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marshmallow creep
Dec 10, 2008

I've been sitting here for 5 mins trying to think of a joke to make but I just realised the animators of Mass Effect already did it for me

AltaBrown posted:

Oh, please let this push the thread to a new page!

Here you go.

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Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.

AltaBrown posted:

Oh, please let this push the thread to a new page! I think it took about five minutes for my poor laptop to load the update this time.

And Troy is a text-book bully. He gives way to those stronger than him (Lacryma), but preys on the weaker (Posha, Kun) without hesitation. And yet I still think he's a better character than Toxa.


edit: nope, still on the same page.

The reason Troy is a better character is that, him being a bully is just a trait he has, and it's not his entire character.
And let's be honest, he isn't that bad as a bully. The person who has it worst is Posha, and that is because of her crippling self esteem issues.
Those do not stem from Troy. She probably had them when her family forced her to serve in Vigilance. I'm sure there are no issues there to be addressed, no sir.

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
Last time, Troy got accused of stealing something.
After thorough investigation and examination which the game conveniently cut out, because
no one likes those science scenes from CSI. Lacryma proved that it simply couldn't have been Troy.
Upon cross-examining the only witnesses to the crime, it turns out one of the witnesses were the real culprit!
Not really a startling revelation since that was the process of elimination. But the real reveal was that
the thief had stolen Text.


Lacryma Episode 4 Chapter 2 pt.2


Right so last time Troy mentioned something about not using Fire Kartia.
But he DIDN'T say I couldn't use a certain exploding sword.
Unfortunately I forgot to get that so we'll just use Fire Kartia anyways, because
the game doesn't have any defeat conditions other than human death. :v:





Immediatedly to our right, we have a bunch of Miles, and a Kyau.


Directly north of the Miles, we have 4 Beheads and a Kyau. And this motherfucking Kyau is the bane of
my existance. You see. This motherfucker will destroy those chests. The first one will always be destroyed on the first enemy turn and there is absolutely squat you can do about it.

The second one is an entirely different story though.
Getting that chest is a pretty tight operation and full of RNG you don't have control over.
But you can game the AI a bit in your favor.



Lastly we have Zakuro himself and 2 more Miles. We could wuss out and just murder Zakuro on our second turn, but that's very bad idea.


And this is the distance. The earliest we can get to that second chest, is our second turn. But we require a rather specific setup for this.


To make it to the chest we NEED to have a Kyau. It's simply impossible without it.
But even a standard Kyau is not good enough for our purposes. We have to modify it.
Unfortunately I cannot recolor it red. But I can change it's Text to include 'Fast'.
This will increases it's movement by 1.



Alright so now we can physically make it. In theory.
The Beheads can one-shot the Kyau. But that's only if it hits.
A Kyau has a base 50 speed. That's -50% chance to hit right there.
But we can give them a little better boost.
The 'Sharp' Text adds another 5 speed to the Kyau.
With the text we have so far, that's all we can do for now.



I create 3 Kyau's. I need only one of them to reach the chest, but more Kyau's give me more breathing room.
I then move my guys as close as I can. Troy and Lacryma needs to be the closest, because even with our modified Kyau's I still have to do some Kartia shenanigans.




These chests just contains 'Iron' and other such Text we already have on Toxa's run. So nothing new and exciting.


I position my Kyau's like this. The one furthest north, is the most important. If this one doesn't survive? Reload the game. You don't make it to the second chest in time.


While I was doing this secret, I needed to find a good area spell. I didn't have access to Wide Quake yet.
But I did come across a hidden spell. And it's like it was made for this.



Quick Quake is actually a 3 combination Kartia. First the basic Earth Text. Then you add Fast and Goblin. Those 3 specific Text's in combination produces Quick Quake.

Quick Quake does extra damage to Dolls. But that's not why it's good for this. It has a larger area of effect and can be cast from a longer range.



By adding 'Strong' We get a +2 modifier to the spell instead of just +1 if we had added any other Text.

Troy. Take it away.


As you can see, since Zakuro didn't flinch, the spell missed him. That's a bad sign.


Since Zakuro was at full health, there were two things he could have done. He could move somewhere and summon another Phantom. Or he can move in for an attack.
The Kyau's 55 speed didn't help them and this one get's one-shot. But that's fine, it's only a distraction.



Meanwhile, this butt donkey, destroyed the first chest. Unfortunately, but nothing anyone can do about it, short of hacking the game.
Which someone did. They found nothing in the chest. Womp Womp.



Anyways, since the Quick Quake had hit the Beheads, they couldn't instantly kill the Kyaus. Still I'd have liked for the Kyau to atleast have dodged some attacks. Considering the enemies have around 40% chance to hit.
That's the second distraction down. The other two Beheads, won't move as they're just roadblocks.



The last two Miles, move in and kill the last Kyau. 100% hit on 3 units that have roughly 40% hit chance. I'm glad I don't play Fire Emblem.
Alright, reset and let's do this a little different.


My Second Try.


Last time, only Troy was in range to hit with his spells. This time Lacryma, will be able to pitch in.


And Troy is that bit closer to get the optimal hit with Wide Quake. It hit's 2 of the Beheads and Zakuro. But one is still at 100%.


Lacryma pitches in with Gale+1. A visually unimpressive spell so you'll only get a screen shot.


This time, the spell hits, both Zakuro and the untouched, Behead.


Zakuro fucks off and creates a Miles. I expect him to heal himself, but whatever. I'm just glad he didn't kill a Kyau.


This time, the Kyau dodges and takes no damage. It's now 100% safe as it can only be attacked from one more direction and the Miles, cannot one shot it.


I do lose a Kyau, but we are pretty much safe. There can only go 1 more thing wrong and then you have to be astronomically unlucky...
...
...
Better save.



Oh and Kun is down here or whatever. The Miles cannot hurt him except when they're 100% and wields a sword. So he is pretty safe too.

My second turn.

Our first obstacle to my goddamn treasure overcome, it's time to face the last obstacle. The Behead Barrier.
Our plan is pretty simple. Nuke the hell out of it.





:frogout:

With the barrier broken, we have free access to the chest now. So whats in it?
Feast your eyes on this!



:goleft: Really? Whelp what a waste of-


Oh wait, there's more? Well this isn't such a bad rewa-


:stare: What! 99 WORLD TREE KARTIA? GAME OVER MAN. GAME OVER. I'VE ALREADY WON. MUHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

Just forget we don't have have any World Tree Text. Shhhhhh

To take it in context. When we completel a mission we'll get around 40 silk kartia 12-20 Mithril and 1-3 World Tree Kartia.
The secret alone is worth doing just for the World Tree Kartia.



And then I blew up Zakuro, because gently caress killing everything. I've already got what I came for.


"You've broken the law. You will be judged accordingly."
Zakuro "You're going to regret this."
"You're the one who's going to feel regret."
"I will hand him over to the chairman. You two can go back."
"Ok."


And so Troy avoided getting arrested. And the true culprit was found. The hideously ugly Zakuro.
If nothing else he should be removed from the public eye. If that isn't a public service then I don't know what is.



"Hi, Lacryma."
"Did he confess anything?"
"Nothing. He's in jail until the Knights return."


Lacryma moves away with the Kyau, to play with it. The thing that is according to her religion a hideous abomination.

"Punishable by death."
Troy produces a mug.
"He will be executed."
"That's too harsh for theft."
"You don't know the value of Kartia... How pathetic."

You mean how the local Encrypter school had a chest full of Kartia? Must be Reeeeeeaaaaal valuable Troy.



"I just made a guess. Troy is very cautious about these things."
"If Troy did steal it, what would you have done?"
"I would have killed him on sight. Good night everyone.

Stone cold, lady. That's just stone cold. Atleast we didn't have to go through the anime stereotype of a character
doing something completely out of character and everyone treats that person like a criminal. It's pretty rare to see in games that characters aren't completely stupid. I appreciate it.



It's not entirely clear when Lacryma jokes about things. But maybe Lacryma is just socially awkward?
"She's different..."
"I told you. She's a genius."


Hmm sounds like Troy knows something. Time for a flashback, back when flashbacks weren't in sepia tone.


"Can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Can you swear to me that you're innocent?"
"You're the one who proved me innocent."
"I want to hear it from your own mouth."
"I will tell you something. Sometimes I say stupid things... But I never lied to you."
"Alright... I wanted to make sure. Thanks Troy."


"Lacryma is qualified to create Phantoms, but she doesn't. Why?"
"She's a Shrine Warrior."
"That's what Posha said. But I don't understand."
"Let me educate you. Pentagram forbids Shrine Warriors to create living beings by using Kartia."
"I see..."
"Living beings created by Kartia are considered heathen. But they're the guardian of the World Tree. That's why they have the license."

That is, the Shrine Warriors are the guardians, not the Phantoms.

"That doesn't make sense... You have the power, but you can't use it."
"That's what religion is... Lacryma is very religious. Even in extreme danger, I doubt she will use her power."
"Is that how you talk about the person who saved you?"
"She saved me because of my license. Vigilance needs me."
"I don't agree with you."
"Yeah?"
"That's right! Lacryma is not like that! She's a very kind person."
"That's just the way I feel. I don't care if you agree or not."
"Then I won't agree."
"Neither will I."


"Use your brain, don't waste the card. Vigilance's costs are covered by the Pentagram."
"What do you mean? Why are you saying that?"


What the loving hell Posha. It sounds like you're about to quit life, not Vigilance.

Anyways on that note that's the end of Chapter 2, Next time things will pick up and we'll see someone important in a place they probably shouldn't be.


Lacryma Episode 4 Chapter 2 END

Sazero fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Apr 25, 2015

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
Good lord. So I imagine this is the path you want to take, playing the game. I don't remember this kind of ridiculous bounty on the other half.

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.

Glazius posted:

Good lord. So I imagine this is the path you want to take, playing the game. I don't remember this kind of ridiculous bounty on the other half.

It's not so much "paths" as it's individual campaigns.

Each main character is a self contained story. And while a straggler here and there will change sides, both groups will never meet up and say "Ok final bad guy, we're gonna kick your rear end with friendship".
But both character's story happen more or less at the same time. Thus why I'm changing to Lacryma for now, and then back to Toxa after next mission because then she is gonna get caught up with Toxa.
Then later on when Toxa has progressed either far enough or where it would fit to change to Lacryma again, I'll do so.

