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Is that a repeating crossbow I see?  The reading material's pretty good. And the turtles are a cute reference. Game status, still charming! I'd also guess that Alex being Alex is a conscious thing, especially with his line about being a hero and all.
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Mar 25, 2014 16:29
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| # ? Apr 18, 2024 16:18 |
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Normally winning at gambling requires a little more savescumming, but it's always nice to have ALL THE MONEY.
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Mar 26, 2014 00:52
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What's this thing about an Alex?
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Mar 26, 2014 01:31
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HenryEx posted:What's this thing about an Alex? Alex is the default character in RPGmaker projects. Here, his sprite and portrait is used for an NPC obsessed with turtle races.
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Mar 26, 2014 01:39
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SSNeoman posted:Alex is the default character in RPGmaker projects. Here, his sprite and portrait is used for an NPC obsessed with turtle races.
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Mar 26, 2014 14:23
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Wow, this is a pretty neat game. It's really interesting seeing how original language can affect the flow of dialogue even after translation. I got into RPGmaker games around the time VX came out, so I never even heard of Dusterburg before. Thanks for the LP!
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Mar 29, 2014 19:28
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Update VII - Let's Do The Time Warp Again So, the last time, we made loving bank, but a bunch of money isn't worth anything if we can't spend it on stuff, so that's what we'll be doing.  But first, before we leave, the other people watching the races have taken note of Michelangelo's revival:  Unbelievable - Michelangelo turned into a real winner. What's the deal with Donatello? He keeps getting beat by Michelangelo... I'm rich now - little Michelangelo wins almost every time now. But it seems he gained some weight recently...Strangely enough, the odds will never change - I guess giving us a consistent source of money is pretty nice, but I would have accepted if it only was that way during your first visit after doping Michelangelo, and after that they're all "Michelangelo keeps winning, so odds for him are now 1.5 to 1" or something like that.   Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. Take a look at my fruits - they're from Königsberg and only grow on special trees. Now, this is rather expensive, but it's well worth it. For now, we just buy a whole bunch of these magic fruits, we'll go over them when I actually use them. Next stop, Rank's weapon shop!  We also binge on weapons and armor (with one exception, that being Grandy's weapons, because something better is coming up), and as you can see, we're now short roughly 75K bucks, but it was worth it, because the next fights are going to be a hell of a lot easier with this new top tier equipment.  Now, how about those fruits? They're the stat boosters for this game, and they're quite helpful. The boosts go as follows: Apples boost your HP. Pears boost your MP. Bananas boost your attack power. Pineapples boost your defense. Walnuts boost your magic power. Coconuts boost your speed. I ended up getting seven of everything except pears, of which I got five, forgetting that I already had an apple from that evil tree we killed back in the Marches. Two of everything except pears for Grandy (since he doesn't have MP), two of everything for Libra, one of everything for Dankwart, and two of everything in reserve. Foreshadowing!  After using up most of our fruits and getting equipped, it's now time to head to the first of three new locations we'll be exploring today:  The hospital! Or rather, the sanatorium. Because let's face it, if you had to live with a solar eclipse for decades, you'd probably have a few nuts loose yourself.   Can I help you? We would like to enter the sanatorium! Do you have a specific reason for that? 1) We just wanted to look around. 2) No reason, really.Umm... OK then, I guess I'm going with the first. Sorry, but out of respect for the patients, visitations are not allowed. Well... actually... 1) we're scientists! 2) we're looking for a job. SCIENCE is always the answer! We came from the faraway Königsberg to study mental illnesses, and this seems to be the best place to do that. I am G.R. Yong, and these are my colleagues... ...Dinkwurt Leid... ...and Elibrabeth Tonner-Gaul. Well, with names like that, you can only be scientists... come in and talk to Alfons Einbein.I wonder if any of those names are references to actual scientists. Apart from Alfons Einbein, that is, that one's obvious.  Now that we're inside, we can see six different nutcases walking about. Let's start with the one on the top left and then just move around. You can mostly tell who's who by matching the sprites with the portraits.  Hey you, come over here! *barking noises* Alright, Fifi, carry on! Hello, you're new here. I'm Helmine, the keeper... Are you some kind of nurse? Nurse?! We don't need any nurses here! Umm... I thought this was a sanatorium... How could you possibly get that idea? A sanatorium in the middle of the forest? I'm the keeper of this forest! What forest? All I'm seeing is walls and barred windows! Oh my... you're pretty crazy, boy! Take a trip to the eye doctor! Hello, miss, could you please come to the door? Guard! Come quickly! The prisoners are escaping! Umm, I think you're a bit confused... Wait, I'll prepare a fiery end for these fiends! Wait a moment!And then we catch a flame to the face. I don't think it actually hurts us, though. Watch out, pal! She may be insane, but her fireballs are real! The past turns around the future and the chaos around the nothing! Pardon me, but I'm just an uneducated fighter. This is a bit too complicated for me... The fly turns around the cutlet and the millwheel around the axle! Oh, I see... why didn't you just say you're crazy? Hey there! Bow before the mighty inquisition! You're an inquisitor? Then you should head outside, I bet you can find a lot of work there! Silence, worm! And now talk before I use the thumb screws on you! You'll have to decide, talk or be quiet... Don't mock me, you maggot, or I'll have your tongue cut out! Oh, you know, this is starting to get too silly for my tastes. Stay here, you miserable runt! The iron maiden awaits you! I have the power, the power, THE POWEEERR!!!I think you need to say something else for that saying to work. Hey, you, come over to the door! I BRUUS LI! I TIGER CLAW! I FIGHT! YOU DIE! HIIIYA! ...this place is weird. I guess that comes with the territory, but still. Let's talk to the only important (and sane) person we can talk to right now, instead.   Greetings, dear guests. I am Dr. Alfons Einbein, head of this sanatorium. How can I help you? Tell us about this city. Sadly, I only rarely venture outside this building, as my work takes up most of my time. But I don't like what I see outside one bit. The constant darkness is laying heavily on the minds of the people. Add to that the very little known side effects of a solar eclipse, and there's much to be done for a man like me. What kind of sanatorium is this? This used to be a regular hospital, but since Wahnfried's takeover, things have changed. More and more people were brought in that just couldn't cope with the life outside these walls. Their psychological pain displayed itself in many different kinds of mental confusion... to survive in this terrible town, they have fully retreated into their own fantasy world. I have made it my task to give these poor confused people a home. A cure is not possible in most cases, and I doubt that it even would be helpful... Why not? If these poor people were to be let back outside, they would be overwhelmed by the terrifying reality. I have no idea how they would react - maybe suicide, maybe they'd fall right back into the illness. Tell us about your patients. We have a fascinating spectrum of mental illnesses here for those interested in the subject matter. There are harmless cases like the green-haired Helminia, who believes she's always in the great outdoors, on grassy lawns and in green forests. Or the young Tarius, who has completely withdrawn from his surroundings and only lives for his music... And the less harmless cases? There we for instance have the young Bruus, who believes he's a fighting machine and also wants to show that to everybody that comes too close. Or the former ranger Lirian Federschwinge: She's suffering from the classic form of lycanthropy... she believes she turns into a werewolf under a full moon. Under normal circumstances, that would mean we could let her walk about freely most of the time... but thanks to this accursed eclipse we've got a full moon around the clock!Dr. Einbein continues to give you a lecture about all sorts of mental abnormalities for an entire hour. He talks about multiple personalities, about paranoid compulsions, and also about the peculiarities of schizophrenia... Phew... now that was a huge load of knowledge, doctor!That's all for the sanatorium for now - we can't go downstairs just yet, and we can only advance the plotline related to this place the next time we come here.   Grandy, I got this really weird feeling again as Einbein mentioned the name of that boy, Tarius... Well... I didn't think that the name was that terrible... I meant that the name was familiar to me, Grandy! Alright then... maybe we'll find some other way to get to know him.We will, but not now. For nowe, we have something else to do...  ...we have to go and report a crime!  Greetings. You're not from here, aren't you? What can I do for you? I want to... 1) report a crime! 2) speak to the chief! 3) speak to a prisoner! 4) just look around a bit.Crime it is! So, so... then tell me about it! 1) I want to report myself! 2) Regarding that turtle-thing. 3) Elvys hit me! 4) Sorry, I misspoke...As entertaining as the third one sounds, the one we want right now is the first one.  I'm a poor, remorseful sinner! Please don't arrest me! Hmm... sounds interesting. So what did you do? 1) Beat up poor innocent monsters! 2) Stole some money! 3) Actually, nothing!First option once again. So, so... and what monsters did you beat up? 1) Cute killer rabbits! 2) Innocent orcs! 3) A poor, rotting dragon! 4) Rattling boneheads!Well, I doubt they'd care about what we did in the Marches or the Wastelands, so let's go with the boneheads. That sounds like a criminal offense! What kind of boneheads? The poor guys that have to man the battlements! I wouldn't have thought you guys had it in you, considering the way you look... anyway, that calls for the death penalty! I'll have to arrest you. Death penalty?Whoops. Suddenly, we find ourselves in a prison cell I forgot to take a screenshot of, so just imagine one until you can see what it looks like in the next shot. Death penalty! What were you thinking, Grandy? Calm down, dear Libra. I'm sure our Grandy has good reasons for doing what he did. Right? What are you looking at me for? Free food and shelter - isn't that at least something?Well, the reason we're in here is actually a bit less obvious than that...  This wall looks porous... I could use my pickax here. And presto, an exit reveals itself! Slippery stairs lead down into the darkness... 1) Climb down! 2) Stay here...For now, we want to head down for a bit.  As you can tell, we're now in the sewers of Düsterburg. However, we don't have any real business here just yet, and we can just head right back up, because...  ...the chief of the guard is here for us, and it's not for the reason you might expect!  I am Tharand Al'Rhun - commander of the guard of Düsterburg. Can you tell me why you reported yourselves? We checked your accounts... but even if you took apart some of those boneheads, I can't really be mad at you... I can't stand those guys either! But that doesn't matter... what does matter is that we can't prove your claims! The fact that you reported yourself clearly proves you're not of sound mind, and as such, your accounts can't be used in a court of law, so to save the city further administrative costs, I'll let you out now! And now get out! If you get into another scrap with the boneheads, don't tell everybody about it!I don't believe this changes whether you take out some of the boneheads on the battlements or not, although the case might be different if you fought your way through the main gate, the code and triggers are a bit complicated.  For now, we've got to visit Thar to ask him something, but we can only do that in his office.  Pretty swanky looking place - a far cry from those huts we visited in the last update.  There you are again... what is it? 1) I want to speak to a prisoner. 2) I want to help. 3) I want out of this city!There will be a time for the last two, for now, let's get our chat on. Who do you want to talk to? The crazy Asgar, the fatal Fama, or the strangler, Burger? The last of the three works better in German - "Burger, der Würger" - although I'm not sure why they didn't write his name with an "ü" as well for maximum rhymeage.Also, it doesn't at all matter who we pick, since the only reason we need to talk to him is to get the names of the prisoners (if we didn't know them, the guard downstairs would ask us who we want to talk to and we'd completely botch it - although one of the names we could pick there is pretty  : Hasdrubal the cannibal. Also, more rhyming!). Let's pick Asgar for now, because Asgar is a pretty cool guy. You do know that Asgar is a wild vampire that fell out of the Duke's graces because he kept murdering people? Yeah, that sounds like Asgar alright. Of course! And why do you want to talk to him? 1) For science! 