Betrayal

The mysterious and beautiful healer has a monster after her. What will she do?

In the chief's hut in Bat Town is the guy in charge, Bat Sr., and the woman who has the whole town in rapture, Sara. Neither of those are their names, but I can't remember the random string of letters that come after the first syllable. We ask about any golden fruit, but they don't know of any. The two of them inform us of the monster causing a ruckus in the plains. They task the heir to the nomadic people, Bat Jr., to defeat it, but he's too afraid to do so. It brings shame to his father. As this happens, a roar is heard outside. The monster is attacking again!
 
We rush outside to do what we can, and the villagers act as best they can. They try to corner it and keep it away from the chief's yurt, but it's too agile. Suddenly, we appear before it. It gets scared and runs away before we can take it out. Returning to the yurt, Sara and Bat Sr. are surprised that we could intimidate it. Sara then comes up with an idea! If we help rid the town of that monster, they'll help us find the fygg. Bat Jr. leaves the yurt and runs off somewhere because he's trying to be brave. If he can muster the courage to do so, Bat Jr. knows he can defeat the beast. Follow him.

There's a smaller outpost to the north that Bat Jr. went to. We overhear him talking to people in a yurt, and a villager throws us into the hut. Bar Jr. restates that he knows what to do and goes off to do it, but he tells us not to follow him. Follow him. To the north is a loading zone. When we cross the bridge, we'll see him running off to the east. Follow the path, and you'll come to a small cave. We'll see Bat. Jr. is talking to the monster, which shocks him. He thinks that he can trust us, so he lets us in on what's going on. This monster, Khoonbish, was found long ago. He was almost dead, but Bat. Jr and his mom, Bar, saved him. The two have been friends ever since, even after Bar died. Speaking of which, her gravestone is just behind him. Bat Jr. knows that Sara is a monster in disguise, but he has no idea how to reveal that to everyone n town. After he tells us this, we can see the ghost of Bar. She tells us that she knows how to get Sara to show her true form. To the east is a ruined village of Bursuun. In that village is a plant called the Bodura Grass, which can reveal a creature's true form.

There are some good IC items from enemies along the way, but the village is in a cave. It looks like Bat Town, but it's empty and filled with monsters. There are several markers along the way to indicate that the Basura Grass is almost worshiped here because it keeps monsters at bay. There's a lot of treasure here, and most of them can be reopened later. In the back is another cave filled with ghosts from the village. They don't know if they're alive or dead, but they still talk about the Basura Grass. One tells us that Bar was from this village and was always sickly... Beyond that is a staircase to the plant. There are no bosses.

Zoom back to the village and head to the northern outpost. Inform Bat Jr. that we have the Grass, and he'll make a plan. He'll turn the plant into a solution and head out to save his village. When we get to Bat Town, things will already be in motion. Bar Jr. is fighting Khoon, and he's just defeated him. Suddenly, Khoon moves! Just before a finishing blow is given to the barely motionless body, Bat Jr. tells his friend that it's time to strike. Khoon goes after Sara, taking her full attention. Bat Jr., meanwhile, throws the Basura solution onto Sara. Purple smoke billows from her, and a magic field surrounds her. From that field emerges a giant beast! It's massive, but Bat. Jr and Khoon aren't afraid. Bat Jr. tried to will the rest of the villagers into action, but they're scared. Despite that, Jr and Khoon go in. They're thrown away like nothing.

Last (more great password possibilities) attacks, but they're not too tough. If it weren't for their status debuffs, I don't think I'd have a problem. Last can make us blind, which is more effective than I gave it credit for. They're also resistant to Sap, so cast Accelerate. Last gets two attacks per round. Their physical attacks are pretty heavy to lesser armored friends but barely do anything to Tryton. They do steal MP, though. Boom, however, is a killer. It hits everyone for over thirty damage!

