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ARC V Finale: The Upset.
We've got only got a ton of cutscenes to close out this arc, and tons of dialogue and a video at the end, so let's just get started.
We find our heroes camped out with the howling wind and Solich as company.
What stuff?
Oh... He told us about how he and his friends trapped Enkur, but we never heard what happened after.
Oh, this should be entertaining.
I'm not here to amuse you, ingrate!
But I think we're all curious.
Alright then.
"Once some ships appeared, everyone in our group left Nuntak. Over the centuries, many of them succumbed to age.
But not Delgren. Elves live for hundreds and hundreds of years, so we stuck together.
He eventually married and settled down with his family in a small town. It was also my home for many years."
Really now? I had never read about this part of your life. Perhaps I should publish a volume of my own.
I'll call it... "Stoic: The Freeloading Years."
Will someone do something about him? He's getting on my nerves.
There's the sound of a spell being cast.
Gah! Was that necessary?
You bet it was. Keep hitting him every few minutes, Laurel, in case he tries to get loose.
I can't imagine you were that much of a freeloader. After all, you don't even eat!
Thanks. Anyway, it was a happy time for me... But sometimes I just... thought too hard.
Stoic leaves a house.
... Yeah. I just get lost in the past sometimes.
DELGREN: That girl from the Blacksteele movement, right? You've mentioned her before.
*sigh* I'm getting predictable in my old age.
I just sometimes feel like...
That was my chance. My chance at what you have... what so many people here have.
"It is going to be more difficult for you. You've always known that, I think. But that doesn't mean impossible.
I refuse to believe that you would be alone forever. You have too many good qualities."
That woman above and to the right of them turns around to chip in.
*chuckle* Thanks.
DELGREN: That reminded me... Have you heard those rumors of a new human knighthood?
No. What's going on?
DELGREN: I don't know too much right now. All I've heard is that there's a new group of them coming together... and they seem to have pretty extreme ideas.
The downfall of the Solendian Knighthood is the real reason for the Rain of Fire, if they're to be believed.
What?! That's outrageous! How on Solest could anyone make a ridiculous assumption like that?
DELGREN: I had the same reaction... But a lot of humans are buying into it.
It was so long ago... But the Rain of Fire is still pretty frightening to think about... even more so because there seemed to be no reason to it.
So when someone comes along and decides to "explain" it, a lot of people do respond... and humans have a history of being very gullible.
Gee thanks.
... Hopefully people can see through it. Otherwise the unity we've grown used to these last few centuries could be gone.
Huh?
The... mage/priest casts a holy spell at Stoic.
DELGREN: Stoic... Get my family to somewhere safe. I'll deal with them.
But--
DELGREN: Just do it!
Delgren falls.
"I failed him. After he gave his life for me... Someone who should have been dead centuries ago.
The Gallians were everywhere. Nobody was safe if they weren't human, and sometimes that didn't even make a difference."
"Everyone's... gone.
Delgren...
Volrath...
Daphne...
Arrgh!! I can't take this anymore!"
No wonder Stoic isn't so hot on the living forever thing. He's gone through hell over and over and over.
Stoic starts slamming himself into the wall, making rocks fall each time.
"RRRRRAAAAAAARRRRRRGHHHHH!!!!"
Then one last wall slam by the cave mouth... and rocks fall in front of it.
"Then I could have died thinking my life's work had a small part in making the world a better place.
I wouldn't have had to see everything I had worked for crumble and disappear.
The same ignorance and hypocrisy that forced Volrath into action had returned... and it was far worse than ever before.
I couldn't bear the thought of living in Solest if it was going to be like that. I knew I wouldn't starve in that cave... but I decided I would test this longevity of mine."
"My fighting skills atrophied and my techniques were forgotten. I've regained many of them recently, but I'm still not as strong as I was in my prime.
I resigned myself to an eternity in that blackness... numb to the rest of the world.
But then..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hTgvNsqb9Y 'Hope Returns aka 'The Siege of Madrigal' from one of my favourite games, Myth: The Fallen Lords. The file information credits the Halo OST and as far as I know the Halo version is identical.
One of the magical effects usually used for holy magic, a cloud of glitter and sparkles, opens the cave.
I thought so...
How long have you hid in here?
Stoic backs up.
Who... who are you?
I'm Dasani of Boreal. Who are you?
Pause.
You can tell me later.
