The Re-Conquest of Zeteginea: Interactive Ogre Battle Dynasty

[Vince]

Game on! I'll probably whip through both Lake Jansenia and the Pogrom Forest tonight, as it'll be the last time I get to goof around with the game until next week. I'm settling down now, so expect the results for battle one in an hour or two.

[BYU 14]

Sweet, hopefully we get some more good Melee weapons.....Surely my odds are getting better since almost all the other Fighters have one

[Tellistto]

I desire anything that will aid me in my goal of becoming a ninja master, so feel free to own lower level opponents with whatever group I'm in. Wee!

Tell

[kingfc22]

Has the liberation begun?

[Raven Hawk]

Originally Posted by Travis

How does the "Crimson Slayers" sound to you Man of the Skies? I appreciate the blood motif, and thought your idea of incorporating our specialty could possibly be taken just one step farther. Whether it's swords, axes, talons, hands or sonic energy, our foes will fall one by one or in hordes. It's their choice how they come to us, and ours as to how they'll leave.

I'd be honored to be a member of the Crimson Slayers! *SCREEECH*

[Vince]

Ok, just tidying up the report on this end. This battle is sort of boring though, I had to get some of our non-FOFC soldiers some experience, 'cause they were falling behind (that's also why it took so damned long). I'm going to run through Pogrom Forest tonight as well, and that one should be much more interesting.

[Vince]

Battle 4: Lake Jansenia


This battle, while not difficult, is going to be one of the last chances we get to level-up our puny units. For that reason, I'm only going to use our main units as backup/support. We have three units that we're going to focus on, and we'll send them to the small island at the mouth of the river by the lake, where I expect most of the fighting to be done. The boss is Sirius, the ruler of this area. While the Lake was beautiful before the assasination of King Gran, Sirius rules with blood and pain. Rumors of local village women being kidnapped and then fed to the dogs abound, and the local townsfolk are overjoyed to see us. Holed up in Elsrum, we will look to free Lake Jansenia from Sirius' cruel reign by defeating him there. Travis and the Crimson Slayers will head over to Antalya first -- their flying ability (thanks Raven Hawk) will get them over the river and through the woods faster than just about anyone. cschex and the Heavy Hitters will follow, as the fighting near Antalya and the little island might get bloody. I want to make sure we have a backup plan if our inexperienced troops get slaughtered. We'll send kingfc22 and the Liberators up the river, to liberate Krasno, Kaiselly and then the Roshian Temple, where they will form a garrison. sachmo71 and the Wizards will follow the rookies up to the island, to provide support and/or backup if needed. law90026 and ardent enthusiast will swing on down to the Southeast corner of the map and check the mountains -- there might be some buried treasure, or some new recruits up there. When they're done, they'll swing up to the mountain pass on the eastern shores of the lake...I don't know many roads in the middle of nowhere that don't have a hidden town or temple near them. Finally, Sublime and the Princess will head the long way to Allephal -- since they can't fly, it's going to take them a while to get there.

Things go smoothly, if slowly, and The Crimson Slayers are the first to spot the enemy after liberating Antalya. Tougher groups this time, with Knights, Giants, Hawk Men and even a Golem or two. They are also the first to engage the enemy, as the Hawk Men fly straight over the lake right at Antalya. Soundly repelled, Raven Hawk and ntndeacon pick up kills as the enemy is repulsed. After defeating half the enemy unit, The Crimson Slayers give way for the Heavy Hitters, the first to arrive at Antalya. Cleaning up after the Slayers, Godzilla Blitz and Blade each pick up kills in the fight, as the enemy unit is utterly destroyed.

sachmo71 and the Wizards are the first to arrive at the small island north of Antalya, and they are also the first to engage the enemy's ground forces, which were forced to go around the lake. Even though they are a solid level higher than our forces, they are cut to ribbons by the powerful magic of JeeberD, Katon and sachmo. JeeberD notches 2 kills, and sachmo and Katon get one apiece, as the Dragon goes up 2 levels and the Wizards all make it to level 5. That being done, they back off, so the rookies can get some playing time.

Kurse, Natalie and Barkley all trade off, whittling each unit down before making some kills. A few well placed Tarot cards helps them manage a few level-ups, and before you know it, we are pushing the enemy back off the island. Within a few hours, we hold the island, and as night begins to fall, we push onto the north bank.

kingfc22 and co. have liberated Krasno and Kaiselly, and are on their way to the Roshian Temple when the enemy does something I've never seen before -- they fall back to Giande, and change tack. Worried that they might be going after undefended Krasno, I quickly send the Crimson Slayers over to defend the town, leaving the Heavy Hitters in Antalya. To buy Travis and the rest some time, I charge forward with all three rookie units and the Wizards. The fighting is bloody, but we manage to hold them off long enough to get Krasno garrisoned, and our worry is over.

