Last time, Fei agreed to help save Bart's cousin, who is being held in Bledavik.
First, though, I'm going to check out Nisan. There's nothing really important there, but I might as well, right?
I start by upgrading Heimdal's frame and armour, making it significantly better. Next, I check what the mechanic working on it has to say:
Anyway, I head to the Yggdrasil's bridge and talk to Sigurd to launch it. It can travel anywhere in the desert without risking random encounters, but it cannot leave. The way to Nisan is in the northernmost part of the desert, under a suspiciously placed tree that's labelled "Road to Nisan".
There's no way they'll ever find it!
Once we enter, the Yggdrasil docks under the town itself, which happens to have quite possibly my favourite town theme ever
. It also has its own overworld map, which only three towns in the entire game have.
There's no real reason to be here yet, but I did want to show off the item shop, whose owners have a short scene with Bart when we enter. The shop sells the following items:
- Aquasol (20G)
- Aquasol S (100G)
- Rosesol (100G)
- Rosesol S (300G)
- Zetasol (100G)
- Physisol (10G)
- Mentsol (20G)
- Omegasol (50G)
- SurvivalTent (150G)
Pretty boring selection, right? the equipment section sure as hell isn't:
- Power Ring (200G)
- Stamina Ring (150G)
- Speed Ring (1200G)
- GuardianRing (2000G)
- Holy Pendant (8000G): Doubles the length of all temporary support effects on the bearer
- Life Stone (20000G): Doubles the amount of HP the bearer receives from any HP restoration effects
- EtherDoubler (38000G): Doubles the bearer's effective Ether stat, but also causes all Ethers to use twice their normal EP cost.
There are people who maintain that you should go out of your way to get an EtherDoubler right now to make the rest of the game a cakewalk. I somehow doubt that it was the only thing making the game easy for them.
Also, the Holy Pendant works when you're in your Gear, even though it seems like it shouldn't.
Out of all that, I buy a Speed Ring for Bart. I intend to transfer it to someone who actually needs more Agility later.
Before actually heading to Bledavil proper, I wander around the desert for a while, with one party member at a time in their Gear while the rest are on foot. This allows me to learn Deathblows in relative safety, because the enemies (including Troopers, Spear Troopers, and Neo Tin Robos) will target Gears over people on foot.
Via this method, I learn each character's first three Deathblows, which is all I can learn right now.
This also gives me some decent money and levels, one of which gets Fei Iron Valor, which increases his Attack by 25% in battle for 4 EP. It doesn't work in Gear, though.
So, here's all the new Deathblows I have that I haven't described yet:
- Fei:
- Hagan: Square, X. Fei leaps toward his opponent, then jumps off them a bunch of times, with the last hit knocking them backwards.
- Citan:
- Mufu: Triangle, Triangle, X. Citan raises his hand above his head. Some illusory images of him strike his target, then he knocks it down.
- Jinrai: Square, X. Citan charges for a moment, then some images of him punch and kick the target, and the real Citan finishes it off.
- Bart:
- Head Hunter: Triangle, X. Bart sends his target flying into the air with his whip.
- Twin Sonic: Triangle, Triangle, X. Bart whips his target a couple of times, then uses the whip to launch them.
- Rhythm Shock: Square, X. Bart throws his target with his whip, then punches them twice on the way down.
Anyway, off to Bledavik to see about saving Margie.
As soon as we enter town, the Gebler ship from Blackmoon Forest lands in a hangar behind the palace, with a slow version of Knight of Fire (the boss music I linked to earlier) playing in the background. The captain, Ramsus, disembarks along with his second-in-command Miang. Ramsus is a white-haired man, and Miang is a younger-looking woman with purple hair.
Anyway, Ramsus and Miang meet with Shakhan, who is an old bald man in red robes. With him is Vanderkaum, the idiot commander of Aveh's own military. Vanderkaum has a blue cross tattooed on his face. He also has a giant battleship cannon that he likes to shoot things with.
No, that is not some sort of lame innuendo.
Shakhan tries to congratulate Ramsus and his troops on a job well done, but Ramsus just walks past and berates Vanderkaum for failing his latest mission, telling him to "[k]now when to use that big gun, and on whom!"
After Ramsus dismisses Vanderkaum, Shakhan discusses an upcoming celebration for the 500th anniversary of the nation's founding, which will include a tournament. Ramsus, however, is more interested in the Fatima Jasper. He asks Miang about the possibility that it hides a "Relic", which Miang confirms.
Ramsus then decides to see Margie and try to get more information out of her. Margie, however, refuses to talk. Shakhan, who was watching the interrogation by way of a hidden camera, starts going on about his plans and how someone's leaking his information.
With that, I'm back in control of my party, in the streets of Bledavik. As we enter, some lady welcomes us to town and refers us to the only hotel in town. I then proceed to check out the shops in town:
- Weapons:
- Magical Rod (50G)
- Arcane Rod (100G)
- Iron Whip (120G): Whip, power of 4
- WhippaSnappa (280G): Whip, power of 6
- Armour:
- Leather Vest (150G): Armour, defense of 10
- Leather Hat (80G): Headgear, defense of 6
- Power Ring (200G)
- Speed Ring (1200G)
There's no item shop, and the Ethos sells the same stuff I could get at Bart's hideout. As such, the only thing I buy is a Leather Vest for Citan (Bart's Red Mail is better, so I don't need to get anything for him).
Anyway, the moment I enter the hotel a nun from Nisan walks up to my party and tells us to see her about Margie. First, though, I get a room with that recommendation. The innkeeper asks who sent me, and I respond that I have no idea. This causes the innkeeper to realize who we're talking about and give us a slight discount (40G per person instead of 50).
Now, the nun explains that Margie's being held within the palace, but she doesn't know how we'd go about sneaking into it. We've got to figure out how to sneak in ourselves. First, though, I talk with a merchant in the street and cause some nearby kids to steal from her. Following them, I learn that they want 1000 golds for food. I give them the money, confident that there will be a reward for this later.
I then head to the well on the east side of town, where I learn that it's fed by the same waterway as the castle. I also learn that I need a key to get in, because some kid fell in years ago. The kid in question is near the urchins I gave money to, and he wants to play hide-and-seek (but I don't because it's part of the same sidequest a sRPS guy, and I already skipped that one). He explains that the current's speed always changes and that going against it will take you to the castle, then lets slip that the old guy near the east well has the key.
After I find the guy with the key and tell him what I intend to do, he's more than willing to hand over the Well Key (which isn't in my inventory). I then head back to the nun to report what I've learned, and Citan suggests that we also try to take advantage of the festival.
So, with that, I head north to Shakhan Square, where there are some festivities. I buy a Toy Gun and a Minigear from a street vendor, screw up a firebreather's performance, and decide that the fortune teller in the area talks too slowly to be worth my time. I also spend 50 golds on some Bartweiser Lite. Naturally, the effect of alcohol on the party is to make the camera shaky. Just like in real life.
I then head back to the hotel and save my game, then head north from the square to the castle (which Bart naturally refuses to go to). We're immediately accosted by a guy trying to get us to bet on the martial arts tournament that's going to happen tomorrow. He mentions that the soldiers always watch the tournament no matter what.
Guess what we're going to have to do.
Anyway, to sign up I'll need an alias, which consists of an adjective and a noun. The adjectives available are:
- Dragon Slaying
- Ponytailed
- Wandering
- Beloved
And the nouns that can be used to describe Fei are:
- Boxer
- Youth
- Squire
- Slacker
Now, I figure I might as well put this up to vote, so: What should Fei's alias be?
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