07 - Ghor, Bases and Koenigsdorf ("Rush, I need you.")
Just what is the Conqueror's goal?
People were no longer certain that Remnants were really guardians protecting them. They knew what had happened in Nagapur, and some wondered if finding new Remnants was the way forward. Rumours were flying around, saying the Conqueror wasn't dead and his army not destroyed. The unease of the people was palpable, even though they all agreed the Duke of Ghor was a good leader doing all that he could, and placed their trust in Lord David, who still led the troops despite the loss of the Valeria Heart and Lady Emma Honeywell. The more defiant townsfolk said that their strength didn't come from Remnants, but from themselves, and there was no place for superstition anymore. But it was clear that everyone wondered just exactly what they had believed in before, and what they could believe in now.
The Duke of Ghor sent word that there was an unknown Remnant in Fornstrand, on the dark sea to the north of the continent. David's priority was to find this Remnant.
Fornstrand was located at the very north of the continent, with seaside cliffs eroding away be wind and waves. The atmosphere of the area changed every few decades from calm to storm. It was currently in a time of calm.
HQ version here
HQ version here
(By the way, inbetween these scenes, the soldiers of Athlum, once again with message from David to Rush, now saw Rush as having "valiant form"! No more slouched posture...)
The group travelled to Balterossa Castle to talk to Duchess Bertrude, Royotia to see Lord Priam, and Melphina to visit Meister Ole Beag. They all appeared to be very sick, as if a mysterious power was draining them of their energy.
(At this point I realise that I neglected to mention these cities, which Rush had been to at sidequests. I'll make a post about them later, maybe, if anyone's interested. Let's get on with the main story first.)
HQ version here
(This led to the battle of the six bases, which are some of the toughest, TOUGHEST battles in the game, or at least in the story. There are tougher optional bosses. The bases, and Koenigsdorf, were fortresses that had protected Elysion from many assaults in the past. The bases had lost their original names and were only known by their numbers.
Each base has two parts - first assaulting from the outside, killing all the soldiers and monsters, and then the main boss battle. There is no opportunity to save between the two parts. It's likely that one'd see the Game Over screen a lot here. The bases can be fought in any order, but all must be conquered before Rush could go into Koenigsdorf. Bases 4 and 5 are the hardest. The bases are led by The Seven - Milton, Snievan, Ludope, Mr Young, Zuido, and Hinnah & Hannah. They are all characters Rush had met before during sidequests. Some had tragic stories behind them, some are purely sadistic, and some are just batshit insane. More at the end of this post.)
(A thing definitely worth noting - will be relevant later on in the story - is that after defeating the first base, they learned what their opponents really were. From timestamp 50:18...)
HQ version here
After defeating The Seven, they got an unexpected opponent wielding a very deadly weapon. (It wouldn't be wrong to say the opponent was David and Rush's lovechild...)
Up to timestamp 1:06:
HQ version here
After winning this battle, the Remnants returned and behaved themselves.
HQ version here
They could finally get into Koenigsdorf. And there they saw a familiar face. Time to execute a rescue mission!
Up to timestamp 1:25:
HQ version here
Battle with Ala Melvilana (Remnant beast with Hermeien inside) was tough - but nowhere near as bad as the bases. And finally...
HQ version here
=to be continued=
New characters:
THE SEVEN
The Seven is composed of the strongest fighters in the Conqueror's army - one of the most powerful armies in the land. Each more powerful than any of the Athlum's Four Generals, they lead their own troops and perform their own operations. They are well-respected by their own soldiers. No one know why they had hidden themselves in Veyriel, a small village far from the main parts of the land. They report to Roeas and Castanea, but are rarely seen with those two.
Base 1 - Snievan the Aesthete (sovani)
A flamboyant "white sovani" who is totally self-obsessed. Rush met him once at the Heavenly Terrace pub in Elysion for a quest to the Catacombs to find some special flowers. Because he's so pure and beautiful that he couldn't possibly go to the Catacombs himself. (Rush thought he could've just taken a shower instead.)
"A beautiful day, a beautiful town... and most importantly... my beautiful self. But today's duties have left me sullied. I cannot presume to meet that person in such a state... If only I had the seeds of the white flower, I could make a perfume to cleanse myself." Yup, that's Snievan. (Quest video showing more of his brilliant self here)
Base 2 - Zuido the Fleshrender (yama)
Rush met him in Warrior Town of Ghor. He was just known there as the "white yama". Zuido mumbled quite incoherently and said he lost his shiny things. Off Rush went to Blackdale to retrieve six shiny things for him. But when Rush returned, Zuido had no idea who he was or what those items were for. Then he went mad and said something about "that guy". A possible personality split...
Base 3 - Ludope the Vengeful (qsiti)
Rush first met him at the Babbling Brook pub in Melphina. He was just known as the "white qsiti". He wanted the Forbidden Tome that had been sealed for hundreds of years in the Catacombs. When Rush finally got there, he defeated a boss monster and then met the souls of some qsitis which had been trapped there by the monster. They told Rush that Ludope was their commander in the army, their unit was killed long ago and Ludope was the only one to make it out alive. Ludope must be wanting the Forbidden Tome for the spell to bring his comrades back. Sadly, the tome had turned to dust long ago. Just before the souls passed on, they gave Rush a picture showing all of them and Ludope with their arms around each other, and asked him to tell Ludope that they didn't blame him and regretted nothing.
When Rush went to Ludope with the picture, Ludope freaked out and ran away. He really couldn't deal with it. (I found this quest really sad. D:)
Base 4 - Hannah the Merciless & Hinnah the Griefbringer (the two mitra girls)
Hannah is the black-haired one. Hinnah is her twin.
Rush met Hannah at the pub in Balterossa. Hannah asked Rush to bring back her twin, who was at Mojcado Castle looking for something she'd lost. Rush found her, killed all the monsters around her but Hinnah got really mad because she only just finally found something worth killing. It turned out Hinnah was looking for a tarnished earring, something that she and her sister bought together long ago. That's despite she calls her sister a bitch and all that.
Hannah was happy that her sister came back. She promised Rush a "hotter, more intense" meeting next time. Bet Rush had no idea she meant a fight at the base...
Hinnah has a foul mouth and a huge bloodlust. Hannah probably does too, but she doesn't show it as much. Hannah is very protective of her sister. During the base battle, if Hinnah's HP falls to about a half, Hannah will heal her completely.
Base 5 - Young the Belligerent (mitra man crouching in front of yama)
Rush met him at The Rift pub in Baaluk. He was known as the "dishonest-looking man". He wanted Rush to play a "game" - if Rush got him a Bloodsoaked Blade from the Great Sand Sea by killing Grand Beetles, then maybe he wouldn't kill Rush.
Rush returned with the blade, and Young said Rush was too late. Apparently there was a time limit he neglected to mention. Anyway, he was going to kill Rush now - only kidding. Rush's note on this quest was "the guy gave a raincheck on that killing me stuff. Weird guy... says he'll see me later - not if I see him first!"
Base 6 - Milton the True Disciple (long-haired mitra man in front)
Rush went to look for him in Lavafender when a girl in the Royotian pub said that an old geezer went there after hearing some fairy tale about a monster turning into a sword and she was worried. There were also bandits in the area, who called him the psycho old man and were clearly afraid of him. Apparently the bandits were also after the sword but no one could get hold of it because of its power. But Milton seemed to be unaffected by the power. When the sword flew away, he left in pursuit of it.
About the Duke Qubine
I want to talk about him here.
There's also no way to tell his age. The townspeople say "he's ten or something, right?" but from the way he talks and the way he handles things, he is WAY wiser than he appears, and cunning too. This is painted really clearly in a sidequest:
A woman named Violet Gilles-Barre wanted to murder Duke Qubine. She came from one of the four powerful families on the continent, but her family met their downfall soon after Qubine came into power. She was forced to marry Baron Nielson just to keep the dynasty "going", for a value of keeping it going. She blamed Qubine for all of this and so wanted him dead. Gabriel, who Violet was seeing behind Nielson's back (although Nielson knew), tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen to him. So Gabriel went and spread the assassination rumour, thinking that would be enough to stop Violet. It wasn't.
Baron Nielson asked Rush to help him bring his wife back as things were getting dangerous (this isn't the first time she ran away, he knows what she's up to but he can't help her.) Arriving at the outskirts of Celepaleis, Violet was met with hoards of monsters. With no way to move forward, she (+ Rush + Gabriel) killed them all.
Afterwards, Violet was summoned by Qubine. Qubine praised her, named her a hero who saved Celapaleis from deadly monsters, and said the Gilles-Barre name would be carved in history because of this. Violet went WTF at Qubine. And then Qubine said that he knew of the hardships Violet had gone through. Violet was very young when her family was on its last threads and her father entrusted it to Qubine - its name, Violet, and her happiness.
Violet was speechless then. Gabriel couldn't believe it. He tried to say something, but Baron Nielson very calmly turned to him and told him to leave his wife, now. Gabriel went mad and said Nielson never cared for her. At that point, Violet told him to stop, and said Nielson never was horrible to her, he just had a hard time expressing himself. Gabriel stormed off.
And that was the end of the quest. Nielson later told Rush that Violet did come home, but she still often went away.
I love the story in this quest, it's very "human" - the way Nielson handled things. The way Gabriel tried to help Violet in a way he thought was right. Violet kept leaving Nielson although deep down she didn't hate him, just what he represented. And oh, Duke Qubine's way of dealing with this, engineering a false disastor to help Violet get up from her slump and put her family's name in history, just as she wanted. Beautifully done. So clever of him. He could have just killed her and said "good-riddance". All this, from someone who's supposedly a pre-teen.
And this is why I think David's respect for Qubine is genuine, not just formality. David isn't stupid - he must be fully aware the amount of power one needed to control a city like Celapaleis, not to mention the power needed to bind the Remnant there. He must also know what a clever, and sometimes cunning, person Qubine is. So although he probably doesn't love Celapaleis for their control over Athlum, he must have true respect for Qubine.
Although, the question is, did Qubine mean he'd met Violet's father, or did he just mean her father had met Qubine's family in the past? Because if Qubine himself did meet Violet's dad when Violet was very young, and Violet now must be at least late 20's, I assume in her 30s, that would mean Qubine is actually much older than he looks. This would explain his cleverness in political matters as well as the way he talks.
It's often said that one has to pay a price when one binds himself to a Remnant. The Gae Bolg is constantly threatening David's life. Maybe Celapaleis's Remnant, the Umbermarici, places a curse on its owner that he'd look young forever?
Random notes: "Rush, I need you." fdsjkfhsakjfhskafsl!! I'm so easily pleased. XD The bit where David was on the ground and reaching out his arm to Rush also made me fhksjfhkslfhsa.
Curious how, although Rush is the one with a sibling, David is the one who knows how to deal with Irina. His parents had taught him well, perhaps. Though I'm not sure about this "treat Irina as a fellow adult" business... she's only 14! And this isn't Prince of Tennis, 14 is NOT adult! XD;;;;
People were no longer certain that Remnants were really guardians protecting them. They knew what had happened in Nagapur, and some wondered if finding new Remnants was the way forward. Rumours were flying around, saying the Conqueror wasn't dead and his army not destroyed. The unease of the people was palpable, even though they all agreed the Duke of Ghor was a good leader doing all that he could, and placed their trust in Lord David, who still led the troops despite the loss of the Valeria Heart and Lady Emma Honeywell. The more defiant townsfolk said that their strength didn't come from Remnants, but from themselves, and there was no place for superstition anymore. But it was clear that everyone wondered just exactly what they had believed in before, and what they could believe in now.
The Duke of Ghor sent word that there was an unknown Remnant in Fornstrand, on the dark sea to the north of the continent. David's priority was to find this Remnant.
Fornstrand was located at the very north of the continent, with seaside cliffs eroding away be wind and waves. The atmosphere of the area changed every few decades from calm to storm. It was currently in a time of calm.
Click to viewHQ version here
HQ version here
(By the way, inbetween these scenes, the soldiers of Athlum, once again with message from David to Rush, now saw Rush as having "valiant form"! No more slouched posture...)
The group travelled to Balterossa Castle to talk to Duchess Bertrude, Royotia to see Lord Priam, and Melphina to visit Meister Ole Beag. They all appeared to be very sick, as if a mysterious power was draining them of their energy.
(At this point I realise that I neglected to mention these cities, which Rush had been to at sidequests. I'll make a post about them later, maybe, if anyone's interested. Let's get on with the main story first.)
HQ version here
(This led to the battle of the six bases, which are some of the toughest, TOUGHEST battles in the game, or at least in the story. There are tougher optional bosses. The bases, and Koenigsdorf, were fortresses that had protected Elysion from many assaults in the past. The bases had lost their original names and were only known by their numbers.
Each base has two parts - first assaulting from the outside, killing all the soldiers and monsters, and then the main boss battle. There is no opportunity to save between the two parts. It's likely that one'd see the Game Over screen a lot here. The bases can be fought in any order, but all must be conquered before Rush could go into Koenigsdorf. Bases 4 and 5 are the hardest. The bases are led by The Seven - Milton, Snievan, Ludope, Mr Young, Zuido, and Hinnah & Hannah. They are all characters Rush had met before during sidequests. Some had tragic stories behind them, some are purely sadistic, and some are just batshit insane. More at the end of this post.)
(A thing definitely worth noting - will be relevant later on in the story - is that after defeating the first base, they learned what their opponents really were. From timestamp 50:18...)
HQ version here
After defeating The Seven, they got an unexpected opponent wielding a very deadly weapon. (It wouldn't be wrong to say the opponent was David and Rush's lovechild...)
Up to timestamp 1:06:
HQ version here
After winning this battle, the Remnants returned and behaved themselves.
HQ version here
They could finally get into Koenigsdorf. And there they saw a familiar face. Time to execute a rescue mission!
Up to timestamp 1:25:
HQ version here
Battle with Ala Melvilana (Remnant beast with Hermeien inside) was tough - but nowhere near as bad as the bases. And finally...
HQ version here
=to be continued=
New characters:
THE SEVEN
The Seven is composed of the strongest fighters in the Conqueror's army - one of the most powerful armies in the land. Each more powerful than any of the Athlum's Four Generals, they lead their own troops and perform their own operations. They are well-respected by their own soldiers. No one know why they had hidden themselves in Veyriel, a small village far from the main parts of the land. They report to Roeas and Castanea, but are rarely seen with those two.
Base 1 - Snievan the Aesthete (sovani)
A flamboyant "white sovani" who is totally self-obsessed. Rush met him once at the Heavenly Terrace pub in Elysion for a quest to the Catacombs to find some special flowers. Because he's so pure and beautiful that he couldn't possibly go to the Catacombs himself. (Rush thought he could've just taken a shower instead.)
"A beautiful day, a beautiful town... and most importantly... my beautiful self. But today's duties have left me sullied. I cannot presume to meet that person in such a state... If only I had the seeds of the white flower, I could make a perfume to cleanse myself." Yup, that's Snievan. (Quest video showing more of his brilliant self here)
Base 2 - Zuido the Fleshrender (yama)
Rush met him in Warrior Town of Ghor. He was just known there as the "white yama". Zuido mumbled quite incoherently and said he lost his shiny things. Off Rush went to Blackdale to retrieve six shiny things for him. But when Rush returned, Zuido had no idea who he was or what those items were for. Then he went mad and said something about "that guy". A possible personality split...
Base 3 - Ludope the Vengeful (qsiti)
Rush first met him at the Babbling Brook pub in Melphina. He was just known as the "white qsiti". He wanted the Forbidden Tome that had been sealed for hundreds of years in the Catacombs. When Rush finally got there, he defeated a boss monster and then met the souls of some qsitis which had been trapped there by the monster. They told Rush that Ludope was their commander in the army, their unit was killed long ago and Ludope was the only one to make it out alive. Ludope must be wanting the Forbidden Tome for the spell to bring his comrades back. Sadly, the tome had turned to dust long ago. Just before the souls passed on, they gave Rush a picture showing all of them and Ludope with their arms around each other, and asked him to tell Ludope that they didn't blame him and regretted nothing.
When Rush went to Ludope with the picture, Ludope freaked out and ran away. He really couldn't deal with it. (I found this quest really sad. D:)
Base 4 - Hannah the Merciless & Hinnah the Griefbringer (the two mitra girls)
Hannah is the black-haired one. Hinnah is her twin.
Rush met Hannah at the pub in Balterossa. Hannah asked Rush to bring back her twin, who was at Mojcado Castle looking for something she'd lost. Rush found her, killed all the monsters around her but Hinnah got really mad because she only just finally found something worth killing. It turned out Hinnah was looking for a tarnished earring, something that she and her sister bought together long ago. That's despite she calls her sister a bitch and all that.
Hannah was happy that her sister came back. She promised Rush a "hotter, more intense" meeting next time. Bet Rush had no idea she meant a fight at the base...
Hinnah has a foul mouth and a huge bloodlust. Hannah probably does too, but she doesn't show it as much. Hannah is very protective of her sister. During the base battle, if Hinnah's HP falls to about a half, Hannah will heal her completely.
Base 5 - Young the Belligerent (mitra man crouching in front of yama)
Rush met him at The Rift pub in Baaluk. He was known as the "dishonest-looking man". He wanted Rush to play a "game" - if Rush got him a Bloodsoaked Blade from the Great Sand Sea by killing Grand Beetles, then maybe he wouldn't kill Rush.
Rush returned with the blade, and Young said Rush was too late. Apparently there was a time limit he neglected to mention. Anyway, he was going to kill Rush now - only kidding. Rush's note on this quest was "the guy gave a raincheck on that killing me stuff. Weird guy... says he'll see me later - not if I see him first!"
Base 6 - Milton the True Disciple (long-haired mitra man in front)
Rush went to look for him in Lavafender when a girl in the Royotian pub said that an old geezer went there after hearing some fairy tale about a monster turning into a sword and she was worried. There were also bandits in the area, who called him the psycho old man and were clearly afraid of him. Apparently the bandits were also after the sword but no one could get hold of it because of its power. But Milton seemed to be unaffected by the power. When the sword flew away, he left in pursuit of it.
About the Duke Qubine
I want to talk about him here.
There's also no way to tell his age. The townspeople say "he's ten or something, right?" but from the way he talks and the way he handles things, he is WAY wiser than he appears, and cunning too. This is painted really clearly in a sidequest:
A woman named Violet Gilles-Barre wanted to murder Duke Qubine. She came from one of the four powerful families on the continent, but her family met their downfall soon after Qubine came into power. She was forced to marry Baron Nielson just to keep the dynasty "going", for a value of keeping it going. She blamed Qubine for all of this and so wanted him dead. Gabriel, who Violet was seeing behind Nielson's back (although Nielson knew), tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen to him. So Gabriel went and spread the assassination rumour, thinking that would be enough to stop Violet. It wasn't.
Baron Nielson asked Rush to help him bring his wife back as things were getting dangerous (this isn't the first time she ran away, he knows what she's up to but he can't help her.) Arriving at the outskirts of Celepaleis, Violet was met with hoards of monsters. With no way to move forward, she (+ Rush + Gabriel) killed them all.
Afterwards, Violet was summoned by Qubine. Qubine praised her, named her a hero who saved Celapaleis from deadly monsters, and said the Gilles-Barre name would be carved in history because of this. Violet went WTF at Qubine. And then Qubine said that he knew of the hardships Violet had gone through. Violet was very young when her family was on its last threads and her father entrusted it to Qubine - its name, Violet, and her happiness.
Violet was speechless then. Gabriel couldn't believe it. He tried to say something, but Baron Nielson very calmly turned to him and told him to leave his wife, now. Gabriel went mad and said Nielson never cared for her. At that point, Violet told him to stop, and said Nielson never was horrible to her, he just had a hard time expressing himself. Gabriel stormed off.
And that was the end of the quest. Nielson later told Rush that Violet did come home, but she still often went away.
I love the story in this quest, it's very "human" - the way Nielson handled things. The way Gabriel tried to help Violet in a way he thought was right. Violet kept leaving Nielson although deep down she didn't hate him, just what he represented. And oh, Duke Qubine's way of dealing with this, engineering a false disastor to help Violet get up from her slump and put her family's name in history, just as she wanted. Beautifully done. So clever of him. He could have just killed her and said "good-riddance". All this, from someone who's supposedly a pre-teen.
And this is why I think David's respect for Qubine is genuine, not just formality. David isn't stupid - he must be fully aware the amount of power one needed to control a city like Celapaleis, not to mention the power needed to bind the Remnant there. He must also know what a clever, and sometimes cunning, person Qubine is. So although he probably doesn't love Celapaleis for their control over Athlum, he must have true respect for Qubine.
Although, the question is, did Qubine mean he'd met Violet's father, or did he just mean her father had met Qubine's family in the past? Because if Qubine himself did meet Violet's dad when Violet was very young, and Violet now must be at least late 20's, I assume in her 30s, that would mean Qubine is actually much older than he looks. This would explain his cleverness in political matters as well as the way he talks.
It's often said that one has to pay a price when one binds himself to a Remnant. The Gae Bolg is constantly threatening David's life. Maybe Celapaleis's Remnant, the Umbermarici, places a curse on its owner that he'd look young forever?
Random notes: "Rush, I need you." fdsjkfhsakjfhskafsl!! I'm so easily pleased. XD The bit where David was on the ground and reaching out his arm to Rush also made me fhksjfhkslfhsa.
Curious how, although Rush is the one with a sibling, David is the one who knows how to deal with Irina. His parents had taught him well, perhaps. Though I'm not sure about this "treat Irina as a fellow adult" business... she's only 14! And this isn't Prince of Tennis, 14 is NOT adult! XD;;;;