Let's Play - Legend of Mana Part 2
(I liked the name Brynhildr, even if it'll take me forever to memorize it.)
Legend of Mana - Song of Mana (Introduction Video)
Then, after hundreds of years of war,
as the power of Mana began to wane,
those who sought it grew scarce,
and the world returned to peace.
After that, mankind grew afraid to desire.
Their hearts filled with empty emotions,
and grew estranged from my hands.
They turned their eyes away from my
infinite power, and were troubled by their
petty disputes.
Remember me!
Need me!
I can provide you with everything!
I am love.
Find me, and walk beside me.
What was that?
Did you hear somebody talking, Little Cactus?
...
This is Little Cactus! He's a funny little plant that lives in our house. Whenever we finish a quest, he wants us to tell him all about it, and he'll write it down in his diary--that little leaf hanging over there on the wall. Of course, we've apparently led incredibly boring lives up until now, so we have nothing to tell him.
Here's the house--home sweet home. We'll be stopping here a lot, so you should probably get used to it. You've already seen the upstairs, and over there on the right is the door to the library, full of our various Encylopedias. We don't have much in them now--apparently we have to fill them in ourselves.
And here's everything el--
A visitor!
Hi!
The world can be shaped by your imagination! Did you know that?
Uh...of course I knew that.
Here you go!
You get AF "Colorblocks."
...Thanks?
This is the town of Domina.
...these are building blocks.
People with pure hearts can go to a whole new world.
Speaking of whole new worlds--here's our World Map. Pretty empty, isn't it?
First, let's look at a few things. You've got the circle in the top--that's a seed. Our adventure is just beginning, and over time that seed will grow. The symbol in the upper left, "Gnome", corresponds to what day it is. Everytime we leave a building, sleep at a hotel, walk to a new land or complete a quest, the day changes. The day is usually inconsequential--I'll point out the few times that it's not.
The row of symbols along the bottom represent the elemental levels of the each individual land. In order, the symbols represent Wisp, Shade, Dryad, Aura, Salamander, Gnome, Jinn and Undine--or, in more traditional terms, Light, Dark, Plant, Metal, Fire, Earth, Air and Water. This has more of an effect than the day does, and again, I'll point the changes out. Our Home has one Wisp level, one Dryad level and one Gnome level.
Now, let's do something about that empty World Map. The nice Sproutling gave us these Colorblocks. This is an Artifact. Just like the Mailbox we placed to make our Home, we can place Artifacts to create more lands.
A quick note before we continue--Domina (our new land) has two Aura levels and one Salamander level. By placing it next to our Home--or any land directly next to the new artifact--we give it those levels, too. And then the new land gets the (natural, not increased) levels from adjacent lands, minus one. So Domina didn't get any levels from Home, because Home's mana levels were capped out at one. Land placement is one of the things we've already voted on, and it can unlock certain bonuses.
Here's Domina! Each little dot on this map corresponds to an entrance of a different section of town.
Now that we're in town, we should--
At least give me your name!
......Elazul.
Jeez...he makes me sick.
What was that?
I think the little guy went in here.
Okay, it's...a store. Ooh, a little stone statue! Cute!
Of course, I don't have any money...
Might as well poke around.
The back room!
(I'm probably not supposed to be in here....hey, the little guy!)
An adventurer, eh? You should at least get some bronze gloves at the shop.
...will you loan me the money?
This is Duelle, the Onion Warrior.
He's a relatively inconsequential NPC on his own, but he'll be showing up quite a bit. Learn to love him.
Hello...teapot.
There woz a scary bloke 'ere just now.
He said, "I'm a lookin' for me lost girlfriend. 'Ave you seen 'er?
So I says, "No, I 'aven't. Honest, guv."
But then 'e said I woz lyin', and 'e started threatenin' me.
Maybe 'e woz a stalker! Blimey!
...who talks like that?
There was nobody upstairs, and by the time I got back down Duelle was gone. Teapo started asking me when teatime was, so I ran out the back door. Might as well see what's up with that scary guy.
Hey, what's going on?
Silence! Do not interrupt!
......
Speak up! Don't make me angry!
......
What are you hiding?
Hey, stop!
Leave us alone!
Leave her alone!
This is none of your business. Could you just go away?
But I'm her friend!
