the possibility of instant death.



Another new enemy to beware is the Gargoyle.



Gargoyles have a number of things working in their favor. First of all, they're flying, so they can potentially attack anybody in the party. Fortunately they very rarely choose to attack the back row. They also have above average evasion, and their defense is very high. They come in pairs, but I have yet to encounter them combined with any enemies besides their partner. Double Slash and Restrict Shot are both good ideas when fighting these things.



They drop devil's horns, a useful component in making magic stones.



Spirits are a new type of undead. They have a fairly basic melee attack, but they prefer to use spells most of the time. As such, they are one of the more dangerous varieties of undead at this point in the game. Spell Cancel is a good idea if you have one of these lurking in the back row. If they're in front, Double Slash to make sure you take them down quickly.



Spirits are one of the first enemies to drop skulls, which are another good component for magic stones. So far they seem good for stat-boosting spells, which I'll get into a bit later on.



However, Spirits pale in comparison to Shades.



Shades are one of the first types of monsters encountered that can drain levels with their attacks. Supposedly spirits can do this as well, but they attack so rarely that it shouldn't be an issue. However, shades have nothing better to do than try to get up in your face, so you'll want to prevent them from hitting you at all costs.

Drained levels cannot be recovered. If you lose a level, you've got to earn it all over again. Hence, Restrict Shot whenever possible, and throw out Double Slashes and magic whenever shades are around. They're easily the single biggest complication on this floor if they hit you, and their threat level is only marginally smaller than the ninjas.

And now for some amusing images.



The undead use AAs now and then, but it's more frequent on this floor. I don't know how I got through this guy's defenses, personally.



"hay guys, why you sleepin?"



Anyway, let's talk about B4 itself.



The cemetery is a very long, very convoluted, and very frustrating maze. The topside is a grid of graves and debris with paths leading between them, with the occasional stairs, bridges, and platforms to break things up.



However, if you fall down one of the many pits that litter the cemetery (And believe me, this happens often), you land in one of several underground "zones" that consist of one or more rooms, with a magic circle that teleports you back to the surface. There's treasure in almost all of these, so it's not entirely a waste to fall down a pit once in a while. The zones are regional, too, so you can roughly guess the position of new underground areas based on pits you've encountered and explored before.



Depending on which magic circle you use to return to the surface, you'll wind up in different areas of the cemetery. At least two circles go back to separate platforms like these, with stairs on the north and south ends. Others go to paths in the middle of graves. You are required to fall down certain pits to advance on this floor, so it's best to figure out which of these pits are beneficial to you and find some way to remember them.



A few of the pits can be disarmed, and they appear as red squares instead of purple squares on the minimap. However, at least one of these pits leads to the correct path. Since you need to disarm the trap each time you step on the square, it's not a big deal if you wander over it but don't fall down right away.

Anyway, starting from the beginning of the dungeon, we find another note by Odom. You guys remember Odom, right?



Creepy necrophiliac. Let's move on.

http://blip.tv/file/4645493







Hmm... distinctive hair...

- There are pitfalls and creepy gravestones everywhere...

He seemed to be the samurai named Matsuri that a soldier told you about. You asked it if it was him.

- Indeed, my name is Matsuri. But how did you know that?

When you told him about getting a sword from the Duhan soldier, Matsuri gave an exaggerated nod.

- Her Majesty's soldiers are really so courteous! All I did was help him out a little.

You gave him the Sword Sheath!

- Hmm, with this sword I'll be able to beat the Undead. This is great! Every time I see the Undead, it reminds me of... her... It pushes me to go on.

Matsuri noticed you looking at him and scratched his cheek shyly.

- My village was attacked by the Undead in the past. So many were killed... Even the women and children weren't spared. When Her Majesty heard about it, she decided to send some help to us. When we got the news, everyone rejoiced. We all thought we were saved. But all that came was just this one elf girl. We didn't believe that a girl like that could fight monsters at all, so we got worried. But she was Sophia, the priest known as the Sacred Healer. Her Majesty had sent us a Queen's Guard, one of her own personal servants. Her skill was amazing. She knelt, and just by her prayer alone, destroyed an army of the Undead. That's not all. She healed the injured villagers, one by one. I fell for her then. For her beauty... and for her kindness. But...



