The tent we bumped into earlier that we weren't allowed in happened to be where Carnelian was resting. Now, though, he's ready for us.
...It remains to be seen if we are ready for him.
I imagine Carnelian got a front row seat to that part. Even if he's the only one who did.
But from here, "I remember little" doesn't tell us much about what he did see for those past sixteen years? Did he get possessed by Mordegon and then, the next moment, wake up in Yggdrasil none the wiser about how he got there? Or did he experience the intervening sixteen years, if perhaps not actually aware of what he was doing.
Carnelian is not interested in seeking forgiveness, but instead on making sure his crimes end here. While you could argue for a while about whether Erdward would ever truly forgive him, he can always agree with doing the right thing now.
The answer to this question does not actually matter.
This response somehow does a good job of reacting to both answers.
Carnelian doesn't know how we got out of Yggdrasil, but he would be at the bottom of the list of characters who could anyway. Perhaps Veronica can answer that one. She always seemed to be on top of things.
Jade's just fine, don't worry about that, she was onto you from...
...Oh. Right. Jade survived the attack on Dundrasil, but we're not sure what came after that.
And even if we did know, thanks to the Side Story, it's probably best we don't tell him.
Hooray, the Hero has...
...oh, right. The supplies.
Carnelian suggests we have a talk to him too.
While I was running around, I bumped into the girl who looked after our horse.
...You're doing a great job.
Cole's new friend feels a little miffed Cole's more excited about the Hero than he is about her. I think he might not be at that age yet, give it a little bit.
...I apologise deeply, but I'm afraid it's too late.
It's time for us to meet the Hero: Hendrik.
Also, can't avoid mentioning the female warrior design from DQ3 stands out next to the Heliodorian guards. And for multiple reasons at that.
Hendrik delivers this in a very dark tone of voice and also at a bit of a mumble. He doesn't seem particularly pleased to see us either.
Let's let him talk shop with Carnelian.
...Well, isn't that just the greatest bit of news. Don't worry, there's a place for the people.
I think what Carnelian is hinting at in that "..." is that his frosty reception of Erdward is less because of personal grudges and more because he's Hendrik and Hendrik is very taciturn and stoic. Still a healthy amount of the former, but there are worse ways to express it.
When the Luminary disappeared, it was Hendrik who stepped up and did what Erdward could not.
And now, the time has come for Erdward and Hendrik to stand side by side, as brothers in arms.
They actually let you run around the bastion beforehand. Which means plenty of new NPC lines.
Derk's going to give us his store a little closer to the action, but he's not selling anything better.
Dunstan's here too, but I had a bit of a time tracking him down for the "first encounter" line. See complaint in last update about the NPCs not being marked on the map.
It's good to see you back, Erdward! I'm sorry you ran into all that trouble in Heliodor. If I'd known, I never would have let you go. I hope you can forgive me. Things were tough when we were locked up in the castle, but the Hero looked out for us and made sure we weren't mistreated. Then Yggdrasil fell, and all hell broke loose. We're the only ones who made it out alive. Oh, the world's in a terrible mess! How could the Spirit of the Land forsake us like this?
Sandy is a good, evil-detecting dog. Although right now, we know where the evil is.
In the vanilla game, Erdward/Gemma is a ship that stuck. The Definitive version does allow you to avert that, but I think Gemma's various shippy dialogues weren't adjusted in any way.
Again, I begrudge the game for not giving me a "hug Gemma" button.
The plan for the civilians is to hide back here. You seen how many walls of stakes there are between here and the place we're fighting the monsters? If the civilians meet a monster, things have gotten serious.
Amber has a frying pan as a plan F, though.
Is that what he's telling people?
...I mean, it's true, but...
Don't worry, Roxy, I heard it loud and clear. I also think she'd appreciate the fact I'm looking out for everyone and not just her.
The more serious question is how did you get back here to Derk's wife and not bump into Derk?
Cole is being put in charge of the children. This is Plan G.
...Or perhaps Plan N.
If there's one thing kids are good at doing, it's reading the room. As a matter of fact, a kid will sooner read the room to judge the appropriate reaction than analyse what they're reacting to.
The answer is yes, but with the word "if" in bold letters.
This line is the one line that confirms this girl is the girl with the dog from Downtown Heliodor- Bullseye was named back then.
I think this is the one time this girl has any other reaction. And I think it speaks volumes.
This is true, incidentally:
We have forgotten how to Zoom to all the places we used to be able to go. I like that Nautica is on the list, but until we figure out a solution to Alizarin, that's definitely a bad idea. There are actually places in the world we cannot visit in Act 2 that we could in Act 1, but the real reason for the Zoom network scramble is so the game can funnel you into a certain order to complete the narrative. I don't really see a reason for the order other than perhaps game balance.
