That's because you are a special kind of person, Xeno. For someone like me on the other hand, pretty much the way I do it is get halfway through the sixth stratum and say "fuck this."
I found this game's sixth stratum especially brutal and gave up on it for about ten days.
Really liked it when I finished. Part of my problem was a party that while more than adequate for the encounters in the regular game and most boss battles couldn't handle the repeated brutality of the early encounters mixed in with the devilish floor design.
I found this game's sixth stratum especially brutal and gave up on it for about ten days.
Really liked it when I finished. Part of my problem was a party that while more than adequate for the encounters in the regular game and most boss battles couldn't handle the repeated brutality of the early encounters mixed in with the devilish floor design.
You can probably guess my strategy for each and every regular encounter in the sixth stratum.
Step 1: Call Elephant
Step 2: Dismiss Elephant
I guess there's some autoattacking or a little elemental damage in the middle there? Seriously, confusion is a total lock-down.
E: I have decided to solo-level a Ninja to at least 70, only buying what items I could buy at the deepest floor he's been to. At 31 currently, and comfortably fighting on floor B7, but some of those walrus guys can potentially one-shot off a bad blindside, and the encounters are still much too hard on B8.
Note: Due to the revamped forums not having a way to link individual posts (yet?), all the travelogue links in the OP are dead. Either we can wait for this issue to be fixed or you could go find this same story on FF.Net.
That aside, I'm back. Sorry for the wait.
Entry Ninety Five
*~*
Jules
Rocket came to me early this morning (just a little too early for me to get a good breakfast, as it turned out) talking something about tracking down that flower that Kujura wanted us to find before. Apparently he’s gotten his hands on a way to track down the flower.
To be honest, I don’t think even Kujura would care about one flower at this point. The forces of Armoroad Corps are crawling all over the Labyrinth now. I guess I should just be glad that they haven’t run into many Deep City men, so there haven’t been anything more serious than brief skirmishes with minimal casualties. Small mercies. There’s no way to prevent the whole thing from blowing up even worse, though, or at least not a way I can see.
In any case, I didn’t venture into the Labyrinth today, but Adrian brought a group down for some training, and according to her there are even more Deep Ones flooding the Shrine now. After hearing this news Alexis went back to her maps and is now trying to plan the shortest route possible to the bottom floor of the Shrine.
That should be where all the answers we’re looking for are.
I think.
I hope.
*~*
Alexis
Entry Made: 26th of the Month of the Azure Lance, in the Seven Hundred and Fourteenth year of the Holy Empire
With the increased activity of the Armoroad Corps, I‘ve heard rumours that the plan to shut down access to the Labyrinth – at least for the majority of the Guilds. I’m not too keen on discovering if we’d fall under that category should this come to pass, but I’ll need that information to plan out what we’re going to do in the coming days.
In the short run, we’ve spent today gearing up for a big push tomorrow. The bottom floor of the Shrine is supposed to hold a large number of sacred treasures. It’s possible that reaching the bottom of the Abyssal Shrine will mark the end of our journey… but I doubt it. There’s something we’re missing here, and I cannot shake the feeling that this something is of extreme significance.
I visited Napier’s Firm in the early afternoon, mostly to check if the proprietor had managed to create any new equipment that I could use. It may have just been my imagination, but she appeared more distracted than I’d come to expect of her – especially when transfer of money is involved. She didn’t appear to wish to discuss matters with me, so I left after purchasing a new set of armour. It’s a little lighter than my current garb without sacrificing any defence, so it should serve me well.
Return to my room brought with it the unfortunate discovery that Scraps has started shedding. I really must remember to thank his Majesty for such a thoughtful gift.
*~*
Sidney
Whew. Busy day today. Spent the morning and early afternoon in the Shrine, and we ended up getting swamped with Deep Ones. I nearly ended up with a spear in the gut at one point, and if it hadn’t been for Master Geoffrey I don’t we’d have all been able to walk out of there under our own volition. As it is I wanted to bury my head in a pillow and sleep the night away once I got out of there.
No such luck, of course. I got called for a tea party that mom and dad were hosting. It wasn’t much worth talking about – I mostly sat there and listened to various merchant types complain that the mobilization of the Armoroad Corps would lead to severe declines in trade and all that sort of thing. Of course a few of them brought kids along and naturally they were all over me asking what exploring the Labyrinth was like. I’m not going to say I particularly mind entertaining the children but some of them (I’m not going to name names) can be right monsters.
Finally stumbled out of there and started heading back to Guild HQ well after sundown. Adrian and Pure were waiting for me at the entrance. We didn’t say anything – just headed down to the Drowned Crocodile and ordered half the meat dishes they had on the menu.
It’s good to have friends.
*~*
Clay
Jared and Relena made port early this morning, apparently with the remains of some dragon monster they’d fought in the northern islands. Jared wasted no time boasting about how they’d fought off some ancient dragon and resealed it in a temple or something like that. I don’t mind saying I’m a little jealous – I’ve spent the past few days here doing fuck all.
At least I’m getting some action tomorrow – I’m gonna be going in with Alexis and Jules to bust our way through to the bottom of the Shrine. I heard from Atahualpa today that the Deep Ones really have a fire lit under their arses, so we’re definitely going to have a grand old time of it when we head down.
Man, things sure have changed. When I first ended up in this Guild, it was mostly for the sake of surrounding myself with a bunch of tough warriors who’d look out for me and keep that guy’s thugs from finding me. Now, though… I’m invested as any of ‘em when it comes to seeing this whole thing through.
When did that happen, anyway?
*~*
Geoffrey
Thought for the Day: Rest for the body, rest for the soul.
The thought of endless conflict coming up is starting to wear on several of the Guild Members.
This burgeoning war between the Deep City and Armoroad will serve no one’s interests in the end.
They must be able to see this. Yet they make preparations to collide with each other with all speed.
We might need some way to help keep morale up. Yet time is of the essence in such a critical juncture.
It is not often that I confess my uncertainty, but now is such a time.
No sooner do I put EO3 away for good but I find a treasure in my local gamestop - a used copy of EO1 for only $15 which, considering how much it'd cost to buy and ship from amazon, was pretty excellent.
Popped it in, rolled a party, and died 3 times on the first floor alone! To be fair, two of those were event battles I really should have seen coming. I also got chased into a dead end and murdered by a FOE in two separate spots later on. EO3 did not screw around at any point, yet apparently it was still downright nurturing by series standards.
I also finally see that butterfly and deer in the OP in the proper light.
Atlus put a cruel joke relating to what you just experienced in the first floor of EO2.
You get the same scenario: rest in a field? Those of us who had completed EO1 and imported our data said, "Fuck no! We know better." So having played the first game, you predictably say "No," because resting in a forest field will probably result in venomfly rape. And guess what? The venomflies show up precisely because you DIDN'T rest. If you were a newbie and didn't import your data on the other hand, choosing not to rest got you off scot-free.
Okay so after having these games caught in my peripheral vision constantly since the first one came out, I finally broke and bought EOIII. I have read a bit about the class system but really I sort of want to go into this game blindly and have fun trying to figure out which character builds are right for me, as the appeal of it for me is literally heading in blindly and rolling around in the mud for a while and dying a lot and drawing some maps. So I simply must ask: if I screw up all of my characters really early on and make them awful, will this be rather easily fixed by skill resets? Or is there some unforseen downside? I can (reluctantly) grind the five levels if I need to.
Armoroad, un-True Ending. I just picked it up again today and got my butt kicked by Kirin. Should I rest my Hoplite/Ninja so I can cast both Antifire and Antivolt every turn?
Also, reading the GameFAQs walkthrough on this, I may have spoiled myself on the identity of the final boss (though I had my suspicions anyway).
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Antifire isn't neccessary. More important is figuring out the mechanics behind Kirin's signature attack. (It's called Retribution for a reason.)
Alternatively,
I rolled Tank/Tank/Monk/Zodiac/Wildling for that particular battle, and had the Zodiac cast Dark Ether every turn while others defended/healed and the Wildling just cast Call Tiger every turn. Kirin is one of few bosses that can be hit with Instant Death, you see.
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IanatorGaze upon my works, ye mightyand facepalm.Registered Userregular
Antifire isn't neccessary. More important is figuring out the mechanics behind Kirin's signature attack. (It's called Retribution for a reason.)
Binds, right? I know it used the fire attack on the first turn for >10 per hit - the numbers got considerably bigger afterward.
I am also fretting whether I should worry about Resting or Retiring at this point. My party-at-large is as follows:
Jeanne, Lv37 Hoplite/Ninja
Guardian 10, Shields 6, Line Guard 6, Antifire 2, Anticold 6, Antivolt 2, Bodyguard 2, Shrug Off 1
Fukubari 1, Kagerou 5, Bunshin 1
HP Up 2
Line Guard both rows! Though I may need to rest into Anti elements...
Jack, Lv37 Gladiator/Arbalist
E.Battle 10, Swords 10, Avenger 1, Break 4, Rush 5, Blade Rave 2, Berserker Vow 2, Wolf Howl 3
Proper Form 5, Extend 2
I'm not really sure what I'm doing with him. Maybe I should use him for Bows or Clubs instead of swords?
Xiao Mu, Lv37 Monk/Ninja
Form Qi 10, Ascetic Reward 1, Blood Return 3, Healing 5, Line Heal 5, Party Heal 1, Refresh 3, Unbind 6, Resurrect 2, Fire Walk 1
Camp Mastery 5, Slap Awake 1
TP Up 1
Pure healer working towards Ascetic Deeds, though she does have great speed and output with a club. Should I bump up Unbind to 7 (and Party-wide with it)?
Catherine, Lv37 Princess/Hoplite
Royal Vel 7, Triumphant Cry 5, Monarch March 4, Reinforce 4, Nobility Proof 2, Attack Order 5, Guard Order 5, Ad Nihilo 1, Prefent Order 3
Spears 3, Switch Stab 1, Shrug Off 4
Perhaps I should switch into Shields for a second tank and antielement?
Reserves, all with Combat Study 10:
Jerrick, lv33 Buccaneer/Shogun
Rapiers 8, Guns 8, Swashbuckling 10, Lady Luck 4
I believe he's working towards the super-awesome combo with another Shogun with Warrior Might?
Saotome, Lv23 Shogun/Buccaneer
Second Sword 1, Endure 3, Bloody Lance 3, Unified Spirit 4, Warrior Might 8
He's *definitely* working towards the killer Chaser.
Hayato, Lv33 Ninja/Gladiator
Keburi no Sue 7, Knives 2, Kagenui 3, Fukubari 3, Kagerou 5, Bunshin 1
Clubs 4, Crushing Blow 2, Arm Breaker 3
I must've forgotten I replaced his Knives with Clubs when I started working toward the Petrify skill. Also, a cookie if you can identify the common source of my Ninja and Shogun's names!
Kipf, Lv33 Wildling/Prince
Beast Soul 3, Wild Mastery 10, Nature Pact 4, Dismiss 1, Bird/Snake/Mole/Insect/Owl 1ea.
Royal Veil 5, Triumphant Cry 2
Thought I could get away with avoiding a single path until I got a ton of Skill Points. Definitely back-row support.
