When we get back control, we are standing here, for some reason. I... don't actually know why. It's not like there's a dramatic reveal on the other side of the curtain or anything.
Amber got the gist of what happened to us.
Hold that thought, Mum.
Dunstan is, understandably, irritated about the inhospitality. I hope later events help your mood some.
...Come to think of it, this meal isn't doctored in any way, is it?
I'll find her somewhere.
...Come to think of it, why don't I know where she is? Mechanically, it makes sense I turn up in the middle of a banquet with NPCs scattered everywhere, but narratively, it's hilarious.
...Well, if that isn't an accident waiting to happen.
I have no idea what the point of this man being invited is, but I am coming up with several theories that paint Mordegon unfavourably.
...
Come to think of it, there were old people in Cobblestone, right? Did one of them die while they were locked up, and this guy is supposed to cover the hole? I don't think the Cobblestonians would keep that quiet if it were true, though.
I think you can find the cat, but it's not up to much. Except maybe hiding from Sandy.
(Speaking of Sandy, what she's gotten up to is a possible suggestion as to why this "no pets" policy has been mandated.)
No sneaking into the King's bedroom from the kitchen passage.
It's been a long time since I had my mother's cooking...
Considering I was sick shortly before first writing this section of the game to the point of being unable to eat, oddly relevant.
Actually, no, I don't think any of the game's characters know who you are. The Count of Likeyegiveadamn, right?
Possibly that the Luminary has returned and that these people are his closest and dearest friends who he has treated horribly?
...Did any of that make sense to you?
This guy seems to at least appreciate the flavours.
This mini medal is new, we couldn't get to this area earlier.
Huh, this guy recognises Erik.
Sentences you never realise you have to say: This is our first time in Hendrik's room. The man himself has nothing to say other than continuing to grieve over Jasper, so we'll leave him to it.
Just stealing his Atk up accessory.
...And also his underwear, for some reason.
The mermaid princess led King Drustan deep beneath the waves to an undersea realm, where the citizens were engaged in a contest of strength, wrestling one another in order to be recognised as the strongest.
“If you can defeat my father,” the princess told him, “he will grant you my hand in marriage…”
And thus the two kings fought. But so perfectly were these warriors matched that though they wrestled for seven days and seven nights, neither could claim victory.
So awestruck was the king of the ocean at the warrior king’s might that he offered him not only his daughter’s hand in marriage, but also one of the great treasures of his realm.
From this treasure- a lustrous, scarlet scale as strong as steel and as light as silk- the warrior king forged a beautiful suit of crimson armour.
But he could not wed the princess, for he was a man of his word, and had not defeated her father. He turned his back on his beloved and, to her dismay, left the undersea kingdom, never to return…
...Either this story ends in misery for the mermaid princess because of the Burden, or Drustan caused the Burden. Drustan's a bundle of testosterone and I'm worried Hendrik's idolising this man, but you can't deny he's not skilled with a Forge.
Also I never really realised Drustan was a King. It does occur to me that, if he's a King in this story, he's probably got extenuating circumstances on that marriage thing, but it's still not a great look for him.
On our way out, I bump into a lady who mentions that all these random nobles lying around would be honoured to help out should we want to rebuild Dundrasil. Might be something to consider for Rab's benefit, although I wonder how feasible that really is...
Erik tells us where to head to progress the plot clear our head. I bet he's probably in a mood to head that way himself.
...Is Mordegon's pardon as good as Carnelian's?
Well, Mordegon has probably passed a lot more official policy than that over 16 years, like hell Carnelian is ever going to properly reassess each one.
If you met him before he was born, the darkness hadn't taken hold yet. Although depending on where he met Hendrik in comparison, perhaps there were seeds there that eventually turned into what we saw of the man today.
If Mordegon is mad at Jasper for failing to seize the Sword of Light, he's doing a hell of a job taking it out on what little corpse he still possesses.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
This can't be talking about the time travel thing, since it's about when we first met in Hotto... is this a Serenica thing?
Sylvando, of course, is having the time of his life.
