We're All Mad Here: Let's Play Rune Factory 3!

[Qwertystop]

Those people are funny...

[Javan]

So this is what Dems has been up to, neat
I was wondering if you were okay since HM64 and Thracia776 hasn't updated in a while.

[Deme]

So this is what Dems has been up to, neat
I was wondering if you were okay since HM64 and Thracia776 hasn't updated in a while.

HM64 updated 3 days ago, actually.
...Thracia 776, though, you've got a point about. I'll get on that, since someone asked ^^

[Javan]

Well prior to that it had been, it looks like 3 weeks, since your last post to HM64, what I was referring to.
And yay Thracia update!

[erikun]

Yay Karina! *ahem* Not me playing favorites. Nope, not at all.

And just imagine, this is only around half the town.

[Deme]

Well prior to that it had been, it looks like 3 weeks, since your last post to HM64, what I was referring to.
And yay Thracia update!

Heh-heh. ^.^;
Well, you got a point there... A couple of things happened that made updating that hard for a bit, one after another. Not to mention the kind of funky production times at this stage -- that's one of the reasons I started this.

[Seerow]

Wow you weren't kidding about everyone in this game being crazy.

[MeatShield#236]

Suddenly, I now understand the title. These townsfolk are certainly... unique.

[Deme]

Yay Karina! *ahem* Not me playing favorites. Nope, not at all.

And just imagine, this is only around half the town.

And the second half contains my personal favorite! In theory, anyway. In execution, I found they could have done better with her. I may make an effort to fix.

Also, I said I wasn't kidding, but noooow you believe! Ha-ha, vindicated!
The title's actually an Alice in Wonderland quote, because... I'm not sure why, but the quote, and a more benevolent take on Wonderland in general, seems to fit the game. The best possible LP title for this game was taken by an abandoned LP on Something Awful, and I'll never forgive it for that.

[Dragoon]

Yeah, another Let's Play by Deme.

Though at least the town gives a reason that an amnesiac isn't so surprising. It will be interesting to meet the rest of the town.

[Deme]

Eh, it's less so much that the game offers you that explanation, as it is very easy to just take it as one, when you stop and think about it.

Chapter 3: RAAIINBOW! (Ah, I'll never get tired of that.)

Spoiler

Show

There's one other person in the square, too...

Shara's grandfather, I'd guess, standing under the cherry tree in the center.
"I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Shara's grandfather."
"I'm Ramza."
"Hmph. My name's Wells. I'm the mayor of this town. I hope you're happy with your new home."
"Yeah, it's great. Thank you very much." It's a really generous gesture, giving someone a house like that.

Next up is a near-complete loop, judging by the maps and signs I can find... The next street's called Pond Way, and it's got two buildings, too.

And one of them is this diner I've heard about.


Oh, it's Sherman. He's certainly moving about a lot today. He's engaged in some serious eating with a thin girl -- and she's not any less voracious than he seems to be.
"Oh, dreadful! Absolutely dreadful! Take this food...And DOUBLE my helping!"

A man walks over, plates of food in hand.

"Great, but I STILL don't think that'll be enough!" The girl exclaims in a cheery voice.
"My compliments to the chef! This is truly an abomination!"
They look as happy as pigs in slop... Though maybe that's a bit on-the-nose.

"That means a lot coming from you, Sherman. Enjoy your meal!" The man says, without missing a beat. "Oh, and Collette? Might help to actually chew this time."
"Oh, that's such a waste! But I'll try. Now gimme gimme gimme!" She holds our her arms and waves her hands, trying to grab the plate of food the instant he'd hand it to her.



A young man by the stairs sighs and shakes his head. This causes Collette to whip her head around to glare at him.

"It's called having a lightning-fast metabolism! I can't help it! I need to EAT!"


Well, now that the conversation's died down, maybe I can get in some introductions.

Well, let's start off with the I-assume-Chef.
"I don't think we've met, have we?"

"Wow! Word spreads fast. Yeah, I'm Ramza. Nice to meet you!" I guess Sherman's doing all the rumor-spreading.
"Heh. I got my ear to the ground in town. The name's Blaise. I'm the head chef here at Blaise's Diner. If you want some home cookin', you're always welcome here."
"Good to hear! I'll definitely be stopping by later! Your place comes pretty reccomended."
"See ya around, kid!"

And the young lady...
Turns to look at me when I draw near, then smiles intensely.

"Uh, down? Down where?"
"Down in an eating contest, duh!"
"Uh... With you? You really think that's a good idea?"

"Don't look at you how? I don't even know what you're talking about!"
"Liar! I see you giving me the evil eye! You're jealous of my metabolism!"
...What? If I've ever felt that way about anyone's metabolism, I don't think I want to be that person.
"Uh, no, I can honestly say I've never been jealouse of anyone's metab--"

"I can see it in your eyes! I can see it in everyone's eyes! They all want my metabolism! Well, I'm not sharing!"
Metabolisms don't work that way! You can't steal metabolism!
No, I should try and calm her down. I hold up my hands in an effort to show my innocence of crimes of biological theft.

"Uh, Ok. I won't ask for your metabolism, then. You can feel secure in that knowledge."

"I just moved into that big tree. Call me Ramza."
"I'm Collette. I'm usually here at Blaise's Diner working... or EATING!"
She says that so proudly... Still, the food's apparently good enough to gorge on.
"Heh. Sounds like I should stop by here when I'm hungry, then!"
"Sounds good! Just don't think you can outeat me!"

I glance over at the table of broken dreams and empty plates.
"Heh. I won't even try, if that helps."
The pile's grown during our conversation, too. I shake my head and mutter, incredulously,
"Wow... Did she really finish off 10 more plates?"

Anyway, finally, the other guy.
"Hello."

He waits for an opportunity to hear my name.
"Ramza. I just moved into the Sharance Tree. I hope we can be friends." Even it isn't for very long.
"Oh, I see. I'm Rusk. It looks like we're around the same age. So let's keep it casual."
Really? Huh... He's maybe a little younger than, say, Shara... So I'm about Shara's age, huh? Or, well, I look like it. That's good to know.
... I really need to go take a look in a mirror. Learning things about how I look piece-meal like this isn't much good.

"Alright, well, it's nice to meet you, Rusk."
"Yeah, same here. I'm usually here at the diner, so come by to see me sometime."
"Yeah, I'll do that."

Well, that's the diner done: nice people, and it looks like I'll have food.

The last building on this street is surrounded by an almost moat-like pond, with a bridge going across... It's sort of an Eastern-looking building...I wonder what sort of place it --

I don't even step foot in it when someone comes running to greet me.

...Wh...What are those things on the sides of her head? Those definitely look attached...

"Would you like a bath? Or would you like to BE a bath?"
She says that in such a happy, mindlessly cheerful voice that for a second, I don't get what she just said.
And once I do, then I just don't understand it.

"The bath's over there! Come on in! The water's fine!"
Before I can explain anything, she grabs my hands in hers -- hands that, I notice, have something like, well, fins attached to the wrists, the same color as the things on her head.
"Whoa."

She starts pulling me along, happily humming, her step bright and bouncy.


Another voice rings out, stopping the strange girl in her tracks.

The speaker's an Eastern girl, maybe...Um...My age, I guess.


She steps between Pia and myself, breaking the grip Pia had on my hands, even as Pia gestures like she really wants to grab them again.
"I'm really sorry about that."

She grabs my hands.
"Wait, what?" I'm not being saved at all! "Not you, too!"

Regardless, she starts pulling me in the opposite direction, only to be stopped by a protest -- not from me.
"Sakuya! Don't you DARE steal him! He's MINE!"
I hope whatever my life's been like, it's prepared me for this.
...I doubt it.

"What are you talking about? He clearly came to stay at my place!"
And then Pia bursts into tears, her sobs quickly filling the room.

She looks so pitiful; maybe there's something I can say to make her feel better?
Sakuya looks as alarmed as I do, immediately looking about for some plan of consolation.
"Oh, come on now, Pia... Don't cry..."
I can literally see the scheme cross her face, a cunning smile entering.
"Hey, let's do this, then! He can stay at my place, and then he can take a bath later on! How does that sound?"
"That works!"
"Great!"
Yeah, that'll make everyone ha -- wait. I have a place to stay! And I don't want to be a bath!

They converge on me, gleams in their eyes.
"Uh... Don't I get a say in all this?"

Once again, the abduction-in-progress is interrupted.



She appears like an angel from on-high. Thank you, ma'am!
"It's great that the two of you are so enthusiastic about your jobs, but you shouldn't put so much pressure on the customer like that."

Pia wiggles in place and looks contrite.
"Sorry for fighting over the customer..."
"Dang! And I'd concocted the perfect plan, too!"
Sakuya, less so.

From the tone, I guess that's Sakuya's mother; that's a very 'mother' tone.

"Um, never mind. Forget I said anything."
The woman turns and looks at me, an elegant but apologetic smile on her face.
"I'm very sorry about that, sir. Let me take this time to formally welcome you to the Miyako Inn."
She bows.
"We have fantastic food and a wonderful bath. Please, do not hesitate to use any of our facilities."
Pia interjects, "My bath's open from 10 AM to 10 PM! I better see ya there later! 10 AM to 10 PM! You better not forget!"
I, uh, heard that a first time.

"Oh, my daughter also sells some odd things at her shop. Please, take a look."
This steams Sakuya.
"Hey! What do you mean, 'odd things'?!" She crosses her arms and continues. "I sell things I find on my trips. The products change daily, so be sure to stop by every day!"
"Um, Okay... I'll be sure to check it out..." Now that no one's forcing me to.

