Lurker > MariaTaylor

But there was something about this warmth. It definitely wasn't the same as what Enoch described. The estate still felt empty. This was not a comforting sense of warmth. It was giving her some other feeling that she couldn't describe.

//###//

Compared to the small and personable group described above, Jamison had found himself stuck in a rather crowded party. With the addition of Lady Fakeru, or rather, just Fakeru, or just Fah, he was feeling even more stuffy and awkward than before. There were just too many around to witness his embarrassment at that moment. The existence of the confident and brash Captain Punch, and the skilled Gunslinger Kidd, was not helping any; it just made him feel his own lack of manliness by comparison.

Punch had spent the morning leading the crew around to the southern side of the estate, in search of a collapsed section of wall he had spotted the day before. Unfortunately, one thing he hadn't spotted was the wetlands around this area. It almost seemed strange that these wetlands would border the farm, but Jamison got the sense that they hadn't been here before.

Something had changed the landscape.

Jamison found himself watching Fakeru while trying to traverse the muddied and sunken paths. He felt like getting his boot stuck in the mud and sinking to oblivion would be a rather stupid way to die. As for Fah, she was walking along the top of it all, her sandals glowing the entire time. They seemed to be reducing her weight enough that there was no risk of her sinking in.

Matsuda and Zephyr were walking in the rear of the party.

Jamison decided to turn and speak to them, trying to familiarize himself with some of his new companions... and being rather intimidated by the idea of starting a conversation with Punch. "H-... Hello there," he started off relatively strong for his usual self. "So you two... um... You were with the group that found that strange card in the medical clinic, aren't you? I would have liked to have seen that myself, but, I suppose I didn't have time to get a good look at it before, you know, um.... That guy seemed to vanish into thin air." Jamison realized he couldn't remember the name of the guy who had gotten sucked into the black hole.

Zephyr merely tilted his head in a state of half confusion as he tried to make sense of Jamison's rambling.

"You're a cop, aren't you?" Matsuda responded. "No offense but I don't think you and I will really get along that well. I'm more of the type to rebel against authority."

"W-Well, I am something of an Inspector, but, I've d-done a lot of private work in the past, as well," Jamison explained. "Mr. Owen up there was actually an old acquaintance of mine." It was actually the reason Owen had even found out about this place, or this job. Though, looking back at the work he had done for Owen in the past, Jamison was surprised that a guy like that would come to a place like this.

Then again... Jamison had no idea how his superior officer had ever convinced him to do it, either.

Or why they would have chosen a sheepish guy like himself. There were more capable, more confident men in the service to the Censors. Or, hell, they could have sent a Fisher Knight or two down here. He supposed it all had to do with how the government had been completely gridlocked until now. Convincing them to send even one lousy Inspector, with an emphasis on lousy, must have been their idea of compromise.
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Even Jen wasn't certain that she knew the answer. She had her suspicions, but it was hard to say it definitively. Leone had always been a person who was impossible to understand in motive or in action. "What do you think these were for?" Jen inquired, changing the subject.

"Decoration, I suppose." Leone didn't want to think about what other cruel purpose these could serve. Perversion? Or something darker? "Enoch, what do you think of these? Bizarre, aren't they?"

"I'm a bit busy here," Enoch said. His back was against the wagon and his feet dug into the ground as him and Aaron were struggling to push it over a slight rivet in the ground. Getting it past that was proving difficult.

Leone walked over, pulled a piece of flat wood off of the cart, and placed it underneath the front wheel. In that moment, the force of Enoch and Aaron was pushed up and over the slope... causing the wagon to JUMP over the rivet with ease. "What about now?"

Enoch and Aaron both stopped for a moment, taking a break. They examined Leone and the statue both with a sense of reserved appreciation. "She looks cute," Enoch said. "Old man Cain must have had good taste. But..." Enoch looks a bit worried at that remark. "I don't remember these being here last time. Nor do I think of him as a man of such perversions."

That made Leone worry, due to the second thought which had risen on instinct. If it wasn't perversion, then what were these things for? Could it really be true that something dark was being done right here in the lobby?

"Maybe he was trying to bring them to life?" Aaron joked. "I suppose it could get lonely here."

Jen looked around the entry hall, and the many different routes one could go from here... each of those leading to large and empty places. "It does seem very large. And very empty."

"Haha... Hm." Enoch smiled to himself. "I guess it seems that way. And maybe I should feel more sad when I remember this, but... what I mainly remember were his kids and his grandkids filling this place with noise and warmth. It definitely wasn't an empty feeling place back then. Now..."

