It’s quest time!

For some reason the quest confirmation is placed at the start of the scene instead of at the end. Like with the end-of-chapter quests, you can’t back out of this one. I have no idea why the developer did it this way. I guess he felt the urgency of the mission would be cheapened by giving you the option to back out?

The scene starts with these three talking among themselves. Dehl is surprised that the guard force is shra; “I was sure I was the only Shra defender.” Did he think that just because he was the only one in Wadassia, he was the only one in the whole world? I guess it’d be understandable for him to generalize and think everywhere is like Wadassia, but this still sounds weird to me.

This is also yet another thing Qualstio really should have told him. Surely he expressed some doubts about a lowly shra like himself being trusted with a position in the guard? Surely Qualstio (assuming he’s the supportive friend the narrative claims he is rather than the amoral dick we see) would have told him about this to bolster his spirits? I wonder if originally they were only acquaintances or recent friends rather than being fire-forged companions for years, because that fits Dehl’s ignorance a bit better. Dehl expresses surprise at so many things that Qualstio should have told him about or at least mentioned in passing, given such a long interval. It’s like their characters were just in stasis from the time they met to the time the story begins.

Anyway, Qualstio explains that yeah in Fortifel the guards are shra. Fortians are frail scholarly types, so they outsource the physical labor to shra – “Policing, building, hunting, and such.” I like this, because it shows that shra really are treated much better here. When she did The Hunger Games (and Divergent, now), Farla kept bringing up how it was stupid to put the oppressed underclass in charge of vital stuff that would give them opportunities to kill you. The fact the Fortians can give shra such important jobs (especially policing) without worrying they’ll poison everyone or raze the city or what have you shows that they really do treat shra a lot better here.

Qualstio: “It’s not a bad deal though. They’re treated a whole lot better than in Wadassia or Nal.”

Here Qualstio explains just that! Thank you Qualstio, now let’s –

“They’re more like, uh, pets!”

And of course he has to ruin it by being an insensitive dick.

Why in the world does he say this? He’s supposed to be a shra sympathizer and close friends with Dehl, but the first descriptor out of his mouth is pets? What the crap, Qualstio. He never apologizes or backpedals from this, even though Dehl immediately expresses horror at his word choice.

I really don’t understand what game is trying to do with Qualstio. When the plot calls for it he’s portrayed as a nice guy with progressive views, but most of the time he’s just a dick who makes mean jokes or insensitive comments for a quick laugh. Pick one and stick with it, game.

Ques interrupts after this and prods them into talking to the guards.

Qualstio is well-versed in languages. I wonder just how much work the developer put into developing them? There are multiple phrases and occasionally entire conversations spoken in different languages, but I have no idea if he’s just writing gibberish or actually slaved over vocabulary and grammatical structure and whatnot. Linguistics isn’t my forte, so I can’t really say. It works for what it’s intended for, I suppose.

The guard just responds with “…Yes,” which I think is funny. Qualstio gives him the standard spiel and asks if there’s any work for them. He says no, but obviously that’s going to change or we wouldn’t have a quest. (That would actually be a pretty amusing fakeout, if the game had all the indicators that something was an actual quest but they actually turn you down and you have to do something else.) Dehls response is, “Well, that is wonderful news.” Dehl is adorable.

Qualstio: “It’s goatwash, is what it is. C’mon, there’s nothing threatening the city? Stray matterfiends? Wracked wanderers?”

Are matterfiends really that dangerous? They don’t seem terribly aggressive. Wouldn’t obsidomina be a more dangerous threat? According to The Drop they hate Fortians, and supposedly they have magic resistance so it’s conceivable that the Fortians would actually have trouble dealing with them. (That could even be milked for bonus irony points if characters point out it’s the reversal of the spellslinging bugs from chapter 1.)

Zixtio is still all “Nope.” Dehl congratulates him on his good work.

Guard-Shra Zixtio: “…thank you, D’an.”

Aw.

Ah, here’s our deus ex machina, right on schedule!

The “Distressed Guard-Shra” (aw, no name) starts chattering to Zixtio in Fortian. Zixtio says well fancy that, something has come up. “Assist Marato if you still wish to help us.” So he does get a name!

Qualstio: “Quanso de? Ket, ehhh… ket quisto hor? Uhh, tergo matz quanso fortuas xiliaire.”
Guard-Shra Marato: “Dekh quansssoto, ket horo uhn hetsss.”

See this is what I mean. Entire conversations written out in Fortian. Whether it’s just a word-for-word cypher or if it has unique grammar, I have no idea. It sure looks impressive, I guess?