2) Pure curiosity. I'm working on a thesis about the behavior of mass murderers, and your prison came recommended to me! Really? I'm not sure if I should be flattered or not. Regardless, tell the guard downstairs you have my permission.Well, now you'd think we'd be heading down to the prisoners again...  ...you'd be wrong. We've got to buy something. Also, notice that some of the fruit is gone - every time you buy something from there, the inventory gets smaller until they're all sold out, which is why we did that binge buy earlier.  Anyway, we're here to pick up some lockpicks and some stuff somebody can stick in their pipe and smoke, for a reason I know about, but the game doesn't think I know about yet.  So now we're back at the prison cells, and we want to talk with one guy in particular, that being Burger.   Hey, you! Prisoner! Come over here, I want to talk to you! What's the deal, boss? I hope it's important, because Burger doesn't like being chased around for no reason. I want to know why you're imprisoned here! What's your problem? Are you a head shrinker from the nuthouse, or just some sicko? You know, now that I think about it, I've got no interest in you talking trash to me!At this point, I once again get confused because my memory led me to believe I was one step ahead of the game, but I wasn't. We'll be getting to that shortly, but first, let's chat up the other prisoners. Hello, Fama, I'd like to talk with you! Very well! A little chat with a good looking fellow like you is always welcome. Well... umm... Fama, why are you locked up in here - a pretty young girl like you? It was men like you! They thought they could buy anything for a few bucks... but I taught them they were wrong...And then she laughs. Pretty creepy. Oh, that's all... see you next time then, Fama.And one more left. Hey, Asgar, I want to talk to you! That's incredibly nice of you, to talk to a poor, pitiful vampire like me. Umm... yeah... tell me of your crimes! Crimes? That might be what these mortals and their presumptuous duke call them!Insert joke about Wahnfried trying to uphold the Masquerade here.  Would you report a bear because it kills a deer? No! Of course not... and it's the same with me! I am the bear... A bear in a cage, like it seems... Well, Asgar, we might talk again some time... You can't just leave! I have to drink a bit of your blood first, and you know that! Give me your blood! You're off your rocker! We're not giving you anything, understood? Then leave! And quit boring me!Yeah, that nailed Asgar pretty well. He's less snarky and more pissed, but that comes from being locked up in a cell as a vampire as powerful as he is. I wonder if that comment Asgar made in Vampires Dawn 2 about Wahnfried was related to being locked up because of him? Just think about the implications that has for the greater RPG Maker timeline! ...yeah, I don't think something like that exists. Let's move on.  Now, this is what we still needed to do - check out this door. Locked! Strange... there's lights burning inside... hmm... if only I could find somebody that could open this lock for me... And that flicked the invisible switch allowing us to get what we wanted in the first place! [...] What's your problem? Are you a head shrinker from the nuthouse, or just some sicko? Neither! I'm looking for somebody that can teach me how to open locked doors. No problem, boss. Just get me out of here and I'll open any door you want! Even if I wanted to do that, I couldn't. I'm new in the city and have no influence here. Alrighty, boss, I'll show you what to do, but it won't be for free! How much? It's clear you don't have a clue how the prison works! What can I do with a sack full of bucks? But I'm tired of sucking on this straw. Being able to smoke a good pipe again would be nice... but my tobacco's out. Get me some of that good Königsberger poo poo and we've got a deal! Wow, another one of those weird terms. Originally, Burger wants "Königsberger Knaster", "Knaster" originally being a type of high-quality tobacco that was brought over from the Americas in tube baskets (canastros in Spanish) - the term originally being "Canaster", which eventually devolved into "Knaster". Eventually, the term came into use with students and became more of a derogatory generic term for tobacco. Calling it "poo poo" seemed to be a decent pick to me. And don't forget to bring some lockpicks, I'll need those for the lessons! Well, what a coincidence, I just happened to get some of that poo poo just a while ago! You can have that. And I already got some lockpicks too! I figured I'll be able to use them soon. You're a real smarty, aren't you? Well, I can live with that. Now, pay attention...Burger explains how to open almost any lock with the help of lockpicks over a half hour... So, now you know everything I know! Wasn't so hard now, was it? Now leave me alone, I want to smoke in peace... Thanks again, and have fun with that! I could try to pick the lock...And it works without a hitch. Now, let's see what makes this house so special...  What? This house! I know it...And then Julie runs to the left. Julie! Wait!And as they follow, suddenly we get a flash, and then...   Grandy, Libra! That's... ...they're in a trance... and here, in this house, the shadows of their selves live on!With that, we enter full flashback-vision, in trendy black and white!   Do you really have to go back to the others again? The duke has spies everywhere. Some day... It has to be, Libra! Lazalantin is relying on me!So if you couldn't put together one and one yet, here's it pretty much spelled out - Grandy is in fact Laz's HE. I know! But some day the duke will learn of your meetings, and then? What will become of us? It won't be long, my dear, I promise. Our plans are already very advanced. Very soon, Wahnfried's reign of terror will be at an end, and a new duke will be put on the throne!♫One day to a new beginning, raise the flag of freedom high...♫ ...two Les Mis references, and we've barely made it to chapter two. I wonder how many more I'll end up working in?  It's alright... it's just I'm worrying about... forget it, just promise that you'll be careful, dear. No worries, I'll be back safe and sound soon.And then suddenly, there's the sound of glass shattering, and it's probably not a Stone Cold run-in. What was that? OH SNAP. Didn't expect that, did you, Grandy?  You should barricade your windows if you don't want any unexpected visitors! Even if you're the duke, you can't just break into my home! Oh, really? Sue me. While we're at it, the courts could also decide on your matter! What do you mean? I'm talking about your conspiratory sessions with that snob Lazalantin and his useless pal Rank Degenhardt! I have no idea what you're talking about... Your face tells a different story! But don't worry, I'm not planning to leave that matter to the judge. I'll pass judgement myself: Guilty on all accounts! And now it's time to execute the punishment!And with that, he transforms into a bat and flies back upstairs. What? I thought he'd attack us now... but.. Oh Grandy, hurry! He's not after us! By the gods! Quick, upstairs! And now we're back in the wonderful world of color. By the heavens! The duke... that wasn't real, but it wasn't fantasy! What was that? That were our memories, Grandy. You fell into some kind of trance as we entered this room... and then there were these two ghostly figures that looked exactly like you. They disappeared as soon as you reawakened. This house... this house is our house! We lived here together!After that, Julie runs towards the kitchen. Julie? Don't you understand? This is Julie's home too! She found her feeding dish! She doesn't look good... she's no attack dog after all. You're right... she's taken quite the abuse lately. But we're at home now, Grandy! How about letting Julie stay here? It keeps getting more dangerous and she doesn't have any sort of armor... I agree. She's earned some peace and quiet. We should look around some more, children. This house surely has some more secrets to be uncovered! So now we can take a bit of a look around the house. Here's some assorted flavor text for certain objects. Spices: Black and white pepper, red peppers, chili pepper... somebody likes it spicy here! Hmm... yummy! Hey, there's a valuable silver service in here. I bet you could get a good price for that! Hands off the silverware! That belonged to my mother! Interesting to see what you can remember all of a sudden... A basket full of fresh apples... fresh apples? But nobody lives here! Terrible memories come flooding back when I think of the many times Libra forced me to wash the dishes here! And who do you think washed the dishes when you were off conspiring with your buddies? Ah yes, the stove... I remember how I used to prepare my famous meat loaf here. And when you weren't cooking up your famous meat loaf, I usually cooked here for us two. Heading on upstairs, we can find some useful items on the table here, and you can also see the place where Wahnfried crashed through the window. There's only one interesting thing here to see before we move on, the bookcase. A whole bunch of books! Holy smokes, just look at those titles... "Of Those Vampires Or Humansuckers", "Of Werewolves And Other Animal-Humans", "Artificial Humans", "Black Masses"... a veritable repository of knowledge.With that done, it's time to look at the next door.  This door! No, my friends, don't open it! There's nothing good behind that door! Yes, Grandy, I feel it too! But I also feel that we have to go through that door! Our fate lies behind it! Fate can go stuff it! I don't want to go in there! Come on, Grandy... if Miss Libra believes it's necessary... Dankwart! I know what awaits us behind this door! Then tell us, Grandy... It's... a nursery! Don't you dare touch her, you fiend! Who's going to stop me? You? Or how about your weak wife? Prepare yourself, bloodsucker! We will see who wins this fight! You bore me with your cheap anger, mortal. I'll kill you some other time!After that, he casts some magic that looks exactly the same as his bat magic except it doesn't transform him.  A magic barrier! You cowardly dog! The duke will now take what he deserves! According to the new law, he can do what he wants with his subjects! I'll start with your daughter! Nooooooo! You can't do that! Silence, woman! I'll feed on you tomorrow. Your child, however, is for my companion Doria! She likes them young and juicy! And concerning you, Grandy - I think I'll let you live! Without your family, you'll wither and die, and your conspirators will see what happens when you mess with me! ...well, that was certainly something. Just because Vampires Dawn was the darker of the two doesn't mean that this game doesn't get pretty loving dark itself. The werewolf child murdering was just the beginning. It hurts so much! I know, Grandy! It's hurting me too! I can feel your pain as well, my children. I felt it years ago myself. That pain will never quite end. Still, it was important to open that door. It was also the door to your hearts. And now all of us know why we can never give up! I'll be sleeping in the inn tonight. I think you should be alone in your first night back in your old home... Thank you for everything, Dankwart... No, dear Libra, I have to thank you. Before I met you, I was just as undead as the new duke of Düsterburg. Good night, Dankwart. Good night, my children... Good night, Libra... Good night... dear. I really like the chemistry going on between Grandy and Libra. They really do feel like a married couple through and through, and that's something you rarely see in games like this. Usually, the wife is relegated to the status of plot device, to give the hero a reason to do things, but not here.   I hope you slept well. We should take another look around here before we leave again... I think we should take a look in the attic. There's a couple interesting bits and pieces up here, too. Good grief! What a terrible stench! ...shoes... my size... Just like I've been telling you, Grandy. Clothes... underwear, to be precise... womens' underwear... I had no idea Libra wore stuff like this! I assume that you used to like that quite a bit!But the most important part here is, as you could probably already tell, the chest.  I kept my weapons in this chest... Empty! I would have expected... Maybe Wahnfried took the weapons... Or you did it yourself, Grandy! In another time... or maybe in another reality! What do you mean by that, Dankwart? incoming! It's obvious that Wahnfried used my research to manipulate the flow of time. We can see the result of that here in Düsterburg: A complete halt! But your fates, Grandy and Libra, lead me to the assumption that Wahnfried went one step further... He directly interfered in the time flow, made massive changes in the way things went. And the result of that is? Everything seems to point towards that you and Libra should be living in this house! But the house is abandoned and there seem to be ghosts about! I believe that the duke tried to wipe you two out by interfering in the time flow to directly prevent your existence! But we're here, Dankwart! We exist! I know, dear Libra, and that seems to confirm my suspicions. Wahnfried obviously only read my research as far as it seemed to interest him. The universe has certain constants... at certain, usually definite points there are knots in the time flow. I believe we recently reached one of those knots. And then there was a vacuum: You two suddenly weren't there anymore! The gods, the world spirit, the cosmic constant, regardless of what exactly is responsible for the flow of things... it decided that you two have to exist for the fate of the world to take place. I'm a guy that hits poo poo, Dankwart, not a man of intellect. Could you explain that again... for dummies? Umm... well, Grandy, these things usually don't fit into a few easily digested sentences. He's saying that everything we remember is the way it should be. But Wahnfried changed this reality to steal our existence away, but he miscalculated! We're here, where we belong! And we're going to send him where he belongs! And with that, we're done. Join me next time, as we go gently caress about in the sewers! Yay!
