Cold Steel to Cold Weather

In order to save Matavia and Dezoris, too, we need to go to the main satellite of the Argo system, Kuran.

It's a lot like the other advanced dungeons we've been in and is filled with similar enemies. There are a few formations you should probably flee from, though. There are two, in particular, that get a special attack. If you see two of anything around a Tower type monster or two floating mines around a similar looking mech, run. The three of them will unleash a massive attack on your whole party and will kill Rune because Rune sucks. They will continue to do this until one dies. I thought it was questionable until it hit me that mobs can combine their magic attacks, too. Turns out it's pretty rad. The dead ends here are less often but take longer to get back from. Plus, there's not much treasure when there is. Why does Wren get three new armors before we get through one dungeon with him?

I only piped out once, so we got to the bottom pretty quickly. When we got there, we saw something disturbing. We see something moving "in the shadows" of the mainframe. Rune knows this as Dark Force, the guy Zio called out to, and you should remember this in a moment. It's a biological looking monstrosity trying to fuse with the computer. It gives me a Master vibe from Fallout. But it doesn't matter what it is since it's screwing everything we care about up.

Dark Force has two attacks: one hits everyone for way too much damage, especially Rune. It'll also physically hit one character for even more damage. Fortunately, Raja is here. His Sar move will practically undo all of the damage. If things get messy, Rika can use her Sar too much less fanfare. Otherwise, he seems weak to fire and is definitely weak to light, Githu. DF's defense doesn't seem high, so Rika can do plenty with Double Slash. If Raja runs low on MP, use Ataxia or whatever it was called. Rune died because Rune sucks, but everyone else survived.

After the fight, Chaz asks Rune how he knew that THAT was Dark Force? Rune says he's seen it before, but he doesn't go into details because Rune sucks. But Wren does his thing and fixes the computer, restoring everything to its unnatural order. We now return to Zalan and see that Matavia is fine, but Dezoris is still in the middle of its blizzard. Raja tries to remind us about the tower he mentioned last night that I skipped over, but everyone ignores him. To get through the snow walls, Wren gives us the Snow Car, So it's back to Dezoris.

Travel eastward from Tyler, and you can use the Ice Picker to get through the snowdrifts. We'll come to a town filled with giant penguins. There's a few mage type equipment here, but nothing else. I traveled to the northwest until I arrived at a cave system, Myst Valley. Inside are mobs that give us really good EXP, but in the back is an odd sight. It's talking cats! They grant us access to see the Old Man and more talking cats. The Old man is a giant cat with wings, and he gives us the Silver Tusk, a legendary item handed down from eons past. It's a weapon for Rika that's only slightly stronger than what she's using now... Return to Roza and travel east. Eventually, you'll come to a town and be attacked immediately by zombies. This entire area is invested with the undead and offers no other services.
 
On the otherside of a mountain range north is the Climate Control system. Once again, we're immediately attacked by the guy we killed when we got the Psycho Wand. We kill him, and we begin our investigation into fixing Dezoris. Or...actually no. Raja, once again, tries to tell us Dezoris' problem is in Garubeck Tower! Not wanting to upset my healer, I leave the area to go in search of said tower. Just south of the zombies is the village of Meebe. We learn more about the zombies here and see the town has turned the inn into a hospital. It's staffed by a race calling themselves espers, and they're doing their best to keep those infected alive. It's all for naught, though, but it's all they can do. Unfortunately, Raja gets infected and collapses.

While treating him, Rune and Rika have the same feelings they got when Alys died. Whatever is causing this illness is using the Black Wave that Zio used. An esper runs into the room to tell us that their boss, Krya, has run off alone to the Gaurberk Tower. The problem with that is the place is protected by man eating trees. We run to find her, get in a fight, and immediately retreat. But we did bring her with us. Krya then tells us about her boss, Lutz, a 2000-year-old wizard living in the basement of Esper Mansion. She thinks he'll know a way past the evil forest, and we make our way there. So I'll be there...

...tomorrow!

Dezoris is a confusing place. I think I saved before the mansion, but I don't know. I found two more cities that don't mean anything right now, but I already miss Raja. Kyra fights like Alys, but she lacks the speed needed to set things up. She also can't heal... I should have done the Climate Control dungeon first...