Let's Play Atelier Rorona! Update 11, Part 2
Continued from Part 1...
Luckily, I already had all the ingredients on hand.
There it is...
It's all done, but...
Whoa! You should've said that you were there!
I didn't want to distract you.
Let me take a look.
Okay... Um, Master?
This is a sleeping potion, right?
It's more of a hypnotizing potion, to be exact. It looks like you've followed the recipe, because it turned out great.
Hehe, thank you.
...I mean! How are you gonna use this to fix the puppets?
Like I said before, it's not the puppets that are broken, so it's impossible to fix them.
But, then...!
Anyway, get that girl for me.
I'll take care of the rest from here.
Astrid leaves.
But...grrhh!
She never tells me anything!
Or maybe she's just taking a nap. I'll show you more agressive than usual...
Going and talking to Lionela immediately starts up a cutscene back at the workshop.
Ummm...Rorona told me that you're gonna fix them. So...?
There, there, calm down. Just sniff a little of this for a second.
O-okay...
*inhale*
...Huh? Hurrm...
And Lionela falls over. Dammit Astrid, what if she'd hit her head?
Hey, that's the potion I just made! Why are you putting her to sleep with it!?
You're being too loud.
Do you wanna look like that, too?
Uhh...
I didn't put her to sleep. Her body is paralyzed, but she's still conscious and fully aware of her five senses.
So, it's a terror weapon, in other words.
Now, you puppets.
...
...
It shows their regular portraits here, but they aren't actually moving or talking again.
I'm not too familiar with this, but it's irresponsible of you two to do this without an explanation, don't you think?
...
...
To me, it seems like you two are just trying to escape from your reality, instead of facing it.
You're three separate personalities, but you're all derived from one, right?
!
Master, what are you saying? Plus, they're broken. They can't hear you.
So this is it. TRIGGER WARNING: sexual assault.
Searching for "how did that" will go to when something reasonable happens again.
If you two are gonna keep ignoring me, I have a plan for that, as well.
...I'm gonna do naughty things to this puppeteer while she's paralyzed.
What the hell is wrong with you?!
...
...
Hehehe. Now, where should I start?
But, before I begin...
I have to rip off these clothes that are in the way!
Wait! Whoa, Master!
No! I forbid you from doing that!
Now's the time to clobber her one with your staff. No jury will ever convict you.
...Ah, fine...
We give up...
Boy...you are unbelievable...
What...!? They can talk now!
Did you fix them!?
Aww...I was hoping you'd stay quiet for a little while longer! That was my only chance to legally touch her!
That wasn't legal at all!
Clobbering is still on the table...
Was that really necessary, game?
But, how did that fix them?
You didn't do anything.
You really don't listen, do you? How many times do I have to tell you? They weren't broken!
B-but...
These puppets never talked to begin with. It's all coming from this girl, Lionela.
Whaaat!?
She's right... Try putting your ear next to Lionela's mouth.
...Urah!
There's a delay there where presumably Rorona obeys instructions. ... I really wouldn't describe the noise he makes as "Urah!"
Aghh! Y-you're right...
Your voice is coming from Liona...
I'm actually surprised you didn't notice it until now. There were so many times...
S-so...it was Liona who was talking this entire time?
B-but...we had many conversations...
Lionela unconsciously projected her other two personalities onto these puppets.
The puppets knew about it, but Lionela herself wasn't aware at all.
What I don't get is when the puppets had conversations with other people that Lionela couldn't here talking. Has she got clairvoyance too?
Oh...um, I'm sorry. Can you explain it in a way that I can understand?
Can? Astrid? Uh...
Luckily Aranya can step into the role.
That's tricky. Remember when we talked about Lionela and her special power?
Yeah...
Well, because Lionela didn't have any friends to talk to, she wished that her puppets could talk to her...
If only her puppets could be her friends...
Then, that wish eventually came true, and we were born.
I-I see...
But that's pretty unbelievable!
It's actually pretty similar to something in a story I once wrote.
Except for the part where anyone ever thinks it might be a problem.
Well, you've got living proof right in front of you.
Anyway, I'm glad this is all over.
My job is done.
Huh...? Hey, wait!
We haven't resolved anything yet!
That's right! This isn't fair!
I was asked to "fix" the puppets and I did. No one said a thing about fixing Lionela. Now, wake up.
Besides, do you really think she'd make things better?
Ugh...
And then Astrid leaves.
Huh? Are you really leaving us?
Master!
Dammit. She messed everything up...
Um, so...Lionela?
L-listen, we had only good intentions about this. We wanted what's best for you...
...Why?
We wanted you to be happy, so we...
Did something incredibly stupid? Yeah, we were around for that part.
But why...? I can't live without you two!
AAAAAAH!
...Sorry. Aranya just kind of freaks me out here.
Hey, let go. You're suffocating us.
No way! I'm never letting you guys go!
(I don't really have a good icon to use for Lionela in this scene...)
Lionela, you see it, too, don't you? It's not good for you to depend on us forever.
No, I don't see that at all! I don't want you guys to ever disappear!
Stop being so difficult. Hey, can't you talk some sense into her?