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Apr 3, 2014 03:01
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You know that you have the villain's attention when they try to stop you from ever existing. (Spoilered only because this is the first post after the update.) I'm definitely interested in seeing where this game goes from here...
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Apr 3, 2014 03:30
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Yapping Eevee posted:You know that you have the villain's attention when they try to stop you from ever existing. (Spoilered only because this is the first post after the update.) You've got to love the escalation here. At some point, Wahnfried had to sit down and say to himself "you know what, eating this guy's baby just wasn't enough. I'll have to literally wipe him from existence if I really want to do this right." The only problem is that we can't really go up anymore.
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Apr 3, 2014 03:42
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So the guard captain has no issue with us making a hole in his prison cell?
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Apr 3, 2014 03:49
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SSNeoman posted:So the guard captain has no issue with us making a hole in his prison cell? I presume he doesn't notice or just pretends not to notice? He doesn't really give a poo poo, it seems. We'll be seeing more of him in the future.
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Apr 3, 2014 13:38
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This part perfectly shows the duality in this game. Like, on the one hand it's quirky and colorful, but it also has some legit sad and harsh stuff in it. It never comes across as too much though, which is why I like it. Also good luck in the sewer, iirc, it's kind of a tedious area. SSNeoman posted:So the guard captain has no issue with us making a hole in his prison cell? 
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Apr 3, 2014 14:20
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No matter the game, not even other vampires can stand to be around Asgar. I can just see him slaughtering people just to make a point to Wahnfried that ruling over humans is some weak-rear end poo poo unfitting for a proper vampire, only to get his poo poo wrecked shortly thereafter. It's the most Asgar-like course of action.
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Apr 3, 2014 16:49
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Aw. Goodbye, faithful Julie.
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Apr 3, 2014 22:43
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Oh boy, buyable stat boosters! And tasty ones at that. Also this portrait is amazing ...and then, baby eating vampires. Wow. Actually kind of disturbing, even for a colourful little RM game. Tin Tim posted:Also good luck in the sewer, iirc, it's kind of a tedious area. I think it's some kind of rule that they have to be.
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Apr 5, 2014 20:15
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So, THAT just happened. I opened this thread an hour ago thinking "Huh, I wonder what this thing is", and then the world sort of melted away while I read this thing from tip to trunk. I laughed, I cried, I voted 5, top marks all around.
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Apr 5, 2014 22:03
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Coolguye posted:So, THAT just happened. I opened this thread an hour ago thinking "Huh, I wonder what this thing is", and then the world sort of melted away while I read this thing from tip to trunk. I laughed, I cried, I voted 5, top marks all around. Much appreciated - at the end of the day, that's why I do this: To entertain other people. In other news:  The things I do for love. The recording even got paused in the middle because I ran out of hard drive space and I had to go and throw out some stuff. I'll have the first update out of this batch of footage out today or tomorrow.
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Apr 10, 2014 16:53
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Update VIII - Because This Game Wasn't Heavy Enough Yet Last time, we had some flashbacks and the plot went all timey-wimey on us. Now, it's time for some sidequests in the sewers and out of town, but first, there's a few things we still need to do in town.  Our first stop is the guard station, because we still need to talk to Thar.  You're back again... what's up? I want to get out of this town! Then you're going to need a travel permission to travel to Königsberg. You're not from here... how did you get into the town without a travel permission anyway? 1) I beat up the guard! 2) ...over the wall. 3) I misplaced my permission. 4) I'm not sure myself.As amusing as the last option sounds, we want the first option. There's a few ways to resolve this chain, but this one way is the easiest. The guardian? Singular? There's only one exit that's guarded by only one guardian - the southern gate! Did you come from the Eastern Marches? 1) Yes. 2) No.Of course we did. How did you make it past the warrior guarding the pass? He's supposed to be invincible. 1) We beat him up, how else? 2) We bribed him! 3) He was just out for a moment. 4) He let us pass.We need to stay truthful here - he let us pass. Why would he let you of all people pass? That hasn't happened in twenty years! 1) He's my brother. 2) He's my uncle. 3) He's my godchild. 4) He lets the duke pass!You can see where this is going. What do you mean with "the duke"? Grandy, do you really think it's a good idea to tell him everything? 1) Yes. 2) No.Sure, why not? It's not like we need to stay undercover or anything. Listen to me Tharand, this inconspicuous old man behind me is Dankwart Dengelbrack! The true duke of Düsterburg! You're joking! That can't be! ... ... No, your companion really is the duke! I was but a child when I last saw him, but I've never forgotten his face. It always stood for the hope that better times can still come! How can I be of service, my lord? We urgently need a travel permission for Königsberg, could you issue one of those for us? The permission can only be issued by mayor Drombusch. However, I can give you a recommendation. That should solve any problems that could arise. But be careful, Deppert Drombusch is loyal to Wahnfried! If he were to find out who you really are... We are aware of the dangers, chief. It probably can't be more dangerous than staying in Düsterburg for an extended time. You are of course right, my lord. Here's the recommendation.It really is weird how playing the "respect Dankwart's authoritah" card works out well more often than not. Anyway, regardless of the recommendation, the mayor still wouldn't let us out.  So instead, let's head to the Polished Armor and progress the plot.   Hello! You're back! How can Roncarlo Ti Paroli, hero and adventurer, help you today? We've gotten acquainted with your father. He's not well off. Maybe you should drop by? He wants money from me... and I can understand why! The problem is that I gambled everything away! A little tip from my guidebook for adventures (due to be released next year): "When you come back home from your adventure (loaded with money of course) never go to the turtle races in Düsterburg!" Well... I've still got to work on the phrasing, but otherwise that's a pretty good tip. Did you really lose everything? Every last bit! And I didn't give a cent to my father! Listen, Roncarlo - you need money, and we need a good swordsman in our group! Where we're going, there's plenty of money, and it's for a good cause! You'd take me in? Wonderful! You don't need to tell me more, just tell me where to hit. And we've got our next party member!  Alex here isn't exactly extraordinary, but he can hit poo poo good enough, I suppose. He gets the set of fruit I saved.  When we get back down, it seems like the law is on the move trying to get something out of somebody. A group of boneheads! I better stay back! Two men, a redhead and a dog! Come on! We know they entered the city! And a group like that is hard to miss! We've already answered you! Nobody in this room has seen these people! Umm... I... (Say one thing and you can be carrying your manhood around in your pocket from now on!) Elwys? You want to contribute something? Umm... no! It's just my weak bladder. I wanted to ask if I could go to the bathroom... Alright, Lazalantin, if you insist on your testimony... however, if it should turn out that you were lying... I know what happens in that case, don't worry! Onwards, folks, there's nothing here! We're moving out!  I already thought that you had it in for the duke, but I didn't dare address you directly. Not being careful cost many their life here already. I want to head to Castle Düsterburg and take care of that bloodsucker! Can you help me? I think so... but I'm not going to discuss that in public! We're going to meet tomorrow in Rank's weapon store. Sleep well - tomorrow will be a very strenuous day!And that means we're done for this day as far as the main plotline goes, so time to meander around and solve some side quests! First off, I bought some holy water, so let's test that out.  This bonehead up on the wall will make a great test subject.  So, Dankwart will be throwing one...  ...and Alex... wait. Why can't he throw holy water? Weird. Could it be some error that he can't use throwables?  Oh well, it blows chunks anyway. Dankwart's magic is a hell of a lot better, and the other party members are better used doing other things. Let's move on.  Our next stop is the priest's home.   Your presence poisons this holy place! Out the door with you! Can somebody tell me what that guy's problem with us is?Weird. I guess we have to come back some time later.  A manhole cover! Looks pretty dark down there!Our side quest bonanza leads us into the sewers.  Like we've seen before, it's pretty dark and murky.  There's a bunch of zombies shambling about, but they're not really a big obstacle, all things considered.  While wandering around, we stumble over this zombie that looks a bit different than the rest and doesn't walk around, so let's see what his deal is.   Oh! Oooooohhh!!! Who disturbes my suffering?! Whoa... what the hell are you? I am the king of the dead! I watch over the deceased! Oooohhh! Ooooooooohhhhh!!! This terrible suffering! Just be happy that you're a king and stop your moaning! But I'm so ALONE! Oh! OHHHH!!! This eternal loneliness! This suffering! Ooohhh! OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH! Oh god, my ears are ringing! What can we do to stop your screaming? I'm looking for a companion. Find me a companion! PLEASE! Well, to be quite honest, I don't know any woman that would be lusting after a moldy guy like you! Then find me a woman that's just as moldy as me! Please! Do it for this poor, old ooooooohhhhh! I can try! But these moldy types usually try to make mincemeat out of me instead of trying to talk. Show my future bride this crown! She'll hear the call and follow you. Then return here! Alright, I'll see what I can do. And then we find one that fits the bill just a little bit to the north. Whoops! Don't step too close, dear! I'm allergic to rotten meat! Come on, follow the crown!With that, she follows us (for given values of "follow", she kind of meanders in our general direction) and we can bring her back to the king.  Of course, it doesn't go without problems - we run into the tougher of the two enemy types in this sewer. They're still not a threat to our party, but they take a lot of MP use to take out.  Here's Alex's attack animation, it's rather neat, and I look forward to seeing it a lot in the future.  