Pia looks me over a bit and adds,
"So, you must be the new guy everyone's blabbing about, right?"
"Wow, you've heard about me, too? Yeah, my name's --"

She stares at me for a minute before suddenly adding,
"It's strange though, isn't it? There aren't any dice anywhere!"
...I... I think she's being serious.
"I don't think it's a pair of --"
"Oh, never you mind that! Time to get you in the bath!"
"This second?!"
Didn't we just get done talking about this?!
"Duh, this second! You look, uh, haggard or something!"
Now, see. I don't even know what my face is like, and even I can tell she's making stuff up.
"It's okay. I'm doing fine, really!"
She leans forward and takes one hand in hers, inspecting my forearm.
"Really? You sure you don't need even a TINY little scrubbing?"
I pull my hand back.
"Yes. VERY sure."
"Just you wait! You can't evade our scrubbings forever!"
This would sound like a threat, if it weren't delivered in a voice like a series of colorful sugar-bubbles.
"Uh, if you say so."
"I know so! Oh, and I guess it does matter what your name is! After all, I'm gonna need to log your visit later!"
"Heh! I'm Ramza."
"Gotcha! Nice to meet you, Ramza!"
But you know what? You can't fault that sort of enthusiasm. I bet her baths are really nice, if she's that gung-ho.
"Nice to meet you, too. And I'll let you know when I'm ready for a bath!"

Next up, I suppose I'll introduce myself to Sakuya.
"Hello there."

"Did I hear that right? Are you the guy who moved into the Sharance Tree?"
"That'd be me."
"Ah, my intuition was right! My name's Sakuya! Nice to meet you!"
"I'm Ramza. Nice to meet you."
Sakuya's head drooped slightly.
"Anyway, that was so mean of Shara..."
"Huh? What was...?"
"We could've had an extra customer if she'd had to stay here instead of in that tree."
"I...I guess that's true..."
... But then, I didn't have any money. Or a way to make money...
"Well, I'll just have to talk to Shara later."
"Huh? Talk to her about what?"
"To make sure she reccomends our inn from now on!"
"Ah....Gotcha..."
She giggles.
"Well, I hope you stop by our inn soon! See you later!"
I don't think I'll move out until I move, uh, "home." Wherever that is.

And finally...

"That's right."
"My name is Shino. Shinonome, actually, but I go by Shino for short. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too. By the way, how did you know my name?" Was she listening in on the conversations I was just having?
"Actually, it's just a small town. Word of a new resident spreads fast."
"That makes sense..." But she didn't say who she heard it from, which is sort of dissapointing.
"I run this inn here. If you ever feel tired, please come by and have a rest."
"Sounds good. I'll be sure to do that." I do owe her a debt, after all.
"We'll be waiting! Though I suppose you'll have more use for our baths."

Well, with that, it's time to close the loop that's the town -- the road leads back to the Sharance Tree, and if you go South from there, we're back near Shara's house. There was one more shop near there...

This is probably the general store, since I haven't seen that yet.

Looks like, particularly since...

Karina's asleep over the counter, her face still and peaceful.
"Uh, hello?"

My approach wakes her. She sits up and looks at me with impressive awareness, for someone just woken up from a nap. She's like a sleeping cat like that.

"Oh, uh...okay."

A woman calls out from behind me.

"What are you doing?!"
She storms up the steps and to the counter.

"You're supposed to be working!"
"I AM working. Taking breaks is a part of work."
...I-I'm Not sure it works like that.
"You can't take a break when there are customers in the store!"
"Sheesh. What a slave driver."

Mother and daughter, huh? That's certainly sounds like family squabbling.
Still, it makes me uneasy...
"Ha ha..."
She looks at me appraisingly and, for the first time, smiles.

"Yep."
"We should explain the shipping system to you, then. Why don't you step up to the counter? Karina won't bite."
That's nice to hear -- so far, there's only one person who will. In a literal sense, I mean.

I finally step up from the stairs, getting a nod from Karina's mother.
"OK, Karina! Go ahead."

"But there's so much to... (What a pain...)"
She opens her eyes and seems to have come to a solution of her own liking.
"Actually, I think you'd do a much better job explaining it, Mom."
Ha! You're just too lazy to do it!"
"Hey, I'm just thinking about what's best for our customers." Point: Karina
"Oh, really? Well, since you're so concerned about our new customer, I'll put you in charge of shipping for his farm." Point: Karina's Mom.

"What?!"
"I know you'll love that!"

Game, set, and match.

Her mother nods, satisfied with having made her daughter do something. Probably "Actually do something."
"Well, I've got to get some orders ready, so Karina will tell you all about shipping."

I shoot Karina an emberassed smile.
"Okay."

"Karina! No sleeping on the job!"
"Fine... (She's so bossy.)"

Karina's mom turns to me and smiles.
"See you later."

As she leaves, Karina heaves a sigh.
"Well, I guess you're stick with me for the explanation. I'll try my best, but no promises. (This is such a drag...)"
"Thank you. I'm sure I'll follow well enough."

"Ummm..." She pauses to formulate her ideas. "Toss your crops into the shipping bin and we'll come pick 'em up. (Lighter crops are better.) We'll pick them up around 5 PM. (Or whenever we feel like it.) Then you'll automatically get paid for them. We'll pick them up every single day. (I don't even get weekends off. *Sigh*)"
...I feel like there's a lot going unsaid here, somehow.
"I guess that covers it. (That was annoying.)"
At last, she opens her eyes and looks at me again.
"Got it?"
"Uh....Kinda..."
"So I guess I start today..."
She sighs.
"Why does your field have to bee so far away?"
"Uh, sorry about that."
But it doesn't seem so far to me.

"Yeah... (I just hope you don't ship too much.)"
"I look forward to doing a lot of business here!"
I'll have to come back to introduce myself to her mother, so that just leaves... Um, Daria, wasn't it? The person who lives in the forest to the South of town.



This place looks pretty big -- there's much more of it than I'm seeing, but...
I'm guessing that...
Uh...
Colorful house is Daria's.
I wonder what some of those...sculptures, I guess? are. Maybe I'll ask.

The room I walked into was... Busy. Messy. Colorful. Covered in giant splatters of paints and bits of colorful objects that could be pieces of the stuff outside or sculptures on their own, all in bright, near-neon shades.

And there's a woman with long blonde hair and pointed ears, happily painting away on a large canvas.




...Is that a hammer she's using to paint?
Lost in her own work, she hasn't heard me come in at all.
"It's incredible! It's beautiful! This is the piece that'll show everyone what a staggering genius I am!
I'll finally be world famous! People will be lining up to interview me!
I'll give lectures to packed houses!
I'll be invited to fabulous parties!"

"I'll need assistants! Probably a hundred of them!"
She brings a finger to her lips, suddenly pensive.
"Hmm...I'd better start looking."


I'm not sure I want to disturb her, but...
"Hello."

She leans in close and looks me over, turning her head this way and that, examining me more closely than I think I've ever been examined.
A light that approaches mania fills her eyes. Is -- Is this what it's like to be "undressed by someone's eyes"?
"Uh...Yeah?"
"Hmmm...."
"I... Uhh... What are you staring at?"
It's not my soul, is it?

"Your nose, your cheekbones... Your face is fascinating."
"W-what?!"
Th-that's good, right?
"You should model for me sometime!"
"Model...? Uh, sure, I guess."
She claps her hands together once as a sort of exclamation point.
"Excellent! You couldn't have chosen a better artist to capture your form! Paintings, sculptures, mixed media...I'm a master of them all, an artist extraordinaire!"

"That sounds pretty impressive."
...When did rainbows enter into this?

"You'd better believe it!"

She pauses and looks at me again -- not with the same intensity, but a sort of thoughtfulness.
"Actually, maybe you'd make a better assistant than a model."
"Huh?"
"What's your name?"
"Ramza."
"Ramza? I'm Daria. Come by my studio any time you want to take a look at my masterpieces!"
"Okay."

She seems a little... eccentric.
If I'm putting it mildly.
Oh, but, if she's going to call attention to my face...

"Hey, this may sound odd, but...Do you have a mirror somewhere I can look at?"
She turns from her painting again.
"Why do you need one?"
"Well, this may sound silly, but... I don't remember what I look like."
She folds her arms and nods, her expression suddenly grave.
"What a dreadful dilemna!" ... But her voice is so enthusiastic it's hard to take that seriously.
"Well, you're in luck! I've been using one to aide me in my latest masterpiece! It should be right over there!"
She points to a pile of... objects, thrown haphazardly on a green chair next to her.


"That's a mess..."
"Nonsense, controlled chaos is essential to art! I know where everything is!"
Everything but a mirror it seems: when I look through the pile, I find everything but that. There's even something here that smells like it might be...Food?\

I pull it out, and it turns out to be...

"...Are these cooked eggplants?"
"Oh, that's where that went! Well, for retrieving it, you're welcome to keep it!"
"...Thank you?" I'm not sure...How old is this? Well, it's a gift, anyway. "Thank you."
I could eat it, but I think I'd do better seeing if I can get money for it somehow.


"Well, thanks anyway. I've got to get going."
"See you later! I've got artistic vision to produce. RAINBOW~!"
And she turns back, frantically, to her work.

Well, finally... I guess the last thing I need to do is go back and talk to Karina's mother. My luck's good enough that she's manning the shop when I get back up there.


"Yep." At this point, it doesn't surprise me.
"I'm Hazel. I own this general store, and am mother of the laziest girl on Earth.
We sell an assortment of crop seeds, so I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of you."
"Yeah. I plan to do lots of farming."

"Good! It's great to meet someone with some energy and ambition!
...
If only my daughter was more like you..." She sighs. This is...Kind of a lot of issues in a simple introduction.
"Well, I'm sure I'll be back later, but I've got to go see Shara."

She waves me off as I run to the flower shop.



Where Shara greets me with a contemplative hum.
"What's the matter?"
"How would you feel about trying out a new scent, Ramza?"
"Uh....What?" Do I smell bad or something?
"A little cologne can make a big difference."
"I don't own any cologne."
I don't own any anything.
"Just come by any time I'm tending the store and I'll choose a scent for you."
"You'll choose?" I feel uneasy about that...
"Of course! Is there something wrong with that?"
"Well, a guy's cologne is kind of a personal decision, don't you think?"
It's sort of a personal expression...
"Tee-hee. Don't worry, I'm a proffessional!"
I thought you sold flowers, not toiletries!

I shake this off.
"Anyway, I introduced myself to everyone in town."
[color=limegreen]"Oh, thank you. I'll bet you got a 'SKILL UP!' message while you were walking around town. Were you surprised?"
I think something like that happened... But it didn't exactly catch my attention.
"Not really..."