What? Me? Umm, uhh...
I don't know what to say, but...I wouldn't like it if my friends disappeared on me all of a sudden.
You're not supposed to take her side, stupid!
We are when you're wrong!
Don't call me stupid!
*sob*
...Ugh.
...Aww, fine.
You're gonna be a kid forever.
I don't care...
Just stop crying! You're gonna get us wet and mushy.
Time passes...
Are you okay now?
Yeah... I'm so sorry about all of this.
It's okay...but...
Don't worry about us.
We'll talk about this ourselves.
We thought she was ready, but obviously she's not. We'll take more time to resolve this.
And we'll talk to Lionela about it next time.
The fact that you think there should be a next time worries me.
Yeah. I think that's a great idea.
Well, see you all later...
Liona, Ranya, and Horo...
I don't like the way it happened... but at least I'm happy to see her smile again.
Lionela & Co. depart.
I hope everything'll be okay...
The problem is still there...
So Ranya and Horo are Liona...?
I still don't get it...
I should ask Master about it again...
You can now hire Lionela.
Okay, so, let's talk about all that.
Like I said, I wrote a story with something a bit like this. It probably doesn't bear much resemblence to anything that happens in the real world, but neither does this. And maybe I'm reading too much in from how it worked in that story, but too bad, because that's how this *works* - you interpret the things you consume now through the lens of what you consumed in the past. So.
You morons!
In what universe did you think that a person who has already had her community and parents turn on her having the equivalent of all her remaining family mysteriously drop dead was a good idea?
Yeah, I know, you see how she now has Rorona as a support now, and maybe even a better one than you were. That doesn't mean you can spontaneously yank out the old ones and expect her to be stable in the end.
And what about you two? Do you think you'll just fade away, or merge with Lionela? Or will you go stir-crazy in your self-imposed non-interaction with the world? Because I'm betting on stir-crazy.
On top of that, there's a practical concern. It's a dangerous world outside these walls, and you two are a part of pretty much everything Lionela does in combat. Now, it's arguably all her power anyway, but that doesn't mean she can access it independently, and learning how could involve a lot of risk. Or maybe it isn't. Maybe your own perspectives actually contribute to the process, and it just won't work at all without you participating, in which case the whole thing breaks down.
Fools! Idiots! Rampant imbeciles!
...Okay. Moving on. We can hire Lionela again.
Somehow, the expression doesn't seem to match the dialogue.
And in here's where I actually made the Gold. Lionela's problem came up right after I made the Ruby Prism. Given how closely the two items are linked, I wanted to talk about them together, and it seemd less disruptive to move Gold earlier.
But that reminds me, there's something else we need to do.
This potion needs to not exist.
Ever again.
Later, Rorona and Astrid are talking...
Yes.
And just what does "that" pertain to?
You've asked a very vague question.
About Ranya and Horo. I'm starting to see where they're coming from.
So you think she'd be better off if those two had disappeared?
That's not what I mean! I'm just wondering what the best possible scenario would be for her...
That's just a damn weird way to put it then. Is the state now the best one for the forseeable future? Maybe, maybe not. But the better ones involve going through this one first. Or for it not to have come up at all, but that ship has sailed.
If she didn't mind having them around, there wouldn't be a problem. They're not causing any harm to her, physically.
But those two disagree about that. I thought they're supposed to be a part of Liona...
That means that there's a part in her that knows something's wrong.
Bull. If they have separate awarenesses, then they can't just "know" how Lionela feels about it.
Honestly, I wouldn't care what others say about me, as long as I'm happy with myself.
...Has the opinion of others even come up?
Is that speaking from your personal experience?
Are you saying that people think I'm weird?
Oh, no, I'm not...!
Hmph, whatever. Either way, it's not like they have to decide right now. They should take time with this.
Well, at least we agree on that part.
And really, it's not like they can't *change* what they do. It's just the chop-it-in-half-with-a-razor-hot-axe method that's bad.
...I see. I guess I should mind my own business this time.
But it is your business. One word from you could change everything.
What? Why me?
...I'm not gonna tell you why.
Why not!? I wanna know!
Well, the first answer is pretty obvious, but I really don't get "Why not" either.
Figure it out yourself, you hussy.
Hussy...?
What does that mean?
Master!
Well, you see, you're the concubine, and Astrid is the legal wife... wait, no, Aranya is the legal wife, wait, eeeew...
...The hell?
Okay. Moving on.
It was somewhere around this time that I decided that Nectars weren't cutting it for revival items. If Lionela gets KOed by an enemy with full-party attacks and I revive her with one, she's almost certainly going to get knocked out again before anyone can heal her up. Even against enemies that only do single-target, it's a risk.
I can make a nectar with a higher level of KO recovery, but the best one only restores about 20 more HP. Against a serious enemy, it's not enough. So I went experimented with other options.
Auto Alarm can have a KO recovery ability, but it has to be used in advance. No good. Mystery Ankh can, and being a refill item is nice, but it doesn't restore any more HP than Nectar. The answer turned out to be Elixirs, which I've gained a lot more appreciation for now... but there's a catch.