Marissa, Lv33 Zodiac
Fire/Ice/Volt Masteries 5ea., Singularity 5, Fire/Ice/Volt Stars 1ea., Dark Ether 5
Bolts 1
TP Up 1
Elemental attack, with bows to cover for otherwise ineffectual basic attacks (plus ATK-based Barrages, woo!)
Farmer Team, all with Lv10 Combat Mastery and no subclasses yet:
Jack, Lv32 Gladiator/Arbalist
Endless Battle 10
Bolts 7, Prper Form 5, Double Action 1, Heavy Shot 5, Front Mortar 4, Fire/Ice/Volt Barrages 1ea., Armor Piercer 4
Xiao Mu, Lv32 Monk/Farmer
Form Qi 10, Blood Return 1, Healing 4, Line Heal 5, Party Heal 1, Refresh 4, Unbind 7, Resurrect 1
Camp Mastery 5, Slap Awake 1
Catherine, Lv32 Princess
Royal Veil 5, Triumphant Cry 5, Monarch March 3, Reinforce 1, Attack Order 5, Guard Order 5, Ad Nihilo 1, Prevent Order 5
Shields 5, Spears 1, Line Guard 3
Cid, Lv32 Arbalist/Zodiac
Giant Kill 10, Bolts 7, Proper Form 5, Heavy Shot 2, Fire/Ice/Bolt Barrages 1ea., Armor Piercer 2
Singularity 5, Dark Ether 5
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IanatorGaze upon my works, ye mightyand facepalm.Registered Userregular
This thread is lonely now.
So I Rested my main party. Hoplite/Monk for IMMOVABLE OBJECT, Gladiator/Arbalist for MASSIVE DAMAGE, Monk/Farmer for ULTIMATE HEALING, Princess/Hoplite for MAXIMUM DEFENSE and Arbalist/Zodiac for GUESS WHO FORGOT TO PUT POINTS IN SINGULARITY.
Also: Guess who just got assaulted by every single Mother Dragon on the B11F? And won?
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg) Backlog Challenge List
So. Made our way to the lowest level of the shrine today. Surprisingly, there were less of the Deep Ones up and about than I’d have thought. Maybe the Armoroad Corps were holding them off well enough or something.
That’s not to say it was easy or anything like that. First off, reanimated ghost armours coming at us out of nowhere. I’m not sure if they’re mindless or anything, but they’re certainly skilled. One of them managed to get my leg with his sword and it still hurts like a bitch.
Also the sound we made while ‘dismantling’ the lot of them drew some of the other animals over. The giant lizards we’ve faced before, but the weird owl things were something new. Especially since their wings had that weird powder that made all of us sleepy the instant we breathed it in. It was all Geoffrey could do to keep us on our feet as it was.
God damn, there’s not going to be an easy moment in this Labyrinth, is there?
Ended up halting in front of some weird door. Alexis poking around with it didn’t reveal anything we could use to open the thing, so in the end we just shrugged and headed back for the day.
Jules and Alexis kept poking around the corners and darkened places while we were down there, but I’m not sure what exactly it is that they were looking for. Well, it’s not any of my business and if they’re not gonna ask for help I won’t stick my neck out either.
God I want a drink now.
*~*
Atahualpa
The owls that dwell within the lowest reaches have been well adapted to their environment. Their eyes are large to combat the dimness of the depths, and while they are not particularly swift, they are able to dazzle and waylay opponents that come before them. The battles we faced as we progressed through the area have been trying on all of us.
Upon our return to the surface, Prince Jules and Alexis immediately headed off, presumably to discuss what their findings (or more accurately, their lack of such) with others in the Guild. As for myself, I retired to the grove on the outskirts of the town, to meditate and deepen my bond with nature.
The beasts of the air and land are uneasy. Even if they cannot put words to their fear, they can tell that something stirs deep within the depths of the ocean. I wonder. What could it be that inspires such nameless dread amongst those so far removed from the ocean depths?
I wonder. Even amongst my home village we have pur tales of creatures of the deep emerging to wage war on humanity in ages long past. How much influence do these creatures truly hold?
I am afraid I have no answer.
I met Zeetha on my way back towards the inn. She appeared interested in learning more about the owls we had encountered in the bottom of the shrine, and what kind of unique ecology had allowed such creatures to thrive there. I am not sure that I could understand everything she asked me, but I answered to the best of my ability.
*~*
Alexis
Entry Made: 27th of the Month of the Azure Lance, in the Seven Hundred and Fourteenth Year of the Holy Empire
Rocket’s analysis of the Amarantos’ location appears to have proven correct. Someone appears to have brought it deeper into the furthest reaches of the Shrine, although the reasons for doing so are still unclear to us. We were forced to break off our explorations due to the denizens of the Shrine’s lowest level proving more resilient than we had anticipated, but I cannot shake the feeling that we are running out of time.
Armoroad Corps soldiers do not appear to have made it into the bottom level of the Shrine. However, we discovered what appeared to be the corpse of a soldier form the Deep City. The wounds on his body were deep, and given the location we discovered him in, it appears likely he fell in the midst of a pitched battle with no one noticing. The question of why they would descend to the bottom of the Shrine is still an open one.
Speaking with General Yamato, he believes that the Armoroad Corps should have succeeded in clearing and holding the top two levels of the Shrine, but the masses of the Deep Ones on the third level would render attempting to force their way through in large numbers almost impossible. In that case their next option would be to insert small, skilled teams to make their way through the area while attracting minimal attention, much like what our Guild has been doing.
It did not come as much of a surprise that he believes Kujura will be involved in that particular operation.
Upon returning to the inn tonight I found his Majesty sitting before a table, the week’s records spread out before him in a rather messy pile. I was glad that he had gotten conscientious enough to cover the paperwork without my having to remind him (and it’s definitely a step up from when I had to do everything on my own), but at the same time I was worried about the clear exhaustion he displayed.
It may have been presumptuous of me to step in and suggest we go out for a meal together, but he accepted the invitation readily enough, and I believe he looked sufficiently relaxed when we returned.
And of course, after he retired for the night I dug out the records and went through them myself.
*~*
Asmodeus
I’ll need to learn more about this ‘Porcelain Offering’ that keeps getting mentioned in the scrolls. I’m not sure who I should ask, however. Rocket claims no knowledge of such a thing, and neither did Angie when I visited earlier today.
Quite the puzzle. Perhaps a visit to the Shrine will shed more light on the matter.
Horoscope: Two roars sound from the deep.
*~*
Midori
Went lizard-hunting in the 3rd Stratum today alongside Rook and Miko. Sidney and Rossa decided to come along too, for whatever reason.
We targeted some of the Poison Dragons in the lowest level of the caves, and they put up less of a fight than we’d anticipated. Rook got a little antsy when the issue of their poisonous breath was brought up (I think it’s just stuck with him after that brouhaha with the Manticore), but I’d stocked enough Theriacas that it wasn’t an issue in the long run. (And the monster’s breath was so bad anyway I thought that was the poison at first.)
We took a break after hunting down our second Dragon (when Miko cut open its belly for the finishing blow we found a book stuck inside its stomach. Weird.) and we discussed some of the stuff we’d do once this whole adventure was over. I was kinda glad to see Miko talking a bit more with the others about stuff not directly related to fighting, although I’m a little concerned with her saying that she would ‘simply seek out the next battlefield’ after all this. Rossa was going to continue her studies, Rook said he’d head back to the open ocean…
As for myself, I just realized I don’t know much about what I want to do. Back when I was in the Orochi Guild I joined mostly because I needed the cash after running away from home.
Now though… my purse is pretty full, and I haven’t thought about where to go after all this.
Well, it’s still a ways into the future, right? In any case, after we finished our trip down there we headed back and managed to sell of the horns we’d cut for a tidy sum.
*~*
Adrian
Mood: Excited
Yes! Almost done. Just give it another day or so and it’ll be ready.
Pure came out today complaining that his hat got ruined because of some errant spear thrown by one of the Deep Ones. I pointed out that that was better than having his head torn open and he muttered that they would never have gotten into such a fight if Zack had just been more careful.
I guess everything’s progressing about as well as can be expected, huh.
Master came back from his own trip a tad later, and warned me about some of the dangers waiting at the bottom of the Shrine. Just as well I’ve been slotted for the trip tomorrow, I guess.
IanatorGaze upon my works, ye mightyand facepalm.Registered Userregular
Starter party is usually Protector and sword Landsknecht in front with Medic, Alchemist and Survivalist in back. Also, if my experiences with EO3 are anything to go by, yes you are going to swear at it a lot.
A question for you in return: where'd you find it?
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Add a few throwaway Survivalists to your guild. Then give them points in Chop. There is a Chop point easily accessed via a shortcut on BF1. This will be your #1 quick money source in the early game. More money means more/better equipment and items which means less swearing. Step on every tile, check every wall. Don't be a lazy mapper. You can only see FOES on the map on tiles you have walked on. If you die you can save your map, but the tiles you've walked on will no longer count as such when you resume from your last save. They fixed this for EO2 (I think) and 3. Also when you hit a random event and the game asks you to take a risk or no, always say yes. Choosing "no" is for people who hate fun. You don't hate fun, do you?
Today has been a day of disquiet, all things considered.
Given the steady decline of events in the Shrine, we elected to make another large push today, hopefully to find the final chamber (or whatever is the equivalent) within the Shrine.
What we did discover, pretty much completely by accident, was that the Deep City’s soldiers had made camp at the bottom of the Shrine. And that Olympia is apparently currently in possession of the Amarantos Flower, for whatever Goddess-forsaken reason.
I suppose a part of me is grateful she apparently didn’t destroy it, since given how interested the Princess is in it, that it exists at all is good enough. But of course, that will mean Kujura is actively hunting her down for that flower.
I’d ask the Princess why she wants the flower so badly, but she was apparently indisposed during my brief visit to the Senatus. I’m starting to wonder if she’s even in there anymore. Senator Flowdia told me that she was resting in the ‘Porcelain Forest’, although I’m not sure what exactly that is. It’s certainly not any of the forests immediately surrounding Armoroad, at any rate.
More problematic is that fact that she is apparently adamant about not letting us progress any further into the Shrine.
After discussing matters with Alexis, Geoffrey and Sir Yamato, we’ve reluctantly begun making preparations to engage Olympia. If we can recover the flower, I suppose that will be an added bonus, but mainly we want her to stop barring our way. No chance of negotiations, I guess. At least, not after all that’s happened.
Is there another path deeper into the Labyrinth after this Shrine? I don’t know. I still don’t know what we’ll find down there. But we’re in too deep already.
I’ve spent the better part of the evening going through all my gear and making sure I’m as prepared as possible. Tomorrow, we go to battle.
*~*
Alexis
Entry Made: 28th of the Month of the Azure Lance, in the Seven Hundred and Fourteenth Year of the Holy Empire
We encountered Olympia within the depths of the Abyssal Shrine today. There were no overt hostilities on either end, although her suspicion of our actions was clear enough. For our part, I suppose we did not appear particularly trusting of her or her motivations either.