At any rate, where else would we go other than here? We have people to save.
No one told this guy we're the Luminary!
...Not that any of us really know how to expand that contraction.
Trust me, you'll be glad I'm here.
...
...
I am deeply concerned about everyone here who isn't me or Hendrik.
The soldier gives us a hearty slap on the back that sends us stumbling into Obsidian, earning this glare from Hendrik.
With that said, he actually clenches around Obsidian's reins somewhat before the battle starts.
It is time for Heliodor to do their jobs!
That is rather a lot of guys.
We open with a volley of crossbow bolts to take down a few of the birds.
Before showing the enemy the pointy end of our swords.
At this point, we are now tasked with doing... something.
The guy with the pink dot just reminds us to grind if we can't handle the enemies we're about to fight.
What our objective actually is is to go help Hendrik. But along the way, there's a bunch of Heliodorian soldiers being attacked by monsters...
Grim gryphons driven to dangerous extremes by the dark power of the Lord of Shadows.
So let's go lend a hand, shall we? Vicious grim gryphons are still birds, but one Undead is enough for the Zombieslayer.
Now you know what you need to train to prevent.
Some of the soldiers will give you moderate healing items. Always nice to have more rather than less.
They start out with just one pair of arms, but augment themselves with the limbs of their enemies, until finally attaining their six-armed state.
Skeleton swordsmen come from, depending on who you ask, either DQ3 or DQ4. In DQ4, they looked like this and were the recolours of a DQ1 classic enemy design. Here, they only really have Kasap to their name... for now.
Skelegons, despite the fact they are clearly Undead, belong to the Dragon family. I don't think DQ is equipped for a monster to be two families at once.
I worked hard for it. Also, I found a recipe book for a zombie-killing weapon.
Shadow ministers driven to dangerous extremes by the dark power of the Lord of Shadows.
Vicious shadow ministers know Fullheal, which would be scary if they, you know... had something scary to Fullheal. Or even if they had friends who had more HP than Moreheal can heal.
Their staff of antimagic is as helpful as ever.
Of course he is.
And I'm afraid you're gonna need it.
Ehehe, perfect.
I get enough of that from... actually, wait, I don't think anyone I've met in this game has been in that position yet. Hold that thought.
Apology accepted. Just don't let it happen again.
Argh, so close, yet so far. I was hoping to get a free heal. I think I can spare the MP for a Moreheal, though.
That should be plenty.
Hendrik, we're coming!
...I was going to say I'm your backup, but I don't think that's true.
This is a bit of a shock to me: usually enemies politely wait their turn before attacking.
...On the plus side, no back attacks?
Don't worry, Hendrik. I have just the right idea.
...That is a huge ball. Or at least it looks it.
This is when we first hear of the Spectral Sentinels in the vanilla game. I don't imagine it takes much effort to figure out which of Mordegon's flunkies is the guy they're talking about here, but I will make it clear: it's not the headless knight talking to us right now. He's a sergeant at best, or the equivalent rank in the monsters' army.
He won't be for much longer if he beats Hendrik.
I can never fully take dullahans seriously- the face their shields make is just too comical. It does not help to hear them say things like "wherefore gapest ye like ninnies", which seems custom designed to be the least suitable way to phrase that.
Headless commanders in the army of a certain Spectral Sentinel who keep their underlings in line with judicious use of their massive morning stars.
Undead family
690 HP
30 MP
The headless honcho is a new design to DQ11- this one's a boss, although he definitely looks like he'll be a regular enemy later. His main attacks are crits, swinging his morning star with reckless abandon to hit three times, a whinny that can stun as well as damage, and the ability to drop our Attack and Magical Might with dark magic. From left to right, that's a Skelegon, Skeleton Swordsman, Chasmonaut and Vicious Grim Gryphon he's got for backup.
On our side, we've got Hendrik as a Guest. Hendrik as a Guest is significantly better than he is as a playable, although it does mean he's not getting any EXP.
Oh, do this right off the bat, why don't you? I also seem to be Blind. That might also be part of the honcho's debuff attack.
I'm fairly certain the Undead bonus of the Zombieslayer also applies to Gigaslash damage. When I said the Zombieslayer was only part of the reason I retrained to swords, this is the other part: Gigaslash, as an AoE attack, is an incredible option for Erdward to have.
I don't think blindness can make it miss. One Gigaslash won't take out the whole backup, but the second one will.
Nice, a crit Falcon Slash to make up for a miss.
Hendrik shows off his cool trick: Forbearance.