Meanwhile, law90026 and ardent have found a hidden Roshian Temple to the east, where the priests tell us that Sirius is in fact a Werewolf, and we would do best to fight him during the day. They also present us with a Rune Axe, which inflicts White Damage, and will be hell on any evil characters, such as Sirius. A great item, we hand it off to ntndeacon in preparation for our assault on Elsrum. law90026 heads up to the northeastern mountains, still searching for buried treasure. Sublime has finally liberated Allephal, but there doesn't seem to be much coming out of Elsrum. We control the entire map, and Sirius is stuck twiddling his thumbs in Elsrum, so we maneuver all of our forces to the outskirts of the island. Law90026 and ardent manage to find their buried treasure...and it's another Flame Sword. Cool, but nothing crazy good. We hand it off to ardent for now, and we'll divvy it up at the end of the mission.

Even though it's the middle of the night, when Sirius is at his strongest, I'm impatient, and we have a ton of firepower right outside. I send in Sublime and The Crimson Slayers in quick succession -- the Princess's Starlight attack weakens Sirius, and a quick few rune axe slashes from ntndeacon leave him wide open for a Sonic Strike from Travis, and down he goes! Lake Jansenia is ours!

[Vince]

The Haul:

Battle 4 Kills:				Overall Kills:
JeeberD		2		Raven Hawk		6
sachmo71		1		Godzilla Blitz		5
katon		1		cschex		4
Travis		1		blade6119		4
Raven Hawk		1		BYU 14		4
ntndeacon		1		law90026		4
Godzilla Blitz		1		kingfc22		3
Blade6119		1		katon		3
				sachmo71		3
				Travis		2
				JeeberD		2
				tucker342		1
				ntndeacon		1

Level Ups:
sachmo71 (5)
katon (5)
JeeberD (5)
Raven Hawk (4)
cschex (5)
ntndeacon (4)
Tellistto (4)

Rune Axe -- +15 Strength
Flame Sword -- +6 Strength

Vitality Potion -- +10 Max HP

To hand out those items...two physical attack items. Here are our candidates: cschex, BYU 14, ardent enthusiast, ntndeacon and Tellistto. The results are...ntndeacon and cschex! A virtual coin flip, with cschex being heads and ntndeacon being tails comes up heads, so cschex gets the Rune Axe, while ntndeacon settles for the Flame Sword.

The Vitality Potion could be good for anyone, so I'm going to open it up to anyone who DOESN'T already have an item. Sorry Sublime, you won the tome of knowledge, so you're out too. That leaves...

sachmo71
katon
JeeberD
MrBug708
BYU 14
ardent enthusiast
Tellistto

The survey says...#5! Come on down, BYU 14, you've won a prize! +14 HP later, you're our new leader at 127!

What's even better, is that while re-visiting all the towns once we have cleared Sirius out, law90026 and ardent find a random wandering Werewolf, who wants to join our crew! A very powerful, quick fighter with three attacks in the front row, he'll make a great addition to a low-alignment group (at least at night he will).

Forrest, Lycanthrope (Werewolf)
Level 5
105 HP
65 Strength
68 Agility
50 Intelligence
31 Charisma
38 Alignment
49 Luck

[Vince]

Pre-items from this last battle stat leaders:

Healthiest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	HP		Smartest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	Int
1(t). Godzilla Blitz	Hell Hound	5	115		1. sachmo71	Wizard	5	82
1(t). Blade6119	Giant	4	115		2. Sublime 2	Cleric	4	74
3. BYU 14	Giant	4	113		3. MrBug708	Cleric	4	68
Strongest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	Str		Charismatic	Class	Lvl	Cha
1. Blade6119	Giant	3	82		1. law90026	Beast Tamer	3	88
2. Travis	Samurai	4	79		2. kingfc22	Knight	5	74
3. kingfc22	Knight	5	74		3(t). Cschex	Beast Tamer	4	71
					3(t). Travis	Samurai	4	71
Quickest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	Agi
1. Godzilla Blitz	Hell Hound	5	71		Highest Aligned	Class	Lvl	Ali
2. Kingfc22	Knight	5	70		1. Kingfc22	Knight	5	72
3. sachmo71	Wizard	5	69		2(t). MrBug708	Cleric	4	66
					2(t). Travis	Samurai	4	66
Luckiest S.O.B.'s	Class	Lvl	Luk
1(t). sachmo71	Wizard	5	55
1(t). kingfc22	Knight	5	55
1(t). Ardent enthusiast	Griffon	3	55

[Vince]

Breaking News
Sharom District Chronicle

The Crimson Slayers, a popular military force within the new Zeteginean Rebellion, are experiencing some upheaval as new Fighter recruit Tellistto verbally assaulted a superior officer today. "Honor this, and alignment that," he shouted. "You bunch of goody-two-shoes know-nothings won't ever get anywhere! We're way more powerful than these other units, why aren't we doing the majority of the killing?" Though the rebellion has been wildly popular here on the outskirts of Zenobia, no one knows how this latest drama will play out. When asked to comment, Travis declined. "This is an internal affair. I am sure that things will be resolved shortly."

Sure enough, the orders came down from the top soon after, as Vince, the Opinion Leader, separated Tellistto from the Crimson Slayers. His current wherabouts are unkown -- speculation and rumor have linked his sudden 'disappearance' from the public eye with other rumors of diabolical, night-dwelling creatures swelling the ranks of the rebellion. "Nope, I shore wuddn't b'lieve that thurr rubbish," claimed one Lake Jansenia resident. "That Vance feller just cleared one o' them wolfies out o' dis place. He seen how bad they be. Iff'n he makes uh deal wi' one o' them, what's the diff'rence 'tween them and the empire?"

