Last time, we were attacked by bandits, discussed Rictor's parental issues, got knocked into the ocean, got rescued by a young woman working at the church named Eleanor, and prepared to go to the nearby town of Scabellum with a woman named Ivanna, who used to be a White Fang.
Let's get on with it then.
Here's a map of this area.
◊ Got it from www.tacticsogre.com. Good site.
Ivanna and Belgger walk into the town.
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"So quiet..." Belgger mutters. "It doesn't seem like a port city."
"Since the White Fang troops arrived, the people in the towns around here have been more cautious. This port used to be bustling with activity..."
We hear the sounds of people moving.
"Who's there?" Belgger calls.
These guys reveal themselves.
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"How rude to ask questions without first introducing yourself!" the leader, Mullin, says.
"The woman in the middle looks like a knight of Rananculus. They've already filtered into this town," Ivanna says. "We may have no choice but to fight them."
"She's... from Rananculus...?"
"I'd guess from her attire that she's a spellcaster. Belgger, be mindful of the elements. You know about the four natural forces that protect us, right?"
The game presents us with two choices. They make no difference and only change whether or not you receive a tutorial on the elements. You can guess how it works. Each person has a different element, you do more damage and take more damage against people with opposite elements, blah, blah, blah.
"How annoying. If you get in our way, we'll kill you," Muller says.
Winning Condition: Kill the Leader
This is another warm-up battle. We can't control Ivanna. Muller's AI is kind of stupid; she retreats while she waits to get MP (you get a bit of MP after every turn). Stay back, and try not to advance up the first land step. An enemy will come to you, a male soldier. If you stay behind the land step on the second turn he'll have to fight you from the front. The soldier attacks; Belgger guards, and counters for 26 HP. He levels up.
At the start of the third turn, Belgger will say: "They're too much for us! We have to do something!"
A familiar voice from offstage shouts, "Belgger!!!"
"I'm glad that you're safe!" Rictor says.
"And you as well!" Belgger shouts back.
"We'll celebrate our reunion after we deal with these rogues." We can't control Orson or Rictor either.
Ivanna attacks the soldier I countered earlier, doing 50, getting countered for 26. Rictor advances, and does nothing. Orson shoots the other male soldier for 29 damage. I attack the soldier Ivanna attacked, doing 32 damage, guarding the counter-attack. A female soldier shoots at Rictor, who guards. The other male soldier attacks me from the side, doing 16 damage and guarding the counter-attack. The other soldier attacks me, doing 16 damage, getting 26 in response. Muller advances to use a spell.
"Belgger," Ivanna says, "the enemy is going to use a spell. A spell that is the same element as the caster can be very powerful, so be careful." Muller casts Thunder Flare, hitting me for 43 damage. Ivanna heals me for 47 health. Rictor does nothing. Orson attacks the female soldier for 33 damage. I move behind one of the male soldiers and attack, killing him. The female soldier attacks Orson, missing. The remaining male soldier attacks Ivanna from the front for 14; she counters for 52. Muller hits Rictor with a fireball for 22 damage. Ivanna moves behind the male and hits him for 43 damage. Rictor attacks Muller with a Lightning Bow, missing. Orson hits Muller for 44 damage. I kill the last male soldier. It's just Muller and the female soldier left.
Muller attacks Rictor with a Thunder Flare, doing 29 damage. The female soldier hits him with her bow for 14. Rictor attacks Muller with Lightning Bow, hitting for 52 damage. Orson attacks her; she guards. I'm not close enough to attack her, so I collect some treasure left behind by the soldiers. I get a Stone of Swiftness. The female soldier hits me for 11. Muller attacks Orson with Fireball, doing 26 damage. Ivanna gets the other treasure, a Healing Leaf. Good job Ivanna! Rictor attacks the female soldier with Lightning Bow, doing 69 damage. Orson attacks her, and misses.
The rest of the battle goes this way. Orson kills Muller.
Muller: I guess this is it for me...
We get 0 goth, a short bow, and the spell thunder flare.
We talk with Rictor in the warehouse.
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"After we were attacked," Rictor explains, "we boarded a small craft and came to this port, where we spoke to the mayor. The townspeople have been willing to provide information, but not money or soldiers."
"Are they too cowardly to protect themselves?" Belgger asks.
"they take our protection for granted. Since the island was subjugated by the Holy Lodis Empire, Ovis has fallen under the jurisdiction of Felis."
"I've heard that some towns still have a grudge against Lodis because of the Reformation."
Rictor strokes his chin (I assume; kind of hard to tell with the sprite). "Things probably won't go very smoothly even though this is Lodis' territory, but it's also true that Southerners want nothing to do with Rananculus."
"They dislike both us and the people of the North."
"As for the task at hand... our mission is to investigate and resolve the conflict here. According to our information, the number of foreign soldiers and pirates has increased over the last year or so. We also heard that pirates were spotted here a few days ago, so we hid and waited for their return. Then you showed up."
"The White Fang Troops are under the direct order of the Lord of Rananculus. He must have had some hand in the current problems."
"The Batraals..." Rictor mutters. "They've ruled Rananculus for generations. The current lord is Naris. Before inheriting that title, he was the head knight of the White fang Troops."
"I doubt this is merely a show of power..." Belgger muses. "So, have you discovered their intentions?"
Rictor shakes his head. "No. I'm not certain of anything yet. They've been acting in small groups. Their leader's a knight, but the rest seem to be disorderly fellows, maybe bandits. Oddly enough, they've made no demands, they've just been excavating ruins and collecting old books."
"Well, I doubt they're here merely as historians. What do you estimate their numbers to be?"
"We know little about their strength or true objective, but we do know that the troops which are causing the recent problems are stationed by the ruins southeast of Naja. Their leader is Nichart Briffaut, a knight of Rananculus."
"Will you attack them head on?"
"No. If we attack them directly, the enemy will have the advantage because they're more familiar with this area. Therefore, my plan is to attack them from the flanks. That way, they'll have their backs to the ocean. I'll go through the forest, and you'll go through Vespa Hill and attack from the west."
"But we are too few to divide in half," Belgger argues.
Rictor pulls out a sack. "Take this."
We get 3500 Goth.
"Prepare your troops using these campaign funds," he tells us. "Enter the ruins while we lure their main force out. Capture the leader and find out their purpose."
"Alright."
We now have our starting soldiers:
I get a hawkman, who I name Bruno. I was considering Canopus, but he's a cannon character in the series, so naw. Hawkmen are just as awesome as they were in LUCT.
I give Bruno the Francisca. I give Aniole, who starts out with Fireball, Thunder Flare too.
I make Orcus into a beast tamer.
I start to train everyone to level five.
Next time: I change some classes and get into our first real battle!