She was flanked by several members of the Deep City’s Army, so I surmised that she had broken away from the main team and was moving through the lower level of the Shrine for some particular reason. That she elected to bring the Amarantos Flower with her (and to keep it in the open where we could catch sight of it) would probably speak to her wishing to lure either the Princess or her subjects (in practice, Kujura) to that area specifically.
To be honest, I’m not sure the encounter would have went the way it did if we hadn’t been fresh out of a pitched battle against several of the Deep Ones who had wondered down there. Their frontline fighters were able to tie us down long enough for one of their casters to rain several waves of icicles on us. We were therefore rather battered by the time we managed to finish them. Olympia’s own soldiers also appeared to be worse for the way, all of which contributed to our impromptu truce as both parties took the time to recuperate and gather ourselves.
I’m not entirely sure how it came to be, but apparently Olympia and I found ourselves next to each other while waiting for our squadmates to recover. After a brief moment of silence, she turned to me and asked me of my relation to his Majesty (who was currently trying and failing to act like he was not in a large amount of pain).
She asked me how deep my loyalty to his Majesty was, and whether or not I would be willing to follow him wherever he went and whether or not I would lay down my own life for his. My answer was honest, I suppose, in accordance to the vows I had made before him and the Goddess all those years ago. I swore allegiance not only to the Holy Empire but to his Majesty personally, and while I would certainly die for me, part of my duties involved dissuading him from any foolish decisions he might be tempted to make.
Of course, such an arrangement would only be possible due to the close personal bond I’ve had with his Majesty from before I’d ever been knighted. Despite our differing goals I saw no reason to keep any of this from Olympia. She took in this information with her usual blank expression before nodding once and saying ‘so that is how it is’ with me and his Majesty.
We’ve succeeded in covering most of the available areas to us in the bottom of the Shrine. Tomorrow, we begin one last push to finish out expedition of the place. I expect Olympia will attempt to halt us. I will have to be prepared.
*~*
Miko
My meditation today was… unsatisfactory.
Perhaps it is because we will be engaged in battle come tomorrow. I have been selected to be amongst those who will venture into the depths of the Shrine of Armoroad. Amongst the Guild it is taken as fact that those from the Deep City will seek to bar the way.
Let them come. It has been long since my blades have had the chance to sing thus.
After dinner my nightly meditations were interrupted by Midori. I sensed she was confused about something, and in all honesty I do not believe that I was the best person to go for such matters. The long and short of it is that those from the Deep City were directly responsible for the deaths of several of those she had called friends. She’d managed to bury her feelings in the matter for a good while, but on the eve of a potential battle against them and the automaton referred to as Olympia, they were coming up again.
I had no advice to offer save for my own experience – that I had seen many comrades fall in the field of battle before, whether by the whim of fate or from a foe specifically hunting one down. Time numbs the soul, if nothing else will. She did not seem very satisfied with that, but that is all I know.
Midori is one I can consider a friend, even if tentatively. If she wishes this Olympia dead, then tomorrow I shall do my best to bring such an outcome to fruition tomorrow.
*~*
Wooster
That Lady Juliana has come to me with a request that I accompany the Maximillian prince to the Shrine tomorrow as a representative of Stagarad. She apparently believes that a major battle will occur tomorrow.
Well, so be it! If any from the Deep City or Armoroad wish to test our mettle, I’ll show them the fortitude of a Knight of Stagarad! I’ve spent most of the day preparing my armour and my anti-flame wards in anticipation of the battle tomorrow, should I need it.
*~*
Tinker
Quiet night, eh, Dwayne? Even though the tension in the Guild’s so thick you could cut it with a knife.
There’s going to be a tussle tomorrow. Or at least that’s what everyone is saying and since I’m going to be heading down there I think I’d be better off taking their word for it.
Spent most of today’s afternoon preparing my explosive charges. I’ve seen the Yggdroid bodies – and if we’re going to be facing Olympia, I’ve got to make sure that what I’ve got packs enough punch to bust through the metal that makes up their bodies.
Been tinkering with a shot that can punch through any defensive barriers the enemy might set up. Now that we might be fighting intelligent things, we’ll need to be prepared for them putting up their own protection and charms, won’t we?
Not going to let the Guild down when the fight comes tomorrow, no sir.
Well, we’re still alive, which I suppose is a point in our favour. Other than that, though, I don’t think any of us five who made it down will be moving for a while.
Today was the day of our push into the Shrine’s innermost chamber. We were right about finding Olympia there. It wasn’t much a surprise that we also found the Abyssal King standing beside her. Apparently they were working on some sort of device found within it. As of my writing this I’m still not sure what it was – Sir Yamato will be entering the Labyrinth tomorrow alongside Rocket to hopefully be able to determine just what it is.
More pressing at the time was Olympia summoning some sort of beast to stand guard and fight us off while they continued doing whatever it is they were doing. After the battle Miko identified it as a Kirin, although why members of the Deep City would have a creature like that hanging around is a mystery to me.
In any case, we were initially caught flatfooted by its initial assault, especially since despite the fact that lightning was crackling around its skin it never actually attacked us with lightning. As a matter of fact its first attack was to breathe a circular ring of fire at us. To be honest, that didn’t have much of an effect, but it put all of us on guard.
The battle was joined after that. The Kirin’s assault was of a singular nature – wide-ranged attacks intended to strike at the entire team at once. It was fortunate both Alexis and Wooster were there – they were able to shield us from the brunt of the beast’s attacks, whereas Miko and Tinker concentrated on bringing it down as quickly as possible.
One thing I noted, though, was that the Kirin’s flame attack seemed the stronger the more it wounded it. When we had finally brought it to its last legs, its final attack before collapsing nearly sent the lot of us to our knees as well. Or, at least it would have it Alexis hadn’t jumped in front of me and taken the brunt of the blow. She managed to gasp out that she was okay, but given she couldn’t stand under her own power by the time we returned to Armoroad, I’m inclined to be doubtful. Geoffrey assured me that her wounds weren’t anything major – certainly not as bad as the time she fought Ketos.
I guess I’ll pay her a visit after I’ve finished dealing with Guild matters for the night.
Expenses, Supplies: 432 en
Expenses, Equipment: 29, 840 en
Expenses, Misc: 31 en
Income, Labyrinth Goods: 32, 448 en
Income, Sea Goods: 5143 en
Income, Misc: 0 en
Total Profits: 2129 en
Total Current Funds: 51, 342 en
*~*
Alexis
Entry Made: 29th of the Month of the Azure Lance, in the Seven Hundredth and Fourteenth Year of the Holy Empire
We managed to locate the deepest chamber of the shrine. Unfortunately Olympia and the Abyssal King had reached that location before us, and we were forced to battle. To be honest, I had anticipated a fight with Olympia directly, but she seemed content with summoning a guardian beast of some sort and leaving us to fight it
Well, we were forced into a retreat even though we managed to slay it, so I suppose her confidence was justified in one aspect.
I also remember Olympia briefly reacting to our entrance and stating that we were not who they had been expecting to arrive.
Geoffrey has gone through my injuries and said that he believes that I’ll be able to return to the frontlines after another day or so of convalescence. I had hoped to accompany his Majesty on tomorrow’s trip to finally secure the Shrine (and whatever device is down there), but I suppose it is imperative that we move quickly.
Jules came to visit me just before he turned in for the night. He told me that he most likely won’t be heading down tomorrow either, and he’s turned over temporary command of securing the Shrine to Sir Yamato instead. I don’t foresee there being much trouble with this, but it is possible they might encounter any lingering traps left behind by Olympia once they decide to depart the place.
Then there’s the matter of the Armoroad Corps. We’ve not seen much sign of Kujura lately within the Shrine, but there remains a high probability of him also discovering that chamber as well.
*~*
Juliana
Oh, goodness! Wooster came back today looking like he’d received a complete thrashing! When I inquired as to his wounds he merely stood upright and declared that any true knight could suffer beatings ten times worse than what he’d received.
Well, I took his word for it (although Zack seemed highly amused for some reason) and I’ve been slotted to go in tomorrow and to handle anything that Wooster couldn’t manage. (Not that I believe there’ll be too much of that, I suppose.) I’ve been asked to defer authority to that Armoroad General, though. Well, I suppose it won’t grate too much for a single mission.
*~*
Pure
Todays’s Profit: 417 en
Man. Everybody’s so tensed up all the time now, rushing about trying to stop that or find this or whatever. My (and Melina’s, I guess) duties are the same as ever – go in, grab stuff, come back out. Went for an ore run today, and my back hurts something awful.
Caught up with Adrian doing some stretching exercises in the town plaza before heading to bed. She’s supposed to head down tomorrow to help secure the Shrine and whatever’s in it, so I just wished her luck and promised to have a pitcher of strawberry juice ready for her when she came back.
She paused, smiled a little weird smile that I’ve never seen her make before, and told me that she’d have something to give me too tomorrow, after she came back. I’m not sure what that was about, so I just nodded and told her I’d be looking forward to it.
*~*
Yamato
If I know that fool Kujura he’ll be making his own move soon. With any luck I’ll get to Shrine’s teleporter in time to prevent a disaster. It’s occurred to me that perhaps I should have told Master Jules and Dame Alexis about what the device is (he appeared to not know what they were for when he reported the events of today’s Labyrinth venture), but looking back on it I doubt this bit of knowledge would have changed their actions all that much, and it’s a National secret anyway. In the event that the worst comes to pass then I shall tell them all I know, but until that point I’ll simply have to try to limit the damage.
It’s been so many years since the Calamity, but things are coming to a head at long last.
*~*
Midori
Miko returned looking really beat up today. I guess I should have expected Olympia and whatever guard she’d set up to be a tough fight for them. She looked pretty happy that she was able to push her to her limits, though, so good for her, I guess.
Based on what she told me, Olympia still seems pretty confident in us not being a huge threat. Damn it, I don’t know what it’ll be like when I finally face her. To be honest, I was wondering if they’d defeat her today and then I’d never get my chance. I don’t know why I felt the slightest bit relieved at that thought.
Well he's speaking parts of Old English or Middle English, I just don't know that one word. It could mean anything!
Aha, I did another search with my less tired mind. Supt is the past tense of sup, which means to have supper (pretty much what one could infer it as in the context). That T really threw off my search.
As expected, the device at the bottom of the Shrine that Alexis and Master Jules told me about was a teleporter that led into the heart of the Porcelain Forest. With our delay, the Deep City has been allowed access into the sanctuary of Princess Gutrune.
Why they would desire this is another matter entirely, but for now, we have to focus on the immediate issues.
Not that Kujura was any more helpful, in any case. Upon our arrival at the antechamber we found him already there, and he demanded we leave immediately. Our refusal to comply resulting in him summoning up Shin and commanding it to slay all of us. I suppose that his going so far as to call upon the guardian spirit shows how dangerous he believes us to be.
In any case, we prepared ourselves to fight off the thing, and after my shouted warning that it would disorient us with its mists and illusions, the Stagarad princess starting up throwing up some sort of barrier to protect us. In retrospect this certainly helped us immensely with fighting off the creature.
Suffice to say the battle was a long and drawn out one, with several casualties amongst our party of five by the time we concluded. More importantly, Kujura had apparently travelled through the teleporter and disabled it while were engaged with fighting Shin. None of us had the necessary knowhow to reactivate the system, so we were forced to pull back.