But I want you to come along. No longer will you or anyone else have to hide in a world we all share.
I'll take you to a place where you can be safe... and among friends.
Hope Returns stops playing here.
Ugh. I knew it was only a matter of time before that preening narcicisst (SIC) found her way into the story.
Laurel hits Solich with another spell.
Agh! This is cruel and unusual...
As you might expect, her offer wasn't one I was going to turn down. I followed her.
This is actually a Gallian barracks... but we took it over. It won't be long before we end their brutality once and for all.
This might be the same barracks thats listed as a turning point in the Gallian Rebellion. That barracks was also the focus of the last Clean Slate update I did. After that, it's endgame sidequest time and then off to do the big finale iirc. Which I'll get around to doing after we see a certain scene I can't remember the specific timing of.
I know what you're thinking. I have some idea of what you've been through. I'm a telepath, and the reason I was able to find you was because the echoes of your pain were all around that cave.
You didn't deserve it. Any of it. You are a good person who has been wronged by humanity your entire life.
But please don't give up on us yet. I've contacted the leaders of our effort, they're coming to meet us.
TURNUS: How's it hanging, bud?
GALDAR: Greetings, friend.
NOVA: Good to meet you!
Pause.
TURNUS: So... you got a name or what? We got a damn mute on our hands or something.
NOVA: Oh Turnus, stop it!
STOIC: I had a name... a long time ago. But now people call me Stoic.
GALDAR: You are among friends, Stoic. Let us know if you need assistance.
Stoic watches Zala go into angry fire mode and try to burn that woman to her south who may or may not be Felicia Stormblade. Whoever she is, she dodges. Stoic settles for walking over to Arius and Galdar.
Well... I've been around a long time.
And I've been involved in many rebellions. I guess I'm just waiting for this one to fall apart like all the others.
ARIUS: I know my fair share of military history. I know that efforts like ours are always an uphill battle. Sometimes the enemy simply has greater numbers.
Other times the commanders simply have the wrong priorities, and the group tears itself apart from the inside.
I can't speak for all of the various leaders over the years. All I can tell you is what I've seen since we began this fight... and why I choose to lead it.
"King Terr was the last to wield it... But he has fallen to Gallia's soldiers. Queen Arianna entrusted it to me. I'm the first human to ever use it.
I'm not doing this to make some kind of hero out of myself. I'm doing it because I have a son... and I want him to grow up in a world without Gallia's brand of hate.
I'm doing it because when Queen Arianna gave this sword to me, there were tears in her eyes... and she begged me to promise her victory.
I made that same promise to everyone who wants to live their lives without fear of persecution or violence. I promised them... So I intend to deliver.
It's up to you whether you trust me or my allies, but that won't change what we do. This may be our last chance to cure humanity of this disease of bigotry.
I have soldiers from all different races and all walks of life... and once this is over, we won't simply go our seperate ways.
We'll work together in all corners of the world to maintain the peace we obtain."
So... we really get to win this time?
ARIUS: *chuckle* Yes.
After all, how can we lose when we have Galdar's obscene axe skills on our side?
Wow, talk about a joke hardly anyone would get. This is a reference to the way Volrath balanced Clean Slate. Galdar would be constantly getting obscenely powerful critical hits by the second half of the game.
ARIUS: Yeah, you know me too well! Ha ha ha!
Love this guy.
Just shut up or I'm going to give you a third eye cavity.
Arius kept his promise. We took Gallia down and the Rebellion assumed control of the city.
It hasn't been easy, but the world's leaders have been able to maintain peace since then.
I spent several years in the city watching everything transform. It wasn't perfect, but it was remarkable.
But eventually my wanderlust got the better of me once again. I set out on my own to see what the future held.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEVTwmNoFO4 VERY IMPORTANT VIDEO that concludes ARC V!!!!
And with that, we have only two arcs left and things are going to start happening a -bit- faster. There'll be trials, both legal and otherwise, and a lot of strife. There'll be more shocking revelations. And lastly, but not least... tragedy.
Unfortunately this is where my memory of the series gets much more vague, since I've only played ARC VI and VII once, back in like 2013 or 2014 when I finally decided to go and check in on the RPGMaker community and see if MOTW had finished. To my relief, it had! It took three years after I stopped. I believe there was a two year gap between ARC VI and VII where people doubted VII would ever be done.
Lucky for us, it was.
the end