"You got that message because your walking skill increased. That's a skill that you increase just by walking around. You'll find that you have build skill levels for just about everything you do, even eating and sleeping."
"Wow. That's pretty detailed."
"Building skills will help you out in all sorts of ways."
"That's good to know."
"Now, let's see... Next, I'd like you to ship any one item."
There's more to this request?
"Any item at all?"


"Just put it in the shipping bin, then come back and talk to me."
"Sounds easy enough."
I've got just the thing!


In you go! This should fetch an alright price, bottom of the junk pile origins or no.
"Okay, I shipped something. I should get back to Shara."

Back to the flower shop!
"I put something in the shipping bin.
"Thank you. What did you ship?"

"Was it something that you cooked? I would've liked to have tried it."
"Um, Not exactly..."
"Well, that's it for my request. Great job!"

She places a chest on the other side of the counter.
"When you complete a request, sometimes you'll get a gift. You'll usually get an extra nice reward for difficult requests or when you complete a request for a wealthy client."
...Soo....Do lots of favors for Sherman if I need money. I can do that.
"But I think the real reward is helping others."
"Yeah, everyone's been so nice to me here. It's great to have a chance to help out!"
The people here are kind of strange, but... They're also very nice. I'm glad of all the places I could have wound up, it's here.

"Tee-hee. That's the spirit! Now I should tell you about your mail box. It's just outside your door. It's another place where you can get requests."
Shara sure slips easily into expository mode, doesn't she?
[color=limegreen]"I asked my grandfather to send a request to your mail box. So check your mail box and I'm sure you'll get his letter soon! Did you understand all that?"
"I got it. I'll be getting a request in the mail box by my front door."
"Perfect. ♪ And please be sure you accept my grandfather's request, okay?"
"Okay!"
Looks like my first day'll be busy.


And now my prize...


Some turnip seeds! Nice! ...Why are they pink, though? ...No, you know what?
I think there are some things not worth knowing.

I guess I'll go worry about these, and then it's on to the next request!

Mechanics Chat

Spoiler

Show

Let's talk about some things, shall we? Most of this is just stuff to keep people from being confused when I show things off.
We'll start by taking a quick trip through the menu. I could show this at any time, but might as well do so now. Uh, people who've played Rune Factory 3, you can just skip to the bottom paragraph, where I'm talking about what this LP will do with requests.


First up, we've got the main menu screen. It shows our stats and inventory. If I press a button, whose relationship to real buttons I have forgotten (I think it's the button that is meant to be the left shoulder), I can pull up an expanded description of an item, like I did for the miso eggplant.
You can probably guess what most of our stats do: they're pretty standard.
We could also look at our rune abilities from here, but we only have two, and both of them will get their own explanation when the game comes. I'll save it.


Our second page is skills! Like Shara mentioned, there is an almost hilariously long list of skills for this game, and they go up all the time, whenever you do relevant things.
Here's what we've got now, I really should leave listing them all for its own segment. This is mostly for my showing off bits of menu without people who don't know the game getting confused:
Water Skill Uh, it's right there in the description, basically. There's a reason we have it on our skill list, though, even though we've never done water magic: we used our watering can. We've watered things, and the water skill figures that's good enough.
Earth Skill: The skill for earth magic. In terms of how it effects earth magic, it's the same as the water skill, and it raises the same stats, too. It probably went up because we've been hoeing the ground. Probably -- the game's a little bit obtuse about this stuff, but it's basically all we've done.
Love Skill: ...Not like that. Well, a bit: it's gone up because we talk to people, or maybe because we sowed seeds -- I've heard both of those things increasing love skills, and both sound plausible. Love is the element associated with healing and curative magics. It works like the other magics in terms of the stats it raises, and it also has a special effect that we'll get to later.
Farming: We're going to need this for making our own farm tools later, and it reduces RP use on farm tools. It raises RP and HP, and you increase it by using farm tools.
Walking: Yes, this is a skill. Why, I do not know. It boosts HP, RP, and Vitality.
There's enough skills that I'll be dedicating a segment to them, honest. Just remind me.

If you run over a little rune (not a runey, but just a ball of light), you'll get a boost to a random skill. I never know my skills well enough to know what improved, but that's nice.


We can have party members, either monsters we've tamed, or villagers who have friendly feelings towards us (3 FP or LP). We'd check out their stats and equipment (you can give villagers equipment and weapons) here, if we had any.
If you've got any villagers you want to party with us, let me know! That's something you can decide, and I'll talk about our options when we have options!
...To be honest, I never had non-mandatory party members in this game. I only really started bringing people along with me in RF4. But it'd be more fun this way, right?



And finally (well, finally before 'Options,' which I won't show you during the LP, so why do you need to worry?), we have the affections listing! This gives you a little bio about a character (I'll be putting them all in my bio list, which I'll be working on now that we've met everyone), their family (if they have one), and how much they like you... And how they like you. Characters with little hearts for their affection rating are marriage candidates, and include: Shara, Collete, Marian, Karina, Pia, Sofia, Sakuya, Carmen, Raven, and Daria. There's one we haven't met yet, as well. Due time, due time.
...By the way, all of Daria's RAINBOW lines are voiced, and I will never get tired of that. Neeeeevvvveeer.

Now, finally, let's talk about stuff that's not the menu! Let's talk a bit more about the bulletin board and mailbox.
You can accept a total of 3 requests a day, one from each of the locations (mailbox, bulletin board, surprise mystery locations) but can only have one active at a time. Some requests are important, and will stay up if you cancel them: these are one-time requests, and are sort of part of a villager's larger story line, and are an essential part of the wooing process.
...We'll be seeing all of the girls' events, give-or-take depending on how I feel as we get towards the last ones for each girl: I might run votes about how selective we should be about our affection. But we'll cross that bridge later.
One thing we will be doing, though, is taking votes about how to prioritize requests. Every once in a while, once we get done tutorial requests -- say an in-game week, or maybe a fortnight, we'll see -- I'll be asking you guys to pick the 3 characters whose requests you want me to prioritize, and take on before the requests of others. These don't have to be girls -- just whomever suits your fancy. I'll probably start voting next update.

Oh, about the miso eggplant: sometimes, when you interact with an available spot, you find things. I just got lucky. There's a skill for that, too.
That's all I can think to talk about for now!

[Seerow]

Poor Ramza, one day in the town and already has two girls fighting over getting him into bed/bath.

Also the pink/grey text is pretty hard to read.

[Deme]

I will see what I can manage to replace it.

[Ogremindes]

The grey text may be a bit low-contrast, but it feels like the right colour for unenthusiastic mumbling.

[Deme]

I'm working on the cast list, and have alternate font colors for Karina and Pia up there: thoughts?

I've used the silver in LPs before without complaint, but the pink was definitely an experiment.

[erikun]

Hmm, which three characters?

Sofia, because she is always fun to talk to.
Daria, because you like her RAINBOWS! voice.
And Karina, because personal preferences.

[Javan]

The alternate text colors are much easier on the eyes.

[Dragoon]

Thanks for the update. Though I am curious how exactly one becomes a bath...

People to take requests from first
Gaius, because better weapons maybe, I hope.
Sakuya, because random items might shake up Ramza's memory, assuming of course it actually is a good idea to figure it out.
Sofia, for the headaches it will give Ramza, especially if she writes out her requests how she speaks.

[Deme]

I like to think that we might find out, if you look at it from a sort of Pia-y way.

Chapter 4: Magic Sword Seed, I Choose You!

Spoiler

Show

Alright, pink turnips: planted!

Now, let's see, mailbox...

This'd be it, I guess.

...That's...vague. But OK!

I find Wells on the second story of the flower shop.

"Yes. What can I do for you?"
"Do you know Marjorie from the apothecary?"
"Yeah. Well, we've met."

"I just got the flowers that she ordered. I told her they'd be in today, but knowing her, she probably just forgot."

That's...Kind of an odd thing to ask, don't you think?
"You just want me to deliver that message? I don't mind delivering the flowers to her."
"No, that's all right."

...Isn't that what a store's meant to do?
"Well, hop to it!"

I find Marjorie in the back part of her shop.

"Hello."
Some sleep does sound nice...
"Did you need something?"
"I have a message for you from Wells. He told me to tell you that your flowers have arrived, so please pick them up."
"...Ah! Those flowers!" It looks like he was right. "I completely forgot about them. If you came all this way, why not just have you deliver them, though?"
...I'm not sure I understand that, either.

"Honestly... That stubborn old man..." She smiles at me. "Well, you can let him know that I'll come and get my flowers later."
"Will do!"
"Thanks."

...And back to the Flower Shop. I've been there, what, 4 times today?


"Thanks for your trouble. Here, take this."

A sickle as a housewarming gift?
...Well, I guess it is a farm.
"Thank you."
"You can use a sickle to cut weeds and harvest grass for fodder. You can also use it on a crop to harvest seeds from it. Sometimes you can get higher quality seeds that way. It's an essential tool for farming. Put that field of yours to good use!"
"Okay!"



...Well, there's still some daylight left, and I ate an herb so I have a bit of energy...
I think I want to go check out the forest some more.


When I get to the entrance, I look around and see that there are a couple of paths I could take, but... One of them seems especially tantalizing.
Tantalizing? That's... A strange choice of words, but... As I get nearer, the feeling that that's where I have to be going gets stronger. It's almost like an itch, somewhere under my skin.


Something interrupts my musing, though.


"Wells?"
"You shouldn't wander into Privera Forest unless you're prepared."

I tilt my head.
"Why? What's in there?"
"Monsters, of course! If you don't have a weapon with you, you're liable to get walloped!"
I've got a sword, and it seems I know how to use it.
"And I hear that troublesome raccoon is hiding in there, too."
...A...raccoon?
"It'd be nice if someone would take care of him."
There's that itching feeling again...

If someone's causing trouble, then... I want to help if I can. Everyone's been nice, and given someone like me a place to stay.
I can fight -- it might be that that's all I have to give. But if that's it...Then I have to give it.
"...I'll do it."


