After perusing the comment box
and listening to Ramza ramble on for a while, we decided to address some of the
issues and curiosities popping up around the castle. Gremio, McDohl’s friend
and attendant, had us over for dinner and taught us the recipe for his “Special
Stew”. Daisy tried to talk to Lilly about her spoiled, self-centered attitude
and history of abusing her servants Samus and Reed and got absolutely nowhere.
The berserker also discussed demons with Jeane, as her half-demon grandparents
were much on her mind, but Jeane would only tell her that the transformed
Saint-Anicets were nothing like “true” demons. We all got together to ask
Harold and Anna what they intended to do with their brother the next time we
faced him, and they coolly explained that it was all the same to them if Henry
ended up dead or locked up in a labor camp for the rest of his life. He was no
longer their brother (killing someone’s parents can do that). Finally, Daisy
chatted with the Star Dragon Sword on her belt to find out where he’d been
since her father had given him up.
We took a break from playing
counselor and headed to the kitchen for lunch, but instead we found Hai Yo in a
panic over the arrival of Grand Master Mifune, the apparently-not-deceased
elder of the Black Dragon Isle! Mifune had faked his own death in order to
encourage Hai Yo to fight to become the next leader and participate in the
tournament (i.e. the constant flow of challengers to the castle). As his
assistant, Mifune summoned the Ghost Chef of Hell, Otani, and the final
challenge was on!
The former Ruler of Harmonia, Hikusaak is said to be a lover of
Chinese!
Sasari is said to love food from the
earth, from veggies to noodles!
Give it up for our army
strategist, Caesar! He loves his
namesake salads!
The seer who sees all! Can she
see who wins? It’s Leknaat!
Appetizer: Caesar Salad (Salad+no
spice): Sciath, Kuarjav: 8,8,10,8
Main Course: Tempura-don
(tempura+hot sauce): Harold, Daisy: 9,9,8,10
Dessert: Bacon Hot Fudge Sundae
(bacon+chocolate sauce): Royce, Hai Yo: 10,10,10,10
Total: 108
Steve’s Soup 10,10,10,10; Full
Course Meal 7777, Milkshakes 10,10,10,10
Total: 100
It was our closest fight yet, but
Hai Yo’s team won with the auspicious score of 108. Our rewards were Recipe #43
“Milkshake” and Recipe #50 “Full Course”. On top of that, Mifune named Hai Yo
the new leader of the Black Dragon Isle and promptly left to go fill out
paperwork (which should be finished by the time this war is over).
As we celebrated our cooking
victory, one of the castle’s defensive ninjas ran in shouting that a group of
powerful warriors were at the gate demanding to see some people named Pilika
and Jilia. We arrived to find the four warriors bowling through our gate
guards, but when we demanded an explanation, the first man (Jowy) only rushed
Daisy and challenged her to a duel, which she won. Kuarjav dueled one of the
girls, Nanami, in a cinematic cutscene on a tightrope suspended between two
castle towers in the middle of a thunderstorm, and won their sudden-death
combat. Back on the ground, Harold dueled and defeated Riou the silent hero (of
Suikoden II) with a fancy flourish, and the fourth invader, Eilie, simply
watched. With everyone slightly calmed, Daisy tried to question the four about
Jilia and Pilika (who only she knew to be the real identities of Juliet and
Patricia), but at that moment the two ladies in question came running out of
the castle and hugged Jowy. Daisy tried talking to them and learned that Jowy
was Jilia’s husband and none other than the deposed king of Highland (now the
Higheast province of Dunan)! But Jilia still wanted to maintain her cover as
Juliet as best she could, and would say no more.
When asked for comment about the
addition of the Dunan heroes Riou and Jowy to our forces, the army spokesman
responded only with: “It's a disagreeable thing to be whipped.”
– William Tecumseh Sherman. What does our mysterious spokesman know about the
pasts of these two young men?
Without warning, Yuber appeared
at the castle gate and thanked Jowy’s group for taking care of the first wave
of guards for him. He produced a black orb that released a magical mist called Demon’s
Breath, which paralyzed everyone but demons who inhaled it. We all fell to the
ground, helpless, but before he could finish us off, we were rescued by
Pesmerga, who was tellingly immune to the mist. Another cinematic duel unfolded
across the castle grounds; the two were soon joined by Jeane and Faye, who
supported Pesmerga with powerful blasts of rune magic. Yuber fled, but not
before informing us that he was only the distraction this time.
Rodin Relos stepped out of the
castle holding the tattered remains of the Chronos Rune dress and unleashed the
rune’s power on us, again a dozen of our soldiers to death in an instant. We
attacked while Jeane and Faye tried to contain his power, and when Kuarjav got
out the final Repent!, the True Rune went out of control and sucked Relos’ last
years out. But even as Relos was aged to death, the Chronos Rune had the
opposite effect on nearby Kuarjav and gave him back about thirty years of his
life. While we marveled at Kuarjav’s newfound youth, Grey, the woman who helped
us tap into the power of the Unity Rune to save Vasuki months ago, appeared
once again to help Jeane and Faye chant a spell on contain the Chronos Rune. It
disappeared to go its own way, and Grey agreed to join our forces to help
contain Yuber’s evil as well.
No sooner had Grey pledged to
help us than Chris Lightfellow of Zexen (and Suikoden III fame) showed up at
the gates with important news. Camaro had begun an attack against Zexen with
demons and Yuber’s abominable ability to transform innocent people, and Zexen
wanted our help to coordinate an attack against our common enemy. The plan was
for Zexen to attack Qwieg fortress while the Union Army went after Fort Dorton,
and in exchange for our assistance, Zexen was willing to pardon Harold
Windamier for all outstanding warrants against him. With that, Chris officially
joined our team as well to represent the knights of Zexen.
There was no more time for
hesitation; we had to begin the plunge towards the heart of Camaro in order to
end the queen’s threat once and for all. “[Our] aim, then, was
to whip [Camaro], to humble their pride, to follow them to their inmost
recesses, and make them fear and dread us. Fear is the beginning of wisdom.”—
William Tecumseh Sherman. The brothers Silverberg took charge of the Dorton
offensive and separated us into two parties. While Caesar led the bulk of the
forces outside the gates, Albert, Janell, and the Unity Heroes snuck inside
disguised as Camaro soldiers in order to take out the leaders of the fort. The
soldiers who recognized Janell welcomed her back to their side, but in the end
we had to fight through a few waves of them to reach Henry, the commander of
the fort. Henry and Harold exchanged words for the last time; we learned that
Henry respected Yuber for having the power to turn meaningless peasants into
something worthwhile at last. Harold responded that his former brother had
forgotten the true heart of nobility, and so was now beneath him.
Henry was beaten easily, but he
wasn’t willing to run this time – he knew that “Lady Windy” would not welcome
him back if he failed her again. In desperation, he begged Yuber to lend him
his power, and the latter granted it to him in such an offhand way that he
clearly didn’t care what happened to Henry either. Harold’s brother was
instantly transformed into a huge demon, which might have been intimidating if
Harold hadn’t said that there was no need to fear any form that still had Henry’s
cowardly soul inside it. Harold got the final blow, and his face was calm as
his brother resumed his human form to die. Daisy gave him a thump on the back,
and that was that.
As Henry fell, Albert was also
dropped by Yuber in a different fight, where Albert had been trying to protect
a small child. We rushed to aid Albert, but Yuber had already seen the fort’s
defeat and fled once more, leaving us to take Albert back to our medical ward. Caesar
and Albert had a touching reconciliation and Albert said protecting the weak
like that child was something he’d learned from his brother. In spite of all
that, though, Albert will be all right, so no worries. And for next time, our
reports say that with our recent captures we will now have access to Qwieg,
Pirate’s Point, Shogomon to explore!
It is inevitable that we will soon
confront Grant again, probably for the last time. Thanks to all of us sharing a
piece of the True Unity Rune, we have shared a connection with Grant that, for
better or worse, has given us power. The Unity Rune gained its first level of
magic when we betrayed Miles, and the second was earned by Grant’s desertion to
Camaro. The True Rune has since grown to level four through a combination of
moments of Friendship and Betrayal. Grant’s betrayal still leaves us with a few
questions, namely, has Grant really betrayed us for good? Why would he join
forces with the same army as Relos, who murdered his wife and sent him to Orbel
mines in the first place? And what will it take to convince Grant to join up
with the Union Army again?
Our army spokesman, who we
recently learned is an old friend of Grant’s and sometimes likes to adopt
Harold’s turn of phrase, had this to say: “Grant's whole character was a
mystery even to himself--a combination of strength and weakness not paralleled
by any of whom I have read in Ancient or Modern History....” – William Tecumseh
Sherman
Recruited: Grey, Chris
(Unofficial
recruits: Jowy, Riou, Nanami, Eilie)
Investigations: Grey, Chris, Percy,
Byron, Leah