And he's even found musical accompaniment.
Ah, this is where Gemma went and found herself.
There continues to not be a "hug Gemma" button.
Derk's wife is certainly rather taken with her.
...Yeah. Yeah there isn't.
Excuse me, what options I do or don't have are my business.
I'm... OK, I was sure Sylvando was just a badass normal person, but now that you say it like that...
Is everyone in Heliodor interested in Gemma? I guess Veronica's a child and Serena and Jade are both hiding in the corner.
Oh great, that guy looks like he's puking in the water feature.
Jade passed by here. She's going to be sticking with me, but in the long term... I think you might get your wish.
Mordegon's gone and retired for the night, probably so he can come up with a better plan. That means we're at least safe for now, I suppose.
Good girl! Now keep barking! Don't stop until he leaves the room!
No.
A foul, and hopefully unprepared mood.
Jade's still not sure about dear old Dad. Sooner or later I'll have to have a plan against him.
Right... naptime.
In the enemy castle.
Surely there's nothing that could go wrong here.
Once again, Mordegon is denied the Sword of Light.
To his complete confusion. He touched it readily in Act 2, but he also had the power of the Luminary then.
...I'm not sure what would happen if one of my party members tried to take the Sword of Light for themselves, come to think of it.
Erdward wakes up, and grabs the Sword.
Yeah, I think we've passed the point of this disguise fooling anyone.
The party enters the room.
Bad time to put in your red contacts, Mordegon.
Yeah, at least Jade wasn't a horrible person for doubting her own father!
Sure you did, Rab.
From his perspective, good question. He's clearly a man Jasper is subordinate to on the evil totem pole, but they don't realise this must necessarily be Mordegon. He still must be important, though.
Cowardly, on the other hand.
Say it when Jade's not in the room, Ronnie.
Hopefully he hasn't teleported out of the castle, at least. Although his Carnelian disguise is worthless now.
Erik: That rat! It was all a trick! King Carnelian held that banquet just to lure us to the castle! Come on, let's get him! He can't have gone far!
Veronica: Who does he think he is, sneaking into your room while you're asleep!? Well, he's not going to get away with it. Let's track him down so I can give him a piece of my mind!
Serena: You're alright, aren't you, Erdward? Oh, thank goodness...
Sylvando: The plot thickens! King Carnelian was actually some kind of monster! And he tried to attack you in your sleep! I heard him shouting something about the Sword of Light as I ran to your room. I guess he wanted to steal it from you, the nasty brute!
Jade: My poor father... He was Mordegon's puppet. That was why he called you the Darkspawn and had you thrown in prison. Suddenly it all makes sense...
Rab: Mordegon has been pulling the wool over everyone's eyes since the day Dundrasil fell... I cannae forgive him this! But we need to be careful, laddie. Who knows what he'll do when he's cornered.
Hendrik, if he hasn't yet processed his Jasper grief, now has to deal with having served Mordegon for a good... sixteen years- although he hasn't been told that yet.
This man will allow you to do exactly that. Not a terrible idea, either.
She's smelled something extremely important. After this, make sure you give her all the belly rubs.
My party for this fight will be Jade and Rab, because of course when dealing with Mordegon, and Veronica, because pathos for being in Act 3.
...Also, there's quite the hubbub going on downstairs.
Give that girl a boomerang and she might just be worth bringing along regardless.
...Isn't it your job to know what's going on in these situations?
There are so many layers of irony in this plan that I can't help but feel like patting him on the back.
...Pardon?
...You're serious? What are you going to tell your family when they ask how you proposed?
Derk is worried, but in no shape to actually look around for the problem.
Amber seems to have not been informed of any danger whatsoever.
The excuses they make to prevent Jade from entering her own room...
Carnelian- the real deal- should have all your jobs, but I know he'd only replace the lot of you with us.
...Mordegon is inhumanly growling? Or are you thinking of Sandy?
No, I suppose a barking dog can't be fun.
What is it, girl? Is the Lord of All Evil hiding in the big bad throne room?
