Eulogy: Joe Robot

(As Always, the Ever Lovin Harold gives a most remarkable, most amazing Eulogy to that spectacular of a robot, Joe the Robot. This Eulogy will surely go down in the great annals of history)

Harold: "Joe The Robot. He died a painful death. The end"

(Or not.)

Session 13 Recap: the Iron Giant Gained

Overcome with concern for the howling orphaned plague babies, we all flew down the river looking for the pirates responsible for stealing the medicine. We spotted a lone ship stopped at a remote dock, far from any town, and landed to investigate. The pirates were amazed to see a dragon, but though they saw us bearing down on them and readily admitted to their crime, the pirate captain refused to back down. Captain Bart of the Purple Pirates sent wave after wave of goons to face us, but each fell before they could even land a blow on us. Finally, Captain Bart was forced to face us himself, and he too fell (finally beaten with Kuarjav’s “shipquake”). We offered him clemency if he would surrender to us, as we are always eager for more soldiers, and asked why he did not think of surrendering when he saw a dragon bearing down on his ship. The captain refused to join us and stated in no uncertain terms that he hated those vile creatures, so Vasuki ate him. Thus ended poor Captain Bart – the dragon he hated ate his heart. (See In Memoriam page for obituary)

Not wanting to waste any more time, we split up and searched the ship for the medicine, claiming some pirate loot for ourselves along the way (Daisy now sports a dashing eyepatch). To our surprise, we also discovered a woman named Bernadette chained to a wall. Immediately recognizing a fellow Narcissist, Harold struck up a conversation with the poor woman, who insisted that she was no longer fit to live in polite society (she lost her Rose Brooch, of course, what else?). Harold convinced her that they were kindred spirits, that she would find a place among us, and thus did Bernadette the Narcissist join our crew.

The medicine reclaimed, we flew at once to Lorin and met up with Leah, the nurse who had sought us out. In a few short hours, all of the sick children had been saved, and the howling slowly died away. It was brought to our attention then that our castle still had no doctor, and Nurse Leah graciously agreed to lend us her skills.

Meanwhile, with that crisis resolved, Royce took Vasuki back to the now-vacant pirate ship and towed it to our base, making it the first ship in our secret navy.

Daisy took the opportunity during the lull to ask a favor of her companions. Thanks to Xander’s investigations, we recently learned that the woman who wants Daisy dead, Octavia, may be found in the village of the Beast Tribe somewhere in western Harmonia. A quick map consultation showed us an unidentified village in that general vicinity, so we made our way to Osthollow Province to check it out. To our surprise, however, we found no humans living in the village, but only an unusual collection of animals. Some were unremarkable and native to Harmonia, like rabbits, but some, like the elephants, were utterly out of place. The town was in good repair and the animals healthy, so Daisy began to suspect that all of the residents of the village had animal transformations they could fully control and had reverted to them upon spotting the strangers approaching. None of the animals showed any sign of understanding her when she tried to speak to them. Royce thought he saw a woman watching the group, but when they chased her around a corner they found only a raven sitting high on a wire.

Frustrated that she still couldn’t control her own transformation at will, Daisy convinced Royce to assist her in triggering it with violence. Her bear form came out roaring, frightening off most of the animals in the vicinity (including the raven), but Kuarjav healed her back up before she could go into a full rage. Seeing that trying to communicate with the animals was no use, the team explored the rest of the village and found an item shop. We acquired a Garlic Seed and Harold left a generous amount of money on the counter.

Momentarily accepting defeat, Daisy decided to leave the village. But before our departure, she marched into the center of town where the most animals would be able to see her and bellowed at the top of her voice, “My name is Daisy Saint-Anicet. I want to know what’s going on here, and I’ll be back.” And then we walked out, pursued by an eerie feeling of being watched.