Upon our return to Armoroad, I was immediately summoned for a meeting with Master Jules and various other senior members of the Guild. The suggestion was quickly put forth that the Yggdroids we hired from the Deep City might have the knowledge needed to activate the teleporter, seeing as they are both ancient technology built from the age before the Calamity.
For the record, none of them seemed particularly happy with the fact that I had known and withheld information about what was waiting at the bottom of the Shrine, but none of them voiced any actual objections.
After the discussion, I submitted myself to Master Geoffrey for a quick check on any sustained injuries from the battle, and then retired to my room.
*~*
Adrian
Mood: Not sure, really. Floaty?
Not sure how to go about writing today’s entry, to be honest. Well, I guess I could start with the chronological order?
When we went in to secure the chamber at the bottom of the Shrine, we ended up meeting the Kujura dude there as well. He seemed to be in a pretty bad mood, which I guess was expected since Olympia had beat him to the punch to… whatever that thing was. I later learnt that it was apparently a teleporter to some ancient Armoroad sanctuary or something. Point is, he didn’t want Olympia to get there, and he wasn’t too happy at us showing our face either.
Long story short, he got some monster from who-knows-where to fight us instead of him while he ran through the machine. I’m usually always up for a good fight, but she (I think it was a she) was something different. Kept spewing weird, thick mist all over the place – made it hard for us to even find her, let alone beat her up. The princess’ protective spells helped against most of the mist’s worst effects, but I was still pretty confused for a huge part of the fight.
Near the end, though, she reached over and grabbed hold of me and… drained me, somehow. Not sure how it worked, but some of her wounds started sealing over while I suddenly felt really tired and almost fell to my knees.
Not how I particularly wanted to end up, but I managed to drive my fist through her gut (her blood was blue. Ick.) and finish her off before collapsing myself. I was later told that Juliana was the one who picked me up like a sack of grain and got us out of the fight. Should thank her for that later.
Anyway, Master gave me a look-over after the fight, and when I explained to him about the dizzying effect the creature had on us, he went on a lecture about how I had to ‘fortify my mental fortitude’.
And then he prescribed me more meditation exercises. I don’t mind meditating per se, but one of the new set involves being upside down for very long periods of time. I don’t really like that.
Anyway, after that I went to find Pure and I saw him in the town plaza discussing something with Melina. Didn’t catch all of it, but apparently he’s not happy with having been assigned more gathering timeslots than her for the next week. Typical.
After she left, I went up to him and gave him the seashell necklace I’d been working on. It was a good thing I managed to get the Red Jasper from Melina the other day – it helped complete the look, and it’s supposed to bring good luck, too.
Anyway, he asked what this was about, and I told him that since he’s always complaining about getting hurt in the Labyrinth, I made him this protective charm with a lot of the seashells that people used to carry with them to ward off danger and misfortune. It was a little late, what with us having gone through sixteen floors already, but it couldn’t hurt, right?
After a moment, he smiled and told me thanks before bringing out that strawberry juice he’d promised me.
To be honest, it’d never tasted so good before.
*~*
Rossa
Big Brother’s been sharing more info with me about those scrolls he’d dug up, partly because he wants my help with them.
It’s complicated, really. Looking through this stuff, he’s managed to draw a fairly coherent narrative of a blessing from heaven that fell a really, really long time ago. I’m not sure what it has to do with the current situation, but Big Brother thinks that comparing our current information with some of the murals found in the Abyssal Shrine would help us with figuring out more about the whole affair.
Of course, he had to come to this conclusion after the Shrine starting flooding with Deep Ones all over the place.
Well, I’ll be heading there soon anyway. Apparently someone at the bar got spooked about a weird room where the Statues come to life and prevent anyone from leaving, and asked others to help him solve it. I’ll help Big Brother take those sketches he wanted, too.
*~*
Alexis
Entry Made: 30th of the Month of the Azure Lance, in the Seven Hundredth and Fourteenth Year of the Holy Empire
Well, apparently we’ve encountered yet another roadblock in our Labyrinth explorations. Kujura had moved to oppose us directly for the first time, although according to reports he did not do any actual fighting but ‘merely’ let loose a beast on us.
His Majesty and the Princess Juliana will be travelling to the Senatus tomorrow in order to ascertain and clarify matters. According to Yamato Olympia and the Deep City’s soldiers will most likely be in the Porcelain Forest by now, although he doubts their progress will be swift. Apparently there are natural barriers in place to protect the sanctuary of Armoroad’s highborn, although he could not elaborate further than that. I suppose this information will have to come out from the talk with Senator Flowdia, if it comes at all.
Well, got roped into trying to figure out how this device at the bottom of the Shrine works. The area appears to be free of any Deep Ones or monsters, so at least I can work in peace.
AL1’s here too, and she’s been pretty helpful, although I can’t really tell what she’s planning and she doesn’t talk enough for me to get a good feel of what she’s doing. Well, she’s working at her own pace, but as long as we can get this thing running in the end there’ll be no complaints either way.
The place is pretty gloomy, but I think I have some images of it stored in my databanks of a time when this place was a lot more brightly lit. And crowded. With lots of people wearing fancy robes and doing funny things with candles.
I’m not sure where that image came from, to be honest. I know all of the military grade Yggdroids get equipped with a standard pack of information to better help them operate in the local environs (although given the trashed Yggdroids we had to walk past to get to this place, that might not be such a big help), but this doesn’t seem like the sort of image that should have made its way in.
It’s a good thing I’m designed to multitask, too –Clay is already complaining about how long we’re taking to set up the teleporter – if I’d had to pause to record this entry as well she’d never let me hear the end of it.
Oh, I think I can do something with this wire.
*~*
Rossa
Well, we solved the mystery of the ghost statue things and we made some progress on the front of deciphering the murals as well.
As it turned out, the statues were guarding some of the murals in a back chamber of the Shrine. (Maybe we should start labelling them on the map, otherwise others might get confused.) They didn’t attack us, but simply blocked our way further in. There was some kind of console there that the others didn’t know what to do with, but I’d been helping Angie enough with her work to tell a mechanism of the Deep City’s design. I fiddled around with it a bit and finally managed to deactivate the statues. Score one for the child prodigy!
So that was the client’s request handled, and then I could get down the studying the murals properly. Most of them depicted the Deep Ones, of course, which, when you get down to it, is odd, because the first recorded instances we have of their appearance, even amongst the Deep City’s records, are only from a hundred years ago – far later than the date the Shrine was built. I suppose it’s possible the Deep Ones initially spawned from a time beyond living memory, but that’s just a theory right now.
I also had a single image of something coming down from the skies – it could be the Porcelain Offering that Big Brother spoke off, but somehow it looks wrong. All our known cultures have traditionally associated blessings of the heavens with like – this looks a lot more dark and ominous.
And tentacley, that too.
Based on this, I’m going to need to do more research into the murals. They appear to continue further down – right where all the Deep Ones are gathering, of course. Well, I’ll know to limit my search to the important-looking chambers, at least. The rest of the walls just seem to hold random designs.
*~*
Sidney
With the latest news about the Abyssal King venturing into the Porcelain Woods, it’s pretty clear now that he’s targeting Princess Gutrune directly, and that he also knows she also retreats there frequently to rest.
Damn it, this wasn’t supposed to happen!
I had to explain to Adrian that the Porcelain Woods is a sanctuary used only by the royalty of Armoroad, and those they have granted special favour to. I’ve never been in there, of course, but the very air you breathe in there is supposed to have healing properties.
Jules and some of the others have gone to talk to the Senatus about what to do now. I guess the best case scenario is that we get access to the place as well and we can go put a stop to the Abyssal King’s plans before he finds the Princess.
Why would the Abyssal King hunt down the Princess, anyway? What is he really after?
*~*
Jules
For the first time tonight, I thought Senator Flowdia actually looked her age. When we entered her room, she informed us that the Deep City’s Corps had barricaded the main entrance to the Porcelain Forest, and that the Armoroad Guards was unable to advance in order to find and protect the Princess. Save for Kujura and any other troops that made it through the teleporter, the Princess is defenceless right now.
We had to ask the all-important question of why the Abyssal King would be targeting the Princess in the first place, and hunting her down with such fervour. Flowdia merely shook her head and said that us knowing would not help in any way. I have to admit that at this point I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do. A king and princess of two sovereign entities are locked in what appears to be open combat, and I’m not sure if we should even interfere or not.
It was at that point that Alexis spoke up and asked that if we could find our own way into the Porcelain Forest, would Armoroad still continue to bar us? Flowdia gave a tired, sort of strained laugh and told us that unless we had a seal of Armoroad’s Royal Family, we would not be able to advance within the Porcelain Forest anyway.
I suppose that means that the Abyssal King must still have his Seal from when he was King of Armoroad with him.
Well, we didn’t make much progress on that front, in the end. As we left, I honestly contemplated if we should wash our hands of the whole affair. The Yggdrasil Labyrinth itself has been explored – the Porcelain Forest is its own entity, and technically I can return home and claim I’ve fulfilled my vow (well, except the ‘bring back trophies from monsters that don’t actually exist’ bit).
But now that I’ve come this far, I want to see it through to the end – somehow. I don’t know how, though. None of the people in a position to help us through want to have anything more to do with us.
SS FC: 1334 0950 5927
Platinum FC: 2880 3245 5111
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Thread bump? WHAT IS THIS.
So confession time, I never beat the game yet. I got stuck at the boss of the fourth stratum and put off leveling for so long that I just never got to it.
A couple weeks ago I started a new file, with the benefit of all my knowledge of the game now, and I've smoked everything up to the fourth stratum boss. I gained a couple levels, then I realized all I needed to do was buy some Amrita so my Gladiator could use Nine-Smashes over and over again. And yeah, now I'm on the fifth stratum for the first time ever and I'm stoked to hear the song that I've longed to hear in-game.
Only I'm gonna post the super arrange. Because yay.
entering rooms where you can't see what's happening on the map is playing on my psyche more than it probably should, this is fucking frightening.
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Okay, the game is very openly mocking me now.
I was running around the fifth stratum,
encountering enemies from the previous two games. Tree rats late in the game? Fuck yeah, this is neato! But they're fun to fight and not totally dicking me over in strength. Petaloids? If they put me to sleep sure it'll hurt but whatever.
Then I remember I have a moon key now. I should explore those locked doors I came across! First floor I go to the moon door to grab a couple chests. I run into a battle, but it's the lemur things and blue shrimp. Pfft, whatever. Onward to the fourth floor.
I enter the door, look around some, and there's FOE's. Oh, this is probably on par with the fifth stratum. But I don't want to try and take on any of those so I'll avoid them when it's time. Oh, random battle. Hey, it's the venomflies from the previous two games! Probably a little stronger since they're showing up now, just like the tree rats, but whatever. Oh how cute, they're poisoning my front line.
360 damage all around. My front line falls down on its collective face.
... RUN FUCKING RUN GODDAMN IT.
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
edited October 2011
I made it to the final boss (story-wise) and got spanked. Level 59, probably going to grind out the level to 60 and retire me some stronger team. Thinking of making it:
Yep yep 4 man party. Yggs were 52 Zodiac 58, Ninja 59.