As Enoch looked around he realized the dark implication of his statement had set in for everyone. And even as his amusement at those happy days faded to sorrow, he saw that he had made the others sad, as well. "In any case, let's take a moment to examine these statues, shall we?"

"I almost feel as if they -will- come to life," Leone grumbled. "You shouldn't have put that thought in my head."

Jen got the attention of Torin at this time, drawing him over and into the conversation. "What do you think, Torin? These aren't the only ones, either. Leone spotted some up on the balcony as well."

"Hrm..." Torin examined the nearest statue carefully. "Well, it's not made of any material that I'm familiar with. And that bothers me a bit more than it should. I was a worker at the Lord's Mine for most of my life before this, and had plenty of professional cooperation with various smiths and metallurgists."

"It's just stone, isn't it?" Aaron said.

"There's more than one kind of stone," Torin clarified. "And this is not one I'm familiar with."

Jen was left wondering what could have happened here. Was Cain or one of his sons mining rare materials never seen before, and using them to create bizarre statues? Or had something else happened? Were these statues made from some dark magic or tragedy? It was starting to look increasingly like there was no rational explanation for these.

Leone raised a hand and placed it on the back of the statue. "It feels very warm, doesn't it?"

Jen felt Leone grab her hand and place it on the statue as well.
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Entry 10: Above the Laboratory, The Flooded Hall

It was decided, of course, that the group should proceed slowly and to take the supply wagon in with them as far as could safely be done. This would establish a nice center of operations for the full adventuring party once Torin and his group reunited with Punch and Jamison. Whether they'd see Dismas and his crew again was yet to be seen, but... Torin honestly hoped that he would.

Maybe he was old and sentimental, but he had brought those four with him to this place. He felt responsible for their safety, as well. Too many had already died. Torin was just now adjusting to the harsh reality that they likely wouldn't be the last.

Aaron was a bit surprised to hear that Torin was considering the idea of bringing the damaged wagon forward. However, when the logic was explained more clearly, it seemed to make sense to everyone there; This wagon was less able to carry valuable supplies, and it was slower to move. The truth was that if they were forced to abandon the wagon it wouldn't matter how fast it was capable of moving. The most important factor was how much of their supplies they'd be forced to leave behind.

In Torin's mind it was best to have a safe exit strategy possible. They could always retreat to the fully supplied wagon in good repair if they left it on the back line. The only risk to this plan was if brigands wandered into the village and stole it but, well, Enoch laughed out loud at that suggestion.

There was a grand sense of epic drama as the huge, wide doors were pushed open by Aaron and Enoch. The doors moved slowly as if driven by some purpose to drive all mortal things back from these halls. Even the hinges shrieked a warning. Torin didn't listen to it.

The entry hall had a series of side passages that branched off into five separate directions, as well as a double staircase that approached the veranda from two angles. An indoor balcony ran from the veranda across the inner rim of the second floor and gave access to the two upper halls. The condition of the balcony seemed to be less than ideal, and traversing that path might be difficult. Definitely bringing the wagon up the stairs and across those brittle walkways would not be an option.

"Let's go ahead and get the wagon in here," Torin said. "Leone, you and Jen can have a look around. Just don't go too far. This isn't a scouting mission, okay? We should all stick together for safety."

"Sure," Leone replied simply. The two of them went off together. Leone almost seemed to be a bit ambivalent in that moment; likely grateful for not having to help push the wagon but also a bit annoyed at not being asked.

In the lower entry hall, Leone and Jen found a series of odd statues which had been carved in the likeness of estate attendants. Oddly, they had also been placed very casually and yet without much purpose. It almost felt as if they were still here, alive, and at work. It was a bizarre design strategy which Leone had never seen before.

"The use of statues to replicate the feeling of workers in the estate," Leone remarked. A bandaged stump raised to touch the face of a statue wearing a maid's uniform. Instinct would be hard to break. Leone pulled it away and brushed the cheek of the statue with the remaining hand, the one that hadn't been torn off by that insect monster. "I wonder if the real workers were unnerved by this?"

"-I'm- unnerved by this," Jen admitted frankly. "You know it's not too late to turn back, right?"

"There are people counting on me," Leone said. It was unclear if that referred to Torin or to someone else.
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lunch now -> update after

also it seems we've officially reached the 'update every other day' cycle. which is probably for the best anyway, don't want anyone falling behind on the story while I'm writing updates every day.
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I haven't played Echoes but I have played the original Gaiden on NES. I remember the map design being fairly simple. Maybe that's what people were complaining about.