Others aren't so quick to poo-poo the idea of hitting the empire with their own medicine. "If I don't have to see it," claimed one Sharom District citizen, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, "what do I care how the rebellion gets rid of the empire? Life is already so much better now that they're out, I don't care how it happens."

Be that as it may, it seems that something is afoot. A talented warrior like Tellistto is an asset to the rebellion, and wouldn't simply disappear. Stay tuned for more information as it presents itself.

[Vince]

Well, drunken roommates coming home have precluded our assault on Pogrom Forrest. Hopefully I'll get it in tomorrow morning, but no promises.

[JeeberD]

Two kills, sweet!

[Tellistto]

Ah, the path commences! Me and new boy werewolf will be the terrors of the night!

Tell

[Vince]

This battle is taking longer than I thought...I've saved in the middle, as I need to get to work. Right now, though, Tellistto is trying to make a name for himself. He leads with 12 kills! We also have multiple others with 4 or more kills...stay tuned for the update this evening.

[Travis]

Crimson Slayers Address

Gentlemen, as you may be aware, we have lost one of our number. Not to enemy attacks or some sort of trap or trickery, but to his own choice and that of our unquestioned leader, Vince.

I've heard the rumors spreading about Tellistto's confrontational manner and his opinion of how we conduct our business. That is none of your worry or concern any longer. The situation has been rectified by those above, and now we can get back to what we do best, how we do it best. It is important that we continue to function as a unit and to capitalize on each other's strengths while protecting each other's weaknesses. It has been a successful , healthy journey thus far, and I would like it to continue that way.

Any of you that would like to discuss this further, or have issues with how you or the Slayers are being utilized, feel free to come and talk with me.

Dismissed.

[Vince]

Battle 5: Pogrom Forest
When King Gran was killed, the citizens rebelled initially. Routed, they ran to the forest. Ready to surrender, they gave in to the Empire -- but the Empire set fire to the forest, and killed many. Their souls still haunt the forest, controlled by the Mage Kapella.




This map is big -- bigger than any we've seen so far (my crappy drawing does it no justice ). Again, there aren't a lot of roads, so except for our fliers (Crimson Slayers, Scouts), it's going to be slow going. There are undead in this fight -- and they can't be harmed except by white magic, or a person wielding a white magic weapon. That will make Clerics especially valuable this go-around, and will definitely dictate our tactics.

To begin with, we send kingfc22 and the Liberators towards the heart of the map, where we expect most of the battle to take place near the central Roshian Temple. They will liberate the nearby temple on the way. law90026 and the Nightcrawlers, a new unit featuring Tellistto, our Werewolf, and two Wizards, will garrison the nearby temple, as they have no white magic users to defeat undead with, they will most likely need to stay out of the way. ardent enthusiast and the Scouts will search the northern coastline for treasure and/or cities and temples. Travis and the Crimson Slayers will head south to liberate the isolated towns of Lolaima and Alagoyas, and cschex and the Heavy Hitters will follow to garrison. Both of these units suffer from the 'lack of white magic' syndrome, so they'll be hanging back until we get the lay of the land. Joining kingfc22 in the main assault unit will be Sublime 2 and the Alternate Liberators, a non-FOFC squad of Amazons and a Cleric, and sachmo71 and the 3 Wizards and a Dragon unit.

Our units spread out, and the Crimson Slayers and Heavy Hitters encounter no resistance all the way to Alagoyas, so the Heavy Hitters take up residence there while the Slayers move on to the Roshian Temple by the small lake (that looks more like a river on my crappy drawing). As our main forces reach the center of the map, the enemy surprises us a little by heading straight over the mountains, instead of around them, using flying units with Imps, Ghosts and Wyrms. The strongest enemies we've faced, these guys are all level 5 and 6, while most of our troops are 3-5. Should make for some difficult battles...

kingfc22 and the Liberators are the first to engage the enemy, and we get our first taste of battle against the undead, facing a Wizard and two Ghosts. tucker342, BYU 14 and kingfc22's attacks are futile against the undead, they can't even hit them. But MrBug708's white magic is brutally effective, eliminating both ghosts at once! The wizard with no protection falls easily to BYU 14's huge club, and the tone is set for the battle. At first, the battle goes back and forth -- we aren't winning every fight like we have been in recent battles -- and every time we lose, our forces are pushed back. The Liberators and the Alternate Liberators take turns dishing out punishment, and Sublime 2 also picks up a pair of kills. BYU, tucker342 and kingfc22 each pick up a pair of kills, and we send them to rest at the Roshian Temple as night falls.

What we notice is that there aren't all that many units with undead in them -- there are a large number of Berserkers, Imps, Wyrms and Golems that we are fighting as well. Though they are tough, our troops CAN damage them without special items, so we call in the reinforcements towards the center of the map, sending The Alternate Liberators back towards the northeastern Roshian Temple, and moving the Nightcrawlers forward to dish out some punishment of their own. While the Liberators are resting and the Nightcrawlers are advancing, sachmo and company move in to hold the enemy at bay, picking up a few level-ups for their Dragon in the process.

