Tales of Vesperia Post 20: Son of Shut Up
Mar. 3rd, 2013 11:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xyzzysqrlLast time on Tales of Vesperia, the team discovered the terrible secret of Regaey, beat up a giant monster, discovered that the desert is hot and stopped for the night in a small town. Everyone attempted to leave the party for little-to-no reason, but that was quelled rapidly.
Let's continue.
Before turning in for bed, however, the group wonders. Who makes all these weapons, armor, and other items that they keep finding in shops? And when they gather raw materials, just who's doing the crafting...?
Estelle: "Synthesis artisans are amazing. They produce such lovely items in such a short time!"
Rita: "Yes, it really is an art. The quality is always second to none, too. And the same artisan is always sneaking into the cities we visit just before we get there."
Estelle and Karol: "What?! Really?! Are you serious?!"
Raven, catching on: "Ooh yeah. I wish I had half the vitality he has. We're nothing compared to how much HE gets around."
Karol, freaked: "Yeah, right, okay. There’s no way he could do that."
Judith, casual: "Really? Do you think it's more likely that the world's full of such skilled artisans? And he must have great instincts, too. We should see about getting him to join Brave Vesperia."
Estelle, perking: "R-really...? K-Karol, the next time we meet him, let’s see if he'll join!"
Karol: "R-right! Okay!"
Karol and Estelle leave, stage left.
Yuri: "Whoa... I think those two actually fell for all that."
Raven: "The princess and the kid still have a lot t'learn."
Rita, shaking her head: "I hear they're actually using blastia to do the synthesis."
Judith: "You know, maybe we got a little carried away."
It would be awfully nice if WE could get ahold of one of those synthing blastia, but where would we keep it? Nah. We'll just use the ones at the store, I think. Anyway, the party groups up at the inn to stay the night. ... Stay the knight? Rita gets curious about why there's a knight standing guard in the inn, and starts poking him in the armor. The innkeeper refuses to talk about it. Is this the group going into the desert? You know it's ver--
Yuri: "WE KNOW IT'S DANGEROUS."
--well okay then. We park at the inn overnight. Rita admits that the town... strangely enough, gives her the creeps. (She just hasn't been the same since that ghost ship, has she?) Karol agrees, though. There are imperial knights everywhere. It feels like they're just waiting for the group to do something, ANYTHING, to give them an excuse... Estelle is puzzled by why this would bother anyone. Ah well. Sleep time!
The next morning, Karol is left griping about how tiny his canteen is. Judith shrugs, they'll get more water out of certain types of plants growing in the desert. Rita knows how to identify these. Estelle notices the knight is gone, and observes that his goal must've been to make sure townspeople don't talk to people outside town. The innkeeper nods. Magistrate's orders.
Goddamn it, another corrupt magistrate? Fuckers grow on trees.
They only got a magistrate a day or three ago. It's very recent and things are still being settled. They're using the place as a camp while they gear up to arrest Belius. This comes as a shock to Raven and Karol. Rita, meanwhile, is actually going into heat exhaustion right there at the counter...
Raven: "Youngsters these days have got no stamina, I tell ya."
Rita, looking miserable: "..."
Karol: "Whoa, no comeback from Rita?"
Rita: "...It's hot. It's so hot..."
Estelle: "I think she’s so hot she didn't even hear him."
...So we end up staying another day at the inn so she can adjust. In the night, Judith quietly slips across the inn room. Yuri wakes up and notices, and there are unusual sounds from outside. The entire party wakes up, catching Judith in the door as strange noises thump from outdoors. (Well, almost the entire party. Estelle flops around in bed whimpering about tapioca parties.) The group checks outside to find a wagon has just pulled up. There's a large hoplon blastia in the back, which Rita notices. When the party confronts the wagon-master, he quickly hops back on and thunders away, with the group in pursuit.
The guards have no choice. Eliminate all witnesses. Unfortunately, they SUCK in a fight. Judith slams one into the blastia so hard it explodes, and Rita throws a small fit. If only these IDIOT AMATEURS would keep their hands off the damn blastia... The core is fried. Yuri corners Judith alone after the battle. "Your little midnight walk wouldn't have anything to do with this blastia, would it?"
"What could you possibly be talking about?" Judith innocents. She won't admit to anything except that "My reasons are something you're better off not knowing."
After all that excitement, nobody really got a rest. Let's sleep one more night at the inn for no good reason! (FUCKING SIDEQUESTS.)
This time it's Estelle who sneaks out in the middle of the night. Yuri catches up with her to see what's up. She's looking at a thing, and Yuri guesses it's what Estelle was going to give the group as payment. (So possibly not her blastia then. I don't know, I call these things as they look at the time.) It's a memento of her mother, who died long ago. Yuri's mom died too, he admits. When he was a baby. Everyone in the lower quarter raised him as a group, it seemed like. Estelle was raised by everyone in the castle, since she didn't really have a father OR a mother.
It's inexplicably popular in fanfiction to swap Yuri and Estelle's positions. Yuri as a noble in line for the throne, Estelle as a caring young street waif. I never got that trend until now, really.
Estelle sighs over the memento. It's an old memory, and she's been leaving old memories behind on this trip. She doesn't feel lonely or sad anymore with Brave Vesperia around. She just needs to grow up and move on. Yuri offers to take it off her hands and keep it safe, just in case she wants it back later. She'll need it someday, to remind herself who she is and who she used to be. Estelle nods and hands it over.
I'm sure this will never be mentioned again.
Down at the oasis we fill our canteens and we're READY TO HIT THE DESERT YEAAAAAH. And all die. Horribly.
But first some guards are harassing some kids about being out after curfew. Yuri and Estelle quickly step in to claim that they'll handle the situation, and for a moment it looks like it isn't going to work, until one of the guards has a realization about Estelle's identity. Alph and Layla, the kids, are very grateful and STOPPING ME FROM GOING TO THE DESERT -AGAIN-
LET ME GO
LET ME GO
WHEN YURI WAS IN PHAEROH'S LAND
LET MY PARTY GO
NO MORE SHALL THEY IN CUTSCENES CHAT
LET MY PARTY GO
GKJGREWAWKJGLGHFNHKSDHKLDFS
Sigh.
The kids are very chatty. Their parents are missing, the magistrate is responsible, they got dragged into a big wagon, the wagon went to find Phaeroh, blah blah helpless kids blah Estelle makes puppy eyes this is a matter of JUSTICE and so BRAVE VESPERIA ON THE CASE. Also, wait, the Empire is investigating Phaeroh too? Hmm.
OH WELL finally we can get the fuck outta town. LET'S ROLL.
Out to the Sands of Kogorh. This place bites ass. We need to keep our water stocked by blasting cactuses open with the sorcerer's ring every few steps. I will admit that I myself have played worse in the "desert full of utter bullshit" genre, such as any given King's Quest game except the first two. Raven is IRRITATINGLY cheerful, it's like he doesn't even seem to feel the heat of the desert. Rita is absolutely feeling it, though. She's about ready to collapse after just one screen's worth of trudging.
Abruptly, Karol starts screaming. Oh god, he's cracked. The heat cooked his tiny brain. No, he's just found water! A great big pool of it, flowing from a crack in some rocks. The group splashes around a while in the natural oasis.
Karol: "I thought we were done for..."
Raven: "Ha. You gotta be tougher than THAT if you wanna save the world, kids."
Rita: "Shut up."
The water recharges everyone and gets us ready to go looking for the parents of those kids and also Phaeroh. Huzzah. Meanwhile out in the desert I encounter a 40 foot long butterfly with a giant stinger on it. This thing kicks my ass into a crater, giving me my first-ever total party wipe. The game over screen is Estelle going "AND THEY WERE NEVER HEARD FROM AGAIN." ... That's not how storytelling works, Estelle.
Fortunately, there was a save point right in front of it, so let's pretend that game-over never happened. Instead we slip AROUND the giant monster and move deeper into the desert. We discover collapsed people! Estelle heals them! Then we helpfully give them water. Yuri declines all rewards, because apparently he's playing THAT side of a Bioware game, and we discover that these people are in fact Alph and Layla's parents, so GOOD. Yay, they will not die. JUSTICE.
Then the group hears a bird calling. Off they go to investigate!
It is NOT Phaeroh. It's some kind of disgusting hideous gel-bird! A hideous... not-a-monster, according to Judith. Absolutely not a monster. What the hell is it? Nobody cares. Stab it, now. So we do! It is a difficult fight because it keeps barfing up its core which shoots LASER BEAMS at us. Eventually we manage to break the core (secret mission get!) and then we just spam attacks on it until it dies.
Rita: "...this... is nothing..."
Judith: "...so tired..."
Estelle: "What was... that..."
As it dies, it drops a feather. Estelle tries to figure out what that means... and while she's standing there, Karol and Rita pass out. Estelle is next to drop, along with the others. Heatstroke is nasty business, y'know? As Yuri is passing out, he sees something descending over him...
Yuri: "...eat me... I hope you choke on my bones..."
