Fire Emblem: Dreams in the Dark

[Omegaprism]

There is a baby-related break from errands, so I can answer a few questions.

1. Not in an organized sense, no. The monsters that came and wrecked the place claim to be gods, and there is a touch of ancestral worship, but by typical standards Vilcoorians are like athiests. They do believe in things like magic and monsters, but as far as gods, they take a page out of Han Solo's book in Star Wars IV: A New Hope.

2. Frey starts with tome called Terra that also works as a personal soulstone (+5 STR, +5 MAG). Late in the game it gets an upgrade. Veronica starts with a silver sword, but other than being available way earlier than any other silver weapons it isn't special. Woden has a prf soulstone called Steady Soul that grants +8 DEF, +4 LUCK, +1 MOVE, and allows him to move unhindered by desert, mountain, and forest tiles. Ruganel starts with a plain old steel axe, but if you get him to an A support with anyone a base conversation will appear in which he is given his late father's soulstone, called the Fierce Soul (+3 STR, +3 SKL, +3 DEF).

3. Vilcoorians tend to vary a bit in appearance, but I would say they look more Tellius-y than like Kaden/Keaton. Suzaku have feathers in place of hair, Byakko tend to keep their animal ears even in humanoid form, and Genbu could never pass for human. The most human-looking Genbu are probably turtles, and that's just because their faces have vaguely human-looking features untransformed.

4. The whole world of Vilcoor? I hadn't thought about it. About one and a half Earths? It's breaking into pieces by the start of the game, so I was just focusing on one large landmass for Book 1.

Weapon ideas: Yes, there are monsters (or are humans the real monsters?! ) with requisite effective weapons. The triple threat sounds a little too bonkers for my taste. I was also thinking of having a tome that targeted def. Didn't you have another bloodedge suggestion earlier that healed the user based on damage dealt?

Okay, time's almost up. Next post is more story!

[Corrobin]

1. I was just thinking that maybe they refered to the monsters as demons or devils, and did the whole "Gods" in place of God thing.

3. What about dragons? Do the Byakkyo have their tails like Keaton and Kaden do?

Don't forget Kline and Marks!

Skills:

Star Cutter: You know how Aether is Sol+Luna? This is Sol+Astra.

Night Breaker: Luna+Astra

Quick Learner: Unit gains W.EXP faster

Stavefaire: Healtouch+2 extra range for Staves.

(Fire, Wind or Lightning) Mastery: Add 2 to the Might of (Element) Tomes wielded by this character.

Edited August 8, 2016 by Corrobin

[Omegaprism]

Kline and Marks: Solid. Infiltrate seems a little excessive. What if he simply had Pass?

It's not unheard of for a Vilcoorian to say, "gods," but there is a base conversation where a human talks about religion (ubiquitous on Dascillia and the next world, Diroch) where, as another sign of just how different Vilcoor was, a heron monk talks about how Vilcoorians in general stopped believing in gods when all the most religious and faithful among them were sacrificed to the 'gods' that came and destroyed their world, even the ones who worshipped those demons. The only thing people had any faith in was that if any divine force was watching over them, it would have intervened in some way. This is still being worked on though, and is planned for Book 3.

Byakko do indeed have tails like Kaden, Selkie, Keaton and Velouria. The Seiryu look the most human, save for odd eye and skin pigmentations (example: Frey has purple eyes). Also, like Tellius, they have strange symbols on their foreheads. The player can slightly customize some details of Frey's appearance, including her mark.

Time for more story!

If you follow Ruganel, he leads a party of beasts into the forest in search of the humans who attacked the temple. Fenga and Dalla stay behind to help guard the camp, but Leon, Dorgo, Barash, and Haseo are all eager for some excitement. Nein and Tristan go along to make sure everyone stays alive. The search is tense and frustrating, as the sounds and smells of the forest are all unfamiliar to the Byakko hunting party, and the trees are so thick that no one can safely move at full speed, save for the foxes and wolves, who are surprisingly quick to adapt to the forested area. The humans have just as much trouble navigating the forest, however, and a pitched battle full of small engagements in the mist and trees takes place. This is a fog of war map, and lowered visibility also means lower accuracy for everyone. Several humans fall to the fangs and claws of the Byakko hunting party, sometimes one at a time, sometimes by twos and threes. Among the spoils are some vulneraries, some iron weapons (steel on hard mode), and a skill scroll for Mind's Eye (If the user is unable to counterattack during the enemy phase, +30 avoid). The paladin who led the earlier attack is nowhere to be found, until they hear the sounds of battle coming from a nearby mountainous region (second map).

The scene that greets Ruganel and his band when they catch up is one of fresh carnage. Human corpses are everywhere. The smell of blood is so strong they can practically taste it. Several soldiers and a few cavaliers are still alive, and seem to be running back towards the Vilcoorian hunting party. They fight as though maddened by fear, and are relatively easy pickings. At the mouth of a cave is the paladin, fighting a red dragon. In one round of combat the paladin strikes the dragon with the dragonslayer sword, and is slain on the counterattack. The dragon, blood-drunk and mad with pain, will attack anything that moves within one turn of movement. Its scales are so hot that they appear to be steaming, so at the start of each turn every unit adjacent to the dragon suffers -2 STR and MAG (non-cumulative, disappears after one round). Killing it will net a dragonslayer sword and a Dracoshield (yay +2 defense). The post-battle dialog shows Ruganel returning to the temple and recounting the day's events. Frey laments the death of the dragon, but understands that it probably wasn't like a Vilcoorian Seiryu anyway.