"Sure. I think I can take down a raccoon, at least."
"Thank you. Glad to hear it. The monsters in Privera Forest aren't too tough if you're ready for them. Just don't try exploring any other areas yet."
"Other areas?"
"On the west side of town are the entrances to Vale River and Sol Terrano Desert. On the east side, you'll find Oddward Valley. The monsters in those places are a lot more dangerous than the ones you'll find in Privera Forest. So you'd better stick to Privera Forest until you've got a lot more experience fighting monsters."
"Got it."
"I should also tell you about Teleport -- It's a power that emerges in rune-rich areas like this one. You can use Teleport when you need to get home fast. If you're in a dungeon, it'll take you to the entrance. If you're in town, it'll take you straight to the Sharance Tree."
That sounds amazingly handy.
"It doesn't use any RP, so you can use it any time. Teleport is a special ability. You can't remove it, so you'll always have it with you."
I am never not using this again, I think.
"Sounds useful. I'll try it out."
He begins to leave, but at the last second, he turns. His face is pleasant, but his voice...

Is alarmingly sour, and it hits me in a way I can't quite explain.

I stare after him.


I shake my head and go into the woods.


The first area seems, initially, quiet: monster-free enough that I can just sort of look around quietly.

For one, it's got a little field. I guess there are other places crops could grow here -- good to know.

And a swirling vortex -- a gate that pulls monsters from the Forest of Beginnings. If you don't close them, they'll just create monsters forever, if I'm remembering correctly.
Not good.

I start picking up a few supplies, but then...

A little apple monster (they're called Pomme Pommes, I think) shows up, and just out of the blue starts attacking me!
I guess they don't like humans... But by the time I've started beating it back, I'm so tired I can barely swing my sword.
...I...I can't handle this for now.

I teleport home,

And a few ports later end up in my room.


I'm worn-out, but I'm not sleepy, so I decided to work on clearing my field some more...


I even find enough pink turnip seeds to finish that patch I planted when I do, just sort of under the roots of the weeds. How odd, but you can't look a gift seed in the mouth, right?

While I'm doing that, I stop by the pond...

And look at myself. A kind of baby-faced young man stares back at me, my blue-green eyes open, if a little confused, my thin blonde brows nearly vanishing in the color of my face, drawn tight with worry. A little smile, oddly relieved. The smile looks natural on my face, so I probably smiled like that a lot; it's not a sour sort of face.
I look like a nice person, I think.
I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting to see, but... The face of the young man looking back at me is surprisingly mine. I expected it to be unfamiliar -- a stranger's face, one I'd never seen before. I expected it to look alien to me. Instead, even though it's not a face I remember ever seeing, it still means something.
I've lost a lot of things: maybe more than I'm capable of knowing. But "I'm" still here. Whoever I am, I'm "myself." Maybe that doesn't mean anything, but that's the feeling that washes over me.

I sigh as a weight lifts from my shoulders. I didn't know how anxious I was about that, but suddenly it seems like I've finally let go of my breath.

I get back to work, and spend a while figuring out what of what I've just picked up I want to ship. I want to save a few things for later, after all.

And I eventually head to bed, just as midnight hits. It's raining outside...
I guess it's going to be a dark and stormy night.

For not having been slept in for a while, my bed's pretty comfy, and I fall asleep quicky.
Whatever rain we had passed during the night: it's sunny this morning.


Too sunny: about half my flowers are drying out.


But it doesn't take me long to water them.

I check my mailbox to see if I've recieved any other requests, but nah, nothing. I'm not sure what I should be doing just yet, other than tending the crops... But if I want more crops and be able to manage doing anything else, too, I'm going to need more food to keep my strength up...
So I'll probably need to go see Blaise, on top of whatever else I'm doing. That sounds like a plan.

The bulletin board has a request, though. It's from Sherman, and says...
Please don't come see me!
...Or something like that, anyway. I kind of skimmed it.
...I think I'm supposed to come, right?
That's how this goes. I'll accept it and see.


I run into Shino on the road there.

"Yeah, it is. Good morning."
"Do not hesitate to ask me any questions you have, Ramza."

"Uh... Wh-why would you know anything about using weapons...?"
She doesn't answer, only smiles silently and goes back to contemplating the morning sky.

III...Think I should just be going along to Sherman's, huh?

Oh boy... Let's try this out, then...
"Y-yeah, it's...Nice?"
This elicits no particular response, so I just keep going.
"Hey, I saw your request on the bulletin board."

"Ah..." I think I'm sweating.
"You need a pot to make Seafood Gratin, and you won't need fire for the pot."

Try and contribute, try and contribute...
"I don't believe so."
He smiles.
"So. I don't want you to bring me 9 wood."

Ok, if he didn't want me to bring him them, then I wouldn't need to be standing here. Ergo, he wants me to bring him some fuel for his fire.
It's cool. I got this.
"You shouldn't be fine even when you don't have a wood. Because this axe --"



...Riiight. Well, it's an axe. Mostly. In theory.
"Thank you, Sherman."
"Use this axe on a branch to make wood! By the way, if you lose it, you can't buy one from the weapon shop."
"Ummm, So they do sell them?"
"Then please don't chop up lots of branches!"

So he wants me to chop them up, right...?
"Oh, you can't also throw items to hand them. But please don't be careful that someone else doesn't catch it. Because they won't think it's not a present!"
"I-I see..."
He's moving too fast!

"Ummm... Thanks."


On my way back to the house (I want to get better at getting around, so...) I run into Sofia.
Let's get in some practice.


"Good morning, Sofia."
"I'm busy."
I'm about to apologize and let her go on her way, when it hits me that that might not be what she means.
"What?"
"I'm so busy."
"Oh, yeah...Sorry... I'll let you get on your way, then..." I'm about to turn when she adds, in a miserable tone of voice,
"I'm so busy. Why isn't anyone paying attention to me?"
"Huh?" Did I get it wrong?
But she just keeps walking. I think I done goofed.

Anyway, the roads are fairly busy today, and so...

"Good morning."
Evelyn, standing by the bulletin board and pacing about, crosses my path.
"Ramza, do you know fake layered?"
"No...What is it?"
"I imagine it to be a light-weight dress...Like fairy wings."
"So it's not like anything you know..."
She shrugs.

Rusk's also in the area, so why not?
We exchange pleasantries.
"I'm not a fan of Turnips. The leaves are just disgusting!"
"...And you want me to know this because...?"
"Hey, man. I'm just looking out for you; gift-giving's a big custom here, so you should try and get it right. But some people are just bizzare... You can't give anything nice to that Sofia girl, for example," he says, pointing.
Nothing nice, huh? Well, she is pretty rich.... She might be bored. Or it might be some odd opposite-think...
Maybe I should try giving her something...Uh...not-nice?
"Thanks, Rusk..." I walk away more confused than I started.


Back at the farm, it's time to do some chopping. This axe looks like it's about to fall apart, though...

While I'm working, it starts to rain. Man, I wasted all that energy watering this morning... And our nice day is gone so soon.

But with some herbs to fill me up, I get it done, at least.


And I go to deliver it.

"No thank you very much."
"..."
...Is that even proper opposites?

"Now I can't eat Seafood Gratin!"
"Umm, that's good...?"
"This isn't much, but it isn't for you. Please don't take it."
"Thank you very much. Right...?"

"Umm....?"

Wow, that's a lot of money!...At least, relative to me.

"Well then, I won't ask you again some other time."
"Ah..."

I surrender.

Well, let's see what I can't do with my money! Now that I have some, I mean.

"Hello."
Oh, dear...Marian's tending shop....
"What's the matter? You feeling bad or something?"
"I've come to shop."
"What do you want?"
"Uh, well, what do you have?"
"We've got medicine and supplies... And magic tomes and staves!"
"Well, let's start with the medicine."

It looks like they have herbs that aren't in season (and ones that are), and medicine for ailments. They also have something for my fields, but it's a bit pricey for my blood.

For magic, they don't have much, and it's all pricier than I want to make blind. So I'll pass.
After I take a while looking, Marian leans over and eyeballs me.
"Hey, how are you feeling, Ramza?"
"What? Um... Not so good, I guess... I'm a little worn-out."

An image of her syringe-gun crosses my mind like a post-traumatic flashback. More like a pre-traumatic flashback.
"Uh...I think I'll pass..."

I see Sofia passing in the rain, and remember my talk with Rusk. I want to give Sofia something, but I can't give her something nice... Well, the least nice things I have are these weeds, so maybe...?

Here goes nothing...

Fingers crossed...

That cheerful smile... I can't trust her words, not exactly, but... I think I did good.
VICTORY!

I think I want to see about some cooking supplies next, I guess: I do need food badly.
Collette's hanging around, too, so I guess I should stop and make small-talk.

"Yeah, it is." It's slowed down a bit, though.
"I'm SO hungry!"
"Have you eaten yet?" It is lunchtime, or just about.
"Of course! I had 10 helpings of rice, curry rice, and rice balls and --"
"That's insane!"
"Yeah, I know! I can't survive on so little! That'll leave me looking like a skeleton!"
"Uh, I somehow doubt that."


"Welcome."
"I've come to see if you could install some cooking supplies. Shara said you were the person to talk to about it."[/color]

"Uh, aren't you gonna need that?"
"Nah, I got plenty of spares. Gotta get my practice in, right?
But just to clarify, you can only cook with your bare hands on a kitchen counter."
That doesn't leave me with a lot of options, though...
"What if I want to cook more complex dishes?"
"You'll need other cooking appliances. You'll have to buy those seperately."
"I'll have to keep an eye out for those, then!"
"Okay, I'll deliver the kitchen counter to your house!"
"Sounds good!"
Wow, that's actually really nice! I have a piece of kitchen!

He looks down at some sort of list he has -- or paperwork, maybe?
"What's that?"

"Why would you go to all that trouble?"
"Presentation's important when it comes to the culinary arts, kid. Just as important as flavor!"
I see...I've got a lot to learn.

Well, I've got money, a bath might be nice, to warm me up after walking in the rain for hours. And that Pia girl will be thrilled.

