The plot thickens!

We, apparently, saved Cinder, but Judy, the Empress of Time, went to Cristalis. So guess where we're going?

The Statue of Liberty takes us there after she compliments our new party member, Zas, on her pants. As before, we can speak to our companions. Zas' fragile personality she's been using to hide the death of her father is beginning to break. She's overly happy to hide the pain and invite friendship. I don't remember what anyone else said...

We'll arrive in the white kingdom of Cristalis. It's filled with tall skyscrapers and an immaculate sheen. At least, I think it used to. Now, though, there are signs that war struck this place. I thought it looked pretty fine, but Wilhelm and our wandering merchant assured me this hasn't always been the case.

To reach Judy, we have to trek through the lengthy streets of the biggest city in the world. Along the way, we fight through more goblins and a new type of wolf. More interesting, there's a new slime. The white slimes are immune to magic but are pretty fragile overall. They can transform into any other slime type, and killing them rewards a ton of exp and marbles.

At the end of the first area is where Kari returns. She kills the priestesses holding up a barrier and tells Zas that she's become a monster to kill a monster. Kari prepares to attack us, but then all of the Mother Superiors show up to trap her in time. Crisbell asks who they all are, and they tell us they'll be at the cathedral.
The second area contains the dungeon's gimmick. There are a few blue Tesla coils strewed around. These can be time altered to decay, but this is pointless. Sending them back turns them into a box, allowing us to push it to either make a bridge we can walk across or into a position to nullify pink barriers. We'll need to do both to reach the third and final area.
In the very back is the cathedral. All four Mother Superiors are waiting for us, and Crisbell's, Elena, takes the lead. The Mother Superiors work for the Lady, the Goddess this world worships, to guide everyone to her. They point out the final mural behind them, and it's the fanciest we've seen. It also seems to be free standing, but that's not important. Crisbell interacts with it and feels its power. Kari starts to function again.

She breaks out of the time bubble and says that everything's going according to Judy's plan. Kari casts a spell that instantly kills Elena. The world starts to shake again, and we see Judy's dragon wreaking havoc on the city. The effect of it all causes Crisbell to lose her emotions again, and she ends up reverting Kari back to when she was a child. Kari asks how Zas got so old, but they'll have to come back around to that later. Everyone else asks what happened with Crisbell, and she only says she wanted to save her mother figure from the Empress of Time. Speaking of whom...

Judy shows up because she's upset we rewound the underling she spent so much time forming. After more words, a battle begins. As before, though, we can't harm her, and we lose. Judy plans to kill us, but Wilhelm has another plan. He does a thing and transforms into an even more androgynous older man. His voice is deeper, so there's that. Wilhelm looks like the hero who sacrificed himself against Judy in the picture we saw in that one vision on Rainbow Lake. It's also the future guy in Wilhelm's house. New Wilhelm casts a spell that breaks Judy's invincibility shield before the two have a quick magic battle. But Wilhelm can only hold this form for so long. His time is literally up. In their battle long ago, Judy stole Wil's time. In response, he reverted himself to a child to continue to exist. But turning back into a man restarted that doom clock. He gives us ...something... and warps us to a nearby warehouse before finally fading away. Judy is shocked that Rudo, Wilhelm's real name, would appear now, but her plan can still be achieved.

The party, the remaining Mother Superiors, and Kari are just outside the cathedral. Lucia, from Telira, gives us a moment to mourn. Kari and Zas have a moment where Zas blames us for making Zas old. Zas wants to keep her older sister innocent again, at a point before she became a murderer. Cristopher is angry his frenemy is gone, and JKR is processing things. After the three moms tell us they spotted Wilhelm's powers as a child and pushed him to fight Judy, we regain our senses. Wilhelm sacrificed himself to break Judy's shield, so we need to act fast! Kari joins the team, and we get a tutorial on how to use her. She fights in the same fashion as she did when we fought her. She also shows some personality that makes me think she's always been sadistic...

Judy and Crisbell have a discussion about why Judy's done all this. Judy doesn't tell us, but she asks if Crisbell has connected the dots or not. Cris says she has and calls Judy "mom." Judy gets upset and says she was too busy with her plan to have kids. She's thought too highly of Crisbell, and a battle begins.

But first, I crash!

The second battle went poorly, and JKR exploded on me.

I spent some time grinding because K was several levels under the Crises. I got some better stats and a better understanding of how to use K. A trick to help you in this battle is to keep K's heat beneath 89. Judy's worst attack is to bring everyone's HP to 1. It also does ten heat to K, and if that reaches 100, he explodes on us. The rest of the Time Empress battle is a long and boring grind. Make sure Bell goes directly after Judy. Judy has the tendency to cast Perfect Heal on herself, giving her a regain that restores 190 HP a turn. Crisbell should use Regression ASAP to remove the buff. From here, Judy seems weak to magic. I had Topher spam Pressurized Steam, and a perfect hit did 200 damage. K'a physical attacks struck for 70*3. Just keep in mind that K will need to use Coolant every other turn. Zas is way too slow to be of use, and Kari is even slower. I also didn't want to find a good mob for her to toy with. With the exception of Perfect Cure and Time Compression (and K exploding), I didn't find this hard. But it took about ten minutes to take out Judy's 3800 HP. We're gonna be here for a while. Sending her to the past is pointless, and don't bring her forward. And Doom can be blocked.

Judy lives and still wants to activate her plan. She teleports/limps into a nearby building, and we give chase. When we find her, K activates and kills Judy. She keeps talking about her plan but eventually pops a purple cloud on Crisbell. Judy dies, and we save the world! Topher is excited, and Zas and Kari make plans to grow up. K is confused, though. He didn't choose to attack. Matias, who went missing earlier but came back after Wilhelm died, is also glad. He asks us if we want to do anything, and Crisbell wants to visit Rainbow Lake.

There are new images in the water pools. We see Cris' grandma talking to Judy, Wilhelm and Judy being friends, and a man holding a baby Crisbell. Was that Rudo? At the Millennium Flower, though, is the exact same image: the Time Empress destroys the world. There was also an image of Wilhelm at his house. Matias mentions the ruins we've seen in each country. That purple spell she used on Cris must be the trigger. We must prevent that! Cris is scared but wants to keep preventing this future from happening. Matias knows a way to stop it. He knows that there's a machine in Cristalis that will send them back in time. We're just before the final battle. Everyone is in the warehouse after Wilhelm died. Crisbell is panicking, but everyone believes what she's saying. They agree to visit those ruins. Kairi rejoins the team at a higher level, and a new exit to the city appears. To return to other nations, Telira most notably, we'll need to talk to Paulina again, and I'll do that...

...tomorrow!

Matias sure felt pretty deus ex-y tonight...

Was this the good ending?

Either way, I made new friends!

I was dumb and watched a bunch of losers debate each other on Wednesday, and it went long. But I did grind a little! And then I watched my football team get whooped by those guys from Detroit, and I almost didn't play tonight...

But I did! I finished off the side quests to help Zas' friend find his not-dead girlfriend. We then healed (I think) everyone sick with Glass Lung across Cinder and Ceniza.

After that, we got on with the main plot. We were supposed to speak to Azufra and tell him the good news. He's excited and ignores a quip that Zas made about killing her dad, but he also has bad news. We were going to jail! You see, Azufra is a bad guy who started a revolution. It's not explained why he started that, but Volcano and Galley are still beloved, so I suspect something is amiss. Now, though, he wants total control of the Glass Lung cure. He thanked us for our sacrifice before calling his guards. Our old stalker friend, Kari, teleports in to condemn Azufra and promises to kill him. Zas tries to plead to her sister, but Kari doesn't forget. This stress makes Crisbell lose it again. Her powers go wild, and time stops once more. The Empress of Time, who I will henceforth call Judy, senses some time buggery and investigates.

Judy is excited that Cris' powers have activated and says that Cris is progressing faster than Judy did. Cris says some words comparing Judy to Enzo and Rhallus, but Judy denies all of that. Those nerds fought for vain things, but Judy has an actual higher goal. We don't see what it is yet, but Kari returns and steals something related to the Millennial Rock. And she causes some magic to happen just as Cris' time freeze ends. Azufra dies, and his wife begins to mourn. Before the guards attack us, seeing as we're the likely culprits, the Volcano Sisters take us to the palace.

They say they're going to punish is for killing Azufra, but the charade ends. And with it, so too goes their loyalty to Judy. They know Judy knowingly used the feral goblins as her minions, as they overheard our conversation when she admitted it. The princesses care about their homeland and take this as a great offense. We're now friends, and even Galley compliments us. To prove it, they give us the royal crest, which is an item we can use to reach the Cinder Cathedral. Place that in the Azufra statue in the main square, and we can finish this chapter.

But the final side quest is a rather interesting one. Matias can hear the sisters mourning their killed parents and how Galley wants to give their gravesite her doll. We can collect that doll (for some reason) and ask Azufra's wife, Fenia, about it. She was there when the monarchs were killed by the mob and has had a heavy heart since. We convince her to tell the sisters their mother's last words: "I love you." The doll was made by the queen, and the three have a conversation where they discuss her. It's humanizing. Volcano gives us a strange mechanical device no one can translate, but I wonder if Nasar can! She can, and it's programming for how to work the Cinder lava pumps. Nasar is annoyed that JKR can't translate it, but she also doesn't know who constructed K... The mystery grows.

The Ancient Ruins are a quick trip under the lava to the giant rock in the middle of the lava lake. The house Cristoper asked about when we first entered the town would end up being the cathedral. It's a mostly straight path where we learn about the pumps. The only new mob is a stone statue weak to lightning. We can use two pumps to reach a chest, and the final one brings us to the chapel and Kari.

Kari is shocked to see us and quickly begins combat. Very quickly! Her battle is really boring. It starts as a pincer attack with a Bugat Boss behind us. It's the same as it was back in the museum. Kari's attacks involve summoning untargetable monsters to attack us on her command. She switches it up often, and it also changes her weaknesses. I don't know if using the time stones changes any stats in her attacks, but I kept it in the present. Poison is good because it's a free 150 HP. Neither the poison muka, guards, nor the sewer boss can do anything to a team with three amber rings on, so this is just a lengthy battle. Get Wilhelm to level 22 so he can learn some earth magic. Guess what he learned AFTER this battle for me!?!?