Meanwhile, ardent has discovered Minas, a town which graciously gives us a Mystic Mace, which is holy enough to damage undead. We take it gladly, and ardent keeps moving westward, where he finds the city of Selshippe. Unsure of how the battle will go from here, we leave him stationed there. kingfc22's presence at the central Roshian Temple should give us warning if the enemy tries to advance on Minas. The Crimson Slayers also discover Houlou's Robe, some buried treasure, among the mountains. Good for Fire Protection, we give it to someone, and continue on.

Unable to hold the resistance up any longer, sachmo and the Wizards limp back across the river to the nearby Roshian Temple to lick their wounds, and a pair of units get by as they race towards Matt'Gro. The Nightcrawlers are more than up to the task though, as they mow through the weakened forces like a hot knife through butter. The Liberators press forward with the non-FOFC Amazon unit around the mountains to take Melanion, and with the Wizards to garrison the south-central Roshian Temple, the Crimson Slayers move on to Rhodnia.

A couple of fierce battles take place around Melanion, as Kapella sends wave after wave of enemies after us -- far more than we've seen to date. ardent and the scouts move south to Vyer, ready to offer support if necessary, and the non-FOFC Amason unit heads towards the western bay to keep an eye on units coming out of Goyas. Obviously unnecessary so far out, the Heavy Hitters press onward from Alagoyas towards the now liberated Rhodnia, while the Crimson Slayers rush over to support the Liberators in the heavy fighting around Melanion. The Liberators retreat a little from Melanion, happy for a respite as Raven Hawk, ntndeacon and Travis join the fray. Travis was having a field day with his Sonic Strike, wounding as much as 72 on one unwitting Hawk Man enemy, but his specialty was weakening the foes -- ntndeacon was crushing these 'soft-tossed' foes out of the park, as he picked up 6 kills in the battle! Raven Hawk, no slouch, picked up 4. The major destruction, however, was only just about to start. The Nightcrawlers finally reached Melanion, and the Crimson Slayers joined the Liberators in a small respite from the battle.

What followed was one of the most brutal things I have ever seen in this game. Tellistto, law90026 and the rest of the Nightcrawlers went on an absolute rampage, completely and totally demolishing any unit that they faced. Even when daylight struck, and Forrest turned back from a Werewolf into a fairly weak fighter-like character with only one attack, they carried on the carnage. When the dust settled, Tellistto had 13 kills, law90026 had 6, and there were very few enemy soldiers left, limping back to their base.

With the little bits and pieces left, ardent and the Scouts swooped in for some mop-up duty, and Sachmo and the Wizards pressed back on to pick up some extra kills. With everyone wiped out, Sachmo and the Wizards moved in for the battle with Kapella.

Though Kapella opened with an amazing shot of magic that wounded each unit in the party around 40, he never got a chance for a second shot, as sachmo, JeeberD and katon all hammered him with tornadoes, and then the dragon swooped in for the kill. Pogrom Forest is ours!

[Vince]

The Haul:

Battle 5 Kills:				Overall Kills:
Tellistto		13		Tellistto		13
law90026		6		Raven Hawk		10
ntndeacon		6		law90026		10
BYU 14		5		BYU 14		9
Raven Hawk		4		ntndeacon		7
MrBug708		4		cschex		7
sachmo71		3		sachmo71		6
cschex		3		Godzilla Blitz		6
tucker342		3		kingfc22		5
kingfc22		2		katon		5
Sublime 2		2		blade6119		5
katon		2		tucker342		4
ardent enthusiast		1		MrBug708		4
Godzilla Blitz		1		JeeberD		3
Blade6119		1		Travis		2
JeeberD		1		Sublime 2		2
				ardent enthusiast		1

Level-Ups:
sachmo71 (6)
JeeberD (6)
katon (6)
kingfc22 x2 (7)
BYU 14 x2 (6)
tucker342 x2 (7)
MrBug708 x2 (6)
Travis x3 (7)
Raven Hawk x3 (7)
ntndeacon x3 (7)
law90026 x5 (8)
Tellistto x4 (8)
Godzilla Blitz (6)
Blade6119 (5)
Sublime 2 x2 (6)
ardent enthusiast (4)

Houlou's Robe -- +7 Pysical Defense, +11 Fire
White Garb -- +4 Physical Defense, +3 White
Mystic Mace -- +2 Strength, +7 Intelligence
Burning Band -- +6 Fire, -4 Ice

Soul Mirror -- Raises Alignment -- I'll probably save this to use on someone who's going for a specific class change.

