Upraor in Upover

Two updates in one because reasons!

Sarona was waiting for us at the entrance of the Bowhole. After saying an incantation and opening the path, she continues her search for, I presume, Corvus. The Bowhole is a pretty typical dungeon, but the amount of treasure feels higher than before. You'll have to fall down a hole at one point, but it doesn't matter which, since they all take you to the same room. I think the north one is faster, but you'll want to explore everywhere anyway. Towards the bottom is an area where metal slimes spawn. These guys give 10000 EXP a kill, so guess where I spent a lot of time over the last few days. By the end of this update, I'll be around level 40.

But at the bottom is a scary statue. As we approach, a booming voice tells us this is a test to reach the Hero of Heaven, Greygnarl. We've heard his name a few times already, so we know we're on the right track. Suddenly, the statue turns into something more biological and attacks. Badrongo is forgettable, and I've forgotten what he does... Anyway, he dies, and we see a shiny bow and arrow behind him. We pick it up and Zoom to Wyrmwood. Travel west until you reach the gorge and read the inscription before the chasm. Lucy will shoot an arrow over the gap, and a bridge of light will appear before us, leading the way to Upover! The villagers from Wyrmwood will catch up and come to their senses about us. They'll realize that we're really not with that Black Dragon and apologize for all they've put us through. I think this means the shop will open up, but I didn't go check. The trek to Upover is long and dangerous, especially if you want to go exploring, so it's worth heading back to town to check. If, for no other reason, then to rest.

But, in time, we'll reach the mountain village of Upover. The gate guard is shocked that travelers have shown up, indicating it's been a while since they've seen new people. The mayor is up the first set of stairs, and we'll ask him to see Greygnarl. The villagers talk to him somewhat regularly, so it's not a big deal if we give it a climb. In fact, Uproar even has a festival every year where they get Grey drunk on their special brew, and it's coming soon! But, for now, we have to get through the Magmaroo. As we leave the mayor's hut, Stella wonders how Greygnarl is still alive if he fought the Black Dragon 300 years ago...

The Magmaroo is filled with lava themed monsters and floors. This makes sense as we're in a volcano, presumably. Nothing is that bad, but keep your HP/MP about ya. Keep in mind, I'm at level 40 with the best gear you can get at this point, so who knows how it is on a low level run? At the summit is a wide open area. A voice booms from a nearby cave to wonder who we are. Lights begin to shine inside as smoke billows out. An eastern, serpentine dragon appears before us! Greygnarl was a dragon the whole time!!! Despite us here in an attempt to save the world, Grey doesn't give us much time to speak. He smells the scent of the Gittish Empire on us. The Gittish are the ones who attacked Wyrmwood during Corvus and Serana's time, and the owl guy mentioned them when we first met. I don't know how we smell like something from 300 years ago, but Greygnarl assumes we're with them, here to finish him for good. In response, he attacks.

He only gets one attack a round, so, even if you're not at level 40, I don't think he's very strong. His speed seems to fluctuate, though, so cast Accelerate to make things seem conventional. Sap's accuracy was poor. As you'd expect, he can breathe fire, so bring anti fizzle gear. We'll win, and the dragon will feel nothing but shame. He admits that he's injured and can't fly. The mayor's wife will catch up to us and attempt to soothe things over between us. Greygnarl isn't hearing of it and sticks to his pride, believing that we're the enemy. Nothing can be done here, so return to town.

Back in Upover, there's a commotion going on at the gate. Three Gittish Empire soldiers have stormed the town! They're here to finish Greygnarl off and destroy the last refuge of anti imperial beliefs while they're at in. Lucy quite likes this place, so we jump in to defend it. We're against three guys, but none have the strength of a boss. I went all out, but I shouldn't have. As we win, we'll have another surprise behind us. The owl guy who destroyed the Starflight Express will drop in. One of the survivors from our battle is still alive, and he's pleading to be saved. However, Commander Owl will call him too weak to live and kill him. He then bemoans that he has to kill us AND Greygnarl now. He knows Lucy was Aquila's student, but that means nothing to him. Without doing anything else, though, he flies away. We've saved the town!

After you rest, speak to the mayor's wife outside the entrance to the Magmaroo. She'll inform us that Greygnarl has requested our presence, and he's much more open to discussion now. He does have two conditions, though.
1.) Bring him beer.
2.) Lucillia comes alone.
Head to Stornway and drop off your random patty members, as Lucy will need to be the only person in the party for this. After, head down the stairs outside the mayor's house and pick up the Dragon Brew. Zoom back to the summit and speak to Greygnarl.

After he has something to drink, he's a different beast. His speech is more casual, and he's more open. He asks who we are and why we're here. He's shocked that the Black Dragon, Barbarous, has returned. Defeating him was what led to Grey being called the Hero of Heaven. He'll then say something about needing to fly and "Dragon Warrior" gear, but before he can elaborate, we're attacked.

Purple orbs of magic begin to explode around us. We can see that Barbarous is attacking. But it's not just us he's after; it's the town of Upover. With no time to sober up, Greygnarl gives us the Dragon Warrior armor and asks us to put it on. It sucks, but we have to wear it. At least it looks rad! Despite informing us he couldn't fly earlier, we jump on him and take to the skies to fight Barbarous. It's all in a CGI cutscene, which looks pretty cool. The two dragons have a duel over Upover, and Greygnarl seems to have it won. He's deflecting the breathe attacks of our enemy and tanking what he can't like a champ. As Grey gets his own offense in, Barb looks to be defeated. In a final attempt to not repeat history, though, he has one more special move. Purple magic glows from him, warping Barb before us. A blinding light shoots out, and, when we can see again, he's grown in size. He's absorbed a similar magic to what destroyed the Observatory! Barbarous shoots out several beams at us, and Greygnarl can just survive them. But that's not all. Barb summons Frieza's Death Ball above him and launches that. But not at us...

The town of Upover is about to be wiped out because Barb wants Grey to suffer. Grey looks back at us and says, "it's been short, but it's time we part." He bucks us off his back and sacrifices himself to save the town. We see our new dragon friend wiped out as we continue to fall.

When we come to, we're naked and in jail. This is Gortress, the imperial prison run by Commander Hogg. We're before him in our underwear, and he makes some pig jokes before getting mad. He's supposed to do something special with Celestrians, but we're not Celestrian. Because of that, we're to be treated like all humans and be put to slave work. We're taken to our cell and regain control. The first thing I did was put my gear back on. We still have all our items, including weapons, so prepare for a fight. Look around the cell, because you have to, until you annoy your neighbor. He'll tell us to go o sleep, and we'll be awoken just in time to be a slave. We'll be escorted to the yard, where we'll meet our neighbor. He's the foreman and the person in charge of showing us around, which he'll have to do...

...tomorrow.

The Starflight Express is down, Zoom doesn't work, and Evac doesn't either. This means I can't do sidequests or grind or alchemy...