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Episode 64 - Apocrypha Sidequest Prelude
The Apocrypha sidequest is a pain in the fucking ass to actually trigger.
It doesn't become available until after Heim has been stormed and Catiua's fate is decided.
There's no explicit storyboard / news notice that it's an available sidequest.
In order to trigger it you need to do & have done several things;
1/ Read "The Ancient Temples" & "Blast at Exeter" news items (these were touched on in a previous episode) that unlocks the Palace of the Dead Dungeon as well as places markers for several temples on the map.
2/ Fight battles at five different temples (Qadriga, Boed, Ndamsa, Geyld & Gecho)
3/ Make your way to the village of Vasque with Jeunan, win the battle there.
4/ head north to Lhazan fortress and win the two battles there. Jeunan must be at both battles.
Hold on during the second battle for long enough to recruit Ocionne (IE, don't just assasinate the boss straight up, or it doesn't count).
5/ Read the news items "Galgastani on the move"
6/ Return to Lhazan Fortress, win the battle there.
7/ Head to Coritanae keep (unprompted) for a conversation with Mreuva.
Then you get the pleasure of doing a deep dive of Six different dungeons for Apocrypha magic, or its alternate name - "Forbidden Magic". One dungeon per each element.
Hoo boy.
So the way this LP is going to work moving forward is that if a fight is in no way interesting or containing of story elements, I'm just going to speed through it. I'll post a list of what was there, and what I faced, and if the fight contains any interesting loot or not, because being blunt, we're reaching the point of the game now where we are going to get into some seriously long dungeons.
The Palace of the Dead on its first time through is 100 floors, each of which will require a frustrating amount of save stating retreating to check loot, and reloading to get interesting loot. The second time through is 125 floors.
While not every floor is a fight, the majority of them are and there's only so many ways I can use to make those fights interesting.
If it's a story fight, I will do what I've been doing to date with descriptions and a general blow by blow of the battle, but if it's not interesting, it's just getting a summary. This is as much for your sanity as it is mine.
That last part's a lie, I'll go mad if I have to transcribe every fucking floor.
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Levi's undergoing a career change right now to Fusilier.
Fusiliers are a neat, niche class, somewhere between bows and crossbows. Their shots fire like crossbows, IE direct missiles that will hit anything in their path, they don't arc like bow arrows.
Their equivalent Mighty Blow skill "Course Correction" lets them hit anyone in range. Let that sink in.
Doesn't matter if the dude you wanna kill is behind six layers of knights and knight commanders, you hit course correct, old mate's getting a load of lead to his face.
Liches are basically Necromancers but better. They are also a class we can get access to and their description hints as to how.
They contain the same weaknesses as other casters. A terminal case of allergy to Arycelle.
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"Many Pirates and treasure hunters have lost their lives at the Pirate's Graveyard. Only one man has returned from its depths alive. The Dread Pirate Azelstan is known throughout the Obero Sea.
Boasting superb navigation skills and uncommon prowess with the sword, he was a pirate among pirates.
He was also known for his cruelty, said to have left a trail of blood wherever his ship sailed, and his name struck fear into the hearts of all.
Soon after returning from the Pirate's Graveyard, Azelstan gave up pirating and disappeared. Many have speculated at why he retired in the years that have passed, some saying he was cursed by a spectre, others claiming his sword arm was maimed at the Pirate's Graveyard."
Another side quest opens up.
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Y'all like Ninjas?
This fight's filled with em. Presumably also where you farm the level 2 ninja summons that Mauman mentioned and that I clean forget exist.
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Remember here? It's where we fought Nybeth all the way back in Chapter 1, the first optional fight the game throws at you.
Old mate Leon likes to surround himself with archers, ninjas and golems.
Only one of those is an issue, and they don't hit very hard.
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Ho ho ho hoooooooly shit, I didn't fight this one beyond just square up assassinating the boss. The enemy are at the top of a vertical fucking wall dropping reptiles dragons arrows and spells on you the entire way.
