03 - Celapaleis and Blackdale (Duke of Qubine is a magickal boy.)
In which Jager says, "the hell? You can't kill him! He's the goddamn Marquis of Athlum!"
So, where to go next? Off to the pub for a pint the latest rumours. Apparently Celapaleis, Athlum's sovereign capital, had been terrorised by some strange things recently. Rush decided to investigate.
Celapaleis was located to the northwest of Athlum, near the coast. It was a bustling, modern city protected by the floating crystal shards of its Remnant, Umbermarici. From the air, one could see that the city was in the shape of a sword, with Grants Way at the sword's tip, where a huge variety of shops offered every earthly delight (or so said the residents). Further up was Lamberro District, where the pub and guild were - these could be found in almost every town and city. Then at the top of the sword's hilt was the Celapaleis Castle, where the Duke of Qubine resided.
Wandering down Grants Way, Rush spotted a familiar face standing at the Griss's Components stall - what was Emma doing here?
"Hey, what're you doing here, old lady?" He went to her, bent his knees a bit and looked up at her face in a playful way.
"Wha - excuse me? Do I even know you?"
Same face, same clothes - but not Emma. This woman was much younger and didn't have a scar on her face. And no hat on her head. Rush pulled back a bit. "Oh, oops. Um, I thought you were someone else..."
The warrior woman wasn't too amused. Perhaps she thought this was a crappy attempt to chat her up? "Hmph! Make sure you have the right person next time!"
"S-sorry..."
"Hmph... I'll let it slide this time. Of course, that's on the condition that there's never a second." She paused for a moment, then added, "calling someone 'old lady' is rude and inconsiderate... especially when they aren't old!"
Guess she was offended...
At Lamberro District, a legend-loving child told Rush a story:
"A long long time ago here in Celapaleis, there was a really pretty stone. It was so pretty that people were totally mesmerised by it... enough to do evil things. Pretty soon the town was in trouble. But one day a traveller came through town, and saw the stone, and bound it. From then on, it didn't do anything else bad, and everyone was happy."
Rush looked at the boy with a blank face.
"Whaaat, you still don't know what I'm talking about? It's the story of the Umbermarici! Man, you're stupid! Everybody here knows that!"
Nevermind that Rush wasn't from here. Why was the boy telling him this if he was expected to know anyway?
Time to hit the pub and check out the latest news. On his way, Rush was told that the Amber Tavern was a very popular with some types - apparently the beautiful barkeep was the Amber's big draw. But first, a woman told Rush that His Highness, Lord Qubine may look young, but he was rather good at mystic arts. Apparently there were rabble-rousers within the Ghor castle guard who were so afraid of his strength that they spread rumours about it... claims like Lord Qubine was an alien or some Academy-produced magickal boy or something.
Oh. Hm. Right. Okay. Pub now. The Amber Tavern had two floors, larger than the pub back in Athlum.
There were quite a few people admiring the barkeep, that was true. But Rush also managed to find out that soldiers had been gathering outside Nagapur; some were getting worried that there might be a war of some kind. A Yama war vetran randomly mentioned that the Lords held a meeting of the Congress every couple few years at the sacred city of Elysion, at the center of the continent.
Asking around, Rush found out that the thing terrifying the people here was a strange animal lurking around the shops at Grants Way. A bit of running around later, it turned out the creature was Mr Diggs, a mysterious... thing with the ability to drill and dig for hidden things. Mr Diggs wanted to go on adventures with Rush. And why not? Mr Diggs could join. Mr Diggs could hide somewhere inside Rush's clothes and only pop out when there were things to dig. Awesome.
This was the thing terrorising Celapaleis? How was it able to hide under Rush's clothes anyway, being almost half of Rush's height (if you include the "ears")? Maybe it'll never be known. Maybe it's better that way.
Leaving the pub, a Celapaleian solider waved Rush over.
"Hmm? Dull face, silly outfit, slouched posture... you there, you aren't Rush Sykes, are you?"
"Yeah... why?"
"Whaaat? Imprudent little... Lord David put out a summons... he said he needed to speak with you about something. Hurry to the castle."
One had to wonder if David personally described Rush as the one with a dull face and silly outfit, but the soldier said no more than that. Rush headed back to the Athlum Castle where he was told that there were new leads on the white mage's whereabouts.