Caesar already had his next plans in place when we returned to Liberty Castle. A new Priest General named Marcus recently took control of the Clearbeach region to the north of us, and rumors had trickled out from Merridwell Castle that Marcus might soon move to attack us. Caesar knew we had to make the first move if we were to survive, so he sent our team along with Lorelai to the North Ruins in order to awaken an ancient power to fight for us. Inside the North Ruins, another remnant of the Sindar, we eventually located the “Iron Giant,” a massive mobile suit. A smaller robot emerged from the Iron Giant when we pressed a button, and we were forced to fight little Joe Robot for his activation key. Lorelai used the key to start up the Iron Giant, and we left her to figure out the controls while we hastily returned to Caesar to start the war battle.

Our units rapidly advanced on Merridwell castle, where we found that Priest General Marcus also had our old friends Felicia and Henry on his side. We made quick work of our enemies, and Daisy defeated Marcus with her final charge. Choosing the same path as Lena Suphina, Marcus surrendered to us and joined our army, along with some of his troops. As in Lena’s case, we did not trust his loyalty immediately and, erring on the side of caution, relieved Bandit Bill of us duties at the bar and assigned him to be Marcus’ new “assistant” in order to spy for us. However, we also became concerned for Marcus’ family when we heard he had a wife and ten children waiting for him back in the war-torn town of Osil, so we sent a messenger to help evacuate them all to Lorin, where they’ll be safe from potential Harmonian reprisals.

Recruited: Bernadette, Leah, Marcus

Investigations: Marcus, Jonah, Damien

Eulogy: Bart the Purple Parrot, I mean Pirate

(As always, told by the Ever Lovin' Harold)

Harold: "And so we are gathered at this most sacred of spots by the river, where the river finches swoon with a cry of sorrow and the Harmonian Deer lowers its head in frightened sadness, to cherish and honor this majesty of a man, a man whose might was grand, whose hat was grandeur personified, this man whose led his forces so gallantly was...uh....omm...."

Anna (Sister of Harold): "Bart the Purple Pirate."

Harold: "Wait, I'm doing a Eulogy for him, my dear Fraulein? Why do we only do this for the losers, mademoiselle?"

Anna: "It's your running joke, Harold dear."

Harold: "Oh, Le Sigh. Le sigh indeed. Oh Bart, you were of the Pirate Class, one that is among the most vulgar, most dreaded, most pointless around, you who are the swine of the Waters, one that the Runes themselves spit upon and wish they could ceaselessly end your utterly miserable existence, you who are only a waste on this lovely land and should be hunted down and burned at every pure instant that time itself, you who should never again be allowed to breathe a single molecule of air for every breath you take is one that is more deserving to any and all other such criminals, you who would --"

Anna: "Brother dear, what is with your hatred of the dreaded Pirates?"

Harold: "......................They stole my Rose Brooch once."

Anna: "Oh how dreadful! I'm so glad mine is still around, it gives my life just that much more meaning, you see what I mean oh wondrous brother!"

Harold: "............I know, alas sister, I know, for it burns my heart like a soaring comet. But enough of this, back to the Eulogy. Ah yes.....oh Bart! You with such a monstrous and absolutely foolish name, you hated dragons... and then you were eaten by one..... All right, I'm done for now. Wine time!"

Anna: "It better be a good kind, brother dear!"

Site Update!

Hi all! I've updated the site with this week's exclusives! Lena Suphina has been added to the Liberty Castle, NPC, war battle, and Star of Destiny page. Your new investigations are up, and Gloria's was re-added as it was lost somewhere.

Your war teams were uploaded, and I strongly suggest you take the time this week to make up your own units! It's fun, I swear!

I also updated the Liberation Ledger with a new addition, new additions to the comment and Ramza's Rumors too. I even added some information the "Everything you need to know about Harmonia" page.

Read it over as you can! I hope you enjoy it all! ;)



And because I can... For all the final fantasy fans out there, the Ultros Boogie!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnXYVlPgX_o&feature=related

Session 12 Recap: Liberating Lorin

Thanks to Royce and Vasuki, we were able to sweep straight down into the elven village of Sanil, bypassing the dangers and traps of the enchanted forest that protected them. They were shocked to see humans after their long isolation, but they warmed to us quickly when we made it clear that we were no fans of Harmonia. One of the largest structures in the village is a huge memorial to elves who have lost their lives, and most of those deaths date back to a Harmonian attack from over a hundred years ago. The victims included young children – it was a massacre that drove the few surviving elves into hiding, where their numbers have remained low and they’ve tried to keep out of Harmonia’s way.

