Beyond the Beyond: Update 62: Vulcanism (Volcano)

[ladyabaxa]

Beyond the Beyond: Update 62: Vulcanism (Volcano)

In our last installment the kids made it through Bandore Castle and ventured out towards the volcano that's in walking distance of town. There were some shenanigans and a fight and the team made it through easily. Now they've got a volcano in front of them and no idea if Lord Kevins is still alive.

Just to the east of the gated cul-de-sac is a set of stairs leading up onto the cliffs.

Also, there are actual Bandore soldiers roaming around unlike in the castle because that totally makes sense, right?

Prraa! Hello humans! I don't suppose you've seen a condemned prisoner come this way have you?
Steiner what are you doing?
I'm helping!
I don't think they're listening to you.
Well that's exactly the problem with you humans. You should be listening to me all the time!
Even when you're wrong?
Especially when I'm wrong!
You know if I were more cynical I'd remark that that explains so much about you Steiner.
Aww you don't have to compliment me. I already know how amazing I am.

Up north past the stairs the team finds a pair of twisty little passages going in different directions.

So where did that masked guy go?
Musta' been to the north there.
West heads towards the castle.
I guess it couldn't hurt to go that way first.
Gonna have a nice chat with the emperor, Finn?
The thought had crossed my mind. He'd know what the execution plans are.

Moments later a priest with a pair of Stone Golems attacks the party. Things go badly at the outset when Finn is counter attacked for 2/3rds of his VP.

Ow, ow, ow! Why does everything have to clobber me?
It just doesn't like your sword. That's all.

At this moment I'm glad I have a staff.

Annie blocks the first golem attack of the round.

Finn isn't so lucky. The other golem strolls over to finish the job of sending him to groggy status it started earlier. Yes that is going from full health to unconscious in two hits. Stone Golems do not pull any punches.

The hits just keep on coming (pun fully intended) when Golem A gets in on the act after Golem B's demise.

Then Samson joins Finn in getting a 1-round groggy. Stone Golems are actually slower than he is. The team just took more damage from one golem then the entire squad Shutat and Ramue set after them. That's kind of sad, actually.

While waiting for groggied comrades to recover Edward falls back on Fire 2 since his physical attacks do nothing to these golems. Fire 1 isn't much better but it is something.

Ow, my head!
It's a good thing you're so hardheaded, Finn.
I'm going to spend the rest of my life with a permanent headache at this rate.
But according to Steiner you are a permanent headache.
I'll choose to take that as a compliment.
Exactly as intended.

That was just one battle on the mountain. One, of what will be many. Samson finally reaches level 22 at least. (His level up was pathetic though. I wasn't keeping track of his experience as I should have.)

Just to the northwest of where Shutat and Ramue were gloating the team finds a locked door.

It won't budge. Sir Samson?
I doubt we'll find out what happened to Lord Kevins by going this way.
What makes you say that?
We're getting close to the ocean. Listen. You can hear seagulls.
The hinges on this door look like they might be rusted in place. I doubt anyone's opened this for a long time.
If the ocean is that way that's where the emperor must have fled. He's probably boarding a ship right now.
Okay. Into the volcano then. Uh, er, not literally I hope... Do you know any protection from fire spells, Edward?
I'm afraid Master Myrrdin didn't get that far.

On the way back to the intersection the team runs into a pack of enemies: 2 Evil Summoners, 2 Ogres, and a Stone Golem chilling in the back row because its base defense just wasn't high enough. The mages promptly cue up their spells. That's what those spells are for after all!

Back into the narrow passages.

Are the walls closing in yet, Finn?
*looks to Sir Samson* Things seem fine for now.

Around the corner and to the north the kids find the entrance to a cave.

What's that smell?
Sniff, sniff. EWWW!

Inside the cave is... LAVA! Or it could just be some hot red liquid that is easily mistaken for video game lava. It's a good thing Beyond the Beyond cares nothing for convection otherwise the kids would be in some serious trouble.

Okay I thought I said I didn't want to go into the volcano.
It's hot.
Not too bad though.
Evil lair material?
Way too dry. And I don't like the thought that a volcano could erupt and wipe out all my hard work whenever it felt like it.

Not surprisingly the monsters are unfazed by the not-lava all around them. The team does get a new battle background though so that's something.

HA!
You do seem to rather enjoy that.
Oh yeah! When I go back to Simone I'm going to be a veteran monster hunter.
Or you're going to have lots of ogre enemies.
Meh.

The Razor Demon in back calls for help but this time the new Razor Demon doesn't get to act immediately. The iniative system is quirky when it comes to this stuff. I'm not complaining since it means I'm not being pelted by magic but it would be nice if it was consistent.