So far, Lacryma's run have been better loot wise. With an Iron sword in the first map, a Chain vest some Miles Boots and oh 99 of every Kartia. And she hasn't even caught up to Toxa yet.
Since the Fire Arm, Athena Helmet, and Behead Armour is gotten through the Arena, both characters get access to those items.
I don't remember any noteworthy items from Toxa. He has the better party and can summon 12 phantoms as opposed to Lacryma's 6. So I guess it balances out?

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
Lacryma Episode 5 Chapter 3 pt.1


Holy poo poo, a jail in a school? Better turn in that homework, son or it's 3 days in isolation.


So Zakuro ended up getting arrested and jailed. Which is literally better than fighting our party.
I mean on one hand you can fight a hellish horde of nightmare beasts, avoiding exploding swords and
arcane magick's so vile it turns the earth against you.

Or you can just stay in your prison cell.



So apparently "Krause" didn't get arrested. Because conspiracy charges haven't been invented yet.


Get ready for a load of screenshots, because I'm still refusing to make a portrait of Zakuro. :colbert:








Not really sure why Zakuro objects here. Cross havn't exactly told him to do anything yet.
Unless he suspects Akueldo wants him dead and Cross is the assassin. I don't know it just doesn't flow very well.





Now that I think about it. Why did Cross even bother to rescue Zakuro?
I mean he was caught, beaten and lost the Text he stole. Not exactly a stellar example of performance.
It's pretty clear he doesn't know anything important.



What. Not only do you rehire the guy who failed to steal the Text you want. But you hire him specifically to steal the Text he lost.






You know, tempting someone with something, you'd have to give them the impression that they can realistically obtain what you're tempting with.
But I guess it works on Zakuro, because his intelligence is equal to Kun's Kartia stat.



Except your life. Well I guess he still have to deal with the punishment he got from stealing Text and that is pretty severe.
So I guess there is some realistic reason Zakuro joins Cross.


... Wait did I just try to apply realism to this game? It has AN EXPLODING SWORD. Well it's not the only stupid thing in this update. You'll see.


He is stupid and incompetent, that's why I trust him :downs:

Monologue time


I feel like there might be a politics joke in here somewhere. But I really cannot find it within myself to care about politics.
Thanks Obama, for making my LP harder to write.


Did I do it right?





Vigilance HQ. Like you didn't already know.




It occurs to me that either chairs don't exist in Rebus, or Vigilance has a terrible working environment.

*Awkard Pause*

"Do you need to talk to me?"
"Well, yes... Do you have some time?"


Troy and Posha are literally so bored they're jumping at the chance of catching some juicy gossip.
Legend of Kartia isn't all, world destroying magic and slaughter.



No, it's called personal space Troy. Don't tell me you're one of those kind of people who stands 0.5mm behind you in a line. It's people like that, that make me not bathe so I can repel them with my hideous stench.

"It's not that, but..."
"Then say it. Maybe I can be of help."
"I'm broke... I used up all my money getting here."
"And?"

What comes next is... Something I never expected. Screenshot to prove it.


:stare: I don't have any words for this. I love it.

"What are you saying!?"
"I've heard of attraction between Knights and Shrine Warriors."
"What are you talking about? That's not what I mean!"
"What's a pimp?"
:rolleyes:
"Troy, stop."

For all the progression in modern gaming, I've yet to see a character asking another character if they're pimps or related to the sex industry. I don't know if it's in the original script or what, but I'm surprised this poo poo didn't get censored the gently caress out. In a time where smoking got censored out of cartoons with lollipops, how did this get through?I mean I like it, it's great. Just surprised it somehow survived. This game is magic.


"That's right... I don't have enough money."
"Sorry... I used up all my money."
"You don't have to apologize. But what am I going to do?"

Get yershelf a job yer darm hippie! :argh: Oh wait Kun actually is employed. He just isn't getting any pay.
They really need union to sort this poo poo out. How can you get paid to sell people beer, but fight off a bunch of
monsters for free?


"Get a part-time job. Apply at the pub."
"Will they hire me? I'm ne in town."
Well Kun, if there is anything job hunting has taught me, it's that making a good first impression is always good.
You saved a bunch of people from wild phantoms. I don't think you get a better first impression than that.


"Alana works there. Ask her to put in a good word for you."
"Troy, stop teasing him."
"No, that's a good idea! I could do the heavy work."
"Don't you remember that the pub was destroyed by the Phantoms?"
I call bullshit! The bar was in pristine condition when I was done cleaning it for wild Phantoms. :colbert: Only because I hadn't gotten the world breaking Text's yet


"Just joking. Relax."
"I'm serious about this."
"What did you do with the money Lao gave you?"
"I turned it down."
"What!? Why?"
"I didn't help them for money."
"What an idiot... He's all yours, Lacryma."

Troy leaves the conversation and sits on his lazy rear end on the stairs.


"Let's ask if they have any openings in that department."
"Thank you."
"Well, let's go. Posha, aren't you off for today?"
"Yes."



I'm gonna cut the update short here, due to pacing. This chapter feels the most like filler to me. It's not even world building anymore.

Next Time We'll actually see the chapter title properly. But here is a glimse of the future. I can do that, because this game is magic.



Eh? Getting excited yet? I know I am! :haw:

Sazero fucked around with this message at 14:53 on Mar 24, 2015

Black Balloon
Dec 28, 2008

The literal grumpiest



Troy is a good character.

EggsAisle
Dec 17, 2013

I get it! You're, uh...
And the game is rated 'E', too. I'm guessing they left that line out for the ESRB demo. Fun times!

The Zakuro/Cross scene never made much sense to me, either. I gather that Cross thinks he's some kind of hot poo poo Evil Mastermind, but it just seems like a waste of his time. It never really gets explained, either, unless it's in Toxa's scenario and I just forgot.

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
Another thing that is inconsistent is that Garum isn't dead yet. He dies in Episode 6. This is Episode 5. So Cross's line about how the thieves isn't Garum's territory anymore makes no sense either.

That would mean that Cross had plans about killing Garum regardless of whether he succeeded in getting Mona back.

Of course who is to say that Cross isn't lying to Zakuro. Just like how Asty lied to Vandor about Misty's betrayal. At least that is what makes most sense.
It dawns upon me that if you take things at face value in Kartia, a lot of things won't make sense.
In a media where you get every fact told, either visually or thoughts, you have to use a surprising amount of imagination to make things sense in Kartia.
SORT OF LIKE A BOOK. *AGASP*.

Zakuro should show up next Lacryma chapter. As for his role, well we'll see.

*edit* Oh also I really had to resist the urge to do some kind of stupid "pls, notice me sempai" joke with the pimp scene.

Director's LP commentary! :haw:

EggsAisle
Dec 17, 2013

I get it! You're, uh...
It just occurred to me, isn't -kun a Japanese honorific? Maybe the character's name is supposed to be a pun or something. A Kun pun, as it were. (I'm sorry!)

Nice catch on Cross's line foreshadowing Garum's death, too. He's clearly up to some cloak-and-dagger antics, I'm just having trouble remembering what it is he's (actually) trying to accomplish. Either way, I quite enjoy Zakuro's protest, "I'm not expendable!" Right, dude. Keep telling yourself that.

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
I want to get in on the pun fun. But nothing really comes to me.

But according to my very extensive (And unfortunate) knowledge about animais, then yes -kun is a japanese honorific. Maybe the translators didn't know it was an honorific and just thought it was his name?

Speaking of Kun, he seems to be a weird bizarro Samurai parallel. He swords people good, but he can't read a Donald Duck comic.
He also hails from a country called Vestas, a country where Phantoms are completely forbidden and Kartia isn't as wide spread.
He also had a master training him and was the one to send him to Kainas. Very Japan if you ask me.

I think a parallel can be drawn between Vestas and Japan in the.. 1400's? A history buff might want to chip in.
Anyways back when in ye olde dayes. Japan had some trouble adjusting to the fact that westerners had guns and they didn't.
They also really didn't take too well to foreign culture. Or just foreigners to begin with.
So they were scientifically behind. And had some traditional thinking.

Sort of like how Vestas is developmentally behind in regards to Kartia. They think Phantoms are heretical and thus forbidden.
And Kartia is either limited, or restricted. It wouldn't be hard to imagine that they're still only using World Tree Kartia. Even though
Silk and Mithril alternatives exist. But that is mostly guess work.

Of course most of this theory is inferred by Kun's reaction to life in Kainas. So it's entirely possible I'd have interpreted it wrong.

Vaginapocalypse
Mar 15, 2013

:qq: B-but it's so hard being white! Waaaaaagh! :qq:
So, so happy that someone is doing an LP of this game. The characters are endearing, the gameplay a bit meh, but kyau phantoms are :3:

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
"Why don't we get money for saving people?"

"What about the money from those people you saved?"

"I couldn't take their money!"

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
I'm experiencing some technical difficulties. For some reason or another my computer had a critical error while I was sleeping. At this point, I'm not sure if it's a hardware malfunction or software bug that somehow through arcane and mysterious means just screws my windows installation over harder, than any Kartia I've ever used in the game.

What really baffles me, is that I've gone several decades without having a serious issue like this, but 4 months after I start a LP and this happens.

The LP Curse (tm) is very real. Or maybe it's just the insanity from the Drakengard 3 LP that is bleeding over.

I'm currently trying to breathe some life into my machine so at the very least I can recover my saves.
Failing that I'll just have to play through again. Thankfully we're still in the early game.

Then I'm gonna try to actually repair my computer, because I'm not running an LP through this POS craptop.
I expect it to get up and running the next day or two. Unless the issue is worse than I think it is.

The good news atleast is that it could be the start to kick off my LoL addiction!
Haha ha bwahahaha yeah who am I kidding?
---

:argh::argh::argh:

EggsAisle
Dec 17, 2013

I get it! You're, uh...
You know how in ancient times, luck/fortune was believed to be a fickle goddess? I think the LP goddess is her younger sister, every bit as impulsive and prone to mood disorders. She'll breathe inspiration and life into an LP one day, then throw a fit of pique and make your computer explode.