Up to timestamp 2:58:
HQ version here
New armour! Though unlike anything anyone else was wearing. But Rush seemed pleased anyway. Maybe this was not considered silly outfit?
Rush clearly paid attention in geography lessons - at least he knew Blackdale was under Athlum's control. What he didn't know, Torgal filled him in on:
"While to the uninitiated it may appear as if we were equals, in actuality Athlum is a territory under Celapaleis's domain. Still, to require Lord David to chase after a simple group of unknowns is a situation I would prefer be avoided in the future."
Emma agreed. "Going so far as to require Lord David to come along as part of their 'request'... Celapaleis really loves rubbing our faces in it."
But however they felt about this, they had to go anyway, especially since the mage in white was apparently seen there. Blackdale it was. Some ways further east than the Yamarn Plain, Blackdale was a plateau above a string of caves. Portions of it crumbled away of a daily basis, so new ways of getting in were often found.
They weren't really interested in the caves, though, since almost as soon as they got there, the battle began.
Up to timestamp 1:20 for cutscene, followed by battle, then more cutscene from 7:05:
HQ version here
Everyone gave chase, through the Speckled Chasm and the Sapphire Pit, fighting Spiders, Giant Spiders, Skull Scavangers and Hypnoses along the way, to finally catch up on Jager at the very end of the caves. And he wasn't alone.
HQ version here
From timestamp 3:21:
HQ version here
=to be continued=
New character:
Mr Diggs [?]
A new travelling companion (?) with a passion to drill, dig, or otherwise harvest things. Whenever Rush sees sparkliness in the rocks, trees, flowers, water etc, all he has to do is say "come on out!" and Mr Diggs will investigate the sparkliness for him (provided Mr Diggs isn't exhausted). Sometimes he returns with useful materials, sometimes he comes back empty-handed. Every now and then he hits a "loop chance" and he may uncover more treasures than Rush can deal with! The more he works, the better Mr Diggs gets at it and the more likely Rush might end up with rare items.
Random notes: WHY MUST YOU DISRUPT THE BEDROOM SCENE, EMMA? I love that scene, David telling Rush to hold it together and saying how Torgal had been cleaning up his mess since he was a baby. XD Oh, poor Torgy.
Also: flag ass!
So, where to go next? Off to the pub for a pint the latest rumours. Apparently Celapaleis, Athlum's sovereign capital, had been terrorised by some strange things recently. Rush decided to investigate.
Celapaleis was located to the northwest of Athlum, near the coast. It was a bustling, modern city protected by the floating crystal shards of its Remnant, Umbermarici. From the air, one could see that the city was in the shape of a sword, with Grants Way at the sword's tip, where a huge variety of shops offered every earthly delight (or so said the residents). Further up was Lamberro District, where the pub and guild were - these could be found in almost every town and city. Then at the top of the sword's hilt was the Celapaleis Castle, where the Duke of Qubine resided.
Wandering down Grants Way, Rush spotted a familiar face standing at the Griss's Components stall - what was Emma doing here?
"Hey, what're you doing here, old lady?" He went to her, bent his knees a bit and looked up at her face in a playful way.
"Wha - excuse me? Do I even know you?"
Same face, same clothes - but not Emma. This woman was much younger and didn't have a scar on her face. And no hat on her head. Rush pulled back a bit. "Oh, oops. Um, I thought you were someone else..."
The warrior woman wasn't too amused. Perhaps she thought this was a crappy attempt to chat her up? "Hmph! Make sure you have the right person next time!"
"S-sorry..."
"Hmph... I'll let it slide this time. Of course, that's on the condition that there's never a second." She paused for a moment, then added, "calling someone 'old lady' is rude and inconsiderate... especially when they aren't old!"
Guess she was offended...
At Lamberro District, a legend-loving child told Rush a story:
"A long long time ago here in Celapaleis, there was a really pretty stone. It was so pretty that people were totally mesmerised by it... enough to do evil things. Pretty soon the town was in trouble. But one day a traveller came through town, and saw the stone, and bound it. From then on, it didn't do anything else bad, and everyone was happy."
Rush looked at the boy with a blank face.
"Whaaat, you still don't know what I'm talking about? It's the story of the Umbermarici! Man, you're stupid! Everybody here knows that!"