Up for Promotion:
ntndeacon -- As a level 7 Fighter with 100 Charisma and 73 Alignment, you may change into either a Knight or a Samurai right now. I can always lower your alignment, if you would rather. Here's a full list of your possibilities:

Knight
Samurai
Doll Mage
Berserker
Beast Tamer
Ninja
Wizard

[Vince]

Our statistical leaders after our first major battle:

Healthiest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	HP		Smartest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	Int
1. BYU 14	Giant	6	148		1. sachmo71	Wizard	6	88
2. law90026	Beast Tamer	8	128		2. Sublime 2	Cleric	6	83
3. Blade6119	Giant	5	123		3. MrBug708	Cleric	6	75
Strongest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	Str		Charismatic	Class	Lvl	Cha
1. Travis	Samurai	7	92		1(t). law90026	Beast Tamer	8	100
2. Blade6119	Giant	5	87		1(t). Ntndeacon	Fighter	7	100
3. law90026	Beast Tamer	8	86		3. MrBug708	Cleric	6	91
Quickest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	Agi		Highest Aligned	Class	Lvl	Ali
1(t). Godzilla Blitz	Hell Hound	6	76		1. MrBug708	Cleric	6	88
1(t). Kingfc22	Knight	7	76		2. kingfc22	Knight	7	77
1(t). Raven Hawk	Hawk Man	7	76		3. Sublime 2	Cleric	6	75
Luckiest S.O.B.'s	Class	Lvl	Luk
1(t). sachmo71	Wizard	5	55
1(t). kingfc22	Knight	5	55
1(t). Ardent enthusiast	Griffon	3	55

[Vince]

And finally, I have whipped up a new, improved troop roster sorted by Unit. Here you go:

Name	In-Game	Class	Lvl	HP	Str.	Agi.	Int.	Cha.	Ali.	Luk	Group Name	Item?
sachmo71	Warren	Wizard	6	106	56	72	88	73	35	55	The Wizards
katon	Walter	Wizard	6	98	47	61	72	66	41	51	The Wizards
JeeberD	Musashi	Wizard	6	97	47	61	71	62	42	51	The Wizards
(Available)	Kapelila	Dragon	4								The Wizards
kingfc22	Lans	Knight	7	114	83	76	69	82	77	55	The Liberators	Honour Shield
BYU 14	Heckamete	Giant	6	142	75	60	47	77	64	46	The Liberators
tucker342	Stanley	Knight	7	111	67	64	54	66	55	47	The Liberators	King's Crown
MrBug708	Jean	Cleric	6	111	62	64	75	91	88	51	The Liberators
Travis	Pierre	Samurai	7	121	92	74	69	75	68	48	The Crimson Slayers	Sword of Evil
Raven Hawk	Collin	Hawk Man	7	119	76	76	59	83	63	42	The Crimson Slayers	Boleas
ntndeacon	Marco	Fighter	7	111	66	65	54	100	73	46	The Crimson Slayers	Flame Sword
(Available)	Nelson	Samurai	7								The Crimson Slayers
(Available)	Baron	Doll Mage	7								The Crimson Slayers
law90026	Bruno	Beast Tamer	8	128	86	72	55	100	61	45	The Nightcrawlers	Flame Sword
Tellistto	Steve	Fighter	8	117	69	69	56	82	70	46	The Nightcrawlers
(Available)	Forrest	Werewolf	8								The Nightcrawlers
(Available)	Eric	Wizard	8								The Nightcrawlers
(Available)	Cid	Wizard	8								The Nightcrawlers
cschex	Clive	Beast Tamer	5	110	84	56	46	75	45	44	The Heavy Hitters	Rune Axe
Godzilla Blitz	Iante	Hell Hound	6	121	69	76	48	44	33	52	The Heavy Hitters	Hydra's Fang
Blade6119	Nusse	Giant	5	123	87	50	37	72	58	45	The Heavy Hitters	Black Axe
Sublime 2	Roni	Cleric	6	112	55	59	83	75	75	50	Alternate Liberators
(Available)	Misha	Princess	6								Alternate Liberators
(Available)	Gemini	Valkyrie	6								Alternate Liberators
(Available)	Rasberry	Valkyrie	6								Alternate Liberators
(Available)	Lipp	Valkyrie	6								Alternate Liberators
ardent enthusiast	Belecros	Griffon	4	107	63	72	48	48	47	55	The Scouts
(Available)	Barkley	Beast Tamer	5								The Scouts
(Available)	Bakis	Griffon	4								The Scouts

[Vince]

I'll do the item draw when I get back into town, either Sunday night or Monday night. Have a good weekend all!

[law90026]

Mm hmm, that's how you get it done. Put me in a real fighting unit with a real fighter and we'll get it done

[Tellistto]

Now we just need to lower that alignment and we'll be golden for ninja! Time to whale on some lowbie characters to get the evilness flowing!

Tell

P.S. @Vince. I was reading some on this game, as in guides and such. I saw an interesting bit of advice, it said to not liberate towns until you've killed all the enemies minus the boss, due to the fact that it means you have to defend at all cost. The only reasons they said to liberate towns(temples) was to have a base of operations. Food for thought, I suppose.

[Poli]

Hmm. I thought I heard that beast tamers always screw up units with animals.

[BYU 14]

Geez Tell, you went off in this battle, 13 friggin kills.....Leave some for us Big guys.

[Tellistto]

Well, you see...I gotta be higher level than my opponents if I want to be a ninja, cause the alignment has to come down. Only way to do that is to get kills, on both counts. Believe me, there is plenty of killing left to do.

Tell

[ntndeacon]

I think I would like to be a Doll Mage.

[Tellistto]

Hmm, you know. I've been thinking about this a bit, and I'm thinking that ninja master isn't the best thing to be, considering they are apparently somewhat weak. Maybe I could go the samurai master route instead? Especially considering how having evil characters can affect the ending you get.