If you follow Veronica, all of the Suzaku set out on an earial scouting mission and spot a fishing village in the distance, by a river. They land in the outskirts and Veronica steps forward as their representative, flanked by the falcon sisters Delia and Lydia. Most of the villagers quickly disappear into their huts, and a few children point and say, "Wow!" before being shooed indoors. Ignoring Veronica's request for a parlay, the gate is hastily closed. Shouts of, "Stop the monsters!" are heard. Archers and mages take up fortified positions. This battle has several houses that can be visited for useful stuff, including 10000 gold, a Canto scroll, a master seal, a Rescue spell, and a concoction (heals 20hp). Except for the concoction, which is located near the Vilcoorians' starting location, all of the houses are in the range of one of a pair of ballistae. Also, except for one house, the occupants of every hut are varying degrees of hostile and terrified, offering their goods in exchange for their lives. The village's wall is almost completely useless against a bunch of fliers. This map features primarily mages and archers as enemies, with one or two armor knights guarding the village chief's hut, and after 5 rounds a bunch of axe-wielding bandits appear and start making a beeline for the houses that haven't been visited. Sitting on the seize spot is the village elder, a sage with a C-rank tome (hard mode gives him the Air Superiority skill, plucked right out of FE14, and a Gale tome, effective against fliers. Neither one is dropped upon his defeat). Victory results in Veronica, with the village at her mercy, trying once again to talk to the village elder. He is surprised that she can even speak, and after some negotiation, agrees to trade with the otherworldly visitors.

As Veronica lets out a relieved sigh, an Owl (Devon, if he is alive) asks to speak with her outside. He shows her a dead bird with a tiny scroll case on its leg. "I caught one of the villagers sending this thing out through a back window," he says. "I think it's a messenger bird. They were probably trying to send for help." He casts a piercing glare at the villagers nervously milling about, pretending not to stare. "Also, look at the food they have supplied us with. No rodents or canines will go near it. All of the small birds are avoiding it as well. As my mother used to say, 'they bow deeply only to dip their talons in poison.' Don't trust them."

A brief debate breaks out where some of the more angry Vilcoorians suggest that Veronica answer their backstabbing with a show of strength. Klaus, Celia, Delia and Lydia are appalled at the idea. Slayne shrugs and says dispassionately that it wouldn't be the first village he's burned down, and even volunteers to stay behind and take care of it if Veronica can't.

As he and Jin start talking about the best way to spread the fire, Veronica, who has been quiet this whole time, commands everyone to be quiet. She storms back into the village elder's house, brandishing the dead messenger pigeon, and demands to know why, when an offer of open friendship and peace was made, that the humans would give them poisoned food. When he can only vacillate in horror she grabs him by the front of his robes and hurls him outside, into the village square, yelling, "Answer me!"

The old man scrambles to prostrate himself before the angry Hawk as she steps outside, begging for mercy and forgiveness. He enthusiastically renounces his loyalty to King Ilarand and claims that he was only sending for help so that the monsters wouldn't use the villagers as sacrifices. They can take anything they want, but please just spare the people.

Veronica's next actions are dependent on whether Frey died to open the Cosmic Gate.

If Frey is alive, Veronica will simply spare the old man and drop a pouch of gold in front of his prostrate head, saying, "For the supplies." She then directs the other Suzaku to take water directly from the nearby river and handpick some bags of grain, chickens, goats, and a cow, and also to be civil about it. As the group transforms and takes wing, she turns back and says, "Our queen is merciful, so I offer you this second chance on her behalf. There will not be a third."

If Frey gave her life to the gate, the hawk swordmaster draws her blade, eliciting gasps and murmurs from the gathered crowd. "You call us monsters," she says. "All because we have these." She spreads her wings wide, looking imperiously down at the old man. "My best friend once told me that when choosing who will live and who will die, a good leader must be willing to place their own name on both lists." She thrusts her sword into the ground before his prostrate form. "Tell me, are you willing to die for your people?" She then orders her retinue to gather the supplies as above, but does not tell them to be nice about it. They are not. The village elder doesn't say a word or move an inch for the whole ordeal, save for his trembling. Once everything is gathered, Veronica pulls her weapon out of the ground and says, "Pray that we do not meet again."

In either case, when the Suzaku scouting party returns Veronica will report to the others that the people of this world are difficult to understand.

The other two paths are still in progress, but it's time for bed. Until next time!

[Corrobin]

1. Are stones available to all characters, tribe-locked, race-locked or character-specific?

2. Wow, good job implementing my characters into the plot!

3. We all know that Fire Emblem games are very serious, but how much humor will there be (limited to supports, base conversations and gaiden chapters, of course)?

4. Can Vilcoorians mate outside of

4A. Their race? (I.e. Could a cat and a tiger mate?)

4B. Their tribe? (Could a fox and a eagle mate?)

4C. Their species (A Vilcoorian and a Dascillian?)

