Beyond the Beyond: Update 61: A Shadow's Nest (Bandore Castle)

[ladyabaxa]

Beyond the Beyond: Update 61: A Shadow's Nest (Bandore Castle)

Having found Lord Kevins the kids were told in no uncertain terms by him that they should get the hell out of dodge because they really can't afford to have all of Bandore after them. Being good kids they respected his somewhat sagely advice and retreated leaving him to face his upcoming execution all by his lonesome self. After a rest stop at the town's inn it's time to assess the situation. First up let's see how the team's doing statwise.

Finn's up first. He's actually leading in VP and Attack power thanks to extra +Attack from his equipment. I considered having him and Annie swap rings but her VP is lagging and the extra defense helps make up for that. Illusion is still useless and he never bothers with his fire magic because there are two mages in the group way better at that.

Annie's VP growth has been lagging behind and consequently she's dropped to last place in that department. However with the highest LP and Defense she can still take quite a beating and keep going. She's also still the only team member who takes half damage from magic when not defending. MP could be better but 46 is enough for 7 Healing Rains. Heal 3, Awaken, and her Cure line still see no use and I would use Holy Light but a combination of two mages in the party and needing all her MP for healing means that never happens.

Samson's still Samson doing Samson things and acting last on our side. Although Finn's managed to squeak by to top Attack power I'm not unhappy with Samson's stats thus far. His VP isn't as high as I'd like (again, he has no MP, spells, or special abilities so he should be a beefy mound of health with lots of Strength) but his Defense is good and despite his low Speed he is helpful.

While not as fragile as he used to be Tont's still pretty squishy and his Speed has barely moved. Thankfully the Tempest Ring gives him enough of a boost that he can get a spell in before most enemies can move. Unfortunately unless he gets some +Speed on future level ups he's going to be in some trouble. Enemies are going to get faster and if Tont falls behind them in turn order his usefulness will take a nasty hit. For now though his Firedrake spell still sees regular use even against flame-resistant enemies. For 6 MP it still deals a nice chunk of damage to groups of them.

Occupying slot 5 in the roster is Edward. The young prince is first place in IQ by a landslide and I still have no idea what that stat does but it doesn't hurt Edward to have it. He's behind Tont and Annie in MP but now that's he learned Fire 3 he can use the MP he has effectively. In a rather amusing separation of story and gameplay Edward's behind Samson in Strength by a mere 4 points despite the fact that he's a frail boy half Samson's size. Kid's been eating his Wheaties I guess.

Outside the inn Finn pauses for a moment.

And what are you thinking oh brother of mine?
About my dad.
Too bad about him, Finn. He seemed like a nice guy.
Oh no. I know that look.
What look?
That "I'm thinking about doing something incredibly reckless look" on your face right now. We are not going back in there.
There's still a chance, Annie.
We heard Kevins being dragged away to his execution. Hours ago I might add. Finn I know you want your dad back but let's face it. He's gone.
I'm not leaving Bandore until I know for sure. If I have to go alone I will.
Finn be reasonable. Even if by some miracle you find Kevins alive what are you going to do? Are you prepared to fight your way through part of the Bandore army?
If that's what it takes then... yes, I am.
Bandore is evacuating right now. Wherever they've taken Kevins might be lightly defended.
See? There is a chance!
I'm going to regret going along with this later aren't I?
Probably but would you really prefer to sit here and wait?
HELL NO. I'd sooner kick down the doors of that castle myself.

Before heading out the team stocks up for a long haul. I'm just going to be upfront about this. We're about to face one of the hardest guantlets in the game: a long stretch of sequential dungeons. We've already seen two back to back - the passage to Bandore Castle and the castle itself - but we've got a lot more ground to cover. I've done my best to try to pace things out thus far but once we get through Bandore Castle we have to be prepared to complete the next sequence of events without returning to town. If Mage's Potions were sold in Bandore I'd have a more relaxed position on this but as-is attrition is a real problem. There are no save points, no rest stops, no equipment upgrades, and no more freebies once we're in the castle. The only things we'll have at our disposal are what we bring with us and they have to last.

Especially because the only ways back are a total party wipe and a walk through Bandore Castle. Just like with Marion Castle before there's no porting out of Bandore Castle. It is not considered a dungeon by the Escape spell.