Oh! Oooohhhh!!! You're back! Did you find her? Yep, there she is, staggering in this direction! Oh! My heroes! You put an end to my eternal ailing! Now I can finally have my marriage! I hope you don't need us to be your best men. We've got a lot of things to do. No, the rats of the sewers are enough. But still, allow me to reward you! I'd love to. We usually like presents! Take my old sword! When I was a king above the manhole covers, it served me well!And we get a bastard sword from him, which is a decent upgrade, but we're getting something even better in these sewers. Next step is to meander around a bit more...  ...and find a little something. Hey, this carcass has a ring on its finger... 1) Take it with us... 2) Leave it there...Rings are valuable, and this guy's not going to miss it, so let's grab it! Wait a moment... there's something engraved on the inside... "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them!" Oh my, I believe we've got an entirely new problem now! No, that was just a joke, Dankwart: There's only a name: "Magda". That's the name of the old lady whose husband is missing... You're right, Dankwart! Oh god, we found the mortal remains of her husband.Well, we'll be returning that later. For now, more walking around and poo poo.  While we're bopping around, Grandy hits level 20, and he learns how to pick locks. For some reason, the game gives us an alternative failsafe, although I have no loving clue why you'd need it.  Also, all the bopping around is starting to take a toll on our MP stock, we're almost out of MP restoring items, and we can't go home to rest to restore it, as that advances the story. So it's time to get more potions! ...except they're not sold in Düsterburg. So it's time to head to the Marches!   Folks! That's a whole lot of walking for no rhyme or reason! I'm not going that way!OK, Alex. We'll just leave you here and then come back after buying some stuff. ... ...what do you mean we're not leaving? ... GOD DAMNIT ALEX, I HATE YOU. I HOPE YOU DIE. HORRIBLY SO. AND THAT'S NOT ENOUGH, SO I HOPE YOU END UP A ZOMBIE TOO. ... gently caress. Alright, back into the sewers, let's hope we can pull through with the MP we have.  Back in the sewers, we find something else of interest: Somebody wrote something on this wall!2 - 10 - 6 - 4 - 12 - 8 I bet that's part of a puzzle, but we need to find the puzzle first. Kind of a weird setup - usually you find the puzzle first, then find the solution.  Finding the puzzle involves a lot more meandering through the sewers...  ...until we finally find this pentagram with six switches. So then we simply hit the switches in the order outlined on the wall, the numbers representing the o'clock position of the switch...  ...the screen starts shaking a whole bunch over here...  ...and then the water becomes passable. So it's time to head over there.  On the way there, we beat up on some old man zombies too. All the zombies down here are nothing but touched-up villager sprites, which is actually kind of a nice touch.  And then, in a chest, we find one of the best things in the entire game! The Vampire Splitter is one of two magic swords that Grandy can use, and they kick rear end!  Look at that attack increase! Not only is it very mighty, but it deals magic damage, and loving murders vampires, and considering what we'll probably be doing a lot of, that's a great boon! The bastard sword is also a big step up from the long sword, so now Grandy is kicking several flavors of rear end.  With that done, we're finished with the sewers for now, but we've still got the biggest sidequest in the game to do! It's time to dig up this grave and head down the passageway to see where it leads.  We've been stumbling through the darkness for over half an hour now! I hope we'll make it some day! I wonder where this leads. Did you notice that this passage has been ascending for quite some time now?Well, no way to find out where it leads than following it! It's pretty much as straight as it goes, so we can't get lost.  We can, however, get nailed by magic traps that deal a good bit of damage to the entire party! Looks like we need to find a way around.  And while taking a look at the walls... Hey, the wall at this place looks kind of... A secret passage! Wooo, I'm a ghost! Actually, now we're just phasing through the wall, because that's how secret passages work.  After that, there's nothing keeping us from the exit, so let's see where this leads:  Well, it looks like we found some sort of raised plateau with a grave and a house.  This must be the plateau north of Düsterburg. People say there used to be a path that led up there. But since the days of my ancestor, Dokulbert Dengelbrack, no way of accessing it has been known! Dokulbert is not a loving name. That's ridiculous. I know there's some sort of "fantasy clause" that allows this, but still, this is just ridiculous. Anyway, it looks like we found some sort of secret area. Who knows what could be hiding here? There's something we can get there, but we first need to fumble around looking for the secret passage.  However, there's not too many options. The remains of a human! They're already half decayed! 1) Search them? 2) Bury them and say a prayer?Let's get some free stuff! The haul is a crowbar (useless), a healing herb (useless, we found half a dozen just lying around), and a long bow (might be useless). Weak. We can then bury his remains anyway.  That's everything we could do for this poor guy...Basically, we got some stuff and a wee bit of experience. If we had just buried him, we would have gotten more experience. Might have been the better choice.  Moving on, we found this weird golem creature blocking the path.  HMMM... WHO ARE YOU? YOU'RE NOT PART OF XANJA'S PACK AND YOU'RE NOT KNOWN TO ME OTHERWISE. REVEAL YOURSELF TO THE GUARDIAN! Umm... we're just a few wanderers, Mister guardian... we don't have any bad intentions. THEN TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT OF ME! 1) We'll hack you into rubble! 2) We want to be let through! 3) We want to know what you are! 4) We just want to move on!Let's find out what this thing is, it's got to have some sort of purpose. I AM THE GUARDIAN OF ETERNITY, DESTINED TO GUARD THE REMAINS OF MY MASTER FOR ALL ETERNITY! OK... and who is... umm... was your master? DOKULBERT DENGELBRACK OF FALKENBURG, A GREAT DUKE AND ALCHEMIST! HE CREATED ME! HIS REMAINS REST IN THE VALLEY TO THE WEST. I'M SUPPOSED TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE NOT DISTURBED! Thanks for the explanation, guardian... could we ask one more thing of you? IF YOU WISH. I HAVE AN ETERNITY!Now we ask him to be let through, because this information gives us the right to pass as well! Guardian, I am Dankwart Dengelbrack, the true duke of Falkenburg. I demand to be allowed to pass! DO YOU HAVE THE HOLY REGALIA WITH YOU, SIR DANKWART? The holy amulet of the family? Of course! Look, here it is! IT IS AN HONOR FOR AN OLD GUARDIAN LIKE ME TO ONCE AGAIN GREET A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF DENGELBRACK. YOU AND YOUR COMPANIONS MAY PASS!With that problem solved, let's explore this new area.  There's something buried here!We find another set of teeth, the same kind we got from the sabretooth tiger, which is worth a pretty penny. Not that we care about money at this point, but eh. Moving on...  Ah, now I remember! My ancestor Dokulbert and his wife Feba were buried here! He had the only way to this plateau destroyed because he feared the graves could be robbed!Three guesses on what we're going to do now.  There's something written over the entrance: "Here lies my beloved monkey"! Must have been a big animal-lover... Careful, Grandy! I wouldn't dare to imagine what would happen if we stepped on the wrong switch!We have another puzzle, and this one's not that hard, although it might take some thinking. You'd have to note that "monkey" was written in all caps, then take each row of switches and treat every single switch as a letter of the alphabet. So we have A-F-F-E, which comes out 1-6-6-5, from the left...  That wasn't so hard now, was it? At least if you learned the alphabet in school!The loot is surprisingly weak. 3000 bucks and an armored glove, which gives a minor defense boost. Let's check out the other one now.  There's something written over the entrance: "FEBA, my wife"! Same procedure as last time, once again some mediocre loot: 2000 bucks and a mithril shield (which you can buy at Rank's, and if you abused the turtle races, you did).  In the northern part of this area, we find a whole bunch of wolves that look pretty dangerous.  However, that's all they do. They're weak to Dankwart's light magic and Libra's fire magic, Grandy also deals good damage with his multi-enemy attack, and they go down without much of a fight.  In the east of this area, we find a settlement with people living there! Now that's a surprise - I expected an abandoned hut or something like that.   Strangers? How did you get here? Strangers aren't allowed at Bernhelm's Fate!We can ask her different stuff, but the result is always the same: "I'm not supposed to talk with strangers, talk with Xanja, she's in the house". Remember Xanja? You should - if you paid attention, that is! If you did, give yourself a gold star!  So here we are in the house.  How did you get here? Strangers aren't allowed to come to Bernhelm's Fate!I'm getting deja vu here. 1) This one needs to get a beating! 2) Just stay calm and friendly...Yeah, we can go and murder everybody here if we wanted to. We really don't want to, though. Just calm down, miss! We come in peace! We're wanderers that just happened to find the way here.Wanderers. Right. Wanderers that just happened to dig up a grave to find the passageway to this place.  Just happened to find it, eh... well, you're welcome here as long as you behave!For a secluded, secretive society like these guys have it, they sure are trusting. May we ask you some questions? As long as I don't have to answer them... 1) Tell me of your flock! 2) Tell me about yourself! 3) Why "Bernhelm's Fate"? 4) I don't have any questions.Let's get an explanation of that name, first.  A man named Bernhelm was indirectly responsible for the founding of our flock. We don't know what happened to him... On my travels, I have met a man named Bernhelm... Really? Tell me about him! He lives far away from any civilization in the Icy Wastelands with his kids, Dudu and Dada. He told me he's been treated quite badly in Düsterburg, and your name came up in the conversation as well, Xanja! Back then you tried to defend your people by going against everything that was different compared to you as well! Bernhelm and his wife just wanted to live in peace. And now she's dead! Because of you!Oh snap, motherfucker's on fire! Even though that's not the version I remembered... it went more like "Xanja tried to defend Bernhelm and his family, but eventually, the mob simply stormed them anyway". In fact, let's bring that story up again: quote:
Grandy's not exactly the best with words, he shouldn't be leveling these accusations at people. Although I have the sneaking suspicion that other areas underwent a rewrite, and this area somehow wasn't changed. I'll bring this up again later.  You're right, and there's no night where I'm not tossing, turning and regretting my mistakes!Xanja accepting the blame also plays into my theory. She has no reason to feel bad about things, she did all she could and was probably only dragged along by the masses.  But I'm trying to atone for our mistakes! Could you give him a message from me if you make it back to the Icy Wastelands? "If" we ever take that strenuous trip again, of course! Tell Bernhelm that we have a pack here where there will always be room for him and his family. He'll know what I mean! That's all well, but I don't know what you mean! Could you help me?God damnit Grandy, this isn't hard to figure out. The fact they always avoid the human "family" in favor of the animalistic "flock" or "pack" should be a pretty big hint. Well, Bernhelm trusted you, so I'll trust you as well. You know he's a werewolf? Yes, he told us of that. On the day Bernhelm's wife died, I led the mob that wanted to destroy his family.Once again, that doesn't fit with Bernhelm's story. And he doesn't have any reason to omit the detail of "But whose side is she on?". He tried with all his might to save his two babies. In doing so he injured me and a few others.Once again again, that doesn't fit either! It was Brunhild who attacked the crowd, Bernhelm just grabbed the kids and ran! The just punishment of the gods met us: We were hit with the same curse that struck Bernhelm's family! I happened to stumble over the access to this plateau when I was a child.So the Dengelbrack family can't find the burial site of one of their ancestors, but some random kid can? Back then, the guardian of eternity let me live under the condition that I never tell anybody about this place. But we had no choice! We had to leave Düsterburg. I took Radulf and Tika and fled to this place! Once again, the guardian let us pass! For a man of stone, he is quite compassionate!You know, the Dengelbrack family really needs to pick better guardians. While letting poor werewolves past isn't necessarily a bad thing, these stalwart defenders seem awfully easy to get past with a good sob story. You don't have to say anything more, Xanja! We'll tell Bernhelm about this place!But before we do that, we need to take care of something else - when we talked with Tika earlier, she mentioned that her kid, Punja, has gone missing. If we leave without dealing with that situation, she dies and we completely botched that subquest, so dealing with that is the #1 priority right now.  What kind of beasts are those? They call them harpies! I've only read about them, myself: They're evil and talented in the ways of magic by nature! They're chewing on something down there! Let's head down there - maybe it's connected to the disappeared girl!And head down we do.  And then we predictably get into a fight. These gals are rather tough, but still, we seem to be quite overleveled for this part of the game (thanks to doing every side quest), and they go down without much of a fight. Now, it's time to find that girl - she must have hid somewhere, and the best bet would be those crypts.  And in Feba's crypt, we find her!  Hello! I've never seen you before! That's really exciting! Hello Punja! I'm Grandy, and I'm here to get you out of here! Your mother is worrying about you! I just wanted to play with the rocks here... then those things came here! Evil birds! They waited out there to eat me! Don't worry, little girl, we beat up those evil bird-women and got rid of them! You can come outside now! Wow! You're really strong! Let's get out of here, it smells here! MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY! My little Punja! Where were you? Don't be mad, mommy! I was hiding from those birds! And then those people came here and beat up those birds! I don't know how I can thank you... my children are my life. I'll tell Xanja what you did! Come, my dear, let's go home!Now, it's time to talk to Bernhelm. Yeah. We're going to change maps. Didn't you remember me bitching about Alex refusing to walk all that way? Well, turns out that he's not complaining now.  And that means I can go here too! LOOPHOLE, BITCHES! GIMME ALL THOSE MP RESTORING ITEMS, I NEED THEM ALL!  Anyway, we're back in the Icy Wastelands and are here to tell Bernhelm the good news.  Look, kids! The duke and his friends are back! Bernhelm, we're supposed to give you a message from a woman named Xanja! XANJA?! The leader of the city guard? Those times are over! She's grieving over the things she did to you! We're supposed to tell you that there's always room for you and your family in their pack! Then the curse hit them as well! Of course! I saw how she fought with Brunhild...Now I'm really confused, because the stories are getting more tangled. Now Brunhild is the one inflicting wounds on Xanja, which would match Bernhelm's original story, but he reviles Xanja because of her apparent hatred of werewolves, which conflicts with the earlier story! I will instruct Harkon to let you and your children pass one more time. I believe you should accept Xanja's offer, if only because of the children. We marked the way to their hideout on this map for you! Farewell, Bernhelm. I hope we'll meet again in "Bernhelm's Fate"! Now, we're back, and Bernhelm's already here. This is where the real meat of the subquest starts - Grandy has to play psychologist, because Bernhelm's having troubles adjusting. Oh... Grandy! Good to see you! Greetings, Bernhelm. You look sad... what's wrong? Aren't you happy here? Grandy, it's very nice here, and I'm very thankful that you showed us the way here... But now that we're together with Xanja... and especially Radulf and Tika... the old memories are coming back! I miss my wife! Don't get me wrong, I'm not holding a grudge. But there's something deep inside me that I can't fight against! I understand, Bernhelm. 1) You can't isolate yourself! 2) Time will heal all wounds.Now, I'm following the FAQ here, and it's a bit confusing. This entire loving quest is a bit confusing, really, and that might be connected to that writing disconnect I mentioned earlier. For now, we'll tell him to sit it out. I'll come back and visit you when it's all over. I'm looking forward to it. Farewell, Grandy.Leave and come back, and it turns out that wasn't correct. Bernhelm is isolating himself even more and is now hanging out near the crypts.  Bernhelm, what are you doing at this place of the dead? Grandy! I didn't even hear you coming! It's... Gudrun! As I came past our old house during our trip... and now all these familiar faces...WHO THE gently caress IS GUDRUN? This entire thing is just a mess! If somebody can help me out, please, I beg you, shine some light into this darkness! I understand very well, Bernhelm, but you must... 1) face the past! 2) wait until it gets better!Now we tell him to face the past. Go to the others and talk about everything that happened with them! You must go this path to be able to live together! Even if it will be painful... Yes... I fear you are right! We have to live through this terrible story once again... Give me some more time. I promise I will listen to your suggestion...That is code for "leave the area and come back". When we do...  Grandy!!! I'm so happy that you suggested I face the past!While it's a bit hard to gather from this, this is in fact the good end for Bernhelm. He's faced his past, everybody seems to be happy. Now, there is a different good end buried within the game files...  You see, this engine is not hard to understand. Any idiot can figure it out given a bit of time, which is good for the purposes of this LP. Now, poking around in the code, I found a trigger - "Bernhelm in love" - next to all the other quest triggers like "Bernhelm wants to talk" or "Bernhelm getting desperate". I have ZERO idea how to trigger this. The FAQ doesn't have an idea either. This seems to be a complete mystery, and it just adds to the weirdness of this quest.  However, we have the magic of editing, and we can see this ending as well!  Grandy, it's great that you came to visit us again! Finally, Dudu and Dada have a real home! Bernhelm has forgiven Tika and Radulf for Brunhild's death... It was hard for me, but they didn't know that we weren't murderous beasts like those other werewolves. Don't forget the invitation! Invitation? Umm... yes... you know... once you finished your tasks... then Xanja and I would like to... Umm... well, we would like to... We would like to invite you to our wedding! Whoa! That went pretty fast! Well, in our situation the number of potential husbands is rather small... Umm... XANJA! It was just a joke, dear! Of course we'd love to come! Aww, they're getting married. Isn't that nice? You got those nice, warm, fuzzy feelings too? Well... get ready to throw those out, because there's a bad end as well. This is what happens if you tell Bernhelm to wait it out twice. He becomes even more of a recluse, and then... Bernhelm's situation is still bad. You'll find him upstairs. What's he doing up there? He wanted to go and repair something! He took a rope with him... A rope? Xanja, what could he possibly want to repair with a rope?Well, maybe he needs to tie something up so it doesn't collapse or something or... oh, gently caress it, you know where this is going. We then hear something fall over. That came from upstairs! What was that noise?We run upstairs...  Gods, help us! BERNHELM! WE HAVE TO GET HIM DOWN FROM THERE!  Step aside, Grandy! I studied medicine! PLEASE, DANKWART! GIVE IT YOUR BEST! He's dead, Grandy... there's nothing I could do for him... the poor children... Oh no... Bernhelm... no, no, NO! I was too late! I'll never be able to forgive myself! I thought it would be a good idea if Bernhelm came to us... I did everything wrong! We both did, Xanja... we both did... Jesus loving Christ. This scene really hits hard, because despite this being a fantasy RPG game with vampires and werewolves and poo poo, it's still a really relatable story. Family gets infected with terrible illness, gets shunned by society as a result, wife of family dies due to illness and society, society catches the illness themselves, father tries to reconcile with society due to their shared fate, but can't find it in his heart to do so and commits suicide, leaving a really depressed society and really depressed children behind. loving hell. You know, the whole baby-eating thing wasn't enough of a punch. Let's have the poor guy that couldn't harm a fly and has been beset by a horrible fate commit suicide, and let's make sure that he'll never be able to really get his happy ending because the game literally won't allow it! How much more worse can this get? ...anyway, after that, it's time to advance to the next day, we've got to continue the plot.  Now, we're supposed to head to the store, but for some reason, I head south instead. No, seriously, I can't remember why I went south instead of to the store. If we did, we'd have a bit of a lead-in for the following...  By the gods! LAZALANTIN!!! Lazalantin! He's bleeding out! No, Grandy. He's already dead. Why did nobody see him lying here? Why does nobody here ever walk along the streets? What was that noise? I didn't hear anything... It came from down there... I'll get that guy! And then Roncarlo blitzes away in the direction of city hall. Oh well, he knows this city, he'll know what he's doing!So we've got a crime scene, suppose least we can do is investigate. You're an expert in these things, Dankwart! What do you think? A stab with a slim blade or something like that. The outer rims of the wounds are strangely lacerated. What weapon could that have been? 1) A rapier maybe... 2) Maybe a long claw... 3) Could it have been a spear? 4) I have no idea...Doesn't really matter what we pick here. The attack came from the front, so he must have seen his killer! Yet he didn't draw his weapon... what do you think, Grandy? 1) The killer was faster. 2) He knew the killer. 3) The killer was invisible. 4) No idea.Once again, doesn't really matter. He's not been laying here for long... death came an hour ago at most. However, I can't say much more under these circumstances! What's going on here? The city guard, finally! Chief, Lazalantin has been killed! We're currently looking for clues in the surroundings! That won't be necessary. Darion, the barman of the Polished Armor has contacted us! He managed to observe the crime! Could he identify the killer? You'd like to know that, wouldn't you? Yes, he could! And I bet you know very well who he identified... What am I supposed to get from that? It was your companion, Grandy. Libra! You're all arrested!