Nevermind that Rush wasn't from here. Why was the boy telling him this if he was expected to know anyway?
Time to hit the pub and check out the latest news. On his way, Rush was told that the Amber Tavern was a very popular with some types - apparently the beautiful barkeep was the Amber's big draw. But first, a woman told Rush that His Highness, Lord Qubine may look young, but he was rather good at mystic arts. Apparently there were rabble-rousers within the Ghor castle guard who were so afraid of his strength that they spread rumours about it... claims like Lord Qubine was an alien or some Academy-produced magickal boy or something.
Oh. Hm. Right. Okay. Pub now. The Amber Tavern had two floors, larger than the pub back in Athlum.
There were quite a few people admiring the barkeep, that was true. But Rush also managed to find out that soldiers had been gathering outside Nagapur; some were getting worried that there might be a war of some kind. A Yama war vetran randomly mentioned that the Lords held a meeting of the Congress every couple few years at the sacred city of Elysion, at the center of the continent.
Asking around, Rush found out that the thing terrifying the people here was a strange animal lurking around the shops at Grants Way. A bit of running around later, it turned out the creature was Mr Diggs, a mysterious... thing with the ability to drill and dig for hidden things. Mr Diggs wanted to go on adventures with Rush. And why not? Mr Diggs could join. Mr Diggs could hide somewhere inside Rush's clothes and only pop out when there were things to dig. Awesome.
This was the thing terrorising Celapaleis? How was it able to hide under Rush's clothes anyway, being almost half of Rush's height (if you include the "ears")? Maybe it'll never be known. Maybe it's better that way.
Leaving the pub, a Celapaleian solider waved Rush over.
"Hmm? Dull face, silly outfit, slouched posture... you there, you aren't Rush Sykes, are you?"
"Yeah... why?"
"Whaaat? Imprudent little... Lord David put out a summons... he said he needed to speak with you about something. Hurry to the castle."
One had to wonder if David personally described Rush as the one with a dull face and silly outfit, but the soldier said no more than that. Rush headed back to the Athlum Castle where he was told that there were new leads on the white mage's whereabouts.
Up to timestamp 2:58:
Click to viewHQ version here
New armour! Though unlike anything anyone else was wearing. But Rush seemed pleased anyway. Maybe this was not considered silly outfit?
Rush clearly paid attention in geography lessons - at least he knew Blackdale was under Athlum's control. What he didn't know, Torgal filled him in on:
"While to the uninitiated it may appear as if we were equals, in actuality Athlum is a territory under Celapaleis's domain. Still, to require Lord David to chase after a simple group of unknowns is a situation I would prefer be avoided in the future."
Emma agreed. "Going so far as to require Lord David to come along as part of their 'request'... Celapaleis really loves rubbing our faces in it."
But however they felt about this, they had to go anyway, especially since the mage in white was apparently seen there. Blackdale it was. Some ways further east than the Yamarn Plain, Blackdale was a plateau above a string of caves. Portions of it crumbled away of a daily basis, so new ways of getting in were often found.
They weren't really interested in the caves, though, since almost as soon as they got there, the battle began.
Up to timestamp 1:20 for cutscene, followed by battle, then more cutscene from 7:05:
HQ version here
Everyone gave chase, through the Speckled Chasm and the Sapphire Pit, fighting Spiders, Giant Spiders, Skull Scavangers and Hypnoses along the way, to finally catch up on Jager at the very end of the caves. And he wasn't alone.
HQ version here
From timestamp 3:21:
HQ version here
=to be continued=
New character:
Mr Diggs [?]
A new travelling companion (?) with a passion to drill, dig, or otherwise harvest things. Whenever Rush sees sparkliness in the rocks, trees, flowers, water etc, all he has to do is say "come on out!" and Mr Diggs will investigate the sparkliness for him (provided Mr Diggs isn't exhausted). Sometimes he returns with useful materials, sometimes he comes back empty-handed. Every now and then he hits a "loop chance" and he may uncover more treasures than Rush can deal with! The more he works, the better Mr Diggs gets at it and the more likely Rush might end up with rare items.
Random notes: WHY MUST YOU DISRUPT THE BEDROOM SCENE, EMMA? I love that scene, David telling Rush to hold it together and saying how Torgal had been cleaning up his mess since he was a baby. XD Oh, poor Torgy.
Also: flag ass!