First we must revisit Zenobia. There, we can hire Lyon only for one fourth of the price. So for 5,000 goths (Cheaper than some items!) we get Lyon, a beastman (meh, but I need a second beast master to use the second stone of Dragos I got) and his two level 7 red dragons. Niiice. Second, we go back to the hidden town of Kal Robst. There, an old lady called Banya approaches us.
Well, we have one more mission on our list! Now, let us sail to Avalon.
Scene 8: The Black Knight
The map is the same size as Zenobia
◊. but because of the surrounding water, we essentially end up with a smaller battlefield like in the early maps. First thing to notice is the number of mountains. Our units with the standard "plains" movement types will have trouble here. Flying units are the recommended things. There's 11 settlements, but the enemy tends to focus only on two of them. Also, less enemy squads then last time. Good! We also have some recruiting business. The ocean is crawling with neutral units. Mermaids and Octopus mostly, and those suck. But there's one unit it has we want ALOT of: Angels! So we will have a flying unit moving about the ocean all the time, to recruit ourselves some fine feathered ladies.
For the plot details, I will summarize it below, there's alot of repetition between towns here.
The Island of Avalon is where Prince Roshian founded the Roshian Temples years ago. Most of the inhabitants of the island are monks The temples are led by a Grand Monk, a position inherited from mother to daughter. No, I have NO IDEA how a religion created by a man ends up matriarchal. Anyway, the temples have maintained neutrality for 20 years, but with the rise of our rebellion, Empress Endora has sent her son, the Dark Prince Gares, to the island, to obtain the allegiance of the temples. Grand Monk Forris refused, and Gares killed her for it. Forris' daughter, Aisha, was off to the mainland on pilgrimage when this happened. Rumors are that she may have returned to Avalon to avenge her mother. If you are keeping track, Aisha is also the rightful Grand Monk. Sadly, we do not find Tristan here, or hear his whereabouts.
The music is Thunder again.
So we send our people out to free units. Gontak nets us V: Hierophant card for a good start. The temple north of the base gets us a VIII: Strength card and another pirate helm. Man'G gets us a X: Fortune, and we are lucky enough to get the reputation boost too!
The flying unit I sent to scour the south sea meets an Angel withing 2 minutes. And we get our first angel to our team! I want ideally 2 angels before I go to the hidden temple.
Galsaya reminds me that the game hates my gut, getting me XIII: Death again.
One enemy drops a "Promotion". Using this grants an instant level up to a unit. Not bad. By contrast, our first treasure is an iron glove, +2 physical resist. Woohoo... Second treasure is an Iceblade. +7 str, Cold elemental.
We have to keep an eye on the surrounding sea. The computer has water units (One Mermaid in the back, two octopus in the front) and is not above sneaking them to unprotected settlement. One of them tries to do this on our base, but then finds Destin is there waiting. Tonite we have octopus and sushi at the base.
The city of Tal'Jin gets us a VII: Chariot.
Warren is my first wizard to earn a promotion to the Mage class! Oh fitting. And as an award he gets the undead staff, turning him into a Sorcerer. Just like that Warren goes from 2 singe target magic attacks to 2 all targets magic attack! On top of that, Warren can now recruit ghosts and skeletons in towns. On TOP of that, his first TPK as a sorceror nets him a Trade Ticket, an item that summons a merchant on whatever unit used it. Said merchant sell the rare as all hell items that permanently raise str, agi, int, HP and luck. Gotta save it till I have more menu to drop on it and buy a TON of them! Speaking of which, 2 battles later, Warren scores one of the intelligence boosting items!
Go Warren!
Soon after, I recruit my second angel. Good... An enemy killed by Canopus drops 7 Leagues Boots. This item lets you teleport any unit to a city you control. Sweet!
Gelze is freed for a II: Priestess which is always nice. One of my clerics becomes a Shaman. She is followed by the cleric in Destin's squad. The last treasure is a demon's ring: +21 str +17 black magic resist, -17 white magic resistance. Great item for a high ali unit. Raijin gets us a XII: Hanged Man card. Jisshian meanwhile gets us XVI: Tower. Tomayang gets us VII: Chariot.
The hidden temple gets us a XVIII: Moon card, and we meet Aisha there.
Now I do a quick trip to the unit management screen. Away with Aisha (who is a Shaman btw)'s mermaids. And in are the two Angels you will remember me collecting. Not only are angels superior to Mermaids, but the boss is vulnerable to white magic, the element of the angels' banish attack!
The last temple gets me IX: Hermit. Off Aisha goes to get revenge on Gares.
Gares is the toughest boss we have fought so far. His class is "Dark Prince" a class we do not even have access too! At all! He attacks with "Evil Dead" (Not THAT Evil Dead), a black magic attack that hits the entire party! And he can also get a few axes hits in. He's got two black dragons with him, one in the front row, one in the back row.
When you defeat him, Gares speaks:
It's not the last we see of him. Defeating Gares nets us 58139 goths. And Warren should gain an MVP award for his massive contributions. Did I mention he found another intelligence boosting potion? Man's on fire!
A return visit to Avalon and Amad nets us a mention that Tristan has returned to the mainland to wage war against the empire. The monks believe he is willingly embarking on a suicide mission... Well, we gotta go save his ass! I also promote the last wizard of Warren's squad to Mage, and use the two intelligence boosters on dollmages. Meanwhile, another of my clerics becomes a shaman. Lastly, a griffon evolves into a cockatrice. Overall, this level was one of our most productive!
Next Time: We solve racial tensions through murder.
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