After leveling our weapons to 7, buying some new armor and a turkey, and obtaining the recipe for stir-fry, we made our way to the house of the elven leader, old Xavier Matthews. After a long-winded account of our adventures from Harold, Xavier agreed to help us and open the floodgates as long as we promised to keep it off the record to prevent retaliation from Harmonia against the elves. The elves were not yet ready to declare open war (though it was hinted that they might find their confidence once our castle reaches Level 3).

The flooding of the Harmonian castle of Lorin went off without a hitch, and we followed the assault with an army battle in a nearby field. Priest Major Lena Suphina and her arches were in charge of the castle, but their forces were joined by Harold’s brother Henry and Royce’s rival Felicia as well (dragon included). We split into our units and began the first army battle of the game with enthusiasm. Happily accepting the responsibility of ordering people around, Harold directed us in the most efficient manner to wipe out the Harmonian forces, and we did not lost a single unit. Felicia was defeated first, followed by Henry, who both swore revenge and retreated. Finally, we were able to surround and quickly subdue Priest Major Lena Suphina, who surrendered to us in order to spare her troops.

We don’t know much about Priest Major Lena yet (Xander’s investigation is in the works), but Harold did know that she used to be the Vice-Commander of the Temple Guards, one of the highest military positions in Harmonia. Something happened to slap this major demotion on her, relegating her to a remote outpost, and whatever it was left her with no warm feelings towards the Holy Empire. We offered our friendship, and with nowhere else to go, Lena joined forces with us. According to Caesar, her troops swell our numbers by about a third, a major victory for us. (How many times can I say “major” in a paragraph?)

Two other pieces of news were waiting for us back at Liberty Castle. For one, Caesar informed us that Omir Fort is currently under attack from the Camaro Knights, who continue to make life hell for Harmonia in the west. This is a great opportunity for us to take over the northern lands while Camaro and Harmonia fight amongst themselves, so that by the time Harmonia ends the battle, their problems will have only just begun. “War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want.” – William Tecumseh Sherman

Secondly, and of more immediate concern, there is an epidemic sweeping through Lorin Village near the castle that our forces just liberated. A woman came to Liberty Castle to beg us for help, for though they already ordered the medicine they need, it was stolen by pirates along the way. By the time they can obtain more, the death toll could be catastrophic. When we come back next time, it will be up to us to retrieve it. For the howling orphaned babies!

Recruited: Lena Suphina

3 Investigations: Dalton, Lena Suphina, Xander

Site update!

Ok, I've updated all of the following pages: Detective work, stars of destiny, NPC battle effects, war battles, and Liberty Castle to reflect having recruited Flik, Victor, Humphrey, Phoebe, April, Viki, and Anna.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I have reflected these pages to show you have Dalton, the seemingly always-forgotten dwarf you picked up in Snowview. He is your armor star, and I keep forgetting about him, and never added him to your lists, and no one noticed. Oops?

I also have added stuff for a NEW comment box, and a page for Ramza's rumors.

In addition, I added the shops of Liberty Castle and Sanil Village (elf city) to the available shops list, so check those out too!

ALSO: check out the new editions of the Liberation Ledger!

MORE STUFF! Since Sarah already noticed it, I added Pearl and Grant to the investigation list, under the 108 stars. I had hoped no one would notice they weren't on there, but Sarah has the TRUE Eagle eye of the team ;)

Last but not least, homework! Next week WILL be our first war battle, so if you've not decided on your war stats with me yet, be sure to give it some though. I want to have everyone's detective work and war stuff done by next week. And if you want, add your new comments to the comment box!

Hope you all enjoy!

Session 11 recap: Plowing through the Prison

The prison break kicked off with an impressive aerial display from Vasuki, dodging arrows from the guards as she swooped in for a landing in the courtyard. Luckily, most of the troops from Sorrowyn Prison were diverted by the army battle being staged outside their gates. We ignored the guard towers for the moment and charged right into the main building, looking to release our targets as soon as possible. Daisy and Royce were looking for Viktor, Flik, and Flik’s daughter April, while it seemed Harold had a different person in mind.