Elixir has Nectar as an ingredient. Nectar has Puniball as an ingredient. Puniballs almost always have Living as a trait. And I really don't want my revive items to have Living, because then it could waste itself on being an auto-heal that I likely don't need or want.
But here I have a Puniball that doesn't have Living. It took me embarassingly long to figure out where I got it from. Embarassingly? Because the answer was the same as the answer to where I get all sorts of other items with different traits than what they usually have: Hom. The ones she picks up in the Ortoga Ruins (and possibly other places) don't have Living.
Anyway. That covers the "not Living" part. The Nectar has to be high quality (I think) to have it be a revival item, but I've got other good stuff that was enough.
With this as the final outcome. The KO Recovery L part still doesn't restore a lot of HP, but then it applies a large heal on top of that. (In fact, I'm not sure it's actually possible to have HP higher than what this heals.) And as a [Medicine] item, I can register it with Tiffani. Elixir's are surprisingly economical in price.
There's another interesting use for Elixir's I came up with too, but I didn't get around to making one during this assignment.
I did, however, make a Bandit Bandana. The effect on this makes it more likely that you'll get the first round in combat... which I basically always do anyway. Useless. There's another effect that increases your chances of running away... also useless. And I never figured out what the third effect they can have was. But requests for these give pretty good money, so I made this one to register.
This was an accident, but it got me thinking. I haven't bought anything from Cole in quite a while... Just don't need most of his stuff anymore. Not even the cloth and ingot selection is worth it now, since I usually need higher quality than what he's got if I'm doing a friend request for one.
One of the reasons I've been mentioning Isle Amber is that requests for it pay quite well, and they've been coming up frequently too. Some stuff I've read makes it sound like doing a request makes it more likely to come up again. Or maybe it's something to do with what you're carrying around, it's not entirely clear.
Too bad the request for Dunkelheit hasn't come up again, since now I actually have some.
And speaking of which, I came back to branch that I'd skipped by in Orthogalaxen.
There's six groups of Grow Plantze and other yard trash here. I don't always get 12 Dunkelheit out of the floor, but I usually do. I'm not sure if that's better or worse than the floor earlier that had these things, but that one was also drowning in Bunny Punis, so I think I'd rather stick with this one.
I also decided to start using some combat items for farming. The groups there aren't really threatening, but have enough enemies that it takes a couple rounds to beat them all, so it's just kind of slow.
I'm making a pair of Blitz symbols here. Normally, Healing Aroma would give us water damage here, but it seems like the traits shove it into some other element.
By counterbalancing it with a Mandra Root, I get the element and the traits I want. But what about the "also damages Rorona" part?
Not a problem anymore. Dragon Tusks give the "No Cost" effect, which can be recognized by the lack of stars. Turns out more isn't always better on those! (Just usually.)
Not quite as high quality as I'd like, but I can let one sit a while before registering it.
And here's one in action. Not quite as much damage as a Dragon Statue, but I get more uses out of one. Not to mention that if it doesn't KO the enemy, I'm in a much better condition to continue the fight with a water element field instead of fire. (It gives a lot of it too - about two and a half bars worth. Using Blitz symbols to rapidly build up the element level could be a legitimate strategy.)
And the last interesting thing I did before the end of the assignment was make a Shellper Horn. I made one of these before, with the "Ailment Reduction+" trait. I wasn't impressed, since status ailments haven't typically been a problem for me. By using a Dragon Tusk though, I get this. And it turns out to reduce damage taken by a very large amount. I threw on the "Kid Friendly" trait to get an extra use out of each one. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to work on Elixirs, just things that already have more than one use.
For the first time in a while, we actually did some work on this.
Please, don't worry about it. I had other people help me instead.
Actually, it's more like other people were the first choice.
Well, that's not the point...
Anyway, let's look at your results.
Of course!
Looks like you did well without my help. Hmm...
Huh? You don't look all that happy...
Oh, sorry. I didn't mean...
Well, it's complicated.
Sterk... shouldn't you be focused on your job, too?
Okay...
Well, anyway, let's talk about your next assignment.
...Aaand we're back to assignments that involve us not working.
So...I just have to make as many as possible?
Looks like it. It might be hard for you, since you're working alone. Do you think you can handle it?
I think so. I'll see if Homhom and any other people can help me out.
Alright. I'll take your word for it.
Good luck.
Later, Astrid is visting the castle. But apparently, not to see Esty. Suspicious...
Especially since she's taken up an ambush position.
Sneak attack!
Huh. That makes them sound a lot friendlier than they usually seem.
I wanted to ask you for a favor.
You're asking me for a favor!?
...What are you scheming?
Don't be like that. You're the only person I can go to for this. I'm putting all of my shame aside.
...Aren't you the one with blackmail material on him?
It's just the way you say things. Everything you say sounds so suspicious.
You know I'm not good at stuff like this...
Anyway, I'm not here to chit-chat.
Just give me a minute and hear me out.
...Looks like you're serious.
Fine, I'll listen. Is it about her?
That's right...
It's nothing urgent, but...
Wonder what that was about.
Pamela! <3
Next time on Atelier Rorona: I mess around for three months.