Anyway, Qualstio translates this to explain some slashlings (livestock) have escaped from their pens and have to be rounded up.

Qualstio: “Let’s give them a hand! This might be out only chance for a while to get a good foot in.”
[…]
Dehl: “Understood. We should begin right away.”

I guess this is why I can’t back out? There have been plenty of previous quests that have seemed urgent before, though, and the intro cutscene always replays exactly, so it’s clearly a gameplay abstraction and not something the guild is actually doing.

But whatever, let’s get hunting. Ques gives me an introductory spiel with some information – exits are secure and none managed to escape, also slashlings are cowardly and have to be cornered.

Ques: “However, the tender has specifically requested that we return them ALIVE. So, do be gentle when incapacitating them.”

This is an interesting tidbit that leads to some story/gameplay integration – body damage kills them, but mind and soul damage don’t. I’m not sure how universal it’s supposed to be, though; my party members are fine even when they’re defeated through body damage, and enemies sure seem dead even when I defeat them through mind or soul. However, I have to wonder why the tender cares about live capture? These are livestock animals, they’re going to be slaughtered anyway. I suppose these ones could be too young, but still I don’t see that much being lost if the guards just haul the corpses back.

(If you’re going for this objective, Zargos is dead weight here due to his inability to inflict anything other than body damage. Crippling inflexibility sucks.)

If I try to leave through that stairway to the south, the guard says, “Though I enjoy your offering of company, I must ask you to step away from my post.” My, these guards are remarkably snarky!

Have I examined these before? I feel like I have, but I couldn’t see any mention of them in my previous posts. Well, like all good magical areas, Fortifel has crystals sprouting out of nowhere. At least this game has the presence of mind to make a tongue-in-cheek jab about them being useless decoration.

The slashling here is already backed against the lava, so I can engage it without issue.

I didn’t notice it at first, but it’s actually snowing in the battle screen! That’s a nice touch. I’m going for the special objectives, so I subdue this one through mind damage.

Dead slashlings disappear (like every other enemy…), but live ones stay around for you to poke at.

This area is rather maze-like, with most of the slashlings hidden in back alleys and such.

Here’s one!

Like Ques said, though, it’s cowardly. The help text pops up to inform me it’ll return if I come back in a bit, so fortunately I haven’t screwed myself over.

What you have to do is split into two groups to block both exits. I send Lani to block the north exit here. The slashling tries to run when she approaches, but bumps into the main group, allowing me to fight it.

This area is to the east of the previous junction. I can talk to the shra, but he just says “The fence is there for a reason. Now, leave me to my work. Exit how you came in.” I wonder if they’re picking up the Fortians’ hatred of interruptions and general abrasiveness?

To the south is…lava. Seriously, where is it all coming from? Why isn’t it cooling? That Fortian says “I came to inspect the firepatch here. Tread carefully, for it seems to have grown in size,” which answers absolutely nothing.

Unlike the giant lava lake in the hunting area, this one is actually dangerous! Trying to walk on the land bridge will make the group jump back with the message That’s really freakin’ hot! Only someone who is alone and in heavy armor will be able to walk through the firepatch here. Wait what why would heavy metal armor protect you from heat that makes negative sense.

But whatever. I send Lani through and of course there’s a sack on the other side. There is a small sack here, which is unusual considering the inaccessibility of this area. Ha! Video game powerups do tend to be in pretty bizarre places. Something heavy is inside… It’s a large, black chunk of blackened glass ore. It gives off a sort of unusual radiance, resembling the aftereffects of an enchantment. That’s a pretty description, but unfortunately this is useless to me! It’s just some obsidomina ore, but I already killed an obsidomina and I only need one. Oh geez I sound like a serial killer.

This area is to the north. That Fortian complains about being kept waiting or something? I guess he’s referring to the district being on lockdown, in which case why are they containing the residents too? The people aren’t the ones they’re corralling. And it looks like slashlings are too big to smuggle under your cloak, so they can’t even use that excuse.

There’s another slashling in an alley near here.

And it…disappears even though I beat it through soul damage? Must be a bug. I hope I didn’t kill it D:

I’ve hit the north end of the block. The Fortian babbles nonsense about something “buried in the black sand”, which could be foreshadowing for something that was dropped? Possibly? I don’t remember there being anything buried in Kir’Ssha. Maybe there’s an Easter egg. Or maybe this is just nonsense and I’m not supposed to look into it.