As for the guy in the desert

yeah he's an unkillable god tier enemy. you have to just run away and try to avoid him for as long as possible. I thought that was actually a pretty unique mission objective, so it really impressed me the first time I played.
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it's actually probably a good thing that this result has been pretty one sided, since the way I wanted to structure the chapter we should see the result right away.
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Thanks for that! I hadn't actually gotten around to saving the topic yet, either.

Although I just went ahead and did it now. So yeah. I may try and keep it bumped for the sake of others who want to re-read the earlier passages and entries over the next few days. But there's nothing here that I need anymore.
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he has really bad eyesight okay
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the idea of intentionally drawing your entire deck sounds funny to me

I have no idea why you'd actually play it, but..
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MalcolmMasher posted...

who are considered the best white mages?

Lena. There's a very useful staff later in the game that only Lena can use.

oh wow, really? I actually didn't know that. I guess because I always used Lena I never noticed that she was the only one who could use it. that's pretty neat.
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Punnyz posted...

My favorite units are Darug, Barst, and the pirate guy

they always get me out of a pinch

I also have some fondness for Lena and Ogma

Cain, Abel, and Frey have continuously pulled their weight too, especially Frey. Glad I didn't canon kill him!

Caena and Marth kick all kinds of ass

the game has a lot of REALLY strong units. only downside to this is that if you're making a core team and you're trying to use the best units it's going to be the same every time. there's like 8 characters who are Tier 1 and not much reason to use any of the other entire army of units.

Punnyz posted...

who are considered the best white mages?

very little difference between them as far as I know. mobility is the best attribute that a healer can have, and I think in this game they all have more or less the same movement. higher magic will mean they heal a little more HP per cast, but it rarely makes a difference.

if they have a high staff level already, as mewtwo mentioned, you could just use that unit. saves you the trouble of having to raise their staff EXP.

you don't really need stats on your healer because if you're playing the game correctly they'll never be targeted anyway.
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FakeAccount3000 posted...

Although Im sure well get to hear in demoralizing detail why we were wrong again. >_> somewhat kidding but i feel possibly sending all the information ahead alone is gong to hurt, ha ha.

Charging in has been one disaster after another so far.

this is a case where I'd say all three choices are fine, they just benefit the party in different ways.

looks like you guys would prefer to go with turtling... which is the safest strategy (but also the slowest).
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An important note about Julian, since we're on the subject of Thieves.

Similar to Marth he cannot promote, but he can be raised to level 30 (just like Marth). Neither of them can change class, either, so they are permanently locked into the Lord/Thief roles.
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good question, I'd have to check to be sure.

or PUN can do it since he's actually playing the game now!
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Punnyz posted...

they don't retreat, right?

you have to catch them before they get away, so it's usually good to reach them right while they're opening the chest.
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"It may break again in a direct joust, honestly," Enoch said, "Depending on how hard you hit the enemy and how hard they hit you. But if you fight them at range and use the reach of the weapon to your advantage you should be able to slash and poke them with the tip without much risk."

"Hm..." Aaron thought about it for a moment. His armored fighting style didn't particularly suit that style of combat, but he had mastered fighting with the lance to a degree that he could probably do this... even if it wasn't his typical fighting style. "Leone, why don't you grab another one of those metal rods for me? I'd like to sharpen at least one down to a point. It's something more sturdy I can use in a charge if I need to."

"A nice back up, then," Leone pointed out. The second rod was retrieved and tossed to Aaron without hesitation.

Enoch had succeeded in getting them talking to each other, as well. Not just to have a conversation with him, one at a time. He looked at Jen and smiled softly. She looked a bit sad and a bit in pain, but he felt there was still some way he could approach her... some way he could get her to open up, as well. He just didn't know what it was, yet.

"What about you, wanderer? You use that knife to fight?" Leone inquired.

Enoch's attention was drawn back that way. He turned the knife over and then thrust it into the sheathe. "It is one of my weapons, yes. The other is my wit." He gave a smile that showed he was somewhat joking, but he was also seriously bragging at the same time. "Of course I've brought a few tools with me as well. I can't show off all of my tricks, but..."

As the two of them began talking, he was able to get Jen to make comments or remarks on some of the items he showed off from his utility pouches inside of his coat and on his belt. There were even a few moments where she'd ask questions about something without him needing to prompt it, first.