I don't remember what happened to Kari, but I think Zas said something about her. But we can approach the stained glass mural now. As we do, everything shakes. Judy is here. The Millennial Stone is this gigantic rock we're standing on. Judy uses the Millennial Flower on it to cause destruction. And the rock starts to hatch, letting a dragon emerge. But there's plenty of debris that crashes into the lava. A lava tidal wave, which is a first for video games (that I've played), spreads toward the towns. Fortunately, Paulina's shoe is nearby, but it's Crisbell who saves us again. She has total control over her time powers now and freezes the wave before it crashes into Cinder and Ceniza. We float back to Cinder and speak to the sisters to inform them of what happened. They begin to evacuate the town, while we try to stop the lava. We get a choice now on what to do! Help evacuate, activate the levee, or use the levee and pipes? The levies we rebuilt and the pipes JKR leaned about are our reward for doing every side quest. Cinder really made its side quests matter here, and I'm for it! Crisbell activates the levee but has to stop time again to give K time to power the pumps. It all works! Our team and the Cinder citizens are in the graveyard, far above the lava that still flooded the town. But it's the people we saved. But they don't know where Crisbell is. The camera cuts to the Volcano sisters in Ceniza, trying to save those still sick. The ruins in the town start to fall, but Crisbell is here to save them. We all return to the palace, where Crisbell collapses. She's just exhausted and wakes up in the morning.

Judy flew off on her dragon to Crystallis. And that's our next and final destination. We don't get any of the full town future sights as we did in Clarity and Tulira. But we can still see that the city will repair itself one day and look far better than it did before we showed up. And much better than the ruins we currently walk through. But we'll figure out how to reach Judy...

...tomorrow'

The Lions still suck!!!!!!!

Macho Man & Hulk Hogan shake hands

We return to Cinder with the hopes of finding Orola and the Mother Superior, Lau. We see one of the Volcano Sisters giving a sick Cinderian more medicine before she rushes off to the east. The man's future self changes before Crisbell's eye into a feral goblin. Follow Galley, but you can have Zas teach you about the levy in the back of town if you want.

The east side of town is an empty lot, but there used to be a grand palace. The present guards are cartoonishly dumb and don't know nothing about no password, but the ones in the past have a riddle memorized. You have to use the strange devices in the middle of the square to form the day/night cycle on a clock, starting in the west for some reason. The bottom is blank. Doing so will cause the grand castle from the past to rise up.

Inside are the Volcano Sisters and their prisoners, Orola and Lau. Orola isn't there in the past... After Lau tries to save our healer, the Sisters recognize we're here. They're upset, and Galley wants to kill us. Fortunately, Volcano is somewhat levelheaded and lets us plead our case. We manage to convince the princesses that we're all on the same team. Cris tells them the sick man they treated will eventually turn feral. The Empress' medicine may work as a short term fix, but it eventually makes things worse. But Orola's dad was working on a true cure before he died. The sisters hold us in their palace that night, but they let us out the next morning to find the research notes at the Forge.

The Forge is across a pool of lava that we need to get across. We ask Azufra if he knows a way, and his wife, whom we met in Clarity (apparently) convinces him to let us talk to someone else. Bring Paulina's shoe to the glassblower at the levy, and she'll coat the high heel in something. We can now boat across the lava.

The Forge is to the north. The only backstory we get on it now is that Orola has some bad memories here. The gimmick of the Forge is we need to power the elevator to get to the top. We do this by finding a certain sky symbol on the floor we're on. Activating the symbol also lets us move a walkway. We only need one for floor one, but we'll need to hit two to reach the third floor. If it sounds complicated, it's not. Treasure hunting or following the standard path takes you where you need to go. The enemies are flame slimes, goblins, and amber mukas (the diseased cats).

At the top is another Witness. Neither she nor K recognize each other, but she feels like she should. And this new one is a tad crazy. Nasar, the living forge, calls us thieves. The sword Crisbell uses was forged by Nasar, and she doesn't know how it left her workshop. She wants it back!

This can be an interesting fight once you recognize the trick. All of Nasar's moves are based on the actual Forge in the battle. It's on both sides of the arena and has three states: blue, yellow, and red. Nasar will power up the Forge and smith herself a weapon to beat us with. While she can't be moved through time, the Forge and its temperature can be. And K can Juggle her about, so there are a bunch of fun things you can do here.

After we win, she'll recognize that all of our weapons were made by her for a great war. Crisbell asks about the war, but Nasar is too prideful to answer. We beat her, so she'll let us pass, but we're not liked.

The next room is the office of Zero, Zas' dad. And inside is Kari, tearing the room apart. We don't know what she's looking for, but we can see a glimpse of the past. Kari, a small child, is standing next to Zero. Zero is dying because Azufra stabbed him. Zero was the first to see that the Forge caused Glass Lung, but that's all the backstory we get. We tell Kari we saw what happened, and she ran away. Zero's notes are in a safe. Inspect the table, and Crisbell will knock over a vial of acid. Push the safe into the drip, have Matias hop forward, and we'll have Zero's slightly burnt notes.

We return to Cinder, and the sisters give us one night to prepare the cure. We can speak to Mother Superior and Orola about some things, and even the princesses talk to us. Matias can also hear a conversation from the past, during the revolution, to learn there's a third princess out there named Lava. Talk to Matias to sleep, and we'll wake up to see Orola has made some medicine! Does it work! Let's test it on Cristopher!

It does! He's as good as new now. He's more than mildly shocked that we're suddenly friends with the Volcano Sisters. With Topher being functional, the sisters agree to let Orola live, and we can see she exists in the future now. And we have the proof that the Empress was conning the girls all along. The cogs begin to turn in their heads, but we have to save everyone who's sick and inform Azufra of the good news. But we'll do that...

...tomorrow!

By the way, the elevator in the Forge is a guaranteed battle. I'll bring Wilhelm and Cristopher in there to catch up on levels. I figured out how to use K, but I still prefer the utility of Wilhelm. Zas is fine, but she's so slow and has a limited MP pool, so Cristopher will remain my go-to guy!

That's glass...in your lungs.

We ask Paulina if she can take us to Cinder. She responds that she can't, but we have no other options. Crisbell wonders if Paulina is sure, and it turns out Paulina can! As before, we take the Statue of Liberty across the ocean to the volcanic nation of Cinder. En route, we can speak to our team. Wilhelm is dealing with the fallout of his former students and doesn't want to talk. We can ask Cristopher and K if we did the right thing, and K states that what is right means nothing. Rightness is based off of view. From our point of view, we stopped a revived matriarch from reclaiming her hard work. But from her's, we killed someone who just wanted to live again. She had the right to exist, so in a way, we're the bad guys.

Paulina needs a nap because of the long journey, but we're here. Cinder looks rough now, and it's totally gone in the future. The forge, which this nation is known for, has been shut down, but the air is still dirty. As we enter, a girl named Fira gives us a lantern. Her mother, Firega, explains that Cinder does the Chinese Lantern Festival. Fira is excited and lets her lantern go early, and we see she wasn't alone. Crisbell asks why there are also so many, and Firega says this year has been bad. Glass Lung is killing a lot of people. Further down the road, we see the Volcano Sisters. But they're helping a sick Cinderain? They give a very ill man, or goblin, some medicine, and he gets better. And then he calls them "princesses"? Who are our long term rivals? They teleport away, and K senses they may have gone to the west.

A meeting is taking place here. Everyone is waiting for First Citizen Azufra. He's a hero from the revolution a few years ago. What was this revolution against if the royalty still walks around with power or reverence? He talks about the woes but is still hopeful. When he's done, everyone lets their lantern fly. Like so many things in the game, it's very picturesque. And then they explode. The lanterns descend, and more explosions rock the area. Feral goblins, Cinderains who've gone mad, join us to make everything worse. In the back, near the house, we see Kari teleport in. She does some stuff, and a bomb pedestal appears in the middle of the patio. The party notices it, but they can't defuse it. Everyone will die! Crisbell, being a benevolent mage with time powers, turns super saiyan. Her powers act on their own, and she's brought the area into a time bubble. Everything is still except for her. We can either regress or progress the bomb with her localized powers. I figured blowing it would be bad, so I returned the metal parts to scraps. But the arial bombs aren't gone. What's worse is the smoke is toxic. And Cristopher inhaled all of it. Wilhelm guides us to higher ground.

We're in a cemetery now, and a girl who likes green says she can save our friend, "or comrade, or whatever." Her manner of speaking is rather roundabout. Anyway, meet Zas! We follow her into her house, and she gives Topher some cough medicine. It eases the symptoms, but Topher has Glass Lung. We ask Zas if there's any cure for Glass Lung, but there isn't. However, Zas knows that someone in the former capital of Cinder, Ceneza, is rumored to be testing some. She joins us, and Wilhelm stays back to take care of Cristopher. You can switch K with Wilhelm if you don't like K's skills, but I decided to test him out. I shouldn't have...

Cenisa is to the west. As we enter, Zas tells us her dad once worked out of these ruins before he died. She's always wanted to look for his lab, but the monsters make this a problem. There are sick Cinderains here, so I think there's some oversight going on. Speaking of the sick, two feral goblins are attacking one! This is a tutorial battle where we learn that Zas uses a roulette wheel for her skills. You'd think it would be a random chance, but the pointer always ended where I pressed the button to trigger it. She has access to elemental magic and healing but is painfully slow. She has half the speed Crisbell and K have.

Ceniza has us opening doors to make shortcuts. There are also lava rivers going through. We can make stasis bridges, but be careful when you do. Getting too close will result in everyone dying. There are also a few pillars we can alter for treasures. Along the way, we fight goblins, their mages, literal firebirds, and fire slimes. K and Zas aren't great, so these are harder than they should be, but the marbel rewards are amazing! Before talking to the two people in the courtyard at the end, I went back to Cinder and upgraded some weapons. I don't think it helped?