Thankfully the boss is a dumbass and also likes to drop right in next to you.
Fun fact - this is the place where the Mreuva sisters / Pavel were hiding out before getting stormed by Oz and Ozma.
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On a side note, I fucking adore the idea of pirate faeries. nevermind the gremlims, imagine a scarred tinkerbell with an eyepatch.
This one's a bit of a toughy, it's not hard or anything, but they've got a lot of healers, and a fair number of archers / dragons so getting through them all takes a while.
Also worth noting?
Nerraw does more damage than Sherri.
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So, now that we've cleared our way through the fortresses, we need to make our way to Lhazhan, which means we have to fight our way through some trash.
Interesting note - see that Dragon with its back to us? not hostile. It's a crystal dragon that will heal and buff itself, and uh, nothing else.
Not sure if he's meant for a sidequest or what have you, but no doubt I'll be told in the comments if i've done a dumbass thing 
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Trash Part 2 - the musical
A mixed party of knights, valkyries, archers and clerics.
Along with the associated weaknesses thereof.
Just stockpiling SP for when we hit the hungry levels (25ish)
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Ah, and here we are
A bunch of dead dragons, a necromancer, a fusilier and a beast tamer
: You will remain here and refortify our position. Make no move until Falfaday and I return.
: Refortify with what? the girl and her Dragon Whelps did for most of my men.
: I've arranged for reinforcements. They've met with some unexpected delay, that's all.
: (Thinking) I'll give a farthing for every one that makes it here alive...
: Did you say something, Cielo?
: Not a word, my lord.
: Ocionne, was it?
: I want you to show us the way to the fortress.
: The choice is yours. There are other survivors in the fortress, yes?
: We could as easily find the fortress ourselves and kill all within.
: You are a wretched coward!
Enter, one unexpected delay
: What horror happened in this place?
: Or did this village fall into ruin long ago?
: So our reinforcements ran afoul of the resistance.
: Cielo, I leave this to you. We march for Lhazan.
: Begging your pardon, my lord, but I cannot defend against so many with so few!
: You let this rabble unman you? Fool.
: I release you from the Bonds of Death. Come forth and serve your master.
: Deal with them, Cielo.
: As you say, "My Lord."
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Enemy Composition Estimate:
Six or Seven Undead Dragons.
One Fusilier.
One Barbarian.
One Wizard.
One Warlock.
Two Archers.
Strategy: Cielo is a coward. This is an assassination mission where you are surrounded by hostile terrain, the ground itself poisons you while standing on it, and to make matters worse the enemy has the high ground and you have a vertical climb to reach them.
Unfortunately for them, they're also stupid.
Cielo will not get in range to take a shot voluntarily, and by the time he enters the fight, his entire entourage will be dead.
The optimal strategy is basically to hole up where you are, let the enemy come to you (which the Dragons do unlike in other maps that will be coming up, though admittedly all of the humans hang back. ) and pick them off via focus fire one by one.
To further cement your advantage, you can equip your weaker party members with Baldr weapons, which give an advantage / boosted damage against undead.
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Enemies drop down both north and south sides to fight you, however their strength is their weakness, because Dragons are slow and we get multiple turns to their one.
Ozma is level 16, to their 21. They are using gear two tiers higher than her, and they are doing practically nothing. She is a god damn tank.
Fire and delete
The rain also dominates the dragons accuracy.
Healing also does a chunk of damage to undead, meaning Clerics can actually be offensive here!
For reference, that same sword being used against a stock humanoid on Ozma as she currently stands, being underlevelled? 1 damage.
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Still though, when enemies hit, they hit decently hard
Holding out on the island has the advantage of being able to focus your fire on whatever side needs it most, and the enemies ability to get beyond your lines is questionable at best, even with their height and positional advantage.
Undead Dragons still count as Dragons for the purposes of Dragon Slayer, so Jeunan shines in this fight.
I have Catiua set to AI becuase she can contribute to the fight and I'm lazy
Olivya drops a boosted major heal, undoing the majority of the damage done by the enemies last attack.