This is not to be the case, as Yuri wakes up in a comfortable bed. A glance around shows the rest of the party there as well. Where are they? What could've happened?
FIND OUT NEXT TIME.
Let's continue.
Before turning in for bed, however, the group wonders. Who makes all these weapons, armor, and other items that they keep finding in shops? And when they gather raw materials, just who's doing the crafting...?
Estelle: "Synthesis artisans are amazing. They produce such lovely items in such a short time!"
Rita: "Yes, it really is an art. The quality is always second to none, too. And the same artisan is always sneaking into the cities we visit just before we get there."
Estelle and Karol: "What?! Really?! Are you serious?!"
Raven, catching on: "Ooh yeah. I wish I had half the vitality he has. We're nothing compared to how much HE gets around."
Karol, freaked: "Yeah, right, okay. There’s no way he could do that."
Judith, casual: "Really? Do you think it's more likely that the world's full of such skilled artisans? And he must have great instincts, too. We should see about getting him to join Brave Vesperia."
Estelle, perking: "R-really...? K-Karol, the next time we meet him, let’s see if he'll join!"
Karol: "R-right! Okay!"
Karol and Estelle leave, stage left.
Yuri: "Whoa... I think those two actually fell for all that."
Raven: "The princess and the kid still have a lot t'learn."
Rita, shaking her head: "I hear they're actually using blastia to do the synthesis."
Judith: "You know, maybe we got a little carried away."
It would be awfully nice if WE could get ahold of one of those synthing blastia, but where would we keep it? Nah. We'll just use the ones at the store, I think. Anyway, the party groups up at the inn to stay the night. ... Stay the knight? Rita gets curious about why there's a knight standing guard in the inn, and starts poking him in the armor. The innkeeper refuses to talk about it. Is this the group going into the desert? You know it's ver--
Yuri: "WE KNOW IT'S DANGEROUS."
--well okay then. We park at the inn overnight. Rita admits that the town... strangely enough, gives her the creeps. (She just hasn't been the same since that ghost ship, has she?) Karol agrees, though. There are imperial knights everywhere. It feels like they're just waiting for the group to do something, ANYTHING, to give them an excuse... Estelle is puzzled by why this would bother anyone. Ah well. Sleep time!
The next morning, Karol is left griping about how tiny his canteen is. Judith shrugs, they'll get more water out of certain types of plants growing in the desert. Rita knows how to identify these. Estelle notices the knight is gone, and observes that his goal must've been to make sure townspeople don't talk to people outside town. The innkeeper nods. Magistrate's orders.
Goddamn it, another corrupt magistrate? Fuckers grow on trees.
They only got a magistrate a day or three ago. It's very recent and things are still being settled. They're using the place as a camp while they gear up to arrest Belius. This comes as a shock to Raven and Karol. Rita, meanwhile, is actually going into heat exhaustion right there at the counter...
Raven: "Youngsters these days have got no stamina, I tell ya."
Rita, looking miserable: "..."
Karol: "Whoa, no comeback from Rita?"
Rita: "...It's hot. It's so hot..."
Estelle: "I think she’s so hot she didn't even hear him."
...So we end up staying another day at the inn so she can adjust. In the night, Judith quietly slips across the inn room. Yuri wakes up and notices, and there are unusual sounds from outside. The entire party wakes up, catching Judith in the door as strange noises thump from outdoors. (Well, almost the entire party. Estelle flops around in bed whimpering about tapioca parties.) The group checks outside to find a wagon has just pulled up. There's a large hoplon blastia in the back, which Rita notices. When the party confronts the wagon-master, he quickly hops back on and thunders away, with the group in pursuit.
The guards have no choice. Eliminate all witnesses. Unfortunately, they SUCK in a fight. Judith slams one into the blastia so hard it explodes, and Rita throws a small fit. If only these IDIOT AMATEURS would keep their hands off the damn blastia... The core is fried. Yuri corners Judith alone after the battle. "Your little midnight walk wouldn't have anything to do with this blastia, would it?"
"What could you possibly be talking about?" Judith innocents. She won't admit to anything except that "My reasons are something you're better off not knowing."
After all that excitement, nobody really got a rest. Let's sleep one more night at the inn for no good reason! (FUCKING SIDEQUESTS.)
This time it's Estelle who sneaks out in the middle of the night. Yuri catches up with her to see what's up. She's looking at a thing, and Yuri guesses it's what Estelle was going to give the group as payment. (So possibly not her blastia then. I don't know, I call these things as they look at the time.) It's a memento of her mother, who died long ago. Yuri's mom died too, he admits. When he was a baby. Everyone in the lower quarter raised him as a group, it seemed like. Estelle was raised by everyone in the castle, since she didn't really have a father OR a mother.