TheMcD fucked around with this message at 11:40 on Apr 12, 2014 |
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Apr 12, 2014 01:58
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Alright guys, we just got hit with a pretty big part of the plot. poo poo's definitely getting real, and I want to indulge a bit of theorizing here. Now, we have a few accessories to the crime (the shapeshifter, the questionable loyalties of multiple characters in town, the enigmas Laz, Rank and Alex), and there's a lot of room for discussing, so I want to officially open the floodgates: How was the murder committed, by whom, and who played a role in incriminating our group? Was the shapeshifter the killer, shifted into Libra's form? Was it a setup by Laz, and the shapeshifter simply morphed into a corpse? Was Thar in on it because we revealed Dankwart's true identity to him? Was it maybe really Libra who killed Laz? How does the barkeep play into all this? Might Wahnfried be directly involved, or is it simply his cohorts acting on his command to gently caress with the group? There's plenty of ways this could have gone, so get creative!
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Apr 12, 2014 01:58
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Getting hitched with the person possibly responsible for your previous wife's death is not that happy of an ending. I think it was the Ninja Man with his kunai
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Apr 12, 2014 02:54
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SSNeoman posted:Getting hitched with the person possibly responsible for your previous wife's death is not that happy of an ending. Considering the alternatives seem to be somewhere around the level of "eventually freezing to death in an inhospitable wasteland of ice" and "suicide", "finally coming to terms with nobody really being at fault (except Wahnfried, who started the whole mess in the first place), burying an age-old grudge and somehow managing to once again find love" seems to be a pretty good ending to me. Regardless of the way you look at it (given the confusing viewpoints, I think you'd have to try and abstract it down somehow), I don't think you can blame Xanja for the situation. Either she tried to defuse it, failed and got dragged along, or she figured that the people infected by werewolves that have the capability to turn into werewolves would end up similar to the original werewolves (murdering, pillaging bastards that nearly incited a revolution) and had to act fast lest the situation repeat itself (given that the whole "infected acts like infector" thing is true for both zombies and vampires, I wouldn't see why one should assume werewolves would be different) and the town melt down into a spiral of violence and counterviolence between villagers and werewolves (which then creates new werewolves and so on).
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Apr 12, 2014 03:40
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For future hacking needs, if you run an RPG-Maker game through the editor (instead of the standalone EXE), it gives you a couple debug features such as ignoring main character collision while holding Ctrl, instant-printing text while holding Shift, and opening a switch/variable editor with... F9, I think one of the F buttons. This is all from memory so maybe the buttons aren't completely correct but it probably helps! e: Also you might want to [timg] the RPG-Maker screenshot, it's kinda breaking tables. Admiral H. Curtiss fucked around with this message at 06:02 on Apr 12, 2014 |
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Apr 12, 2014 05:56
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It was obviously Asgar who broke out of prison and he murdered Laz for reminding him of a certain someone. Also because Wahnfried told him to stop with the wanton murder and Asgar is nothing if not needlessly contrarian. The shapeshifter is just assuming the form of the guard captain so he can frame Grandy and co by just saying they did it, he's an efficient fella like that.
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Apr 12, 2014 16:03
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Well, Alex is obviously a vampire, so I'm going to say he did it. With his spooky vampire powers. Also his dad is covering up for him. For... some reason.
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Apr 13, 2014 05:31
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Admiral H. Curtiss posted:For future hacking needs, if you run an RPG-Maker game through the editor (instead of the standalone EXE), it gives you a couple debug features such as ignoring main character collision while holding Ctrl, instant-printing text while holding Shift, and opening a switch/variable editor with... F9, I think one of the F buttons. This is all from memory so maybe the buttons aren't completely correct but it probably helps! Neat. As you could tell from one of the pictures, I manually wrote some small events that just triggered the switches for me. A variable/switch editor sounds like a pretty drat useful thing to have.
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Apr 13, 2014 22:51
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The shapeshifter killing Laz as Libra seems the most plausible, fooling one witness would be enough for the arrest as we saw it. The party was arrested for associating with Libra and less the crime itself, if it was a frame-up on all of them Laz would have way more holes. Also, is the whole "Duke screwing with reality to take Grandy and Libra halfway out of existence" the reason for the opening scene where Laz is certain he has to wait for his hero but he doesn't know who?
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Apr 15, 2014 00:15
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My money's on "the barkeep just lied".
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Apr 17, 2014 02:21
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The shapeshifter is/was disguised as the barkeep. Also I'm gonna guess that Alex is not involved, but that he's going to end up being the good guy vampire that fights against the evil vampires since all vampire fiction has to have that character. Or possibly a dhampir.
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Apr 19, 2014 18:52
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Update IX - Elementary, my dear Grandy... So, the last time, we did some stuff and then got caught up in a murder case. Laz is dead, Alex is MIA, and we're in jail. You have to believe us, chief! We've got nothing to do with this - it has to be some kind of conspiracy! That may be, but Darion is a respectable citizen of this town, whereas you are strangers.Yeah, apart from the whole "exiled ruler of the town" part, we're total strangers. Yup. I guess it's not reasonable to expect somebody would conspire against the exiled ruler who has come back to take what is his. I have two explanations as to why trusting Thar with our party's most prized secret doesn't actually impact this questline: 1) He's just acting like he doesn't know as to not raise suspicion. He's not actually going to do anything that he wasn't pretty much required to do and will help us if he can. 2) The creator didn't assume that the player would be getting the recommendation before triggering this questline, since you've got no real reason to leave town until you're sure you did all the exploring you can do. Talk with Roncarlo ti Paroli! He was with us the entire night! He can't be found right now. Also, all of you testified that you spent the night sleeping. Your companion, Miss Libra, could have easily snuck out without being noticed by Roncarlo to commit her crime! And she wouldn't have been noticed by you either, Grandy! That's just complete nonsense! Libra would never... Wait a second... We're not all under suspicion! Only Libra was seen at the crime scene... Grandy... what are you getting at? You're not planning on letting me rot down here, are you? No need to get excited, Miss Libra. I think I know what Grandy's idea here is. You're right there... but it stands to reason that you're all in on it... and for the safety of the population... We're being held here because of an unfounded suspicion for the safety of the population? Chief Tharand! Please let me and my old companion go. This is the only chance we have to prove our innocence! I don't have a good feeling about this... but I really don't have anything that would justify holding you here, Grandy... You two can go for now! However, you can not leave the city! And please keep me in the loop as far as your research goes. We can't leave here without a permission to travel, anyway... Well, now that we're free, we've got poo poo to do. First and foremost, we still need to bring back that ring we found in the sewers.   Ah, gentlemen, it's good to see you again. What's the matter? Magda, I have to tell you that my friends and I were down in the sewers, and we found this ring on a corpse. Your name is on it - surely it must be your wedding ring. Joini will never be able to return to you. I always thought that was the case, but I needed some kind of confirmation! Thanks, good sirs, for bringing me the ring. Now I can finally say farewell to my Joini...And we get some XP as our reward. That done, it's time to take care of this murder business and ask around a bit. While we're at it, I've got some poo poo to pawn off for some cash, so let's head to the store.  Have you heard that Lazalantin got murdered? My son Rank has told me about it. He's hysterical because of it. We've been put in charge of solving this case... can you help us in some way? Sorry, I know nothing about it. Can I help you in some other way?Yeah, we have stuff and need money. We get about 5000 bucks out of assorted crap that we got from our sidequests and the like. Now, let's go back to the crime scene and search for clues.  Wait, what? The body is gone... but this trail of blood wasn't here before.Well, it's a drat shame that that grate is shut tight, or we could save ourselves a lot of running around. Oh well, moving on, let's ask the bartender about his witness account.  Wait a second, those two guys weren't here before. Hmm... suspicious! Let's see what their deal is.  Who are those two guys? I've never seen them here before. Let's get out of here, Dante! This town seems fishy and we're probably not going to find any artifacts here. Calm down, mate! These people here are totally depressed and just sitting on their piles of riches. Ideal conditions to make some good money!Let's talk to them and see what they've got for sale, since they seem to be in the business of selling crap: Hello there! You two are the first ones we've seen here out on the street. A whole town full of couch potatoes, eh? The constant darkness is depressing the people, I guess... We're merchants from the north. I'm Thorn, and this is my companion Dante.An interesting tidbit regarding those guys, courtesy of sheep-dodger: sheep-dodger posted:Thorn and Dante are also cameos from another German RPG Maker game, called Aurora's Tear, in which they are thiefs/treasure hunters, so that is another shoutout from the makers of Unterwegs in Düsterburg. You wouldn't be interested in some selected treasures from faraway countries, or? Depends on what you've got... Oh, we've got a lot of things, but you don't seem like you'd be interested in the tea set of a Sarabian princess... For the record, when it comes to what I'll be calling "Sarabia", they're talking about what I assume is a desert country called "Sarabäa". Umlaute don't flow well in English, so I'll change the name. A legitimate Sarabian tea set? That does sound quite interesting... We don't have the money for things like that, Dankwart! If we're going to buy something, it'll only be something that will help our current task! And what helps your current task? 1) Weapons! 2) Devices that help with travelling! 3) A travelling permit!Yeah, we could actually just straight-up buy the permit and leave town (although I don't think we can leave without Libra), but we don't want that, as we'd be skipping over something rather important. Let's check out the device, first. Ah, you're a practical guy, aren't you? Well, we do have an artifact that has many different applications! A pair of exceptionally rare springs. You can strap them under your feet and then jump over large chasms... or similar things...We buy that for 4000 bucks, because it's definitely worth it, as we'll see later. You won't regret that choice! Oil them frequently, they rust easily. Could you use something else?Yeah, let's have a look at those weapons. What a coincidence! We just happened to stea- ... acquire a very special piece of merchandise last month. A magic short sword! Excellent blacksmithing work! And that's not all! The sword is also magic!I think you already mentioned that, but I guess that's just sale pitch tactics. Really? What can it do? It glows in the dark when orcs are near! I haven't seen all too many orcs recently... Well of course there aren't many here around the town, but in the north there's tons of those bastards! If you say so... what'll this thing cost us? The price is almost the most interesting thing about this once-in-a-lifetime offer - a measly 3000 bucks!Eh, sure, why the hell not. We're basically wiping our rear end with gold coins at this point, even if that doesn't work all that well. You won't regret this! Take good care of it. And just like every other magic sword, it has a name: "Sting"!...I see. Well, let's take this sword-shaped reference out for a spin.  