By the time Torin walked back to where the group was, the five of them had shifted the topic of conversation to the gate, what might lay beyond, and what they should do. Enoch had, in a single morning, completely expanded the level of rapport between his group. And he thought this level of open dialogue and comfort with one another was going to be invaluable in fighting to keep each other alive.

Now, all that was left, was to decide their plan for how to proceed.

[ END ]

9. What will the Gate Smashers do?
A. Proceed in a defensive formation with Aaron in the lead.
B. Send Leone ahead to scout, and then follow with the rest.
C. Slowly advance by clearing one room and then moving the entire wagon set forward.
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After the group left, Torin was left getting his affairs in order. Enoch was sitting at the front of the wagon by himself. He had pulled out his utility knife -- a curved blade with a wide and round shape to it -- and was sharpening the thing. As he did that, he glanced over at Aaron.

Aaron's back was to Enoch and he seemed to be doing light stretches while examining the gate. They were parked not too far away from it. Maybe the man was thinking about what he'd do if killer bees or killer ants or who knows what else crawled out of there right at this moment.

"I see you got most of the dents out of your armor," Enoch remarked. "You must be used to this kind of thing."

Aaron glanced back at him, almost looking surprised. Maybe he wasn't the type that was usually approached so openly by strangers. "Yeah..." He took stock of his weapon in his hands, which had been hastily tied back together. "I'm a bit worried about my weapon, though."

"That thing? Like that?" Enoch smiled slightly to himself. "Bring it over here. If you leave it like that it's gonna snap in half again at the first chance." Enoch waited patiently as the other man brought his broken lance over.

The thing about Enoch is that he wasn't like most other people. Whether you seemed difficult to approach or easy to approach didn't matter to him. That's because he was the type who had an easy time approaching others. Therefore, in all situations, he was the one who decided that. "Why don't you two come over and watch, as well. You might be interested to see this," he offered to Leone and Jen.

Honestly, it wasn't some sort of mindblowing magic trick. Nor was it something they should have been interested in. But the way he sold it to them, and the fact that there wasn't much else going on, drew their attention enough to at least join the conversation.

Right now, Leone and Jen had been in their own bubble separate form the others. But Enoch had forced them to participate in the conversation and start a dialogue with the others. He did it in a way that they wouldn't have even noticed. They might not understand what happened but they wouldn't forget it. That was the core concept behind becoming 'likable' as far as Enoch was concerned. Make people remember that they had a positive experience while talking to him, even if they didn't understand how or why.

"Repairing a broken lance is a lot like repairing a broken arm," Enoch explained. "Why don't you grab one of those steel rods from the back of the wagon? We've got plenty of spares."

"Will this do?" Leone asked. The lithe character with good eyesight had a strong ability to search, and had procured one very quickly. Enoch was sure to smile and give thanks for a job done well and done fast.

"Now I'll take some of these spare bandages and use the steel rod as a sort of splint, holding the broken parts of the lance together with a strong foundation. It's a lot more reliable than trying to keep them together with cloth," Enoch explained. He was careful to avoid words like 'simply' and 'only,' words which would have made it sound like Aaron's way was foolish or wrong.

"Will this hold up in a joust?" Aaron inquired, turning the weapon over and looking at it from different angles. It was a bit more awkward to wield it now that the haft had a second piece of metal attached to it, but the reality is that the weapon had become awkward and unusable the moment it broke. With the blade at the end having been magically forged, this was a weapon that held immense value.

Changing it into a form that could still be used, even if awkwardly, was far more significant than throwing it away or patching it haphazardly so it would only break again. "I'd like to continue using it as much as possible," Aaron explained.
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Torin had already been filled in on Punch's findings from scouting the farmlands and the southern wall. Apparently there was a gap in the wall from that section which was worth investigating. To that end, Torin decided to send Jamison and Punch there to check things out. Since they were both allowed to choose who to bring with them, it ended up in a situation where many of the people from the caravan were going to head in through this entry point.

Only Aaron, Jen, Leone, and the new wanderer Enoch (a man who had appeared the night before) were going to stay here with Torin to help guard the wagons. However, Torin also had a plan to approach the front gate and at least check out what the inner workings of the state looked like. "As safely as possible, of course, accounting for our limited numbers."

"If that's the case, let us help you move the wagon before we part ways," Punch offered. "And don't worry... whatever happens, we will be back."

Owen felt like that was probably true. For better or worse, this guy wasn't some rogue like Dismas and the others. He didn't intend to loot some treasure on his own and then vanish from the rest of the group. Though, realistically, Cain had said in his letters that anyone who found the treasures was entitled to them as long as they helped purge these lands of beasts.