Two people are at the end of the road. We meet the healer, Orola. Zas asks if Orola has medicine, but she's all out, and it can't be easily restocked. Zas also knows the other woman and calls her Lau. Lau gets mad and demands to be referred to as Mother Superior. I haven't seen a cathedral yet... Before we can get any deeper into this, Azufra and his retinue show up. They're here to arrest Orola for being a rebel. Mother Superior tries to tell them that every one is innocent, but the first citizen doesn't listen. And he plans to take us in, too. A burst of fire sparks between us. The Volcano Sisters are here. We have a meeting with the Empress, so Azufra can't take us. But we defend ourselves!

I don't understand what happened. This was a battle that felt impossible, and the internet tells me I'm not the only one who felt this. It took me three tries, and the sisters split apart their second turn on two of them. Their first act was to nullify Cris' time crystals. Splitting up gives them two attacks per round, and they both love to spam AoE attacks. I couldn't figure out any tricks. The third time I tried, the Sisters didn't split for several rounds. I was able to dish out a lot of damage to both of them at the same time and make their eventual split quicker to make moot. I don't feel like I won...

The princesses are mad and want to know where their third is. Kari answers and tells Azufra he'll get nothing. The sisters teleport away, and Kari summons a shadow to kidnap Orola and Mother Superior. But we're still wanting answers. Fortunately, Azufra is willing to listen. Zas manages to make a deal with him. We'll save the two girls, and he lets us go. I think there was more to it than that, but it all works! We're taken to the entrance, head to the world's map, save, and we'll fix Cristopher...

...tomorrow!

Hopefully... My team needs him!

An OG

Looking for tools for our glass smith Rojo, we attend college! I hope there's more because this is just a library. Lucio owes the headmaster, Oropen, a favor, but he hands us the Cinderain Tools. We can also begin a side quest here if we found his ruler in the museum. It reminds him of a promise he made to his mother, but we'll get to that later. Return to Rojo with the tools, and we'll head to the cathedral now. Rojo can fix it, but Mother Superior tells us we're missing something important. To get the colors on the mural correct, we need to collect magic water for the dye. Wilhelm suggests Rainbow Lake, but getting there might be hard. Hopefully, Paulina knows how.


She gives us a shoe... It floats like a boat upriver, but we're in a high heel. I hope this demigoddess has clean feet.


If I had to describe Rainbow Lake in one word, I'd call it Seussian. The colors and layout of this (technically) lake are right out of the Lorax or something. It's really impressive. After Wilhelm tells us this river delta actually forms a single lake in the rainy seasons, he guides us to four pools throughout the area. He warns us something strange is likely to appear because of the latent magical energy in the area and how it interacts with Crisbell's time powers. He'd be right. Before discussing it, there was also a strange statue in the middle of this dungeon. Wilhelm thinks it's another Witness like Paulina and Buki, but Buki doesn't recognize this one. Mobs here are azure slimes, who are immune to magic, and the other two slimes we've fought. There are also Clarity guards, for some reason.


But the four pools are easily spotted on the path. As Wilhelm thought, each gave us a glimpse of some point in time.
The first offers us another look at the ruined orphanage in Narim.
The second is of a great hero who defeated the Empress of Time at the cost of their own life.
The third was a random battle between monsters.
The fourth and final was sealed behind a flower. Wil called it the Millennium Flower, and it's been absorbing the magical energy for 1000 years. A door similar to the portal Wilhelm opened, allowing Crisbell to get her sword, appears before us. It takes us to the same strange dimension where everyone sees the Empress destroy the world. Speak her name, and the devil will appear. The Empress of Time warped in, looking for the flower as well. I wonder why? Seeing this as an opportunity, Crisbell and everyone prepare for battle against her.


Timey gives us each one turn to harm her. The Crises did zero damage, and Wilhelm failed to scan her. She then proceeded to do 2000 to each of the party members. We still want to fight, but we shouldn't. Timey then plays with her food and sends us back in time. We see her rewinding everything until we pass through the door. Wilhelm is the only one to realize we were wound. But it doesn't matter, and another battle starts. Almost. A strange figure comes to our aid and takes us away. The Empress takes the flower as the camera cuts to the start of Rainbow Lake.


This is JKR-721, the statue that was sitting in the middle of the lake. The interesting interaction between us and the Empress made him wake up. He seems to be an early robot prototype and doesn't fully understand human emotions. He wants to come along with us, and we let him. Before dying, we got the four water dyes, so it's time to return to the cathedral.


As we enter, we see wolves have taken over the entrance. This acts solely as a tutorial for how to use, as Cristopher calls him, K's abilities. He doesn't have mana, and his basic attacks can be used infinitely if you get the timing right. One of his skills allows him to Juggle a mob to the otherside of the map. The only downside is his actions cause heat to build up in him. If it gets too high, he'll explode, so use another skill to dissipate it. I couldn't get the hang of his attacks, and he didn't do a lot of damage. And I'm not really into high risk characters, anyway. Juggle may lead to fun tactics, but I won't be using him.


We give Rojo the dyes, and he gets to work repairing the stained glass mural. He finishes fast, and it looks good. Crisbell approaches it and says it's working. It didn't seem to do anything to me, but Ryza entered, looking for Wilhelm. Cristopher, still crushing on her, takes the lead. Gladys' memorial service is being held now, and Ryza thinks Wilhelm wants to be there. He does, so our next destination is the Oroitz Mansion.


Most of the town is here. Only the Cinderains and Joseph, another son of Gladys, aren't here. Alex, the priest, is heading the procession and asks everyone to say how Gladys changed their life. She was a kind and loving person, so there are plenty of stories. After we speak to everyone, Rhallus speaks up, and Buki thinks she might have been the one who broke the mural. K senses witness parts in the Salt Mines, located beneath the cathedral, so we head there.


At this point, all side quests are open.


The Salt Mines contain ghosts that inhabit salt and can transform into a character. There are also wolves and more Clarity guards. We'll have to use Crisbell's new localization time warp abilities to guide tubes of sand into a collector bin. Buki's hand is before the dungeon really begins, and her body is the reward. We'll warp back to the cathedral to put her back together, but there's a surprise when we do. Kari, the Empress' emissary in the museum, teleports in. We can't repair Buki under her watch, so she turns on a strange machine to make Buki go haywire!


Buki is a wall monster that isn't hard. She summons a sand sphere, for some reason, and Crisbell can one shot it. Buki often turns blue, which means she'll be weak to magic. She'll also be immune to physical attacks, so let Bell heal. Buki's damage isn't very high, so these heals should suffice.


The battle causes Buki to reboot. When she comes back, her memory is, mostly, fixed. It's enough to confirm her suspicions, though. She saw the twins open a portal with items belonging to Gladys. Out of that portal came the founder of the Oroitz Family, Rhallus. Rhallus then broke the mural before making sure Buki couldn't tattle. With all the side quests (about to be) done, we can return to the manor.


We speak to Lucio and Ryza before Rhallus takes the lead. She tells everyone that Gladys said she was the one selected to be the new matriarch of the Oroitz family. The twins are excited, but no one good is. Qe can't confront her without evidence, though. After Matias hops back in time to learn Gladys foresaw her death and made a will, Wilhelm thinks he knows where that will is.

We check out his house and find a secret wall. Gladys gave him a random box once that he never looked in. That box contains Gladys Will. For the final time, return to the manor and confront Rhallus. She'll get furious that we're affecting her ability to reclaim her wealth and bite her finger. This transforms her, and she kidnaps Ryza in preparation for the final battle.


It takes place on the highway where the parade is happening. The parade is supposed to celebrate the final fight against the Empress, and it's about to celebrate the saving of Tulira.


The battle against Rhallus can be done in two ways. You can send her to the future, but the wolf monster gains a lot of HP, stats, and terrifying attacks. Expect poison, AoE attacks, and a long battle if you go this route. Sticking in the present, though, means you have to deal with Rhallus draining Ryza's HP on Ryza's turn. But Rhallis is vulnerable to various status effects, weaker stats, and less powerful single target spells. Keep in mind that you lose if Ryza dies. This was a great use of the time mechanics! I hope there's more.


We'll take Ryza home and prepare for the fallout of our actions. The twins, who admitted they did this out of the want to keep their money, are thrown into jail. Did they mention the other daughter? Reading more of Gladys' Will reveals she wanted to donate money to everything in town. But we get to choose what gets it. Had we not done all the side quests, we'd only get to choose the museum or the college. Doing all gives Crisbell the option to drain all of the money, according to Ryza, and repair both. This decision drastically alters the future of Talira. The buildings look high class, the warming lanterns I skipped over work again, flowers begin to grow again, and everyone is happy! Before leaving, Ryza asks how she could ever repay us, and Topher asks for a date. Ryza usually doesn't date foreigners, but she thinks Cristopher has earned it. K realizes that love can bloom between two separate races, which makes him want to join us to our next destination. It's been centuries since he last roamed the planet, and he wants to see how everything has changed while learning about human emotions.


Our next destination is Cinder. We don't know how to get there, but maybe Paulina would! We'll find out...


...tomorrow!


I liked the mystery side quests of Clarity, but they didn't work in Tulira. One had nothing to do with the events at hand, and another had no bearing despite directly implicating the twins. I guess they built on the denizens, I guess. Also, the devs didn't update the insides of the museum or college. They're still decrepit...

Localizing wobbly stuff.

We're in the snow around a city whose name is too complicated for my brain. Neva Talira!

But Wilhelm wants us to see his house out east. As we enter, we see a shadowy figure teleport out. Wilhelm looks around at the mess and assumes he's been robbed. Cristopher asked what he wanted to find here, and Wil said he was looking for keychains, accessories that modify weapons. We look around at the center cabinet only to see they're gone. But only in the present! Wilhelm congratulates his pupil for being proactive in sending Matias back in time. The three keychains are still there. One reduces the defense of an enemy, another can inflict poison, and the third damages the user. I sold the last one. We then look around to see if there's anything to salvage.

The Crises found an old sphere with a woman on it. Topher, though, said it was his brother, Aden! He confronts Wilhelm, wanting to know why and how he knows Aden. Wilhelm says they were a part of the same squad in the first war against the Empress of Time. They managed to succeed but at the cost of many lives, and it only bought them time. Time, which is running out now, and we need to visit the Talira Cathedral.

