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CzarChasm posted:*Glances around the room* edit: I haven't forgotten about Persona 2 either, it's just taking me some time to put those updates together because there's a lot more work involved than with Jade Empire updates DMorbid fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Sep 8, 2017 |
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Sep 8, 2017 16:24
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Episode 37: Eternal Battle ------  Last time, we defeated Emperor Sun Hai and rescued Master Li, but we did not exactly "win". Quite the opposite, in fact. Master Li turned on us at our moment of triumph and killed us, revealing he had planned everything from the start.   If the flash of white light didn't clue you in, the Water Dragon confirms that Wu is supposed to be dead right now. However, it seems not all is lost just yet.  Of course, Wu is now just a spirit, and her appearance has changed to reflect that. Pretty neat, although she doesn't really look like any other ghost we see in the game.   Welcome to Chapter 5 of Jade Empire, and welcome to the spirit realm. As the Water Dragon told us, that pillar of light in the distance is our goal, so obviously...  ...we'll go in the opposite direction. There is something here that was added into the PC version and the later ports.  The Demon Sword is the final sword upgrade, and to be honest I don't think it's really worth it. While another 25% damage boost is nice, the focus cost gets a bit too heavy for my liking.  Just a quick glance at the quest journal. Nothing there we don't already know, but I figured I might as well show it off every so often.  Nothing else to do here but make our way across the field and towards the light, so let's get to it.  Oh, good. I'm glad these guys are here, I missed them so much.  After each fight (spoiler: there are more fights before we get to the beacon), we get some plot exposition from the Water Dragon.  You know, I think the worst part of being dead is having to hang out with rear end in a top hat ghosts all the time.  And that seems to have worked out quite well for him.    Yes, that's what we're trying to do, it just takes a bit of time with all these Lost Spirits bothering us. When we look around, it's clear we're on some kind of a battlefield (well, the cannons next to the Demon Sword might also have been a clue), with the bodies... err... spirits? Spirit bodies? Let's just say there are numerous bodies of what look like Imperial soldiers scattering the ground.  will you stop  This was of course the Glorious Strategist's goal all along. Train the Spirit Monk kid to fight Sun Hai, and claim the throne and the Water Dragon's power once Hai's out of the way.  Here's the final Lost Spirit between us and the beacon. Hmm... crossing a devastated battlefield to reach a beacon of light, with the last obstacle being a single enemy... that somehow seems familiar but I can't quite place it.   Lost Spirits aside, this is a cool section and one of the most memorable ones in the game in my opinion. The atmosphere really sells it.   What's going on here? Your Master, Sun Li the Glorious Strategist, betrayed you. He killed you to claim the power of the Emperor--my power--as his own. You... are dead.They're really going out of their way to explain that at this point.  But twenty years ago, the Emperor and his brothers attacked Dirge. They burned my temple, slew my servants, and defiled my body so the Emperor could claim my power. When Emperor Sun Hai fell, I reclaimed some of my power, enough to call your spirit here. But now I am fading once more. Sun Li consumes my energy.So, it appears that right after Sun Hai's defeat, the Water Dragon intervened to summon Wu's spirit here -- wherever "here" is -- upon death, instead of... where it would've ended up otherwise, I suppose.   He consumes my essence to become a god, but he does not yet fully control his power. That is why I could bring you here. and why we can speak now. My strength wanes. We must act quickly. For you to fulfill your destiny, I must send you to Dirge *now,* while Sun Li struggles to control his new found power.  You will learn this and more, but we must move quickly. When he discovers what I have done, he will try to seal this realm and prevent me from sending you to Dirge.  Unh! Hurry! If you restore the fountains of Dirge, I can restore you to life. If you do not, Master Li will become... unstoppable! Seek out... Abbot Song. He will help you. Restore... the fountains of Dirge. Restore my... restore my power, and I will speak to you again...  Well, now we at least have some hope of returning to life, even if the details of the plan are a bit muddy at this point. Being buddies with the shepherd of the dead does have its perks.  We're clearly not going through there, so let's find another way.  The Gem of Premonition adds +1 to Mind and reduces the focus cost for evading traps by 50%. Ehh.  Oh, hello. This looks like a good opportunity to try out our new Demon Sword.    The sword looks baller and does a lot of damage, but you can see just how much focus it eats up. Honestly, Tang's Vengeance and Crimson Tears are more attractive options for weapon styles, because they do plenty of damage in their own right and don't murder our focus bar. We would've been fine with the Dragon Sword as well (after all, it was the best long sword in the original Xbox release), but since we picked this thing up we can't go back to the old sword. Well, I guess there's save editing (or just replaying the last ten minutes), but   Making our way up the stairs that were blocked by those demons, we come across a ghost just sitting around meditating.  This guy looks familiar.  Before we get to introduce ourselves, though, a ghost in Imperial Army garb appears.    The ghosts charge into battle against each other...   ...and swing away with their weapons.  The outcome of that fight is unclear from the cutscene. When we regain control, the only one who's standing is the ghost that turns out to be the Abbot we were looking for.   One would assume so, yes.     I am. I was. But I only led them to defeat and destruction. I failed in my duty to protect the Water Dragon... a duty I would one day have passed to you. You are a Spirit Monk, born here in Dirge and cleansed in the sacred fountains. You were an infant the day the Emperor and Sun Li attacked our monastery. I tried to save you from the slaughter, only to lose you to Li when he ripped you from the arms of your dying guardian.Seems like our dear Master may have taken some minor liberties when recounting the story to us. He said he worked together with the Spirit Monks and was told to take Wu to safety, which he then did.   Thirty years ago, the Long Drought struck the land. For a decade, crops withered and died. Starving people across the Empire demanded that something be done. Despite his position, Emperor Sun Hai could not alter the natural order. He demanded that his brother, the Glorious Strategist, concoct a plan to rectify this insult. Through Sun Li's cunning, the armies of the Emperor laid siege to the gates of Dirge. They came to seize the Water Dragon's power and her life-giving waters. The soldiers of the Imperial Army swarmed over us, too many to count. My Spirit Monks fought bravely, but I knew the battle was lost. VIDEO: Escape from Dirge (Abbot's Cut) (  HOLY poo poo WATCH THIS )   Things start off the same way as they did in Master Li's version of the flashback, we've seen all of this. This time it's in the correct aspect ratio, at least!  And yes, we saw how Abbot Song jumped in to fight Prince Kin, only to get cut down. That's familiar territory as well.   The man in the dark armor, who we always assumed to be Death's Hand? Sun Li himself.  This guy, who we thought was a younger Sun Li? Just some random Spirit Monk who happened to look a bit like the Glorious Strategist. Obviously, he was dressed like the other monks, which should've been a sign of something being amiss, but since Sun Li said he spent a bunch of time helping the monks it wouldn't be out of the question for him to be wearing their garb as well.    We only saw what happened in the temple from the monk's perspective, so we could only tell that something big happened in there.   In the background, we can just about see the monk fleeing with Wu and the amulet.   And here's the crystal Sun Hai, and now Sun Li, used to control their powers.    Sun Kin just shanked the gently caress out of his brother there, but it was no use because the Emperor already had the power and a sword through the torso is no big deal when you're a god.   We can see the wall blowing up in Master Li's version of the cutscene (which turned out to be a result of him flying right through the wall), but I don't remember if we can actually see Sun Li going through it. fake edit: I went back and checked, and yes, you can see him crashing through the wall in the original cutscene. It's just kinda hard to see him unless you know he's there, because there's so much debris.   Li is clearly weighing his options here. He could go back inside and try to help Sun Kin, but he just saw a Spirit Monk flee with a baby in his arms. The same Spirit Monk he thought he saw in the temple (taking the Dragon Amulet) just before Sun Hai got his powers.   Sun Kin appears to be beyond help at this point, and now Sun Hai has his sights on Sun Li.   Sun Li decides to live and fight another day as he narrowly avoids a massive blast of energy courtesy of Sun Hai's godly powers, and sets off in pursuit of the monk.   Li knows that the only way the Emperor could be defeated now (and the only way he himself could get his hands on that power) is if a Spirit Monk were to face him. The problem there is that all Spirit Monks just got slaughtered. Well, except for this one guy who managed to flee, but he hardly seems like someone who could defeat a God-Emperor. But how about that child?  