Where else would Irwin's greatest regrets lie other than in the halls of Dundrasil?
These people really don't know...
You can hear that grim sense of foreboding, can't you?
The various Kings of the realm are gathering here, too. Today's the day for a Colloquy of Kings.
There's a momentous occasion in the offing, after all...
And everyone wants to feel involved. I'm sure this will manifest harmlessly when the time comes.
...You mean the Colloquy of Kings isn't a regular thing? The fact it has a name makes it sound like it does. At any rate, if anything was going to make it happen, the Luminary is sure to be such a good reason.
This is also going to take Irwin out of the party for his own son's birth. On the other hand, I'm not entirely sure how much this party is going to be "about" his son.
Ah, yes, Carnelian is still Carnelian right now. Also Rab's running around.
...And so are we.
We're free to run around talking to the guests, but the guests won't be talking to us.
Gustaf may be old enough to pass on of his own accord by our time, but he's still a child at heart sometimes.
Fortunately for Erdward, he grew up in Cobblestone, where the most pressure he ever felt was to be best friends with the cutest girl this side of a spinning wheel.
The Sultan is preparing the barrage of Keeping Up With The Drasilians that will spoil Faris rotten. Sadly, there's not much we can really do about that. Maybe he wouldn't sell the Rainbough if he was a stricter parent, but who knows what that'd do to our quest.
Both Rab and Irwin are invited to the Colloquy. I'm still not entirely sure what Rab's official role is as a retired King, but somehow I get the impression that between the two, Rab is still the more qualified candidate for the throne.
Carnelian's as stern as ever.
Barf. This is a baby we are talking about, men.
Then again, that's certainly a choice in ways to shut down that avenue of conversation, Carnelian.
...Maybe the player is supposed to still think of Carnelian as Mordegon right now? I can assure you he isn't.
Jade has gone missing, as is customary for a toddler. Because, you know, socialising at society balls is not something a kid should be getting up to.
Same diary as it was in the Side Story. This, in fact, is the vanilla chance to explore Dundrasil as it once was. There's some parts of the castle we didn't get around to back then, as a matter of fact.
We're going to have to kick him out when Erdward's old enough to need this room, aren't we? Or really, old enough to comprehend what kind of magazines Rab keeps.
Over in the other room, however, we can bump into Eleanor and Jade with baby Erdward. Erdward, of course, is much more interesting to Jade than the banquet in his honour downstairs. A sentence loaded with irony that I'm sure nobody in-universe appreciates.
Ah, babies are so easily amused. You'd think that'd be enough for some people.
But no, this baby's got another destiny lined up for him.
And as fate would have it, he's going to find the path to his destiny on the road Mordegon took to avoid it.
Toddler Jade is terrified of lightning, or perhaps just the sudden noise behind her.
Eleanor senses something at the window. I think there is in fact something there I missed screenshotting...?
Irwin is here to distract from that line of thought.
And off Erdward goes to go be important.
I could believe Irwin not fully grasping how to grasp Erdward.
You ever get the sudden sense that maybe you should put the finishing touches on that "if I die, this is what you should do, my son" letter?
Erdward, keep Eleanor safe? He's barely been out of the womb long enough to recognise which brightly coloured shape is his mother.
...I have the sneaking suspicion Jade was trying to position herself as one of Eleanor's brave protectors, or maybe that's just so long spent in the company of the Warrior Princess she grew up into.
I wonder if Irwin ever reflected on what this scene in particular meant...
Right. Time for a boring meeting.
Eleanor, in addition to vaguely sensing something on the windowsill, also seems to sense that someone, somehow, has made its way into this time and place.
Jade has not sensed anything of the sort. Or maybe she has and isn't old enough to recognise that.
...It's nice to see you, Mum.
...
...Right. The... Colloquy...
Erdward is just going to sleep through this ominous, lightning-accompanied meeting between five old men.
Well, three old men and two middle-aged men who act like old men.
Yes. Yes, this was the conversation that happened during the opening of the game.