Ruby: Barash's cousin and cat, Ruby loves playing pranks and teasing people. She's also kinda-sorta maybe just a little bit attached to her cousin. Like, yandere levels of attached (but without the kill-happy part). She does limit herself to playing pranks on girls Barash talks to (And Dorgo, who she can marry provided A rank at endgame). The most artistic chef. Statewise, High Luck, Speed and Skill, average Strength, abysmal Defence and Resistance. Her personal, Devoted, increases all her stats by 2 if Barash is within 3 spaces.

[Corrobin]

Using my recalibrated calculations, it's about 7:05 AM where you are (Hazarding Japan as a guess?). Is now a good time to talk?

Naoya: A frilled lizard, Naoya is an avid scholar (if a bit of a savant). He has almost no sense of social norms, cannot comprehend sarcasm, a very small sense of humor and comes off as a bit cold. He is, however, a very adept scientist, studying magic, monsters and other such curiosities. He finds the prospect of a new world to study fascinating and intriguing, and helps the group in official team meetings by telling of his discoveries, even if someone has to occasionally translate his "Geek-talk" for the young met or less intelligent. The least grossed out by corpses (one of the first things he does if he survives the trip is autopsy a Dascallian human, and he'll do the same to the Descallian dragon if Ruganel is picked). His stats reflect his personality: 100% Magic growth but 0% Defence growth. He'll anihilate the enemy... As long as he isn't hit himself. His personal, Flame Master, increases the Might of any fire-based tome he wields by 3.

Kaido: A big-muscled and bigger-hearted tortoise, Kaido is very kind, sweet and dorky, but that makes him even cuter in the eyes of females. He likes to watch animals and pick flowers and other femine hobbies. The one who thinks the most of others. His personal, Protection Vow, gives him a Skill% chance to half magical damage (Like what Brynhildr gives Leo.). Stat wise, he's actual trades off a bit of Defense and HP for more Speed and Resistance, making him rather well-rounded.

[Corrobin]

Should be 8-ish, you up?

Kaine: A falcon with an eye towards gambling, always making bets on both cards and life. He basically joins the group on a whim, thinking "My life can't get any worse, right?". The best dishwasher. His personal, Lady Luck, gives him random boosts for the first four turns of battle based on the suit drawn. Spade boosts his Luck and Speed, Heart is Strength and Defence, Club is Resistance and Magic and finally Diamond is Skill and Speed. He gets +4 to the chosen stats on the first turn, +3 on the second, +2 on the third and +1 on the fourth. His stats are relatively balanced, allowing him to do anything well depending on what Lady Luck goves him.

[Omegaprism]

You are correct, I live in Japan. I usually wait until I'm settled in at work to start cruisin' through forums, though. :P

In answer to your earlier questions:

1. A couple of stones are character-specific (Frey's and Woden's) but for the most part anybody that can shapeshift can use any stone. However, similar to how in some games you get class-locked weapons (like longbows and a couple of swords in Awakening) there are a few that only work for certain tribes. These are exceptions rather than the rule. So if you really think Tristan the bear needs to use the Burning Soul that one of the mage characters comes with, knock yourself out. They are linked to the strike weapon rank, though, so you can't slap a legendary soulstone on someone who hasn't been transforming the whole game.

2. Thank you. I aim to please.

3. As long as the characters involved in said humor are portrayed as people and not a single trope (I'm looking at you, Miriel), humor is fine. Wanna have a scene where a wacky mage accidentally floods a tent with hot noodles? Great! Just don't make a character named Spaghettini, who spews forth an endless train of pasta trivia in every single support. As an example of how to do it well, you said Klaus has had a longtime crush on Slade, and that they might support into a real couple. Unless Klaus is channeling Cordelia (Egads, I hope not) he's probably got other supports and moments that aren't, "I like Slade! Do you like Slade? He's great!" On the other hand, there could be some real sweet awkwardness in their C or B supports where neither one is sure what the other one thinks, and hijinks can ensue.

4. Vilcoorians can breed between races and tribes, with each child sharing their race with one parent or the other (with some dominant and recessive genes determining the likelihood of which parent they will take after) and inheriting traits from both. The historical trend has been that each tribe mostly kept to themselves, since they thrive in different environments, but once in a while a wolf will fall in love with a falcon, or whatever, and kablamzo! A bouncing baby is born. Odds are usually in favor of the child sharing the mother's race. Whether they breed true with Dascillians (or others) is a big question mark.

Edited August 8, 2016 by Omegaprism

[Corrobin]

Alright, I'll wait until you get to work to start our discussion (Just remember to answer my question and talk about Ruby, Naoya, Kaido and Kaine).

[Corrobin]

Just reminding you to post!

Weapons:

Baselard: Hidden Weapon(can't IS just call them daggers?), 1 range, +1 Speed, -1 Skill.

Throwing Knife: 2 Range, but can counterattack at 1 like Staves in RD.

Arc Gale: Wind Tome, Range of 1 and 3 (note, not 1-3. It can't attack at 2).