Good luck sorting all that out. And with the LoL addiction, that can be vicious. I broke it by maining Zyra for a while, for what that's worth.

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
So. The LP goddess broke my graffics card (It was totally not because it was atleast 5 years old). Reinstalling windows and installing drivers and poo poo works just fine, until I have to install my video drivers, in which case I get to replicate the issues that broke my computer in the first place. So baring a really elaborate computer virus, which to be fair the most devious of them are, my only conclusion is that something has burned out on it.

Waking up to my screen being in completely red, should probaly have tipped me off.

The good news is, well... for me really, is that I managed to recover the saves so I won't have to curse my existance as I spend another 2 hours catching up to where we were. :haw:
Looking up various CMD commands to copy the files to my external harddrive was totally worth the effort to not have to deal with Lacryma Chapter 2 again. (Which took atleast several hours because MS-DOS appearently doesn't have a command to list all the drive letters that's being used and :words: bla bla bla technical poo poo no one cares about.)

However, I don't have a spare graffics card laying around. (and if I did it'd be even more ancient than the one I already used. Probaly a GeForce 2 or some poo poo like that.)

So I won't expect being able to update until Tuesday or Wedneysday. Ah well it was probaly time to upgrade it anyways.

And in regards to the LoL addiction. If meeting the most terrible people on earth and having them shittalk me for an hour because I'm not 360 swag fag trollscope with every Thresh Hook, didn't chase me away. I'm... honestly not sure what will. Smoking cocaine and injecting yourself with weed is probaly healthier than being exposed to the LoL community for any duration.

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
Lacryma Episode 5 Chapter 3 pt.2


You know. Now that I've gotten a new video card and a much better screen, I can really appreciate the lovely screenshots even more.
It's actually just me failing on the technical side. I'm an idiot. Things should be back to normal next update. Atleast it's not a weird aspect ratio right? :haw:



I've never really given much thought on how the World Trees come to look like this. I wonder if it's just stupid fantasy stuff or if there are actually trees that grow like this.


Right, so last time Kun was accused of being a pimp. Woah that's a sentence I'd never thought I'd get to write.
Unfortunately being a JRPG hero in a world where slaying monsters doesn't rain gold on your face, means he doesn't actually have economical income.
Just like in real life, having wicked sword skills won't make you rich. Atleast if you want to stay out of jail.

Anyways he looked to Lacryma to get her to help find a job. A paying job. He is still employed in Vigilance. But that doesn't qualify as work appearently.
And that's pretty much it. So let's find out exactly what medieval job hunting is all about.





You know, the carpet looks remarkably similar to my country's flag Dannebro.
It's not really important, just wanted to point it out.


"This is regarding the new recruit Kun..."
Anburi: "So, you're Kun. I heard you destroyed the Phantoms in the pub."
"It was nothing..."
Anburi: "If Lacryma has a favor regarding you... Let me know what I can do."


Errr... What? Is he... Is he saying he is too poor to work? Or is he saying that he doesn't want to owe Lacryma for getting him a job? That's even more stupid. I just... :downs: I give up. I can't rationalize this.


"Why?"
"I changed my mind. I'll figure this out on my own."

Kun, you're just that kind of friend aren't you? The one that always asks people for help, but when they show up to help you, but not the way you wanted them to.. "No no, don't lift the couch that way. Careful you don't damage my furniture! Don't slam my door too hard, it might break." Kun is the reason I don't help people anymore. Would probably be getting complaints about how I didn't escort the old lady over the road the right way too. :argh:


And I'm Sazero. What? Wouldn't want you to forget. Anyways a guy shows up at the bottom. You can see him through the text screen.



Dinbra "Lacryma... For..give.. me..."
"What happened? How did you get that wound?"
Dinbra "Thief.. tried to.. steal the... World Tree..."
"Hey, hang in there!"

You know it always bugs me when characters say "Hang in there" when people are about to die/lose consciousness. Do you really believe that telling someone to stop dying, that they get better? Is it just a rebellious phase?
You don't tell people to stop bleeding after they cut themselves in the kitchen. Yeah I get hung up on the most stupid of stuff. I'm a real pleasure to be around, let me tell you.



Kartia is one of those rare games where game mechanics bleed over into the real world. To a degree atleast. It's also why revival spells doesn't exist and why losing a human party member in battle is instant defeat.
On the other hand this would mean that Toxa and company is gonna destroy Kainas in the future, with my excessive earth magic use. Or the Encrypter School would be burnt down due to my fire spells. Let's not give it any more thought.



Lacryma casts Rare Medicine. It heals 60 hp and which is 15 more than the basic healing spell. :eng101:


"I applied treatment with Kartia. He will live."
Anburi: "I see... But what...?"
"Lacryma, he said something about a thief..."

It's at this point, the writers, Lacryma, Kun, and I remember that Posha exist.


Why were you even here Posha? She was only there so Lacryma could send her off here. She didn't contribute to Kun getting a job. She had no dialogue or any impact on the story. She didn't even help heal Dinbra even though that's her only skill and reason she is in Vigilance.
Posha_life.txt :sigh:


"Kun, will you give us a hand?"
"Of course!"

Why is Lacryma even asking him? She's his boss at this point. What kind of boss asks his employees to do the job they were hired to do?


Anburi "You should wait for Troy. With only the two of you, it will be dangerous."
Anburi tries to give Lacryma a wooden sword. But she already has a wooden sword. It's + 4 even.

"I'm responsible for this... I posted only one guard. If I don't do something, my father will be disappointed."
Anburi "Lacryma... May God protect you."

Speaking of Kainas( the person), it's oddly suspect we havn't seen him doing something. I wonder why.

Elsewhere, but close by.


"I'm just a dreamer."
"A dreamer does not have the power to make dreams come true."
"I'm also human. Sometimes I dream about peace..."
"You're the head of Akueldo. You shouldn't talk that way."
"You're harsh..."

Errr... I can see why whatshisname got injured on the job. He was up against Raguruzet and Karis. Just a refresher course Raguruzet is one of the people behind the development of Kartia so he ought to know a trick or two. This could be trouble.
Although, shouldn't he be in Nordia, leading a rebellion? What is he doing here?



"Another guardian. A Shrine Warrior."
"Sir, that's Lacryma Christi."

Okey, I just need to point something out here. So the religion that Lacryma and the Shrine Warriors follow is monotheism. That is they have a single god. Whose name is "God". And Lacryma's last name is Christi. It's so subtle I feel like wearing a bandana and hiding in a cardboard box.



This made me look through all the portraits I've made so far and I just noticed something. There is a large majority of blond, white people. AMANO!!!! :argh:


No seriously. Everyone in this screenshot is white, with blond hair. It's kind of funny.

"Why? As soon as we repent, we'll be forgiven. That's nonsense. Your God is weak."

Whelp this shoots down my "Lacryma is Christ" theory. I mean in order for Raguruzet to say this Christ would have already had to have died. Oh and the religion is obviously fantasy Christianity. Er... I think? poo poo, there are so many loving branches of the same god drat loving religion it's hard to keep track of all the cults these days. Legend of Kartia religion is the one with the god and the christ. Whichever that one is.


Karis tosses a wine glass which shatters on the ground.

"You have violated the law... Now I must destroy you!"
"I respect your courage, but that alone will not save you."
"Well, let's find out!"
"Now is the time to show you who is in charge. This is the beginning of my era!"



"That man is one of the Knights."


The same could be said of you Raguruzet. Isn't the point of hiring the thieves, to steal the world tree for you?

"A daughter of the hero and the hero of the past."
"We have little time."
I must say that Link look really different after he got older. The years certainly havn't been kind to him. Ironic, what with being the hero of time and all.

"I shall enjoy this... Let's move away from the World Tree to keep it from harm."

"They're getting away!"


And so we prepare for battle once again. But not until next time. You don't seriously expect me to spend more than 3 hours on an update with a new video card do you? I pity your foolishness.

Next time, the worst mission so far. Yes even worse than RNG Lacryma Chapter 2.

Bonus question: How foreboding is it that Fantasy Religion is Christianity?

Sazero fucked around with this message at 14:54 on Mar 24, 2015

EggsAisle
Dec 17, 2013

I get it! You're, uh...

quote:

Bonus question: How foreboding is it that Fantasy Religion is Christianity?

And, like you pointed out, Lacryma's last name is "Christ" with an extra 'i' tacked on at the end. And she talks about her dad a lot and how she has so much to live up to. Yeah. I don't think subtlety was one of their priorities while writing this scenario.

A lot of Japanese media seems to treat religion, especially monotheism, with a good deal of mistrust. You can probably chalk much of that up to spiritual differences and the usual suspicion that comes with cultural imports. You've got to admit, though, Christianity is ripe for conspiracy opportunities in storytelling. The Catholic Church alone has mysterious rituals, a secretive nature, a long history of meddling in politics... hell, there have been so many real-life conspiracies, it's not much of a stretch to invent one.

With that said, I think Kartia offers a slightly more... nuanced portrayal than, say, Final Fantasy X. But it's a theme that continues right up through the final chapters, so it'd be premature to draw conclusions just yet.

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
It certainly is a somewhat more realistic take on religion as an organization run by humans.
Christianity has a long history of blood, foul play, crazy tinfoil hat conspiracies and has worked hard against progression.
I find it easy to imagine that the people in power serve themselves and bend the messages of the religion to fit them.

To run a parallel with Kartia.
We know from Misty's sob story, that her parents were killed by the Shrines, because they were researching Phantoms, which were deemed heretical and illegal at the time.
That sounds an awful lot like burning witches to me. Well except with the actual burning.
But now in the game's present, Phantoms are not prosecuted and is an active part of the shrines war machine and industry. I mean they still find it heretical but they are actually embracing it.
The point is that people have died in vain, because they were an obstacle to the Shrines goals and they have then later embraced the very thing they prosecuted people for.

Oh and we haven't even had a scheme scene yet.

To compare with the crimes of Akueldo:

They employed Zakuro, which is the gravest sin as that resulted in him getting any screen time and thus made me have to look at him.
Kidnapped Mona, a druid which is important to the growth and well being of World Trees.
Killed Mona's mother.
Employed a gang of thieves.
Killed said gangs leader.
Is leading a rebellion in Nordia.
Responsible for the destruction of Kainas's pub.
Intrusion upon Shinon Estate. Several charges.
Attempted manslaughter and assault. Several charges.
Broke into and stole Text from the Encryptor School.
Falsely accused an "innocent" man.
Attempted theft of a World Tree.