The Lord of Evil is hiding in the big bad throne room.
I notice this is the second time Veronica seems to think we've got a magician who is known to have the ability to teleport "cornered" when we're in the deepest part of their respective home domains.
Admittedly, she is a mage who can teleport, but I feel like she'd still have a plan if she was trapped somewhere in Arboria.
Again with the demands before the boss fight.
Although Mordegon is happy to comply.
He fights better as a warlock anyway.
Not actually the leadup to the battle, but a nice foreshadow of what to expect.
Everyone's ready to tear him a new hide for this one.
The way Mordegon phrases this reveal, it's almost like Hendrik doesn't know Mordegon was behind Zwaardsrust's destruction. To be fair, he probably knew it, but the extra dagger of being told it to his face was extra painful.
Jade is more than ready to tear Mordegon down for this.
And Hendrik steps up to take our side. Hey, so a character who isn't in our party, volunteering to help? Does that mean what I think it means...
The rest of the party's raring to go too.
A malevolent sage who sent our hero's world spiraling out of control when he took over the body of King Carnelian and pit in motion a pernicious plot to steal the Luminary's power.
??? family
2400 HP
Infinite MP
Mordegon is a master sorcerer, and fittingly, he brings magic to his battlefield. He has Disruptive Wave, Zammle, Kazam, Kafuddle, and Snub to bring to bear, but trust that those won't be the only spells you stare down the receiving end of. He also has one Orb-level attack I'll let him show off first- and yes, I do see it this time.
This fight against Mordegon also uses Bringer of Doom as its theme.
As cool as Mordegon is in virtually all respects, when it comes to "being represented by a sprite in 2D Mode", Mordegon is the clear loser. What is that face? He looks like he's trying to be Wario.
On our side, you may also notice we have Guest Hendrik.
Guest Hendrik, as you might recall, knew the skill Forbearance, and as a Guest, has infinite HP. This fight is considered one of the hardest in the game because of your power level, and Hendrik's ability to just say no to a turn's worth of damage is your ace in the hole here. If he figures out when it's right to do so.
The Lord of Shadows' best beloved weapon, called forth from a devilish dimension to do his bidding and destroy all who would oppose him.
??? family
840 HP
999 MP
Mordegon's staves really keep you on your toes- they can throw out Crackle, Frizzle, Sizzle, Boom, the works.
Hehe, Skull Ring go nope.
...You need an Oomph.
"Crystal of benevolessence?" Tickington prize. It's an infinite use Magic Barrier item.
Veronica Oomphles Erdward.
I had hopes.
Hendrik knows what his job is.
Although I question whether Erdward needed protecting from that.
OK, that was worth blocking. This right here is the downside of Forbearance when we get it as a player skill, but as long as Hendrik is a Guest with infinite HP, he can take all the Booms he wants.
...Still not that much damage.
OK, maybe it was good that didn't hit me.
Better shore up even more, though.
And Veronica prepares her own fury.
...I forget sometimes the game thinks Hendrik is a Greatsword user.
That didn't hurt so bad.
...Why? I thank the fact I won't have to take an attack from it, but why?
Ah, there's Mordegon's special trick.
"Reversing beneficial effects" implies our Oomph and Magic Barrier was for naught, but I think those are still fine. Anything new is a foolish choice, and yes, if Rab casts Multiheal, we might as well have taken a massive Silver Spark or worse. This is why you want to shore up fast, and why you might just get in huge trouble here if you're not ready for him.
It's difficult to say I'm not ready for him.
KABOOM! (OK, just Boom, I don't have Kaboom yet.)
...OK, Jade's doing plenty of damage, I'm not sure what Erdward's problem is...
...
He's resistant to Zap, isn't he? The Supreme Sword of Light is working against him. So much for coveting the thing.
Rab isn't exactly doing great himself. He's not his Act 2 Claw self yet.
This doesn't trigger on anyone, but good thing I had those Rings of Clarity.
Veronica: Rats.
At least I can still drop some snow on his staves.