Annie then takes out the first Razor Demon with a nice critical hit.

Two can play this game, Tont.
Not bad. Not bad.
Not bad? That's all you can say?

What do you an expect? The Ballad of Annie?
Well if it was halfway decent I wouldn't mind.

Double attacks from mages against a high defense target are less than impressive.

My mana-pinching ways results in me taking a Thunder 1 which will require a Healing Rain to repair after the battle. Laugh at my folly.

On the bright side Edward reaches level 23 as the battle ends and picks up a brand new spell by learning Void level 1. I won't be using it for now so we'll find out what it does later.

Across the not-lava patch is... a dead end!

What's that stuff oozing out of the ceiling?
Are you really sure you wanna know, sis?
It could be magma being forced out by the pressure of the rocks.
Looks kinda tangy if you ask me.

Turning around the team finds another random encounter and another chance for a Razor Demon to Thunder 1 them. Hurray!

Well this is gonna hurt isn't it?
Ow, ow, ow!
Eh, you'll be fine.

After healing up from their latest round of electrocution the team faces the field of not-lava they had to cross to reach the dead end.

Is this really the cave people used to travel through to reach Zeal?
There doesn't seem to be any alternative so it seems the answer is yes.

I guess that's why we never see anybody from Zeal in Marion.

Literally two steps later there is another random encounter but this time has actual Fire Giants. At last we see them in their natural habitat, the majestic video game volcano. I hear that it makes for a lovely scenic vacation spot provided one is able to avoid fiery death. Come for the view, stay for the adrenaline rush of a life and death struggle!

Now the not-lava itself is a damage field as would be expected in a video game. It only does 1 damage (damaging VP only) per step which is not all that much but the team doesn't have a whole lot of VP to begin with. To keep damage to a minimum I always use the shortest route possible. It might be possible to be attacked while on the not-lava but it never happened in this run. (Again, spending as little time as possible on the damage fields.)

What are those things?
Hydras!
I take it that's bad.

Just to the north the team runs into a formation with a new enemy. Meet the Pyrohydra. The first time I played Beyond the Beyond the appearance of these multi-headed behemoths made me pause for a second. That's because the last time I had seen Pyrohydras was in Shining Force 2...

...where they are powerful end game monsters. In fact I looked them up in The Caravan and they only appear in the final battle. Nowhere else, not even the bonus stage. We're clearly not at the end of Beyond the Beyond so this 6-headed variant can't be all that bad, right?

I set the team to concentrate on the Pyrohydras not knowing how much defense they might have and hoping to kill at least one through combined attacks. Annie led the assault.

I bet you think you're just so tough living around a volcano and having six heads!
Prrarr. Annie's taunting the monsters again.

Annie's also leads the team in getting pummeled by the Pyrohydras.

Umph!
I guess the answer is to ask you the same question.

Pyrohydras are the fastest critters we've run into so far. They broke in with their attacks after Edward's turn. (Samson was the other target.) This makes it impossible to kill them right off the bat.

Even with four people attacking it the team couldn't quite kill one Pyrohydra. Tont and Edward just didn't deal much damage. It was battered down past half life however which meant the priest responded with a Heal 2. The AI is actually pretty good about healing itself. That's mildly annoying but since the combined attacks did well over 25 damage the team has still made progressing in killing it.

Then the second wave of attacks began. Not second round, mind you, the second wave. Pyrohydras get two actions per round. Down goes Annie into groggy status.

Rargh!
And what does that hit mean, Tont?
That I'm next, probably.

And that was how the first round of combat ended - with Annie and Samson temporarily out of the fight. Samson at least got to attack negating most of the healing that Pyrohydra got. It was still not a good way to start the battle. Meh, they have LP. They'll walk it off.

Is it just me or are these things kicking our asses?
It's not just you, Finn.
Good because Annie's kind of out of it and she's my voice of reason.
...look at the birdies...eweuu

There's nothing to worry about. We have this well under control don't we Tont?
As long as we don't have to do this for long then sure, totally under control!

In the next round Edward spends 6 of his remaining 13 MP to cast Thunder 1. As might be expected Pyrohydras are not particularly flammable. The damage dealt by Thunder 1 is not spectacular but hey it kills the injured Pyrohydra so score one for Edward! Pyrohydras are weak to ice magic but as has been established the Ice line of spells is too expensive for anything but emergency casting.

With Annie and Samson groggied it falls to Finn to hold the front line. He gets thoroughly pummelled.

Why does this keep happening to me?
You're just not cute and loveable enough, Finn.
Aargh!