So yeah, they certainly look like a much worse evil than the Shrines. On the other hand Akueldo can't make it's crimes legal, so I guess that point is moot.

Bonus:
If Kartia were made today, would Misty still be talking like she had a speech impediment. Or would she go Revengeance?
Also seriously, why is 11 out of the 20 characters we've seen (with portraits) white and blond? Was this also a thing in FF6?

Tallgeese
May 11, 2008

MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR


Actually, that's not unlike certain strains of Judaism.

During Shabbos, it is religiously forbidden to do what is considered "work". However, if someone who does not follow the religion offers to do something for you, that is allowed. There are certain very important exceptions, such as to save someone's life.

For example, you're not supposed to drive a car. There's nothing stopping you from taking a ride from someone else though.

Same deal here: Lacryma is not allowed to create Phantoms, but there's nothing stopping her from having someone else do it for her.

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
Sure, except people didn't get killed by religous groups because they were driving cars at one point in life.

Besides, isn't it breaking the rules, if you have to run an organization where you expect your workers to "offer" their services that's forbidden by your religion?
That is, to take advantage of the fact that not everyone is following your religion?

It feels a bit like circumventing the own rules you claim to follow. It's hypocrisy.
"Chocolate is the devil and I'm not allowed to eat it. But it sure would be nice if someone forced it down my throat." *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*

Raitzeno
Nov 24, 2007

What? It seemed like
a good idea at the time.

Tallgeese posted:

Actually, that's not unlike certain strains of Judaism.

During Shabbos, it is religiously forbidden to do what is considered "work". However, if someone who does not follow the religion offers to do something for you, that is allowed. There are certain very important exceptions, such as to save someone's life.

For example, you're not supposed to drive a car. There's nothing stopping you from taking a ride from someone else though.

One thing about Judaism is that health trumps tradition most of the time. If you're allergic to something, you're exempt from having to eat it at the appointed times. If you need to have a non-empty stomach to take your medicine, you're exempt from fast days (but TRY not to snack). The elderly/injured are under no expectation to rise, bow, whatever during prayer sessions, nobody even looks at you funny. Etc, etc, etc. It's a pretty good attitude on that stuff for a religion to have if it wants to keep modern followers.

I wonder how 'tolerant' of exceptions the Shrine here is?

E: Also, re: the hypocrisy thing... part of it is to blend into a hostile society. If you have to refuse something someone else is doing or offering, they'll start wondering why. If someone figures out you're a follower of this banned/hated religion, oops, you now have the authories/Klan/vigilantes/other assorted bigots after you. Quietly accepting that other people don't follow your religion and not making a fuss about it is a survival trait.

Raitzeno fucked around with this message at 22:22 on Mar 12, 2015

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
I like that the villains just want to steal the World Tree, not actually hurt it.

ultrafilter
Aug 23, 2007

It's okay if you have any questions.


The villains don't seem like they're particularly evil here.

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
Lacryma Episode 5 Chapter 3 pt.3


I don't know why I keep posting these, because all the missions so far have occured in Kainas. Atleast in Lacryma's story.


We are to fight off thieves attacking the Kainas shrine and... Wait. This sounds oddly familiar.


Hmm, I feel something off about this mission. We appearently don't have to murder everyone.


This looks very familiar. Okey, they totally reused the map from Toxa's campaign when he had to defend the Shinon shrine.
Surprisingly low effort. Anyways, we're facing off against Raguruzet and Karis. Let's check out our surroundings.



Right in front of us we have this group of phantoms to contend with. Without Troy, we are gonna have a tough time, dealing with these without summoning our own phantoms.
I mean, we could but it would leave us in terrible shape after wards.



Just on top of these are 3 more Morderes.


And below the central group, we have another 3 Morderes, barried by a river.


Right behind the central group, we have Raguruzet and Karis themselves, guarded by another 4 Beheads and 2 Morderes

2 Humans, 8 Beheads and a staggering 10 Morderes. :stare:
That's a lot of resistance and we are not fighting at full strenght.

But wait. It gets better...



Raguruzet will create a new Mordere each turn.
That's fine though. More experience for my murder machines.



So let's prepare. I got this Damascus Sword from the Arena. So I was wrong when I said the rewards from the Arena were identical between the characters.
Compared to Toxa's Athena Helmet, it's a terrible reward. Athena Helmet was a D ranked head item, that granted a rather good defensive bonus + 10 magic resistance to every element.
The Damascus Sword can at best be used to kill Kyau more easily. It's not even a unique weapon if I remember correctly. We can create it later.



To add further insult to injury let's compare it to the Fire Arm. :haw: Anyways I remember to equip it this time.


Rimzan himself still has his Zweihander +2. Which I'm stealing once again.


Like any man, I'm checking the ladies out first. I can't believe Karis has access to Big armory, and is still running around with a polished up Spirit Knife. Or why she is still wearing Iron helmet and boots, when she has access to better equipment.
I'm gonna take a guess that it's probably a fashion statement or something. Fashion is pretty weird like that.



For a guy who is supposedly the lead industrialist in regards to Kartia. Raguruzet is sporting some surprisingly lovely equipment.
Also Karis is better armored than Raguruzet. The game might be racist, but atleast we don't have to worry about chain mail bikinis or skimpy outfits.


:sigh:



Alright, let's do this. First order of business is acquiring another Text.


I'm not gonna pretend that I remember what Text this is. It's a bit like Pokémon. I don't really care about their names, I just want them all.

Oh also, I created a bunch of Beheads. You might wonder what happened to the Kyau. Well I'm sad to say I DELETED it and created a Behead instead.
Creators of Phantoms can just instantly delete their existance. That's rather bleak, so let's just pretend we send it back to Vigilance HQ to make ourselves feel better.



Oh. Great. More Silk. Not like I have 150 of those by the end of this mission. Now I feel like I just got Socks for Christmas. :geno:

A typical thing, I'll often do in tactical games, is to wait for the enemy to get closer, so I can murder them next turn. Besides we are facing a superior force, so let's not rush to our deaths.




Interestingly enough we don't actually have to prevent the enemy from entering the Shrine. There are no area to protect and they won't actually try to rush for the entrance.


This is also the first mission where I even bothered to heal up. This is the lowest ranking heal. "Medicine" healing 45 hp.


You might notice that I'm running this mission a bit fast now.


And that is because...


...It really...


...Isn't that interesting...


...And I don't have anything particularly interesting to talk about...


...Except this handy feature...


...Oh look Troy is here...


...And that makes this the end of the mission.

WHAT? Yes. This is a Defend for X Turns mission and it's really boring. There are no curve balls, no enemy reinforcements, no tricks. Nothing interesting really.
Raguruzet and Karis doesn't even rush you with all their guys. Half of the enemies are just standing around moving 1 square, like they knew it would be pointless to move.
Hell, you only have 5 turns, Because Troy shows up at turn 6. Because of the massive amount of Morderes, you can't rush to Raguruzet and Karis and take them out.
You simply don't have the offense to do it in time. Nor do you have the defense to take the massive Mordere assault. And if you even get close enough you'll get blasted by magic.

In short it's a really bad mission where there aren't even any optional objectives to make it more interesting. In fact, Raguruzet doesn't accomplish anything here, and we don't learn anything new in regards to Akueldo.

This is why the strong point of the game is the story. Don't worry too much though, not every mission is like this. But I'm just a little disappointed that they had nothing better to put here than this.
Anyways, back to "The Kartia of our Lives."



"Great! The tables have turned!"
"Sir. There is no reason to pursue this. Our time is almost..."
"I guess playtime is over."






Right, so Raguruzet and Karis attack the shrine to attempt to steal the World Tree. They waste their time doing nothing after defeating the first Shrine Warrior. Who did manage to escape and warn Lacryma.
In the mean time they take no effort in stealing the World Tree, just standing around making small talk. They fight Lacryma for a bit and then suddently "run out of time" and retreat as Troy shows up.

What the hell were their goal? It's not like they had a new phantom they needed "battle data" or whatever. Why did Raguruzet have to be here to achieve nothing? I... I just don't understand this at all. :psyduck:
I don't even think it's brought up again. Just... Why?



"I'm glad everyone is Ok."
"Thanks for your help, Posha."
"I thought I could show off."


Right so. Think didn't really go all that well. I mean yeah, for every phantom I lost, I took 2 down. But Raguruzet created a new one each turn. So it's actually 4-3 in their favor.


Oh and we are now sitting at 250 Silk Kartia. Man getting that 10 Silk from the urn is gonna be a game changer you guys.


"An honorable wound..."
"A wound is a wound. By the way, why are you back Rimzan?"
"On the way to Pentagram, I heard that the Shrine was under attack. That's why I turned back."

To wake myself up from the comatose combat section, I decided to break out Rimzan's... well this.


"Why did they attack the Shrine?"
"They wanted the World Tree."
"World Tree?"
"The best material for Kartia. It's so expensive that it makes thieves want to steal it."

I think you'll find that thieves are gonna steal regardless of value. poo poo, the gas station I worked at as a teenager, had a frigging dog bowl stolen. A DOG BOWL.
On the other hand, poo poo were weird. Had a guy trying to rob us with a spray painted toy gun. Except they didn't paint the inside of the barrel and my manager could see it was orange inside.
So he laughed at him and told him to get the hell out. Another time, some dissatisfied customers who were mad at the owners tried to bomb the station with some illegal fireworks.
It could have been very dangerous, except these were idiots who had set the fuse too short, and ended up blowing themselves up. Lucky(?) for me, I weren't on shift either time. But I did
get to see the surveillance cameras. Well that went off on a tangent. Back to the LP



"Thieves are getting stronger. Beating a Shrine Warrior."
"The one we fought used strong magic."

We never actually saw Raguruzet or Karis cast any spells.

"I have nothing to do with this."
"Troy, what are you talking about."


The Kyau that I deleted sent back to Vigilance HQ is running around here.