The Spirit Monk child could be trained from a young age to be a powerful fighter capable of going up against the Emperor and winning, but more crucially Li could train the kid to fight in a very specific way, with a flaw that only he could exploit when the moment comes.  Li would raise the child as his own, acting the role of the wise mentor and father figure, to develop the bond required for the next stage of his plan.  Of course, if he's going to raise the kid, that means the real guardian has to be handled.   On a side note, do you remember what Master Li said when we asked him about Death's Hand way back in the beginning? If not, let me remind you.  Indeed. You remember what else Master Li said in that same conversation?  "It" in this case being the Spirit Cave entrance, but we all know what he's actually talking about here. Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled flashback:    And here's what Sun Li actually looked like 20 years ago. It's a good thing that monk kinda resembled him, otherwise the original cutscene wouldn't have worked too well. The monk didn't have the scar, obviously, but that was hardly a sign of anything sinister since Li could easily have received it later.    For good measure, we get the origin story for Death's Hand as well. If you paid attention to the weapons Prince Kin used, by now you may have picked up on the fact Death's Hand has something to do with him. They both use the exact same dual swords. Sun Li used a long jagged sword at Dirge, and we never see Death's Hand wielding that. Speaking of Sun Li and Death's Hand, when I did the original version of this cutscene, I tried not to directly identify either of them if I could help it, instead going with "Well, this must be Master Li in his younger days" and "That guy in the dark armor can only be Death's Hand". I did end up simply calling Li Death's Hand at one point (when he looks back at the monk) but fixed that later (I also added the wall explosion which was missing for some reason). At the end I mentioned that Master Li got away safely with the baby and the amulet, which... well, he did, didn't he? He just wasn't the guy in the screenshots.  He trained you to be an instrument of vengeance, an agent to succeed where he and Prince Kin had failed. But with your death, the Emperor is now invincible.   You spoke with the Water Dragon? Of course! Only she could guide your spirit to Dirge, while all others must wander the mortal world. I worried that our last hope had died with you. But now I see. You have come to restore the fountains of Dirge... the first step in restoring the Water Dragon herself! How exactly are we restoring these fountains, anyway?  Well, at least he's helping us out.  "I don't need the help of a ghost" seems like a very silly thing to say, considering the situation we're in at the moment.   I know the monastery well. If there are questions you wish to ask in your quest to restore the fountains, I will do my best to answer them. Do you have any advice for me? Only that you should do as the Water Dragon asked and try to restore the fountains of Dirge.Great, that helps. Thanks, Abbot Song. Anyway, time for some exposition, so sit tight!  The amulet is an artifact of great power, though few truly understand its nature. What do you wish to know? I saw Li take it from me. How can I still use it? The amulet is a powerful tool, but it is only a tool. When you were first learning to unleash the power within you, the amulet helped you to focus your mind and energy. But you are a Spirit Monk. The power of the Water Dragon was always in you, not in the amulet. Now you are strong enough to draw on that power without the amulet. If the amulet is only a focus, why did Li take it from me? You no longer need the amulet, but Li has a use for it. Li's brother Sun Hai consumed the Water Dragon's power, but without the amulet it was a long and slow process. Even after twenty years, he was not strong enough to defeat you. Had the Lotus Assassins brought him enough pieces of the amulet, he would have been far more powerful. But Sun Li has the amulet, making him far more dangerous. With it, he can draw on the Water Dragon's power much faster. Unless you stop him soon, he will become invincible. If the power was mine, what does the amulet do? It is a tool and a focus. It allows you to understand the power you can wield, and to use the essence gems that so many discount as trinkets.So uh, if we don't have the amulet with us, how are we still able to equip and de-equip gems? Where exactly are we putting those things now?  The answer is probably "It's just a game and I should really just relax."   I gave the pieces to my apprentices and told them to flee to the farthest reaches of the Empire. The core of the amulet was given to the young monk who fled with you.Wait, no, that's not how it happened. The monk took it from the altar inside the temple, which was how Sun Li noticed him in the first place. Or maybe it was given to him earlier and he realized he left it in the temple when the attack came?  Eh, whatever. Next question.  I would be honored to help you learn more about our order and your legacy. You said I was born here at Dirge? Many of our order were brought to us as children, orphans we raise to serve our Great Mistress. But a few children are born here at the monastery. Both your mother and father were Spirit Monks. You were born right here in Dirge and bathed in the sacred fountains, mere days before we were destroyed. Both your mother and father died in the attack, along with the rest of us who served the Water Dragon. What were my parents like? They were good people. Their love for each other was matched only by their devotion to the Water Dragon herself. Had they survived, you would have been raised here in Dirge. You would have been instructed from birth in the duties of a Spirit Monk. It is a tragedy you never knew them. What did the Spirit Monks do, exactly?That's probably something we should know.    We would seek out these lost spirits. Those with unfinished business, or those who had suffered traumatic deaths, would need our help to reach Dirge. But now that the Water Dragon is gone, none of the spirits can find their way to Dirge. And those already here are trapped: the portal to the afterlife is sealed.Ah, so that is how it all works. The exact nature of what happens to a person when they die has been a bit ambiguous until now, but here we finally learn how things are supposed to be. You die, you go to Dirge either on your own or with the help of the Spirit Monks and the Water Dragon, and then pass through the portal to the afterlife where your spirit is eventually reborn. And now that everything's hosed, none of this process works any longer.   Once it was a holy place, but now it is defiled. Dirge has become a place of great evil and corruption... a corruption that has been growing for the past twenty years. I think we should move on. Hold on, I still need to ask how you actually do that.  The fountains were tainted with human blood, which shattered their seals. The blood that stained them is gone. Replacing the seals should restore them.Okay, that sounds simpler than I expected. That corruption he spoke of might cause some issues, though, so we should be careful.  Abbot Song is going to act as our follower for the time being, and as you can see he's got a pretty goddamn useful support skill. So, of course, I forget to put him on support.  We can still access Zin Bu's store as well, in case we need something from him.And no, we haven't missed a party member. The question mark next to Abbot Song kinda suggests we should've gotten another follower before meeting him, but that's not the case.  Let's get going. The first thing we come across as we head towards the Dirge gates is this group of ghosts, who appear to be fighting each other.    Li cut me down on the steps of the temple. My body fell, and my spirit rose. Powerless, I fled toward the outer courtyard while the battle still raged. I wanted to see if you had escaped. Instead, I saw Li take you... and I found myself trapped out here. The Emperor had sealed the gates behind me. My spirit cannot leave Dirge. None of the spirits here can leave. For twenty years I have been trapped in the outer courtyard, unable to pass through the gates. My hope is that the restoration of the fountain will allow the gates to open. Perhaps inside we can find a way to restore Dirge and free my brethren from this curse. I cannot say what fate lies ahead. But after twenty years, your return gives me reason to hope once more.What lies ahead is that we're going to do our duty as Spirit Monks and get this place back up and running.  Since the main gates are closed, we head down these steps instead. For whatever reason, the minimap is gone -- Dirge still has an actual map in the pause menu, so I probably just turned it off by accident (pressing X on the 360 controller while out of combat toggles it). We don't really need it anyway, as these zones are quite small.  That's probably one of the fountains we need to restore, so let's do it.   I'm going to assume these guys aren't here to help us with our task.  Meet Xian Wu and the Betrayers, also meet Abbot Song on attack duty because I'm an idiot. This group can be pretty annoying to fight, mainly because Xian Wu keeps slowing us down with her blizzard spells.  Obviously, separating one of the enemies from the group is always a good idea and we can do some real damage here before the others join in. I also finally realized at this point that Abbot Song was in attack mode and fixed that, so maybe now we won't be useless.   Yeah, that's way better. Look how much health, chi and focus we're getting back.  Xian Wu goes down not long after.    Long before the attack, Li sent spies to bribe some of our... weaker members. When they tainted the fountains, the power sustaining us against the army vanished.That's our Glorious Strategist. The story doesn't tell if the blood was the betrayers' own or someone else's, but I guess it doesn't really matter.   That sounds rather unpleasant.   