With their preparations complete the team heads back into the tunnel.

So has anyone given any thought to how we're going to get Lord Kevins out of Bandore? We can't exactly just stroll out the front gate with him.
I haven't gotten that far, sis.
That's exactly the answer I was dreading.
Finn aims to deliver!
Aims to deliver my headache apparently.
We'll figure something out when we get there.
We're already heading up into the mountains towards the volcanoes. Rather than come back we should push ahead into that rough terrain.
You want us to go further towards danger?
Until a better opportunity presents itself then yes.

First we should deal with the enemies ahead of us.

Back into the tunnel means back into the high encounter rate. It's going to be a long day for the kids.

In the castle Annie reaches level 22 and upgrades her Holy Light spell. I still have no intention of using it unless there's an emergency. Having two mages in the party means two characters who can devote 100% of their MP pools to nuking. I suppose if Tont was slower I'd consider it.

There was one way the team didn't go last time.

I really hope they didn't take Kevins out that back gate.
If they did we'll just have to find a way around.
The castle seems pretty deserted now.
You mean besides all the monsters?
Eh, they'll probably wander out soon enough.
Shutat's probably the reason they are here.
Well there you go then. We'll kick him out and he'll take the monsters with him.

Upstairs the kids find an empty throne room.

For a glorious empire this is kind of small and disappointing. Nice big comfy looking throne though.
I'll be sure to set it on fire when we get done.

I bet they'll be happy to help you!
They're not going to be alive at that point.
You always have to ruin their fun don't you?
It's a gift.

Just because the team is upstairs doesn't mean the random encounters stop. Any interior space in this castle that's not the dungeons is crawling with enemies at this point. Why not the dungeons too? I guess the monsters are afraid of being arrested or something. Maybe Shutat or Ramue kicked them out for some reason.

To the south of the throne room is another door that leads outside. I know it doesn't look like a door but with the carpet pointing right to it and the layout of Marion castle doing the same thing it isn't hard to find.

Outside the kids find the battlements are for some strange reason bisected with low walls that stop them from walking to the northern side.

I wonder what all these grates are here for.
My guess would be to let heat out of the castle's interior.

The east side would also be as disappointing if there wasn't a set of wooden stairs leading down to the cliff.

Well that probably leads to the volcano.
We should be sure before setting out.
That's the plan.

Back in the castle the monsters are back on the offensive. It's a good thing the mages have enough attack power to attack with or they'd be out of MP by this point. Well that or Annie would have spent more of her own MP healing because the team wouldn't kill things as quickly.

No one in your village is going to believe that you fought an ogre hand to hand.
They will if I bring back a head or something!
Since when were you planning on going back to Simone?
Well... gotta visit home eventually, right?
*raises an eyebrow*

On their way back into the castle the kids finally find out what Razor Demons can do. They can cast Thunder 1. If you were surprised by that well... where have you been the entire game thus far?

Was a Summon 3 overkill in this particular situation? Yeah. Was it fun to cast? Yeah. Was I hoping the monster attacked and was blocked? Hell yeah because that never stops being funny.

I don't mind this spell calling nature spirits. They're actually kind of pleasant.
Every one you've called has been very aggressive though.
As long as they don't attack us I'm fine with that.

Thanks to that Thunder 1 the team is in need of another Healing Rain. Annie might have enough MP for 8 casts at the time of this screenshot but that MP will be gone in ten to fifteen minutes of game time.

Upstairs the kids find two things: what looks like the emperor's bedroom and a hideous color scheme. The emperor could definitely do with a better interior decorator. I am also amused to find that the game has a line of bookshelves in an awkward place because the developers didn't make any shelves that could be lined up against a vertical wall. It almost looks like a privacy screen.

Not quite fancy digs.
I guess the emperor lives modestly... for an emperor.
Maybe we'll find some insight into his invasion of Marion.