"What's on your mind?"
"This is their chance to get the World Tree with minimum damage. I don't think they backed off because they were scared of us."
"In any case, we're in bad shape. They know how we are."
"We should have gone after them."
"What's done is done... If they come back, we have to worry about the town."
"Yes..."
"We should put up barriers."
"Where is a good place to evacuate the people?"
"The Encrypter School will be a safe place."

Wait hold on now. I have to call this into question. First off, why doesn't Rimzan have a clear idea of where to evacuate people? He is the Leader of Kainas. You'd imagine this would have come up in a theoretical scenario at some point.
Did he never think about this? Secondly, I think the Encrypter School would be the worst place to put people. We know it's full of Text, and that someone has recently attempted to steal Text from the Encrypter School.
It wouldn't be unreasonable to think that the Encrypter School might be a secondary target. They should also know that Zakuro was sprung from prison about now. Because otherwise, holy poo poo are there no prison guards in Rebus?
If they don't have any suspicions that Zakuro is affiliated with the thieves by now, then just.. Wow. I have no words.



"Lacryma, call the Knights and Duran to come back."
"Yes sir."
"Troy, you talk to the School."
"They owe me big. They better help out."
"Tell the Shrines to shut down the outer gates.
"Yes sir."

Note: Rimzan doesn't even call Posha by name when he addresses her. My theory is that he forgot who she was. I know I have to spend 5 minutes remembering who she is.


But he remembers Kun, who he only just met on the battlefield. Maybe he remembers people by how they murder other people?
"Oh yeah, that guy with the exploding sword! Now I remember."


"Let's do it!"


The Kyau was appearently pretty pissed about getting deleted sent back to Vigilance HQ. It takes it's revengeance on Troy's butt.


Pissed off, Troy chases the Kyau. Rimzan looks on in disbelief, shaking his head in sadness.

Elsewhere, there is scheming to be had.






WINTER IS COMING! I'm sorry, I don't actually know any relevant farming jokes.


But here is a face we haven't seen in quite a while. Interesting to know that a Cardinal is scheming with Raguruzet. Because of course he does.
Also, the flow of conversation is really stiff here. Also there's a bunch of names being dropped here, but none of them have any portraits so... :effort:


Cardinal Shelpati "We need someone who is willing to sacrifice their life for the mission. Someone who can protect society."
Cardinal Charimate "Chai, you have been Bishop a long time. You should watch what you ask for."
Bishop Chai "Excuse me, your Eminence."
Inspector "If we can't find anyone, we will postpone this until Aile returns."
Bishop Nirigiri "May I speak?"
Inspector "What is it?"
Bishop Nirigiri "I know someone. She's 18 years old, but she's a Shrine Warrior. She's also pretty good with magic."
Cardinal Charimate "What's the difference between this person and everyone else?"
Bishop Nirigiri "She's the daughter of Kainas."

Uh oh. Why do I feel like this might be bad news?

Cardinal Shelpati "The daughter of Kainas?"
Cardinal Charimate "I thought the daughter of Kainas had died?"
Inspector "That's exactly what I heard. I don't know if it's true."
Bishop Nirigiri "Neither did I when I hard the news."

Let me get this straight. Because this sounds really, really stupid. So as we know Lacryma is a pretty big deal in Kainas, being the daughter of a hero obviously. She is working at rather high profile position in Vigilance.
Not only is she the treasurer of Vigilance, but she also leads it in the absence of Rimzan. She isn't exactly being secretive about her identity either. How the gently caress did Pentagram not know of her existence before?
They fund Vigilance. Have they never heard of oversight? Do they keep tabs on nobody? They can't even sniff out the worst kept "secret" in the world. The incompetence is staggering.



Inspector "Let's continue. If what you said is true, why is it important?"
Bishop Nirigiri "Are you familiar with the theory the Encrypter School is giving?"
Cardinal Charimate "About how the power of Kartia is based on the user? It's not confirmed yet."

I think they're refering to the effect of the same spell being cast by different people. Not that one person can cast higher level magic over another. That's a result of studying and can be trained after all.
So it shouldn't be a theory.


Bishop Nirigiri "We can't deny it either. Druids can easily raise the World Tree. There must be some truth to it."

Just because Druids are pretty good at botany, doesn't mean they are super great magicians. Even though they are, because what kind of elf would you be if you weren't good at magic.

"Besides that theory, we have only a few women Inquirers. We should begin her training."
Cardinal Shelpati "If she is the daughter of Kainas. This is interesting..."

Well I guess Lacryma is gonna get a promotion. Apparently, she is capable enough on her own to get recognized for her ability and not just the fact that she is some famous dude's daughter. Regardless of whether she wants to or not.
But it's interesting how Druids and Kartia ability were brought up in the same conversation as the church is looking for some kind of Martyr. They also seem to think that the daughter of Kainas fit the profile of
the Martyr they're looking for. One could make a guess as to the circumstances of Lacryma's lineage. But for now that's still speculation.






Inspector "Are you sure she's the daughter of Kainas?"
Bishop Nirigiri "I'm sure Aile knows more about it than I do..."
Inspector "What is the meaning of this! Aile, explain this!"



Well, Well. The Shrines are looking for someone who is willing to sacrifice everything. This person also need special skill in Kartia. And they seem to think that Kainas's daughter is the best prospect.
It's totally coincidental that said persons last name is Christi. Not at all Jesus we're talking about here. We also know that the Shrines have some involvement with Akueldo. But how far that extends is yet to be
seen. Is Beltschumelt acting alone, or is the whole religious body involved? We also know that Kainas is dead. That explains why such a high profile person have never entered the narrative at this point.

Now, we also know that Akueldo have attacked several Shrines. But how successful they were is still in question. the Shinon World Tree and Kainas World Tree remains safe at least.
Most mysteriously is why Raguruzet personally attacked the World Tree in Kainas. He is one of the heads of the whole thing, it sounds like an unnecessary risk. Another question is why
he didn't take the World Tree when he had the opportunity.

Here is my personal theory. The attack on the Kainas Shrine, was to draw security to that area, leaving the Encrypter School open, or with less security.
We know that Akueldo will successfully steal Text from the Encrypter School this time. We learn this from Toxa's version of the attack on Kainas.
It's also why he didn't steal the Kainas World Tree. After all if it was stolen, then there wouldn't be anything to draw security to.

We also know that the reason the thieves attacked the Shinon Shrine, was to get back Mona.
Raguruzet might be attacking other Shrines, to make it look like the World Trees are the objective and thus obscuring the true goals until it's too late.

Vigilance are still only suspecting Akueldo to be common thieves. In fact Vigilance doesn't even know of the name Akueldo yet.
Though by now they should be suspect of the strength of these thieves.


Lacryma Chapter 3 Episode 5 END

Sazero fucked around with this message at 14:55 on Mar 24, 2015

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
Huh. If they were only fighting to draw attention I guess when Troy showed up it was basically mission accomplished?

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.

To recap so far: Raguruzet made an appearance in Kainas, for what appears to steal the Kainas World Tree. He only managed to seriously injure the guard posted there, as he took too long gloating so Lacryma could
show up and stop him. She was conveniently there to help Kun find a job, because Vigilance is actually a volunteer job and as such doesn't pay their employees. Seriously. Oh and Lacryma brought Posha with her, even
though she did absolutely nothing to help Kun get a job and was sent off to find Troy. That sounds pretty convenient too.

Somewhere else, the Shrines are plotting something. Something about a suicide mission and Lacryma gets mentioned as a possible candidate for the worst reality show before reality shows were even a thing.

Wait...

...

...

Whoops. Hold on, I'll fix this.



You never saw a thing.:ninja:


You'd think at this point, that Aile would have told them that "The daughter of Kainas" actually has a name.
If only because saying "The daughter of Kainas" gets pretty old.


Cardinal?(Iforgotsorry) Shelpati "You wanted to raise her and get married. You didn't want her to get involved. That's why you reported her fake death."
"That is correct."

What. WHAT?! :argh: AILE! What the heck? So you raised Lacryma and it was a secret that she is the daughter of Kainas, because otherwise why the gently caress would you fake her death.
Then how come everyone in Vigilance seems to know her real identity? Did you tell Lacryma, and she didn't ask why you faked her death and let her tell everyone else?
Worst kept secret? Or maybe the Shrines are seriously inept. Pick your poison.



"No..."
"We must obey the law. We are hunters of those who break the law. If she has the ability to be an Inquirer, why not?"
"Yes, you're right."
Inspector "Charimate, call the local Inquirer. Let's see how good this girl is. We'll talk again once we have more information."
"Based on the report, we will pardon your mistake."
"Thank you..."
Inspector "Any objections? No? Alright then..."

The meeting is over, but there are a few staying behind to get extra credit in their "Scheming" class.


Inspector "The purpose of the extremists is still a mystery. I hope the Nordia Rebels subside soon."


"The meeting proceeded as planned. Now it's all up to her."
Nirgiri "But why... Why is he obsessed with the daughter of Kainas?"
"I have no idea..."
Nirgiri "Do you think he is planning something behind our back?"
"Don't worry. We have his weak point."

I am unsure who "he" is. It could even be foreshadowing of someone we havn't met yet. So I'll refrain from making any speculation.

Now that we're done snooping here, let's go snoop else where.


For the Pancake eating contest? I sure am! :3:


So the Encrypter school is totally safe. It has guards and everything. Wait hold on. I feel a vision coming to me.
Let me just attune my raven runes here and astral project the vision.


Vision of the Past Future. posted:

"I believe it's more important to bring the Text to Lord Vandor."
"I guess you're right..."
"Good bye sister. We will continue this the next time we meet..."
"Asty!"

So much for those guards, Troy.


"Now there are only two ways the thieves can enter here. One is the route through the market. The other is over the bridge."
"How will we stop them?"
"We will be at the bridge, since this is the direct route to the World Tree."
"Well... We don't know of their power. Isn't it risky to split us up?"
"It's better than being attacked from both sides. The main force will be on the bridge, so we can concentrate on them."
"Who's going to be posted at the market route?"
"Posha will do."
"What... Me?"
"You can at least be the lookout."
"You need at least two. It's too dangerous."
"I will go."
"I want someone who can create Phantoms."
"Don't look at me. I'm not a baby-sitter."
"Then I'll go to the market. There shouldn't be a problem."


The Kyau is trained in the ways of the :ninja:.


