Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[R^2]

As we level up, we notice... uh, Kabbage is falling a bit behind. Shouldn't the Monk have more HP than the rest of the party? It's kind of their shtick. Alas, poor Kabbage has a bug in this version: he gets no HP growth at all after level 60. It still takes the other frontline fighters about ten levels to catch up, but still.


Hey, what are you doing here, little airship? Apparently doing Niku's Lunar Trial moves the airship around the "real" world map. Agart is the last destination in the Trial, so here it is.


The screencap with Kabbage in the party before was shortly after starting the Princess Flan grind. This is near the point where I called it quits. Princess Flans are worth 55,555 gil each. That's about 1500 flans, (gee R^2 how come you haven't updated your LP in a couple of days?) and still no Pink Tail.


So to hell with it. Adamant Armor is nice, providing stupidly high defense (+100, compared to Brent's or Niku's current armor, which provides thirty-something) and resistance to status ailments, but it's not worth all my free time. I mean, maybe if you have a dull-ass job where you can get away with playing a Game Boy between phonecalls or something, you can work at it...


Once more into the breach!

[R^2]

Well, no. But you have to find it and bring it to this guy to exit his level.


It teleports away when you get on the same screen, so you have to be quick to engage it.


Yes, here, fine, I hope you choke on it.


Missed this the first time. It's Romo's final weapon.

[R^2]

Door: No one else may enter.


Brent: Are you sure?
Mars: Don't worry about me. I'll be back.
Brent: Alright. We'll be searching other areas.












Looks like Mars wanged her head on the doorframe on the way in.

[R^2]

Mars: Is this... Baron? Why am I here?
Brent: I'm glad you're alright.
Mars: What's going on here? What's with all the noise?
Brent: A soldier was attacked last night by an unknown assailant.


Mars: Friday...? Why am I here?
Brent: We were worried about you, so we followed you here. We found you lying here, and the town's in turmoil. There's something strange going on...
Friday: I heard a soldier was attacked by someone or something... I don't know the details, but...
Brent: I think we should investigate.
Mars: Yeah, I agree.


Girl: I've seen a shadow of someone darting through the night skies...
Soldier: What!? Did you see who it was?
Girl: I couldn't see clearly. All I saw was someone dressed in black jumping across rooftops. Only a dragoon could jump like that...
Soldier: A dragoon!? H-How dare you! The dragoons have been loyally serving the kingdom for ages!
Girl: I-I didn't mean to accuse anyone!


Weapons Vendor: I saw the whole thing! It was the Grim Reaper! It was the hand of Death! I heard a noise, so I came back to the store. I noticed that the back door was wide open. I stepped outside to see what was going on, and I saw a black shadow fly into the sky!
Soldier: A black shadow...?
Weapons Vendor: The figure carried a large scythe... It had to be the Grim Reaper!
Soldier: Death...?
Weapons Vendor: I know what I saw!


Soldier: ...who is behind all of this.




Brent: Do you think Mars did this? Maybe you forgot that he was also attacked!
Soldier: That's not what I meant. However, in this vicinity, dragoons are the only ones who mainly use lances as weapons... I was just pointing out the facts.

Mars isn't necessarily under accusation -- as the game has implied over the course of the plot, there are regiments of dragoons training in Baron. Any one of them could turn out to be a homicidal psychopath.


Soldier: Nothing yet...
Captain: I see... Oh, I see everyone is here. As you can see, the town is in turmoil... However, that will end soon! I will capture the one behind this! If anyone finds any important information, make sure you let me know immediately!
Brent: Yes, we certainly will.


Captain: What?
Soldier: If the suspect has been seen jumping from roof to roof, I think we should have Sir Mars help. He's the only one who can chase the suspect. In case we can't catch him...


The Captain is furious that one of his subordinates would even suggest that they'd need help catching their assault suspect, running off the poor officer. The Captain then turns around and asks Brent and Mars for help. 

[R^2]

Why this is a necessary step is a mystery to me, since Brent, Mars, and Friday all live in Baron. I guess with the town gates shut for the remainder of the mystery plot, Brent and Mars can't get back to their quarters in the castle.


That's not a problem for Brent, who shacks up with Friday instead.




During the night, Mars has some dreams about the situation at hand.


Once awake, she ponders the clues provided...


...until falling back to sleep.

[R^2]

They could just call it the "Blood Lance" but that would get confusing. Mars can't equip this, and probably shouldn't even if it were possible. Might give the wrong impression.




Not a thrusting sword, or a common spear, or any of the other myriad weapons that poke pointy bits of metal into people. It must have been a lance, and nothing else.

Mars: This was done by someone accustomed to using this weapon. The weapons vendor was an important witness. This wasn't a random attack...


Weapon Vendor's Wife: We both thought it was an awful coincidence, and now this...

In retrospect it seems to be the exact opposite of a coincidence. What's the word for that? Ah yes, a contrivance.


Brent: What?
Friday: Mars? What's wrong?
Mars: I found this lance in my room...


Looks like Mars is being framed!


Mars dutifully turns the lance over as evidence.

[R^2]

Aha! Brent is the culprit!


Mars: No. Why do you ask?
Brent: I was just wondering where she is. Mars, you should keep searching for more clues.