Arycelle takes care of the archer who's been taking pot shots at Catiua.
we bring the other Archer to us
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With the death of the dragons, the majority of the challenge in the game is gone, so let's skip to the end.
: What animals are you to raze this village so?
: You're not serious, are you? look about you.
: We've only been here a few days. It's a year at least since whatever happened here happened.
: If not you, then who did this?
: I'm a Mercenary, not a historian.
: It's not seven weeks since I reached these islands. Always coin to be had where Lodis is on the move, eh?
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: You've a good eye. A comely one, her.
: Pity you and I are enemies, else I think we'd make good friends.
: I don't keep filth for friends.
: These wyrms you've corrupted -- they were hers, were they not?
: Right you are.
: She said she wanted no armies in her village and fought to drive us out single-handedly.
: A bloody battle it was, but our master managed to win it in the end.
: So there were survivors...
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Off to Lhazan
This fight is a bit of a trick - it's not very interesting. Half the enemy are zombie survivors without weapons while the other half are basic skeletons. There's only about five actual enemies to fight, the villagers just get in your way.
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: No... never this!
: Armies do not come cheap. You killed much of mine, so I had to replenish my ranks.
: Not to worry. Their flesh is not long for this world.
Guess that explains what happened to the zombie villagers outside.
: I should think it gone already...
: Death means nothing to you, so long as it brings you closer to your goal. Yours is a crude justice.
: You still refuse to accept the massacre at Balmamusa for what it truly was.
: Him or me, Ocionne? Whom will you choose?
: The Butcher of Golyat who embraces the very Galgastani who burned this village to the ground.
: If you would avenge vasque's dead, start with him.
: Or will you let this butcher succor you?
: Then I will add your life to my collection.
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An irritating fight.
Two undead squids, a skeleton archer at an obtuse angle that prevents easy reply, a couple of casters and a couple of golems to fight.
Should be easy enough, right?
This is an assassination / defense mission where the the intended survival contact isn't a fool.
Ocionne must survive, though her dragon doesn't necessarily need to. Though good luck killing him.
Ocionne herself is a Beast Tamer, who specialises in Dragons (duh) and has a high enough Field Alchemy skill to primarily keep herself and her dragon alive.
Reynold is a mildly annoying Necromancer archetype. He's levelled sufficiently high to be able to res an undead at full health who's on the ground as a TP move, but then mainly uses status effects spells, so in terms of overall danger potential is low.
The real challenge then, is clearing out the relatively tanky enemies around Ocionne to save her, waiting until you've finished the final conversation, then killing him.
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: You! I don't believe it! What are you doing here?
: You recognize me... then I have my answer.
: Joining the resistance will not cleanse you of your sins!
: Levi, there's something I need to tell you.
: Yes?
: Do you remember what Apollinaire told you at Coritanae?
: That I was one of Balbatos's attendants during the blood war.
: When we finally learned the location where the rebels had gone into hiding, the task of rooting them out fell to me.
: Vasque is the village where they hid.
Why are you surprised? You were told all the way back then
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Reeking Meatballs is an Ogre TP move that does a medium amount of damage and reduces the maximum amount of TP available to the victim. It has a low accuracy.
Everything around here is undead
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: Even if she turns her blade against us, we must do all we can to save her.
: Forgive me, Levi. You should not be haunted by the ghosts of my past.
: No apologies. When I welcomed you among us, your sins became my own.
: This fight is as much mine as it is yours.
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There's an alternate ending where you kill Reymos too quickly and thus you don't get to recruit him
: Enough. This gets us nowhere. Your life is mine now.
: No, I'll never join you.
: I'm tired of war, and you... you fight on, and on.
: I want only to end this war. Please, you must believe me.
: You ask too much. More than I can give!
: We'll leave you, then.
: But before we go, you must promise me something.
: Do not charge heedless into battle. Do not throw your life away on vengeance.
Well, that could have gone better
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oof
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: I have carried the burden of that day ever since.
: I'm so sorry.