But unfortunately Troy has worked on his :ninja: too.


Out-:ninja:-ed the Kyau retreats. Or maybe it was just a hallucination from being drunk. Everyone looks worriedly at Troy as he takes another drink.


After watching people stand and talk in a shady dark room, then watch people stand and talk in a bright room. Then it's time to watch people sit and talk outside.
:sigh:



"Duran and the Knights will be here tomorrow. Be patient."
"I hope the thieves are late."
"Yes, but if they come, it will be today."
"They are not stupid... Well, I'm going to take a nap. I need energy."
"What are you talking about! We're all tired!"
Kun makes a fair point.
"It's Ok. You need a clear mind to use Kartia."
Lacryma makes counter point. Well it's not like you should perform swordsmanship while tired either.
But it would probably have less disastrous effects than Kartia.

"Yeah, you don't want me to be tired like you, right?"
"Then you should get some rest, Lacryma."
"I'm fine..."

Thrilling topic. No really, I'm totally sorry to break this... Whatever it is, up. Anyways alarmingly unnatural sounds can be heard far off.


"Kartia... It came from town."
"They went through the market. They got us!"
"Troy, take Kun and check it out. I'll watch here."
"Ok..."
"It's a trap... They want the World Tree."
"You're going to leave them alone?"
"Rimzan is there. He can handle it."


"Troy was right... We have company..."


Oh great, Zakuro is back.


Honestly, considering the quality of the law in Kainas, they really should see this coming.


Troy is just as tired of all these words as I am.


Lacryma, don't was God's time.

The combat section is gonna get long winded, so let's cut this off here. Next time we will fight Zakuro again. Will Lacryma make it? Oh come on we both know Zakuro is just a chump.

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
Lacryma Episode 7 Chapter 4 pt.2


Fighting Zakuro again. The objective is not giving us the whole story here, since we have to kill everything, not just the thieves.


Our party isn't looking too good at the moment. A Miles and Behead really isn't gonna cut it for this part and since last mission
was a fake mission and we didn't have Troy, we've lost out on some experience. But that's okey, Troy doesn't need levels to be badass.



Zakuro understands that indirect firepower can be a valuable thing. Of course Zakuro is a little stupid so we get a situation like this...


A poo poo ton of Morderes. A unit that can only wear D rank helmets and cannot counter attack.
The more astute of you will notice that he does not have any Shadow types either. I could take advantage of
that. I really should have, but I like to keep my options open by having a diverse cast.



Suspicously, Zakuro also placed these two Shadow Golems off to the side here. :raise:
Let's take a closer look on these Golems.



The Golems are kind of terrible. They are supposedly a step up from the Beheads, but they really aren't.
They face a defense handicap, due to not being able to wear armor or boots, so the B rank armor stat is wasted on them.
They also have a worse elemental defense than their Shadow Behead brethren. I mean look at that 10 Wind resistance.
Here's the Shadow Behead stats to compare.



This is the Shadow Behead I created for this mission. I've done some shenanigans with it so it's not entirely to be trusted.
Normally a Behead has a D Armor rank. But I'll get more into my phantom creation later. For now, notice that it also has a 5 Speed advantage over the
Shadow Golem. Because the Shadow Golem's Iron Helmet have a -5 speed penalty. It's not much, but the Shadow Behead is objectively better.

It's largely, because a better defense means a better offense. A higher Armor stat governs potentially 3 item slots, over a Weapon stat that only governs 1 item slot.
Having more HP also means you do more damage and more consistently, than a high damage low defense unit. This goes especially so for Phantoms since their only
damage output is from normal attacks.

A phantom that lives longer can also take more hits that would have hit your humans instead. Who can then unleash world destroying
magic. Except if you're Kun. Then you're just a glorified Phantom. But at least you have an exploding sword.



Alright time for some Phantom Creation shenanigans. First of all, we will never need our Miles again. So he gets deleted. Our Behead was made by Rimzan and is thus
lovely as all hell. :getout:



With 6 open slots, we have some room to make us a short term army/meat shields.


So this is the Common Behead at it's base, I'm not actually paying attention to it's speed stat. The pointer was just on the screen and I didn't notice until too late.
Anyways we have a few options to manipulate it's stats before creation.
It takes 2 Kartia slots to create the Behead, that leaves us with another 2 slots since it's Troy who is creating and he has a Kartia stat of 4.



If we add a "Stone" Text to the Behead it will get +1 in Armor Rank. Like so.


We could get it to a B rank. But don't actually have access to B rank equipment yet.


Instead of getting B rank, I'll add "Fast" which if you remember from Chapter 2 gives the phantoms +1 movement. Which is pretty good.


The end result will look like this. I make a Behead of all types with this configuration. We don't even need to use any Mithril to create these "Super" Beheads. It's all silk so far.


But I did get 100 of each Kartia and it's kind of burning a hole in my pocket, so let's get some Mordere action in here too.
They also get +1 movement and a C rank in Armor. This is in my opinion the best setup for a general attacking Mordere.
I also create a Mordere of each type.

I am pretty limited in what I can do to customize my phantoms.
So far I can chose between these:
+15 to one of the elemental resistances.
+1 Armor rank.
+1 Weapon rank.
+10 Speed.
+1 Movement
For each Kartia I use.

It also depends on the Texts I use. I can't use the same Text twice, but some Texts have duplicate effects.
"Goblin" and "Hard" both grant +1 Armor rank. So I could give my Phantoms +2 Armor rank if I wanted to.
On the other hand I only have 1 Text that gives +1 Movement, so I can't give my phantoms +2 Movement.
Not until I get another text that grants +1 Movement.



Right, so that was phantom creation. Time to create some more stuff!
Honestly, this is a pretty bad time to update your equipment. If you're playing along, wait until the next mission to burn through your Kartia to update your equipment.
But I figured I had a ton of Kartia laying around. I needed to create some stuff for my Phantoms anyways. And hey, why not trivialize Zakuro when we can, right?*
So the Stone Armor that Kun have been running around with is actually pretty good. A full set of Iron armor +2 will only increase his defense by 3 points total.
So it's really not worth it to upgrade here. But I do it anyways. :10bux:

*Zakuro won't actually be trivialized.



Troy has a lovely Stone Knife and honestly I shouldn't have bothered to upgrade his weaponry anyways, as he should spend every single turn casting magic.
On one of my runs after the play through I realized I could have made a full set of +3 Wood equipment for him and Lacryma, and they would have sported a respectable 16 Defense each.

I could have done this since the beginning of the game. But what can I say, the game has been pretty easy so far, so doing that would have been kind of overkill. My human characters
haven't even been close to death yet. Also I'm incompetent. :v:



Phantoms start off with pretty lovely equipment when you create them. They should start off with nothing, since you don't spend the extra Kartia on creating the Wood Katana's for them.
Time to get my Pokeymans some bling bling.



When you create equipment you actually get a little picture of each item that you make.
I've been negligent in showing this off. I'll do a bonus update with all the stuff we can create and update it as new stuff become available.
Unfortunately as I cannot create the Fire Arm, there isn't any art work for that.

This is a Dark Katana +2. I make a few of these for my Beheads.



Iron Helmet +2


Iron Armor +2


Iron Boots +2


Now that everyone is all geared and fitted, let's get this poo poo on the road.


Step 1: Kun will just straight up murder this Mordere. Why is that? Well...


Common Morderes have a crippling 2 Fire resistance. :getin:


Normally Fierce Fire only has a 1-2 range, but due to being +2 it can explode people a little further.


It's actually pretty stupid to burn 3 Silk and 1 Mithril like this, when I needed to use two characters to kill it anyways. I could have used Fire +2 saving me a Mithril and a Silk.
Don't play like I do. I'm a certified idiot.





Let's continue to show off how inept I am at this game. I could have moved the Behead two squares down next to the Mordere and attack it instead of here. It would
bring my Behead closer so it would be in range to attack something else next turn.



The same thing with this Mordere, could be moved 1 square further down and still kill the enemy Mordere.




I move my Doll phantoms towards the Shadow Golems. The Doll Phantoms won't really help against Common and other Doll phantoms so instead of being killed I'd rather they do something constructive.*

*They don't actually do much of consequence.



Zakuro will be spending his turns creating new Phantoms... Wait. Haven't I seen this behavioral pattern before somewhere else? Somewhere recent?


He will create anything between a Kyau and a Golem. In this case, he created another Shadow Golem


You know you should be suspicious when the AI is in no rush to try and murder you. Well actually it might be a
ranged unit subroutine. Since the Morderes don't have any unit they can attack and moving closer would bring them into my range,
they simply won't move.



A rare look at Kun actually using magic.


Facing a group of indirect attackers and magic casters I heal Lacryma up to full as she had taken some damage.
I also sacrifice my Mordere and Behead by acting as bait.







The AI also really likes to clump up together. Now unlike Toxa's battle there are no treasure chests. So we won't be getting any Text in battle.
As such I can't use Wide Quake yet.



But I can use Quick Quake. It's largely ineffectual, but it's really good experience if you hit alot of targets. Troy is a bit behind so he needs the XP.


Missed the explosion. *sigh*




Strong Quake is an "Advanced" spell. Spells can be divided into several categories.
There are the Grammar Spells, which will automatically update on our list of spells as long as we have the appropriate Grammar and Text.
Of Grammar, there is Basic, Advanced and Unlimited. We only have the Basic Grammar.

The thing is, as long as you have the text and input it yourself, you can cast Advanced spells even though you don't have the Grammar for it.
The last category is "secret" spells. These spells will never be on your spell list, no matter what kind of Grammar you have. So you always have to manually
input the text yourself. Quick Quake is a secret spell for example.



It hit's in a 3x3 area, so not as wide as Quick Quake. But it deals more damage.


Oh remember the Shadow Golems? Well when my Doll phantoms got close they started to retreat. :raise: Very odd.


At this point there are several injured enemies. The AI is rather easy to manipulate.
It will always prioritize healing if it can. It would have been dangerous if the thief and all the Morderes focused a single target like Troy or Lacryma.









If the Thief had cast a Fierce Fire or Stone Fire on Kun, I'd be in trouble.
Or if they had focused Lacryma or Troy. The AI can be very forgiving.



Here's Troy getting smacked in the face by a Golem. You might be the best character so far Troy, but you're still a jerk and deserve 100% of this.