[Omegaprism]

Alright, Ruby, Kaido and Kaine sound good. I'm ambivalent towards Naoya, mostly because a character like that is often used as an excuse to talk down to the audience. A cold and clinical mage isn't inherently bad, but if you throw them into the deep end of the autism pool it just makes me groan. My least favorite characters in all of fire emblem are Miriel and her clone/son, Laurent, and this is their sole defining personality trait. That said, my suggestion is to tone down the, "No concept of social norms," aspect to a degree where he can dumb down his own words when prompted, and turn up the passion for dissecting things. Have the layman's terms versions of his findings be a little too explicit (but try not to gross out the player). When he sees a room full of discomfited expressions he could say, "...Why are you all making those faces?" There is also a salamander named Critch whose shtick is that she loves the macabre, especially injuries and corpses. Perhaps she and Naoya could know each other, or be the same character. I don't know.

One more thing: Maybe I didn't actually type this before, but there aren't really personal skills like in Fates. The skill system is much more like the Tellius games, and the skills are supposed to be mostly modular. I noticed the last few characters have had kinda super-specific skills, or skills that do what an older skill does already. It's okay to just have a character start with something like Vantage, or Lucky 7. Also, take into account that soulstones can have effects other than raw stat changes. Take for example the Heroic Soul. All it does is give a brave effect (attacks twice on player phase) at the cost of lower crit evade (-10). You could easily turn Kaine's skill into something like a Gambler's Soul, or a Dilettante's Soul. Food for thought.

[Corrobin]

Ah, good. Thanks for answering the questions, although something comes to mind: Earlier when you mentioned Leon, you mentioned a "Dire Wolf Stone". Is that an exception to the rule?

Okay, let me adjust Naoya a bit. He's still a bit cold and blunt, but he's a bit more sarcastic and eye-roll-y. He's play the straight man in the humorous moments.

Stone ideas:

Gambler Soul: Upon transformation, 2 random stats go up by 4.

Caster Soul: Magic +2, Resistance +2, Defence -2, Strength -2

Critical Stone: +10 to Crit, -10 to Critical Evade.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Corrobin

[Omegaprism]

Oh yeah, i did name it that, didn't I? That was not my best moment. Oh well. I'll commit, but I should've at least called it a Dire Wolf's Soul. It is not an exception to the rule. You wanna slap it on a heron, you go for it.

Naoya sounds much better already.

The stone ideas are alright, but you probably could have had the Gambler's Soul just do what you wanted Kaine's personal to do. That way he could either transform right away, or wait it out and use his lance for a round or two and get more boosts. Just an opinion, though. Also, what weapon rank is required for each one? I admit I haven't been very good about writing those down myself. The Caster Soul sounds like an E-rank and the Critical Stone maybe D. Gambler's Soul might be a big'un, so what about a C-rank?

[Corrobin]

Okay, Gambler Soul gives +4 to the random 2 stats on the first turn transformed, +3 on the second, +2 on the third and +1 on the fourth.

Yeah, those sound like good ranks to give them.

Also, Ruby has this thing where she accidentally uses Japanese. She'll sometimes call Barash Oni-chan, say "Why are you such a baka!" Or go "All according to keikaku.".

More ideas:

Plain Soul: +1 to all (non-HP, Con or Move) stats, -5 to Crit, Hit, Avoid and Crit Avoid.

Flawed Soul: +5 to Hit, Crit, Evade and Crit Avoid, -1 to all stats.

Restorative Stone: Full heal upon transformation and regen 10% of max HP on turn start, -2 to Defence and Resistance.

Cursed Soul: Auto-Vantage and Vengeance, but you lose -10% of Max HP per turn.

Devil Stone: +3 to all stats, but acts like a Devil weapon.

[Corrobin]

Gwen: A snake thief and tomboy, Gwen is a servant of Woden and serves as his personal underworld contact, keeping him up to date on the less savory side of the world. She was born into a poor family but rose to her position because, like Niles, Woden saw potential in her. The least seen. Stat wise, she's a more Thief-Thief rather than Haseo or Kline's Myrmidon-Thief. She has higher Skill and Speed plus a very high Luck, but not as much Strength or Magic. Her Innate Skill is Vantage.

Connor: A salamander, Connor speaks four languages: Sarcasm, Irony, Drunken Slur and Profanity. He's the first to realize that Vilcoor is basically Hell at this point, and figures "Hey, if I'm damned here, might as well try to escape from Hell". The one with the largest alcohol intake. Stat wise, he's the Priscilla to Klaus's Serra. His Innate is Miracle.

Base Conversation Ideas:

If Leon has C-Supports with at least 5 women, a BC called "Your cheating heart" will open up in which said five females beat him up (but he gets a permanent Defence boost from it!).

Naoya gets a series called "The fruits of research" which unlock after Naoya goes through a certain amount of battles (5, 15, 50, 75 and 100), in which he gives away new weapons he invents to different characters. They usually have very unique effects (Like Burning Arrow).

[Omegaprism]

Genbu path: Thirsty Work

If you follow Woden, almost immediately a tiny little turtle and frog approach him, asking if there is any water to spare. All of the children are thirsty, and the Genbu children are starting to dry out. With a smile he leads them to the quartermaster, who says almost none of their water survived the journey through the vortex. Something must be done quickly. Thankfully, Critch the salamander has already found an underground river while definitely not looking for old skeletons in a nearby cave. The water has a smell and taste that, while not necessarily poisonous, are mildly unpleasant. It should do for the moment, though. Once some runners have been assigned, the children's thirst is quickly dealt with.