And Sakuya's got that shop, right? I should check out that, first.

"Well, it looks like it's lightening up," I say, trying to be encouraging.

"What do you have?"

"Then why did you tell me to buy something?"
"I'm trying to build good sales habits!"
"....I'll come back another day," I say with a sigh.

On to the bath.

"Hey there, I was wondering --"

"What's wrong!?"
"I thought I wanted Charm Blue for my bath today...But it turns out I felt like Toyherb instead!"
"Uh, what are you even talking about? Well, anyway," Because I'm not sure I'd get an understandable answer, "Is the bath open?"

"Yes." A little pricey...
Giggling all the while, she pulls me over to the bath.


The bath feels very soothing -- it's open-air, so there's still the rain, but the warm water relaxes me and helps me re-energize.


What's next, what's next...?
Well, I'd like to buy some ingredients or seeds, since I have a kitchen. To the general store!

Karina's tending shop today.
"Hello, Karina."
She looks up at me with a bored expression.

"Yes?"
"Never mind... (It's too much trouble to go into.)"
"Uh... Okay."

"Let me see the seeds that are in-season right now, please."


I'll start with just a few of these: I don't want to over-extend myself.
"And some of your miscellany, please."


"A sale? Nice!"


I can probably make some rice balls with just what I have, so let's go with that.

What next, what next...?
Well, I want to go see Shara, and what seeds this shop has...

Wells is tending shop today... But there's nothing I really want to buy now.


It's a shame I've already watered them...

"Nothing but weeds have come in yet..."

"But I just said they're just weeds..."
"The difference is academic!"
"So I could just give a pretty girl a weed like this and," I have the weed out of my bag, since I'm not sure what to do with them...
(Actually, didn't that exactly happen with Sofia?)

"But it's...This is a weed."
"Oh, weeds are wonderful flowers. What a wonderful gift!"
...Ramza, stop before you think this'll work for anybody else.

I shake this odd experience off and head to the last place I really want to see today: The blacksmith's!

"Oh, hi, Gaius. Shouldn't you be working?" I thought Raven watched the shop...
"Working? Making weapons is really just a hobby of mine."
"Uh...Really?"
Because this is a lot of weapons. He just laughs -- I guess if you love it, it's not work?

I think I'm good for weapons right now, but I don't have anything...But they do have a section for Special Deals.

A sale!
Ooh, that sword's much better than my current one...But can I afford the expense?
Well, OK, if I have at least 1000 left by the end of my shopping, I think I'll be OK. So, if I've still got money later, I'll use it.


I'll buy a shield first...

Um, let's see...Do I want a bigger defense from the boots, or a more even defense from the hat?
...The boots are cheaper.

And I get some defense against magic from the bracelet on the cheap...


Leaving me just enough that if I go just a little under my agreed amount, I can buy that sword! I'll sell my old one to make up the difference, honest!
My poor wallet...

But I feel much more prepared now.

...While I'm here...

"...What?" She meant that in a 'what is it,' sense...
I'd like it if Raven and I could be a bit friendlier. "Well, I don't actually need anything, but..."
"Then don't talk to me."
Before she can walk away, I hold out my hand.
I don't think weeds will do it... But maybe some flowers?
"Wait! Raven. I...don't know why we got off on such a bad footing, but... Here. This is for you."

I present her with one of the toy herbs. Her eyes go wide.

She hides her face in her hair and says, little more than a whisper,
"The smell of Toyherb is so relaxing. I like it... maybe.
Thank you..."
It feels like a little victory.

Well, back to the farm for now.

In it goes!



And planted they go. The sun's just coming out when I've managed it all...
I've got my ingredients, so it's off to the kitchen, next.


I don't really know how to make anything, so let's try something simple with the rice, first.




I successfully made a thing!
I wonder if I can make anything else with what I have...


Well, bamboo shoots taste nice with rice...

There we go!
Both of these sell for more than the rice cost, too, so I could make a little money this way, and I'd be able to keep working for longer.


I make another bamboo rice and another rice ball -- I'll sell one of the riceballs, but I think I'll keep the rest for myself.
Or have lunch, ha-ha. Well, I'll save it for when I really need it first...

Because I'm heading to the forest.
While I'm there, I decide to check in on Daria, too.


"Uh, yeah... But it's spring."
...She's lost in her own little world, isn't she?

Some of the herbs I have are pretty colorful...I wonder if she'd like them?

Another small victory for Ramza!

Into the forest -- I mostly just run past the area with the field...

To encounter a lakeshore swarming with orcs. Some of them even fire arrows! I make for a fighting retreat to look around the area, hitting them when they get too close, and running the rest of the time.

This place is pretty fertile -- it's got a mushroom patch and an apple tree. I bet those apples will sell nicely, once I clean it out of monsters.

I do some more running, dealing with orcs all the while, my sword slashing through the air... And, at one point, it cuts across a big, blue flower I'd seen.

Is that...A collection of runes? Something like that, anyway -- I saw those when Shara was showing me how to work the farm, and they perked me up really well. Good thing there's this, or I might not be able to keep fighting.

I eventually find the gate that's summoning the orcs, and take that out: it drops a mysterious stone I decided to look at, later.

And, sure I'd not see any more, I turned on the rest, crying out like an animal and flinging their bodies around on the end of my sword.
...They'll probably be OK when they're back in the Forest of Beginnings, right?

With that done, I pick up what I'd found: the stone, the mushroom, the cloth dropped by the orcs, and the apples.

Onto the next area!

AAAAH! WHY ARE THE ORCS RIDING GIANT BEETLES?
Gotta find the gate, gotta find the gate...

A single strike form the duo knocks me off my feet, and I'm cut up pretty bad -- I think now's a good time to run.
And also have a snack, to help keep me going. A rice ball should do it.

The sweep of my sword's enough that I'm hitting the gate and all the enemies at once, thank goodness.
And as I swing, a certain knowledge arises -- I can run and hit things *at the same time*.




When I learned this, I must have swung hard enough to knock the orc off: nice.

They're back together, soon, though, and joined by company...Why company, though?


Augh! A second gate!

It's taken care of quickly, but it's also getting kind of late...
There's just one thing that's caught my attention...


How odd...But it's getting late.

I head back to the farm and make myself another bamboo rice. I might sell this one, since I still have the two I made earlier.


I ship a few of the things I've picked up, too...


And chop a little lumber, since I can. Why not, right?

It's almost midnight by the time exhaustion creeps in... So I guess it's time to call it a night.



This morning...

I've got Toyherbs to harvest! Alright! I'll save a few for Raven, but the rest, I'll ship out!
While harvesting, I even manage to get some toy herb seeds to re-plant.

I'll wait to see what the weather today's like before watering the stuff that's not withering, thanks.

Looks like Gaius has a request for me. Well, good -- I'm glad I have a chance to help him out.

Carmen's out in this section of town today, so I have a chance to talk to her today.

"Oh, yeah? What's biting?"
"Masu Trout are in season right now!"

I've only been here a day, and it's not like I have a fishing rod...
But better to bite my tongue on that one.
"Remember, if you ever feel like fishing, just come on down to Carlos' Resort! Our fish are always super-fresh! And you can find some rare fish too! Stop on by! You won't be dissapointed!"
Right, right...
Well, maybe I will see what's on offer.

Pia's nearby, too.

"What is it?"
She giggles.
"Eek. So,
Baths feel so great."
"..."
"Ah, baths feel great. They're nice."
"Umm..." Why is she just repeating herself?
Maybe she'll break out of this odd loop if I give her something? What would she like...
Maybe an apple? It's a nice piece of fruit, and I'm sure everyone likes food...

Victory for Ramza!
"Fruit and squid are so nice because you can eat them both raw."
...Raw...squid?
"Thank you, Ramza!"

Since I'm in the area, I decide to go see Shara, too.
"Hey, Shara."
"Hello, Ramza! How're you finding town?"
"It's nice. Everyone's busy...But at the same time...The town's kind of quiet, isn't it?"

"Though it would be nice if the nature around here didn't have so many monsters in it."
"Yeah, I can see that..."
Hmmm...
"Um, I'd like to try some cologne."

"Today's scent is... Iron Forge!♪"
"Iron?!" What sort of scent is that?
"Yes. I made this one for Gaius, but thought you'd like to try it."
Oh, that makes sense... Well, anyway, I'll try it.


I make a few purchases on top of that.

When I leave the shop, I'm stopped by a string of people heading this way. The roads sure are crowded this morning!

"The sous-chef? I'm not sure..."
"Let me provide some ever-so-helpful assistance, then! Blaise is the head chef. And that gargantuan girl with a miniscule appetite is the sous-chef!"
"Don't tell me you forgot her name..."


"Oh, I see. Do you want to talk about something?"
"I said I'm really free right now. Maybe next time."
She waves a hand quickly, as if it'd impart some extra meaning.
"What?! Oh, it's the opposite. Sorry about that, Sofia."

...I seem to be making these too long. More in the next post.

[Deme]

Chapter 4: Magic Sword Seed, I Choose You! (Part 2)

Spoiler

Show

Sofia heads into the blacksmith's shop, and since Gaius made that request, that's my next goal, too. Raven's tending store today.
She sniffs the air as I approach.

Wow, that's...actually a really cute smile. I guess I'll have to thank Shara, after all.
"Anyway, are you going to buy something?"
Sofia interrupts, though.

"We have enough to get by..."
"The selection looks good to me..." Oh, this is Sofia, though, so...
Well, nevermind.

Well, anyway. I should go see Gaius.

...He thinks iron is calming? That's... That makes so much sense.
"Hey there, Gaius. I got your request..."
"Ah, you did? I just ran out of materials to forge. Do you think you could get some Iron for me?"
"Sure!"
...Uh...How do I do that?
"You'll need a hammer to mine for it, though. Here, use this one."