Being able to heal himself, is what makes Kun straight up better than any Phantom.


In his last desperate attempt to avoid getting Swordsploded in the face, Zakuro creates a Kyau... Really?


As Zakuro's turn ends, this happens.

"Alana, you came!"
"Of course! You're in danger."

Not even remotely Alana. :colbert:

"The guys at the market are having a hard time!"
"Don't worry. We'll send some people there."

What do you mean "Will send"? You already split up with Toxa before coming here.

"Duran went to the market... Now we can concentrate on the battle."

You... haven't so far? Oh well more people to help murder Zakuro. So that's fine with me. Oh and Alana should be wielding another Fire Arm, since that's what she had equipped when she split from Toxa, right?


Noooooooooope. Still she is cheating, wielding a Silver Sword before we can create it.
So how does Zakuro react to seeing his already lovely situation take a turn for the worse?



Which he then does... Leaving me having to clean up all the phantoms who is just running away wasting my time.
ZAKURO!!!!!! :argh: I'm just gonna leave the clean up out and nothing of value was lost.



"Of course."

Not... Really. No matter what happens here Alana will be of minimal help in this mission. But we'll cover that later.

"You helped out a lot. Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"But you guys were fast."
"Misty warned us of the attack. But I did all the work."

Sure, Misty did warn them. But they didn't actually leave until Duran got a message from Kainas. So Misty warning them saved them absolutely no time.

"What are you talking about? And who's Misty?"
"Hey! I saved your butt!"
"She's right Troy."
"She's claiming she saved my life. What the hell is she talking about?"
"What!?"
"Stop it, all of you!"
"Yeah, yeah..."
"It's not my fault."
"Why don't we go back? The battle's over."
"You're right. Let's go back to Headquarters."
"Ok."





And that's a wrap. We get a ton of Text, which will be very exciting I am sure.

Now I'm sure some of you might be wondering, can you kill Zakuro before he retreats?

The short answer? I couldn't.

The long answer is that, Zakuro will retreat right after Alana shows up. She only shows up when you get close to Zakuro.
The closest I've come to Zakuro is landing a single Twisting Lightning on him with Troy.



Given how the AI works, and how defensive Zakuro is. I'd say it's pretty much impossible to kill him here.
If any of you guys can kill him, feel free to do an update in doing so.


Next time, we will be seeing a scene, we've already seen before with a few different perspectives being thrown in.
I am also holding a :siren:Vote:siren: right now on whether you want to see more of Toxa or Lacryma.
Bold your votes. Let's say the first to reach 3 votes wins. If no one wins, I'll just flip a coin.


Lacryma Episode 7 Chapter 4 pt.2 END

Mercurial
Mar 28, 2006

Elixirs are expensive, you know.
Lacryma is probably the more interesting character but I'd rather give Toxa a chance to be more interesting.

ultrafilter
Aug 23, 2007

It's okay if you have any questions.


Going on the assumption that Lacryma's and Toxa's stories will overlap more in the future, I'd say it makes sense to switch between them every once in a while. Let's do Toxa for now.

Raitzeno
Nov 24, 2007

What? It seemed like
a good idea at the time.

Let's have some Toxxa Clause.

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
Woah 3 to 0. I'm sure there are some feminist out there who would hate on that. Something something #gamergate? :shrug: Who cares, let's follow the Kartia version of Vaan. And remember, you voted for this.
No take backs.

Though there is that last bit of Lacryma's Chapter 4 I haven't posted yet.
But after that, we'll be seeing some of Toxa's more questionable decisions.

Like how terrible he is with responsability. :v:

EggsAisle
Dec 17, 2013

I get it! You're, uh...
Eh, up till now Toxa's barely been the main character of his scenario, despite the label. They might as well have called it Misty's scenario, based on how the early chapters play out.

That'll change later on, though.

I liked your story about dumb kids stealing the dog bowl. I'm a bad teacher for saying this, but I work with a number of kids who would totally do something like that. I guess even Denmark has its share...

(in my part of the United States, Denmark is more or less synonymous with 'enlightenment'. Incidentally, I've met two Danes in my lifetime. One was a self-absorbed college kid who believed his 'deep thoughts' entitled him to free money, sex, and respect. The other was the owner of the LEGO company. Weird how that works.)

EggsAisle fucked around with this message at 23:48 on Mar 26, 2015

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
Well enlightenment might be a bit of exaggeration. We do have our share of stupid bullshit.
And while there is room for improvement, we could also have it worse.

An example of illogical laws:
In Denmark, it's legal to buy alcohol at the age of 16.
But it is illegal to buy tobacco if you're under 18.

So you could be a 16 year old kid drunk off his rear end, driving his 30km/h scooter, and be a potential danger to someone or yourself.
Or make poor life decisions and have unprotected sex, because 16 is the legal age for that too.

But hey, that tobacco might give you cancer you know. Gotta watch out for that. I hear that can change your life!

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
Lacryma Episode 8 Chapter 4 pt.3


We return to a familiar scene back at Vigilance HQ, with everyone congratulating themselves on how great they are.


Toxa, sandpaper is smoother than you. Please stop.And you didn't save Lacryma, you saved Posha

"I've never seen a man laugh and make a compliment."
"It's the truth, not a compliment."


I had blissfully forgotten who Toxa is. GIVE MY BACK MY HAPPYNESS!




"Good job."
"You too."
"When will you be anointed as a Knight?"
"I need to have the ceremony and approval from the Chief."
"I see... No wonder you were so good."
"Thank you. That's the only thing I'm good at."
"Let's have a match sometime. That is if you don't mind."
"I would like that."

I'm sure it would be a glorious match, one Fire Arm wielder against another.


Of course as things are right now, Kun would straight up lose to Alana, who can either crush him with her magic or sustain whatever damage Kun could do to her
with Kartia. If Kun has some sweet sword tricks, then it's not conferred to game play.



Lacryma knows the score. Besides, Alana wears a bitching cape. Kun doesn't stand a chance.


The same arguement can be said in a Kun vs Toxa fight. Sure Toxa is a worse caster than Alana, but only by 1 Kartia stat.

"Kun, you're popular."
"No I'm not."

Imagine if you had just gotten a new job, that doesn't pay, and two of your new colleagues want to fight you in a fist fight.




"I'm Toxa. I'm currently a Free Knight at the Shinon estate."




In the real world, Knights would in almost 100% of cases always be in servitude to some noble or king.
That is due to the fact that the training and equipment a knight used back then, were really expensive.
So in exchange for the training and equipment, knights would swear themselves to whoever could pay for their
training and equipment. So any Knights who weren't in servitude to someone, would be rarer than gold.

I imagine that extensive Kartia education and weapons training would be really expensive in Rebus.
However Toxa comes from a merchant background. It's entirely possible that his parents saved up to
give Toxa his education. So he doesn't need to serve anyone to pay off any debts. He only has to provide food
for himself.





Of course, not having to serve nobility means that Toxa wasn't educated in high class manners.
He is probably a rather realistic depiction of a low class person in a high class occupation.



"Yes, sir!"
"Toxa and Misty, will you join us?"
"Not at all, sir!"
"Sure..."

The rest of the scene plays out the same as in Toxa's version for a bit. So let's skip to after the meeting shall we?




"What are you going to do when you're a Knight?"
"I don't know... I want to benefit society."
"That's it? That's boring."



Lucky for Kun, Lacryma shows up as the meeting is over.


This scene is the same as Toxa's aswell, right up until Troy shows up. So let's skip to that shall we?


This is where the game cut us off in Toxa's version, turns out there is more to this scene.


Kun likes killing people, but only while he has the moral high ground.
"You are evil, so it's okey to kill you." And that works out in theory. But
the question becomes, when are you evil? I mean some cases are easy to
see when someone is evil, but there certainly are gray areas.

Trying to murder someone? Yeah okey, evil.
Cheating on your wife? I mean sure, that's pretty bad too. But is it really appropriate to kill someone for that?
Lie to your mom about why you don't want to come visit? Come on man, it's your mom. Don't lie to her. But you shouldn't get killed for that.



We only know that Troy wants the Unlimited License. But what he is gonna use that for is still unknown as of yet.
But more interestingly this guy shows up


:siren:MUSIC: "Unknown Title XVII":siren:

:munch:


Who the gently caress is Bachstail? Hint nr.1 Lacryma doesn't use his full name, but shortens it to "Bach"


Hint nr.2 Lacryma isn't really appreciating him being here. Or just general existence.




Hmm, out of money. Again.


Bachstail is either really bad at reading the atmosphere or chooses to ignore it.


Either way, it's pretty clear that no one really seems to appreciate Bachstail's return.


It's certainly, not because of his hairdo, general appearance or smell. No it's all the people
who seem to know him that dislike him.







"Seems like? You're not going, Troy?"


It's really interesting that Lacryma, who is usually boringly polite and stoic, is showing such aggression when faced with Bachstail.


It could seem like Bachstail enjoys provoking her.

Lacryma leaves rather hastily



Bachstail leaves to meet up with Rimzan.


You think?


Also, Troy isn't just a rude dude who always speaks his mind, as he respects Lacryma's privacy, by not gossiping to Kun.


"That's why I'm interested..."







Indeed, who is Bachstail? Well we don't know yet, but we can make an educated guess.
So let's deduce a little from what we know from various things.

Aile, Lacryma's step father, wanted for Lacryma to live a quiet life and get married.
Being a high standing member of the church, it's not unreasonable to think that he could/would have arranged a marriage between Lacryma
and someone else.
So who is that someone else? I theorize that it was Bachstail.
What with how Lacryma reacts to him, and as it seems to be a very personal issue between them.
Troy also puts it as an issue between adults. It's pretty clear that it wasn't just two friends who got into an argument over what color
is the best color. (Red by the way. Everyone knows that.)

I think this is an excellent example of coloring the players view of a character without telling them too much.
But not only did we learn about Bachstail without really knowing anything, but our characters also got fleshed out a lot more.
This scene alone has conveyed more information to us than the last two chapters worth of story.










So yeah guys aren't you glad you voted for Toxa? :v:
Anyways we are now caught up with Toxa, and as mentioned the thread voted for Toxa. So that is where we'll be continuing off next time.


