But here we are, with a map that is about 60% desert. That's pretty major considering this games map sizes, although at least Passing the Desert
◊ will be a fairly straightforward venture.
Word spread of Serlis and the liberation army's triumphs, instilling courage into those still suffering under the tyrannical rule of the empire. As a result, countless uprisings broke out all across the empire, but many lacked solid leadership and were easily crushed, leading to numerous casualties at the hands of imperial troops. Cuan's son, Prince Leaf, with the assistance of Fin, assembled a resistance force of their own, but they suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of King Blume, and found themselves stranded in enemy territory. The Yied desert was administrated by a Lopt priest named Cutozov, from the Yied shrine. Stationed in the oasis town of Darna were Bramsel, a former merchant, and Jabarro, a mercenary commander (Clement and Jacoban, now in purple flavor!). Prince Ishtor and the famous General Liza protected Melgen castle, while King Blume, Reptor's son, was at the capitol of Alster with his niece, a thunder mage named Tinny. Serlis now prepared to lead his liberation army in a rescue mission to Lenster.
Fin rides into Lenster, and Leaf asks how he is, and if he heard from the advance party. Fin says that he believes everyone from the Alster survived, and tells him that they've lost their entire fighting force. Leaf is angered by his seeming powerlessness, and Fin tells him to calm down, since they aren't through just yet. He says Levin has sent Serlis's liberation army their way, so they simply need to hold out until they arrive. Leaf remarks that, should they meet with Serlis, they might have a chance, and a blonde girl appears, mirroring his sentiment, and then saying that they should abandon the castle and find cover west of the castle, near a church. Leaf agrees, and says that themust hold out until Serlis arrives.
Blume speaks with his general, asking how they haven't captured Lenster yet, and he replies that they haven't been able to break through their defensive lines. Blume demands success, and the general leaves immediately, bringing a sizable force of armor knights with him. A thief girl steps out of Yied, saying that she needs to get a move on. Shanan steps out of the castle and catches her, asking her for the sword she stole. She refuses, saying that she won't let him freeload off of her hard work. He follows her, and in the castle Cutozov asks why his men haven't been dispatched to find them. A Lopt priest asks why Cutozov doesn't just blast them with his dark magic, and he explains that he lost his Fenrir tome, and so the priest chases after the escapees.
Now in Rivough, Serlis speaks with Levin, and asks if they must truly cross this huge desert to reach Lenster. Levin confirms it, and also points out that the desert will be crawling with trigger-happy dark mages, since Yied is under control of the Lopt Sect. Serlis decides to try to capture Yied Shrine first, and let everything else start from there.
Before prep happens, it's time for some introductions! Starting near Yied, we have Patty, a level 1 Thief with decent bases, a sleep sword, 8979 gold, the pursuit, steal, and duel skills, and minor Ulir blood (ah, so she's Brigid's daughter. Cool). Next is Shanan, a level 12 Swordmaster with kickass bases, a steel blade, 5000 gold, the pursuit, adept, and astra skills, and major Odo blood. Down by Lenster, we have Leaf, a level 1 Prince with okay bases, a light and iron sword as well as a shield ring, 8448 gold, the adept and critical skills, and minor Noba blood. Following him is Fin, who has his old, fairly solid stats as a level 18 Lance Knight, 2 iron lances, a javelin, a knight slayer, a steel and brave lance, and a paragon ring, 13740 gold, pursuit and miracle for skills, and no holy blood. Last and sort of least, is Nanna, a level 3 Troubadour with meh bases, an earth, thunder, miracle, iron, and slim sword, a mend staff, and a skill ring, 3803 gold, the charisma and bargain skills, and minor Hezul blood (so the other one of Lachesis's kids, eh?).
Now for preparations. There's a lot of stuff in the item shop now! I have Johalva buy a hand axe, Delmud buy an iron blade and a steel sword, Serlis buy the Fire Sword, and have Oifaye buy an iron blade and a slim lance. I then put everyone through the arena, and the ones who finished all seven rounds are Oifaye, Fee, Scathach, Lakche, Arthur, and Serlis (who, I shit you not, finished his run by getting a perfect level up).