Later, one of the runners returns, out of breath and desperate. Some sort of monster has come out of the water and attacked! What's worse, its appearance softened the ground, making it swampy and difficult to navigate. Several people are already injured, and can't escape. Woden takes a rescue team with him, which includes Kaido, Keisuke, Naoya, Critch, Hans the turtle, Vilk the snake, and Dor and Traige the toads.

The enemy is a giant melting creature that looks to be made out of translucent goo. A single baleful red light can be seen where its face might be. Its body is rising out of a pond in the center of the map, surrounded by several shallow water tiles, surrounded by marshland, and then in the outermost layers surrounded by grass.

When Woden's party arrives he asks where the cave is. Naoya says, "The amorphous entity seems to be capable of some manner of matter manipulation, and subsequently used said capability to achieve multiple goals simultaneously."

"You mean the monster is sitting where the cave mouth was," replies Woden.

Naoya rolls his eyes. "...Yes, yes it is."

The goal of the map is to rescue as many injured people as possible (there are six of them) by using the rescue command (back from the GBA games) and moving into the highlighted area. Ending a unit's movement in the highlighted area will unlock a, 'lead to safety' menu command, which triggers the injured civilian to say a grateful line of dialogue before leaving the map.

The goo monster summons smaller versions of itself all over the map at the end of each enemy phase. They alternate between having higher Def and higher Res. They all have a lot of HP, and regain 10% of their max at the beginning of each player phase. Also, the main body will use one of two area attacks or a regular attack each round. The area attacks cover a two-space radius around it or a five-space cross in a random spot, like a catapult in Radiant Dawn or the various turrets in Fates. It also has a unique skill called Undulate, where on every odd round it becomes immune to manmade weapons, and on every even round it changes its immunity to the Vilcoorians' transformed attacks. If the main body is defeated and there are any smaller copies alive on the map, they all immediately collapse into puddles. The first slayer of the monster will get a skill scroll for Resolve. Two rounds later the goo monster will reform at full HP. Subsequent goo monster killings will not yield any dropped loot. Some of the copies will have gold and items in their inventories, including a Seraph Robe and a Goddess Icon, that they will also drop upon defeat. Finally, after round 5, the water level will rise, turning the shallow water tiles to deep water, the marshy tiles to shallow water, and the grass to marshland.

After the situation is contained the injured civilians thank the Genbu for their bravery and compassion. Among them is one slightly older racist Byakko who says he might have been wrong about the Deep tribe after all. The player then gets up to three rewards, depending on how many civilians they rescued (2 earns an elixir, 4 earns a Vengeance scroll, and 6 earns a Ripple Stone (grants a transformed attack 1-2 range).

At the end of the day, when Woden meets with the others, he will report that there was some trouble finding water, but he took care of it.

[Corrobin]

Atsuro: An Owl and friend of Gwen, he aids her on her intelligence gathering. He barely says anything, limiting himself to very small sentences. The best hunter. Stat wise, he notably has an extra 1 Move at the cost of almost no offensive capabilities whatsoever. His personal is Poison Strike.

Noel: A tiger and research assistant to Naoya, Noel is a very shy and timid girl who nonetheless is a very smart individual. Naoya treats her as somewhere inbetween a sister and a daughter. The most jealous of other women's... Assets. Stat wise, rather fragile but she has very high Resistance, Speed and Skill, making her a designated Mage killer. Her personal is Shade.

Weapons:

Ein Soul: +20 Hit, -20 Avoid

Zwei Soul: +20 Avoid, -20 Critical Avoid

Drei Soul: +20 Critical Avoid, -20 Hit

Toxic Soul: Inflicted with uncurable Poison (but it disappears after untransforming), inflict Poison on regular attacks.

Phoenix Soul: Suzaku only: +20 Avoid, +2 Skill, +2 Speed

True Phoenix Soul: Suzaku only, +30 Avoid, +3 Skill, +3 Speed

Red Phoenix Soul: Veronica only, +40 Avoid, +4 Skill, +4 Speed

Tiger Soul: Byakkyo only, +10 Crit, +2 Strength, +2 Luck

True Tiger Soul: Byakkyo only, +15 Crit, +3 Strength, +3 Luck

White Tiger Soul: Ruganel only, +20 Crit, +4 Strength, +4 Luck

Tortoise Soul: Genbu only, +20 Crit Evade, +2 Defense, +2 Resistance

True Tortoise Soul: Genbu only, +30 Crit Evade, +3 Defense, +3 Resistance

Black Tortoise Soul: Woden only, +40 Crit Evade, +4 Resistance, +4 Defense

[Corrobin]

Yo! Gwen, Connor, Atsuro and Noel! Base conversations! Soul ideas!

Chapter names:

Brave New World

A Twisted Spider's Web

A Knight To Remember

Monochrome Memories

A Roaring, Raging Beast

Blind God

The Cusp of Coming Dawn

Days of Sunlit Night

[Corrobin]

Weapons:

Short Bow: Range of 1, -2 Speed

Arc Gale: Range of 1 and 3 (It can't hit 2 range)

Fell Pyre: Counts as both Dark and Anima.