With Finn's attack the second Pyrohydra finally dies. Now I could have used nukes from the outset but held off since I want to show off what monsters can do. I could also have tried Confusion but the fact that Confusion takes a round to really kick in makes it hilariously broken but in a way that doesn't do much to the game overall. It wouldn't have changed that opening round.

Tont had a Summon 3 spell queued up against the Pyrohydras but with them dead his spell no longer has a target.

That went faster than I thought it would. Good job, Finn?
I'll accept that compliment.
Pryaarr. It's kind of hard to miss when you've got six big heads to flail against.
Better than one tiny head that does nothing to any of the monsters.
Hey have you seen this tiny head get hit? No, you haven't so there!

Speaking of being hit in the head that looks like it'll leave a mark.

The priest then groggies Finn. He only had 3 VP left so that wasn't exactly a big shock. Beyond the Beyond always finds ways to deliver an extra kick when you're down.

Then Annie recovers from groggy status. With one priest left standing waiting another round for Finn to recover is a no-brainer.

Okay did anyone get a count on the number of heads that actually hit me?
It all happened too fast I'm afraid.
Figures.

Low mana means dipping into the Mage's Potion stock. Good thing we brought those!

I'm afraid my mana reserves are sorely depleted.
Translation?
I think he wants one of those potions you've been hoarding, Tont.
Ooooh. Duh. Well here ya go then. Enjoy!
*drinks the Mage's Potion* Ugh, I had forgotten how awful the taste is!

I guess I'd better have some of that too.
Here ya go!
*opens the bottle* Ugh, even the smell is terrible.

The team waits while Annie contorts in disgust.

Are you going to be okay, sis?
Edward promise me something.
What is it?
When you take the throne of Marion promise me you'll come up with a formula that doesn't taste like fermented gargoyle piss.
That... is a colorful way to describe it.
Just promise me, okay?
Uh, yeah, I'll see what I can do.

As the kids make their way through the tunnel looking for an exit that takes them deeper into the volcano they run across a Razor Demon and two Evil Summoners. One summoner is killed in the first round but the other decides to take some revenge.

Hey I know that spell! ... oh crap...

Beyond the Beyond would like to take this moment to remind you that it hates you and everything you stand for. Yes that Evil Summoner just called in a Succubus to Ice 2 the party for a hefty chunk of damage. When enemies use summon spells they usually pull the good results. Tont hasn't taken his turn yet so he'll recover immediately.

Ow, ow, ow.
Do you think that's one of those demon lady things you've summoned before, Tont?
Wouldn't surprise me.

The Razor Demon could cast Thunder 1 (but opted not to) so to avoid further groggy states in this encounter Annie cast Healing Rain. Casting it in battle is sub-optimal because the spell has a randomizer and almost never rolls the max amount of 20. It might seem like a small thing but with MP so limited this is aggravating.

Because the volcano wasn't sucking up MP fast enough to begin with.

With that obstacle out of the way the team finds... a staircase up? Okay, up sounds like a good direction given the environment.

Well I guess this settles it. This place really does see foot traffic from Bandore.
I wonder what they do about the hydras.
Does this really go towards the volcano or wherever it was?
I don't see how we have much of a choice but to go up and find out.

Upstairs is more not-lava ready to burn our protagonists if they walk over it.

I get the feeling that the er, flows from the volcano must be recent.
What makes you say that?
It looks like there's a path here in the stones but it goes directly into danger.
Hmm. Doesn't look too deep. Let's see what's on the other side.

Following Edward's observation to the northwest the team finds a treasure chest with some useless treasure. Even if this didn't scream Cursed! no one in the party can equip it. That means we'll have to wait to find out if it's actually cursed until later.

Back across the not-lava the kids run into another Pyrohydra. It says hello to Annie in the only way it knows how - by blocking her counter attack and going in for a double attack to groggy her! (Fortunately Pyrohydras are a bit rare. This area has a big encounter table.)

The right/eastern side of the chamber has a path south leading south that is clear of not-lava.

Ugh. Thirty-six.
Thirty-six what?
That's how many teeth I counted before I lost consciousness.
Oh.

A few minutes later after a battle against another Razor Demon - Evil Summoner combo Tont suddenly has a lightbulb light up over his head.

Eureka!
What?
It makes sense now!
You didn't hit your head again did you, Tont?
*giggling* No. You'll see.

Summon level 4 costs 10 MP per cast which is a tad steep at the moment so showing it off will have to wait.

To the south is another staircase up. To the left/west is nothing but more not-lava if the team ever gets tired of living.

Upstairs is a three way branch. The middle option goes through not-lava to a dead end.