: Will your apology bring back the dead? Will it bring back my parents?
: If you knew what you did was wrong, why do it?
: But it's too late now... it's too late!
: I know no apology can absolve my sins.
: But can you give me time to make penance for them?
: I fight alongside Levi to end this war -- a war I helped to start.
: It seems only fitting that I help to finish it as well.
: When the war is over, my life is yours.
: I swear it!
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fucking hate those annoying bastards
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: But it was Balbatos who put him to it.
: Rebels had taken refuge in Vasque. They had to be dealt with.
: What of it?
: Suppose Balbatos did put him to it. Is he no less guilty?
: No. But his remorse is sincere.
Yeah, not the strangest argument in the world.
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Slowly but surely mopping up
Spear finishers aint strong, but they'll do in a pinch
That's one pain in the ass down. Now to exorcise him before that Necro gets any bright ideas.
Fuck! that's even worse!
Ok, our back lines are clear, time to finish this. That's pretty much all the original non reinforcements dead
Levi goes down for the first time in... ever? He's level 8 and if that were anyone else, he'd have been down in one, not two.
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: Enough. This gets us nowhere. Your life is mine now.
: What will you do with me?
: Give you another chance to live.
: Where there's life, there's hope for vengeance.
: That's what you want, isn't it?
: But there's a price. You must give him a chance to redeem himself.
: Have you not taken Bakram lives, enemies though they were?
: Once the battle's joined, we must see it through to the end.
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Finally... FINALLY...
"Rumor has it that remnants of the Glgastani army are gathering at Lhazan Fortress, site of the recent Bakram massacre of the Vasque faithful.
The Galgastani soldiers' plans are not known, but they could seek to use the fortress as a stronghold to fight the Resistance"
we have to fight here again.
An extremely uninteresting fight. see those guys in the picture? the knights come to you. The other 5 stay up the top and chuck swiftness boons and leafs at each other.
There, I just save you like 10 minutes.
Finally, having carved our way through multiple fortresses, unprompted, we get a chance to ask Mreuva about the Apocrypha.
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Coritanae Keep
: Yes, Levi?
: At the Hagia Banhamuba, Sherri mentioned something called the "Apocrypha"
: The Apocrypha? I can't say I'm familiar.
: The Dark Knights are a formidable foe.
: We must gird ourselves well if we are to confront them. You know this, Abuna.
: With the Apocrypha Grimoires in our Possession, the odds shift in our favour.
: The Apocrypha are kept hidden for a reason.
: They contain a dreadful power. More than any man should wield.
: I know of one such man: King Rodrick of Brigantys.
: In the final days of the Dorgalua's great war, Rodrick used the Apocrypha in a desperate attempt to change the tide of the battle.
: His foes were wiped from the face of the earth.. and his own armies with them.
: ....
: This did not deter the king. He used the Apocrypha at every turn.
: You may not know it, but Brigania Flats was once a Lush and Fertile Highland.
: Not even the laws of nature can withstand their power.
: ....
: Yet in the end, it was the Apocrypha that brought down King Rodrick.
: Even as he won the war, he lost the love of his people.
: After the war's end, King Dorgalua ordered the Apocrypha sealed away.
: The danger in the Apocrypha is not the knowledge itself, you see, but rather how it is used.
: King Rodrick was not up to the task.
: Do you think you will fare better?
"You take the first pill, the Apocrypha story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.
You take the second pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
it's late, i'm tired, and it was the only joke I could think of. because I was so late working on this update (five fucking hours) I got hit by a nasty anime game gift thanks to Pickled Tink, so, my day ended on a sour note.
Mreuva aint happy
: They are enshrined in temples, and each commands one of the elements.
: Of the remaining two, light and dark, I know nothing.
: I had heard that the six great fortresses of Valeria were once temples...
: But I saw nothing at any of them that would house so great an artifact.
: Of course not. I sealed them where unknowing eyes would not find them.
: To open the temple doors requires an Oracle.
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Part 2 to the sidequest whenever I restock on scotch