It's to the west of town. We can't enter the city because of parade preparation, so it's off to the salt mines. The cathedral and mines are in the same location because the mines once were vital to the city. The chapel is in the back, and we see several women with blue hair talking. One of them is the local Mother Superior. She's being assured that the Orowitz family is helping to find who broke the mural in the back. This is Rhallus, and she really doesn't like it when we volunteered to help. She also lacks a past and future. There was another girl there, but she was just around...hanging out. We could see another person in the past, but they weren't there in the future. Crisbell investigates the broken glass and feels some power is there, but she can't use it. We'll need to fix it, and they pick up some scrap parts of it before heading to the city.

We can enter Neva Telaria, but the first thing we experience is racism. A nearby country, Cinder, had to be evacuated. Many refugees fled here, and the sorta bird people of Telaria don't like it. And this guy isn't even from Cinder. Rojo, the man being harassed by guards Biggs and Wedge, owned a crystal workshop. He'd be able to repair the mural, but his shop was robbed, and his tools were stolen. And no one cares except us. We offer aid, and he sits in the cold, waiting. And then we hear the loudest "psst" in gaming. Another blue haired girl wants to speak with us.

This is Ryza, a "relative" of Wilhelm. Cristopher instantly falls in like-like with her. Wilhelm is famous in this region, and even the Mother Superior called him "master." Ryza calls him "uncle." She wants our help in finding the thief. She's seen some shadowy figures moving in the museum her family ran before it was closed down. We believe everything is connected and agree to meet her at the museum.

While we wait for Ryza to join us, we inspect the museum exhibit. The only thing there is a dissected torso with, I think, a head that pops off! And it speaks!! This is Buki, a stuttering Witness similar to Paulina (not Paula). But she has no idea why she is. Buki is old and has been sleeping for a long time. She asks if we can find the rest of her body and joins the team as a key item. Ryza joins us for this as well. We're looking for her (actual) uncle's office.

The museum is a dungeon that contains eldritch horrors, guards, and wolves with a new shape! The worm things are not fun, wolves are rare, and the guards are only worth it because they drop healing items pretty regularly.

The "gimmick" here is we need to find three words to open a lock to the employees only section. We'll need to investigate the rooms, solve some puzzles, and use a new power. We find Buki's hand, and it collapses a pillar. But it gives us a new mechanic. Crisbell can shift individual things back and forth through time, which allows us to pass. But restoring them makes them look pretty! We can perform this at the pillar to return to the path, a painting to find a code, and a bookshelf to find another code. We can also find two seemingly random key items that I suspect will be a part of a side quest. I didn't find the third code, but I took a good guess! "Telira's Elite Prowess." The country's name was just passed the lock. We also found a diary of Gladys, Ruza's mom and head of the Orowitz family. Her death kicked off all of this mystery, and that event was also a strange and sudden enigma. A bit more down is the office of Lucio. And we overhear a conversation.

Rallus is talking to a new emissary of the Empress, Kari. Rallus "returned" to Talira during Gladys' funeral disguised as a distant cousin. She's been ruining things ever since in order to get a taste of the Empress' time shift power. Ryza wants to confront them, and we rush in. Rallus already left to "keep up appearances," so we've only got this Kari person. But she's busy and leaves, attacking us with the Bugat Boss!

Bugat is a tar monster revived by the Empress. It attacks by throwing tar at us and teleporting to it through us. I also remember a lot of burning... Take out that tar ASAP, and this is pretty manageable.

We investigate the office, but all we find is a love letter from the past. It's written to Lucio from Fanny. It's all we got, so we visit the Orowitz Manor. The two twins don't like Wilhelm, but Lucio is a pretty cool guy. He tells us Fanny disappeared some time ago, and we all jump to the conclusion that she was kidnapped. Lucio gives us the key to the museum and promises to reward us tools for Rojo. We return to the museum, take the back way, and find the jail cell. Inside is a woman, but there's also a sneak attack!

This was the hardest fight yet. The horror and the Teiflu Royalty. Both of these things are fast and love status effects. Burning, poison, and paralysis are gonna happen. Both targets are immune to scan, but they seem weak to fire. They're not immune to burning, at the very least. I almost died, so I can't give a good strategy.

We'll free the prisoner, who is Fanny. We bring her to the foyer of the museum, where Lucio is waiting, and there's a happy ending. We even see their future selves change. There's also the past woman from the cathedral here now, too. She's still in the past. Lucio tells us the tools are in the college, so we'll collect them...

..tomorrow!

This is quickly becoming one of those games that I enjoy playing but hate writing about. It packs a lot into a little time, and I want to keep enjoying it. But this blog helps me remember it more, so I must continue!

Do Over

I was curious how doing every side quest would change the outcome of the chapter. Fortunately, I had a save from just before the sewer monster, which is pretty close to the Enzo battle. I killed him again and got to the point of no return. I went back to the Machine Core wreckage, and Cristopher told us we could walk across the remains. Wish you told me that the first time, Topher!

Crossing the mech brought us a strange pair of goggles, which initiated the missing side quest. Rachel, a girl in Floodside, noticed they were owned by someone named Peter, and he was last seen in the sewers. The first time I ventured down there, I found a strange TV that had no reason to be there. With the googles, we gained an Orb of Seeing. Someone decided we should bring this to Paula, and it turns out it was her eye. Okay. It also let us see why it was stolen. Peter was paid by the Volcano Sisters to spy on Enzo. His work discovered Enzo was stealing from the Empress. The sisters then tricked him into killing himself. And that's how The Witness ended.

The rest of the chapter played out the same, but I killed the bad doggies this time. They did not give additional EXP or marbles. But Crisbell was given another choice between Armando and Sophia. The new option is "council." This lets both of them (and maybe more) run the city. And this outcome really changes the city. Banners are changed and not filled with holes, the slums appear more middle class, and the walled city looks like a tourist destination. Doing everything is well rewarded!

I almost called it a night there, but I did make some advancements. The team went to find a boat at the docks but only found Paula. Being bored and seeking new fashion, she decided to join us on our trip. The statue started walking across the seabed, which is interesting. The journey was long, and we got time to have some one-on-one interactions with our teammates. Crisbell asked everyone if she made the right choice, but no one confirmed or denied anything. Cristopher told us Enzo actually taught him how to fight, and Wilhelm informed us natural magic, like what Cristopher uses, was founded in our next destination, Neva Tulia. NT is a frozen landscape, so I'm excited!

Crisbell had a dream on the way there. It was similar to the one on the first night of our journey with Mother Superior. But that wasn't MS. It was actually the Empress of Time, and she called Crisbell her daughter while they were at her grandma's grave. Well, then... The other teammates tried to convince her it was just a dream and doesn't mean anything, but this is a game, so... We'll find out...

...tomorrow!

Reminder: Wilhelm has a house nearby Neva Tulia we have to visit first.

Damn the sewers!

These ones actually aren't so bad.

We walked through the Thysia to find out what happened to the dead miners. Along the way, we saw the red waters and men sieving it for some magic red crystal. We had to wind our way up to the mouth of the river. The strangest thing we encountered was a black metallic hand that often stuck itself out of the water. It instantly deleted the creature before it (wolves, slimes, and diseased cats). When we got to the mouth, we saw what it was. It was a hunting bot that sorta looked like a crab. It warned us to leave because our presence was lowering its efficiency. We ignored it, and the robot went into stealth mode. We continued looking for it and found it at the end of the road. It gave us one final warning before it would attack us. Cristopher knew that this was the thing that killed off the miners and didn't let it finish its countdown.

The Machine Core battle has us in a pincer attack. Its two claws are on either side of us, and they have two attacks. One is a single target move, but both of them can combine a charge to hit everyone. The main body, which can't be harmed, can paralyze a character, and we can't prevent it. Start by taking down an arm. The body will deploy a healer, which is actually the mainframe of the hunter bot. I sent it into the past because it has weaker stats and fewer HP. Cristopher learned an electric spell getting up here, which is perfect timing. Robots in Cristales follow the Final Fantasy archetype and are all weak to lightning. After we've won, Crisbell will feel sorry for the bot. It was programmed to harm humans and innocents. But Topher and Wil need to know who did the programming! Examine the hull to get the part for Adri's side quest. Before leaving, take notice you can walk across the bot to reach a new area and a new side quest. I didn't notice this, so I missed out. There was also a discussion about where magic comes from. The magic crystals are a part of everything, and they're so concentrated in humans because we're at the top of the food chain.

Return to Clarity and try to climb to the Walled District. The guard won't let us pass, even with the crest. Something changed... We get another new mechanic now. Remember the seeds Wilhelm gave us in the forest? It turns out those time seeds are just normal seeds that grow vines. Cristopher said we could sneak into the walls by using the sewers. The entrance is high on the wall, and the vines we grew allow us to climb. The exit to the sun is nearby, but it's guarded well. We're officially wanted criminals because Enzo knows we destroyed the robot, screwing up the vital mining industry. Not wanting to start a big thing, we retreat back to the sewers.

We now have to walk through the sewers to leave. It's a pretty standard dungeon design. Roaring poop water pushes us towards the screen, but it doesn't really mean much. The hardest part is dealing with the poison slimes' poison effects. There are also poisonous diseased cats. There are also city guards down here. I started to wonder something while battling. Do enemies give more exp/marbles depending on what form we kill them in? Wilhelm learned a skill that allows us to scan a mob, and he can scan all forms at once. I didn't find an answer, but it's a question worth posing. As we walk through the sewers, we see a shadowy figure caught in the water that's crying for help. Cristopher can't sit idly by and needs to lend his aid. After some playful insults across a few switches, we come to a pool of water. The figure is floating there, so we check it out. Suddenly, it grows into some eldritch monstrosity.

The Sewer Deepstalker has three parts. The tail is the worst part because it can poison a character, and I don't think we can prevent it. The mannequin can cast heal and use other status effects, and the body is just kinda there. It can use swim to switch positions, though, so it can disrupt time strategies. It's stats are weaker in the past.

Cristopher will be mad at himself for falling for such a trap. Wilhelm will get upset with him for losing his cool. A true leader can tally the troops no matter the predicament. But there's no time to sit on it; the room is filling with water. Quickly run up the walkway and find the sewer grate. A strange sound emanates from it, and after a long time a ladder will descend from the sawed off hole. At the top is Adri and Topher's dad!