Emperor's books (from right to left)

Oooh, I love this game! I'll start!
Uh, Steiner this isn't really a game. Aww heck you're totally not even listening to me.
"The Right Generals". Well what about the right generals? What do they do for you?
Well if this book "World Domination" is any clue they're supposed to win wars and stuff.
Clearly the emperor didn't pick the right generals then.
Hmm. "Who are the Vicious Ones?". It would have been nice to find out before we met them.
They didn't impress you with their sparkling personalities?
The two we met so far? No.
You know I kinda have my doubts they are real Vicious Ones.
I don't know that Ramue lady seems plenty mean.
Arawn didn't say they were and so far other than Ramue cursing Sir Samson they haven't really been acting like world-ending evil masterminds.
What about Ramue cursing Percy?
I think at this point Ramue will curse just about anybody because she loves doing that.
I notice that Sir Samson isn't saying anything about the subject.
I don't have anything to say. That's all behind me now.
Ramue was going to win the war with a curse-athon!
I really, really hope the emperor wasn't counting on anything like that.
If nothing else we have to give the old man credit for having a consistent theme to his library. If your life's ambition is to take over the world a healthy stock of books on the subject is mandatory!
So did the books come first or the ambition?
I'm going to go with ambition and I'm not just saying that because I fully plan on stealing all these books for my evil lair.
Kryar! It's not like the emperor's going to be using them.
Hmm, this looks promising.
What is it?
It's [t]he Emperor's diary: "I've done what Shutat told me, but we have repeatedly made mistakes. Should I continue trusting him? We have gone so far that there is no turning back now."
See? Even the emperor has doubts.
Although if Shutat's trying to destroy Bandore he's doing a good job of it.
...you know that is depressingly true.
This is all very fascinating but we need to be moving on.
Yeah we've had our laugh. It's time to face the music.

With the castle fully explored its down the stairs and into a narrow passage through the rocks.

I really hope this is the right way.
There's no other way to go.
Hence why I'm worried.

Not ten feet into the next screen the first random encounter of the area pops up with a brand new monster. Meet the Stone Golem.

Plenty of golems around here. I bet they're even made out of the local rock.

This could be a problem!

Stone Golems have one thing going for them: lots of defense. Finn and Samson barely break double digits and the two mages uselessly scratch for 1 damage per attack.

Why doesn't Simone have awesome golems to guard it? We wouldn't have to worry about monsters then.
But all the golems we've seen have tried to cave your skulls in.
Yeah but they're not attacking their human buddies so there's gotta be a spell or command or something to get them to behave.
You know I'm perfectly fine with us not having to fight our way into your home village.

Stone Golems don't just soak up a lot of punishment. They can also dish it out pretty well. One hit from a golem is 2/3rds of someone's health which definitely can't be ignored.

For these formations its better for Tont and Edward to attack the priest. We don't want the priest to heal the golem (we're already having enough trouble hurting it with physical attacks) and with MP in such short supply the mages can stay productive beating up the squishy enemy cleric. They do enough damage that the cleric has to heal themselves and still dies the next turn because they couldn't heal enough.

A short way along the path the kids find a narrow passage heading north.

Is that a door?
It looks like a swinging door actually.
And it's attached right to the rock.
Bandore has some weird design sense. Why do they even need a door out here? Doesn't this go to the volcano?
It's so they keep out all the pirates who aren't in port, of course!
While we just stroll in through the front gate.
Maybe they only had so many doors on hand?
This does seem rather suspicious. If they're really worried about the Marion army showing up shouldn't this be locked so no one can try to rescue Lord Kevins?
Eh, someone will probably lock it behind us trapping us up on the volcano.
And we're still going forward knowing that's a risk?
Yes we are.
There's nowhere to go but forward.
Precisely!

Surprising no one the door closes behind the team once they are inside. The doors are easy to miss when playing but a close look at the screen will reveal them.

Then the other door closes. They're powered by... motion sensors, magic, pure undiluted plot?

Ha! Gotcha, Finn!

The team looks up and sees Shutat and Ramue standing on the cliff above. Don't ask how they see them. The angle seems completely wrong. They can maybe see Shutat's horns unless it's a short cliff.

Why does this not come as a surprise?
Because we figured someone would try this the moment we walked into the castle?
Oh yeah.

Oh mercy me I was starting to think you wouldn't show up!
That's Ramue, right?
Yes.
I can see them just fine!
Well then who all's up there?
Just the horned guy and the purple haired lady.
Oh is that all?
Is that all? My, my you have learned some very bad manners from your fellow barbarians!
If it's all the same we'd be happy to skip this reunion.
I knew that when you found out about Kevins' scheduled execution you would come here!
I don't suppose we could talk you into canceling it can we?
Alas poor sweet Kevins has gone to his eternal rest.
You...!
Oh? Does that distress you? Don't worry. You'll be joining him soon enough.
Talk, talk, talk. That's all you ever do!
Oh, ho, ho, I have offended the chief barbarian!
I must apologize for not being able to see to your demise here personally, but I have other matters to attend to. Now, if you'll excuse me...