Lacryma Episode 8 Chapter 4 pt.3 END

Sazero fucked around with this message at 07:48 on Mar 29, 2015

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
Man, when you put it like that, Kun seems like some nobody poking his head into things that don't concern him.

EggsAisle
Dec 17, 2013

I get it! You're, uh...
I really like this scene, mostly for the reasons you pointed out. It shows us a lot about the characters' personalities in just a few minutes, and does so believably. Even Troy is wary of sticking his hand into that fire, and he's made provoking our lady paladin into an art form ("You want to be her pimp?")

quote:

Man, when you put it like that, Kun seems like some nobody poking his head into things that don't concern him.

Exactly. But think about where he's coming from: he's been trying and failing to fit in with this crowd since he arrived. Sure, people like him well enough, but he doesn't really command their respect. He knows he sucks at Kartia, as Troy's incessant needling shows, and even his swordsmanship skills are rebuffed. He wants to show that he's cool enough to be in the know, and he's been crushing on Lacryma since they first met. Neither of those things are good for social decision-making, especially since he's so sheltered and naive to begin with.

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
Also, let's not mention that Kun kind of want to be a "hero" or just a generally good guy. It's gonna be his business to see to the happiness of people.
Put in his situation where you're surrounded by a bunch of people that reacts badly to a person,
but you don't know why. You have these childlike ideals of whats good and bad, but real life has a way of
graying out the lines of good and evil. It's important to Kun to know more, so he has a better way
to gauge where to put Bachstail, and/or what to do about it. For all Kun knows Bachstail
could have roundhouse kicked Lacryma's puppy Kyau while flipping her off.

I don't personally think that Kun actually has a crush on Lacryma,
the game is full on unreliable narrators, and while Troy might think something, that doesn't make it a fact.
Remember that Troy is a pragmatist and thinks that everyone is operating on fundamentally selfish motives.
So to Troy the only way that Kun asking about this thing, makes sense to him, is if Kun has a reason to.
And the only reason that makes sense to Troy is romance. I mean it's a love triangle cliché after all.

That said, it wouldn't be impossible for Kun to have a thing for Lacryma. It's just how I inferred it so far.

Sazero
Nov 27, 2014

The classiest crazy bullshit magic Half-Elf, you'll ever meet.
So this is gonna be a short update, mainly because I had to redo all my screenshots because my cursor were over the screen caps. Again
This wouldn't be much of a problem if the mission itself weren't so drawn out and uneventful. But it's also because there will be a bit to talk about this chapter.
And thirdly, because I'm a Dark Souls nerd and I just got Scholar of the First Sin.


Toxa Episode 9 Chapter 5. Pt.1


Well that's to... be... POSHA!? :argh:


Oh look at all the drama that is to be had over there at Lacryma's party.
But nooooooo... You guys had to vote for Toxa. The guy who isn't even that
important to his own story. :argh:





Yes... The game is foreshadowing things in the other characters story.
I can see why you'd do that to explain why Ele would still be around later in the story.
But it does spoil the other characters story a bit.









As you might expect, a teenager not being allowed to do what they want is gonna have loud consequences.

"Why!? I can use Kartia!"
Yes, but only slightly better than the illiterate Kun. :v:

"This is not a training session for you, Miss Ele."
"I know that!"
"Count Shinon would never forgive himself if anything were to happen to you."
"Father has nothing to do with this! This is my life!"
"I've had enough! You will do what you're told!"





Ele despite having proven herself in combat on several occasions, is still being seen as a nobles daughter.
It's a struggle for being allowed her own self identity, whatever that identity is. But she is a noble
and thus much too precious to risk. But as we already know, Ele has different ideas and the will to act on it.

That's why despite her stereotypical teenager attitude that I really like Ele, because her main issue
is a real human thing. I mean sure it's not like she is living a life of tragedy, but what is the point of living a life
that isn't your own?




And now we move on from Teen Drama to Questionable Legalities




Oh good, another murder tool to completely decimate some more thieves. Why not.
It's not like we just picked up Text to cast Wide Quake that I've already demonstrated.


"What is so special about this?"
"Look at the card..."



"That's why I copied it."
:allears: Oh Troy. Best character.

"To get permission to make a duplicate takes time. You have to go through several..."
"I nearly go caught..."

I think that is why Lacryma straight up asked Troy if he had stolen Text during the CSI Kartia chapter.
She isn't stupid, and she probably found something on Troy. Luckily for Troy he could cast away suspicion on Zakuro
so he got away with it. He didn't lie when he said he didn't steal anything. But he DID do something illegal.
Also that means that the "filler" chapter, weren't filler at all.



I can only imagine Troy saying this in the most condescending tone he can manage.

"This Text is for beginners and intermediates... Unfortunately, we have only deciphered the Beginners Text..."
Then how do you know about the "intermediates" part is actually for intermediates? :colbert:
"Troy, what are you thinking? If Lacryma finds out..."
" 'Be prepared at all times', right?"
"Don't misuse our policies in your favor!"
"Calm down. You know this will come in handy."
Now I don't want to argue against more firepower, but that way of thinking is what is gonna lead to using tanks against thieves.


"You always have something on your mind. What is it?"
"I'm not planning anything. I just don't want anybody to..."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"You're the only one who can use the same level of Kartia as I do in your group."
"At least, take the Beginner Text..."







This doesn't actually mean we get new Text for the next mission. :(
This is Plot Kartia. Just like the Original Kartia that Mona is holding on to. I mean it's not on the same level as an Original Kartia,
but it was locked away from public use, so it's fair to say that it's probably something serious.

So let's talk about Troy some more. What? You want a reason? Why don't you want to talk about the best character?
Alright so, Troy copied some Text. The question is, why would he do that? There weren't any credible threat
at the time he decided to copy it. Which means he had another reason to want it. So let's chalk down some Troy Facts.

Troy Facts:
He is a jerk.
He is concerned about the lack of power in Vigilance.
He wants to obtain the highest level of Kartia license.
He thinks Kun wants to be a pimp.
He is concerned for the well being of the group.
He is willing to break the law to obtain power.
He shares his illegally obtained power with Alana.
He is especially a jerk to Posha.
He is concerned about the mental well being of Lacryma.

Alright that's enough Troy Facts.
First of all, we know he wants to obtain power.
But why? The game hasn't told us quite yet, but I'm willing to speculate at this point.

I think it's because he has experienced loss of people, due to being powerless.
That's why he is concerned about Posha being weak, and possibly why he is being such a jerk to her.
It's why he breaks the law to copy Text. He didn't have any good reason at the time, but he probably
thought it's better to be prepared. He certainly doesn't want it for the sake of having it.
He gives the Text to Alana so she can use it to protect Posha after all.

Speaking of Posha, I don't think he actually hates her, as much as he hates her weakness.
Why is he being a jerk to her then? To push her forward. Or away from Vigilance, which is a fairly dangerous place to be
for someone who can't fight. Better for Posha to be somewhere else where she isn't likely to be in harms way.
If only for Lacryma not having to worry about her.

Of course the best outcome were to have Posha pull her poo poo together
and woman the gently caress up. But hey, It's loving Posha, that isn't all that likely to happen.

Troy is a person who is in a position where he knows all sorts of things about the group he is in.
And I think he just tries to help people out with some of their problems. Sometimes he fails,
I mean he certainly didn't help Posha, but maybe he succeeds too.

This is just speculation and theory and Troy could just be the super secret, much too obvious, hidden villain.
Don't take this as an LP'ers word of law. I'm just speculating.


Moving on from this wall of text.




"They don't know we're here."
"Misty, do you know who can create the Phantoms?"
"Sorry, but those are not the guards I know..."
Oh good, we'll have to not only deal with Misty's ellipses but also Posha's self loathing. This is just gonna be great...
"That's okay. They're just thieves. No matter what they create, I'll kill them all."
"You're awfully pumped!"
"I would fight to the death for Mona!"
Aaaaaand there we have it. This is gonna be Toxa's motivation to pretty much anything for quite a while.
Funny, I swear I put in Legend of Kartia. And not White Knight Chronicles. I'm not even kidding.
And remember. YOU VOTED FOR THIS.



"I wonder what Mona is doing? Do you miss her, Toxa?"
"I can see her after we complete our mission..."
We'll at least he isn't completely obsessed


Oh please Posha. Lacryma isn't that great. I'm sorry guys, but her combat stats are just terrible compared to B ranking Toxa. But you'll see.


If this were a movie or modern tv series, Toxa's dialogue here would just be faded out.


Hey missy, stop obsessing over Lacryma, there is quite a lot of that going around lately, and I won't have it.

Bells can be heard




"I can't... My feet won't move..."
"What's wrong with your feet?"
"I'm sorry. I need Lacryma... Without her, I cannot do anything..."
"Posha, stand up! The enemy is right in front of us!"
"If we're late, Lacryma's group will be in trouble!"


This is the core reason why Posha cannot grow. She is living in the shadow of Lacryma.
She is so focused on Lacryma, she cannot see herself so really the best thing that could have happened for Posha is separation
from the object of her fixation.



Another problem that Posha has is that she cannot get friends that like her for who she is, because she doesn't socialize on her own.
She is always hanging around Vigilance. She doesn't go out to see the world, meet new people and expand her horizon.



Of course, it could also be another problem if she just finds someone new to fixate on. But let's be real, this is a video game
so we'll just listen to a friendship speech and things is gonna work out a little bit. But oh man, I've been on the interwebs
and this could go really wrong for Toxa.



But at least Posha's fear of death has been dispelled.





POSHA :argh:

Anyways that's enough words today. Next time I'll be forgetting about Posha's drama poo poo and laugh as I make Toxa break the mission in half. Because Bitches Be Breaking B-Ranks.

Toxa Episode 9 Chapter 5 pt.1 END

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EggsAisle
Dec 17, 2013

I get it! You're, uh...
I'm not 100% on this, but I think the text Troy gave you is actually a license. Maybe there was a translation mix-up. I think you mentioned what licenses do already, but in case you haven't, it affects what "shortcuts" appear in your spellbook. With a novice license, you only get shortcuts for 5 or so Fire spells. With the beginner license, it's more like 8. Through trial and error, it's possible to cast some spells before you have the license for it, which is sort of neat.

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