Stones:

Myrmidon Soul: +3 Speed, +3 Skill, -6 Defense

Shaman Soul: +3 Magic, +3 Resistance, -6 Speed

Dual Soul: Creates a copy in an adjacent square, acts like Replicate

Vampire Soul: All attacks have a Nosferatu effect, divide all stats by 2

Ghost Soul: -3 Defense, -3 Resistance, Auto-Pass, Shade and Lethality

[Corrobin]

Hello? You there?

Chapter names

Irony of Fate

A Slowly Twisting Planet

A Breath of Frosty Air

The Black Sword

grimreaper

False Hero

King of the Void

Fool, Empress, Emperor and Strength

Amidst The Blood-Stained Stars

[Omegaprism]

Still going at full steam, eh? That's encouraging.

Today I'm going to put my nose to the grindstone and try and get the Frey mission done so I can finally move onto the rest of Book 2. Hilariously, since it's the summer break I have more time to do it at work than at home. I'm also on the fence about just making all four missions playable in one run, and selectable old-school Mega Man style. Anyone care to weigh in on this idea?

Also, some thoughts on above characters: It can't hurt to also say whether a character prefers transforming or using weapons, as that will add another facet to their style and personality.

I am hesitant to include real world foreign language gags, since they tend to alienate people who aren't part of a specific subset of players. Also, what if the game were to be translated to Japanese? What language would Ruby speak then?

Gwen: When I read her description I let out a little laugh, saying, "I didn't know there was a criminal underworld in my fantasy wagon-train!"

Connor: I like the idea that the literal end of the world drove him to a perpetual drunken stupor. Maybe he can have a base conversation or some supports that talk about that, or how, now that Frey and her crew have given him a second lease on life, he might consider changing his ways. Since in my head I was imagining an average number of 3-5 supports per character, depending on who he supports could influence what he does with his life. Character growth!

Atsuro: Owls are supposed to be roughly parallel to ninja, so this works out fine. If you want him to have extra Move, though, his innate skill will have to be Celerity (+2 Move).

Noel: Alright, but you should probably lay off the feline Byakko for a while. I've been tallying them up and it's starting to look like Blazing Sword with all these cavs. She sounds like a much better fit as a falcon, or a raven. Also, how and when did a tiger become the minion of a frilled lizard? Humorous imagery aside, the Genbu were traditionally treated like lepers before the great expedition, so this is a story in and of itself.

Base conversations: Cheating heart is great. Naoya's research should probably be folded into the caravan management mechanic that is one of DitD's new features. Naoya could fill the role that the item shop lady did in Radiant Dawn with the special deals, with an added wrinkle. The more combat he sees, the more stuff unlocks. If he dies, bye-bye special shop.

Soulstone ideas: More on that later. I like the flavor on the Phoenix/Tiger/Tortoise soul lines, but restricting the S-rank ones to single characters (some of which have trademark weapons already) is probably unnecessary. More chances for the player to use their favorite units are good.

Toxic Soul probably doesn't need to inflict its user with poison. A strength penalty (-4 STR, -2 SKL) will be fine.

The rest I'm still thinking over.

Back to the salt mines!

[Corrobin]

On Noel, she's an adopted orphan. Yeah, she could be a falcon.

That store idea...

How about this: There are two "bins" of items that inventory bases off of Naoya and Noel's levels. Basically, Naoya's bin has more variety but is a bit specialized (Blazing Arrow, Fell Pyre, Curative (Item, Heal 5 Hp and cure Poison), Desert Rose (A tome that deals more damage if the wielder is on a desert tile) and other interesting items. Noel's is a bit more boring but more generally useful (Bloodedge, which acts like a Nosferatu sword, Azure Flame, which is a Fire tome with 10 extra Crit but 2 more Weight, monster-effective weapons, improved "Slayer" weapons)

Gwen and Atsuro were doing intelligence work before the caravan. Woden just want them to come along.

[Omegaprism]

For Noel, great. Keep in mind I'm not opposed to the relationship, I just think it could make an interesting story.

For the spies, also great. I just got a laugh out of it, that's all. :)

For the shops, it's nothing too complicated. The weapon merchant and blacksmith are the same NPC, and I was just going to have the item store be a generic. Now Naoya can mind it by default, offering all kinds of unique limited-time deals for rare stuff, like special soulstones, stat boosters, specialized weapons (Desert Rose is a good example here, also Deepstriker Axe, Beast Lance, that kind of thing), etc. It would be a separate tab from the normal item shop, but in the same screen (press left or right on the D-pad to switch between them). If Naoya dies, Noel can be a backup, but the variety isn't as awesome because now there's only an apprentice mad scientist. If Noel dies and Naoya lives, Naoya will still mind the store, but the available items will also be affected.

And now, the next chapter:

Seiryu path: An Echo in the Void

If you follow Frey, she will bid farewell to the others as they go about their business for the day, and as soon as Veronica's scouting party is in the distant horizon, promptly sneaks out of the makeshift encampment to track down the source of the earlier roaring sound. Just as she thinks she has eluded detection, she hears a pair of voices.

"It appears lady Veronica was right," a male voice says. "She just couldn't resist."