Forbearance... on a Guest character. Reminder he doesn't have HP as a Guest. If he decides to do this, you're just invincible for a turn. Forbearance is a little more double-edged as a player tool, but even if we wanted to consider the benefits, Hendrik won't actually learn it for a long time.
I consider the whole "I don't think Gigaslash is affected by blindness" thing and use that again. I suspect it's thanks to the Atk drop, but I don't like that this did more than a crit Falcon Slash hit. Kinda makes this just the better option overall. It really isn't, but it does kinda feel that way...
There's more where that came from! Just... I might need a Magic Water or two.
...Oh wait. I just levelled up.
That was fast.
Hendrik heads off to show his loyalty to the King.
It was easy. All I had to do was swing my sword and make a massive circle of lightning.
...Actually, I don't remember how I learned to do that.
...You better not have been the guy who told me to stick the pointy end of my sword in the monsters.
Told you it was too late.
Mum's proud of us, but she also knows that was Tuesday for us.
Hendrik, on the other hand, isn't exactly pleased with this turn of events. He has good reason, we'll just get into that in a bit.
You bet I am, Gemma!
...Awww.
Well, come here and let me kiss it better...
Oh, umm... that was a joke, of course! Ha ha, only joking! Ahem... Just, umm... show me where it hurts, and I'll bandage it up, right after I've seen to all the others. (blush)
Eh... they're both pretty dorky mishaps.
Oi. You lost your chance when you agreed to lock her up for the crime of being born.
I'm kinda surprised to hear Derk's wife not say "one is pleased for keeping us all safe". Wonder if she's putting on an act- Derk's nouveau riche, why not her too?
Derk's still a store, so he must remain treated as such.
Obsidian being tough to tame might harken back to Peggy Sue from DQ6- a powerful horse who could only be tamed by Rex and Carver working together- but it's probably its own thing. Then again, there are references that build on less.
Never question the horses. Even if they don't actually know what's what, they'll let you know about it anyway.
All right, so then... I need a target.
...Oh yeah, of course. What we need is a route up there. With that said, it's not like I've actually checked which routes still exist.
Hendrik seems to object to this suggestion, which raises the idea that perhaps there's good reason not to jump at the chance.
The statement that there's a path here is pretty good evidence the other paths don't work.
There's a little flashback here- the path we're going to take is the ability to climb up the cliff we jumped off at the start of the game. That wasn't possible before.
One of those rare additions that only occasionally appears in series history: A key that only opens the doors in one kingdom! DQ5 has the key to Coburg, but most locked doors only get unlocked by event flags or one of the all-purpose keys.
Hendrik's concerns are rooted in him being the primary source of defence for the Last Bastion. You might ask "who's in charge when he's off looking for survivors", but right after a monster attack directly on the Bastion, now might not be the time to send Hendrik off...
...
Carnelian please, this is not how you reassure Hendrik you have thought this plan through. This is the opposite of thinking this plan through. I have half a mind to tell you to reconsider myself.
I have the feeling he's right about this one, though.
Now, see, while I'm usually on Carnelian's side in this argument, I do kinda think Hendrik has a point about his plan.
It's more just the least bad option, in the end. Although if anything happens to Gemma, I feel my limited forgiveness might be off the table.
I guess we'll just have to get it done.
I... think I've seen this sort of ritual before, but I have no idea what it means. I'll just let them get on with it.
We get a nice rest at the inn, and the information that the people are not to wish us farewell.
A sensible decision, although perhaps a little extreme a reaction.
...I hope so too.
Welp. So much for the King's order. I didn't find Gemma myself, but I had a look at the datamine:
Erdward gazes intently at Gemma's sleeping face.
She seems to smile faintly for just a moment...
That would be why I didn't find her, then.
...My heart...
Hendrik's parents died a long time ago. He doesn't like to bring it up- in fact, I don't think he ever brings it up, we just know it through world-building- but I'm not entirely surprised he doesn't begrudge Amber more for being a good mother to her son.
Don't worry, Mum, I don't know the meaning of the word.
...OK, not just a "hug Gemma" button, clearly I need a "hug Amber" one too.
I promise.
Not to worry, Amber. He has Forbearance and infinite HP. I'm perfectly safe.
...
So no horse?
The King was stated to be an expert warrior sixteen years ago, although time and possession have probably robbed him of some of that skill. Between him and the guards, though, I'm sure they can rustle something up.
From here, we get teleported from here directly to the Foothills. We won't have any option but to press on from there- we'd have to go through the Manglegrove to get back here, and I'm sure the game will object to that even if I didn't.
This bit is a bit of a transitional segment from the "Last Bastion" Town stuff and the "Heliodor Castle" Story stuff, but it was a necessary divide. Even if I do somewhat resent it.
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