Oh, and AE. You are correct, animals don't like whips, so beast tamers + animals isn't the best thing to do.

Tell

[TonyR]

Hey Vince, I'm a bit late, but I'll sign up.
I'll join ardent as another Griffon.

[Vince]

Ok, back in town, and trying to catch up on what happened at work (supposedly two people quit/got fired over the weekend), at the house (some bastard broke into my stash of girl scout cookies...if I find out who, it's on) and in the real world (George Mason?!!!!???). Hopefully I can get my stuff done before I have to work this evening, but I'm guessing there will be no significant update here until tomorrow night.

Tell -- yeah, I kind of forgot that killing undead jacks up your alignment like nobodies business. So you're high on the 'good' list right now. If you would like to be a ninja, that's fine, it'll just take me a battle or two to get you low enough in alignment. On the other hand, if you would like to be a Samurai, say the word, and you can be one now. Don't worry about screwing with my ending by being evil though -- I'm totally allowed to have evil characters, as long as they stay away from the towns Also, as for the liberating towns thing...I haven't yet gotten to a truly huge level, so I haven't had a problem with town fortification. The hang-up is that I get tribute based on the towns I have liberated, so leaving them all in Empirical hands costs me money. Once the battles start getting more difficult (we have one more 'easy' battle at Deneb's Garden, and the Slums of Zenobia are where it starts getting a little tougher), I'll probably modify my tactics.

ntndeacon -- congratulations on your promotion to Doll Mage! When I update, I'll let you know your new stats (if any).

TonyR -- welcome to the fold! You'll be included in the next update.

ae/Tell -- Beast Tamers tend to wring better use out of beasts, so Griffons/Hell Hounds/Octopi/Dragons/Wyrms/Giants wound more with a Beast Tamer as their leader. Beast Tamers also get attack bonuses if they are attacking a beast. At least, this is how I have understood what I have read on the game, and my (statistically insignificant) experience seems to back up this claim.

[Tellistto]

I'll go with the samurai master route, I think. Since I can hop over to samurai now, it's just a matter of levels and keeping the alignment up.

Tell

[Vince]

The Item Draw:

First up, we have Houlou's Robe, which adds to Physical Defense, and Fire Defense/Attack. Since we only have a handful of people who use fire, the Wizards get a shot at this item. sachmo71, JeeberD and katon are available...and katon pulls the lucky number!

Next is the White Garb, a pretty weak item if you ask me. Boosts the White element of a character, as well as a slight physical defense boost. Unless someone wants to request this, I'm actually going to give it to a non-FOFC character. So if you want this, feel free to ask for it (Note: I'm not going to let people 'exchange' items until everyone has one. If you want to give up an item, and make yourself eligible for new items, that's fine...but you can't pick and choose until we're all on the same ground).

Third up is the Mystic Mace -- +2 Strength and +7 Intelligence. Good for healers and magic users, here are the eligible characters for the Mace: sachmo71, JeeberD, MrBug708, ntndeacon, Sublime 2. Drum roll please...Sublime 2 is the winner!

Fourth on the list is the Burning Band, a bonus to Fire and a detriment to Ice. Again, a magic-user's item, so sachmo71 and JeeberD are in the running...and sachmo71 wins the coin flip.

Finally, we close with a Flame Sword that formerly belonged to ntndeacon -- as a newly promoted Doll Mage, his focus switches from Strength to Intelligence, so this item is useless with him. A melee weapon, the candidates are: BYU 14, Tellistto and ardent enthusiast. My Magic 8 ball says that BYU is still unlucky, and Tellistto gets the sword.

I'm still quite amped about the way the game is progressing, so I'll probably get to the next battle at Deneb's Garden soon. If not tonight after work, then almost certainly tomorrow evening (since I work in the morning).

[Vince]

Originally Posted by Tellistto

I'll go with the samurai master route, I think. Since I can hop over to samurai now, it's just a matter of levels and keeping the alignment up.

Tell

You might have to apologize to the Crimson Slayers then

I'll have you updated and changed by the next battle, though you'll probably be in a different group than the Nightcrawlers.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Vince

The Item Draw:

Finally, we close with a Flame Sword that formerly belonged to ntndeacon -- as a newly promoted Doll Mage, his focus switches from Strength to Intelligence, so this item is useless with him. A melee weapon, the candidates are: BYU 14, Tellistto and ardent enthusiast. My Magic 8 ball says that BYU is still unlucky, and Tellistto gets the sword.

Arghh, grumble, grumble!!!

Please shake your Monitor at this point to simulate a crybaby Giant jumping up and down stomping his feet...

[Vince]

Ok, ntndeacon is a little too highly aligned to become a Doll Mage (He has 73 Alignment, the cap is 70), so he'll have to remain a fighter for another battle or two. Tellistto has become a Samurai, and he will join a second scouting unit comprised of Gilbert, a Wyrm and a Fighter. ntndeacon enlists in the Nightcrawlers temporarily, to sully his reputation a slight bit. He'll be back with the Crimson Slayers soon, however.

[Travis]

Thank goodness, I need a fix of this soon!