I never expected this meeting would involve reciting poetry.
The legends failed to mention that clause of "actually, peace isn't so eternal after all". And to be entirely honest, I'm not sure whose fault that is. The way the battle with the Dark One ended (and we do find out how that came about), everyone involved knew they had only won a few centuries' respite, at best.
This happened a few years ago- recent enough that it's something to consider when discussing monster activity, but long enough ago that it's history and not current affairs. This mixture is less pronounced in the modern day, where Zwaardsrust is basically thought of in the same way as Dundrasil... except much fewer people mention Zwaardsrust than Dundrasil. Perhaps because the Dundrasil attack destroyed so many more important people at once.
This is a relatively important question, despite the clear answer that appears before us. Clearly, it'll be young Erdward doing all the work- Yggdrasil knows I've spent this entire game proving that fact. But what do we do in the "meantime"- while Erdward is growing up?
The Sultan misses all of this and focuses on the incoming ending to the crisis.
Gustaf, on the other hand, has a counter theory that is... completely asinine in comparison.
Of course it's another poem. Why do prophecies always have to rhyme? Why can't we have an alliterative one?
Say hello to the origin of the story of the Darkspawn.
I take back everything I ever said mourning King Gustaf. There's less evil on the throne of Sniflheim today, and I'm counting Krystalinda in that.
I would like to remind you that Gustaf is contemplating murdering a baby.
Because a star told him to.
And of course, the baby in question is crying right now. Mostly because the scary adults are yelling at each other.
You know, right now, Erdwin's Lantern hangs low over the citizens of Gallopolis, poised to crush them all under a hail of crimson wreckage. I don't remember causing that.
...What do you mean, I could've turned it back already?
Carnelian jumps on the train.
You. Out. I'm half a mind to give the current-day you a piece of my mind.
Irwin tells them to stop being so cowardly about it.
......That's what I thought.
Yggdrasil apparently went and chose us directly. Well, as directly as a tree can select anybody. She can hardly turn into a dragon, fly over, point to us and say "this one will save all of your hides."
Because clearly, none of the rest of you are of any mind to pick up a sword and do it themselves. One cannot placidly accept the existence of evil merely because it is necessary for the existence of good.
Carnelian, don't think for one second you're getting away with calling this a Test.
Unfortunately, it seems they will be. I wonder how this would colour Irwin's impressions of the men had he been allowed to know them longer than tonight, but considering the whole "he's a knight promoted to King by marriage and also much younger" thing, I can't help but feel like he would've let this resentment sit.
Carnelian. Carnelian. The Drasilians have a tradition of sending their kids to Angri-La for six years for this exact purpose. What do you think you can teach Erdward that Pang can't?
Imagine if Pang was made aware of this arrogance. She would've solved the plot several years earlier by walking up to Heliodor and unleashing Metor Renbu on Mordegon's sorry ass.
Hey, hey, hey, I'm only the Luminary to kill this Dark One of yours, no one said anything about being King or Emperor of anything.
Again. Irwin's just going to ignore this whole "testing" thing.
The Sultan has had absolutely no idea what the hell just happened, he's just happy it's over before it stopped being entertaining.
Erdward: "Finally, atttention!"
Will no one rid me of this turbulent colloquy?
...Oh, right.
This was a memory of Irwin's last days.
And they're already close enough that there are dead bodies.
Hello, and as quickly as possible, goodbye.
Gustaf prays for the best. I'm genuinely not entirely sure how he gets out of this one alive, but clearly he does, since Frysabel doesn't take over for years after this.
Thanks a lot, Gustaf. Now this guy's going to be amenable to the Darkspawn rumour.
The Gallopolis and Sniflheim guards are prepared to fight to save their lieges, in their own ways.
I was expecting "It's just a corpse."
They're this deep inside? We are in all of the trouble.
Carnelian is a good enough fighter that he means this.
Don't tell a man who can put down a moosifer that fighting is suicide.