Dismas had certainly done that. Maybe he was just being assertive. Maybe it was possible Owen could have done something like that, if he had a spine. He could find his own fortune and return to a comfortable life. It would make up for the inheritance he had lost along the way, wouldn't it?

In any event, Dismas and the Chained Man had left on their own, not feeling as if they were required to continue acting as the prisoners of the caravan. No one particularly cared enough to try and stop them by force... but this resulted in a chain reaction that perhaps should have been better avoided. Cata Spade decided to go with the two as well, and they had somehow convinced Maria Taylor to go with them as well.

It was unclear exactly what their goal was, but Maria had taken her maps as well as the remaining journal with details on Avel de Countelard. Additionally, Dismas was the person who had the notebooks containing details on the monsters found in the area. Regardless of where that group was going they held vital knowledge that would have greatly benefited the rest of the group.

Supposedly, someone had heard Maria mentioning the existence of ditches that were dug around the outside of the estate which may hold secret tunnels leading into the lower levels. With the map to use as a reference point it should be easy to navigate the inside of the dungeon even from an entry point like this, and it would give them access to some of the more dangerous areas without having to fight their way through the upper floors first.

Owen found himself hanging back and thinking about this as Punch, Aaron, and the others helped push the wagons along the main road and toward the large centralized gate. Things here seemed quiet, and for that reason Punch felt it was probably fine to leave Torin and his group to their own devices.

"If it had been damn battlefield I would've stuck around," Punch said with bravado. "But I think you'll be fine on your own, old man." The two exchanged a firm handshake and then the captain left with the rest of his crew. He made a silent promise to himself that he wouldn't sail away and never return. So far, he had been able to keep that promise. The reality of being lost at sea was all too real, but he had avoided it so far. Only the fact that he survived for so long had made him into a legendary figure.
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It was at that time that Owen realized Captain Punch had come to join him. Or perhaps he had been sitting there on that log near the fire all along. Even watching him while he was sleeping. And Owen came to a startling realization as he felt a chill run down his spine. "You saw... all of that. Didn't you? My-... My thoughts...?"

"Yes," Punch said, sounding quite sad. His eyes turned to the firepit which had burned out long ago. "I see the kid's thoughts, still, too. We might have only met not too long ago, but I have all of his memories. I have all of his thoughts inside of me, now. It feels like I've lost someone I knew for their entire life."

Owen pushed himself up to a sitting position and then looked away. He remembered when Punch had put 'something' inside of his head. Was that supposed to change everything? Was he going to be a more assertive person now? Or was he the same guy who had simply walked away when his relatives plotted to steal his grandfather's legacy? The photograph of them meeting together in secret confirmed that. It was all too tangible, all too real.

"Why did you do it?" Owen asked. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. As they were talking, he noted Aaron waking up and moving out of his small cot and overhanging tent that he had set up. The lancer had stripped all of his armor pieces off and was doing sit ups somewhere nearby.

Punch was oddly sincere in that moment. Although, if he had to give a reason why, it was because Owen was the person he most understood in the entire world right now. And that level of kinship and honesty could not be replicated by anything else. Their minds were literally connected by the Moth Parasite now. There was no reason to lie to Owen. "I was lonely," Punch admitted. "I didn't want to be the only one..."

"Then why did we-" Owen started with a demanding tone, but his voice trailed off. Punch knew what he was going to say anyway. Was there any reason why he had to say it out loud?

"Why did we keep it a secret from them?" Punch completed the thought, for emphasis. He glanced around. At Aaron, who was now sweating in exercise. At the other killers and adventurers who were starting to get up and get dressed, and gather their gear. "Look around, you."

Owen studied them as well. One at a time, each. Those who hadn't already left during the night.

"These people came here to kill monsters," Punch told him. "What do you think -WE- are?"

Owen knew the answer to that question but he didn't want to say that out loud either. Punch already knew that he knew. And so they both got up in silence and went to find Torin Gemmason. That guy was already making plans to lead the expedition into the estate, now that the surrounding hamlet should have been cleared. You could never truly account for the fact that more monsters might appear in your blind spot. But, well, Torin had at least reached a level of safety he was comfortable with.

Jennifer Lowell had woken up and was sitting propped up against the wagon. She was wrapped in a blanket to cover the scars on her shoulders and her arms. Leone the Cat was sitting beside her and the two seemed to be talking about something unrelated to the major events that were going on here. Rather, it felt like those two had taken the brief moment of respite to retreat from the mental stress of this situation.