To the west is a slashling and a…firepatch I guess. I see this one is fenced off. That’s…remarkably reasonable, for Fortians. Where are the mad scientists and what have you done with them?!

So they are restricting all traffic. That seems needlessly totalitarian. Hm. Maybe the shra just enjoy going on power trips like this? Even in Fortifel they’re second-class citizens, and some of them may have come from other cities where they’re treated even worse. I imagine it must be cathartic for them to abuse their power a little now that the tables have turned.

Ugh, this guy. Unlike the others, it doesn’t conveniently back itself into a corner for you – it just sits right in the middle of town, probably staring smugly at you. This one is by far the hardest to engage, since you need to split into four groups to cover everything.

This is on the eastern edge. After the battle I can talk to the guards, who are grateful. They couldn’t subdue a single slashling on their own? They’re not that tough. Guess it’s just that the hero has to do everything because this is a heroic fantasy.

To the south…

Your group will probably disturb it and wake it up if you get any closer. You don’t want it to escape. Try sending someone alone.

I send Dehl, who dispatches it fairly quickly.

“The Shra seem to love eating them though. Cuh. Nearly cannibalistic, such an act is!”

Hm. I wonder if this opinion is shared by all Fortians or if this one is just a picky eater? Come to think of it, how are slashlings fed? People keep saying that Fortifel has crap for farmland, but livestock need a lot of food. Meat is an incredibly inefficient food source, yet it’s the only one we see. Characters haven’t explicitly said that Fortifel has zero farmland, so it’s possible there are some arable areas, but I highly doubt it’s enough to sustain such a resource sink. Really, the coldly logical Fortians should discount livestock as a grossly inefficient food source and go vegetarian. Maybe they eat that nutrient-fortified porridge.

There’s a slashling in this alleyway that runs when I approach it, but it just corners itself so I don’t need any fancy tricks. Not sure what the point of that was.

Here are two! I saw one of them from that staircase earlier.

It’s interesting that so many of them fled to the edges of the neighborhood. I mean, obviously, yes, it’s to make this easier from a gameplay perspective, but it does make sense that they’d hide there. They’re mostly hidden in out-of-the way alleys and alcoves. I suppose the guards checked the main streets but not the outskirts.

But ironically, the best place to be is actually in the middle of the city. I imagine this guy just laughing at all the guards who tried to chase it all over the city in vain. It’s blocking an important intersection, too! I have it now, though; the rest of the guild’s blocking its escape routes.

Ques: “By my calculation, you’ve achieved Rank 12. Surely fate has smiled upon you this day.”

12 is a multiple of 4, so I get a bonus: Your allies feel comfortable traveling and living together. There is a warmth about them… All active allies of Ilganyag have gained of each kind of Essence apiece! What? The actual number must have got cut off or something. And because I got all 10 slashlings, I get yet another bonus: Your devotion to perfection has bolstered your allies’ fighting spirits. Each member who participated will gain 5000 of each Essence.

That was a fun mission. There’s a bit more depth to it than just “kill these monsters”. Tracking down the slashlings, cornering them, and having to limit yourself in the battles themselves add some complexity to an otherwise standard run-around.

Zixtio says there might be more. Fero wants to continue the hunt, because he is a hunter who likes to hunt things and has to say this every cutscene lest you forget it. In fairness, slashlings must be the only things he can really hunt – matterfiends and obsidomina are probably too alien.

A slashling appears behind Qualstio while they’re talking.

Heh.

Qualstio runs after it, but a lightning bolt strikes it out of nowhere and sinister music suddenly starts playing!

Qualstio: “…Ah!”

For once, Qualstio appears legitimately terrified. He backs away and is at a loss for words.

Tehgonan: “Hey, who’s this geezer?”

Tehgonan has no self-preservation instinct I see.

Fetranto: “Yes, Sicious. Who is he? Well? Don’t leave the boy in silence. Answer him!”
Qualstio: “Uh. This is Councilord Fetranto. He, uh… We. We go way back. Yeah.”
[…]
Qualstio: “Look, I know—”
Physical Councillord Fetranto: “You know NOTHING, Sicious. Had you the ability to learn, you’d not have returned! Ever! Not after that… that MOCKERY of Order that you chose to cast down upon us.”

Wait, back up a minute there. What’s this about a “mockery of order”? I thought Qualstio just blew up a bunch of stuff? Was Qualstio’s rebellion originally planned to have more time and detail devoted to it? The way his explanation is relegated to a few offhand lines at the end of the chapter did always strike me as odd. Maybe the Fortifel arc was originally much more focused on this, but it was cut for some reason or another? It would explain why the current version has a weird diabolus ex machina ending.