Well I guess we just go down each tunnel in turn until we find something.

You don't seem happy with this treasure, Finn.
It's... a robe.
I can't wear this. The fit is all wrong.

The Robe of Darkness is a dress type of armor but Annie can't equip it. Even if she could I know better than to try to equip something with an evil sounding name in the middle of a dungeon. That's a great way to curse characters.

What did I do to deserve this besides trying to murder other ogres?
You really have to ask?
Aww... it's so pretty... kukuku...
I think the answer is yes.

The pain just keeps on rolling in. At least the game's spreading it around the team. Also, this is a regularly scheduled reminder that Tont is an entirely optional character and it is possible to get this far without him. It is painful to do so but possible.

Eww! I don't know what you're trying to do but stop it!

Steal level 1 is an MP draining spell but its success rate is low even when the AI uses it which isn't often. In the grand list of things Beyond the Beyond can do to hurt the player this barely registers as an annoyance.

I wonder how much more you have to cast that spell before you master it.
I think Miss Annie's already mastered it.
Ha, ha.
What? That wasn't a joke.
Pretty much all I do is heal. That's the joke.
That's not true. You also get bitten by hydras!
If it's between this spell and having some monster chew my face off I'll take the spell, sis.

The far right/eastern path goes north to another staircase.

I really hope Lord Kevins is still alive. Doing all this just to find out we were too late...
It can't go much farther up. From the castle it didn't look like the cliffs went very high.
This is a rat maze.
For rats who like lava baths!
Hmm...

Up the staircase is another choice of direction. South immediately leads to a dead end that's just barely offscreen in the screenshot above.

To the east Finn spots something shiny.

Ooooh! Treasure!
And more pain on the way.
It's not too far. We can sort of hop across if we're careful.

Are the suits of armor that just rose out of the ground guarding your treasure, Finn?
They're just jealous.

The team crossed another encounter boundary and Phantom Armors have started showing up in random encounters.

Did Ramue just summon a group of monsters from inside the volcano?
Probably. I doubt she really had a plan.
But I thought they were waiting for us? How could they not have a plan?
You know I'm perfectly content with Ramue winging it as she goes. It's better than another demon pulled straight from the depths of the underworld.
I'm not sure she can summon things from the underworld, Finn.

The team has defeated Phantom Armors before. Facing only a pair of them with more experience under their belts just means an easier fight for the team.

Inside the chest is a Critical Orb. It supposedly increases the team's critical attack rate for one battle but I've never noticed any difference. This will probably end up getting chucked into the item box and forgotten about.

Then it's back across the not-lava!

Ow, ow, ow!
Edward seems to be fine.
It's nothing worse than what Master Myrrdin would do to me if I misbehaved.
He burned you with fire?
Er, small electrical shocks actually.

The standard issue Hero spell line has been acquired!

Hey you know what, Edward?
What?
I think I'm finally getting the hang of that spell!
Really?
*accidentally shocks self* OW!
BEST. SPELL. EVER.

To the north is a path through the not-lava so we don't have to spend even more VP crossing it.

Do you really have to take joy at my misery, Steiner?
I just like watching you flail around in pain. You make the goofiest faces when you do it.
I do not!
My eyes say otherwise.

Around the path is an exit.

I oughta...
Hey sunshine!
Oh, hey. Maybe this will get us out of here.

Outside the team finds a set of rocky terraces with staircases leading down.

Can you see what's down there, Steiner?
There's a BIIIIIIG pit down there.
Watch your step.
I think I see something moving down there.

Something's moving up here too.

The kids already ran into Phantom Armors so here's a Wyvern thus showing just how half-assed Ramue's ambush party really was. Wyverns are another flying monster and as expected occupy the back row of enemy formations.

For monsters that live in and around an active volcano they're surprisingly flammable. Not that Edward's complaining, of course. Is using Fire 3 on Ogres and Dark Bishops a little wasteful? Yeah, probably. Is it fun to do now and then? You betcha!

Annie was hit once for 5 damage and that was it. Wyverns continue to fail to impress.

Steiner are those things distant relatives of yours?
As related to me as saying a random human is related to you.
Eh, fair enough.

Looping around the cliff the team finds what looks like a cave entrance with a big rock in front of it. Searching the rock does nothing.

Huh? I wonder what's in there?
It looks like there's been a landslide recently.
I doubt we'd find Kevins beyond this, Finn.
Yeah. It's not gonna budge anyway.

Next time on Beyond the Beyond - there's a staircase heading down towards something, hopefully that something is the plot.

Update Sixty-one | Index | Update Sixty-three