Ramue steps in front of Shutat

Of course, I wouldn't dream of leaving without giving you a little gift!

With some flashy glowing she summons two armored figures who drop down in front of the team. Ramue then steps aside so Shutat can gloat some more.

If you want to save Kevins, you will have to get by them. Till we meet again... if you live, that is.

What is so important that everyone has to run off at the sight of us?
I wonder how long they've been waiting for us to show up. It has been hours since someone showed up to get Kevins.
They could have just sent soldiers to attack us in town if they were certain we were coming.

...
Lord Shutat...?
Just get us out of here.

Shutat and Ramue AAWWAAAAAAYY!

It seems we won't be getting answers to any of those questions.
Does anyone else feel like this trap of theirs was half-ass thrown together at the last second? Anyone?
Yes.
Definitely.
Feels like it.
Sounds about right.
Would you have it any other way, Finn?
Okay. I just wanted to check because I'm mildly scared right now but also kind of pissed off that they couldn't even bother with putting up a real fight.

Prraaarr! Why Finn is that you getting used to seeing monsters everywhere?
No. It's just me expecting to have some big mean demon thing dropped on my head and being disappointed. I know cats play with their prey before killing them but at least it's the real thing. This is just wasting our time.

So Ramue just summoned a pair of Phantom Armors and a duo of Wyverns to attack the party. These are just run of the mill monsters and this time the game doesn't even try to pretend that they're anything more. Still it is a large~ish formation so Edward tosses out a Fire 3.

Tont then follows up with a Firedrake 1 spell. By that point melee damage from Annie and Finn plus that Fire 3 had killed one Phantom Armor.

The Wyverns are back row but their defense even with the row modifier is kind of sad. Annie uses a herb on herself just in case while Edward and Finn take out one Wyvern.

Then a Summon 3 from Tont calls a Succubus who Ice 2's the remaining Wyvern. Not only does it get a damage bonus because the Wyvern is weak to ice magic but it also give me a chance to show off the goofy face they make whenever they take damage. I mean seriously, just look at it.

Once the battle ends there's still a little matter of being locked into this chokepoint.

We defeated those monsters... but how do we get out of here?
Sir Samson do you think you can break down the doors?
Probably.
Maybe we can just climb up. It doesn't look too high from here.

Steiner flies around then turns to Finn.

I wonder if there is a key around here. I bet Shutat has it.
Yeah probably. Well what do you guys want to try first?

Suddenly a key falls out of the sky and lands behind Finn. I'm not even exaggerating a little here.

What's that sound?

Finn turns around.

I do believe that might be a way out that just fell into our laps.
Wha...? Steiner is someone up there?

Steiner flies up and sees an armored figure all in black (who is definitely not Percy) run off.

Who was that? It looks like he was wearing some kind of mask.

Steiner flies back down to Finn.

Someone all in black wearing a mask. Sound like anybody we know, sis?
Ugh. He'd better still be in one piece by the time I get my hands on him!
Well, this key should open the doors!
Then let us be off. Even if what Ramue said is true we might still be able to catch the emperor.
*sighs* Yeah...

Key item Silver Key got! (Bandore loves its keys doesn't it?)

Items > Silver Key > Use

That opens both doors. It also consumes the Silver Key which is just fine as it has no further use and we are a long way from the storage box.

I wonder how your other brother got that key, Annie.
I hope for Ramue's sake that she didn't give it to him.

Meanwhile...

(1) Should we tell Mistress Ramue that some of her things have been... er, creatively scrutinized?
(2) You mean after the last time she chewed us out? Hell no. Just put things back the way they were and pretend nothing happened.
(1) Works for me!

With that forward momentum can be achieved!

Next time on Beyond the Beyond - we've got a volcano ahead of us and the dynamic villain duo probably set up a death course for us to navigate. Actually given the level of competence thus far we'll probably just stroll around the corner and find Kevins.

Update Sixty | Index | Update Sixty-two