Anyway, Qualstio is all okay I’m just passing through I’ll leave please don’t kill me but Fetranto gives the typical stupid villain “Oh don’t worry I’m not going to kill anyone…yet!” line. Why is this here? He rules the city and Qualstio is a public enemy, there would be no backlash if he vaporized him here and now. I guess he wants Ilganyag to leave and killing one of their members would be counterproductive to that, but this is still so cliché. It’s also completely unnecessary, because…

He walks up to Fetranto and tells him not to kill Qualstio even though Fetranto just said he wasn’t going to (for some undisclosed reason).

Physical Councillord Fetranto: “Defiant since the night you were forged, Metzino. I should rip that glass from your face.”
Metzino: “Hmmhmm, but you won’t, and do you know why not? Of course you do. You’re smart.”

…Okay, from now on I’m calling him Metsueno.

Rather convenient how he doesn’t actually have to say why Dictator Godmage can’t kill him. He may know why he can’t rip that glass from your smarmy face, Metsueno, but I sure as heck don’t. Some context would be nice here.

Anyway, Metsueno says Qualstio’s his guest so Fetranto has to let him go. Dictator Godmage relents to this because [not found].

However, this does explain why Metsueno was willing to harbor Qualstio in the first place. I assumed he was taking a risk by doing so, but look at this, he’s untouchable and he knows it. He also seems to enjoy rubbing it in the council’s face.

Physical Councillord Fetranto: “Fortunately, you’ve enemies far more numerous than those standing before you.”

??? No he doesn’t. Was Metsueno assassinated or betrayed in the original script? (Oooh, what if Alito was a spy? That’d be a clever plot twist.) Or is this a clumsy way of saying Fetranto knows about the feud? That’d be pretty silly…

BECAUSE PAZZATO IS RIGHT THERE. HIS ENEMY IS LITERALLY STANDING BEFORE HIM.

I don’t even know.

Physical Councillord Fetranto: “Keep out of the Tower, Sicious. The other ones will not be so readily merciful, you know.”

So the others totally want to kill him, but Fetranto doesn’t because…?

I have no idea why this is here. He just does the standard mysterious “HMMMM” then leaves, that’s it. I guess it’s to showcase that he has a portrait and is therefore important?

Metzino: “I suppose I could have handled that better, but at the same time…”

“Oh, I only one-upped the godmage who runs the city while still averting a conflict and saving everyone’s life, but I could have done better.” Fall off a building, Metsueno.

Anyway, now they make small talk. Qualstio says “I didn’t think they’d find me again so quick,” because Qualstio is suddenly genre-blind.

Qualstio: “Urghh, I’da beaten his craggy old face in!”
Metzino: “Don’t be silly. You were shivering like a pebble.”

…What? I think maybe this is a play on “craggy” but seriously, what?

Well, hm.

Before I said Qualstio coming to Fortifel was idiotic, but now I think it’s a bit more believable. I think it’s reasonable for him to have misjudged just how much the council hated him, perhaps thinking that it’d blown over – 10 years is a long time, after all. I also doubt it’s a coincidence that he chose Metsueno as his host. It would make sense for him to (rightly) assume Metsueno would protect him in case anything did come up. And as I said, Metsueno’s willingness to harbor him makes more sense now – I can’t see him passing up a chance to stick it to the man, and they already hate him but can’t touch him so what’s to lose?

It’s still idiotic that he purposefully chose Fortifel over Wadassia as a refuge from the law, though. I think it would be more understandable if there were no external forces pushing them out of Nal and Qualstio just wanted to pop in to see how things were going, especially since he wants Dehl to explore the world in the first place. Still, it’s not the total idiot ball decision I originally felt it was.

But this whole scene is still a jumbled mess. It’s clear that the developer is trying to write a deeper, more complex story this time around, which is good, but I really have to wonder what the production phase looked like here. I hope he wasn’t making it up as he went along, but this scene does give that vibe, doesn’t it? There’s all sorts of vague threats and open-ended hints dropped all over the place, not all of which pan out. Perhaps, as I mentioned earlier, the original script was more focused on Qualstio’s backstory, but it wasn’t working out for…some reason? That’d be odd; the narrative is normally very character-driven and the developer obviously loves Qualstio so I don’t know why his character arc would have to get scrapped. Regardless of what happened, it seems pretty clear that, once again, the developer forgot to edit these earlier scenes to flow with the rest of the story better. Or maybe there was no revision and he just couldn’t get his points across very well in the first place.

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