And Rab's no slouch either- or at least he shouldn't be, or else I have questions for the Rab of the modern day.
Irwin hurries off, and we're left to watch Carnelian and Rab square off against a new moosifer.
...
You thinking what I'm thinking?
Trim-bearded and truly barbaric demons who use their large legs to launch brutal bodily attacks, and boast a sizeable repertoire of spells.
We could've met moosifer back in the First Forest, had we waited for night-time. These bulky boys are excellent mixed mages for the monster corps, coming in this game with Crackle, Swoosh, a flame breath, and a body slam. Moosifers previously appeared in DQs 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10.
There's a lot of these guys to kill, and with a free turn, they all tend to go down before they even get a chance to swing back.
It's amazing what the human brain can rewrite.
You lot were worried about Irwin? What about getting yourself out of dodge? I guess he does have the Luminary...
Irwin's glad to get these three to safety. He dons his own armour, while the girls get hoods. Not even enough time to change out of the dresses? I assume Jade probably doesn't have any clothes in her size lying around Dundrasil.
Well, at least we know he succeeds, thanks to... everything.
Masters of death and destruction that leave a trail of woe wherever they go. Very few have ever seen one and then lived to tell the tale.
Hyperpyrexions are regular enemies hanging around Gallopolis, but they show up early here, too. They're from DQs 5 and 10 and have various inferno attacks, the ability to lay calamitous curses, and the Multiheal spell.
...I'm not sure, would monsters buy this?
...Where is Hendrik, then? Did the monsters distract him with something, or is he just elsewhere in the castle? There is the matter of Arachtagon somewhere around here...
This could help, depending on where I keep it to.
...Yay you! Why are you so surprised? Do monsters not normally get killed by people who aren't me?
At least some people are happy for the help.
Groans of realisation these nobles are going to be parroting the Darkspawn rumour if they survive.
That is, if they survive. That's something I don't necessarily see them managing. How many of these people did make it?
Hopefully a good number of them.
He's talking about one of the main doors here.
He is quickly disabused of that notion. Of course dullahans don't "see" the Luminary. Even if those eyes worked, they spend their time pointed in the wrong direction compared to the man.
Irwin, fortunately, can handle a dullahan just fine, thanks for asking.
Although this exit is certainly out of the question.
...What about the moat? There's a whole river around the castle, not a lot of easy access in or out.
So they head into those secret passages we found earlier.
This is the girl I was thinking of in Rab's Side Story. She's clearly not a redhead, I just didn't remember off-hand. I feel like you can meet the bloke trying to chat her up back when the place is peaceful, if you wander down here of your own accord.
I wouldn't fancy being him.
This is the guy, incidentally.
Heliodor, Gallopolis and Sniflheim seemed just fine sixteen years later.
All right... time to find out what happened to Dad.
This is, indeed, the exact same tunnel network.
Just as they got to the end, an ambush came from behind.
Irwin shuts Eleanor and Jade out of the castle. They'll be running along to the escape route and eventually dying/dropping Erdward, respectively. That's the last we'll see of them in this flashback- Irwin never found that out.
So, then... we saw him take on a dullahan on his own.
The three of these guys, though?
He could use some help.
Fearsome fixtures of monster arenas everywhere, they have complete confidence in their abilities, and think humans are a hilarious joke.
Demon family
1060 HP
48 MP
Barbatos is a monster who first appeared in DQ4 as a boss. His demotion to regular enemy happened in 5, but two of them were minibosses in the main story. Their full appearance list is the same 4, 5, 7, 9, and 10 of the moosifers. He retains the fiery breath and body slam of the moosifers, but has exchanged the spells for the ability to muster his strength and a mighty Kaboom.
This is a boss of sorts and I'll be preparing as such.
Irwin's a Guest helping us out in the usual ways.
Although I think we might just be doing more of the damage.