We tell them what happened, and Adri takes the blame for manufacturing the machine. But it was Enzo who ordered it and figured out how to program it into the thing we destroyed. Enzo and his guards are at the cathedral, and we believe this revolution should begin now.

Wilhelm tells us this is the point of no return for this chapter. If you want the best ending, finish all the side quests and do the small things that don't get a side quest entry. For Clarity, we need to give the violinist 1500 marbles and hand the kid we saved when we first came to town an antidote. Crisbell's future sight notices that our actions vastly change their lives. Saving Mario prevents the slums from flooding.

Inside the cathedral are Enzo, Sophia, and the revolution. Dad tells us we're overthrowing his corrupt leadership because he killed the miners. Enzo is unphased and attacks us after the rich jury turns on him.

Enzo is joined by two guard dogs. I tried to keep them in the past, when they were still puppies, but it didn't seem to matter. Enzo did make it a priority to brainwash Crisbell to put him back to the present. I tried not to kill the dogs, but I doubt it meant anything. I did kill one with a synchro attack with Wilhelm. I found this oddly easy.

We'll win, but there's something worse to deal with. A giant lady teleports in, and Enzo calls out to her. But she's really mad. Enzo was supposed to share the profits (not sure with whom), but he gave in to greed. Enzo's "Grace" instantly evaporates him. This is the Empress of Time! Crisbell challenges her to a fight, stating she's from Narim while doing so, and the Empress takes a liking to the familiar looking girl's moxie. Sadly, the war means she needs to be elsewhere, so she teleports away.

And now the future of Saint Clarity is up to Crisbell. Her future sight means she can pick the best result for the city. We can choose Armando or Sophia. I went with Sophia because she's a part of the aristocracy but cares for the peasants, as we could see when she let Mario in to get treatment. We see both districts change, but they look exactly the same to me. Had I done all the side quests, another option would have been available, but guess what I didn't find!?!! Everyone seems pretty cool with Sophie, so I feel like this choice should have meant something more.

But with the city at peace, Cristopher says goodbye to his parents. They wish he could stay, but there's something bigger going on. Our next destination is the northern city of Neva Tulira. But the only way to get there is by boat, and there are some issues with that. And we'll get them out of the way...

...tomorrow!

I should have checked the quest log before going in. I'm pretty sure I'm locked out of the best ending, so now I'll have to replay the game. Neat!

Floods of Future Technofachists

The team finds St. Clarity to the north of Evergreen. As we do, Cristopher (without the h) needs to leave. He has business with his family, so two strangers in a new area are on their own. Crisbell and Wilhelm walk across a bridge and see a kid in an inner tube in a drainage ditch. He's excited, but we know it's dangerous and try to get him to leave. He doesn't, and a wave of rushing water pours into the drains. It quickly fills, and the kid screams in jubilee. This is the only fun thing to do down here, so... We then see him being dragged into the sewers by the rushing waters. He seemed less thrilled about that part. Ever the good girl, Crisbell wants to help him, but she's unsure of how. She lost her powers. Wilhelm tells her it doesn't matter. Anyone can change the future! Cris agrees and rushes ahead, much to Wil's chagrin.

We descend into the sewers, and it's a quick and safe trip. All we see is the kid being harassed by a slime! Crisbell rushes in, and I think she tried to headbutt it. The poison slime wasn't vulnerable to anything I had in my arsenal, and Cris lost her time powers, so I could only use basic attacks. It's immune to poison damage, so time your guards to prevent it from poisoning you. We saved the kid and took him back to his mom. He downed a lot of sewage water, so he'll spend the rest of the night ill.

Cristopher is on the otherside of the Flooded District, a slum that occasionally gets a high tide of water running through it, hence the need for these drainage areas. Topher is having an argument with an older man who turns out to be his dad. They're speaking of family matters, and it seems Cristopher's parents don't get along well. Armando asks who his son's friends are, and we respond with travelers from Narim. Apparently, refugees are fleeing the village now... But we need to find the cathedral. It's in the Walled City sector, which is guarded. Only certain people are allowed in, and, luckily, Topher is one of them. He even has a crest, thanks to his mom, to prove it. The guard lets us pass, and we (slowly) climb the massive stairs up and enter the doorway.

The Walled City is definitely not a slum. There's an ornate walkway to the main road, a beautiful statue in the background, and shops run by robots...or whatever the girl who meows is. A man is trying to busk, but guards have him stopped. But a girl with purple hair calls out to us. Adri is an inventor friend of Topher. She's upset that General Enzo is hoarding all the red crystal, a type of mineral that allows for the construction of robots. Enzo wasn't liked in the Floods either, especially by Armondo. As before, though, we're looking for the cathedral, so any further discussions should come later.

The church is to the west, and it's different than the one in Narim. For starters, some dude runs it. He's not a Mother Superior. What's worse, the stained glass mural is weird. It inspires no new powers nor any religious significance. Father Miguel tells us that Clairty believes the standard stuff about The Lady, but they also consider that anyone who works in her name is worthy of reverence. It's signified by The Lady putting a crown on some random guy. We wonder if the mural changed at some point, and Miguel confirms it. It was thrown into the ocean behind the docks up north like the rest of the trash, but we need permission to get there. He suggests seeing Enzo.

We can find him in the courthouse, but there's a commotion there. Both Armando and Adri are being detained by guards. They're both protesting the monopoly on red crystals and other industrializations that Enzo is plotting. We walk by them and see Cristopher's mom, Sophia. She was how we go in here and is glad her son is alive. They haven't seen each other in a while, it seems. Topher is shocked to find out her mom is in a relationship with Enzo at some point tonight. She tries to stir up a normal conversation, but Topher wants access to the docks. Enzo doesn't let us, but Cristopher worms his way into getting it on the promise we leave. We exit the courthouse, paying no heed to our dad, friend, or upset aristocracy.

The docks are just one long pier. In the middle of the sea is a large statue that Wilhelm tells us is a titan, a reminder that the Lady is always watching. The statue is of a woman holding a sword. As we approach the water, the statue swings the sword up and sinks into the sea. It begins to rise again at the end of the pier, and there's a door in the blade. Inside is a cathedral. A strange voice comes from nowhere and tells us her name is Paulina. I'm pretty sure this is the statue. She knows and sees everything and is aware of who Crisbell is and why she's here. She asks her to approach the shiny dust on the altar. Doing so restores Bell's time magic and grants the whole team something new.

The Volcano Girls teleport it. The Empress is following us. They promise to "revert" Topher a few times to torture him, but we start a fight. They're easier this time. We can do decent damage now, and Wilhelm's poison is pretty good. Keep making them wet. After a few turns, Paulina suggests using Crisbell's new power of Syncro. This allows two of our characters to combine their moves. We only have access to the Crises powerful Watery Brand now, and it makes short work of the Volcano Girls. They retreat home. With Crisbell's power back, we get on to saving the world.

We return to the Walled District, but Sophia is waiting for us at the docks. She's suspicious of something and asks us to investigate the missing miners at Mt. Thysia. We're the only ones she can trust because she saw the fight, and we're not working for Enzo.

There are two new mechanics now. Side quests have begun, and Adri has one for us. I won't get into them unless they're interesting. The other is Matias can hear conversations from the past now. Sophia and Enzo are in town, standing where they once stood years ago. Sophia is giving off hippy vibes, but Enzo, who's clearly into her, is still about the industry. And with our powers restored, we can see how St. Clarity has and will be. We notice the scaffolding and construction being put up on our left and the less than ideal future on the right. And it gets worse in the flooded district. It is entirely underwater. Cris tells the townsfolk this as they plan their communist uprising, but I'm sure we'll deal with that later. We have to go to the mountain.

I looked around Thysia for a bit and got roughed up by some wolves. I started (and finished) a side quest to honor the dead, which Cristopher's brother is among, at Evergreen Forest. We learned that the old timers used to pan for red crystal in the blood red waters or hunt old and sick animals who have absorbed the crystal into their body. But it's all about mining now, which I'll see more of...

...tomorrow!

New gear is expensive, and mobs don't give many marbles. I want to pay the catgirl, but I'm poor! Story of my life...

The Tale of various Cris'

Crisbell, Christopher, crystals, Christ like religious figure...

Welcome to a new (ish) game that I've never played, Cristales. I have no idea what this is about, but it looked pretty, and Epic gave it away a while back. I've been wanting something new, and Cristales came out in 2021! It was developed by the Columbian studios of Dreams Uncorporated and Syko. I can't find much on them, but this appears to be their only game. And with a lack of information, let's see if this is any good!

I boot up the game and see an opening cutscene that tells me nothing but shows me everything. When we get to the game proper, we're already in a fight! We're playing as Crisbell, a young girl with an oversized sword and flower pendant in her hair. It's obviously just tutorial stuff, but a yellow frog tells us how to fight. Using the Persona UI, we can attack with Mario RPG controls. If we get the timing right, it's a critical. Too early or too late still gets a second attack, and the timing is pretty forgiving. The same works for when we're on defense. We're fighting a goblin now, but we're up against two in a pincer attack next. A knight named Christopher joins us, and he wonders if the diminutive Crisbell can fight. He's surprised she can! A third battle kicks off against two tall women who act as one being. Volcano, who seems more sane, and her twin, Galley. Galley doesn't play well with her pet goblins. Fun fact: their names come from a volcano in Columbia. Christopher tries to attack the women, but their giant shield easily deflects his attack. He worries about doing no damage, so a yellow frog tells Crisbell to "use the crystals!" And then we warp back in time.

The camera cuts through scenes of Narim Village. The massive cathedral dominates the village's skyline, but the camera settles on a flower garden being tended to by Crisbell. She's pruning the roses and cuts off the top of one. A yellow frog in a top hat steals it. A voice calls out to Crisbell, Mother Superior. MS is the nun or mother of this orphanage, and she wants to speak to Crisbell. It's just a "do your job that you were already doing" thing, but Cris tells her director about the strange frog, so MS instructs our MC to get the rose back. It seems like a small thing to worry about, but maybe it's an orphanage thing? Either way, we have our first quest.