"Yeah, it's no problem. Anyway, to mine for ore, you're going to want to hit the gray rocks you see in Privera Forest and other dungeons."
"Gray rocks, you say?"
"Yeah, gray rocks. Oh, also, you can mine with any kind of hammer, even those used for battle."
Oh, I think I saw some of those!
"I see..."
"Oh, and if you accidently lose your hammer, we have lots of them here at the shop."
"Great! Thanks!"
"Well, I'm not going to give you a new one for free."
"Uh, so I have to buy a new hammer from you if I lose this one...?"
"Yes. So I suggest not losing it. Thanks for you help!"


Hammer: retrieved!

I guess I'll go do that now: I don't have many other high priorities, after all.


And go see Daria, while I'm there.
"Good morning."
"I've got an idea! A stroke of true inspiration!"
"Really?"

"Um...good luck with that."
I'm leaving before I somehow get involved with a quest to paint the moon.




Today, I try out my magic sword seed. It grows in just an instant, and seems to function OK by itself.

It does a pretty good job of covering for me, too. I don't go anywhere new right now, though.

While I'm by the rocks, I find...

Apple juice. Ooookay.


The rocks do seem to break into minerals and things, even if some of them are just junk. But after a while, I manage to get some iron.


I teleport to the entrance, and am back to Gaius around noon. My magic sword plant's still with me, of course.

"Wait, you've been working this whole time?"
Isn't it about time for a lunch break? The request was posted this morning, right?
"Yeah. I think I'd fall asleep instantly if I put my hammer down."
"Heh, well, I don't know about THAT..."


Raven creeps up on us, watching quietly.
"Since you got this iron for me, though, I can keep going for a while longer. Thanks."
"You're welcome."
"Now, I should give you something in return for your help."


"Mine? Why mine?"
"A newer hammer would be an improvement over what he currently has..." She turns to me, her eyes serious. "You'd like Gauis' hammer, right...?"
Uh, well, I don't need...
But her eyes say an answer like that won't suffice.

"I don't mind. Here you..." He starts to hand the hammer over, but the minute he loses contact with the hammer, he staggers. "Huh? My eyes...Can't...keep...them..."


And he collapses onto the floor of the forge.

"He's fine...He just fell asleep..."

"Uh... Did he really fall asleep because he let go of his hammer?"
I thought he was being figurative!
"Gaius has a one-track mind when he's forging. It's all he can think about. That's why I always try to make sure that he runs out of materials when it's time to go to sleep..."

"Ah! So he stayed up too long because I gave him the iron to use..." Well, he'd stayed up too long before that, I guess.
"Yeah..."

So I really screwed things up, huh?
"I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault."
"Thanks." Anyway, it looks like he'll be able to rest now. "I guess I shouldn't take his hammer from him."
"Are you sure...?"
...W-was that a serious offer? I shake my head.
"Yeah, it's fine."
"I see..."


No special reward, but I do have a hammer.

I check Gaius a bit closer, and he mumbles.

"Man, he needs sleep, and badly..."

"I-I'm sorry..."
She shrugs.

Let's see... I'm free right now, so why don't I go around town a bit?
I'll swing by the resort, since Carmen was talking about it.

"Oh, really? This is a busy season for fish, isn't it?"
He laughs.
"Delicious fish and a happy sister! That's all I need to be satisfied!" He pauses in thought.
"Now, if I only had a cute... Actually, nevermind!"

Alright, onto the Apothocarie! Marian's there, and oddly enough, so's Collette.

...W-would you reccomend medicine based on the weather?
She turns away from me while I consider this, back to her conversation with Collette.

She brandishes a strange vial for her...Uh...Thing.
"Hm...It's cloudy blue..."
"Mmmmm..."
"Looks good, doesn't it?"

"Uh...That doesn't look good at all!" I'm not even sure it's not poisonous!

I need to stop her!

She's retreated from that, when...
"Coleeeeette! Come here! This is reaaaally good!"
"No way! I'm not touching any of your stupid witch food!"
Weren't you the one thinking that vial looked tasty?
"You drugged my food with sleeping powder before!"

Marian turns to look at me now.
"Hmmm, Ramza. Can you convince her for me?"
"If she doesn't want to eat it, I can't exactly force her..." Or blame her...
The return to their squabbling, and I make a break for outside.


Where I find Karina at the intersection.
"Hello!"
"Uh, you weren't planning to ship a lot, were you?"
"Well, yeah. I was thinking I might want to make some money."
I need to make a living somehow, right?
"*Sigh* Really? (That's more work for me.)"

And next, the Diner...I want to learn to cook a few more things.

Rusk is still regaling me with his likes and dislikes. Mostly dislikes.

"Say, Blaise, I was hoping to learn how to make some more food."

"...I...was hoping to learn how to prepare some more food?"
"Oh, then you want recipe breads."

"Oh, alright..."
His menu card also has 'Farming Bread,' which I think is for farm tools...But I can't make anything besides food -- I'm sorry, I mean prepare! Prepare! -- so I'll just stick to cooking.



I'd say the knowledge just popping into my brain is unsettling, but, really... All my knowledge is sourceless. I am sourceless, just emerging inside my head. So...You know? This is pretty alright.

Oh, hey! I can actually prepare this! If I have the supplies, anyway... Neat.

I head to the Inn next, because why not?
"So, where are you coming from on your walks today, Ramza?"
Shino asks me with a smile.
"Oh, I just went to the diner..."
"Ah. Blaise does a lot of cooking for our inn."

"Wow, he must be well-known."
She nods.

Anyway, I look over Sakuya's wares today...But she doesn't have much of anything I really want.
"How'd you open this, anyway?" It's...sort of an odd business.

"But the more I traveled, the more my souvenirs kept piling up in my room... So I decided I should give them away, and I started selling them. Before I knew it, it had turned into a business!"
"Um...Isn't selling them and giving them away pretty different...?"
She just sort of sighs and looks away, as if that never was said.
Well, I guess I should go home...


Oh, no! Monica's in the road!
"Umm..."
But while I'm preparing for attack of the little girl...

She starts crying.
"I'm sorry!"
Run away!

I head home, ship some items, and plant my seeds.

I water them all, too, since a convenient rain is not forthcoming.

Well, I guess it's back to the forest. I'll try the other way.


The other fork's got this area, which is covered in angry ants. It's like a picnicker's worst nightmare!

Their gate drops a different crystal, though, and there's an apple tree nearby, so that's money in the bank.



A little path by the river's curve, just wide enough to walk on, has some Big Mushrooms that are pretty unpleasant...


And the path ends at this area with these Chipsqueeks and some funny crystals. Let me see about my hammer...

Ooh, rune energy. Nice!


Oh runes, it's riding an Elephant! That's really unfair!

The area's got two gates, too. It's a pretty rough-and-tumble place...

But it's kind of odd. Isn't there supposed to be a raccoon around here?
Am I missing something...?

All signs point to "yes."
"Let's see... 'When the faces see each other, the doors will open.'"


Well, those odd statues have faces... And there's some matching ones on about the other side, too.
Let's try that on for size.
Can I move them somehow?


Well, it's not going to progress by not being rotated, right?


I turn it around until I think it's about facing the other side... Which, naturally, isn't facing it. I'll need to go fix that.

But first, I'll mine out a rock.

And get a nice gemstone out of it! Good for me!


I try heading to the other side... But I haven't been there long when I notice my sword-plant isn't following me anymore. I turn and see...

That it's just lying there as a dull seed.

Oh, no! They killed it! My little baby seed!

Oh. It's...just sleeping.
Well.
I think I'll try to open the way again tomorrow.


I do some work, and finish clearing a column....So I can rest easy.
So let's call it a night.

Ok, we're nearing the end of tutorial requests, so let's officially start voting for who to give our first round of priority in requests to. I'll try and give this person priority in gift-giving, too, assuming I'm not already (because I give girls auto-priority in gift-giving), but that might be harder.
Basically, vote for 3 people whose requests you'd like me to take over others, and the most popular 3 characters will win. You're voting characters, not sets of characters, so don't worry about that.

I've been too busy to do pretty much anything, so watch this space, or some space, for mechanics chat about crafting, recipe breads... And... Um.... There was something else, but now I can't remember it. Find out if I ever will!
Have a question? Ask away!

Mechanics Corner!

Spoiler

Show

Alrighty, then! It's a bit late, but let's talk cooking!

Cooking (or crafting of any sort) requires the appropriate ingredients, an appropriate level of skill (which can actually be lower than the skill level for the item/recipe, though no lower than 9 levels below to even have a chance).

Basically, success or failure in crafting is percentage-based, and if your skill level is lower than the recipe's level, that percentage will drop 10% per level's worth of distance, hence why anything more than 9 levels away from you is functionally impossible. I think this is more pronounced if you don't know the recipe, but who knows? I may be wrong. We'll be getting as many as we can anyway.
Recipe breads will select a random recipe from the appropriate category (cooking, medicine, and so on) that you are capable of learning. For things like farming tools or weapons, it also checks your skill levels in using what you make -- your sword skill, for example, or your farming skill. This is seriously annoying. Grinding is your pal.

One way to get more recipe breads is to win festivals.

Anyway, cooked foods make more money and restore more health, and also have other effects, so if possible, ALWAYS COOK.
This will also cost a bit of RP, but it's not a hugely prohibitive factor. More annoying is that you can't cook in bulk until Rune Factory 4 (When I learned such a thing was possible in that game, I was overcome with joy.)

[Seerow]

Yay, update!


I have a question, though it may have been covered earlier and I missed it: What is the magic sword seed?

Also, can you make things without getting the recipes from breads? If so, isn't it wasteful to spend money on the bread instead of just taking recipes off the internet and making what you want? Or are you going for a more story focused approach than a "I want to max out everything" approach for this Let's Play?


As for voting, is it possible for me to just reserve my votes for whatever 3 characters are closest to the top and not the reverse-talky people? Their gimmick annoys me, and I don't feel like I know the others well enough yet to really make decisions. (Okay, I do like the smithy couple, so if that's not allowed give me two votes on them + 1 on someone of your choice)

[Deme]

Shara explained it an update or two ago: it's a thing she sells. You put it down, and it fights for you. When it runs out of HP, it reverts to seed form to recharge. That's...Basically it. I've never found things that say exactly how the game determines its strength and HP, but I believe it to be based on yours. There are other Magic Seeds like it, and one we'll probably need to beat the game.