With that finished, I have Shanan and Patty run from their assailants, while Serlis and the others rush in to go and help them (god, I just know Cutozov is going to find his Fenrir tome when I'm halfway up the mountain and can't do anything to stop him). Leaf, Fin, and Nanna go to save the villages, Fin aiming to hold off the armors while Nanna visits villages (she reaches one which gives her 5000 gold) and Leaf prepares to help deal with both bandits and armors.
Damned dark mages hit like freaking trucks! Looks like patience is gonna be the name of this game. The party waits just outside the dark mages ranges, ready to strike once they get close, and hoping that Lana can keep them alive for the next round. Leaf's group advances a bit, Fin challenging the armor knights while Leaf fights the large group of bandits to the east, and Nanna visits another village (adding another 5000 to her total). Shanan and Patty continue their escape, and Shanan speaks with Patty, as he apprehends her and asks her once again to give him the Balmung. She asks what his family's holy weapon was doing in Yied, and he explains that it was taken from his father after the war in Isaac. After he talks a bit more, she figures out he's prince Shanan of Isaac, and has a huge fangirl moment, before he curtly asks for the sword again. She hands it over to him, and he does his glowy thing, before receiving the Divine Balmung. It gives 10 skill and 20 speed to the wielder, allowing them to strike with the swiftness and precision of a bolt of lightning.
A soldier of Darna tells Bramsel that Serlis's army has begun moving, and he tells his soldiers to keep the border secure, planning to use our fatigue after striking down Cutozov to capture us for the bounty. He also tells his soldier to make sure commander Jabarro is on alert. Now with a green haired girl and... Eltshan? Dude looks almost exactly like him. Whatever. Anyway, the green haired girl asks what the commotion is about, and "Eltshan" says that the forces are just preparing to fight the rebel army. The girl is relieved that he doesn't need to go to battle, but he says that, should the fighting pick up, he will leave alongside the other mercenaries. He also notes that the leader of the rebels is the son of Sigurd, and that since his father was sworn enemies of Sigurd, he'll definitely kill Serlis if he can get his hands on him. The girl laughs, noting that both of their fathers (that is, Serlis and "Eltshan") were knights, and thus they were simply doing their job when they fought each other. The boy notes that Leen (the girl, who is also a dancer) makes a good point, and seems to ease up a bit.
The party slowly deals with the dark mages, and I decide to have Julia face them down herself, since her Nosferatu and good resilience means she can likely take them down fairly easily. This also leaves the party more available to go save Shanan and Patty and defeat Cutozov. Shanan and Patty continue their escape, though now they stare down a dark mage and myrmidon who plan to block their path. Leaf and Fin take down a couple of bandits, allowing the remaining armors and the mage sent by Alster to get closer, while Nanna saves another village and receives another 5000 gold, as well as info. Blume has two kids, Ishtor and Ishtar (how very creative), the former at Melgen and the latter at Manster, and while they are both decent kids, we will likely face them in battle soon.
After Blume sends out some more armors and Julia does a number on a pair of dark mages, I have Nanna begin taking down a bandit to save a village. Fin kills a mage, and leaves Leaf to deal with the general and the remaining armor knight, and Serlis's party begins moving through the desert. Shanan is forced to use the Balmung to cut them a path through a dark mage, as their pursuers draw nearer.
Well fuck, Patty got doubled by a myrmidon and died. Reset Counter: 13.
Alright then, Patty luckily put the incoming dark mage to sleep with her sword, and Shanan prepares to hold off their pursuers with the Balmung. Serlis's group continues heading towards them, and Leaf's group finishes off a couple bandits while Fin handles the new set of armors. Patty and Shanan finally reach safer ground, having evaded their foes and stayed out of their reach, but that still leaves two dark mages heading towards Serlis and the rest of the group. Nanna visits a third village, receiving 2500 gold, and the info that Tinny is apparently quite nice, which likely means I can recruit her. Leaf and Fin finish off the armors, leaving only a bandit to deal with before they can rest a bit.