One thing about the enemies in the past is that the other fights can provide drops. I think they're proper drops, which almost makes me wonder about this one. In the rare slot, Barbatos has a powerful, endgame quality Sword for Erik. I wonder if it is possible to just happen to get one after this fight. I'm not even sure this "boss-like" fight lets drops happen at all. I did have hopes, but no dice.
Irwin made it out of that encounter alive. I... don't know what this means about how much we interceded to engineer that outcome- for all I know, Irwin could've done that on his own- but from here, it is time for Irwin to truly see how bad things can get.
It's time to have some words with King Carnelian.
...You.
You were there.
Irwin, that is the man your son is going to dedicate his life to stopping.
And he's just got a new toy.
Irwin rushes to Carnelian's side, presumably thinking Mordegon did something other than take over.
And, just as blissfully ignorantly, tells Mordegon exactly what he... well, what he needs to hear if his plans are to go off without a hitch.
This is just innocent enough to read as still being Carnelian, but yeah, we're looking at Mordegon now.
Irwin realises, far too late, as Carnelian's sword runs through his chest.
Starting now, we are treated to a very recognisable music track, Cruel Reality. DQV players might remember exactly where they heard it. I'll explain after the scene.
Irwin died betrayed by a friend.
Hendrik tracked Carnelian down. He hasn't been promoted yet, incidentally, that's why he's not in his black armour.
Hendrik has walked into a situation and... to put it bluntly, he has no idea what just happened.
And Mordegon realises he has the perfect opportunity to mould Hendrik to his liking. He tells Hendrik exactly what Mordegon wants him to hear, in Carnelian's voice, and trusts Hendrik not to ask any questions.
Hendrik does ask a little bit.
Mordegon works as hard as he can to come up with his answer.
Fuck you, Gustaf.
And poor Hendrik swallows the story whole. For sixteen long years.
Irwin's not quite dead yet.
He's dead enough that no one is going to act on anything he knows that no one else does... like Mordegon's possession.
And Irwin dies having watched everything he ever loved be taken away from him.
Now then... Cruel Reality most prominently appears in DQV as the song that plays when Pankraz, the player character's father dies. Although the two men have different paths, both wind up dying the same way- in a dungeon, knowing more than anyone else does, but with no way to get the word out, helpless to watch as their sons are condemned to a life of misery. The Side Story shores up the comparison between Pankraz and Irwin with the Side Story echoing the DQV hero's birth, and while Pankraz's death is still by far the more memorable of the two, Irwin isn't without his own strengths.
Namely, what came afterwards.
Irwin, I'm afraid, is not quite dead. He's made an acquaintance in the rudest possible manner.
This despicable little manticore is the Gloomnivore, devourer of despair, and he goes from tortured soul to tortured soul, anchoring them to this world as he, quite literally, feasts upon the suffering of his victims, making them relive their worst nightmare over and over and over again.
And there are miseries in Erdward's past that Irwin can scarcely hold a candle to.
Erdward lost everything... the day the Tree fell.
Yes... making Erdward relive this day would satisfy the Gloomnivore for years to come.
And so the Gloomnivore begins to bite.
Fortunately for Erdward, Eleanor has one final word to offer for her son.
Somehow, someway...
(Also, this is another classic DQ theme, this one not being so well-known: Brave Fight from DQ6 starts playing, and despite being the boss theme for Murdaw, I am a sucker for it.)
A mother's love proved to be exactly what Erdward needed to get back in touch with his Luminary powers.
One of these days, I'll need to ask Eleanor a few questions about where all this magical blood is coming from, since she was almost certainly responsible for us getting the power of the Luminary the first time.
Erdward's back, Sylv.
More than that... the Luminary is back.
It seems the Gloomnivore doesn't have a taste for hope the way it does despair.
I'm sure they will. Manticore recolour.
This cruel creature spent a lifetime gorging itself on the suffering of men, and found a particularly repast in the form of King Irwin's tragic fate.
Beast family
2750 HP
999 MP
Unfortunately, the Gloomnivore switched back to the normal boss theme. This beast has the Kazam spell and a malevolent miasma attack that encourages the use of Dark-resistant gear, as well as a sleep attack at the ready. He also has Double Up, although I'm sure that's as awkward for him as it is for us.