Friends, you say? I don't believe you.
......
Don't you have any idea? Are you sure you don't know where she is?
......
Dammit! I've wasted my time!
Thank you!
Sure, what was that about?
......
Speak up!...wait, sorry.
No idea where the guy went, so I might as well check out other parts of town.
Please, feel welcome! I'm Miss Yuka, the keeper of this inn. And the man at the counter is Mr. Moti!
......
Hi, I'm Brynhildr!
That's nice, dear.
Who's this over here?
Over to the west side of town, next.
Hi guys!
Hey, watch this! My name's Capella, a wanderin' juggler!
......
This is Diddle. He doesn't say much.
Further west, we have a residential-type area. Complete with...
...a pelican?
Lovey-dovey-lovey letters, leave them all to me!
I don't have anything to mail!
Back to the east, past the bar, we've got a nice convenient path to the north of town.
Hi!
I've heard that bandits appear here!
I haven't heard anything about bandits.
If you see anyone suspicious, report to me!
Well, there was this guy...
Not him. Bandits.
The Goddess said...Hmm...and the Mana energy is...
What was that?
Oh, so that is the answer...I see, I see...
No, excuse me, what you said before, about the Mana?
Oh! Please excuse my ignorance! I've Rev. Nouvelle.
Hello, I'm Bryn. Can you answer a few questions for me?
Helping those in need brings my own salvation. What would you like to know?
Well, I was hoping you could answer a few questions I have about the world.
We exist with the Goddess's blessings. Your questions are?
There's a Sproutling camped outside my house, telling me stuff about how imagination shapes the world. Is that true?
Do not believe the Sproutlings' stories. They are little green heretics.
Generations of people built up this town, not an "imagination".
Oh, how misguided they are! We shall pray to the Goddess to guide their ways.
Oh...'kay.
And finally, just south of the church:
Everyone with a soul always disappears. We don't have souls, so we always stay. The poet Pokiehl said so.
What?
Ignore him; he's always rambling on.
You know, we don't have souls.
Yes, you told us that already.
My name's Niccolo.
Hi, I'm Brynhildr.
I'm always fidgety.
Be quiet.
I'm a traveling merchant. But the highway is full of bandits.
Bandits!
(I should tell the inspector!)
I like the wind.
We don't care.
It's too dangerous to leave the town. Don't you think so?
Well, I made it here from my house without any problems.
How brave of you.
I like it when moss grows.
Then go watch it.
I can't do business with those highwaymen about. Let's go teach those bandits a lesson. Once we're done, I'll make you rich.
I do need some money!
I like drinking water.
I'm going to set you on fire.
So what do you say?
I'll do it!
You're quite a mercenary! I like people who know the value of money.
I still need to stop and see Teapo. Come with me.
Teapo? Really?
I like stepping on leaves.
My worthless husband tried to cheer our daughter up by sending her away to work!
(At least she'll have some money.)
He should've just let her play with her friends, Teapo and Duelle!
They're not very fun; work is probably better for her.
He's always doting over her, buying her everything...
(She's not listening to you.)
And have you seen how he made up her room? Why, it's disgusting!
(I can see that.)
Oh, but Auntie does so much like your clothes. Very good taste!
Thanks! My cactus helped me pick them out. (He says the sticks look great in my hair.)
Auntie thinks you're the best!
...Aww! :)
Oh here! This is for you. Take this back to your place and check it out.
You receive the Item Encyclopedia.
Uh...sure.
Ten Lucre.
But...I don't have any :(
I'm saving for my retirement, so no less!
:(
Oh...ok. Well, it probably won't come true anyway. Wise move.
(Yeah, great way to convince me to come back later.)
Well, time to go see Teap--
?
Over here!
Oh. It's Elazul.
Take me with you.
Well...
I don't want to share my money with him.
But he might help us with the bandits!
You can come along.
Tell your partner to get lost.
I...what?
I'll only go with you. No tagalongs.
So--what to do? Stick with Niccolo to fight some bandits, or go with the mysterious, rather rude Elazul to parts unknown?
(This was a huge update, I know, but Domina is probably the most important town in the entire game, and every one of these characters is going to play a role in the game later. I wanted to get all of these introductions out of the way--get to know the characters, because we'll be coming back to them.)