Endure This! Run! Part 7!
By DocHaus 3 Comments
Endure This! Run! Part 7: Diplomacy at a Pointy Edge
We embarked on the easiest sidequests ever. I think it was because SquareEnix doesn't trust you to figure out what a sidequest is on your own. In any case, we return to the main story. Yay!
Soldier: Oi! Are you Rush Sykes?
Rush: Uh...yes?
Soldier: Well the Marquis of Athlum's been looking for ya!
Rush: Wait, so he wants to find Irina now?
Soldier: Buggered if I know, but get your arse back to his throne room pronto! I've got a job to do!
When you travel around Athlum or Celapaleis at this point, you'll see one of these random soldiers with a red-outlined speech bubble asking if you are Rush. No matter which answer you give them, they will tell you that David requests your presence until you finally go to the Athlum Throne room. It's the game's way of not-so-subtly telling you to move on with the story. "But Thou Must!" indeed.
"That is all, David. I pray for your continued success."
This brown-colored Qsiti and a random Mitra soldier exit the room as Rush comes in.
Rush: Dude! Those guys were harshin' you something fierce! Why didn't you tell them to get stepping?
Blocter: The Duke of Qubine from Celapaleis gave us our orders.
Pagus: He thinks that the forces of Ghor are making a move on our turf at Blackdale and asked us to kindly remove them from the area.
Rush: But I thought Blackdale was Dave's turf?
Torgal: Yeah, about that, you do know that a Marquis ranks below a Duke, right?
Rush: No, I didn't.
Torgal: Well, there's your answer.
Rush: What about Irina?
Pagus: Well, our scouts mentioned that the Ghors were led by a guy in a white Chinese dress. Apparently, he was testing out a new standup routine and they were crying out in agony, until the sight of a flying Remnant made them shut up again.
Rush: Wait wait wait...what's a China?
David: Look, orders are orders. We ride for Blackdale tonight, and I've been personally asked to make sure this goes well.
Rush: Welp, have fun then.
David: Fuck that, you're the protagonist. You're coming too!
Rush: Do I have to?
David: Okay, fine...Irina might be there.
Rush: Let's kill these bastards.
But before we leave...
And to Blackdale we go!
Welp, looks like we found our enemies! So David brings forth the trusty Gae Bolg and...
...or he can just give them the "throw down your weapons and put your hands up!" speech.
Jager and his gang respond with a counter-offer.
A giant spear falls from the sky and nearly hits David. I guess teleporting a pointy object from that height and hoping gravity will do the rest makes it hard to aim.
In any case, message received.
So we begin an EPIC BORDER DISPUTE.
Rush here has Baulson and McGrady in his troupe. The Althumian forces organize themselves into their own "guest" unions that you can't control (but can Critical Trigger for some reason!).
Jager is pretty tough to put down. He unleashes a beatdown (literally called "Beatdown") on your allies, including punching Baulson so hard that blood bursts through his plate armor. Also, as a boss character, trying to engage Jager with more than one Union will only get you put in "Multi-Deadlock," a special kind of situation with boss characters and massive enemies which means you can't flank them like you can a normal enemy. But it's not a negative, more of a neutral situation.
Eventually, you beat down enough of these Third Committee thugs (are they from Ghor? What is Ghor, for that matter? All we be revealed later, we hope.) and Jager himself that he retreats into the caves that make up the true Blackdale. David decides to pursue him.
Hey, whatever happened to that flying Remnant? Couldn't Jager have used that in battle? He's probably kicking himself for not thinking of that, just as David probably forgot he has a magical BFG that could have ended everything in one shot.
Onward, into Blackdale!
Yes, we just said that.
Here we find a battle axe that's in, er...used condition. Still, you can use it if it's better than your current equipment. Unlike here. Also, a Weapon Recipe! You'll find these recipes scattered around treasure chests (Remnants), dig points, and even specialty shops in towns on occasion. These let you unlock more customization options for the shops that let you upgrade equipment in town.
Mr. Diggs in action here. On occasion you'll stumble across a special nut from an "excavation point" that he'll eat. Not only does it increase the max "Digs" count by 1, but it resets all digs to that new max! These are good things to find in a dungeon.
Also, every so often, Mr. Diggs will trigger a "Loop Chance," which means he has a chance to go into "Overdrive" and dig multiple times. Thus allowing you to pick up more (or sometimes rare) crafting materials. I guess what I'm saying is: Mr. Diggs is useful. Try not to overuse one point unless there's a resource you really need there. But don't worry, you can always come back here later.
Hanging there in the air is the Remnant Schiavona, which wikipedia tells me is a "Basket-hilted sword." Or one of the many swords that Ezio Auditore used to slice through various people in a recent Assassins Creed title. Topical!
Anyways, Jager is here, watching Wagram practice his latest routine on Irina.
Wagram: Okay, so when they come, I'm going to take this little ball of flame. See how it's got a light-orange color? Well add a pinch of salt, and...
Wagram: Ha! It is blue!
Wagram: So now, I need you to bind this Remnant behind me to yourself. It doesn't really fit with my idea of the set design.
Irina: Do I have to?
Wagram: Well, I have been working on this other joke: Who is dead in a hurry? Your brother, Rush. Ha!
Irina follows the pretty blue ball of flame to the hanging Remnant. Probably to avoid having to hear any more of Wagram's awful routine.
Irina apparently has the power to bind giant Remnants to herself. But just before she can finish, guess who shows up?
Emma: Rush! We can't just charge in! They have your sister, remember?
Rush: But--
Emma: These are dangerous people! Did you forget how the black guy drew blood from a fully-armored yama a few minutes ago?
Rush: And the white-dressed mage?
Emma: Well, he's just a bad comedian, but that in itself is pretty dangerous!
Wagram: Ah, if it isn't the Marquis of Athlum himself...come to see me practice my routine?
David: Look, you've tried to bind a couple of giant, unstable Remnants, kidnapped a little girl and attacked our forces. I think we crossed the line from "mere annoyance" to "Violation of congressional law" a long time ago.
Wagram: *sigh* Okay, fine, I'll rehearse somewhere else.
David: What you'll do is drop that paper fan of yours on the ground, let the girl go and surrender.
Wagram: Hmmm, yeah that's not gonna happen. I've got the Academy on speed-dial. Their Lawyers Guild is gonna be on your ass so fast you won't even have time to blink before they drag your ass into court for wrongful imprisonment.
David: The Academy?
Wagram: Yeah, haven't you heard? They're the ones who loaned me Irina for research purposes and a share of the grant money.
David: Oh really? Well let's call up The Academy and confirm your story!
Wagram: Wait, this reminds me of another joke...
Rush: Fuck your jokes! Give me back my sister!
Wagram: You doubt my talents in standup comedy? Well maybe this will persuade you!
Wagram: I'm going to kill on stage later tonight, but you...you I'm just going to kill.
Next time on Endure This! Run!
- Another boss battle!
- Creepy old guys!
- Time to prepare for war...or a conference?
Cutscenes!
Bonus Content
This was listed as Torgal fanart, but...I don't know. Even this version of Torgal doesn't seem too happy to be in this picture.