Even more armors appear from Alster, since the general escaped and apparently can spawn more from there. Duly noted, and I'll prevent that from happening in the future. Serlis, Scathach, Lakche, and Oifaye prepare to deal with the two dark mages who had previously been chasing Shanan and Patty, who were now safely within the group. Fin faces more armors, Leaf visits a village, receiving a speed ring and 1500 gold, and Nanna heals Fin with her mend, and then turning to do the same to Leaf next turn.
Leaf's group moves into the forest, since they have another large group of foes and Fin's brave lance is weakening, so the increased evade will hopefully ready them for their foes. Serlis's group moves towards the slope, but I make sure everyone is over 10 spaces from Cutozov, so that should he find his tome, they won't get blasted.
Lana and Julia begin healing everyone that was wounded by dark mages, while the former simultaneously gets closer so she can silence Cutozov when he finds his fenrir tome. After a few turns, Cutozov finds his tome, and prepares to rain death on us from afar, but I think everyone is out of range.
And so they are, for he doesn't blast anyone. I did have to move some people a bit out of the way to avoid him, but it was worth it. Now, to move Lana into range and silence him, so that Fee can take him out...
Wait, she can't use the Silence on him? Oh my lord you have got to be kidding me. I have to climb a mountain while dealing with that crap? And Fee get's one-rounded by him with Jormungand, so there is no way she's taking him out.
This is going to be the most obnoxious thing ever, isn't it?
Okay, so basically, the stuff happening is this; Leaf's group finishes off what is hopefully the last group of foes near them, giving them a well earned rest. Serlis's group stands by, while Julia and Lana climb the mountain, heal-botting each other whenever Cutozov shoots one of them, so that they aren't killed on the subsequent turn. They then make their way up the summit, where Julia kills a pair of dark mages and takes on Cutozov. Also, a leftover bandit happens to be destroying a village in a restricted area, meaning reaching it is impossible. Once the bandits begin circling around to go to where we are, Fee flies down and destroys them.
Only Julia can't actually beat this guy. I eventually see if Shanan can't make it up to the summit working off of Balmung's avoid boost, and thankfully, he does. At least, he reaches the first bend, giving him a respite within reach of the now trapped healers as they stay to provide him with healing should he need it. Having dispatched the remaining guards with his Balmung, Shanan moves onto Cutozov, preparing to rid us of this tedious bastard once and for all. Shanan gladly takes the mans Bargain bracelet after defeating him, since it will help him pay off the damages to the Balmung. Serlis then climbs the mountain himself, while Julia, Shanan, and Lana head back down.
Before Serlis claims Yied however, I have Lana warp Patty and Scathach back to Rivough, the former so she can buy a less weighty weapon (that being an iron sword, until she can get something better), and the latter so he can repair his weapons, which I forgot to do for him before the party left to help Shanan and Patty. Once they return to the party, I have Serlis takes Yied.
Serlis notices the horrid condition of Yied shrine, and Levin explains that for generations, Lopt Sectarians lived beneath the shrine, hiding from the inevitable persecution and burning that would have awaited them. He also says that, while presently the Lopt Sect is cruel and evil, previously, they were likely just normal people being punished for their ancestors crimes. Serlis is surprised at all this, and Levin gives him the advice not to focus on individual evil, but on stopping the evil that people as a whole are capable of. After the castle is captured, a slope appears directly in front of Yied, allowing Serlis to rejoin the group with ease, come next turn.
With that, we end the first part of this chapter. Sorry for the lateness of the update, but I've been busy this week, so I haven't had much time to work on this, and have been chipping away at this part since Monday. See you guys next time, hopefully in less than 4 days from now!
Comments