Oh yeah, and the miasma will try to lower MaMight and MaMend. Separate conditions, apparently, but don't try and lean on your magic here.
Well, this magic is just fine.
Hendrik kicking all kinds of butt on the first blow.
And Erdward's not far behind.
Poor Rab's almost out of things to do waiting for his own Oomphle buff.
And praying he'll even get a shot in.
...Well, that will help.
Hendrik, do you have anything you wish to tell me?
Rab, quite thankfully, gets a turn at the "beat up the monster tormenting his son-in-law" bat.
Neener neener.
Hendrik is the one to land the final blow. I guess this is his penance for letting this happen the first time.
And with that, there is one less monster in the world.
...Dad's... alive? The game certainly leans closer to that impression than the alternative- the Gloomnivore drawing out his suffering, the ritual sending everyone who died in Dundrasil On had a meaningful glance at a single butterfly to represent Eleanor...
He hasn't aged a day, but his son has aged sixteen years. Plus change.
It's nice to meet you, Dad.
But I think you're not quite Home yet.
For all the hullabaloo about "he's alive"... he did still get stabbed by Carnelian sixteen years ago. Quite frankly, it's impressive he's still got any blood at all, unless the Gloomnivore somehow healed those wounds.
Death is but the next great adventure, Dad. But don't worry- I'll be sure to get Mordegon before I'm gone.
Eleanor has some last words for her son before she takes Irwin with her back to... the undead cul-de-sac, I guess.
I'll have to get that fixed in a hurry.
Rab takes a moment of his own to say goodbye to his daughter. For him, it's probably a lot more emotional, since he knew the lass.
...Thanks, Mum.
They're not kidding about that, by the way. In addition to this, Erdward has now unlocked his "secret panels"- there's more to him than ever before.
Thanks for mentioning it now, Rab. Although there's no way I'd ever leave this undone forever.
I was so tempted to use that for a title.
Hendrik: I was in the dungeon on that terrible day, and yet I could not save King Irwin. Now that we know King Carnelian was under the influence of Mordegon, it all seems so clear. I only wish I had seen it at the time. But my regrets are worth naught now, and no apology will suffice... No, all I can do now is fight alongside you in the battle against Mordegon. I vow that I will defend you with my life, if needs be.
Rab: Ye know what gave you the powers of the Luminary back, don't ye, laddie? It was yer parents' love. Nothing else could have done the trick. Now it's up to us to make sure we don't let them down. Let's defeat Mordegon and bring peace back to Erdrea!
Sylvando: You remember what your mami and papi said, don't you, honey? They'll always be watching over you! That's got to be nice to hear, right? Now, let's get moving, shall we? I think our next port of call is good old Octagonia, due north!
Erik: I'm glad your parents are together again. I guess they'll be able to rest in peace now. You know, I don't have a clue what my parents were like. But I really hope they were like yours. That's how I want to imagine them, anyway.
Right... that's a lotta new panels.
Swordmastery:
- Gigagash: A more powerful Gigaslash for twice the MP. A must have for the Wheel of Harma.
- Gigacrash: A more powerful Gigagash for twice the MP.
- Blade of Ultimate Power: 400-700 damage to a single enemy, scaling on Strength. Considering it costs 48 MP to use, not ultimately really worth the price of admission. Sword Dance can do the job.
Luminary:
- Strength +40 (2 panels, 1 hidden)- 65 total
- Maximum HP +20 (1 panel)
- Maximum MP +20 (1 panel)
- Magical Might +55 (2 panels)
- Magical Mending +50 (1 panel)
- Charm +40 (1 panel)
- Pep Chance +10% (1 panel)- 15% total
- Pep-Up Power-Up
- Kaclang: Makes an ally invincible, but unable to act. It used to affect the whole party, but this is a defensive option that doesn't have a great payoff in wait.