Matsuri's face clouded over for a moment, but soon became cheerful.

- But I think that she's still alive. A Queen's Guard would never die before fulfilling her duty! I'm going to find her. And I'm going to pay her back for all she did for us! Oops, sorry for rambling. I didn't mean to keep you here. Well, thanks for the delivery and for listening to me. Let me give you this in return.

Matsuri pulled out a fragment of a crystal that shined with a crimson glow.

You got a Crimson Quartz!

- I have no clue what to do wit it, but it might come in handy someday.

Matsuri grinned and waved goodbye.

- See you around!

So yeah, Matsuri's the badass running around the cemetery killing enemies that it takes the whole party so slay. Too bad he isn't in my party...

Soon after parting ways from Matsuri, we run into some old... ugh... friends.

http://blip.tv/file/4645474



You bumped into the adventurers you met on the 1st Floor.



The girl bishop sighed, relieved.

- You idiot! How dare you scare Ann like that!

The young thief glared at you, annoyed.

- Oscar, I don't care for people who are vulgar.

Suddenly, the face of the boy who was called Oscar went pale.

- I-I'm sorry, Annmarie! I'll be more careful next time!

- I won't hold my breath.

The young bishop Annmarie smiled charmingly, and made a cutting remark.

- Umm... I get the feeling we've met before... I wonder where that was?

- Oh, I think he's the one Oscar bumped into on the 1st Floor.

- Rune?

- !!!

- I don't care for people who interrupt me when I talk.

- S-sorry, Ann!! I'll be more careful!!

Apparently, the leader of this party was Annmarie, the bishop. Oscar and Rune seemed to not be able to defy her.

- Did you fall in the pitfall on your way here, too?

Did you fall?

Yes
No

Many, many times...

- I knew it! We fell, so there's no reason why you wouldn't have fallen either! Oh, good. Tee hee. Anyway, the 4th Floor is a pain, isn't it? I'm thinking I ought to check out the graves that look suspicious and all. And then there are those pitfalls! I was trying to be careful not to fall in any, but... Sometimes, it might be necessary to fall in them. You might be able to get to new places.

After Annmarie finished speaking, she put out her pretty hand. When you gave a puzzled look, she smiled cheerfully.

- I tell you, you pay me. The most important thing in this Labyrinth is information. I'm not altruistic enough to give it to you for nothing. So... how about half of the money you're carrying now?

Pay the fee?

Pay
Don't pay

Haha... no. Just no.

Tears filled Annmarie's eyes.

- How mean.. After all I've told you, you don't even pay...

- You idiot! How dare you make Ann cry like that! Rune! Let's teach this guy a lesson!

- Right!

Oscar and Rune attacked you!



Well, it goes about as well as you'd expect.





- Damn it, he's too strong for us!

- I can't believe we lost...

- You're pretty strong.

Annmarie came over from where she was watching.

- I like strong people. And since you're strong... I'll tell you something good.

Annmarie lowered her voice.

- Have you heard that somebody might have kidnapped the Queen?

Have you heard?

Heard it already
Never heard it

I don't think there's any way at all to have heard about something like this until now.

- Oh, you didn't know? It's a pretty big rumor among adventurers right now. You didn't meet any ninja soldiers looking for the Queen?

You remembered seeing the ninjas on the way to the 4th Floor, and nodded.

- Well, they were sent by LeDua to save the Queen. The one leading them is one of the Queen's Guards, Kulgan the Agile.

Upon hearing that name, your heart jumped.

There was something about the name.

But Annmarie did not notice the reaction, and continued to talk.

- There are a lot of ninja soldiers here, too. They're a bit edgy, so you might want to stay away from them.

- A-Ann, you don't need to be so nice to someone like this...

- Yeah, Ann. I don't see why you should tell him anything...