Remember what I said about Rab not being his Act 2 Claw self? Yeah, guess who acted as if Rab had Rake 'n' Break here?
Thank you, Hendrik.
Thank you, Hendrik.
Right, enough beating around the bush.
...I was kidding.
Now this is a dark lord defeated.
...
When did you get there, little guy?
Mordegon seems tickled to spot him.
More importantly, Mordegon can see him too.
Mordegon, just from looking at our little friend, knows a) exactly what he's doing there, b) how he got there and c) what it means that he did so. I'm honestly impressed that he's so well informed- although of course, how Mordegon would know these things is going to have to wait until we learn them.
Mordegon gets a dramatic death, but not so dramatic that Carnelian is lost alongside him.
As a matter of fact, there he is now!
And this time, he recognises Jade right away. Yep, this is the real deal this time.
Carnelian mentioned much the same in Act 2. This time around... it'll probably hurt him less to bring him up to speed.
Although this puts Carnelian in the hilarious position of not being aware Jade was missing.
And Jade was only a toddler when you last saw her. You've missed south of two decades of your autumn years, old man.
Yeah, you might want to sit down.
...Right, you're already sitting down.
Jade'll make sure he gets back to his feet.
...
You know, it has never occurred to me until now, mostly because of how low-key this line is, but I think this scene is supposed to act as the substitute for the Da and Son reconciliation to get the gears of Sylvando's mind turning towards "going back and seeing Don Rodrigo". Those bridges are still burnt here, recall.
Some proper rest this time.
...Mostly.
...Well, clearly he's not my problem any more.
OK, that one's a good one. You know you're a Dragon Quest fan when you genuinely laugh at the puns.
Along with the rest of the Party, so no Chat.
I hope so too. What else can one really throw at us, then?
Oh great, I have a reputation.
Yeah, yeah, whatever, you're in my way.
Hey... wait, aren't you the maid who got proposed to? I don't think there were any other maids running around, but in uniform, you never know.
I may be better than you, but I'm not interested in staying in your area. You can be the best at whatever you're good at in your area and I'll just be an outlier over in the corner you can ignore.
...Oh, it'll be one of those ceremonies?
I can only wonder what he'll be like this time.
...I wonder what Carnelian's going to think of this former thief turned merchant. Depending on if he's a big enough deal to be in the King's workload.
This time, I'm going to the King as a good idea.
Good girl, Sandy.
Hello, Carnelian. It's been a long time coming.
Had this been any other game, I might've scoffed, but no. Carnelian is dead on.
LONG LIVE THE LUMINARY!
Well... that feels just great.
...Ronnie?
Veronica got a sudden sense of remembering her own self-sacrifice from Act 2.
This is the emotional core of Act 3, right here. Everything we did, we did so Veronica could see it. The improvements to the lots of everyone else in Erdrea were completely incidental here. And yet here we are... things have turned out brilliantly and we almost forgot that much.
And it's nice to know that, on some metaphysical level, Veronica vaguely recognises it.
Yggdrasil soars high in the sky...
The Tower of Lost Time ticks on...
And the Timekeeper... now what could that be?
Act 3 opens with exactly what you'd expect from the setpiece: We knew the plot twist going in, and we did the exact perfect play to undo the events from unfolding. Perhaps it might've been nice if Carnelian got revealed a little faster, perhaps for Jade and Hendrik's sakes, but as all things turned out, we handled it just fine. From here, though... where do we go from here? The answer to that question lies... at the end of this cutscene. Yes, I've cut in the middle of a cutscene, how cheeky of me.
What I want to mention early is how well they set up our Act 3 opponent during the whole game thus far- his presence has been touching at the corners of practically every mention of the Dark One. We know, in the broad strokes, how he comes to be a problem now- that much is very explicit and up front in Act 2 and his introduction here- but his place in the grander scale of the world and his relationship to certain key characters has been set up in dialogue perhaps you weren't considering before. Not only that, but there's more to Mordegon the game can only reveal once Act 3 kicks into action.
It feels funny that I'll have to slip into Tickington now. I really should have done those as they came up in the first place...
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