"Don't sound so judgemental," a female voice replies. "If you were the last of your kind you would be just as eager to find a friend."

"Ah, but I have you, don't I? And who could ask for more?"

"Oh stop. This is no time to flirt."

The wolves, Fenga and Dalla, step out of the shadows and kneel before Frey. "My queen," they say in unison.

Frey expresses some displeasure about being followed, but the wolves take turns pointing out the various terrible things that could happen to a lone young woman in a strange land, starting with small things, like tearing her nice dress, and slowly getting worse and worse, until she interrupts them with a terse, "Okay, I get it," and they both smile.

Their conversation is interrupted by Kin (if he was recruited), who bumps into them while looking for berries and nuts. The little fairy dragon decides to tag along, and if they don't let him he'll snitch. With a sigh of resignation the trio becomes a quartet. Just as Dalla asks Frey how she plans to track the beast, suddenly both she and Kin snap their gazes in the same direction. "Do you hear that?" she asks. The wolves shake their heads, and without further discussion the group begins trekking through the wilderness, guided by a strange signal that only the Seiryu seem to be following.

Eventually they find a valley with a river running down its center, feeding into and running off of a lake. At the edge of the lake is a small house. From their hiding place at the valley's entrance, Fenga and Dalla can smell a strong scent in the air. Several shadows glide across the valley floor. Upon looking up, the Vilcoorians can see a number of wyvern riders patrolling the skies above. Frey comments on how vulgar the wyverns look with harnesses and tiny humans on their backs. A larger-than-average wyvern appears over the mountains and sails down to the house by the lake. It has a body in its clutches, which it places on the ground before landing. The rider, dressed in dark red armor, dismounts and knocks on the front door of the house, and a middle-aged man with long blond hair and an equally long beard steps outside.

Frey's back suddenly straightens as she murmurs, "One of them is a Seiryu."

Kin, wide-eyed, nods vigorously in agreement.

Fenga gives Frey a skeptical look. "Your highness, are you sure? Your family is supposed to be the last of the Seiryu houses, and besides, no one else could have come through the Cosmic Gate after us."

"What about me?" asks Kin, still staring down at the house by the lake.

Everyone ignores him, much to his chagrin.

"There can be no doubt," Frey says. "Before the cataclysm, whenever my family or emissaries from the other houses were nearby, I could always feel their presence. As my people were killed I could feel each of them die, until all that was left was a great emptiness that could never be filled."

"What am I, a dead fish?" interjects Kin, annoyed.

"Hush," snaps Fenga.

"Now there is something echoing in that void, like a single voice shouting across a frozen lake," Frey continues.

"Well," says Dalla as he props his sheathed sword on his shoulder, "I suppose we should go say hello then."

Fenga's smile is both reassuring and predatory at the same time.

They approach the house, all in human form, and as they do, the wolves pick up snippets of the conversation the bearded man and the wyvern rider are having, like, "...killed every last one," and, "...blade was gone." The bearded man says, "...still use its humours," and, "...stone?"

"Be careful, your highness," mutters Fenga. "This place has the stench of death and fell magic."

The armored rider is the first to notice their approach. He quickly mounts his wyvern and takes wing, landing in front of the group to intimidate them. "Who goes there?" He demands with a raspy voice. "You are trespassing on the land of the king's advisor and court magician!"

The wolves are quick to place themselves between Frey and the wyvern rider. "You are brandishing a weapon at Her Highness Queen Frey, last scion of the Seiryu tribe, the Lady of the Mountain, and the Savior of Vilcoor," Dalla declares. "Now step aside and lower your head, or be made to."

The bloody body on the ground begins to stir, and tries to prop himself up. "V-Vilcoor?" he murmurs, coughing. "...Seiryu?"

The bearded man pushes the half-dead man back to the ground with a kick. "Quiet, beast," he says. "The dead should not bother the living." He waves the armored rider off and approaches with hands clasped behind his back. "How interesting," he says. "I am the high magister Thorgen, chief advisor to King Ilarand. I have traveled across much of this world, and I cannot claim to have ever heard of a place called Vilcoor."

"It is not likely that you would have," replies Frey. "Our lands are much diminished from what they once were."

"I see," Thorgen replies. "And what business have you with me, young queen?"

"We have reason to believe one of our citizens has been separated and found their way to this valley. We were unaware of its status as your property."

"One of your citizens?" Thorden looks back at the bloodied, faintly struggling man on the ground. "Are you claiming kinship with that... thing?"

"It will be easier to determine that once we have had a closer look," Frey says.

A smile creases Thorden's face. "Yes, a closer look is just what is needed," he muses. "Weir!"

The large wyvern descends upon the small group of Vilcoorians, narrowly missing Frey with its claws.

The group draw their weapons. "What is the meaning of this?!" Frey demands.

"If your claims in kinship are indeed true, then like this man you are a shapeshifter," says Thorden. "I have much use for a shapeshifter, both alive and dead. This creature is on his last legs, thanks to my men, so I had given up on having him as a servant. But now, after all these years, there are four more. What luck!"

"Does this mean I don't have to worry about capturing all of them?" Weir asks from atop his mount.