The townspeople are a bit on edge to see a dragoon walking around.


And nobody knows where Friday is.


Meanwhile, the training hall has been turned into an impromptu forensics lab.


Which is odd in itself, since Mars wears gloves.


I suppose this triggers once you've talked to everyone, but all in all it's a short day.


Once again, Mars is kept awake by nightmares.

[R^2]

This time, rather than go back to bed, Mars gets up and gets... well, everyone sleeps in their armor, so there's no need to get dressed.


A cup of coffee would probably be nice, but the innkeeper is elsewhere, probably in his own bed.




It takes eight more dialog boxes to establish but while we're up we're going to help Brent look for Friday.


I'm sure she's fine, it's not like somebody would tie her up and throw her in a corner somewhere to die of exposure.


...oh.




Ooh, harsh.






...double harsh.


Triple harsh.


Thoroughly blueballed, Mars returns to bed.

[R^2]

Mars: It's fine.

I skipped the scene where Mars wrote angsty poetry on her LiveJournal and ate a whole pint of Ben & Jerry's.


Friday: I was at home sleeping when I heard someone calling to me. Before I realized it, I was standing outside... I knew I had to get back inside, and that's when... A man dressed in black appeared from above... When I came to, I found myself in the spot where you found me. And Mars was standing right in front of me... I can't remember anything else. It felt like everything happened in a dream...
Brent: I see...
Friday: Wait, there was something else.
Brent: Another clue?
Friday: I constantly heard... someone's voice...
Brent: Whose?
Friday: I don't know. It was a very sad voice... But a warm voice that filled me with feelings of nostalgia... That voice... Where have I heard it before...?




Mars deduces that the mark left where Friday was sitting could only have been made by a lance. So the culprit is... Friday's lance-ass!


Her-durp.

[R^2]

Seems like another contrivance that as soon as Mars finds the blood-soaked lance by her bed, the cops roll in...


Captain: I'm terribly sorry, Sir Mars! I don't want to do this, but I must put you in restraints... I didn't want to believe you were the one behind all this... However, the weapon used in the attacks has shown up in your room...
Soldier: I hate to do this, but will you come with us for some questioning later?
Mars: ...Alright...
Captian: Please stay inside until the charges are dropped.


The soldiers take the blood-soaked lance, then bar the door.


Nothing to do but go back to bed.

[R^2]

Mars: (Wh-Who's there?)
Voice: (You still haven't figured it out? This is what you hoped for...) (Come... With your strength, it'll be easy to take out the guards...)
Mars: (I can't lay a hand on soldiers from Baron!)
Voice: (See? That wasn't so bad.)
Mars: (!)
Voice: (Come... Leave this place... Kill him.)


Man Zemus even gets to the poor guy in his own Trial.




Or... not Zemus. Might just be that monster.








It does not.


Gotcha! Now to see who this ghost really is!


Why, it's old man Jenkins, from the abandoned canning factory!

[R^2]

Captain: I knew you could help us! I apologize from the bottom of my heart for having locked you up. Take him away!




The captain picks up the lance from where Old Man Jenkins dropped it.




I still don't!


Brent: The incident is finally over. We should leave town tomorrow. It's late. Mars, you should rest in the inn as well.

Fine, just go back to your ladyfriend's house and do whatever the hell it is you get away with in her little one-room shack with her mom right there. This is all over, I'm going back to slee--


God dammit.

[R^2]

Brent... took the Devil's Road? Why would he go to Mysidia?






Or this Road leads to another mirror chamber, with Rosa already captured (you'd think she'd learn how to undo knots sooner or later) and Brent out cold.

[R^2]

Wouldn't be a mirror chamber without something popping out of the mirror.


Mars: ...Who are you!?
???: Who am I? You should know the answer to this question better than anyone else. I am you. I am your desire. I am your true self. This is the world I created for myself. Come! Now is the time to grant all of your wishes!


???: Deep down, you have wanted Brent out of the picture. You have wished him gone, away from you. Now is the chance to make that wish come true! With that blood-soaked lance!




Not so much "fight" when he's lying unconscious. More... "murder in cold blood".

[R^2]

Take the lance, and...














Mars: ...? How long... How long was I in there?
Brent: What are you talking about? You just went inside.
Mars: ...I see...
Brent: What was past those doors?

[A²]

We always knew a girl penetrating him from behind would be what killed Brent.

[MarsDragon]

Stabbing Brent is pretty much my ideal future, yeah.

[Rico]

The screencap with Kabbage in the party before was shortly after starting the Princess Flan grind. This is near the point where I called it quits. Princess Flans are worth 55,555 gil each. That's about 1500 flans, (gee R^2 how come you haven't updated your LP in a couple of days?) and still no Pink Tail.

Tail farming is worth doing in the DS version; a couple sets of Onion equipment and an Adamant armor or two makes the second and third playthroughs very smooth (except that Cecil can't equip it until he turns Paladin). In any other version I can't see it being worth the bother.

[Brentai]

Stabbing Brent is pretty much my ideal future, yeah.

In... the way you usually mean it, or the way Lyrai meant it?

[R^2]

We always knew a girl penetrating him from behind would be what killed Brent.

yes, but who would have thought it'd be Mars who did it?