We can now roam around the village and talk to people, getting a lay of the land. The other orphans tending the garden don't like their job. One misses Cris' grandmother, the prior director. There's a trail of petals we can follow if we get lost. But head south to see the grand cathedral. Other people of inconsequential status are out here but follow the petals to an argument outside the mayor's house. A farmer, Robert, is talking to Mayor Anton. The mayor is wearing heavy knight armor and exalting the merits of technology. The farmer believes that is bringing the goblins to town and will ultimately destroy Nerim one day. The mayor's assistant, Lana, quickly ends this debate to point out we're here. We share some common courtesy before asking if they've seen a yellow frog in a top hat. They're not on drugs and have not. Our search continues.

We continue the trail to the farms outside town. Robert's daughter, Polly, is a friend of Cris. She shares some worries as well but hasn't seen any amphibians. We leave the wheat fields and see the petals are on the cathedral. We're not supposed to be here alone, but Cris enters anyway.

The rose is sitting on the altar, and Crisbell approaches it. She takes the flower and looks at the stained glass images behind the chapel. Suddenly, everything flashes, and our vision changes. We now see three different things! Crisbell is shocked and confused, but a voice tries to calm her. A yellow frog wearing a top hat steps out from behind a statue. It speaks! His name is Matias, and he's been watching over us for some time. He believes us to be special. Crisbell asks him what happened, and Matias suggests we talk to a friend that lives in the woods out of town. I left town, but I spent time looking around. We can see the village in three different ways, but we can only interact with the dimension around Cris.

The world map is vast but empty. There are ruins to the west, but we can't enter them. Just go east. Inside is a house. Matias knocks, and a young voice that I mistook for a woman responds. But this is Wilhelm, a time mage. He tells Cris that she's been granted the power to see the past and the (possible) future. He tests this by having us plant a tree in some nearby soil. We can see the tree grow on the right side of our screen. The stained glass relief, which depicted a woman who resembled Crisbell, gave us two stones: one of the past and the other of the future. More importantly, Wilhelm opens a portal to a black and white dimension. There's a magic sword at the end of a walkway. Cris picks it up, and Wilhelm declares her a time mage, just like him! Cris is shocked, but she's worried about her friends at the orphanage. Or at least how Mother Superior will act.

We return home and see everything in a desolate state. The flowers are mostly withered, and the orphanage has an odd look to it. It seems Vris' vision was dominated by the stone of the future because it looks normal to us. Give our "mom" the rose head. We tell her about our power and about Wilhelm and Matias, who has gone missing, by the way. MS seems to blow it off but suggests we find our frog friend. But don't neglect to prune the roses!

Matias is by the cathedral again. He hung around here because he thought the idea of a talking frog would shock her. Okay... But he suggests we test this new power. Cris has noticed the change that may come to Narim. I'm interested in the people, but she's seen the damaged buildings. The Miller's home is destroyed, as is the apothecary's. Can we fix them? We asked June, the apothecary, but she's dealing with an issue now. She suggests we speak to Carpenter Joe. Cris brings up the visual look of the houses, and the old man thinks they've been infected with Ash Rot. This happened when he was young and was treated with a potion that June should know how to brew. We eventually get June to tell us a sticker has been removed from two of her mushroom jars. One jar heals people, but the other kills them. But there's confusion now.

Matias reveals his secret power now. He can warp between the times Cris can see. He warps into the past and pushes a box out of the way. Cris can now see a skull sticker on a red capped jar. We spoke to two boys earlier who were excited they found a cool sticker. Cris politely gets it from them and returns it to June. She's down to create the potion for Ash Rot, but we need a rare glowfruit to brew it. They once grew in the forest, but they're gone now.

We return to Wilhelm's forest and see that the tree he had us plant grew the glowfruit. Matias leaped into the future and picked it up. We returned to town and got one potion. But there are two houses infected: the Miller's and June's. I felt like it would be a bad move to make the doctor homeless, especially since she made the potion, so I gave it to her. Cris' future sense saw the house repair itself. I assume this is a major decision, so maybe we'll see the outcome one day? But there's no time to worry. The farm is on fire, and that's how the Rot spread before!

Cris is told by Polly and Robert to leave, but Cris is worried about everything. She can't leave. And then the goblins show up.

These play out the same they did during the tutorial. We beat them, Christopher shows up, and Matias tells us to use the stones! And here's where the power of time comes into play during battle. We can send Volcano into the future. They proclaim they are stronger now, and they are. Their primary attack, sending a wall of fire at us, can be used multiple times a turn. However, status effects do strange things when sent forward in time. Christopher can make the girls wet (shut up). Dousing them turns their shield to rust, making their defense much lower. After a few turns, if you keep using Christopher's skill, we should win. Use this battle to master defending. You can do so multiple times! The sisters will run away, warning us they'll tell their master, the Empress. We did it! We saved the town!

Too bad... Anton and Lana come to the farm. He's glad we're alright. Anton asks about what happened, and Christopher tells us about the Empress of Time and the Volcano Sisters. He followed them from Clairity. Lana thinks he's lying. She believes we're in on the whole thing to get a reward or some fame. Or even to stop the industrial revolution. Considering we can see the windmills turn into smokestacks in Cris' future sense, she's not wrong- if I had the choice. Lana calls the guards, and we run to the cathedral.

I've forgotten how, but we told Mother Superior to meet us here. After telling her everything, she tells us to flee town. Throughout the world are more grand cathedrals dedicated to The Lady. Visiting them might reveal more about our powers and maybe even Cris' parents and past. She wishes us well and hopes that we'll return one day.

The path to Clairty is through Wilhelm's forest. We tell him what happened, and he joins us! Despite being a time mage, he uses plants as a weapon. He can inflict poison on creatures, and he teaches us how to combine them with Cris' time stones.

The Evergreen Forest is a beautiful location. The artist for Cristales is absolutely amazing! Waterfalls, white flowers, and a pleasant river or two make this the most beautiful dungeon I may have ever seen. Halfway through, we get a nice camp scene with the group. We get some backstory on Christopher. He's chasing the Volcano Sisters because they killed his older brother. Wilhelm gives us time seeds that I don't understand how to use. The mobs we'll fight are panthers and plant people. The pathers are weak, and the plants are weirdly vulnerable to poison. Using Cris' time stones is the quickest strategy. The stones also change their appearance and de/age them. There are wolves guarding the exit gate, and these are the boss.

There are two ways to get through them:
1.) Die.
2.) Exploit their water weakness. If you're using this strategy, Crisbell is going to be using Heal a lot. The wolf's bites are deadly, and they can even call backup. Beating them rewards us with an item that makes Christopher stronger, but we don't get it if the monsters win.

Regardless of how we get here, Crisbell gets mad. She breaks the stones over the wolves, banishing one elsewhere... I guess. But this means she lost her power. Fortunately, we're out of the forest, so Clairty must be nearby. We'll find it...

...tomorrow!

I'm really liking this so far. The visuals are magical, and the soundtrack is amazing! The battle system is part Persona, part Mario RPG, part Final Fantasy X, and part generic RPG. The devs called Cristales a love letter to classic RPGs, and it fits. I hope the story and characters keep up, but I'm super interested!

The Five Dragons of Altago

Replaying Ys Seven/VII reminds me why I started this blog. I had forgotten so much about the game despite only playing it four years ago. And considering it's such a spectacular game, my memory lapse is embarrassing.

The penultimate chronological game in the Ys franchise is the basis for another new engine. And with that new game smell comes a multitude of new features. Most notable is the addition of multiple playable characters. Seven is the first game to let us play as someone other than Adol. And it's amazing! Everyone plays differently, even if you have the same damage type. Aisha's bow is fast but weaker than the slightly longer attacks of Mishera, which can lock on. Cruxie has more range at the cost of speed compared to Dogi. Elk has more range but less damage than Adol. I didn't play Geis too much. With a fitting seven characters to play as, it helps to ease the monotony that comes with an action game of this length. And it is a lengthy experience.

I talked about this above, but the damage types help create different tactics and team compositions. It's safe to have a character with ease type (slash, pierce, impact), but it can be more advantageous to double up on one. There are a few dungeons where piercing attacks aren't needed as much. Boss battles are the most obvious ones. I had a hard time again Keva Klava, but I'd bet bringing in both of my piercers instead of Dogi would have been helpful. I played on easy mode, so try a harder difficulty and let me know.

The only odd things I'd say about the new battle system is you can't switch combatants in the middle of a boss battle. So if you go in unprepared, you'll have to hard reload. And there's no way to skip cutscenes. They're not, usually, too long, so it's somewhat bearable, but holding the cancel button isn't fast enough. There are also too many weapons in the game. This is very nitpicky because most weapons offer a new skill, but they're thrown at you so often that I never got time to learn most of them or get a good feel for them. And the grind of learning them can get tedious. I ended up not bothering towards the end. I'm not giving any negative points for that, but I will because allies feel utterly useless sometimes. Their attacks are slower than yours, and they only move when you initiate. Even if you're getting attacked, they won't react. This can sometimes lead to you getting knocked down far away, and you can't counter in a timely fashion. This means your team will run towards you and let the boss just charge a massive laser. Unless you're farming. They love to attract monsters when you're working on synthesis collecting.

And the characters aren't just fancy NPCs. We finally get to adventure together with Adol's companion Dogi! And he's a riot! Aisha quickly became a favorite character of mine with all she goes through. I nearly cried over one of my teammates!

The story has me just as on edge. It's far more thought out than prior titles, but Seven is still based around the dungeons. The lengthy dungeons break up the deep and heartfelt plot, so there's something here for everyone. Twists and turns for all flavor of gamers. And everything is intrinsically tied to the world, which only Adol can describe.

"I arrived in Altago with my friend Dogi for a favor for a pirate. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with the country. Altago City is a bright and shining bastion in the desert. When I first visited, they were recovering from the long war with Romn. This excitement led to a fervor that resulted in increased commerce and adventure for anyone in the area. I ran into many would-be merchants and even more people curious about the country. Sadly, there was some major income inequality, with the old, sick, and poor living around an ancient temple in Old Altago, home to my favorite flower girl. But that excitement also led to some corrupt policing for a time. Because of that, Dogi and I spent a few hours in jail. Fortunately, the royal family was amazing. They even gave us our first job!