I don't understand. How did he bind their spirits? The binding is a sacred ritual of the Spirit Monks. We can draw on the power of the Water Dragon to bind a spirit to us. It is one of our tools for shepherding the dead. Even before Dirge was befouled, there were ghosts in the world. Some spirits would become lost in their journey here or refuse to let go of the mortal world and go mad. If we found one of these restless ghosts, we could bind it to us and bring it to Dirge. Then we would release the spirit so the Water Dragon could lead it into the afterlife.  A spirit can never escape such a binding. It feels an inexorable pull, but it has nowhere to go. It feels a compulsion to obey, but it is never given a command. The spirit twists and corrupts, and in its agony, it goes mad. Binding a spirit to a place is a terrible crime for our order. The only thing worse is binding a living creature. Who the hell would even... Oh. Oh yeah. It seems Sun Hai did exactly that to create Death's Hand. Sun Kin never died at Dirge, he was bound to the armor while still alive.  The ability to bind spirits comes from the essence of the Water Dragon inside you. You may not have the power now, but one day you will be able to call upon it when needed. But this is not the time for lessons or instruction. The guardian is dead, but you must place the seal on the fountain for it to be fully restored. Right, the seal. I like that icon, looks like a little dragon's head.  And it'll probably go in here.    Perfect. That is one fountain restored, and the courtyard gate is now open.  Yes, that's what I just said. Let's get going.    I have left you without my guidance for far too long, Abbot Song. But I could not speak with you; my strength was consumed contacting the last of the order.  Well, she is the shepherd of the dead and kind of in charge of the Great Wheel and everything, or at least used to be.  That was about... 30 seconds? At most? Talk about cutting it close.  And yes, the plan was always for us to die at the hands of Sun Li. That was inevitable, and something the Water Dragon has been foreshadowing the entire time with her cryptic dialog. We had to die at that exact moment, otherwise the Water Dragon's plan wouldn't have worked and Sun Li would have won.   What you see is how you perceive abilities that are inherently yours as a Spirit Monk. Essence gems still serve you because the amulet was a pathway, not a source of power. The amulet trains you to access what is already present, something Sun Li misunderstood. However, as a focus it still allows him to take my power much faster than his brother did. Let the wisdom of the abbot guide you if you need aid. Restore the second fountain and I will speak to you again... if I am able. The Water Dragon vanishes again, and it's time for us to head to the inner courtyard of Dirge. That's where we'll pick things up next time. VIDEO: Meanwhile, in a familiar location...       ------ DMorbid fucked around with this message at 01:26 on Sep 9, 2017 |
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Sep 8, 2017 17:16
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The best reveals are the ones where technically all the evidence has been there for you all along, but you never quite put it together because of the presentation.
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Sep 8, 2017 19:48
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Welp, so much for defeating Death's Hand. Good thing we certainly don't mind being lied to, deceived, manipulated, betrayed and freaking murdered for some shiny blue lady who's supposedly so powerful yet utterly incapable of taking care of herself.
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Sep 8, 2017 21:16
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Well, it seems that our murder wasn't too bad, just inconvenient, especially when you consider that it's a free trip to Dirge. At least we didn't have to walk. What do you suppose Li did with our corpse? Cremation, fish food, maybe the Buffalo Bill?
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Sep 8, 2017 21:29
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Poil posted:Welp, so much for defeating Death's Hand. She's dead, dude! Cut her some slack! But then again, I do have a soft spot for the Water Dragon, even if her role in this story is not exactly a new one, because what she's done is too good. Here's this massively good, well executed plan spanning twenty years, by someone styled the Glorious Strategist that covers every eventuality and potential wrinkle, and it is executed flawlessly... except for the interference of the one factor Li didn't anticipate because he thought it a done and dusted non-issue. Sure, WD could have been more obvious about things, but a) dead, and her time is limited, and b) she was smart enough to know that if she directly accused your beloved master of being secretly evil, you'd just reject her and start looking for Master Li harder in order to hear his reassurances to the contrary. There was no way she could have stopped the plan... so she worked within it and blindsided Li entirely until after she made her move. That's... pretty good, considering the circumstances.
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Sep 8, 2017 21:47
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Why were they even bothering with golems? I imagine not getting the emperor personally involved with the creation of the army might be kind of worth it.
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Sep 9, 2017 01:19
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Doc Morbid posted:They're really going out of their way to explain that at this point. Doc Morbid posted:On a side note, do you remember what Master Li said when we asked him about Death's Hand way back in the beginning? If not, let me remind you. See, that's how you do a good third act twist. When it makes you look back at a bunch of poo poo that looked perfectly innocent when it happened and go "Oh, wait, fuuuuck." PurpleXVI posted:The best reveals are the ones where technically all the evidence has been there for you all along, but you never quite put it together because of the presentation. Exactly!
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Sep 9, 2017 03:20
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It just sort of now dawned on me, but Silk Fox is roughly the same age as our protagonist. If she's younger, does that mean that her father, the emperor, was dead and ghostly before she was conceived? I mean, I don't usually think about these sorts of things, but I was thinking OK, your dad has been dead-ish for the last 20 years and you never noticed? Never gave you any indication he might be a wizard up to no good? Wait, 20 years...how old is she?
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Sep 9, 2017 06:01
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Glazius posted:Why were they even bothering with golems? I imagine not getting the emperor personally involved with the creation of the army might be kind of worth it. Probably to try and put all those wandering dead ghosts to a productive use. Then they figured out that freshly tortured souls were better for what they wanted.
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Sep 9, 2017 06:37
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resurgam40 posted:She's dead, dude! Cut her some slack!
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Sep 9, 2017 07:52
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CzarChasm posted:It just sort of now dawned on me, but Silk Fox is roughly the same age as our protagonist. If she's younger, does that mean that her father, the emperor, was dead and ghostly before she was conceived? Wasn't there an implication that Silk Fox isn't the Emperor's kid but that of Sun Kin, could've sworn there was a mention of Sun Kin's family being killed off.
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Sep 9, 2017 15:50
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CzarChasm posted:It just sort of now dawned on me, but Silk Fox is roughly the same age as our protagonist. If she's younger, does that mean that her father, the emperor, was dead and ghostly before she was conceived? I think Silk Fox mentions being a toddler when the Long Drought happened in those conversations with Wu; she might be a tad older.
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Sep 9, 2017 17:04
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I'm pretty sure Silk Fox is meant to be in her early to mid 20s.
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Sep 9, 2017 17:51
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Robindaybird posted:Wasn't there an implication that Silk Fox isn't the Emperor's kid but that of Sun Kin, could've sworn there was a mention of Sun Kin's family being killed off. And yeah, Silk Fox says she was "very young" when Dirge happened. That's why she couldn't remember Sun Li's face.
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Sep 9, 2017 18:06
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I thought Princess Silk Fox was the same age as the protagonist.
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Sep 9, 2017 19:35
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Poil posted:She wasn't dead when the emperor came knocking on her temple. There's no way she didn't spot that way before they stood outside the door. Just lounging around and oh someone's here to murder me, steal my powers and upset the natural order of the entire world possibly breaking the whole thing? Eh, it's fine. After I'm done yanking on this protagonist chain I'll give them another ten years of drought just to gently caress with them some more lol. This is the Celestial Bureaucracy. She was standing there, waiting as the functionary stamped her forms one at a time, all ten of them for each soldier attacking her temples so she could get permission to defend herself from them when the Emperor ripped out her crystal power majigger thing.
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Sep 9, 2017 21:42
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EponymousMrYar posted:This is the Celestial Bureaucracy. She was standing there, waiting as the functionary stamped her forms one at a time, all ten of them for each soldier attacking her temples so she could get permission to defend herself from them when the Emperor ripped out her crystal power majigger thing. Poil fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Sep 9, 2017 |
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Sep 9, 2017 22:03
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Poil posted:I thought Princess Silk Fox was the same age as the protagonist. She's at least two years older. She was old enough to remember her uncles, but young enough that she has since forgotten their faces. Poil posted:But surely this has led to tons and tons of more paperwork? But I guess bureaucracy doesn't care. Wait a second. Can she even lose her powers without getting those forms stamped as well, in triplicate? Yes, by having someone go "gently caress bureaucracy!" and ripping the crystal out.
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Sep 9, 2017 22:30
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resurgam40 posted:She's dead, dude! Cut her some slack! Poil posted:I thought Princess Silk Fox was the same age as the protagonist. Poil posted:But surely this has led to tons and tons of more paperwork? But I guess bureaucracy doesn't care. Wait a second. Can she even lose her powers without getting those forms stamped as well, in triplicate?
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Sep 9, 2017 22:36
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Doc Morbid posted:Episode 37: Eternal Battle Oh, that twist! It really threw me, the first time I played through. Then the next time I played, I paid careful attention to what Master Li says and what he does in the opening chapter. Notice how he stumbles visibly when you leave the Spirit Caves early, and how he mumbles that they can "use" Dawn Star's disappearance. Glorious Strategist indeed! He is an utter, utter bastard, but I couldn't find it in my heart to hate him.
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Sep 12, 2017 06:53
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Xander77 posted:I wanted to link an article breaking down Li's plans and how good the twist is, but it goes slightly beyond the end of this update :/
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Sep 12, 2017 07:47
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This is a good article and I would've linked it myself at some point if you didn't. The only minor nitpick I have is that Sun Li didn't take the amulet apart and spread the pieces around the Empire to be collected later, Abbot Song did that and gave them to a couple of surviving Spirit Monks for safe keeping (as we learned in the latest update). Obviously, they'd eventually end up in the hands of the Lotus Assassins.
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Sep 12, 2017 11:13
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Episode 38: Corruption ------  Last time, we woke up as a ghost and ended up at Dirge, which we were told is a place between the real world and the spirit realm. The Water Dragon, who had known from the very beginning that we'd die at the hands of Sun Li, has promised to return us to the land of the living if we restore the Dirge fountains. We restored the first one, so let's go find the next one so we can do our Spirit Monk job.  The second fountain is just a quick uphill trek away from the entrance to the inner courtyard. That wasn't so hard.  Well, poo poo. That can't be good.   There are unnamed things barred from entering both the mortal world and the spirit realm. But with the Water Dragon gone, such a being may have crossed into Dirge. Such a creature would be drawn to the corruption of the fountain. It must have destroyed the guardian and hidden the seal so the fountain could never be restored.Definitely not good, but if the creature is still here we'll probably be able to find it. Then we can ask it what happened to the seal.  The creature would not go far... wait! Do you feel that? Something is coming.  That something turns out a bull demon. We saw one at Lord Lao's Furnace when we messed around with the machines, but this is where you're supposed to meet a bull demon for the first time. He's apparently got the seal tucked away somewhere, most likely under his Master's (whoever that is) orders.   I am the Minion of Suffering. It was I who devoured the guardian bound to this fountain and claimed the seal for my Master. Seek me out, traverse the Path of Demons, and you can reclaim the seal... if you dare! Having said his piece, the Minion of Suffering departs. "Seek me out... if you dare"? Really? That's the most threatening line he could come up with?  But he seemed so trustworthy!  But there may be a way to yet overcome this demon. I know of a gem here in the monastery; a gem of great power. You could use it to help defeat this monster. The gem has been kept here in the monastery for many generations, guarded by powerful spells that keep evil at bay. The spells persisted even after Dirge fell. We were always going to go that way regardless of what the demon said, but at least now we know what we might find there.  You are the last Spirit Monk; the wards will not keep you from the gem. But take care; its power will be like a beacon, drawing all manner of dark spirits near. Battling through such creatures may be just as difficult as facing the demon. In any case, the choice is yours.  Before we head for the gem, we can check this nearby scrollstand for an excerpt from Abbot Song's journal, written shortly before Dirge was attacked. There was a sense of foreboding in the air, that something terrible was about to happen, but all Abbot Song could do was put his trust in the Water Dragon and believe she was preparing for the danger. Well, we saw how that turned out. The Water Dragon did have some sort of protective magic in place, but that was lost when some of the monks went rogue and tainted the sacred fountains with blood on Sun Li's orders, and then it was too late.  Oh hey, here's a gem. This is not the one we're looking for, although the Brilliant Gem of Balance (+4 to Body, Mind and Spirit) is an excellent gem in its own right. We already have one of these equipped, and this can replace one of our Gems of Unity.  Turning around, we can clearly see a focus shrine up on the balcony ahead. I have no idea how to get there or if you can even get there, there is no path that leads up to the balcony as far as I can tell.  The gate leads to another set of stairs, and at the top we can find what appears to be a very large and glowy jar. That's probably where our special gem is.   We definitely have some dark spirits here, at least.  This spirit thinks it's being stealthy, but we know what's up. We can't interact with it at this point, so we can assume there will be an ambush of some sort coming up.    For twenty years, I have sought to pass the wards protecting this gem. Its power calls out to me, yet the magic guarding this prize has kept me at bay. None can pass.Well, we'll see about that.   You bear the mark of the Water Dragon! You can pass through the wards, as will I, once I have devoured your spirit! As the Red Minister attacks, the Lost Spirit we saw hiding earlier also decides to show up.  These guys don't put up much of a fight. So much for the Red Minister devouring our spirit.  Instead, we devour his. Kind of. The Red Minister style is... okay? I guess? It doesn't matter in the slightest, because we have the Jade Golem style and that's the only transformation style you'll ever need.   When we interact with the gem repository, the magical force field simply fades away and we receive the Eye of the Dragon. This Open Palm exclusive gem is a +6 boost to Body, Mind and Spirit, and also adds a 5% chance of a shockwave knocking attackers down when you get hit. Closed Fist characters get the Eye of the Demon, which has the same stats and a similar bonus effect (in this case, 5% chance of damaging an attacker when you get hit)  Now that we've got the gem, let's follow the Minion of Suffering to his lair.  True to its name, the Path of Demons throws a bunch of demons in our way. Nothing we can't handle, of course, and this is also a good opportunity to show off the Red Minister style.    Red Minister can be used to siphon health from enemies, which I suppose is nice, and as a spirit you are also immune to support and weapon styles. (Isn't Wu already a spirit and therefore shouldn't she be immune to those at this point?) Still not really worth it, though.  The Path of Demons continues to throw demons at us, including the rare rhino demon. There is actually a rhino demon transformation style in the PC version of Jade Empire, although you could only access it if you preordered the game or via save editing.  You may also notice that something's a bit off with Wu's model here. For some reason, using a transformation style while your character is a ghost will revert them back to their original model, albeit still with the ghostly mist effects around them.  Changing zones fixes the glitch, so now we're properly spooky again.    This is obviously the Minion of Suffering's lair, and before we get to the horrible bull demon we've got some more of his friends to deal with, including another rhino demon.  There's the Minion. Somehow, I doubt he's going to give up the fountain seal willingly.  Dirge belongs to the master I serve. His strength grows; he feeds on the taint of this place. And when he is ready, he will unleash us on the mortal world!  A BioWare writer in 2005: "poo poo, I can't come up with a name for this evil thing in Chapter 5. gently caress it, let's just say he has no name, that'll make him sound super evil and mysterious. Yeah, that'll do it, now let's go get smashed."  I do not fear you, for the power of my master flows through me. I enforce his will, for all must bow down to him, in time. The earth, the heavens. The living, the dead. All will grovel before my master when he unleashes himself from Dirge. But do not fear. You will be spared this fate... for I will rend your spirit into nothingness!That's a slight improvement over "Seek me out... IF YOU DARE!" at least.  The Minion of Suffering fights very differently to the bull demons at the Furnace (which were really just generic enemies with a bull demon model), and is also a hell of a lot stronger in general.  At range, he keeps firing these purple projectiles to deal minor damage to all three bars, but especially to make it harder for you to get close to him. They're not difficult to avoid for the most part, but you'll probably have to eat a few of them if you want to get in his face without spending a lot of time dodging.  I like the bull demon design, it looks suitably horrifying for what's meant to be the strongest and most evil demon of them all. Here you also get a better look at the giant eye he's got on top of his head... err, heads, which also looks kind of unsettling.  The Minion can also charge up and shoot pink mist out of his... lower body. This is easily his most dangerous attack and also gives you the Shocked status, but it's usually pretty easy to avoid and I got hit here mainly because I was being very aggressive. The Minion has a fuckton of health.  His monstrous pile of hit points aside, the Minion goes down without too much hassle. Abbot Song on support duty is a huge help in this fight, letting us use chi strikes and the Demon Sword without worrying about running out of chi or focus.  ???: I have feasted too long to fall to you. Too many souls, too many spirits. The pain and misery of their slaughter sustains me. For twenty years, I have lingered in the shadows, growing stronger. The corruption of Dirge feeds me. It gives me power.  Whoever it is, it sounds as you'd expect a mysterious entity of pure evil to sound. Deep voice, scary vocal effects, that kind of stuff.  Wonderful, looking forward to that.  I knew spirits and demons would overrun Dirge after the Emperor defiled it, but the corruption is far greater than I ever feared... and worse is yet to come!Uh... camera? You okay there, buddy?  That's better.  We should return to the fountain by the courtyard gates. Restore it with the seal you took from the demon and the gates to the temple courtyard should open.Will do, let's get going. There is some minor loot in the cave, but nothing worth mentioning.  Naturally, some more demons show up to pester us on our way back to the fountain.    Slap the seal into the slot, and that'll do it. We can now access the courtyard.   The power of the Water Dragon is divine; any mortal touched by it would be instantly consumed. However, the Emperor found a way to corrupt the divine power. The immortal purity of the Water Dragon was befouled by human blood spilled in her fountains. Her power was tainted, allowing the Emperor, a mortal, to seize it as his own. For a mortal, blood is life. A sacrifice of blood can have great power, even over the gods. But now is not the time for this discussion. The gates are open now; we can make our way through the temple courtyard to the temple itself. Inside the temple, you can complete the restoration of Dirge! And once the restoration of Dirge is complete, we should be able to return to life. As fun as it is to walk around as a ghost, we'd rather not spend any more time doing that than we absolutely have to, so we should get a move on.  There's the temple itself. Quite a view.  Of course, before we proceed to the temple, we can see something down the path to our left. Looks like a focus shrine, and since we've spent quite a bit of focus fighting all those demons we should probably pay the shrine a visit.  Don't mind us, just passing through.   Upon reaching the shrine, we're ambushed by two Red Ministers and another Lost Spirit. I'm sure we could take them, but you know what?   gently caress these guys.  Well, we did get all our focus back without even having to use the shrine, but lost a bunch of health and chi while fighting those idiots. There's nothing here except the focus shrine, so if you don't need to use it (and don't mind missing out on some EXP) you might as well just skip this side path altogether.  Hopefully they've got a spirit font or two somewhere around here.  Oh, there they are. Excellent.  Once again, since we used the transformation style we're looking a bit more normal than we're supposed to. Shame they didn't get around to fixing that glitch, it's a bit annoying.   What? No! Did you not see how good he is when you put him on support?  You suffered doubt in defeat, but you are strengthened by the actions of this Spirit Monk. Go. Lead your fellows to victory and rest. Your path does not lie in the temple. Yes, Great Mistress. It is all so clear now. I will do as you say, and the Spirit Monks shall avenge the great slaughter of twenty years ago! I... but... dammit. Thanks a lot.  Really could've used it, to be honest.  A great evil awaits, and only you have the power to defeat it. Destroy the creature corrupting my temple. Do this and the restoration of Dirge will be complete. The true corruption of Dirge rests in the temple, where Emperor Sun Hai struck me down. That desecration drew terrible things to Dirge. Beings not part of the natural order. An abomination has gorged itself for two decades on the pain and suffering released with my murder. Twenty years growing strong, feasting on the death of a god. All creatures, all spirits--even the gods--have their place. but this nameless *thing* is not truly part of our existence. It is a manifestation of all that is wrong in our world. Sun Hai disrupted the natural order, and unknowingly gave birth to a mindless evil driven only by instinct and hunger. It feeds and it grows... and now you must destroy it. Well, better get to it, I guess. I still say we could've used the abbot's help, especially if this creature is as bad as the Water Dragon says.  Not much else we can do, so let's find this monster.  I'm not trying to join the battle, but thanks for pointing me in the right direction.  I'm assuming he meant those huge stairs up ahead.  There are some prayer wheels here, but we don't have time to bother with those now because we have a temple to cleanse.  Here's the inner sanctum, where Sun Hai stole the Water Dragon's power twenty years ago. No sign of any great evil thus far, just a giant statue of the Water Dragon.  What could this abomination be? If even the Water Dragon is freaked out by it, it's got to be something terrifying.   Oh no.   Well... poo poo. Obviously, this is not the creature's true form, but if these Wu clones are even remotely as good in a fight as we are, this is going to hurt.  Welcome to the part of Jade Empire where the game suddenly gets kind of hard. We've spent most of the game ridiculously overpowered, crushing every enemy we've met with relative ease, but this is where things start to ramp up difficulty-wise. I suppose it makes sense that the first time we'd have real trouble would be in a fight against ourselves (especially when multiplied by three).  In any case, we'll ditch the Demon Sword for now because the focus cost is too great. Tang's Vengeance does the job quite nicely, anyway. We could try to Jade Golem our way through this, but one of the Wu clones (or "Aspects") has weapons and, as we'll see shortly, she's pretty good with them and we wouldn't last long as a lumbering monster.  The camera is also having some issues in this fight, getting stuck on pillars and such.  So far, we're doing pretty well. We've got the Aspect of Rage down to half health and stunlocked to boot, so as long as we can keep up this assault we should have an easier time with just two opponents.  Come on, just a few more hits.  Unfortunately, we don't get those few more hits in, because she uses the Ice Shard area attack to slow us down to a crawl and then starts healing.  And now she has all her health back. Fantastic. In hindsight, I could've just gone into focus mode... or used the Storm Dragon area attack... or Jade Golem'd her before the Aspect with the swords got too close... but I guess I just didn't think of it at the time.  Getting stabbed with those swords even once is massively painful, so, uh, don't do that.    This has all gone horribly, horribly wrong. The area attack you see here is the Eye of the Dragon's shockwave kicking in, and it does that at the perfect moment because we're almost dead after getting double-teamed.  And now we're all out of chi. Time for a tactical retreat.  For the next few moments, we're going to have to use Spirit Thief to get some of our chi back so that we can heal. We'd preferably have some chi in reserve, as well, because we'll probably get mobbed again. Also, the enemy name indicator has now disappeared from the HUD for whatever reason.  That's better. We got some health back, and even though we're out of chi again we at least got rid of Aspect of Rage. Two of these guys should be a lot more manageable.   A bit of friendly fire is always fun as well, even if it doesn't do any damage to Aspect of... hold on, gotta look it up... Despair here.  Down goes another Aspect, and we're looking pretty good health-wise too.  Not even going to bother with Spirit Thief at this point, we'll just get rid of Aspect of Sorrow with the good old Storm Dragon/Leaping Tiger combo.  That really could've gone better, but all's well that ends well.  VIDEO: Dirge Restored  With the taint cleansed from the temple, the Water Dragon statue starts to belch out smoke like an 80s metal band's stage prop. The smoke eventually reaches the ghosts, still battling outside the temple.    In an explosion of light, the Water Dragon's magical energy is released and washes over the eternal combatants.    After twenty years, the curse of Dirge is finally lifted and the spirits are free.    Hopefully, that is also enough for us to return to the world of the living.  At the very least, the Water Dragon is now able to return to her temple.   Even though we restored Dirge, it's not going to matter if Sun Li isn't stopped so we're not celebrating too wildly just yet. And if we want to have a chance to beat him, there's something else we have to do first.    That was how he ended the drought. You must find my body and kill it, so that when you defeat your former master, my power is free to dissipate. Until then, I cannot be reborn.As it turns out, Sun Hai did not kill the Water Dragon at Dirge. He took her heart (that's the green crystal we saw earlier) and somehow brought her physical body to the Palace, keeping it alive for all these years. The Water Dragon wants us to end her torment, so that she can be reborn. Presumably, had Sun Hai actually killed the Water Dragon, the drought might not have ended so swiftly and the natural order might have been restored because the Water Dragon would've been reborn at some point.   You must destroy my body in the palace to weaken him, but there is more you can do. I see within you the knowledge of his child. If it lives, Li's rage can be proven false.  But Dirge is not known to the Empire. It is a secret place, and its death was only visible from one height, one vantage. The palace of the family Sun. You only get this reveal if you go through all of Zu's dialog and get him to tell you about Li's child, but if you pay attention to the conversation between Zu and Hui in Tien's Landing and later dialog between Zu and Dawn Star, it's quite easy to piece this together on your own.  Sun Li does not look with the eyes of a father. His gaze does not seek life. She was appraised as a tool, just as you were, but her potential did not hold his interest. The loss of his family hides his ambition, perhaps even from himself. It may benefit you to reveal this. but my body must also die.I wonder if Dawn Star's ability to sense and communicate with spirits has something to do with the circumstances she was born in. I could see that being the case.   The maddened spirits that swarm this realm hunger for passage anywhere. I will not be able to stop them following you. But there is no other way. Remember: Find my body in the palace and destroy it, or you will not be able to defeat Sun Li. Enter the portal. I return to you the life that was so wrongly taken. This is it. Time to go.  All this talk about the Water Dragon's physical body reminds me, we never did find out what happened to ours. Maybe we'll get a new and improved one to commemorate our return? VIDEO: Meanwhile, in another familiar location...  Looks like our friends made it out okay. That's good. They appear to be in the Great Southern Forest right now.   I don't know. We'll think of something. For now, we have to make sure we survive. While the party members ponder the next move, Dawn Star is contacted by the Water Dragon and told what needs to be done.  What? Why? We must go to Dirge... quickly, there's no time to explain. Looks like everyone's going to Dirge. This is shaping up to be quite a reunion.    Speaking of Dirge, it seems we've made it back in one piece, and we're back in our body as well. If our body is here, what happened to the one we presumably left behind in the palace?  Whatever. The important part is that we're alive again, and we know that both Sun Li (with Death's Hand in tow) and our party members are making their way to Dirge as we speak.  Well, maybe Wu doesn't know that. In any case, we should look around.  Hm. That's probably not supposed to happen.   Just like the Water Dragon said might be the case, some demons have followed us to the real world.   We can fight the demons, but the real target is the glowy orb (or "disturbance"). Once we destroy that, the portal closes. EDIT: Or, as people in the thread have informed me, you can just beat up on the demons until an Elder Horse Demon appears and then when you kill him, you get a technique that adds +2 Mind and +15 Health as you punch him so hard a shard of his skull ends up lodged in your arm. I genuinely did not know that was a thing (why would the orb have a health bar if I wasn't supposed to attack it), otherwise I'd have shown it off.   Ah, that's better.  Certainly. First of all, though, we'll take a look around the real Dirge because there's plenty of interesting stuff to be found.  Zin Bu is now selling some horribly overpriced techniques, and we'll get the one that gives us more chi. We can never have enough of that.   Hm, wonder what these are for. I guess we'll find out.    We'll take a look at the Mantra of Inspiration in a bit, there's still a few more things around here we need to check out.    For one, we've got the Heavenly Gate Guardian statue. Meditating in front of the statue restores our focus, so it's basically just a focus shrine.   On the other wall, we have the statue of Mah Tsung. This one works like a spirit font.   There's another statue on this side, but we can't interact with it. Instead, we can take a look at another excerpt from Abbot Song's journal. He makes mention of a secret path at the bottom of a well, which I assume was used by the rogue monks to get to the Dirge fountains and mess them up.  That'll do it for now. Dirge has been restored, we've returned from beyond, and the Water Dragon gave us the task of destroying her body so she can be reborn. Next time, we'll explore the rest of the temple and hopefully reunite with our friends. ------ DMorbid fucked around with this message at 05:07 on Sep 17, 2017 |
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Sep 16, 2017 01:34
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"If it can die, I can kill it."
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Sep 16, 2017 02:05
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The cylinders look like prayer wheels. You spin them while praying, kind of like a rosary. I want to say the Shaolin monks use them to get swole, the wheels can get quite big and can be made of stone.
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Sep 16, 2017 03:00
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Rockopolis posted:The cylinders look like prayer wheels. You spin them while praying, kind of like a rosary.  I guess that's kind of dumb, so I'll change that bit.
DMorbid fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Sep 16, 2017 |
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Sep 16, 2017 03:04
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This bit is so epic. Dying, consecrating the temple of your goddess, coming back to life... the cutscenes for this game were pure awesome. Ever since I finished it the first time, I've always played Jade Empire focusing on only two of my stats, because I know that these last three techniques are going to be available from Zin Bu, and I can probably use it to make up the difference. Is it at all possible to buy all three? Because I don't think you can have enough silver to afford more than one.
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Sep 16, 2017 04:53
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Doc Morbid posted:
Or you could not close it and get one of the most awesome techniques in the game instead. You beat an Elder Horse Demon's face in so hard that you get a splinter of its skull lodged in your arm, which gives you +2 mind and +15 health
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Sep 16, 2017 07:20
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Li is coming to Dirge, but we need to destroy the Water Dragon's body back in the imperial palace? That sounds like a serious scheduling conflict. Unless we have to project back to the original flesh to get 'er done or whatever.
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Sep 16, 2017 13:36
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Stroth posted:Or you could not close it and get one of the most awesome techniques in the game instead.  I always just assumed you need to smash the orb,.
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Sep 16, 2017 13:44
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Doc Morbid posted:Huh, I didn't know that was a thing. It is a tricky fight though, what with having to kill a giant horde of horse demons.
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Sep 16, 2017 16:38
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Nice to see I wasn't the only person who had a problem with the Aspect of X fight. I think I started with my long sword like an idiot, burned through all my focus and had to crawl through on spirit thief and thousand cuts. This was much more satisfying to watch.