Oddly enough, we're still permitted to travel around. I assume Thar believes we wouldn't get past the guard we bribed with a smut magazine.  Anyway, let's get into a fight with these orcs.  Dante and Thorn tricked us! This sword doesn't glow at all!Bummer. We'll have to take that up with Customer Services at some point. For now, we've got something else to grab...  ...and we find that something in the Icy Wastelands. I think this will be the last time we ever have to go here.  There's something down on that ledge, but I can't get there. We could use the springs!And one boing later...  We find the second of the two super-swords, the Vampire Blinder - but I call it the Vampire Blender because that's much more awesome.  Now, it might not seem much of an improvement over the bastard sword, but the magic properties are worth their weight in gold. Against evil stuff, these two swords are destruction in a neat package, and a ton of enemies from here on are evil.  But now it's time to go back and deal with this whole "wife is chief suspect in murder case" deal.  First off, we've got to see just what exactly the barkeep saw.  Darius, Chief Tharand Al'Rhun told me you reported Lazalantin's murder to him...Note that the barkeep's name is Darion. I get the feeling some names were changed around in development and the text was never given a true once-over. See also: Gudrun.  What? No, you must be mistaken! I only heard about it half an hour ago. What? But our companion Libra is behind bars because of your testimony! Pardon me, but you don't seem to understand - I made no such testimony. That's exceptionally strange... Yes... I don't get it. Either Darion is lying... or the chief is! Or somebody that looks like Darion went and reported us!The plot thickens. Nobody else here has anything interesting to say, so let's head back and clear up that whole testimony shebang.  How can I help you? 1) Regarding the witness... 2) Regarding the body... 3) Regarding Libra...Well, all three of those are interesting, so we'll go down the row as usual. We were just talking with Darion, and he denies ever having reported the murder! What? I can't believe that - I'll have that double-checked! But even if your story is right, by now a second witness has come forward! Wait, what? A second witness? Please tell me who it is! The owner of the inn right next to the crime scene. Her name is Lydia. You best talk to her yourself... Any other questions? Could we take another look at the body? Sorry, but that's not possible... Chief, the life of our dear companion is on the line here, you can't be holding out on us with vital information! Pardon me, it seems I wasn't clear enough. I can't show you the body because it's missing. Missing? How could that happen? Right after we brought you to the station I called for Lazalantin's body to be brought here as well, but it was already too late. Somebody stole his corpse... Don't you think that's a little suspicious? Of course... but on the other hand this isn't the first time that bodies went missing... Not the first time? But what happens with those bodies, then? We don't know. Maybe a carrion eater of some kind. I'm sorry, but we don't have the slightest clue... Any other questions? You have to let Libra free! This is a conspiracy! You should be able to tell by the way Darion changed his mind! Sounds interesting... bring me some proof!Well, he wants proof, so let's go down the next best trail we have - the new witness.  Chief Tharand told us that you witnessed Lazalantin's murder... Indeed, I did. And I saw your companion as well... saw how she killed poor Lazalantin! She's a real succubus, that's for sure! This game sure is keeping me on its toes with these old terms. Lydia calls Libra a "Dämonenbuhle" here, which would literally translate out to "demonic lover", but that sounds a bit stilted to me, so I went with "succubus" instead. And it's fitting that the literal translation sounds stilted, as the term "Buhle" itself is more poetic in nature and only has a home in current German in the verb "buhlen" (basically sucking up to somebody) and the term "Nebenbuhler" (that being a rival in love, a guy pining for the same girl you're pining for). 1) You definitely saw her? 2) Don't insult Libra like that!Focus, Grandy, we're not here to get mad, we're here to get information. I definitely did. I heard a noise, looked out the window, and there I saw her! And what exactly did you see? She was dragging young Lazalantin across the street. Everything was covered in blood! By the gods... and her hands! What about her hands? Long, scythe-like claws were growing out of her hands, at least one cubit long, and they were dripping with blood! And then... then she turned to the window that I was watching her from and grinned at me, her face filled with malice! I quickly pulled the curtains and locked the front door! Why didn't you tell the guards immediately? Didn't you listen? That demon spotted me! I feared she would be waiting to take me next! Oh... right, of course. Thanks for your help.Smooth, Grandy. Good thing you're good with hitting poo poo with swords, because you certainly can't think your way out of things worth a drat at times.  That part with the claws! That fits with the wounds that were inflicted on young Lazalantin. Are you starting with this as well, Dankwart? You don't think that Libra... No, my friend, I don't believe that Miss Libra is responsible for this act... But I can't state with certainty that she didn't do it, either... No... not Libra, I know it! If she was a demon... my memories, Dankwart... I know what you mean. You two say you were a couple. But please think about these two things, Grandy... Can you remember anything that would prove that Libra wasn't always a creature of the dark? And secondly: If Libra really isn't who she claims to be, then it could very well be possible she manipulated your memories. Could it be that everything you remember is just a vision that Libra injected into you? Dankwart, you can't honestly believe that could be the case? As I said, I don't believe it, but we have to take any possibility into account... Yes, Dankwart, I get what you're saying, but when I imagine that everything I can remember is actually a lie... Calm down, Grandy! As long as there's no certainty you shouldn't be plaguing yourself with those thoughts!Dankwart is probably my favorite character in the entire game, and it's because of scenes like this. That occult knowledge of his isn't just book science, he's definitely a very sharp character outside of the laboratory as well, and even years of sitting on his rear end in the Eastern Marches haven't dulled his mind all that much. He and Grandy have great chemistry with each other, and it gets to shine a bit in this chapter (whereas usually it's Libra and Grandy who get the chemistry spotlight).  Next up, we've got to pay Rank a visit. I don't think he's going to be all that happy, what with the whole "suspected of murdering his friend" bit and all...   You dare to show up here again? You killed Lazalantin! You'll pay for that! Calm down, Rank! Somebody's trying to pin this whole thing on us, we've got nothing to do with it! Why should I believe you? Lazalantin trusted us. And you know best of all how careful he always was... Also, we surely wouldn't just show up here if we had bad intentions. Sounds reasonable... what do you want from me? Did Lazalantin have any enemies in particular? Well, the Duke and his minions, if it had become public knowledge that Lazalantin was planning an uprising. But Lazalantin actually wasn't ready for that uprising yet... His entire life he'd tell me of that "great hero" that would come to help us against the Duke... Aha... and did he have any sort of details regarding that hero? No... it was more some sort of obsession of his. Do you know where Lazalantin lived? He's got a bed in the house where those kids with their turtles live. It's right next to the northern gate. Are there any other conspirators? There were... one after the other they all disappeared. Seems like I'm on my own now... Don't worry, we're on your side. You better stay in hiding until we have the culprit.He lived in the house with the turtle kids? Well, I guess if he just had a bed there, it would have been kind of hard to spot it without directly knowing about it. Let's search there next.  A book! That's got to be an important clue, because it wasn't here before!  What's that? A book... it's a diary! Lazalantin's diary! Let's take a look at the last few pages... I really like these pictures they made for the books. We're going to see a few more of these down the line, with one being particularly neat - the one in Rabenstein. Wooo, building that place up even more! Every time I see the new guys, I have to think of my dream of the savior that will come to save us all. But can that be? This Grandy doesn't exactly seem all that bright. But my heart tells me that he and his friends are the ones who have the fate of us all in their hands... Alas! Rank will be making fun of me for that again. But it doesn't matter! I'm planning to meet them in the weapon store tomorrow. The young woman at Grandy's side, however, I will meet tonight first. She wanted to talk with me in private about something. Apparently she doesn't trust the old guy that always hangs in the back. Time will tell if my gut feelings were right...  Riddles in the darkness! Why did Libra mistrust me? Or did she only tell Lazalantin that to lure him to the meeting? "DOESN'T SEEM ALL THAT BRIGHT"? Oh Grandy, you're great at loosening up even the most dramatic situation with your own brand of humor... What are you implying with that? Are you starting with this too? Not at all, Grandy. But didn't you say yourself that you were a man of the sword, not a man of intellect... ...He's got you there, man. Anyway, that might have given us some more information, but at the same time, it doesn't bring us that much further. I suppose the next best step would be to head back to Libra and see if anything rings a bell with her. Maybe she'll slip up?  You're finally back! Did you manage to solve the case? We're making progress, but there are still many mysteries... Libra, there's another witness that claims to have seen you. What? But I didn't do it! You should know, Grandy! I'd never do something like that! Why should I? Well, Libra... we don't quite get it ourselves. Honestly, we're not all that sure when it comes to you...Smooth. I'd say something about letting Dankwart do the talking, but seeing Grandy wander through conversational minefields and stepping right onto several mines is quite entertaining in its own way. What are you talking about? NOT ALL THAT SURE? You don't believe I had something to do with this, do you? I want to be honest with you: We're not sure if you are who you claim you are. WHAT? YOU THINK I'M PLAYING OUT SOME KIND OF ACT? No... umm... we just don't want to reject any possibility...Nah, you hosed up. You're not talking your way out of that one. ENOUGH! Come back when you're sure again, otherwise leave me alone! She's quite agitated. Either she's acting well, or... Or what, Dankwart? Grandy, have you ever heard of demonic possession? You should know that I can't remember anything. Pardon, I forgot... I was just wondering if some powerful creature could have taken possession of Libra's body... This creature could have then committed the murder while looking like Libra, without her ever knowing... Yes, that would be a possible explanation. Do you have any sort of method of testing that? No, my friend, that's too much for my meager capabilities. We'd need a priest for that.But where could we find one of those?  Oh, right. We're investigating Lazalantin's murder. Have you heard of it already? The whole town isn't speaking of anything else! Father Medarius, you surely remember you threw us out recently. Could you explain why? It was strange... there was this unholy presence, an unspeakable evil emanating from you. But this feeling is now gone. I feel that you have no ill intentions. Could it be that we were accompanied by some evil force that is no longer with us now? Yes, that would be an explanation, although I can't be sure. The gods don't explain the premonitions they send to me. Father Medarius, you are a wise man, blessed by the gods with special powers. Could they help us in some way? Do you know, or rather, do you feel something that could bring us closer to the solution? I'm not sure, but I have a vague feeling that your presence in Düsterburg is the reason for the crime. Somebody's trying to exterminate you. The murder was the first step, more will follow... More I can not say... If a person was possessed by a demon of some kind, would you be able to feel that? I would be able to feel the presence of evil, yes... We're suspecting that our companion Libra was the victim of a demon that used her body to kill Lazalantin. If the demon has only recently left her body, I should be able to feel its presence. Would you maybe come with us to the jail to... um... ...test your friend? Of course! Let's hurry! No, I don't feel anything evil in this woman... Chief Al'Rhun: I am absolutely sure that she isn't under the control of evil forces. Furthermore I don't believe that somebody with an aura as pure as hers was capable of committing murder... Well, from experience I can say that she doesn't exactly use velvet gloves when it comes to rotting dragons... Grandy, this isn't the time to be making stupid jokes! I respect your beliefs and your premonitions, Father Medarius, but first and foremost I must deal with the facts! Grandy, I hope that I could at least help you a little bit. Thanks, Father Medarius... at least now we know that there's no evil demon sleeping in Libra... If you should need me again, you know where to find me. May the gods protect you. I'll be back to work then. Don't look so down, Grandy... Even if it didn't sound like it just then, I don't believe your companion is guilty anymore either. If you need me, you'll find me in my office. That didn't really help us that much either, Dankwart. Don't be glum, my friend... we're in the process of eliminating one possibility after the other. If in the end there is only one possibility remaining, then that must be the solution. IT WOULD BE NICE IF YOU COULD HURRY UP WITH THAT. IT'S DAMP AND DRAFTY DOWN HERE, AND THE FOOD... Please, Libra, we're doing everything we can.Well, as much as Dankwart is optimistic, we really did run out of leads. Nothing much left to do but bumble around town for a while...  