From there, we got to visit the towns and villages on the outskirts of Altago.
Shannoa, in the southeast, is home to a great forest filled with nimble warriors. Fishers, crafters, and medicine makers also make this town tucked in the woods a beautiful place to live. The most prominent point is the Ancient Tree. It's forbidden to outsiders, so I'll keep those secrets to myself.

To the southwest is the desert of Segram. The Eternal Flame atop the shrine is said to keep all matter of dirty air away from Altago. And that's not the only thing they keep at bay. Segram warriors are all giants who've honed their skills against the strongest creatures known to man: titanos! These ancient monsters roam the desert, rarely disrupting the daily lives of anyone in Altago, and you can thank the Segramnites for that. They jump into harm's way, shrouded by desert sands, to keep their home at peace.

Far to the west are the canyons of Kylos. The wise men of Altago are knowledgeable in history and tradition and observe all that goes on. They're also the energy basket of the nation. Their many wind and watermills do more than just create some beautiful sights. I've never felt more at peace than in Kylos.

There was also a secret village once. The Iskan people went into hiding 200 years ago, but they've shown themselves recently to aid their nation again. I'm not sure what's currently happening with them, though.

All five of these groups are very important to Altago. At least, if you're a history buff. They once represented a dragon god! Each dragon had a precise role in keeping Altago going. Without them, the fertile plains, abundant wood, beautiful canyons, and tough army would have perished long ago. And they would have without the appearance of a certain dragon warrior. But that's for another day.

But the Altago of today isn't the same as long ago. The five villages were once largely independent villages. But I hear the four elders are working more closely with Queen Aisha Edonas than before. The income inequality is being fixed, the policing is being righted, and the future of Altago is in capable and willing hands. And they always will be...

- Adol Christin"

---

Plot: nearly perfect. Sadly, Adol hadn't quite become the active and charismatic character he'd become in Celceta. All we needed was one more point... But the amazing cast of allies and grounded (sorta) antagonists created a story that kept me going. And anything that makes me feel things I'm not comfortable with has to be top notch. 9/10

Gameplay: surface level perfection. Seven characters, all with different play styles, make a fun game. The dungeons are long but exciting and are much different than ones elsewhere. There's so much to do! 10/10

Art: potentially perfect. Mob assets get reused, but there are a ton of unique and seldom seen creatures throughout Altago. Everything, especially the Steam version, looks so nice! 10/10

Sound: perfect. No strings attached! Ys Seven might have kicked Final Fantasy XIII out of my top ten favorite OSTs list! 10/10

Charm: objectively perfect. The story revolves around the world, and the world knows it. The amazing NPCs guide the plot more than the characters, and I felt like I was fighting for them. It's got exploration, side sights, and the perfect length. The (new) It Factor is here! I didn't give Ys7 points towards replayability, but that's because I have no interest in harder difficulties. If you do, though, you might give my final score an additional point. 9/10

If the battle system had some QA testing or QoL adjustments, there would be no negatives. But it didn't, so there is a -2 penalty.

In total, Ys: Seven gets 46 points out of 50. I loved this game, and I didn't want to put it down. I want more stuff to do, and this is the only Ys game without additional content. No boss rush mode, time trial, or nightmare difficulty, though. But the characters, story, and primo ace soundtrack make the whole shebang a must play experience if you're into this stuff. It's a tiny bit rough around the edges, but those edges are well routed.

And so we've come to the final adventure of young Adol. I can't play Ys VIII, IX, or X, and I'm not feeling Ys I and II. I don't really want to replay the bump combat... But we're not quite finished with Ys. Adol and his books are done, but we should go back to the start. The "origin," if you will. I'm probably gonna make that a traditional blog post, though. But before that, and a (kinda) new game!

Maiden of Demise

I should have Facebook the Moon Dragon last night!

"We traveled into the inner realm of Ze-Kalios. We were in the middle of a grand Colosseum with a giant moon overhead. As we had hoped, the dragon of harmony was more talkative. Should we pass his test, of course.

ZK has two forms. In form one, he wasn't much of a god. Form two, though... We could only damage his tail. Everything else was well armored. From here, we had to deal with stuns and painful blasts of energy that erupted from him. He was always spinning, so getting that weak point was a doozy. But I had to attack giant things from behind before. I've been to Ys!

Ze-Kallios told us everything we needed to know. Tia was a victim of fate. The Winds of Destruction exist to reset the balance of Altago, and Tialuna is the decider of the reset. Ever since Edona raided Iska, the balance that Altago was built on started tipping. You can tell by the differences between the palace, the other tribes, and even the ruins on Ruins Island. Hell, look at Altago Town and Old Town. And the way Zanzibar and Ormus treated everyone... Altago needed to be reset and rebuilt. He didn't give details, but I assume the more lost hope, the faster or stronger the country looks on the otherside. And that's why I had to exist and to die. I'm sure Geis was suddenly happy I beat him out for the role now. Apparently, this has happened before. But with that, I received the final Dragon Stone.

We returned to Iska, but now we had to find Tia. Ciarus knew where she was, but I think she showed us first. Yet another earthquake rocked Altago, and even the hidden village felt it. The eight of us left the town to check on Altago and instantly saw our destination. Through the thick fog that now hung over the nation and where a lake once resided beneath the cliff was the Well of Souls. The souls of all those who've died in calamities were concentrated in the hole. Tia was down there, and we needed to stop her. Before heading there, we returned to Iska to notice that even this between dimensions was starting to warp. The sky was red, and the end was coming. The black mist was also affecting everywhere else. We upgraded our weapons and said some final things to our friends in Altago.
Singroon could walk and was staring at the light over the Well. She plead with Aisha to return.
Driesen was awake. He and Mustafa had a needed talk, and then Driesen and Cruxie said some loving words. We couldn't find Mustafa in town.
Elk promised Fatima he'd come back.
Maya was awake as well. Raud was still looking over her, but Maya was still lonely and scared. Dogi and I promised we'd bring her sister back.
And with that, we dove into the final battle.

To reach the bottom, we had to fight through primordial monsters. Eye monsters, blue wolves, rock golems, and three headed dogs were everywhere. As were tree creatures in a strange light puzzle location. There were pools down here that housed starfish and angler fish with massive mouths. Everything felt like a titano! There was also an annoying insect that reminded me of the ibex near Kylos.

The first location was a cave. Using the Moonlight Bell took us to a strange city. Aisha and Cruxie believed it was an Iskan city from a former cycle, but we'll never know. To get through this, we had to guide a beam of light into a gemstone near a same colored wall. The next section was another cave, but this one seemed to have concentrated Winds of Destruction blowing around it. We had to deal with some pain from it, but we'd eventually find a Moon Pendant near a shortcut back to the city. Later on, we'd have to navigate a narrow ledge or fall into a pool. And after that was the source of Altago, made out of soul crystals and home to the mother of monsters. And beyond that was a bird.

Scias stood before a large door. Tia was on the otherside. All we had to do was defeat the Knight of Despair. Before our battle, Scias told us he chose to defend Tia, seeing how vital she was to this cycle. He knew all of this had happened before and expected it to happen again. But our team was united this time. Representatives from all the tribes were trying to save this Altago. Sure, one of them was paying off a debt, but it works. Scias thought all other dragon warriors thought the same, but it didn't matter if he was right. They failed, but we couldn't!

Unlike before, Scias didn't feel like he was trying. Maybe it was Iskan's synthesized gear, but despair didn't come. I used the Moon Dragon's power to quickly dispatch him.

As the Altigian Falcon kneeled before us, his true intentions came out. He wasn't a bad man. He killed the King and framed me for the sake of balance in Altago. Had he not caused more unrest, the suffering in Altago would continue. I hate to say it, but I understand how he thought that. He deeply apologized to Aisha and me and asked us to stop Tia before joining the Well of Souls.

Tialuna was at the bottom of a long spiral. A machine was over her that controlled the Rite of Demise. As we approached, a halo formed around her. We discussed everything, and she seemed married to her job. Aisha managed to get to the bottom of why now, though. It was Maya's sickness. Spending time with her younger sister made her want to forget her role. These words, and the words from Scias earlier, made me realize she had nothing to do with the earthquakes, titanos, or even the fevers. They were just symptoms of imbalance. But Maya was suffering, as was all of Altago. The longer she waits to activate the rite, the longer they will hurt. It was time.

Tialuna wasn't much of a fighter. Ever with her two summons, we overpowered her. Her halo vanished, and the markings on her skin did, too. But she's not the one in charge of this. All she does is pull the lever. The Root of All Existence, Rul Ende, called to us. This timeless entity represented all that Altago is. It looked like an amalgamation of all the shrine guards and dragons we've fought. We had to tackle this creature all at once!

Mishere, Elk, and Dogi battled the bottom. They told me they had to knock out four dragon heads, each with their own elemental attacks, to reveal the squishy insides.
Aisha, Cruxie, and Geis took on the midsection, which was the opposite. They had all the time to attack the heart, but they had to avoid various fire blasts, arm smashes, and lasers.
And I had to solo the head. Four bulbs surrounded it, which I killed first. This freed it and allowed it to move around. Its tactics only slightly changed. Black orbs were still flung at me, as were red holes that sucked me. But lava could now erupt from beneath me. I've spoken to gods, been touched by goddesses, and killed immortal machines and demons. A being outside the flow of time was just another notch on my sword.

Tia was happy. Married to her job or not, she's a loving and caring young woman. But her actions brought her grief. She felt so sorry for killing Kirnarl and blamed herself for all of this. The Well of Souls, with its purpose now gone, began to destroy itself. Tia wanted to die with it. Aisha, though, was having none of it. She told Tia that she'd have to repent of her sins. Besides, it was her family's fault that all of this happened. Altago would be in good hands when she took the reigns. Aisha's words changed Tia's mind, and I led her out of there.

We saw the well close up for good from the hill near the Iskan gate. We freed Altago from its cycle, fate, and all that was tied to it. The Dragon Stones, which were housed in our weapons, began to glow and shoot out before us. The five dragons, seeing that they were no longer needed, thanked us. They left the nation in our hands, and we had to control the balance now with no take backsies. The fog was gone, and Cruxie's Iskan Fever subsided. But not all was good...