- Zapple: Deals 156-324 lightning damage to a group.
- Kazap: Deals 360-720 lightning damage to a group. What if Zap, but even stronger? This is a good delete button for machines.
- Fullheal: Fully heals a single ally, 24 MP. Erdward's MaMend is always going to lag behind Serena's and Rab's, so this will be more tempting than relying on Moreheal. Both Serena and Rab get access to Fullheal naturally.
- Omniheal: Heals all allies to full health, 64 MP. This is an excellent panic button and a good way to not rely on a healer, assuming Erdward has the MP to squeak out two or three in the one battle between his own Sword Dances. Serena learns Omniheal naturally, but Rab will never get it.
- Big Banga: 170-310 fire damage to an enemy group. Scales on Strength, so much better than Kasizz (which isn't set to go that high anyway), but Erdward has better choices for that.
The Surprise Panel is Charm +40, down over here.
This is my main arrangement of the panels, however. The extra Pep Chance is most important to me, followed by... well, I'm not sure, really. But there's a lot of options on this board, and I can never feel entirely certain whether the ones I think are most worth it are indeed the right ones. I always wanted to use more of the Zap family spells, at least.
With that, we've got our Luminary powers back, and... well, the Seer said it involved us reaching out and taking the right chance, but it feels more like we lucked into it. I imagine the point tying most closely into it is not, in fact, Eleanor's aid, but rather the fact that Erdward confronts and rejects the memory of Mordegon taking his powers in Yggdrasil. A more symbolic approach than literal, but considering how little literal connection there is between what we are told about the power of the Luminary and what we see of it, I feel more confident looking for symbolic clues. And besides, Yggdrasil chose us. She did not choose Mordegon.
As a story, Irwin's valiant effort to get Eleanor and Jade to what he believes is safety (unfortunately for him, we learn his efforts were all but for naught, though at least Erdward escaped) is an excellent one. Hiding somewhat in the shadows of Pankraz's a little, but DQV was a game about that sort of thing. DQXI wants to tell other stories too, and tying Irwin's death to Mordegon's ascent to power in Heliodor makes him leagues above many other protagonist's fathers, who succumb to "the plot wants you out of the way" and if they are killed by the antagonists at all, it is nothing personal or even significant to their goals. Mordegon made the right call killing Irwin to advance his own goals. Lucky Hendrik missed the clues that might've helped him avert the crisis, but considering who Hendrik is, I'm sure that wouldn't have helped much.
The game never revisits this idea in detail, or even really condemn it when it occurs, but what Gustaf and Carnelian did at the Colloquy presents a perfect opportunity to explore the harm a mistruth can do even if the parties involved do not strongly believe it. Gustaf and Carnelian may have meant well when they told Irwin they suspected the Luminary was a beacon of evil and intended to act on it, and end the conversation reassuring Irwin of their intentions, but the seed has already been planted in the Sultan's mind. When Mordegon later takes over Carnelian and begins espousing the Darkspawn rhetoric unironically, neither Gustaf nor the Sultan challenges it, which allows it to spread so thoroughly across Erdrea. And why? Because they remember the conversation in the Colloquy and assume Carnelian is acting on valid information. If you keep repeating something, people will eventually assume it's true. (Side note, why am I just noticing it is the sultan who is the only member of this Colloquy to be unnamed, despite Gustaf being a post-humous character?)
One last note, this one about the Gloomnivore. Clearly it's a creature of malice, but as far as it was concerned... it wasn't a servant of Mordegon. Sure, it would almost definitely take his side, but it seemed rather impersonal when talking about how Erdward's failures caused the rise of Mordegon, and its only motivation- to chow on depression- is, well... unless it has a diet of regular meat (something that strikes me as unlikely, considering where Irwin died), it's just doing that to survive. The despair the Gloomnivore feasts on is felt at great length by its victims, which makes it difficult to suggest that he might've found better luck as, say, an unorthodox therapist, but still. There are some questions I ask myself and wonder why that even occurs to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment