I train my characters, but they’re still lagging behind on skills – I want to get the next tier of passives but the skill points aren’t very forthcoming. Fortunately, I do manage to get “Grace” for Fero, which increases his already-impressive agility to godlike levels. Someone will be getting a lot of turns.

There’s a new quest available.

Santes: “Woooow, you’re really pretty. I’ve never seen a lizard with scales that color!”

She walks around him until she sees his back, and promptly freaks out – it’s covered in scars and cuts. The shra says his master would not approve of this. Santes walks up to a man standing nearby.

Santes: “Nonononoooo! Is this him here? I’ll… I’ll tell him not to do it again!”
Zargos: “Calm yourself, dear. S’none of our bother, and we don’t want to make things worse!”

So I’m starting to think that Zargos is supposed to be like a racist grandparent or something. In the peasant revolt, he fought for the monarchy – the traditionalist, oppressive system. He’s an artifact from the previous generation. This would explain all the casual racism coming from him. He’s an otherwise decent and honorable fellow who also thinks that slavery isn’t all that bad, really, I mean it’s just a fact of life, not our place to interfere. This still doesn’t answer the question of why he chose to marry Santes of all people, but otherwise it makes a lot of sense.

The shra says he has work to do and they should leave. Zargos agrees, but Santes wants to help. The thrall tender walks over and says “Hey!! You people quit hasslin’ my labor! I already lost three of them this month!”

Zargos: “I apologize. My wife gets…excited sometimes.”

There’s nothing I really need to add here, is there?

Santes: “You lost three lizards this month?! Did they run away, or somethin’? Cause, if I hadda choose between being pretty like this one or getting’ beat up…”
[pause]
Santes: “I mean, I *AM* pretty, but, if I were a lizard who was pretty too, I would…ya know?”

…

The tender says they didn’t run off – they were killed. Santes is understandably upset by this. Zargos insists they should leave, but the shra hesitantly asks them for a favor.

Thrall Tender: “Dammit, Shra, get back to work before I beat the stink off of ya!”

Remember this line.

Zargos says he doesn’t want to cause any trouble, but the shra is insistent: “No, my flesh iss expendable, but my wordss are what you musst keep alive.”

The man walks off to the north to flag a guard.

Zargos: “Ugh. Stay here Santes, I’ll talk to ‘im.”

And now he’s talking to her like she’s an unruly pet. Christ.

Zargos finally leaves the scene. Good riddance.

Santes: “Okay good, we’re alone. What was it you needed t’ tell us?”
Blue-Scaled Shra: “When the ssky-bladess attacked, my brotherss fought, while I fled.”
Santes: “What’s a sssssky blade?”
Blue-Scaled Shra: “A bird, tainted by ssavagery, driven mad for blood and sskin to conssume. I ran away. I fled. I left my brotherss to die, to be conssumed by them. I had to tell ssomeone, one with eyess of undersstanding, to relieve thiss guilt. I can not facce my brotherss in the afterlife without firsst admitting my cowardicce.”
[pause]
Blue-Scaled Shra: “…That iss all I wished to ssay. Thank you.”
Santes: “Okay then! I better go see what’s taking Zargos so long. Bye now!”

I really feel bad for this guy. He’s so desperate to confess his guilt that he jumps at whatever chance he can get, even if that chance is Santes. And it looks like it was all for naught. Santes doesn’t seem to even understand the gravity of what he’s saying and can’t offer him any real comfort, she’s just politely doing what he asked her to do. She’ll probably forget his story within the hour.

Zargos and the tender arrive just as she turns to leave. Zargos and Santes got off scott-free because the Nal-guard likes them. Congratulations on undermining what little law and order there is in this place! This is another really annoying thing I see a lot not only in RPGs but in fantasy stories in general, where the main characters get to effortlessly subvert the legal channels to get whatever they want because they have friends on the inside or even just because they’re special, which is an incredibly irresponsible and short-sighted power fantasy. There’s no justice in this, the government is explicitly steamrollering over what could be a perfectly legitimate objection just because they personally like these guys. That’s something that happens all the time in real life and it’s a very serious problem. I don’t want about the special people getting whatever they want by screwing over the little guy because I am the little guy.

…Anyway. Apparently, the guard let something slip about an “unfinished task”. The thrall tender corroborates the shra’s story by explaining that the guard’s trying to excavate a trail in the mountains and hired his thralls to do it. But suddenly, bloodhawk attack. “Damn things tore three of my thralls to pieces. Only me and the blue one here made it out. I’ve been catching hell over not finishing that job ever since.”

Zargos capitalizes on this opportunity and asks if the guild can finish the job for him. The tender asks what they want in payment, and Santes immediately says she wants the shra. The tender says he can’t agree to that – it’s the only slave he has left, and without it he’s useless.

Zargos: “Suit yerself! C’mon Santes, he isn’t int’rested. Maybe he likes bein’ hassled by th’ guards.”

Ye gods, does everyone in this game have a snark mode?

Because being a dick always works, the tender agrees. Why does Zargos care so much about this? I’m sure there’s other work available, and all they’re getting for it is the shra, which he doesn’t even seem to want.

Santes: “Yay! You hear that? Now you can stay beautiful forever!”

If I have to read Santes’ dialogue then so do you.

After I accept the quest, the shra goes “…” Okay.

He does the same if I talk to him here! The tender says “Your lot is decently armored; still, be careful up on the ridge ahead. Those Bloodhawks get crazy this time of year while they’re roosting.” Eh, they’re not actually that bad. Skeletons are tougher.