Annmarie glanced at them, and chuckled sadly.

- Oscar, Rune... I'm disappointed in you both. I thought you'd have at least some strength... I may start to not like you anymore.

- A-Annmarie!!

Annmarie paid them no notice, and looked into your eyes.

- Well, I guess I'll see you again.

Annmarie began walking off on her own.

- Ann, wait for me!

You watched Oscar and Rune chase after Annmarie.

Why is it that Duhan is comprised of roughly 65% people who are ridiculously annoying?

...It's a J-RPG. Right. Forgot.



With a little more practice, they'll be in shape for halftime at the next major football game. I hear it's the Duhan Ninjas versus the Skara Brae Berserkers!



Riveting.



I always wondered why there was a gravestone that's roughly 400% larger than necessary right here. I think it's near a quest later on, but otherwise serves no real purpose.

One of the pits nearby is hidden by a bag. Trying to grab the bag...



"Do not steal my treasure!"

You fell for a trap that somebody made.

Someone basically took the time to make a pit trap in the middle of a dungeon full of... pit traps. Classy.



It drops us right next to a new kind of chest. Black chests are both locked and trapped. Oddly, they aren't any harder to disarm than red chests.



Another vellum, fairly self-explanatory.



In order to proceed, it's necessary to check out this unique grave.

- Wait a second.

Ricardo suddenly stopped.



- It seems different from the others... Should we check it out?

Examining the grave...



...Gives the option to push it back one space, bypassing a pit trap that impeded progress.



Another platform, at the bottom of which we find...



- I heard that my father's troop was attacked here...

A female warrior, whom you have met before, approached.



- And it's become joined to the charnel house, so it's even more mixed up.

- True. And with all the pitfalls, it's difficult to walk around. But what is my father thinking, hiring adventurers to take his quests?!

The warrior spoke loud enough for you to hear her, most likely on purpose, and walked away.

...I thought we got rid of all the annoying chicks last chapter. Well, I guess Annmarie was proof to the contrary anyway.



Once we get to a series of bridges, we're about halfway through the cemetery. However, I'm overloaded with items at this point and everyone is ready to raise a level, so it's time to head back to town.

Let's start with some of the unique crap I found laying around the place.



It's a bad idea to equip this even if you have a samurai. It sells for 7700 gold, though, so it's great for cash.



This is a pretty good distance weapon. It doesn't petrify often, but it's funny when it does. We'll give this to Warren.



This is an okay sword. Ricardo's already got something better, though, and Kyo would lose his extra attack if he used it. As for Sagoon... he won't be needing it.



This is good armor, especially for an early level samurai.



This is a good accessory. We could use its "Release SP" option in the menu for that alignment change, but there's not really any point in a primarily good-aligned party.





Couple new spells for the three magic-users in the group.





Some level-ups...



And... looky here.



It's a bit of a downgrade right at first, but it'll be fine in a couple of levels.



SAM Sagoon has joined the party!



While we're here, let's pick up a "throw all your shit at that one guy" AA.

We've also got five new quests. I'm going to cover them all, but I want to hear which ones you guys want to start with. We're still doing Anonym's quest, so until that's done we're restricted to two new choices. I'll briefly cover each and then end the update.



This one's quick and easy. It's just a brief hop down to B3 for some dragon slaying and then a return trip to drop off the goods. Recommended we do this one as one of the first.



This is a cemetery quest. It's... different. Very storyline relevant.



Another quest on B4. Fairly easy, doesn't take long.



This is the third quest that's on B4. It's fairly convenient if it's done while exploring the pits, so it would fit in just about anywhere.



And the fifth... wait, what?



...Fuck me.

We can't do this quest until B5, since the loot the crazy bitch wants isn't anywhere else until we get down there. So, I recommend saving this for last so it doesn't take up space.

Anyway, at least we're ending this one on a high note with our new samurai leader! Let me know your thoughts on the quests, and see you next update!

Videos:

Meeting Matsuri - http://blip.tv/file/4645493

Oscar and Rune Fail at Life - http://blip.tv/file/4645474