As for recipe bread stuff...I'll talk about it more when I get to making that mechanics chat bit, but I'd like to point out that I made two things without the recipe in this very update. ...However, it's much easier to make things if you've learned the recipe via a recipe bread (or if you've already made it), on a mechanical level.


Well, it's not like these are permanent: I'll be asking again every now and again, as we learn more and do some events, but yeah, I can let you vote for whomever's in the lead... Provided someone emerges into the lead. If not, I guess I'll put you down for Raven, Gaius...And I'll ponder the third.

[Qwertystop]

Is all of the dialogue original? I mean, there's a lot of stuff between screenshots that I'd normally assume was yours to provide story or jokes, but... with how crazy even the things in the screenshots are sometimes, I'm not sure how to tell.

[Deme]

This is why I try and screenshot particularly nutty lines, but... I just don't have the character count space to do that sort of thing reliably.
So a lot of exchanges are getting text-dumped as opposed to screen capped, and it does all blend a bit.
But most of the off-the-wall stuff isn't an addition. Most of what I add is just to smooth things out at this point, make things feel a bit more conversational, and possibly to transition between one type of exchange and another in the game's text, where normally they'd be disjointed. I may purely add a bit on occasion, more from Ramza than anyone else... I'm not sure if the trouble telling the difference is something I should think about fixing or not. Hm.

But the vast majority of the dialogue is straight from the game. It really is this crazy.

[Javan]

Raven
Marian
Karina

Long updates make me happy.

I can typically tell apart what you have added, versus the in-game dialogue even though I have not played this game before, or any of the Rune Factory games though I may want to now.

[Sallera]

Well, you've sold me another game, Deme. Never tried this genre before (unless Atelier counts), but I'm only half a season in and quite thoroughly hooked, so thanks for that. :3

Anyway, your dialog additions add a lot of charm to these LPs, but I don't think being unable to tell the difference between transcription and original is a bad thing. So far, this definitely seems like the sort of town (and story) where going with the flow is a survival strategy.

As for requests... I'll vote for Rusk, Collette, and Gaius.

[Seerow]

Anyway, your dialog additions add a lot of charm to these LPs, but I don't think being unable to tell the difference between transcription and original is a bad thing. So far, this definitely seems like the sort of town (and story) where going with the flow is a survival strategy.

I agree with this. I can't always tell where the game's dialogue ends, and where yours begins... but that's what makes your stuff great. The way you integrate what you write into the game, so it blends closely enough that I don't want to know the difference.

[Ogremindes]

I'd like to see you prioritise... well any girl other than Raven, Collette and Pia, as Raven's was the only one I finished before... a certain event in my playthrough, and that event doesn't impact Collette's or Pia's as far as I could tell.

Unrelated, I just imported a US 3DS because reasons.

[Deme]

We'll be finishing as many girls' events before...That point... As I can possibly manage. Maybe. I might have you actually vote on the last event on a girl-by-girl basis: does that sound fun to anyone?
...Actually, wait. Let me get back to that topic after this chapter.

Chapter 5: A Very Long Day

Spoiler

Show

This morning when I woke up, I felt... I dunno. Stiff and sore. Not hurting, but like I just needed to stretch.
So I tried that -- it didn't actually work, though. Something's just... Off.

Well, maybe I'll try getting some extra exercise today, see if that does it.

But for now, pink turnips!

A fair number of them, too. I wonder if there's anything I can do with these...

To the kitchen!

Let's see what we can do with them, first...

After a while, I work out a way to do a sort of quick pickle on pieces of the turnips.
I think it's worth some money, anyway.

So I'll try making these.

I get those done,

Ship them out...

I decide to leave by the front door, so I can check the mailbox, when...

There's someone at the door. It's Shara, of all people.
"Ramza? Are you there?"
"What is it?"

"Really? Neat!"
"Yes.♪ It's called the Bean Throwing Festival."
"What happens at the Bean Throwing Festival?"
"Well, everyone gathers in the plaza, then a few people dress up as demons."

"Grandpa says you can be one of the demons this year! It's tons of fun!"
"That sounds...really strange."
I guess it could be fun...
"Really? I've been going to it for as long as I can remember, so I've never thought about it."
"How do I join the festival?"
"My grandpa will be in the plaza. Just talk to him. He'll tell you all about the rules. And then you can choose whether or not you'd like to participate."
"Got it."

"Uh, thanks... I think."
"See you later!"

She leaves, whistling a cheerful song.
Anyway, nothing in the mail box.


But the bulletin board has a request from Carmen, and it sounds like it'll be fun!

Shara's out taking the sun, and she sighs a little.
"What's up?"

"I can bet..."
Getting hit by little things, over and over again...Your skin stings, and you just end up covering your head...
...Uh, that went a little dark there for a second, didn't it? I wonder where that thought came from...

I head over to the general store, where Karina's tending shop. She's looking at the calender and sighing.

"You don't seem too happy about it..."
"Not really... (It tires me out...)"

I buy a bunch of seeds, hoping to fill the space on my farm that I've tilled.

Heading out, I find Sofia on the road. I'm hoping communication'll get easier if I work at it.

"It's a very serene event!"

And Sherman's not very far away...

"Uh, that's not what I've heard from everyone else..."

Well, enough of that. Next up, the blacksmith. I'll go find Carmen after this.

"So I heard."
"It's quite a strange festival if you ask me..."
"You think so...?" I can't argue with that.


Trying with Raven, take...Whichever?

She pauses and says nothing.
"Uh...That's it? You don't have anything to say about it?"
I'm already expecting commentary about it from everyone.


Why am I not surprised that that's what Monica likes about it?

I try the restaurant first, but she's not there. It's just Collette, a random passer-by, and Blaise.

"You sure do think about food a lot, don't you?"
She just smiles and laughs.


"Oh...Uh...Yeah, I've heard."
We both stand there in awkward silence.
"So, uh...How about those cooking appliances, huh?"
I have some money, and the harvest looks like it'll be worth some cash...

"Oh, I can afford a knife? Great, I'll take it." I'm alright with blades, right?

Nice.

I buy 2 cooking breads, too.


...Well, I can use one of these.

Alright, let's try the inn!
I don't see her at first, but I do see Pia, singing away.

It's just wordless crooning, but it's surprisingly soothing. Something in that restless place in the back of my head stills for a moment.
"That's really nice, Pia."
"Oh, hi! The bean festival's tommorow! That's Sakuya and Shino's favorite festival, so I'm really excited!"
"So happy you could sing, huh?"
"Yes!"

I almost leave, but then Carmen comes out of the bath, her skin still a little pink from the heat.

"Carmen!"
"Great! You came quick! Awesome!"
"So, what did you want to see me about today, Carmen?"

"Uh...I think I missed that part, actually..."
"'Missed that part'? Oh, you have much to learn, apprentice... Well, I'll let you off the hook for today! Now, let me teach you the basics of fishing!"
"The basics?"
"Yes, the basics! Are you ready, apprentice?!"
She's really getting into it...
"First, we need to find a fishing spot! You can see shadows where fish are! Not all bodies of water have fish, though! Got it? Now, you'll have to keep this a secret! Guess what?! You can find some fish in the sand! Isn't that amazing?!"

"What? In the sand?!" I find myself carried away by her enthusiasm a bit, too.
"Yes, but it's a secret as to where you can find these fish! You'll have to find them yourself!"

Aw, but -- I don't know anything about the area!
"Wait, can't I get a hint or..."
"Anyway, let's move on!"

"Next, the fish will poke at your lure for a bit. However, just be patient!"

...
Goodnight everybody!

"Um...A-are you okay?"
She pants, having lost all her breath so screaming to the heavens.

"I think I got it..." I say, trying to soothe her.
"Anyway, the better you get at fishing, the more fish you can catch! So keep working at it!" She seizes my hands and a tear appears in her eyes. "Just remember to be patient! Fishing isn't easy to master!"
"I...I can tell..." I try patting her shoulder. There's still a little moisture on her skin, warm from the bath...
She beams.
"Now, let me give you this old rod of mine! Take good care of it!"

"Usually, you'd have to buy a fishing rod from Gaius! But you can't start fishing without a fishing rod! You should be thankful you have such a kind master! Anyway, do you have any questions?"
"Uh, not in particular, no..." Fishing sounds... straightforward.

"Great! Then why don't you go catch something?! How about... 1 fish? Yeah, that sounds good... Go catch 1 spring fish!"
She's really getting into this, isn't she?
"Since it's spring now, you can catch them around our store! You can even go to Privera Forest to catch them! Oh, but be careful of the monsters! Well, good luck!"
"Uh...You mean you want me to catch the fish right now?"
"That's right! Now hop to it! Off you go!"

She whips her pole at me, striking the air around my head. That's not a whip, you know!

"I look forward to seeing what you can catch! See ya!"
"Y-yeah...See ya..."

Before I go do that, though... Pia said Sakuya liked the Bean Festival, right? I wonder what she has to say about it...


... Somehow, I feel like this will be trouble.
"You seem pretty eager to win..."

I spot Shino on the road to the lake, too.

"Yeah, I heard... Pia said you liked it: Any particular reason?" Besides violence?
"We actually have this festival in my home country, as well."
"Oh, that's neat!" It must be nice, having a home to remember...aheheh....

At the lakeside, it looks like I can see some fish. Here goes!



Does that count as a spring fish? I mean, it's a squid...

Well, it's what I can catch, it seems. I'll try giving it to her.

"Will this do?" I say when I hand it over to her.
"Hm..."

"It looks like you've got what it takes to be a fisherman! Good work! Here's a special treat from your master!"
"Thank you!"
"Just keep on practicing! You are now dismissed, apprentice!"
"Yes, master!"


"Uh...Yes?"
"Have you been looking in your mailbox?"
"My mailbox...?" Well, yes, but...why? No one's sent me anything.
"Yeah! You know, the mailbox next to your front door! As you get to know the people around here better and better, they'll send letters to your mailbox!"
"Oh, really?" I guess I'm not familiar enough to people to get mail...
"Yep! So be sure to take a look in your mailbox sometime!"