"Do as you will with the servants," Thorden replies. "The queen's capture is of the utmost import." He then warps away.

The map is a long, winding path through a mountain range. A whole bunch of wyvern riders ring the edges, with caves atop several mountains acting as reinforcement spawn points for more. Several cavaliers also block the mountain path, either forcing Frey's party to cross the mountains themselves or face mounted enemies armed with a mixture of swords and lances. Sprinkled among the enemy are a paladin, a great knight, and a wyvern lord, all armed with steel weapons, and a pair of troubadours, equipped with Physic staves. Weir, the boss, is a wyvern lord with a spear, a dragoon lance, and a killer axe (the axe will drop). The enemy density is pretty high for only having 3 or 4 playable units, so to balance it out there are several forts at intervals along the path. This map is also an excellent showcase of Fenga and Dalla's shared innate skill, Back to Back (use the Defend command to grant adjacent allies 2 less damage taken and +5 doubling resistance). Unfortunately, Weir has carried the half-dead Vilcoorian all the way to the other side of the map. Frey only has 15 rounds to mount a successful rescue, otherwise he bleeds to death.

Frey has a unique prefight dialogue with Weir where he says, "So you're a queen, eh? If you crawl in the mud like a worm and beg for mercy, I'll spare your life. Ha ha ha!"

"That's funny," she replies. "I was prepared to make you the same offer."

Upon his defeat, Weir will normally say, "Gah... ugh... monsters! They're monsters!" before dying. If Frey kills him he instead says, "Wah! No! I'm so sorry! F-forgive me, your highness!" Frey will say, "An insect need not beg forgiveness as it is crushed," and then he dies.

Approaching the half-dead man (a stationary green unit) and talking to him ends the mission. Thorden reappears and says, "You killed Weir? I have to say, I'm impressed. It lends some credence to the story that your dying friend there ruthlessly murdered so many of my men by himself."

Frey's eyes flash with anger. "You!" She transforms and lets out a roar. "I will paint these mountains with your blood!"

"My queen, we must get this man to the healers!" Fenga says.

"Another time, then," Thorgen says, warping away once more.

Frey roars once more, loud enough to shake the ground under everyone's feet.

Everyone flinches involuntarily, and Kin murmurs, "Is this the legendary rage of the Seiryu?"

After she quiets down, still in dragon form, she snaps, "Don't just stand there! Bring him here." She gingerly takes the broken body from Dalla and tells the wolves and Kin to be careful returning, avoiding detection where possible. Then she and launches herself into the sky, flying as fast as her wings will carry her.

When she reaches the encampment, the others have already returned from their respective missions and are beginning to wonder aloud where their queen is.

As she lands, Veronica gives her a shocked look before bellowing, "Hail Queen Frey!"

Everyone present immediately turns and kneels. Upon seeing the mess in her arms, a team of healers rushes over to set about their work. Critch can be heard saying, "Look at all the blood!" with more excitement than worry. Naoya also chimes in, hopefully, "Maybe it's already too late!"

As Frey goes back to human form, a look of exasperation on her face, Woden says, "Don't worry, my liege. They're odd, but they do good work. If he can be saved, it'll be those two that do it. Dalla's a tough one. Poor Fenga must be worried sick, though."

"Dalla's fine," Frey replies absently.

Ruganel does a double take. "Wait, that wasn't Fenga was it?! I thought she had long hair!"

Frey rolls her eyes. "Both Fenga AND Dalla are fine," she declares. "At least they were when we parted company."

Veronica gapes. "My lady, you left them to fly here unguarded?! What were you thinking?"

Frey motions to the frightfully still form being carried into the healer's tents, and displays her blood-covered dress. "Time was a factor, Veronica. They are both quite capable, and should find their way home without much trouble." After another moment to stare after the half-dead man who must, MUST be a Seiryu tribesman, Frey takes a seat at the bonfire and motions for her inner circle to join her. "Now, let's hear your reports."

Phew! Book 2 has been quite an undertaking, and it's only half done! I will probably go back to broad story strokes after this just to move the story along. Until next time!

[Corrobin]

Wait, you didn't give your opinion on the chapter titles!

Naoya's Inventions (With some of Noel's in there too):

Hydro Blast: Deals more damage if Wielder is on Water tile

Rock Riser: Deals more damage on Mountains

Displace: Staff/Spellsong. Range of Magic/2, switch caster and target.

Wyrmcide: Improved Wyrmslayer

(See monster-effective weapons)

Triple Threat: 5 Might, Bow, Effective against beasts, deeps and dragons but not flyers.

Reinforce: Staff, grants +3 Defense to the affected

Mind Shut: Staff, debuff an enemy's Magic and Resistance by 2 each

[Corrobin]

Fang Breaker: Sword, debuffs enemy Strength

Armor Shredder: Debuff Defense

Knee Breaker: Debuff Speed

Magic Blade: Uses Magic at both 1-2 range

Final Edge: One use, 50 Might

[Corrobin]

Chapter titles:

On A Throne of Corpses

Between Absolution and Void

The Place Between Black and White

The Forest Of Lies

A Wicked King's Rule

Descendants of the Holy War

The Crest's Mystery

Our Intertwined Fates

Sinner's Path

The Road to Hell...

Hope and Despair