[Vince]

Battle 6: Deneb's Garden
Deneb is a young, beautiful Witch who is incredibly talented, and incredibly ambitious. She has allied herself with the Empire in hopes of gaining access to their extensive collection of spell books. She has also been doing gruesome experiments in her castle on live men, and generally terrorizing the neighborhood. She has moved on to pillage gardens now, leaving pumpkins scattered around...



Mountains, Mountains and more mountains. Not a lot of roads in this stage. Our forces will likely engage the enemy near the bend in the river near the center of the map.

To start with, we send kingfc22 and the Liberators Northwest to liberate Talka, Roseanhe and the Roshian Temple on the Island. They will then fortify Roseanhe, and should be able to defend the Roshian Temple as well. Travis and a depleted Crimson Slayers unit head to Baljib and then Peltmont to liberate them, and then they will fall back to Baljib to fortify. The Heavy Hitters will follow, pausing at Baljib while Peltmont is liberated, and then pushing on to Peltmont to fortify there. Once the fighting has commenced, the Heavy Hitters will sweep west through the mountains to assault the enemy's main force as they have engaged our first strike. Sublime and the Alternate Liberators will head out at a later time to fortify Peltmont. Our main strike force this battle will be sachmo71 and the Wizards and law90026, ntndeacon and the Nightcrawlers. The Heavy Hitters will be a supplement later. Our two scouting units head in opposite directions, as Tellistto and company head Northwest, while ardent and TonyR head Southeast. Both groups will canvass the outer areas of this map, looking for buried treasure and potential recruits.

As usual, we push on quickly, and all the towns but Anquard (which was a hidden town) fall to us rapidly. We don't get our first sight of the enemy until very near the middle of the map, almost to the valley where Valparin is. The enemy this time around is made up of some sterner units than we are used to seeing -- Berzerkers, Hell Hounds and Ninja make up the most of the enemy, and they are mostly in the back row. This gives them the ability to target our characters how they want (Ninjas use ninjitsu and Hell Hounds breath fire from the back row), instead of hitting our beefed up front-line enemies. An interesting alternative is the Cleric/Faerie unit, in which the Clerics are in the front row. They should provide a good chance to lower the alignment of some of our units, as Healers always have extremely high alignment.

The Wizards are the first to engage the enemy, and quickly beat them back in a series of short skirmishes. These enemies are quite resilient, though, and it takes multiple fights to start killing them off. Sachmo71 earns our first kill of the battle, and things start to heat up from there. The Nightcrawlers start whalloping on the enemies -- they're beginning to have quite an advantage in terms of levels over the enemy, and law90026 in particular is starting to bring the hurt, especially against enemy Hell Hounds. ntndeacon is doing a very good job of finishing off the enemies weakened by the opening attacks of law90026 and Forrest the Werewolf, and he starts piling up the kills quickly. Soon, the mountains are ours, and we send the Heavy Hitters towards the southwest valley as the Nightcrawlers and Wizards push forward as well.

Somehow, one of the enemy units that had been weakened by the Wizards managed to sneak by our front lines, and made a beeline for Talka, which was garrisoned by Kurse and some non-FOFC Fighters. Though the enemy unit was severely weakened, the level difference was too much, and Kurse's unit was forced to retreat, even though they had wounded the final enemy Berzerker unit to 30 health. Regrouping immediately, they rushed back to Talka, but it was too late -- the empire had retaken the town, giving our reputation a slight hit. Kurse easily defeated the unit on their return, and re-liberated the town. Our resolve stiffened to not let any of the enemy pass us again!

The Wizards continued the assault on the enemy, but were taking some solid punishment from a particular group of Hell Hounds. They fell back, as the Nightcrawlers continued forward into the Valley. Purely by accident, the Nightcrawlers stumbled across the town of Anquard, which we had no idea was even there! Also by accident, and since I was not quick enough to change their course, the Nightcrawlers liberated the town. Now, forced to hold the town, the Nightcrawlers were on their own until the Heavy Hitters and Wizards could regroup and meet them at Anquard. They were more than up to the task, and ntndeacon and law90026 continued to rack up the kills, with ntndeacon finally ending up with 11 when all was said and done! This sufficiently lowered his alignment, so he immediately promoted to a Doll Mage! Similarly, the Wizard Eric in their group was able to promote to a Mage, who loses a magic attack, but his single attack now hits all the enemies in the group rather than just one. About this time, cschex and the Heavy Hitters arrived, so the Nightcrawlers fell back to give the others a piece of the action.

Their first taste of battle was against a group of Hellhounds and a Beast Tamer, all in the back row. The Hell Hounds were relentless in their pursuit of cschex, blasting him with their firey breath with every single attack! Though Godzilla Blitz and Blade6119 were dishing out heavy punishment and we ended up winning the fight, cschex fell victim to the devastating attacks of the Hell Hounds. Cschex is our first casualty of war! Undaunted, we use an ethereal flute to revive him, and the Heavy Hitters continue on the fight with sachmo71 and the Wizards close behind as their relief.