Tia started to disappear. She was more tied to the dragons and this stupid role than I thought. I don't remember what she told us, but Maya ran here with Raud. Maya's entire goal in life was to spend time with Tia, so I'm not surprised she'd run here the moment she got better. She ran up to her big sister and gave her a hug. A hug as though trying to keep her here. Maya knew that Tia was about to leave. Even Maya remembering how to talk, yelling her name and pleading, begging her to stay, couldn't keep Tia around. Tia's final words to her sister were that she would always be watching and to always smile. Maybe one day...

Dogi and I hung around to help with the clean up. We did kinda cause it, after all. Aisha wrote a book about the recovery, so I suggest you read it if you're curious. But Altago was rebuilt, Zanzibar was kicked out, and his goods went to the residents of old town. Dreisen restarted the dragon knights with Sigroon and Raud as his commanders. But Dogi and I had other adventures to go on. Aisha wrote me once, saying that she gets a white flower from a certain flower girl every day. It's not out of duty but out of love. She promised me that I'd see a field of white flowers the next time I visited. I can't wait.

- Adol"

---

I was right; I cried. The final battle was one of my favorite final fights ever. Getting to use your entire group to fight one ginormous monster feels so climactic and fun. As for the ending, I'm torn. It's emotional and great, but I also hate it. Maya deserved better! All she wanted was to spend time with her sister, but the writers couldn't give it to her. They had to tie Tia too deeply to this Nietzschean idea. Just give us the happy ending, guys! Overlooking that, though, Ys Seven just became one of my new favorite games!

Consigned to Oblivion

"Aisha spoke the magic words, and the team was warped to a strange place. Elk thought we were on the otherside of the island, but the strange color of the sky made me think we were on another plane of existence.

While fighting through various fish and mollusks, we walked around wet, rocky cliffs that eventually turned into ice. As you'd expect, the sliding was a pain. And it was quite the climb up. Several stories of ice! It was manageable, though, until we reached a staircase. It didn't seem safe, even if we could get more than two steps up, so we continued deeper in on another path. This was a lock and damn walkway that turned into a maze. We had to raise and lower pathways, blocking water flows along the way, to reach the otherside and the lower bowls. In that upper area is a long ice path with ice shoes at the end. We could now dance on the ice like nothing and even climb those stairs. This new place felt familiar, but I can't recall where. Water fell from somewhere higher up and tried to push you into holes that led to a bottom floor. The falls weren't very strong, and the narrow sides were good enough to traverse. And at the end of this...

O-ballon was more talkative than the others. Dogi asked above the Winds, and the dragon indicated that destruction was a good thing.

The test against the long water snake came in two parts. He came in and out of the holes in the rock wall. While he slithered around them - or around us - we had to take potshots at various parts of his body. He liked to nestle in a hole and shoot eye beams at us, but we just hid in the corner. We eventually grew tired of waiting and chased him in. The room was flooded during this point, but he drained it for part two. The floor froze, so we had to switch out the gods' charm for the ice boots. And all we had to do here was wail on his head while dodging his weird hair. After we passed the quiz, his final words to us seemed to indicate that Tia's plan, the Ritual of Demise, was a planned thing. Everything turning to dust is good. Did he say "cycle"?

We returned to Altgao to see if Ciarus found anything about the moon shrine. Before finding him, we checked in on our injured friends.
Ruad was watching over Maya. It seems the girl, ignoring her pain, went for a walk. She collapsed outside of Old Town, and Raud brought her back. Maybe he's not so bad. Oh, Maya.
Mustafa wanted to talk to Dreisen, but the general was still out. He had many questions, and Cruxie was upset that he hadn't forgiven their father yet. Mustafa explained that he just wanted to ask questions. The role of elder was thrust upon so fast and without explanation, but Mustafa knows Drisen did it to save Cruxie. Being the general let him get his daughter the medicine she needed.
Sigroon was still sleeping, so that's good.

Ciarus was nowhere to be found. Fatima informed us he had to rush back to Iska, and one of Geis' fairies flew in to tell us why. The makeshift shrine in the village is glowing! We warped there, and the light was eerily calming. We supposed that beating the other four dragons triggered the final one to welcome us in. But how do we get there? We need an incantation, and Tialuna is unlikely to help us. And then Dogi reminded me that we found Tia's Hairpin. I held it up to the altar, and the path opened! Ciarus thinks it housed a "manifestation" of a previous elder, seeing that it has been passed down for so long. And that magical Jehoshaphat did the trick. So it's on to see the Moon Dragon!

- Adol"

---
I'm gonna cry over Maya, aren't I?

Sacred Wind

"The Inner Sanctum of the Wind Shrine was much longer than the other two. The altar teleport took us far away, to a mountain in the distance of Altago. We had to climb it while jumping across chasms, using wind gusts to get high, and casually walking across floating rocks. The first part was just reaching the teleport disk at the end of the path. Part two was not falling, which grew progressively harder and more complex with branching roads. We eventually reached a road that looked manmade. This portion often split and required us to find green switches to tear down walls. If I had to sum up this whole experiment in one word, it would be "teleport." But, like I said, this was a long dungeon, and I'm not done. After the penultimate teleporter, the team had to float above a bottomless pit and glide with the help of fans. But said fans also blocked our oath. Fortunately, ramming into them only kinda hurt. There were two more switches here before one final surprise. A bird train was before us. It was the last step to reaching the summit. We'd be joined by an actual bird for the ride that tried to eat us, but we took it out with little issue.

Along the way were floating heads made of wind and crystal lice. These eventually gave way to electrical statue tops. Wind djinns and birds guarded the masonry, and sentient gems were beneath us on the floating part.

Mu-anti, the Wind Dragon, was even quieter than the other two gods. It's also the least draconic, resembling a bat with ram horns. But, as the others before it, it tested our strength. Mu reminded me of Keva Kalos from the first time we were here. A lot of butt bounce stuns took place in this quiz, and the range of them was utter nonsense! Fortunately, Mu didn't really follow them up with anything too bad. A poison (?) breathe attack and various tail swipes between the familiar charges were all we saw. He likes to fly higher than usual, but we learned from before and brought Mishera and Sigroon along.

Mu-anti was more talkative afterwards, though. He gave us his stone but inferred that it was already too late to save Altago and destruction was coming. Dogi asked why they hadn't done anything to stop the Winds of Destruction, but the lack of an answer made us wonder if this was beyond even their power. All we had to do now was find the Sea and Moon Shrine. We're out of places to look, so we hoped Ciarus had found something.

He didn't. But we didn't have time to wonder. Geis' fairy rushed into the room with terrible news. A black mist had appeared over Altago City. Monsters were approaching the town, so we quickly headed there. The mist was only affecting the town, but Altago was in ruins. Holes in the street, broken overhangs, and rubble lay everywhere. We split up to find survivors, and Dogi and I went to old town to check on Tia and Maya.

The place was empty, and everyone was in the temple. Everyone but Maya. Despite her illness, she had walked home and into a monster ambush. They didn't hurt her, but you can bet we harmed them. We took her back to Daliyan and went looking for our comrades. Elk and Cruxie were treating injured people in several homes after saving them on the streets. Geis was warding off monsters at the docks. The place we entered this land from seemed to be the heart of the infection around Altago. The three of us quickly dispatched some shellfish and went to look for the others. Mishera was in the new church, so we went to find Aisha.

And here's where everything changed.

Bodies of the fierce dragon knights lay dead on the ground before us, killed in one blow. These men fought the Romn Empire to a stalemate, but they couldn't put up a fight against their destroyer. We entered the palace fearing the worst. Ruad was kneeling over the corpse of his father. This was less upsetting. But Sigroon was behind him, dealing with her own impending fate. She informed us that Scias did all this. He and Aisha were in the throne room.

Scias was standing over the body of Driesen, who put up some semblance of a defense. And his sword was aimed at the Princess. Dogi yelled out to him, which got his attention. He pretended to still be mad at me for killing the King, but the jig was up. He was the assassin. And killing Aisha seemed to be a part of his plan. We tried to stop him, but he was just so fast...

The rest of the group joined us for his slaughter, but the mastermind teleported into the room. A hooded figure who has seen every event take place told the underling to stay his blade. It would be better to kill us at full power to make their grand design, the Root of Existence, more powerful. More hope will mean more despair when we fail. Aisha demanded to know who this figure was, and the hooded person obliged.

Tia?

Tia, real name Tialuna, is the elder of the Iskan tribe. She and Scias had been planning all of this, even myself getting the three Dragon Stones, and did all of this for vengeance. They wanted to reset Altago to restore the balance that's been off since Edonas invaded. We had no clue what most of that meant, but she and Scias gave me one chance to flee before getting swept up in all this. Not being from Altago gave me more freedom, I guess. But the two of them teleported away, and we cleaned up.

Fatima, Mustafa, and even Ciarus brought with them representatives and warriors to defend the now broken Altago City. The elders spoke and discussed everything they knew about what was going on. They asked me if I was going to leave, but the thought was so absurd that I got a little offended. I'm here for the long haul! Despite being asked to do so, we all thought we should keep searching for the Dragon Stones. The moon was still MIA, but we could go to Ruins Island now. Aisha was finally able to calm down and joined us, agreeing with the plan. She asked the elders to look over the kingdom while she came with us to the Sea Alter.

Aisha was able to speak to Sigroon, whose wounds weren't too serious. Siggy urged her leader to be strong.
Cruxie tried to talk to her father, but he was in a coma. The doctors think he'll pull through, but it's gonna be a while.

Dogi and I spoke to Damilyan about Tia, but he tried not to think about it. Maya was too ill, and we didn't want to burden her further. If she could hear us to begin with.
Another dinghy was at the docks for us. Before leaving, Mishera asked Aisha if she knew the phase. Kiemarl left her a note with the words before he died. We all think he was going to tell his daughter everything before Scias got to him...

Dogi'a pleasure cruise was remarkably nice. The seas were calm, and the fog waned as we got further from the mainland. Unlike before, my teleportation power worked! We headed towards the temple with hopes for more answers.

- Adol"

---

I have mixed feelings about Tia being evil. There's no foreshadowing at all, so it feels like a hard left hook. The Scias one was all right, though. That one was slightly leaned on, but I guess those scenes with Tia helped her, too? I don't know...