It was something you could only do if you had someone beside you to rely on.

Was that what Punch meant when he said he didn't want to be alone anymore...?
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Thanks for the positive remarks!

All the more reason why you guys deserve FRESH updates HOT OFF THE PRESS!

Chapter 9: Solemn Remembrance, Parting of Ways, Bright Future

Gloria -- It has been a while since we have last spoken, or since I have seen you at all, and yet I must admit that you have been on my mind as of late. I don't understand it, exactly. It's not that I miss you, or that I think we would do well together. Not after everything that happened. At the same time, my mind sometimes goes to a comfortable place in my past... and my subconscious finds that time to be the days I spent with you.

I had a dream where we were still together and spending time at my aunt's estate, south of Greenfair. It's a place we never went to before, but it was a place that always brought me peace and comfort. I think the intention of my ailing mind was clear. It was trying to put me in a place where I could feel relaxed and safe. And my subconscious mind tells me that was the time I was able to spend with you.

I should say that I am sorry for anything I might have done that hurt or upset you. That was not my intention. You know quite a bit about my childhood from inference, though we never talked about it directly -- think not of this an excuse for any of my behavior which may have been inappropriate but rather an explanation. It took me a long time to understand how troubled of a person I really am. If I had known it at the time I never would have subjected anyone to a relationship with someone like me. Least of all, you.

There have been a lot of thoughts on my mind, lately. Maybe it's better to tell them directly to a person who was on my mind, and who might understand them. You may ignore this letter if you wish. I think it was just better to get it off my chest rather than keeping it in my mind, or writing it down in a journal where no one would ever see it. And...

Owen the Coward woke up in mid draft, as he often did. That was a letter he'd never really have the courage to write, or to send. It was just one of many doubts that was always plaguing his mind. His eyes were heavy but the light was still low. It was early.

It was troubling to sleep, and so he was often one of the first awake.

As he rolled onto his side he reached into his satchel and dug out a photograph that had been stashed away in there. It was not something as expected or sentimental as a picture of Gloria. That was something he had let go a long time ago. It was only in his dreams that he still yearned for her. In reality, he had lost all real and tangible interest in rekindling that romance.

Divorce had suited him well.

He was a sad person who deserved to be alone.

The photograph was part of an ongoing investigation that he had hired to look into the affairs of his family. Owen had always been a coward and a pushover. His family had not treated him kindly ever since he was young. Yet at the same time he still had to be surprised when he got the final results during those darkest of days.

The grief of his grandfather passing hit him in a strange way. A man that he wasn't close to, but he felt kinship for. And the fact that he wasn't so emotionally devastated as one should be, when a family member passed, only made him feel more awful about himself. Then he found from the investigation that his family had been meeting in secret. They had been intending to cut him out of the will, and prevent his inheritance.

It was fine. Owen decided that's when he'd simply leave and make his own way in the world. Being disowned by his family suited him. He was a sad person who deserved to be alone. Yet... somehow... he thought going on a journey would increase his sense of self sufficiency.

All it had done is make him realize how weak and useless he had been all along.
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Punnyz posted...

BUTT Lance

this one is actually pretty great though
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port warren is the map I always get stuck on in H5, for the record.
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alright apologies for the slow update cycle, by 'morning' I really mean either right before or right after I eat lunch... which is usually early in the day. anyway long story short I had to skip lunch today and I'm eating right now so I'll get to writing afterwards.

over the weekend is usually the slowest time for me so updates are gonna be inconsistent on sundays and saturdays. but now that it's monday again I have to get something on the page soon!
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(any characters who survive to the end of a chapter where you're trying to kill fodder, you can just strip all of their gear and have them stand next to the boss. especially on a harder difficulty they will get DELETED pretty much instantly.)
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the chapter where you recruit Merric is a great opportunity to do this. it has a bunch of cavaliers charging at the party on an open field right at the start, with almost no where safe to go. especially on a harder difficulty this can be tough.

... if you throw sacrificial lambs in their path this will sometimes cause them to stagger their approach, since not all (4? 6? can't remember?) of them have to attack to kill one unarmed target, and this gives you better chances to manage the damage of the incoming attacks onto the targets you want to gain EXP. still allows you time to safely heal them after, before the next cavalier reaches them, provided you're good with spacing and positioning of units.
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The Ditch Party
Dismas the Guilty - eddv
Maria Taylor - nfun
Abom, the Chained Man - decider
Cata Spade - Cata
Goetic - lefty

The Shell Party
Torin Gemmason - Mana
Lancer Aaron - FB
Enoch the Wanderer - crazy
Jen Lowell - pk2k
Leone the Cat - CPU

The Moth Party
Captain Punch - xey
Owen the Coward - stan
Beastkin Zephyr - ermine
Matsuda - trdl
Fakeru, Lucky Girl - fake
Jamison, Inspector - maniac
Gunslinger Kidd - drak

I'll start Phase 2 tomorrow with these groups, then.

Chapter 9: Owen/Enoch
Chapter 10: Torin/Jamison
Chapter 11: Abom

Not 100% sure on these but those are my ideas. I'm trying something a little different with the POVs and groups in this project, some people might have already noticed as compared to my older projects; rather than doing one group at a time I'm trying to get more comfortable sharing viewpoints between separate groups.
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update tonight??

or tomorrow morning????
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lol

wonder how many times that is going to happen

guess it depends on how many fire emblem games PUN gets around to playing, and how long it takes him to learn to temper his expectations when it comes to long-haired characters with wide hips
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Xuxon posted...

yes, that's Nagi. maybe you forgot about Bantu? he's the first one you get.

oh no, I didn't forget about Bantu. I just phrased the remark above poorly.

I was thinking that if Nagi died, you got ANOTHER replacement. but I must be thinking of another game or I was just completely wrong.
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Kenri posted...

You also missed Norne, who I thought had a whole gaiden chapter but apparently just joins at the end of the prologue if you lost anyone else besides the decoy.

She's an archer so you didn't miss much.

ah yeah, good call. I just googled the gaiden chapter list and posted that.

now that I'm thinking about it.... I could be remembering it wrong or confusing it with another game, but I think there might also be a third manakete that you can get somehow if you REALLY screw up near the end?
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^ what it looks like when you realize you've made a bunch of dumb statements for no reason and then want to back out of the conversation while trying to look as cool as possible
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and if you think that's not objectively right then you're a dunce.
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foolm0r0n posted...

don't tell him to ignore everyone else's opinion as if yours is objectively right (it's not).

okay, I won't.

because that's not even what I said.

all I said was that board 8 was a small population made up mostly of outliers, and he needed to be careful to accept their criticisms as the majority opinion.
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this will probably make you feel worse, not better, but Athena is also generally considered to be the best of the gaiden characters in terms of design, personality, and usability.
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TheGoddamnSanta posted...

sure obviously, but when the majority of people tell me "I clicked back the second I heard vagina" it does send a pretty clear message.

board 8 users are incapable of hearing the word vagina and not having a panic attack?

foolm0r0n posted...

All we're saying is if his videos are dark and filled with sex jokes, no one will watch them

he does need to fix the lighting. if you legitimately believe that youtube is a place where there are no people who want to watch videos that have sex jokes in them you're just flat out wrong.

that wasn't listed in your initial criticisms though so I assume you're doing some dumb herd mentality thing where you're sticking up for all of the criticism in this topic because you felt like I was attacking your criticism directly.
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oh yeah the other way should work, too. I think the main reason to do it the 'everyone lives->everyone dies' order is because that way, on the second playthrough, you already know which characters are good and you want to keep them alive.
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like I mentioned earlier in the topic it's generally easier to just do a pure everyone lives playthrough first, and then a gaiden playthrough second. the reason is because if you cull your roster down to 15 early on you can simply just keep killing/not recruiting new people as they are added and keep it under 15. this will allow you to get all of the gaiden characters to the end on your second run and you'll be able to unlock every epilogue very efficiently.
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SantaRPidgey posted...

Alright so this is all really great stuff, I appreciate that board 8 is the one place that has no problem just straight talking without worrying about being polite.

while this is true, and some of the criticism in this topic looks to be somewhat valid, you also have to remember that board 8 is a really small niche population mostly filled with EXTREME outliers. changing your entire production process to cater to their criticism may not get you the level of mainstream viability that you may be aiming for.
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DonnyG posted...

I expect to see a good neutral 2 drop in the next set for exactly this reason.

they have barely printed any in the last year. not sure why you'd be expecting them to start now, unless you think Brode was the one person stopping them from doing it.
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6x: Have 15 or less characters alive by the end of chapter 6
12x: Have 15 or less characters alive by the end ofchapter 12
17x: Have 15 or less characters alive by the end ofchapter 17
20x: Have 15 or less characters alive by the end ofchapter 20
24x: approach the endgame with no falchion or tiki

that should be all five of them.
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https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/8wt9jl/a_comparison_of_aggressive_and_defensive_tools/

Generally speaking, in the new standard meta, defensive options (76) seem to outnumber aggressive ones (50) by a fairly wide margin. Moreover, the aggression options have been getting progressively more expensive to play, focusing on the 3-5 mana range, on average. Long gone are the days of Tunnel Troggs and Small-Time Buccaneers. The best aggressive options in this period were good - like Corridor Creeper, Call to Arms, and Bonemare - but many have suffered nerfs (well deserved in most cases, don't get me wrong) and largely fallen out of favor because of it.

By contrast, the defensive options have been among the most powerful the game has ever seen: Defile, Spreading Plague, Duskbreaker, and almost all the Deathknights. The only one that received a nerf was Plague, from 5 to 6 mana, and it's still a stable in the best 3 decks in the game at legend, according to VS. While these tools had been used to keep pace with the previous crop of offensive cards, the offensive pools have weakened while the defensive ones largely haven't. The best aggressive option right now is Baku, which is less a card (as the card itself is basically unplayable) and more a deck build around a theme.

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I voted that I would never watch the video, but then I clicked on it out of curiosity.

Was originally expecting something stupid. I guess I wasn't technically wrong. But since it was about chinese I found it interesting enough to watch the whole thing. Good job!

Anyway you can take a vote from the first category and put it somewhere else.
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cautionary bump
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Punnyz posted...

I had NO idea you could just let the thieves from the other team steal the chests and then you can just kill them for it

stuff like this is why I like reading topics from people less familiar with the series. I also remember the first time I figured this out while playing fire emblem and it blew my mind.

before that I always felt like it was a RACE where you're trying to get the chest before the thief can get there.
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Punnyz posted...

are wolf and roshea female?

no and no
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Heroic Bigpun posted...

I started freaking out because I was using my White Mage to heal 2 HP wounds so he could level up , then I realized his staff was about to break. But luckily after I finished the chapter, they started letting me freely go to the armory. Dodged a bullet there

haha yeah you get almost no staves in the first maybe 3 or 4 chapters of the game which makes h3, h4, and h5 difficulty PARTICULARLY brutal, but things get a lot more manageable after that. being able to buy items, forge weapons, and change character classes freely gives you a ton of options for dealing with the difficulty.

you can even mitigate the RNG of growths to some extent. if you get outright BAD gains you might be stuck needing to reset, but if you get gains in areas you might not have wanted, it's sometimes possible to fix this issue by simply changing the class of specific characters and their role within the group.

certain classes also have optimal growth rates for certain stats, too, so there's also an element of strategy to using class change as a way to get better growths in farmable chapters before switching to permanent classes with better suited abilities for difficult chapters. the fact that you don't pay anything or need to use any items to change between classes within your current group helps this a lot.

(and if all of that sounds confusing or overwhelming just feel good in knowing that you can easily beat the game on normal or even h1-h3 difficulty without ever bothering with the stuff I mentioned above)
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8. Goetic To...

(111 111 111 1) A. Ditch Party
(111 111 11) B. Shell Party

this should be accurate. looks like A is probably winning. I think one person hasn't voted yet but that wouldn't be enough to overturn it or even make it into a tie at this point.
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the game is like 10 hours long honestly. problem is that fire emblem breeds the kind of fans who are literally obsessed with keeping every character alive even if it means they just sit in your roster and do nothing.

you can play the game one time, get all of the characters to the end

play the game a second time with a small roster, killing everyone else, and bringing all of the gaiden-recruited unique units to the end

if you were a "completionist" you'd just do that in two runs of the game and call it a day. it's not even that hard or time consuming. I've beaten the game 4 times on 4 different difficulty settings (normal, hard 1, hard 3, and hard 4).

it's a very short game that you can get through very quickly, even on your first playthrough.

the other main complaint is of course the mechanics being dated which... as PUN already addressed... it's literally an NES game. if you want to play a more modern game then go play one.
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Punnyz posted...

Does speed determine if you get double hits?

yes. if you have 4 more Speed than your opponent, you will double them. (so 6 speed vs 2 Speed will double, 15 Speed vs 11 Speed will double, etc.)

it also increases your evasion.

Punnyz posted...

I remember you needing strength to wield heavy weapons, and if its heavier than your strength, your speed goes down, right?

yes. 11 weight and 10 strength means -1 speed. 9 strength would be -2 speed. etc. etc.

Punnyz posted...

What does skill do?

makes you hit more often
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