Wait, what? Grandy! Dankwart! Wait a moment! Roncarlo! You're finally back! Was your hunt successful? Hey, Grandy, who do you think I am? I chased after that guy and monitored him, and now I have proof of our innocence! Really? Tell me, who was it? Two strangers, hired killers for the Duke. Maybe you've noticed them too... a young snot named Dante and his addlebrained companion: A wolfman! Yeah, the two were hanging around the pub. They didn't seem all that kosher to me to begin with... Regardless, I didn't have any proof, so I tailed them! They stayed the night at the inn... as they were sleeping, I snuck into their room and searched their backpacks... and found the proof! What kind of proof was it? Lazalantin's head! The two bastards chopped it off to prove their act to the Duke! That's disgusting! But that will cost them their own head now! I deposited the piece of evidence with my father... I'll head over and get it right quick. I don't want to get caught in front of the guards with you and without the proof. Wait for Roncarlo? 1) Yes 2) No Yeah, that story totally wasn't bullshit at all. Not at all. The whole story sounds kind of off to me. What do you think, Dankwart? The story has about as many holes as a Königsberger cheese! Let's follow him to see where he's going! At least he's going in the right direction... He fled into the sewers! After him! Ooh, dark, spooky, and with a blood trail. This obviously isn't some sort of setup.  Scribbles on the wall...Welcome, Grandy! Holy smokes, we're being expected!TOTALLY NOT A SETUP. You can't actually go to Thar about this, all you get from that is a "Alex is totally suspicious!" "That's great, but it was still Libra who was seen doing the killing, now please GTFO and get some evidence". Anyway, nothing ventured...  Save point! Dead bodies! Altar covered in blood! I smell boss.  Lazalantin! So this is where his body ended up. But who dragged it down here?Now, we could go fight the boss right now, but there's something else we can do.  Remember the time we got ourselves landed in prison and then hacked our way through the wall?  Well, this comes back to help us now.  I could hack my way through here to free Libra, but there's no turning back after that!Now that we weakened the wall somewhat, we can bust Libra out of prison so she can help us!  Libra! Come over here, we're getting out of here! And now that we're at full strength again, it's time to trigger the boss... I mean, take a look at that other body. Dankwart! Do you see this? It's... Oh gently caress, he's seen better days. Roncarlo Ti Paroli! And, roughly estimated, already dead for at least two days now! And then a second Alex suddenly drops from the ceiling! Who goes there? Roncarlo! Or something that looks like Roncarlo! Which hell hole did you crawl out from, demon? Show us your true form! You'll never get to see that, old man! You fell into my trap, and you'll never return to the surface! You're an accursed changeling! First you killed Roncarlo, then snuck in with us! Then you met with Lazalantin in Libra's form and killed him. It was easy for you, after all - he didn't expect anything until you brought out your claws! But why steal his body? You must know that that would arouse suspicion? Well, my victims don't just die... they get back up after a few days... a bit moldy and a bit stupid, perhaps... Wouldn't be a great image: All those zombies, stumbling brainlessly through Düsterburg... In the end, I achieved what I wanted! You're here, and you'll never leave this place! And without your help, your friend will lose her pretty head quite soon! We'll see about that, demon! So now we get to take on the demon in his Alex-form. Suffice it to say, he's a loving joke. Not only are we stronger by doing all the side quests, but we also have Grandy's two super swords.  So of course, the second thing that happens after some fire magic from Libra is that Grandy crits and murders him. Fuckin' A. I told you we'd be kicking rear end with these things!   You actually managed to defeat me in this form! You're better than I thought!And with that, he jumps on top of the altar and transforms.   Then face me in my true form! Whoa! A hideous demon that stinks of sulfur! So this, then, was the kernel of Roncarlo! Didn't exactly expect a reference to Faust of all things here, but then again, "des Pudels Kern" has become somewhat of an idiom in German. Please remember, Grandy, that only magic can harm him in this form!Sorry, I couldn't hear you over these two swords humming with anti-demon magic! So, this guy's a bit tougher. He hits harder, and he's got two times as much HP as his Alex-form (350 vs. 700).  However, he doesn't exactly get much of a chance. Between Dankwart's powerful magic...  ...and Grandy's magic swords, he goes down like a little bitch. All he ever got to do that did something was fire off one paralyzing spell that got Libra and Dankwart. Kind of pathetic, really.  And then he gets disintegrated. Go to hell, motherfucker! Personally, the only time I have encountered the term "Schweinebacke" is in the German version of John McClane's "yippie-ki-yay, motherfucker" catchphrase, so I'll translate it as such.Anyway, now that we killed the demon and have proof of our innocence (I guess, kind of), we've got one more thing to do:  Bring Libra back, because it could get quite awkward if we showed up at Thar's office with her in tow. Maybe I should bring Libra back... What? You want to stick me back in that stinking cell? I don't "want" this at all, but we might still need the assistance of Chief Tharand or somebody else from Düsterburg! I guess - I think that this is once again a typical thing for you to do, Grandy, but I also recognize the necessity of it. So now it's time to clear this whole thing up. What is it now? We solved the case, Chief! Libra is innocent! I see... then please explain what really happened... A shapeshifter was responsible for all this! He killed Roncarlo and then snuck in with us! Then he met with Lazalantin in Libra's form and killed him! We also suspect that he reported the murder, in the form of Darion, the barkeep. Your story sounds pretty fantastic! Any proof? Send a few of your men into the sewers. There's a chamber filled with corpses. You'll find your proof down there. Just watch out for the zombies shambling around... all victims of the shapeshifter. I'll take care of that personally. Please wait here for me. So the whole thing just gets taken care of off screen. Not complaining, mind. We certainly don't need to go through all the administrative stuff of getting her out of prison and all that guff.  So we took care of that, but we still can't leave the town. Please excuse me if I might have been a bit rough to you while I was sitting in that cell, but I was so scared you would leave without me. Dear Libra, you should know Grandy well enough to know that he'll never let his friends down. However, something else is bothering me. We can assume that Wahnfried is behind this whole thing. So he knows that we're here and also knows of our plans in some way. Düsterburg is no longer safe for us - we should leave it behind as soon as we can. You're right, Dankwart - let's go to the mayor.Not quite. That'll happen next time, but for now, we've got one more thing to do. As we know that the victims of the shapeshifter will rise up again as zombies...  ...we can head down to the chamber and burn both Alex's corpse...  ...and Lazalantin's corpse.  We get some XP for that, and that gives Grandy a new move! We might be seeing that next time, as we get ready to leave this town and engage in more SCIENCE!
TheMcD fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Apr 22, 2014 |
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Apr 22, 2014 00:48
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Oh hey that's Wahnfried's demon lackey from the beginning of the chapter. What's an approximate translation for his name?
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Apr 22, 2014 02:30
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That's not so much his name as just a description. It just literally means shape shifter. I'm surprised you didn't expect a Faust reference, since most of the olde-timey vocabulary (and especially this Dämonenbuhle thing from this update) is like peak Goethe or Schiller lingo.
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Apr 22, 2014 02:50
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What happens if you don't burn the corpses?
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Apr 22, 2014 03:51
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You probably just miss out on the EXP and the skill
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Apr 22, 2014 04:05
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What kind of move do you learn from burning corpses? Fire magic?
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Apr 22, 2014 05:03
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Glazius posted:What kind of move do you learn from burning corpses? Fire magic? Grandy just got a move for hitting level 25 from sidequest XP, it had nothing to do with burning the corpses per sé. Pierzak posted:What happens if you don't burn the corpses? I imagine Rank and Alex' families might be a wee bit traumatised to see them shambling about if you don't burn them.
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Apr 22, 2014 09:11
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Pierzak posted:What happens if you don't burn the corpses? I don't think anything happens. Looking at it from the editor, there doesn't seem to be a case for that, neither on the corpses themselves nor with the people that might be affected. Maybe he was bluffing? Glazius posted:What kind of move do you learn from burning corpses? Fire magic? It seems to be some sort of sword attack that has a huge potential to deal damage, but also has potential to completely fizzle out.
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Apr 22, 2014 12:33
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TheMcD posted:I don't think anything happens. Looking at it from the editor, there doesn't seem to be a case for that, neither on the corpses themselves nor with the people that might be affected. Maybe he was bluffing? 
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Apr 22, 2014 14:38
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I really like the LP so far, kudos for all the effort you put into the translation. Since you did not mention it in the last update: Thorn and Dante are also cameos from another German RPG Maker game, called Aurora's Tear, in which they are thiefs/treasure hunters, so that is another shoutout from the makers of Unterwegs in Düsterburg.
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Apr 22, 2014 15:12
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Okay, so Alex wasn't a vampire after all. Apparently shapeshifting demons are also allergic to the sun, though? Eh, close enough. Too bad about the real Alex. Did we ever actually meet him, or was it the demon the whole time?
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Apr 22, 2014 15:34
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sheep-dodger posted:I really like the LP so far, kudos for all the effort you put into the translation. Cheers, I'll have to edit that into the update. I just knew they had to be some kind of shoutout, as they seemed a bit too... "detailed", for lack of a better term (the way they're looking for "artifacts" seemed to imply that they came from some other story) to simply be created for this game. Cattail Prophet posted:Okay, so Alex wasn't a vampire after all. Apparently shapeshifting demons are also allergic to the sun, though? Eh, close enough. Too bad about the real Alex. Did we ever actually meet him, or was it the demon the whole time? I think the Alex we met when we first came into Düsterburg - the one gambling away his money that would never actually talk to us because the races were not over - was the real deal, then he got silently offed somewhere between then and when he joined our party, probably while our group was busy dealing with ghostly apparitions in their house.
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Apr 22, 2014 15:39
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