Everyone had weapons that were forged with fire, except ninja who had to enchant his own (since it was unforgable), and created 2 level 10 Red bots to follow up on every attack.
I had to rest my 2 yggs before final boss and respect them so we had level 10 anti cold/fire/volt and be ready for 2/3 of the possible elemental attacks when they were thrown at me. It worked out just fine though .
Party was fun to make, but man, it's a bit meh to play.
First turn: Red bot, Red Bot, Dark Ether, Appropriate buff based on enemy (prevent order, guard order or attack order or enchant own weapon if anyone didn't have a fire weap)
Second turn: ATtack, attack, Fire star/Binary Fire/Attack, Buff or attack.
Repeat till enemy dead.
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Really liked it when I finished. Part of my problem was a party that while more than adequate for the encounters in the regular game and most boss battles couldn't handle the repeated brutality of the early encounters mixed in with the devilish floor design.
You can probably guess my strategy for each and every regular encounter in the sixth stratum.
Step 2: Dismiss Elephant
I guess there's some autoattacking or a little elemental damage in the middle there? Seriously, confusion is a total lock-down.
E: I have decided to solo-level a Ninja to at least 70, only buying what items I could buy at the deepest floor he's been to. At 31 currently, and comfortably fighting on floor B7, but some of those walrus guys can potentially one-shot off a bad blindside, and the encounters are still much too hard on B8.
Step 2: Hold down 'A'
Platinum FC: 2880 3245 5111
EDIT: Also, my Antivolt was only Lv1. That explains why it doesn't do much.
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If the former, get your Antivolt levels up in time for the final battle.
Platinum FC: 2880 3245 5111
Note: Due to the revamped forums not having a way to link individual posts (yet?), all the travelogue links in the OP are dead. Either we can wait for this issue to be fixed or you could go find this same story on FF.Net.
That aside, I'm back. Sorry for the wait.
Entry Ninety Five
*~*
Rocket came to me early this morning (just a little too early for me to get a good breakfast, as it turned out) talking something about tracking down that flower that Kujura wanted us to find before. Apparently he’s gotten his hands on a way to track down the flower.
To be honest, I don’t think even Kujura would care about one flower at this point. The forces of Armoroad Corps are crawling all over the Labyrinth now. I guess I should just be glad that they haven’t run into many Deep City men, so there haven’t been anything more serious than brief skirmishes with minimal casualties. Small mercies. There’s no way to prevent the whole thing from blowing up even worse, though, or at least not a way I can see.
In any case, I didn’t venture into the Labyrinth today, but Adrian brought a group down for some training, and according to her there are even more Deep Ones flooding the Shrine now. After hearing this news Alexis went back to her maps and is now trying to plan the shortest route possible to the bottom floor of the Shrine.
That should be where all the answers we’re looking for are.
I think.
I hope.
*~*
Alexis
Entry Made: 26th of the Month of the Azure Lance, in the Seven Hundred and Fourteenth year of the Holy Empire
With the increased activity of the Armoroad Corps, I‘ve heard rumours that the plan to shut down access to the Labyrinth – at least for the majority of the Guilds. I’m not too keen on discovering if we’d fall under that category should this come to pass, but I’ll need that information to plan out what we’re going to do in the coming days.
In the short run, we’ve spent today gearing up for a big push tomorrow. The bottom floor of the Shrine is supposed to hold a large number of sacred treasures. It’s possible that reaching the bottom of the Abyssal Shrine will mark the end of our journey… but I doubt it. There’s something we’re missing here, and I cannot shake the feeling that this something is of extreme significance.
I visited Napier’s Firm in the early afternoon, mostly to check if the proprietor had managed to create any new equipment that I could use. It may have just been my imagination, but she appeared more distracted than I’d come to expect of her – especially when transfer of money is involved. She didn’t appear to wish to discuss matters with me, so I left after purchasing a new set of armour. It’s a little lighter than my current garb without sacrificing any defence, so it should serve me well.
Return to my room brought with it the unfortunate discovery that Scraps has started shedding. I really must remember to thank his Majesty for such a thoughtful gift.
*~*
Sidney
Whew. Busy day today. Spent the morning and early afternoon in the Shrine, and we ended up getting swamped with Deep Ones. I nearly ended up with a spear in the gut at one point, and if it hadn’t been for Master Geoffrey I don’t we’d have all been able to walk out of there under our own volition. As it is I wanted to bury my head in a pillow and sleep the night away once I got out of there.
No such luck, of course. I got called for a tea party that mom and dad were hosting. It wasn’t much worth talking about – I mostly sat there and listened to various merchant types complain that the mobilization of the Armoroad Corps would lead to severe declines in trade and all that sort of thing. Of course a few of them brought kids along and naturally they were all over me asking what exploring the Labyrinth was like. I’m not going to say I particularly mind entertaining the children but some of them (I’m not going to name names) can be right monsters.
Finally stumbled out of there and started heading back to Guild HQ well after sundown. Adrian and Pure were waiting for me at the entrance. We didn’t say anything – just headed down to the Drowned Crocodile and ordered half the meat dishes they had on the menu.
It’s good to have friends.
*~*
Clay
Jared and Relena made port early this morning, apparently with the remains of some dragon monster they’d fought in the northern islands. Jared wasted no time boasting about how they’d fought off some ancient dragon and resealed it in a temple or something like that. I don’t mind saying I’m a little jealous – I’ve spent the past few days here doing fuck all.
At least I’m getting some action tomorrow – I’m gonna be going in with Alexis and Jules to bust our way through to the bottom of the Shrine. I heard from Atahualpa today that the Deep Ones really have a fire lit under their arses, so we’re definitely going to have a grand old time of it when we head down.
Man, things sure have changed. When I first ended up in this Guild, it was mostly for the sake of surrounding myself with a bunch of tough warriors who’d look out for me and keep that guy’s thugs from finding me. Now, though… I’m invested as any of ‘em when it comes to seeing this whole thing through.
When did that happen, anyway?
*~*
Geoffrey
Thought for the Day: Rest for the body, rest for the soul.
The thought of endless conflict coming up is starting to wear on several of the Guild Members.
This burgeoning war between the Deep City and Armoroad will serve no one’s interests in the end.
They must be able to see this. Yet they make preparations to collide with each other with all speed.
We might need some way to help keep morale up. Yet time is of the essence in such a critical juncture.
It is not often that I confess my uncertainty, but now is such a time.
Platinum FC: 2880 3245 5111
Popped it in, rolled a party, and died 3 times on the first floor alone! To be fair, two of those were event battles I really should have seen coming. I also got chased into a dead end and murdered by a FOE in two separate spots later on. EO3 did not screw around at any point, yet apparently it was still downright nurturing by series standards.
I also finally see that butterfly and deer in the OP in the proper light.
Let's Plays of Japanese Games
Platinum FC: 2880 3245 5111
Let's Plays of Japanese Games
Also, reading the GameFAQs walkthrough on this, I may have spoiled myself on the identity of the final boss (though I had my suspicions anyway).
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Alternatively,
Platinum FC: 2880 3245 5111
Binds, right? I know it used the fire attack on the first turn for >10 per hit - the numbers got considerably bigger afterward.
I am also fretting whether I should worry about Resting or Retiring at this point. My party-at-large is as follows:
Guardian 10, Shields 6, Line Guard 6, Antifire 2, Anticold 6, Antivolt 2, Bodyguard 2, Shrug Off 1
Fukubari 1, Kagerou 5, Bunshin 1
HP Up 2
Line Guard both rows! Though I may need to rest into Anti elements...
Jack, Lv37 Gladiator/Arbalist
E.Battle 10, Swords 10, Avenger 1, Break 4, Rush 5, Blade Rave 2, Berserker Vow 2, Wolf Howl 3
Proper Form 5, Extend 2
I'm not really sure what I'm doing with him. Maybe I should use him for Bows or Clubs instead of swords?
Xiao Mu, Lv37 Monk/Ninja
Form Qi 10, Ascetic Reward 1, Blood Return 3, Healing 5, Line Heal 5, Party Heal 1, Refresh 3, Unbind 6, Resurrect 2, Fire Walk 1
Camp Mastery 5, Slap Awake 1
TP Up 1
Pure healer working towards Ascetic Deeds, though she does have great speed and output with a club. Should I bump up Unbind to 7 (and Party-wide with it)?
Catherine, Lv37 Princess/Hoplite
Royal Vel 7, Triumphant Cry 5, Monarch March 4, Reinforce 4, Nobility Proof 2, Attack Order 5, Guard Order 5, Ad Nihilo 1, Prefent Order 3
Spears 3, Switch Stab 1, Shrug Off 4
Perhaps I should switch into Shields for a second tank and antielement?
Reserves, all with Combat Study 10:
Jerrick, lv33 Buccaneer/Shogun
Rapiers 8, Guns 8, Swashbuckling 10, Lady Luck 4
I believe he's working towards the super-awesome combo with another Shogun with Warrior Might?
Saotome, Lv23 Shogun/Buccaneer
Second Sword 1, Endure 3, Bloody Lance 3, Unified Spirit 4, Warrior Might 8
He's *definitely* working towards the killer Chaser.
Hayato, Lv33 Ninja/Gladiator
Keburi no Sue 7, Knives 2, Kagenui 3, Fukubari 3, Kagerou 5, Bunshin 1
Clubs 4, Crushing Blow 2, Arm Breaker 3
I must've forgotten I replaced his Knives with Clubs when I started working toward the Petrify skill. Also, a cookie if you can identify the common source of my Ninja and Shogun's names!
Kipf, Lv33 Wildling/Prince
Beast Soul 3, Wild Mastery 10, Nature Pact 4, Dismiss 1, Bird/Snake/Mole/Insect/Owl 1ea.
Royal Veil 5, Triumphant Cry 2
Thought I could get away with avoiding a single path until I got a ton of Skill Points. Definitely back-row support.
Marissa, Lv33 Zodiac
Fire/Ice/Volt Masteries 5ea., Singularity 5, Fire/Ice/Volt Stars 1ea., Dark Ether 5
Bolts 1
TP Up 1
Elemental attack, with bows to cover for otherwise ineffectual basic attacks (plus ATK-based Barrages, woo!)
Farmer Team, all with Lv10 Combat Mastery and no subclasses yet:
Alice, Lv30 Farmer
Keen Nose 7, Harvestry 5, Keen Eye 5, Safe Stroll 5
Aleph, Lv30 Farmer
Harvestry 5, Keen Eye 5, To Market 1, Rain or Shine 6, Safe Stroll 5
Bette, Lv30 Farmer
Keen Nose 7, Harvestry 5, Keen Eye 5, Safe Stroll 5
Gimmel, Lv30 Farmer
Keen Nose 7, Harvestry 5, Keen Eye 5, Safe Stroll 5
Sheene, Lv30 Farmer
Keen Nose 10, Harvestry 5, Keen Eye 5, Safe Stroll 2
Phew.
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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Just stop attacking when it happens and you'll be fine.