It's inexplicably popular in fanfiction to swap Yuri and Estelle's positions. Yuri as a noble in line for the throne, Estelle as a caring young street waif. I never got that trend until now, really.
Estelle sighs over the memento. It's an old memory, and she's been leaving old memories behind on this trip. She doesn't feel lonely or sad anymore with Brave Vesperia around. She just needs to grow up and move on. Yuri offers to take it off her hands and keep it safe, just in case she wants it back later. She'll need it someday, to remind herself who she is and who she used to be. Estelle nods and hands it over.
I'm sure this will never be mentioned again.
Down at the oasis we fill our canteens and we're READY TO HIT THE DESERT YEAAAAAH. And all die. Horribly.
But first some guards are harassing some kids about being out after curfew. Yuri and Estelle quickly step in to claim that they'll handle the situation, and for a moment it looks like it isn't going to work, until one of the guards has a realization about Estelle's identity. Alph and Layla, the kids, are very grateful and STOPPING ME FROM GOING TO THE DESERT -AGAIN-
LET ME GO
LET ME GO
WHEN YURI WAS IN PHAEROH'S LAND
LET MY PARTY GO
NO MORE SHALL THEY IN CUTSCENES CHAT
LET MY PARTY GO
GKJGREWAWKJGLGHFNHKSDHKLDFS
Sigh.
The kids are very chatty. Their parents are missing, the magistrate is responsible, they got dragged into a big wagon, the wagon went to find Phaeroh, blah blah helpless kids blah Estelle makes puppy eyes this is a matter of JUSTICE and so BRAVE VESPERIA ON THE CASE. Also, wait, the Empire is investigating Phaeroh too? Hmm.
OH WELL finally we can get the fuck outta town. LET'S ROLL.
Out to the Sands of Kogorh. This place bites ass. We need to keep our water stocked by blasting cactuses open with the sorcerer's ring every few steps. I will admit that I myself have played worse in the "desert full of utter bullshit" genre, such as any given King's Quest game except the first two. Raven is IRRITATINGLY cheerful, it's like he doesn't even seem to feel the heat of the desert. Rita is absolutely feeling it, though. She's about ready to collapse after just one screen's worth of trudging.
Abruptly, Karol starts screaming. Oh god, he's cracked. The heat cooked his tiny brain. No, he's just found water! A great big pool of it, flowing from a crack in some rocks. The group splashes around a while in the natural oasis.
Karol: "I thought we were done for..."
Raven: "Ha. You gotta be tougher than THAT if you wanna save the world, kids."
Rita: "Shut up."
The water recharges everyone and gets us ready to go looking for the parents of those kids and also Phaeroh. Huzzah. Meanwhile out in the desert I encounter a 40 foot long butterfly with a giant stinger on it. This thing kicks my ass into a crater, giving me my first-ever total party wipe. The game over screen is Estelle going "AND THEY WERE NEVER HEARD FROM AGAIN." ... That's not how storytelling works, Estelle.
Fortunately, there was a save point right in front of it, so let's pretend that game-over never happened. Instead we slip AROUND the giant monster and move deeper into the desert. We discover collapsed people! Estelle heals them! Then we helpfully give them water. Yuri declines all rewards, because apparently he's playing THAT side of a Bioware game, and we discover that these people are in fact Alph and Layla's parents, so GOOD. Yay, they will not die. JUSTICE.
Then the group hears a bird calling. Off they go to investigate!
It is NOT Phaeroh. It's some kind of disgusting hideous gel-bird! A hideous... not-a-monster, according to Judith. Absolutely not a monster. What the hell is it? Nobody cares. Stab it, now. So we do! It is a difficult fight because it keeps barfing up its core which shoots LASER BEAMS at us. Eventually we manage to break the core (secret mission get!) and then we just spam attacks on it until it dies.
Rita: "...this... is nothing..."
Judith: "...so tired..."
Estelle: "What was... that..."
As it dies, it drops a feather. Estelle tries to figure out what that means... and while she's standing there, Karol and Rita pass out. Estelle is next to drop, along with the others. Heatstroke is nasty business, y'know? As Yuri is passing out, he sees something descending over him...
Yuri: "...eat me... I hope you choke on my bones..."
This is not to be the case, as Yuri wakes up in a comfortable bed. A glance around shows the rest of the party there as well. Where are they? What could've happened?
FIND OUT NEXT TIME.