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Sep 16, 2017 17:28
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Episode 39: The Second Righteous Siege ------  Last time, we restored Dirge and returned to life, ending our brief excursion to the spirit world. Now we are at the real Dirge, which we can also see in the current version of the main menu screen, and our party is on the way here. Unfortunately, so are Sun Li and Death's Hand, so that'll be fun.  We still have some time to explore the temple, though, so let's get to it.  We passed by these meditation wheels in the spirit world version of Dirge, but couldn't do anything with them. Now we can.  [At some point, possibly after the Emperor's men took Dirge, the mechanism was dismantled. Several parts are missing.]  [Most of the wheels are undamaged, but many parts of the mechanism that connected them have been removed or damaged. The gearing doesn't look that complex, though. You may be able to scavenge enough parts to repair some of the gearing]  [Scavenge parts to repair what you can.][You can't see any easy way to make repairs without replacement parts. You might still succeed, but there's a good chance that you'll damage the gearing permanently.] Right. We can try to attempt repairs without the parts, but the wheels will in fact break and we won't get the most out of them if that happens. We'll just have to look for the parts.  This spot looks familiar. It should, because this is where Sun Li crashed through the wall twenty years ago and set off in pursuit of the monk, who was fleeing down the stairs and through the gate to the left.  This gate. Let's find out what's behind it.   We can't do anything with the well cover or open up the secret escape route, but there's something down here we can use.  Here's a replacement part for the meditation wheels. We still need a couple more, though, and we've combed through the temple pretty thoroughly so we should go see if we can find something outside.   Oh, hey there. I thought we freed all the spirits already, but apparently that wasn't the case and there are still some stragglers left.  Imperial Soldier Ghost: You did this, Spirit Monk! We will not rest until your kind are wiped out!  Sorry, not going to happen.   After getting rid of the ghosts, we hear a sound in the distance.     Looks like our friends made it. That didn't take very long, considering that the Land of the Howling Spirits is supposed to be quite far away from the rest of the Empire.  Welcome to Chapter 6. These later chapters really aren't very long at all.  We saw the Dragonfly land where we fought the Red Ministers in the spirit Dirge, but we've got more exploring to do before we head that way.   These ghosts pop up when we get close enough to the pile of bones containing another part for the wheels and more pages from the Tome of Release.  We can't get to the outer courtyard right now, so the rest of these items have to be somewhere around here.   When we return back to the main temple courtyard, another batch of ghosts shows up. They're guarding another pile of bones, although I swear neither the bones or the ghosts were here before we picked up the previous page from the Tome.  The fourth set of pages is found next to where we fought the first ghosts. Maybe we should actually look at these pages and find out what they actually do before we hunt down the last section.  The Tome of Release describes a ritual to free the spirits of the remaining Imperial Army soldiers. Apparently, it's performed at Mah Tsung's shrine, but of course we still have to find the rest of the text before we're able to do anything.  We managed to scrounge together enough parts to get the meditation wheels up and running as well as they can without a more extensive repair job, so now we can actually use the wheels properly.  [You feel a sense of calm as you meditate, listening to the water of the dragon font and the quiet revolutions of the wheel. You feel centered and relaxed. You are certain you have gained all you can from meditating with these wheels. After a few moments, something in the mechanism gives way. The wheels abruptly stop spinning and you doubt you will be able to repair them again.]  Communion of the Dragon (Health +5, Chi +15) is the best technique we can earn from the meditation wheels. If we only make partial repairs, we get one of two weaker techniques. We also picked up Replenishment of the Mind (Focus and Chi +7) earlier.   Now that we're mostly done in and around the temple, we can actually go reunite with our friends. They've been busy, setting up camp remarkably quickly.    Well, I mean, we kind of were dead. Extremely so.    Oooh, you walk in the parks of many gods. I will build something extra large to explode with my surprise. You must be of great standing in the eyes of the heavens. Mortals are not returned from beyond in their own form.Being the only one who can stop Sun Li's madness probably helped with that.    As annoyances go, I think ours is more pressing. Or have you all forgotten the entire army of the Emperor! That might complicate our exit a little bit. We knew Sun Li and Death's Hand were on their way, so I suppose we should've expected they'd show up with the entire Imperial army.  Your former master, my uncle. has taken the Jade Empire as his own. Emperor Sun Li has set the whole of his forces against us, and we are trapped here In Dirge.  The Lotus Assassins were his almost immediately. Your amulet must have allowed him to quickly do what it took my father years to accomplish. Also, what happened to our original body?  He didn't consider us a threat. We had no way of fighting him. Just as with Sun Hai, only a Spirit Monk can face him with hope of success. That's why we came here. Dawn Star's vision seemed impossible, but any hope was better than none. Unfortunately, Emperor Sun Li sensed your stirrings in the spirit realm as well, and now we are trapped.Hm. We'd really rather not fight the entire Imperial Army, as that might prove to be a tall order even for us. Maybe there's some way we can evade them?   My Marvelous Dragonfly will not survive the passage, either. The winds force a certain path, and the Army's flyers are guarding it well. But that is our luck, as well as our sorrow. Their inferior flyers can barely stay aloft in such currents. They will not overrun us from the air. At least, not in numbers.Well, at least we're not getting firebombed to death. Probably. That's reassuring.  I suppose fighting is the only option, then. Hopefully we'll fare better than the Spirit Monks did twenty years ago.  We will start securing the Temple. The great gates of this place will grant us some valuable time. At least they will not take us by surprise. Fortifications... hmmm... perhaps I will remove some of the ordnance from the Marvelous Dragonfly. Properly applied, it may prove useful tomorrow. Come Whirlwind! I need your muscle!If Kang has a plan which has something to do with the Dragonfly's ordnance, it probably involves extremely large explosions. We'll probably be needing those.  That is... that is all we can do to save ourselves today, but... there was more that you learned in the spirit realm, wasn't there? I can tell. Yes... err... how shall we put this? "Good news, you're actually not an orphan!"    Silk Fox seems rather skeptical about this latest revelation. Now, she's been skeptical about pretty much every revelation thus far and has been wrong every single time, so by now you'd think she would just roll with it.  Lots of children are born every day. I was born at that time. If you don't count this latest rebirth, so was our friend here. But I was named for the fires of Dirge. Hui said as much, and it seems obvious now. The red glow opposite the morning sun was the temple burning. So what if it was? It could have been visible across the Empire.No, that's not how that works and you know that perfectly well. Come on.   At this point, Silk Fox is just trying to convince herself that this isn't true, despite all evidence pointing in the other direction. She's been acting rather unfriendly towards Dawn Star throughout the game, calling her a peasant and such, and now... well...  ...yeah, that. How does the line of succession work at this point anyway? Obviously, Silk Fox was (or at least thought she was) next in line when her father Sun Hai was Emperor, but then Sun Hai had a combat-related accident and Sun Li took over. Technically, wouldn't that make Dawn Star the current heir to the throne? Of course, Sun Li won't be giving up his power if he can help it, so all this is kind of moot.   That's doubtful, but it probably won't hurt to try.  Does anyone care how I feel about this?  You are both crazy. I'll go along with it if it helps us in the end, but I'll need more proof to believe it, and I expect Sun Li will, too.I guess the Water Dragon's word isn't enough unless Silk Fox actually hears her say it. Whatever, she'll come around.   Certainly, once we finish our other business.   We find the last pages from the Tome of Release next to the focus shrine, so now we just need to read them and then go perform the ritual.  Don't perform the ritual at the Heavenly Gate Guardian shrine unless you want a lot of Closed Fist points. Got it.  On the way back to the temple, we run into the strongest Imperial ghost yet. Come on now, we're trying to help you!   Okay. Let's see how this goes.  [Complete the ritual] [Feeling slightly drained, you release the chi you were channeling, confident that the soldiers have found peace.]   Not that remarkable of a quest reward there, but at least those spirits are free now. That's all we had to do in the temple today, so let's return to the camp and have a nice chat with Silk Fox.  WARNING: BIOWARE ROMANCE INCOMING  I have been afraid to talk to you. I worry that you might have changed... that you might have forgotten me. Well, we did come back from the dead and all that, so I can see why Silk Fox might have some reservations at the moment.   I haven't slept since you fell. For all the influence my position is supposed to carry, I was as helpless as a lamb. But now, to have you back here, with me. It's almost too much to bear.  I... I am truly frightened about tomorrow. But I know I am safe... here... in your arms. Whatever comes, thank you for showing me how to care for people. I have never been closer to anyone. Whatever comes tomorrow, thank you for what we have *right now.* This moment... is beautiful. You should kiss me before I remember who I am supposed to be.    In the unmodded game, only the heterosexual romance scene shows the kiss -- in the same-sex version, the scene just fades to black for whatever reason. Wu suddenly growing a full head taller than Silk Fox is not a byproduct of the mod, that seems to happen even in the cut version.    Later that night, Wu dreams of Two Rivers.  Our fallen friends from Sun Li's school also make an appearance -- Wen, Jing Woo, and Lin.  They, and everyone else in Two Rivers, were always just chess pieces in the Glorious Strategist's plan.   This is nothing more than a dream, my pupil. I can *do* nothing here, but I can influence things. Do you remember your fellow students?    At this point, it's kind of difficult to tell if all of this is simply a nightmare or if Sun Li's power actually extends to invading our mind with visions. It could go either way, but I think this is just Wu being haunted by what happened to her friends.  We did not leave them to die. That was all Li's doing. We all know that, but Wu's clearly blaming herself for her friends' deaths on some level.   All according to Li's plan, of course. Everyone in Two Rivers had to die so we would have a reason to go on a quest to avenge them.  In any case, the three students aren't happy about what happened, and they seem to believe Wu is responsible for their deaths even though there was nothing she could've done. It was all over as soon as they joined the school.    When we defeat the students, they tell us they now see it wasn't our fault they died. This whole scene has been about Wu fighting the demons of her (recent) past, and finally finding some amount of peace by vanquishing them.   In the morning, Wu is woken up by sounds that can only mean one thing. The Imperial Army is getting close. Maybe they're here earlier than expected, that would explain why she was still sleeping and has to scramble to get her clothes on.    That's... a lot of golems.  That's a lot of very large golems. Normal jade golems are nowhere near that size, even though they tower over the clay ones.  It seems we've really got our work cut out for us if we're going to make it out of Dirge alive.  You're awake! It sounds like the army is on the move. They're on their way up the mountain!You guys could've woken us up, you know.  What? Why would he... oh hell.   Well, that's convenient for my nerves.He's limping and looks a bit worse for wear in general, but at least he isn't dead. That's good.    I went down the mountain to scout them out. I figured I could get a good estimate of how many were coming and get back here. It didn't work out like I planned. There are Lotus Assassins by the score, and golems, too. You didn't bury them all. They have a lot more. Imperial Army flyers in the distance, too. They'll be here soon. Bad. Bad. Very bad. What are we going to do? They'll be across the main bridge in no time.We would rather avoid that, yes.   Ah, so that's what those massive golems are called.  It would be bad if they reached us. The casks I took off the Dragonfly would make short work of the bridge, though. A little fire and *whoosh,* earth meets sky. No. It's too dangerous for just one person. I'll go, as well.Kang isn't a fighter, so obviously he's going to need some protection while he works his magic. Silk Fox and Dawn Star should do a good job, but who's going to be in charge?   Y... yes, Princess.If you choose Dawn Star as the leader, Silk Fox gets quite annoyed because she can't believe you'd choose a "peasant" over her.  Wh... who? The Lotus Assassins? But they'd have to fly to get past the wall, and the winds are too strong. Hundreds may die in crashes, but a few will get through. Do you really think Death's Hand minds such losses?  Er, Kang, old friend. I'd like to borrow a few of your marvelously explosive casks. I have something special in mind for any Assassins who breach our lines. What? Yes, yes, whatever you want. I have enough on my mind. During the night I made some, ah, reinforcements to the Marvelous Dragonfly. I don't sleep much, you see. Ever. Anyway, I doubt we could escape, but we can make a dent. A short run in the flyer to take the brunt of their advance? It might be a worthwhile mission. Or it might be suicide. Well, what isn't these days? It's not necessary. I leave the decision to our illustrious leader.Wonderful. Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to thin them out a bit. Also, it seems Kang never sleeps. Either he never has to because he's a minor deity, or he just doesn't bother with it.  Yes, that's the way. I knew you'd be up for it. Off we go. Everyone be ready for our return. Make every shot count. We'll need the help. That looks like a decent enough loadout. I don't know if we'll be able to use Dragon's Wrath at any point because it takes so much chi, but we might as well bring it along since the rest of the upgrades aren't that useful.  Nice to see a flyer mission with an actual background, for a change.  This mission is also quite tough, as we get lots of enemies thrown at us and they still like flying right into the Marvelous Dragonfly.  At the end, we encounter the mother of all Imperial flyers and things get a bit bullet hell-ish for some time. We used all our chi on Shrieking Fury during the mission, so all we can do here is just dodge stuff as best we can and keep firing at the boss with our spread shot.  That is quite a wimpy explosion for such a huge vessel.  Great, more flyer upgrades we will never use. That was (spoiler alert) the last flyer mission in the game, so I'm not sure where you'd even get the chance to use this. New Game Plus?  You better have enough explosives left. Dawn Star and I can't hold them off forever. Are you sure I shouldn't just charge the main gate? They would not be expecting that. "Unexpected" acts are not always "successful" acts. You have a narrow understanding of success in battle, bun-man. Must be your small head.   It looks like we won't have long to wait. Kang better keep his mind on his task at the bridge, or this will be a short last stand. One thing's for sure: they've got their synchronized running perfected.  Time is better spent doing than talking. You didn't see? He was... One of the spirit monks was right there. He stayed behind to tell me that there were hidden treasures still left in Dirge.Huh. Well, that's something we might want to keep an eye out for.  Make light of it if you want, but he said that we should search Dirge. The magic that restored the temple also destroyed spells that cloaked chests hidden in the ruins. The monks used these chests to hide treasures, including powerful weapons. They didn't want them to fall into the Emperor's hands. He said that one was nearby. Maybe we can find it before we reach the bridge. Lead on. After the cutscenes, we find ourselves in control of Silk Fox (or Dawn Star, if you picked her as the leader). That's where we'll stop for today, next time we will give 'em hell. We are well and truly in the endgame now, not many updates to go after this one.  ------ DMorbid fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Sep 17, 2017 |
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Sep 17, 2017 04:06
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Don't forget to show their "Quest" pages! Yes, the companions have their own "Quest" pages, with completed quests and current quests, with character appropriate information in them. I don't suppose you could go back and show Silk Fox's as well? Because the "Quest" page is only for the character being controlled. ... um, this isn't a spoiler, is it? Oh, I've hidden it anyway. It's a mechanics thing rather than a storyline thing, but still, why steal your thunder?
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Sep 17, 2017 04:37
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I'll show off all (edit: well, most of) that stuff in the next update, no worries.
DMorbid fucked around with this message at 04:47 on Sep 17, 2017 |
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Sep 17, 2017 04:38
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quote:When we interact with the gem repository, the magical force field simply fades away and we receive the Eye of the Dragon. This Open Palm exclusive gem is a +6 boost to Body, Mind and Spirit, and also adds a 5% chance of a shockwave knocking attackers down when you get hit. From the previous update. Very interesting. Does closed fist get anything equivalent like they usually do, or is this a case of "You took the easy route, you don't get this bonus"? Does this also mean that the field protecting the gem repels you? Also, didn't ever get the revelation that Dawn Star was Li's daughter. Which means that the threesome romance option you can unlock now involves a pair of cousins and...Oh boy. I don't know if Bioware just didn't have the plot guys and the "romance" guys at the same meetings, but eesh.
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Sep 17, 2017 04:51
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CzarChasm posted:From the previous update. Very interesting. Does closed fist get anything equivalent like they usually do, or is this a case of "You took the easy route, you don't get this bonus"? Does this also mean that the field protecting the gem repels you?
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Sep 17, 2017 05:05
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CzarChasm posted:Also, didn't ever get the revelation that Dawn Star was Li's daughter. Which means that the threesome romance option you can unlock now involves a pair of cousins and...Oh boy. I don't know if Bioware just didn't have the plot guys and the "romance" guys at the same meetings, but eesh. Given how sisters (particularly twins) is a common fantasy, I find it hard to get worked up over this sort of thing. All I can manage nowadays is incredulous scoffing. I can have moments of... eccentricity and sometimes be quite curious about things. Please forgive me if I do something foolish or rude.
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Sep 17, 2017 17:31
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Doc Morbid posted:I'll show off all (edit: well, most of) that stuff in the next update, no worries. Dunno if it's true or not, but (assuming I'm remembering the right bit) if/when you control the Black Whirlwind, ignore the plot and keep killing stuff. Every 20 or so enemies something is supposed to happen.
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Sep 17, 2017 20:45
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