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
Backlog Challenge List
Guardian 10, Shields 5, Line Guard 4, Antifire/Anticold/Antivolt 5ea., Bodyguard 1, Shrug Off 1
Kagerou 3, Bunshin 1
Jack, Lv32 Gladiator/Arbalist
Endless Battle 10
Bolts 7, Prper Form 5, Double Action 1, Heavy Shot 5, Front Mortar 4, Fire/Ice/Volt Barrages 1ea., Armor Piercer 4
Xiao Mu, Lv32 Monk/Farmer
Form Qi 10, Blood Return 1, Healing 4, Line Heal 5, Party Heal 1, Refresh 4, Unbind 7, Resurrect 1
Camp Mastery 5, Slap Awake 1
Catherine, Lv32 Princess
Royal Veil 5, Triumphant Cry 5, Monarch March 3, Reinforce 1, Attack Order 5, Guard Order 5, Ad Nihilo 1, Prevent Order 5
Shields 5, Spears 1, Line Guard 3
Cid, Lv32 Arbalist/Zodiac
Giant Kill 10, Bolts 7, Proper Form 5, Heavy Shot 2, Fire/Ice/Bolt Barrages 1ea., Armor Piercer 2
Singularity 5, Dark Ether 5
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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So I Rested my main party. Hoplite/Monk for IMMOVABLE OBJECT, Gladiator/Arbalist for MASSIVE DAMAGE, Monk/Farmer for ULTIMATE HEALING, Princess/Hoplite for MAXIMUM DEFENSE and Arbalist/Zodiac for GUESS WHO FORGOT TO PUT POINTS IN SINGULARITY.
Also: Guess who just got assaulted by every single Mother Dragon on the B11F? And won?
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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Entry Ninety Six
*~*
So. Made our way to the lowest level of the shrine today. Surprisingly, there were less of the Deep Ones up and about than I’d have thought. Maybe the Armoroad Corps were holding them off well enough or something.
That’s not to say it was easy or anything like that. First off, reanimated ghost armours coming at us out of nowhere. I’m not sure if they’re mindless or anything, but they’re certainly skilled. One of them managed to get my leg with his sword and it still hurts like a bitch.
Also the sound we made while ‘dismantling’ the lot of them drew some of the other animals over. The giant lizards we’ve faced before, but the weird owl things were something new. Especially since their wings had that weird powder that made all of us sleepy the instant we breathed it in. It was all Geoffrey could do to keep us on our feet as it was.
God damn, there’s not going to be an easy moment in this Labyrinth, is there?
Ended up halting in front of some weird door. Alexis poking around with it didn’t reveal anything we could use to open the thing, so in the end we just shrugged and headed back for the day.
Jules and Alexis kept poking around the corners and darkened places while we were down there, but I’m not sure what exactly it is that they were looking for. Well, it’s not any of my business and if they’re not gonna ask for help I won’t stick my neck out either.
God I want a drink now.
*~*
Atahualpa
The owls that dwell within the lowest reaches have been well adapted to their environment. Their eyes are large to combat the dimness of the depths, and while they are not particularly swift, they are able to dazzle and waylay opponents that come before them. The battles we faced as we progressed through the area have been trying on all of us.
Upon our return to the surface, Prince Jules and Alexis immediately headed off, presumably to discuss what their findings (or more accurately, their lack of such) with others in the Guild. As for myself, I retired to the grove on the outskirts of the town, to meditate and deepen my bond with nature.
The beasts of the air and land are uneasy. Even if they cannot put words to their fear, they can tell that something stirs deep within the depths of the ocean. I wonder. What could it be that inspires such nameless dread amongst those so far removed from the ocean depths?
I wonder. Even amongst my home village we have pur tales of creatures of the deep emerging to wage war on humanity in ages long past. How much influence do these creatures truly hold?
I am afraid I have no answer.
I met Zeetha on my way back towards the inn. She appeared interested in learning more about the owls we had encountered in the bottom of the shrine, and what kind of unique ecology had allowed such creatures to thrive there. I am not sure that I could understand everything she asked me, but I answered to the best of my ability.
*~*
Alexis
Entry Made: 27th of the Month of the Azure Lance, in the Seven Hundred and Fourteenth Year of the Holy Empire
Rocket’s analysis of the Amarantos’ location appears to have proven correct. Someone appears to have brought it deeper into the furthest reaches of the Shrine, although the reasons for doing so are still unclear to us. We were forced to break off our explorations due to the denizens of the Shrine’s lowest level proving more resilient than we had anticipated, but I cannot shake the feeling that we are running out of time.
Armoroad Corps soldiers do not appear to have made it into the bottom level of the Shrine. However, we discovered what appeared to be the corpse of a soldier form the Deep City. The wounds on his body were deep, and given the location we discovered him in, it appears likely he fell in the midst of a pitched battle with no one noticing. The question of why they would descend to the bottom of the Shrine is still an open one.
Speaking with General Yamato, he believes that the Armoroad Corps should have succeeded in clearing and holding the top two levels of the Shrine, but the masses of the Deep Ones on the third level would render attempting to force their way through in large numbers almost impossible. In that case their next option would be to insert small, skilled teams to make their way through the area while attracting minimal attention, much like what our Guild has been doing.
It did not come as much of a surprise that he believes Kujura will be involved in that particular operation.
Upon returning to the inn tonight I found his Majesty sitting before a table, the week’s records spread out before him in a rather messy pile. I was glad that he had gotten conscientious enough to cover the paperwork without my having to remind him (and it’s definitely a step up from when I had to do everything on my own), but at the same time I was worried about the clear exhaustion he displayed.
It may have been presumptuous of me to step in and suggest we go out for a meal together, but he accepted the invitation readily enough, and I believe he looked sufficiently relaxed when we returned.
And of course, after he retired for the night I dug out the records and went through them myself.
*~*
Asmodeus
I’ll need to learn more about this ‘Porcelain Offering’ that keeps getting mentioned in the scrolls. I’m not sure who I should ask, however. Rocket claims no knowledge of such a thing, and neither did Angie when I visited earlier today.
Quite the puzzle. Perhaps a visit to the Shrine will shed more light on the matter.
Horoscope: Two roars sound from the deep.
*~*
Midori
Went lizard-hunting in the 3rd Stratum today alongside Rook and Miko. Sidney and Rossa decided to come along too, for whatever reason.
We targeted some of the Poison Dragons in the lowest level of the caves, and they put up less of a fight than we’d anticipated. Rook got a little antsy when the issue of their poisonous breath was brought up (I think it’s just stuck with him after that brouhaha with the Manticore), but I’d stocked enough Theriacas that it wasn’t an issue in the long run. (And the monster’s breath was so bad anyway I thought that was the poison at first.)
We took a break after hunting down our second Dragon (when Miko cut open its belly for the finishing blow we found a book stuck inside its stomach. Weird.) and we discussed some of the stuff we’d do once this whole adventure was over. I was kinda glad to see Miko talking a bit more with the others about stuff not directly related to fighting, although I’m a little concerned with her saying that she would ‘simply seek out the next battlefield’ after all this. Rossa was going to continue her studies, Rook said he’d head back to the open ocean…
As for myself, I just realized I don’t know much about what I want to do. Back when I was in the Orochi Guild I joined mostly because I needed the cash after running away from home.
Now though… my purse is pretty full, and I haven’t thought about where to go after all this.
Well, it’s still a ways into the future, right? In any case, after we finished our trip down there we headed back and managed to sell of the horns we’d cut for a tidy sum.
*~*
Adrian
Mood: Excited
Yes! Almost done. Just give it another day or so and it’ll be ready.
Pure came out today complaining that his hat got ruined because of some errant spear thrown by one of the Deep Ones. I pointed out that that was better than having his head torn open and he muttered that they would never have gotten into such a fight if Zack had just been more careful.
I guess everything’s progressing about as well as can be expected, huh.
Master came back from his own trip a tad later, and warned me about some of the dangers waiting at the bottom of the Shrine. Just as well I’ve been slotted for the trip tomorrow, I guess.
Platinum FC: 2880 3245 5111
EDIT: Also, any suggestions on what jobs to use?
A question for you in return: where'd you find it?
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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Entry Ninety Seven
*~*
Today has been a day of disquiet, all things considered.
Given the steady decline of events in the Shrine, we elected to make another large push today, hopefully to find the final chamber (or whatever is the equivalent) within the Shrine.
What we did discover, pretty much completely by accident, was that the Deep City’s soldiers had made camp at the bottom of the Shrine. And that Olympia is apparently currently in possession of the Amarantos Flower, for whatever Goddess-forsaken reason.
I suppose a part of me is grateful she apparently didn’t destroy it, since given how interested the Princess is in it, that it exists at all is good enough. But of course, that will mean Kujura is actively hunting her down for that flower.
I’d ask the Princess why she wants the flower so badly, but she was apparently indisposed during my brief visit to the Senatus. I’m starting to wonder if she’s even in there anymore. Senator Flowdia told me that she was resting in the ‘Porcelain Forest’, although I’m not sure what exactly that is. It’s certainly not any of the forests immediately surrounding Armoroad, at any rate.
More problematic is that fact that she is apparently adamant about not letting us progress any further into the Shrine.
After discussing matters with Alexis, Geoffrey and Sir Yamato, we’ve reluctantly begun making preparations to engage Olympia. If we can recover the flower, I suppose that will be an added bonus, but mainly we want her to stop barring our way. No chance of negotiations, I guess. At least, not after all that’s happened.
Is there another path deeper into the Labyrinth after this Shrine? I don’t know. I still don’t know what we’ll find down there. But we’re in too deep already.
I’ve spent the better part of the evening going through all my gear and making sure I’m as prepared as possible. Tomorrow, we go to battle.
*~*
Alexis
Entry Made: 28th of the Month of the Azure Lance, in the Seven Hundred and Fourteenth Year of the Holy Empire
We encountered Olympia within the depths of the Abyssal Shrine today. There were no overt hostilities on either end, although her suspicion of our actions was clear enough. For our part, I suppose we did not appear particularly trusting of her or her motivations either.
She was flanked by several members of the Deep City’s Army, so I surmised that she had broken away from the main team and was moving through the lower level of the Shrine for some particular reason. That she elected to bring the Amarantos Flower with her (and to keep it in the open where we could catch sight of it) would probably speak to her wishing to lure either the Princess or her subjects (in practice, Kujura) to that area specifically.
To be honest, I’m not sure the encounter would have went the way it did if we hadn’t been fresh out of a pitched battle against several of the Deep Ones who had wondered down there. Their frontline fighters were able to tie us down long enough for one of their casters to rain several waves of icicles on us. We were therefore rather battered by the time we managed to finish them. Olympia’s own soldiers also appeared to be worse for the way, all of which contributed to our impromptu truce as both parties took the time to recuperate and gather ourselves.
I’m not entirely sure how it came to be, but apparently Olympia and I found ourselves next to each other while waiting for our squadmates to recover. After a brief moment of silence, she turned to me and asked me of my relation to his Majesty (who was currently trying and failing to act like he was not in a large amount of pain).
She asked me how deep my loyalty to his Majesty was, and whether or not I would be willing to follow him wherever he went and whether or not I would lay down my own life for his. My answer was honest, I suppose, in accordance to the vows I had made before him and the Goddess all those years ago. I swore allegiance not only to the Holy Empire but to his Majesty personally, and while I would certainly die for me, part of my duties involved dissuading him from any foolish decisions he might be tempted to make.
Of course, such an arrangement would only be possible due to the close personal bond I’ve had with his Majesty from before I’d ever been knighted. Despite our differing goals I saw no reason to keep any of this from Olympia. She took in this information with her usual blank expression before nodding once and saying ‘so that is how it is’ with me and his Majesty.
We’ve succeeded in covering most of the available areas to us in the bottom of the Shrine. Tomorrow, we begin one last push to finish out expedition of the place. I expect Olympia will attempt to halt us. I will have to be prepared.
*~*
Miko
My meditation today was… unsatisfactory.
Perhaps it is because we will be engaged in battle come tomorrow. I have been selected to be amongst those who will venture into the depths of the Shrine of Armoroad. Amongst the Guild it is taken as fact that those from the Deep City will seek to bar the way.
Let them come. It has been long since my blades have had the chance to sing thus.
After dinner my nightly meditations were interrupted by Midori. I sensed she was confused about something, and in all honesty I do not believe that I was the best person to go for such matters. The long and short of it is that those from the Deep City were directly responsible for the deaths of several of those she had called friends. She’d managed to bury her feelings in the matter for a good while, but on the eve of a potential battle against them and the automaton referred to as Olympia, they were coming up again.
I had no advice to offer save for my own experience – that I had seen many comrades fall in the field of battle before, whether by the whim of fate or from a foe specifically hunting one down. Time numbs the soul, if nothing else will. She did not seem very satisfied with that, but that is all I know.
Midori is one I can consider a friend, even if tentatively. If she wishes this Olympia dead, then tomorrow I shall do my best to bring such an outcome to fruition tomorrow.
*~*
Wooster
That Lady Juliana has come to me with a request that I accompany the Maximillian prince to the Shrine tomorrow as a representative of Stagarad. She apparently believes that a major battle will occur tomorrow.
Well, so be it! If any from the Deep City or Armoroad wish to test our mettle, I’ll show them the fortitude of a Knight of Stagarad! I’ve spent most of the day preparing my armour and my anti-flame wards in anticipation of the battle tomorrow, should I need it.
*~*
Tinker
Quiet night, eh, Dwayne? Even though the tension in the Guild’s so thick you could cut it with a knife.
There’s going to be a tussle tomorrow. Or at least that’s what everyone is saying and since I’m going to be heading down there I think I’d be better off taking their word for it.
Spent most of today’s afternoon preparing my explosive charges. I’ve seen the Yggdroid bodies – and if we’re going to be facing Olympia, I’ve got to make sure that what I’ve got packs enough punch to bust through the metal that makes up their bodies.
Been tinkering with a shot that can punch through any defensive barriers the enemy might set up. Now that we might be fighting intelligent things, we’ll need to be prepared for them putting up their own protection and charms, won’t we?
Not going to let the Guild down when the fight comes tomorrow, no sir.
Platinum FC: 2880 3245 5111
Entry Ninety Eight
*~*
Well, we’re still alive, which I suppose is a point in our favour. Other than that, though, I don’t think any of us five who made it down will be moving for a while.
Today was the day of our push into the Shrine’s innermost chamber. We were right about finding Olympia there. It wasn’t much a surprise that we also found the Abyssal King standing beside her. Apparently they were working on some sort of device found within it. As of my writing this I’m still not sure what it was – Sir Yamato will be entering the Labyrinth tomorrow alongside Rocket to hopefully be able to determine just what it is.
More pressing at the time was Olympia summoning some sort of beast to stand guard and fight us off while they continued doing whatever it is they were doing. After the battle Miko identified it as a Kirin, although why members of the Deep City would have a creature like that hanging around is a mystery to me.
In any case, we were initially caught flatfooted by its initial assault, especially since despite the fact that lightning was crackling around its skin it never actually attacked us with lightning. As a matter of fact its first attack was to breathe a circular ring of fire at us. To be honest, that didn’t have much of an effect, but it put all of us on guard.
The battle was joined after that. The Kirin’s assault was of a singular nature – wide-ranged attacks intended to strike at the entire team at once. It was fortunate both Alexis and Wooster were there – they were able to shield us from the brunt of the beast’s attacks, whereas Miko and Tinker concentrated on bringing it down as quickly as possible.
One thing I noted, though, was that the Kirin’s flame attack seemed the stronger the more it wounded it. When we had finally brought it to its last legs, its final attack before collapsing nearly sent the lot of us to our knees as well. Or, at least it would have it Alexis hadn’t jumped in front of me and taken the brunt of the blow. She managed to gasp out that she was okay, but given she couldn’t stand under her own power by the time we returned to Armoroad, I’m inclined to be doubtful. Geoffrey assured me that her wounds weren’t anything major – certainly not as bad as the time she fought Ketos.
I guess I’ll pay her a visit after I’ve finished dealing with Guild matters for the night.
Expenses, Supplies: 432 en
Expenses, Equipment: 29, 840 en
Expenses, Misc: 31 en
Income, Labyrinth Goods: 32, 448 en
Income, Sea Goods: 5143 en
Income, Misc: 0 en
Total Profits: 2129 en
Total Current Funds: 51, 342 en
*~*
Alexis
Entry Made: 29th of the Month of the Azure Lance, in the Seven Hundredth and Fourteenth Year of the Holy Empire
We managed to locate the deepest chamber of the shrine. Unfortunately Olympia and the Abyssal King had reached that location before us, and we were forced to battle. To be honest, I had anticipated a fight with Olympia directly, but she seemed content with summoning a guardian beast of some sort and leaving us to fight it
Well, we were forced into a retreat even though we managed to slay it, so I suppose her confidence was justified in one aspect.
I also remember Olympia briefly reacting to our entrance and stating that we were not who they had been expecting to arrive.
Geoffrey has gone through my injuries and said that he believes that I’ll be able to return to the frontlines after another day or so of convalescence. I had hoped to accompany his Majesty on tomorrow’s trip to finally secure the Shrine (and whatever device is down there), but I suppose it is imperative that we move quickly.
Jules came to visit me just before he turned in for the night. He told me that he most likely won’t be heading down tomorrow either, and he’s turned over temporary command of securing the Shrine to Sir Yamato instead. I don’t foresee there being much trouble with this, but it is possible they might encounter any lingering traps left behind by Olympia once they decide to depart the place.
Then there’s the matter of the Armoroad Corps. We’ve not seen much sign of Kujura lately within the Shrine, but there remains a high probability of him also discovering that chamber as well.
*~*
Juliana
Oh, goodness! Wooster came back today looking like he’d received a complete thrashing! When I inquired as to his wounds he merely stood upright and declared that any true knight could suffer beatings ten times worse than what he’d received.
Well, I took his word for it (although Zack seemed highly amused for some reason) and I’ve been slotted to go in tomorrow and to handle anything that Wooster couldn’t manage. (Not that I believe there’ll be too much of that, I suppose.) I’ve been asked to defer authority to that Armoroad General, though. Well, I suppose it won’t grate too much for a single mission.
*~*
Pure
Todays’s Profit: 417 en
Man. Everybody’s so tensed up all the time now, rushing about trying to stop that or find this or whatever. My (and Melina’s, I guess) duties are the same as ever – go in, grab stuff, come back out. Went for an ore run today, and my back hurts something awful.
Caught up with Adrian doing some stretching exercises in the town plaza before heading to bed. She’s supposed to head down tomorrow to help secure the Shrine and whatever’s in it, so I just wished her luck and promised to have a pitcher of strawberry juice ready for her when she came back.
She paused, smiled a little weird smile that I’ve never seen her make before, and told me that she’d have something to give me too tomorrow, after she came back. I’m not sure what that was about, so I just nodded and told her I’d be looking forward to it.
*~*
Yamato
If I know that fool Kujura he’ll be making his own move soon. With any luck I’ll get to Shrine’s teleporter in time to prevent a disaster. It’s occurred to me that perhaps I should have told Master Jules and Dame Alexis about what the device is (he appeared to not know what they were for when he reported the events of today’s Labyrinth venture), but looking back on it I doubt this bit of knowledge would have changed their actions all that much, and it’s a National secret anyway. In the event that the worst comes to pass then I shall tell them all I know, but until that point I’ll simply have to try to limit the damage.
It’s been so many years since the Calamity, but things are coming to a head at long last.
*~*
Midori
Miko returned looking really beat up today. I guess I should have expected Olympia and whatever guard she’d set up to be a tough fight for them. She looked pretty happy that she was able to push her to her limits, though, so good for her, I guess.
Based on what she told me, Olympia still seems pretty confident in us not being a huge threat. Damn it, I don’t know what it’ll be like when I finally face her. To be honest, I was wondering if they’d defeat her today and then I’d never get my chance. I don’t know why I felt the slightest bit relieved at that thought.
When the time comes, I’ll know what to do.
Platinum FC: 2880 3245 5111
Also, the Eldest One talks weird. Just read the rest of his dialogue to see.
Platinum FC: 2880 3245 5111
Aha, I did another search with my less tired mind. Supt is the past tense of sup, which means to have supper (pretty much what one could infer it as in the context). That T really threw off my search.
Entry Ninety Nine
*~*
Well, that idiot’s gone and done it now.
As expected, the device at the bottom of the Shrine that Alexis and Master Jules told me about was a teleporter that led into the heart of the Porcelain Forest. With our delay, the Deep City has been allowed access into the sanctuary of Princess Gutrune.
Why they would desire this is another matter entirely, but for now, we have to focus on the immediate issues.
Not that Kujura was any more helpful, in any case. Upon our arrival at the antechamber we found him already there, and he demanded we leave immediately. Our refusal to comply resulting in him summoning up Shin and commanding it to slay all of us. I suppose that his going so far as to call upon the guardian spirit shows how dangerous he believes us to be.
In any case, we prepared ourselves to fight off the thing, and after my shouted warning that it would disorient us with its mists and illusions, the Stagarad princess starting up throwing up some sort of barrier to protect us. In retrospect this certainly helped us immensely with fighting off the creature.
Suffice to say the battle was a long and drawn out one, with several casualties amongst our party of five by the time we concluded. More importantly, Kujura had apparently travelled through the teleporter and disabled it while were engaged with fighting Shin. None of us had the necessary knowhow to reactivate the system, so we were forced to pull back.
Upon our return to Armoroad, I was immediately summoned for a meeting with Master Jules and various other senior members of the Guild. The suggestion was quickly put forth that the Yggdroids we hired from the Deep City might have the knowledge needed to activate the teleporter, seeing as they are both ancient technology built from the age before the Calamity.
For the record, none of them seemed particularly happy with the fact that I had known and withheld information about what was waiting at the bottom of the Shrine, but none of them voiced any actual objections.
After the discussion, I submitted myself to Master Geoffrey for a quick check on any sustained injuries from the battle, and then retired to my room.
*~*
Adrian
Mood: Not sure, really. Floaty?
Not sure how to go about writing today’s entry, to be honest. Well, I guess I could start with the chronological order?
When we went in to secure the chamber at the bottom of the Shrine, we ended up meeting the Kujura dude there as well. He seemed to be in a pretty bad mood, which I guess was expected since Olympia had beat him to the punch to… whatever that thing was. I later learnt that it was apparently a teleporter to some ancient Armoroad sanctuary or something. Point is, he didn’t want Olympia to get there, and he wasn’t too happy at us showing our face either.
Long story short, he got some monster from who-knows-where to fight us instead of him while he ran through the machine. I’m usually always up for a good fight, but she (I think it was a she) was something different. Kept spewing weird, thick mist all over the place – made it hard for us to even find her, let alone beat her up. The princess’ protective spells helped against most of the mist’s worst effects, but I was still pretty confused for a huge part of the fight.
Near the end, though, she reached over and grabbed hold of me and… drained me, somehow. Not sure how it worked, but some of her wounds started sealing over while I suddenly felt really tired and almost fell to my knees.
Not how I particularly wanted to end up, but I managed to drive my fist through her gut (her blood was blue. Ick.) and finish her off before collapsing myself. I was later told that Juliana was the one who picked me up like a sack of grain and got us out of the fight. Should thank her for that later.
Anyway, Master gave me a look-over after the fight, and when I explained to him about the dizzying effect the creature had on us, he went on a lecture about how I had to ‘fortify my mental fortitude’.
And then he prescribed me more meditation exercises. I don’t mind meditating per se, but one of the new set involves being upside down for very long periods of time. I don’t really like that.
Anyway, after that I went to find Pure and I saw him in the town plaza discussing something with Melina. Didn’t catch all of it, but apparently he’s not happy with having been assigned more gathering timeslots than her for the next week. Typical.
After she left, I went up to him and gave him the seashell necklace I’d been working on. It was a good thing I managed to get the Red Jasper from Melina the other day – it helped complete the look, and it’s supposed to bring good luck, too.
Anyway, he asked what this was about, and I told him that since he’s always complaining about getting hurt in the Labyrinth, I made him this protective charm with a lot of the seashells that people used to carry with them to ward off danger and misfortune. It was a little late, what with us having gone through sixteen floors already, but it couldn’t hurt, right?
After a moment, he smiled and told me thanks before bringing out that strawberry juice he’d promised me.
To be honest, it’d never tasted so good before.
*~*
Rossa
Big Brother’s been sharing more info with me about those scrolls he’d dug up, partly because he wants my help with them.
It’s complicated, really. Looking through this stuff, he’s managed to draw a fairly coherent narrative of a blessing from heaven that fell a really, really long time ago. I’m not sure what it has to do with the current situation, but Big Brother thinks that comparing our current information with some of the murals found in the Abyssal Shrine would help us with figuring out more about the whole affair.
Of course, he had to come to this conclusion after the Shrine starting flooding with Deep Ones all over the place.
Well, I’ll be heading there soon anyway. Apparently someone at the bar got spooked about a weird room where the Statues come to life and prevent anyone from leaving, and asked others to help him solve it. I’ll help Big Brother take those sketches he wanted, too.
*~*
Alexis
Entry Made: 30th of the Month of the Azure Lance, in the Seven Hundredth and Fourteenth Year of the Holy Empire
Well, apparently we’ve encountered yet another roadblock in our Labyrinth explorations. Kujura had moved to oppose us directly for the first time, although according to reports he did not do any actual fighting but ‘merely’ let loose a beast on us.
His Majesty and the Princess Juliana will be travelling to the Senatus tomorrow in order to ascertain and clarify matters. According to Yamato Olympia and the Deep City’s soldiers will most likely be in the Porcelain Forest by now, although he doubts their progress will be swift. Apparently there are natural barriers in place to protect the sanctuary of Armoroad’s highborn, although he could not elaborate further than that. I suppose this information will have to come out from the talk with Senator Flowdia, if it comes at all.
Platinum FC: 2880 3245 5111
Entry Hundred
*~*
Well, got roped into trying to figure out how this device at the bottom of the Shrine works. The area appears to be free of any Deep Ones or monsters, so at least I can work in peace.
AL1’s here too, and she’s been pretty helpful, although I can’t really tell what she’s planning and she doesn’t talk enough for me to get a good feel of what she’s doing. Well, she’s working at her own pace, but as long as we can get this thing running in the end there’ll be no complaints either way.
The place is pretty gloomy, but I think I have some images of it stored in my databanks of a time when this place was a lot more brightly lit. And crowded. With lots of people wearing fancy robes and doing funny things with candles.
I’m not sure where that image came from, to be honest. I know all of the military grade Yggdroids get equipped with a standard pack of information to better help them operate in the local environs (although given the trashed Yggdroids we had to walk past to get to this place, that might not be such a big help), but this doesn’t seem like the sort of image that should have made its way in.
It’s a good thing I’m designed to multitask, too –Clay is already complaining about how long we’re taking to set up the teleporter – if I’d had to pause to record this entry as well she’d never let me hear the end of it.
Oh, I think I can do something with this wire.
*~*
Rossa
Well, we solved the mystery of the ghost statue things and we made some progress on the front of deciphering the murals as well.
As it turned out, the statues were guarding some of the murals in a back chamber of the Shrine. (Maybe we should start labelling them on the map, otherwise others might get confused.) They didn’t attack us, but simply blocked our way further in. There was some kind of console there that the others didn’t know what to do with, but I’d been helping Angie enough with her work to tell a mechanism of the Deep City’s design. I fiddled around with it a bit and finally managed to deactivate the statues. Score one for the child prodigy!
So that was the client’s request handled, and then I could get down the studying the murals properly. Most of them depicted the Deep Ones, of course, which, when you get down to it, is odd, because the first recorded instances we have of their appearance, even amongst the Deep City’s records, are only from a hundred years ago – far later than the date the Shrine was built. I suppose it’s possible the Deep Ones initially spawned from a time beyond living memory, but that’s just a theory right now.
I also had a single image of something coming down from the skies – it could be the Porcelain Offering that Big Brother spoke off, but somehow it looks wrong. All our known cultures have traditionally associated blessings of the heavens with like – this looks a lot more dark and ominous.
And tentacley, that too.
Based on this, I’m going to need to do more research into the murals. They appear to continue further down – right where all the Deep Ones are gathering, of course. Well, I’ll know to limit my search to the important-looking chambers, at least. The rest of the walls just seem to hold random designs.
*~*
Sidney
With the latest news about the Abyssal King venturing into the Porcelain Woods, it’s pretty clear now that he’s targeting Princess Gutrune directly, and that he also knows she also retreats there frequently to rest.
Damn it, this wasn’t supposed to happen!
I had to explain to Adrian that the Porcelain Woods is a sanctuary used only by the royalty of Armoroad, and those they have granted special favour to. I’ve never been in there, of course, but the very air you breathe in there is supposed to have healing properties.
Jules and some of the others have gone to talk to the Senatus about what to do now. I guess the best case scenario is that we get access to the place as well and we can go put a stop to the Abyssal King’s plans before he finds the Princess.
Why would the Abyssal King hunt down the Princess, anyway? What is he really after?
*~*
Jules
For the first time tonight, I thought Senator Flowdia actually looked her age. When we entered her room, she informed us that the Deep City’s Corps had barricaded the main entrance to the Porcelain Forest, and that the Armoroad Guards was unable to advance in order to find and protect the Princess. Save for Kujura and any other troops that made it through the teleporter, the Princess is defenceless right now.
We had to ask the all-important question of why the Abyssal King would be targeting the Princess in the first place, and hunting her down with such fervour. Flowdia merely shook her head and said that us knowing would not help in any way. I have to admit that at this point I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do. A king and princess of two sovereign entities are locked in what appears to be open combat, and I’m not sure if we should even interfere or not.
It was at that point that Alexis spoke up and asked that if we could find our own way into the Porcelain Forest, would Armoroad still continue to bar us? Flowdia gave a tired, sort of strained laugh and told us that unless we had a seal of Armoroad’s Royal Family, we would not be able to advance within the Porcelain Forest anyway.
I suppose that means that the Abyssal King must still have his Seal from when he was King of Armoroad with him.
Well, we didn’t make much progress on that front, in the end. As we left, I honestly contemplated if we should wash our hands of the whole affair. The Yggdrasil Labyrinth itself has been explored – the Porcelain Forest is its own entity, and technically I can return home and claim I’ve fulfilled my vow (well, except the ‘bring back trophies from monsters that don’t actually exist’ bit).
But now that I’ve come this far, I want to see it through to the end – somehow. I don’t know how, though. None of the people in a position to help us through want to have anything more to do with us.
Platinum FC: 2880 3245 5111
So confession time, I never beat the game yet. I got stuck at the boss of the fourth stratum and put off leveling for so long that I just never got to it.
A couple weeks ago I started a new file, with the benefit of all my knowledge of the game now, and I've smoked everything up to the fourth stratum boss. I gained a couple levels, then I realized all I needed to do was buy some Amrita so my Gladiator could use Nine-Smashes over and over again. And yeah, now I'm on the fifth stratum for the first time ever and I'm stoked to hear the song that I've longed to hear in-game.
Only I'm gonna post the super arrange. Because yay.
Oh by the way,
I was running around the fifth stratum,
Then I remember I have a moon key now. I should explore those locked doors I came across! First floor I go to the moon door to grab a couple chests. I run into a battle, but it's the lemur things and blue shrimp. Pfft, whatever. Onward to the fourth floor.
I enter the door, look around some, and there's FOE's. Oh, this is probably on par with the fifth stratum. But I don't want to try and take on any of those so I'll avoid them when it's time. Oh, random battle. Hey, it's the venomflies from the previous two games! Probably a little stronger since they're showing up now, just like the tree rats, but whatever. Oh how cute, they're poisoning my front line.
360 damage all around. My front line falls down on its collective face.
... RUN FUCKING RUN GODDAMN IT.
Gladiator (arbalist), Hoplite (ninja), Edit - Shogun, not ronin (buccaneer)
Zodiac (arbalist), Monk (prince)
Anyone got any suggestions on specific skill point assignments?
Yggdroid/Hop
Yggdroid /Hop
Zodiac/Monk
Ninja/Prince
Yep yep 4 man party. Yggs were 52 Zodiac 58, Ninja 59.
Everyone had weapons that were forged with fire, except ninja who had to enchant his own (since it was unforgable), and created 2 level 10 Red bots to follow up on every attack.
I had to rest my 2 yggs before final boss and respect them so we had level 10 anti cold/fire/volt and be ready for 2/3 of the possible elemental attacks when they were thrown at me. It worked out just fine though
Party was fun to make, but man, it's a bit meh to play.
First turn: Red bot, Red Bot, Dark Ether, Appropriate buff based on enemy (prevent order, guard order or attack order or enchant own weapon if anyone didn't have a fire weap)
Second turn: ATtack, attack, Fire star/Binary Fire/Attack, Buff or attack.
Repeat till enemy dead.
FFXIV: Tchel Fay
Nintendo ID: Tortalius
Steam: Tortalius
Stream: twitch.tv/tortalius
Either cheaper spells or much more mana.
FFXIV: Tchel Fay
Nintendo ID: Tortalius
Steam: Tortalius
Stream: twitch.tv/tortalius
Explain these combos to me.