When the dust settles, Jr and Khoon will be alright. But it turns out that wasn't Last's true form. He's actually a teeny tiny imp creature. He's always thought humans were cool, so when the fygg fell to the Protectorate, he ate one to fit in. Rather than kill it, Jr suggests Last and Khoon should be friends. If Last does this, then everyone can be happy. Last agrees, and the two monsters runoff. There will be a party that night, and we'll wake up the next morning. Bat Sr. informs the nomads that he's done being leader. He says a metaphor I didn't get, but it means Jr. has proven himself more than worthy to lead. The two of them leave to play their respects to Bar. While there, they both say how cool she was, and Sr. wishes she could see her son now. As they leave, Jr asks if we can see his mom, and we convey her message to him. She's very proud of her family, and she heads to the afterlife.

We've finally got all seven fyggs! Return to Alltrade Abbey and inspect the blue tree. It summons the Starflight Express, and we get ready to turn them into Apus. While Stella conducts, a light shines behind us. We're shocked at first, but Aquila emerges from it. He's proud that his student did all of this, but then he asks for the fyggs. According to Celestrian law, a Celestrian cannot disobey a superior, so we must hand them over. Stella is upset, but it's only the tip of the iceberg.

A "posh" voice is heard, and it changes Aquila. We all somehow know that Aquila isn't working for the good guys anymore. Aquila senses that we're upset, so he attacks. Once again, according to law, we cannot attack superiors, so he beats us. Lucillia is lying there, knocked out, while Stella panics. Aquila blows open the door, and Stella eventually sees a black dragon just outside. An owl man is riding it, and he and Aquila say a bunch of proper nouns that don't mean much right now. The owl man orders the dragon to attack the train, which causes the still ko'ed Lucillia to fall out. Stella couldn't hold on.

We land in Wrymword, the place that hates foreigners. Fortunately, a boy named Wallace saves us, despite everyone just standing around with their hands in their pockets. Days later, we wake up, and Wallace is thrilled. His uncle/mayor, though, wants us out. He tells us the town is holding a meeting tonight to discuss what they'll do to us. While there, the mayor asks if we have any connection to the Black Dragon. I say we don't, but I don't think it matters. Regardless, we're to be booted from town. Wallace is upset, so he runs off, and we go after him. The guy by the gate says he ran to Hope Spring.

We can find Wallace in a small alcove to the south. All we have to do is talk to him, and he'll return to Wyrmwood. As we leave, though, we see the ghost girl we've seen a few times now. She's still looking for some dude, but she finally realizes that we can see her. If we want any information from here, though, we need to find something she left under the guardian statue in Wyrmwood. She's from there, you see. Return to the village and inspect the ruined guardian statue. Unlike every other town, this one is in a state of disrepair. Wallace asks what we're doing, and we fill him in. We can't find anything, but Wallace says he's always had a suspicion that the guardian statue wasn't always here. It's in a hidden area and not the center of town like every other statue. It's now a hunt to find the original location. The bard looking fella on the bridge found some information on the village. It used to be called Wymward, and a great dragon slayer is from here. The mayor mentioned his name during the meeting, but he doubts anyone in Upover would help them. Anyway, check the church. We'll find a necklace under the marker in the back right. Return to Hope Spring and speak to Serana, and she'll fill us in on a lot. Long ago, a man with wings was washed ashore. She brought him back to Wormwood and nursed him back to health. The Celestrian was named Corvus. That name carried weight in the Observatory, and we overheard Aquilla and another woman discuss him at the very start of the game. There's even a gravestone for him hidden away there. But back to Serana: It was peaceful between them until one day. Soldiers from the Gittish Empire showed up, looking for tribute. The Empire is a noun that Aquila and the owl man mentioned. Wyrmward is a poor town, so it had no money to give, so the knight decided to marry Serana. As violence was about to break out, Corvus started moving. Suddenly, all the knights were struck by lightning. One-by-one, they died. I'm sure there's more to this story, but that's all we got now. We then ask Serana if she knows how to reach Upover. We know it has something to do with the Bowhole, and Serana confirms it. She says she'll meet us there, so it looks like we'll be doing that...

...tomorrow!

Day fourteen plot dumps! The main story is just beginning now. I know we'll need to cross the Wyrmwood Gorge, and I think a dragon is involved. There are some inscriptions that make my dragon hunting brain start working. I wonder if I should tell Apus what Aquila did? Does our train even run anymore?