The Nal-guard says “The path ahead has been blocked by rubble for decades now. It could lead anywhere. We intend to establish an outpost at the highest point along this ridge, however. With it, we can keep watch over most of the Paresh Woods below.” Yay, interconnectivity to earlier quests!

The mountain range is quite pretty for RPG Maker graphics.

These boulders need to be cleared off the mountain path. A number of Bloodhawks are roosting among the stones. Just hacking away with our weapons or magic probably won’t work very well. We’ll need a creative way to clear them.

Urgggh, this mechanic. When I first played I had no idea what the “creative way to clear them” was and just hacked away at them. That was a good waste of a few hours. What you’re supposed to do is push them all the way to the back of the battlefield, which pushes them off the cliff. Except that this makes no logical sense because the only way that would work is if the characters are facing the cliffside when they clear the boulders but in the walkaround map it’s to their side and arghrghghg hate.

It does make sense on a theoretical level, but the graphic layout of the battle screen just doesn’t communicate it. At all.

Bloodhawks aren’t much of an actual threat, but they’re really annoying. Mad Swoop pushes characters back by a lot, usually requiring multiple turns to get back to where they were. It also frequently disables them, preventing them from doing anything useful.

You can’t permanently kill them until you’ve dealt with the boulders, either. After you kill one, a replacement will appear on the next turn.

Fero pretty much carries the entire battle. His Bola Snare skill deals no damage but does inflict heavy knockback, which is perfect for dealing with the boulders. It’s also long-range. Sirush is also useful if you can get him to the front lines, as Exploit’s status effect for heavy armor (which the boulders have) is knockback. Qualstio’s Sand Comet helps out too.

Except for Fero, characters will spend most of their time in this battle being fairly useless, but on the bright side it gives them a lot of opportunities to use random skills and get skill points.

And that’s pretty much it to the quest. There are two more obstructions that are virtually identical, just with more boulders.

Nal-Guardsman: “This is a fine vantage point, indeed. Well done, all of you.”
Thrall Tender: “All in a day’s work! Haaah…”
Ques: “Approval? Excellent. Let us conclude our negotiations somewhere away from the edge.”

Ques: “Rank 11. The world must surely be taking notice of your efforts by now. Maybe.”

Fero and Lani are feeling risky, I see.

The guardsman is excited about building the new outpost, and says the guild can return to Nal for a rest.

Santes: “Wait, wait! What about our pay, huh?”
Thrall Tender: “Wha? Oh, right. You want another slave? Go ahead, take it. Fair’s fair, I guess.”
Santes: “Yaaay! Waitamunite, he’s not gonna be a slave! Not no more, anyways.”
Blue-Scaled Shra: “But, what do you wish to do with me?”

Hm, guess shra don’t hiss the “sh” sound.

Santes: “Well, uh. You can join us!”
Blue-Scaled Shra: “I am no fighter. That relationship would not lasst for very long.”
Dehl: “Well, surely we could offer you better treatment than you face now.”

Interesting. Has Dehl finally come around to realizing that slavery is bad?

Blue-Scaled Shra: “My masster doess not misstreat me.”

What.

Santes: “Whaaat? But he said he was gonna beat you before! Don’t ya remember?”
Thrall Tender: “Hey, I ain’t proud of a lot of things, but I don’t beat nothin’.”

Uh huh.

I’m calling bullcrap on this. I cannot think of any explanation for how he is willing to threaten to beat his thrall but not actually do it. And if that was true and he actually treats his thrall with a smidgen of respect, why did he attempt to dismiss Santes by calling the guards instead of just telling her “I don’t beat him”? This guy is a lying weasel who’s Stockholmed his slave.

Santes says they’ll just set him free then.

Zargos: “Ehhh, Santes?”

SHUT UP ZARGOS NOBODY CARES

Blue-Scaled Shra: “F-Free? But, I…I cannot leave my masster.”
Santes: “Whaaaaat? But, don’t you wanna run wild and free in wherever it is you’re from?”
Blue-Scaled Shra: “N-no…my masster cares for me. I musst protect him, like my brotherss tried to do…”

This is just sad.

Thrall Tender: “They did, ya know. I’da been the one those hawks tore up first if it wasn’t for ’em. If he don’t wanna leave, then I guess I’d better think up some other way to repay you.”

I…kinda have to wonder if the developer didn’t decide on this plot twist until after he wrote the starting cutscene. There’s just so much of a disconnect between his previous and current attitudes. Unless the inconsistency is intentional and he really is supposed to be a lying snake.

Dehl: “I suppose…”

There’s a flash and the background music goes silent.

Dehl: “What…?”
“No time. No need. Move on.”

Another flash, and things go back to normal. Dehl awkwardly tries to turn down payment.

Thrall Tender: “Ohhh no, I’m not leaving another debt unpaid, and especially not to Wadassians.”
Qualstio: “Yeah Dehl, what gives? We gotta eat, ya know. And rent in Nal is cheap, but not free.”
Dehl: “I apologize. I do not mean to disappoint, but… I am compelled to decline.”
Qualstio: “Oooo-kay. Whatever you say, boss-man.”

Fade to black. In Nal, I can examine the shra for some bonus dialogue: “Walk not with pity for me. My life iss as it iss. Life iss proper, for there iss no alternative.” Sorry, guy, but that’s some defeatist fatalism crap. I still pity you.

The shra are so depressing.

And Lani still doesn’t have enough skill points to get even first-tier passives. Darn it. This is why agility is God. Santes has enough for a second tier, though. I get “Smite Thee” – a useless melee enhancer, but it advances her “Blessed Are We” skill line. I probably should have gotten the next level of Pure Cleric instead, but oh well.

PREVIOUS | NEXT