"Okay! I'll be sure to keep looking!"
She winks and looks very satisfied. I guess she feels she's helped me as her apprentice.
"Great! Dismissed then, apprentice! This time for real!"



...A sardine. A single sardine...
Well, Sardines are full of nutrients!

I get to hear some other opinions on the festival on my way out to the forest.

...Poor fella.

"You bet!"
"That's good to hear! It should be a lot of fun, huh?"

I go out to see Daria and find her hard at work.

"Afternoon, Daria. Excited about the festival?"

"Uh...Is that really necessary?"

She doesn't answer. I think I've angered her.

Well, enough of that! I have stuff to try out in the forest!

I plant my seed early this time.


In the first area, I see a monster I haven't seen around there much before...

A wooly. As monsters go, they're pretty harmless: even if they attack, they don't pack a lot of punch, and their balance is a little...Uh. It's honestly kind of emberassing.
I sort of crouch down and have a look at it.
"How you doing, little guy? Everything OK?"
And then he headbutts me in the gut.
"Ow! Excuse me for being nice!"
Still...If I can get away without beating the stuffing out of him, I'd rather just move on.
"Baaah <Race-traitors will be first against the wall come the revolution>"
...Did I just hear someone say something ? No, nevermind. I've got stuff to do.

I make my way to The Eye (the area with the statues on the North side of the lake)...

On today's battling, we have an Onion Ghost. He fires lasers, which is at least 3 points of unfair.
But he drops a bag of seeds, so hooray!


I rotate the statues, and...

A secret hatch opens.
"They're stairs... I guess I can go down."


Inside, there's some sort of...building? It's flooded, though, and...

"I should check the other side."

On the way there, though...

I get poisoned by mushrooms. I've got antidote herbs, though, so I'm OK!
Mostly.
But...

"Maybe I can find someone who can fix this. Do I know anyone who's good at making things?"

Someone good at making things...
Well...
There's all the sculptures around here, right?
And they were all made by...

Daria!
I teleport out and run: Daria's at work sculpting, even!

"There's a pair of broken bridges in the forest: do you know a way to repair them?"
"A broken bridge? How mundane. I'm sure I could fix it, but where's the art in that?"
So she can do it! But...Wait, where's the art in that? She's the one talking about making art with beans!
"Come on, a great artist like you? I'm sure you can find something artistic to do with it."
She beams.


"Leave it to me! I'll build you a bridge like you've never seen!"

She goes down there as quick as her legs can carry her, and...




She dashes inside.


Her voice echoes from below.
"Some of this! And some of that! This!"
A crash.
"Is!
Another banging noise. The ground shakes.


She comes running up, her fingers covered in paint and a big, beaming smile on her face. That smile, full of pride and energy...Is disarming, and she looks like an innocent child as she wipes forehead and leaves a paint stain smeared across it.
"It's another masterpiece! A bridge like no other!"

And she dashes off.


Well, let's see about that bridge...

It looks...
"Wow. Daria wasn't kidding about the bridge being unique. It's really...something."


This area's home to a monster called a Leaf Ball: they can attack from quite a distance.



After all, Wells said it was causing trouble...


At first, we just sort of circle each-other. It tries to punch me and throws some leaves, but they're easily dodged.
My hits are solid, swinging the sword with more instinct than forethought: a strike here, a blow here, and so on.

And then he becomes giant.
WHAT SORT OF RACOON BECOMES A GIANT STOMPING DEATH-THING? WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PLACE?!

...I do a lot more dodging and a lot less hitting, and I'm not ashamed of that, but...
I'm not sure I can really allow something so dangerous to wander around near people -- especially not if it's taken interest in people. He hits like an airship to the face.


He fires more leaves, stomps and punches, and jumps around, landing with a big crash that knocks me off my feet.


I also find, for some reason, a plate of spinach. I'll need to eat this if I want to keep fighting: I'm way too haggard to keep going as it is.


The leaves are sometimes giant. Yeah, I need my spinach.
Heh. I'm strong to the finish, because I eat my Spinach, I'm Ramza the...Whatever it is I do or am.



This is A TERRIBLE TIME FOR EPIPHANIES.


But eventually, my strikes hit home...


And he collapses, the world shakes with a violent release of energy. That's...pretty unusual, though I guess not for a monster that size. Still, he definitely wasn't a normal monster.

He leaves behind a single, multi-colored leaf. It's a satisfying feeling: I took care of a big problem.

As I go to pick it up, I notice something...
There's another path through the woods.


Before that, though, I'll take the leaf, and...

...Some dumplings? I guess it must have stolen a lot of food.


The deepest point in the forest is a beautiful spring, with a stone path leading to...

The orb gleams brightly, beckoning like a light in the window of a distant house.



I walk towards it slowly, reaching out my hand cautiously. From the moment I reached out my hand, I think it may have been impossible to pull it back.

My vision goes white for a second. An electric jolt races down my spine. As my chest tightens, I start breathing faster.


The orb ascends...

And breaks into my body, showering me with energy.

For a moment, there's...Nothing. Then, a voice -- far away, at the end of a long, dark tunnel.

Monster...blood?
Suddenly, I know that that tunnel I felt: it was time. And on the other side, where he was speaking, was...
The past. My past.


I know this voice. I -- I didn't know I knew it until just now, but...

My own voice -- not my voice now, but what it was then -- from the far side of that tunnel, answers him.

The person speaking to me was...my dad. He was showing me...
Something important.



Something important about myself -- about who I was. Who I could be.


I realize only then that, even though I remember what happened that day...
I don't remember their faces. My mom, my dad... They're just shadows in my head.

But...They existed in my life. They're...They're a part of my life now, because I remember them.
And because... The blood they gave me...


"And this spell lets me transform!"


Well, it's more like a 'technique' then a spell. It doesn't take any of my rune energy, or anything. It just sort of...redistributes it. Or something like that. I'd be better at explaining it, but... It's almost halfway to instinct.

Well, the end result is the same. The feeling of having a wooly's body is immediately comfortable, and wipes away that cramped, restless feeling I've had the past day.
I guess I forgot that I could do this, but my body didn't. It must have gotten restless.

"Let's see..." I think there's a few combat techniques I've learned for fighting like this, too...
"Once I've knocked down an enemy, I can pick it up...And throw it with a couple of different throwing attacks."

Time for some bowling, I guess.


For the time being, I transform back. Because...
Well, because of the stuff Wells said, for starters.

I don't exactly recall but... It's not like that's something ordinary people would really think too nicely about... I don't think I've ever told too many people.
"I'll keep it to myself for now."

But there's something kind of strange about all of this...

"But so much of my past is still blank." My parents, even: what were they like? Are they still alive? Where did I come from, exactly?
But if there was one random memory orb...Could it be the only one?
"Maybe I can find more orbs like that one..."

Well, it's really late. I must have stayed up for hours fighting that monster, so... I think I'll go home.

When I teleport to the foot of the Sharance Tree, I see...


A strange person there. Someone I haven't met. He doesn't look like a traveller, either...

When he sees me, his silver eyes widen and he runs away.
"Hey, wait! I didn't mean to startle you like that!" I try calling after him.
He's already gone, though, but...Where?

I follow him West, to where the road forks between the river and the desert.

He doesn't stop, even then...


No response.

Tomorrow, I'm going, then: to see what's out there!
After the festival, of course.

I plant the seeds I bought when I was in town.

When I do so, a light rain begins to fall. Man, what luck!

Before I go to bed, I think I should do some cooking, so...


I do a good enough job cutting up the squid, even without a recipe...But I don't think I can cut finely enough for tiny sardine bones, and get enough for good sashimi.

I transform back for bed... It'll be nice to sleep like that. Wool is pretty comfy for pajamas.

It's been such a long day... I think I'll sleep well.

Mechanics Corner

Spoiler

Show

Soo... That was the first boss!

First Boss Video
(Not from our run, but from a fight done solely to get the video)

Things to note for any boss: Bring lots of food and other healing items, as well as your best combat gear and, if there are elemental attacks in store, things to resist. It's also, in my opinion, way better to dodge than to defend, so keep your distance. Every boss has its attack patterns, like in most games, so learn to read them.
Oh, also, while I shipped the drop for this boss, we'll be able to get more: bosses can be re-fought once a day.

Let's talk about the Raccoon specifically now, alright?
So, this boss isn't too bad. Until you get some good hits in, it's tiny and mostly harmless. Then it gets bigger and does more attacks.
The little leaves have a fairly wide spread and cover a broad range.
The larger leaves have only one projectile, but it acts as a boomerang. I seem to recall it having 3 big leaves in my "real" run, but...Eh. Maybe I didn't see it correctly.
It'll also jump up into the air and land, making a big impact that'll cause

At half health, a boss will start flashing. In my screenshots, this translates to "turn black." It'll get faster, tougher, and more random in its patterns. Also, this guy will start making illusions, but that didn't happen to me, so I couldn't show it.
Also because screen-shotting while battling a boss is hard.



Alright, that's that...
Let's talk about the Main Character's transforming. You can do this at any time, and it costs no RP to change. If you've played RF4, Wooly form plays like the Fist Weapons, and it uses the Brawling skill. Because of this, you can't use tools or weapons. Major pain, because it's adorable and I'd do all my farming as a Wooly if I could. I'll still probably do a lot of random junk as a wooly.
I'm not sure what determines your attack power with the Wooly, but it does improve.
At this point in the game, you can't transform back and forth when in the same general area as a villager, for fear of freaking them out. By the same merit, you can't have a normal conversation in Wooly mode, either -- they'll treat the MC as just a random wooly that wandered into town, and the MC will play dumb. I may show this off, it's kind of interesting.
Later in the game, this will change. Actually, there are certain events eventually (and we're obligated to see one to beat the game) where our Ramza will reveal his secret, or have it discovered. One thing I was considering would be to have you guys decide who we can trust, or want to trust, on a case-by-case basis when this becomes available. Thoughts?

[Qwertystop]

Well. I'm thinking... trust wossname artist-lady?

I mean, everyone's crazy, but her particular sort of crazy doesn't seem too likely to cause problems.