We fought our way up to the second floor, the women’s cells, to find Humphrey and his daughter Phoebe already knee-deep in prison guards. It turned out the two of them, when they’d gotten separated from Daisy (before the game began), had come straight here and staked out the place for weeks, waiting for the perfect chance to attack. We teamed up to defeat the guards while Harold ran from cell to cell, looking for someone. As it turned out, his sister Anna was locked in one of these cells, and she shared her space with none other than April! With the two ladies freed, we continued our charge up to the third floor, where the prison records showed we should be able to find Flik and Viktor.

As soon as we stepped onto the third floor, a portcullis dropped behind us and left us with no way to run from the massive arbalest directed by the prison commander. Daisy rushed forward to try and kill him quickly, but there was no way we could reach him before he fired. Lucky for us, a prisoner next to the commander reached through the bars and restrained him long enough for Daisy to cut him down with her sword, though not before the commander retaliated with a sword to the prisoner’s gut. The old prisoner, as he lay dying, recognized Kuarjav as the man who had once taught magic to his son Roy. He asked for news of his son, but as Kuarjav had been imprisoned 30 years to the old man’s 29, neither was very up-to-date on old friends. Roy’s father asked Kuarjav to look out for his son, and died.

Meanwhile, Daisy found her dad Viktor sharing a cell with Flik in the corner and busted them out, greeting her father with a big bear hug. They seemed to be a little worse for the wear, but well enough to fight. There was some argument over whether or not we should release all of the prisoners, and eventually it was decided that we had to wait until it was safe to let them out. With the intent of seeing how the war battle progressed, we went back downstairs to the courtyard to find yet another group of assassins surrounded by dead Harmonian guards. Harold recognized their leader as Darius, an assassin of great reputation. As we feared, they had come for Daisy Saint-Anicet. One fight later, we restrained Darius for questioning to try and finally find out why there are so many assassins after Daisy’s life. He revealed that he is a warrior of the Beast tribe sent by Octavia, like the last group, and he bore a totem rune with the image of a boar. Most interestingly, he said that Octavia wants to stop Daisy from fulfilling some ancient prophecy, though he would not reveal what it was. Harold offered the assassin a chance to make a clean break and join us instead, but Darius chose instead to leap onto Harold’s sword, leaving us at another dead end. We pondered what all of this might mean for Daisy, and while Harold theorized that there might be some connection to Daisy’s mother’s family because the assassins all used the Saint-Anicet name to find Daisy, no one could think of any connection there might be between a respectable noble family like the Saint-Anicets and some savage Beast tribe.

Suddenly remembering the second part of our mission, we raised a hastily-made rebel flag over the prison, leading the Harmonian army outside to eventually surrender. We freed the rest of the political prisoners and invited them back to our castle as a safe haven and base of operations, guessing that most of them would now be seeking to exact revenge on Harmonia.

A girl fell out of the sky as we were leaving the prison. Royce swooped in on his dragon and rescued her in a heroic fashion. The girl recognized Flik and Viktor and was identified as Viki, a scatterbrained teleporter who tends to show up during times of major conflict and then disappear during banquets. With nowhere else to go, Viki agreed to join our team and went to the castle.

The Union Army forces at Liberty Castle had a grand party that night to celebrate the fall of Sorrowyn, though we have yet to decide what to do with it. During the party, Daisy carved a wooden mug for Harold with a rose etched into the side, much to the Narcissist’s delight. We did some talking and catching-up with Viktor and the other prisoners, then met with Caesar the next morning to decide what to do next. Our strategist told us that we needed to focus on liberating the region where our castle was situated, and to that end, we had to go to the enchanted forest to ask the elves for help. If we succeeded, the elves would open the floodgates and wash away the Harmonian castle just downstream from them, greatly increasing our chances for victory.

So, next week, we meet the Harmonian elves!

Recruited: Flik, Viktor, Humphrey, April, Phoebe, Viki, Anna

Investigations: Daisy and Anna