Around this time, both sets of scouts stumbled upon buried treasure! One was another set of Thunder Gloves, rather useless, and given to a Valkyrie immediately, but the other was a Fire Staff, good for +6 Intelligence. We pass it off to JeeberD for use in the upcoming battles, and continue on. Ardent and TonyR were sent back to help garrison Peltmont, while Tellistto and his group took up a position in the mountains just across the river from Vaparin to keep an eye on Deneb and her minions.

Immediately, an enemy unit is sent after Tellistto and the alternate scouts! Surprised, but curious to see how the group fares, we let them fight it out. Though the unit took their lumps (the fighter was a measly level 3 character), and were forced to retreat at first, they were finally able to send the unit packing back to Valparin. Meanwhile, The Wizards and Heavy Hitters were trading off battles, beating the enemy forces further and further back, until The Wizards were finally able to engage Deneb herself!

Flanked by a bunch of men who had pumpkins for heads, Deneb attacked us from the front row of her unit. With the measley defense value of a witch, sachmo71, JeeberD and katon all blasted Deneb with tornado spells, leaving her easy prey for the swooping attack of Kapelila our dragon. It didn't even take more than a single round of attacks to defeat her!

Cowering after the battle, Deneb asks us to forgive her, as she already regrets what she has done. Unswayed, we cannot forgive her vile acts, and put her to death.

[JeeberD]

Yay! I'm smarter now!

[Katon]

Excellent. Always fun, taking the enemy capital.

[Vince]

The Haul:

Battle 6 Kills:				Overall Kills:				Deaths:
ntndeacon		11		ntndeacon		18		cschex		1
cschex		6		law90026		14
Godzilla Blitz		6		Tellistto		13
JeeberD		6		cschex		13
sachmo71		5		Godzilla Blitz		12
Katon		5		sachmo71		11
law90026		4		Raven Hawk		10
Blade6119		4		BYU 14		10
kingfc22		1		katon		10
BYU 14		1		blade6119		9
				JeeberD		9
				kingfc22		6
				tucker342		4
				MrBug708		4
				Travis		2
				Sublime 2		2
				ardent enthusiast		1

Level Ups:
sachmo71 x3 (9)
JeeberD x3 (9)
katon x3 (9)
ntndeacon x3 (10)
law90026 x3 (11)
cschex x3 (8)
Godzilla Blitz x3 (9)
Blade6119 x3 (8)

Thunder Gloves -- +3 Physical Defense, +4 Thunder
Fire Staff -- +3 Intelligence

Blood Kiss -- Transforms a Knight into a Vampire

Promotions/Class Changes:
ntndeacon: Fighter --> Doll Mage
Nelson: Samurai --> Knight
Eric: Wizard --> Mage
Baron: Doll Mage --> Berzerker
Elliot: Fighter --> Ninja

New Unit Makeup:
Crimson Slayers:
Travis (Samurai)
ntndeacon (Doll Mage)
Tellistto (Samurai)
Raven Hawk (Hawk Man)
Nelson (Knight)

Nightcrawlers:
law90026 (Beast Tamer)
Eric (Mage)
Forrest (Werewolf)
Elliot (Ninja)
Baron (Berzerker)

Stat Leaders:

Healthiest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	HP		Smartest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	Int
1(t). Law90026	Beast Tamer	11	146		1. sachmo71	Wizard	9	104
1(t). Blade6119	Giant	8	146		2. Sublime 2	Cleric	6	90
3. BYU 14	Giant	6	144		3. JeeberD	Wizard	9	88
Strongest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	Str		Charismatic	Class	Lvl	Cha
1. Blade6119	Giant	8	101		1(t). Sachmo71	Wizard	9	99
2. cschex	Beast Tamer	8	98		1(t). Cschex	Beast Tamer	8	99
3. law90026	Beast Tamer	11	97		3. law90026	Beast Tamer	11	98
Quickest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	Agi		Highest Aligned	Class	Lvl	Ali
1. Godzilla Blitz	Hell Hound	9	87		1. MrBug708	Cleric	6	86
2. law90026	Beast Tamer	11	82		2. kingfc22	Knight	7	78
3. sachmo71	Wizard	9	78		3. Sublime 2	Cleric	6	75
Luckiest S.O.B.'s	Class	Lvl	Luk
1(t). sachmo71	Wizard	9	55
1(t). kingfc22	Knight	7	55
1(t). Ardent enthusiast	Griffon	4	55
1(t). TonyR	Griffon	4	55

[kingfc22]

The Liberators demand more action

[Tellistto]

Mm, nice battle that. Having that mage is really nice too, especially if you somehow find an undead staff to make him a sorceror, two area magic attacks a battle. Now the real fun begins in the slums!

Tell

[Vince]

That was a pretty quick, weak battle. I can't believe I let the enemy retake a city. Foolish. Anyhow, we've gotten through most of the 'easy' battles. The next battle, Slums of Zenobia, is where the game takes a turn for the more difficult, if I remember correctly. We'll see how it goes

[Vince]

Ok -- we have two knights in our army: kingfc22 and tucker342. We just got a Blood Kiss off the corpse of an enemy -- it will transform a knight into a Vampire. A considerably more unsavory person, their alignment will more than likely drop considerably, and they become rather useless during the day. However, they do get to be a pretty cool character. Are either of you interested in becoming a vampire? Let me know via PM or in the thread!

[JeeberD]

Oh hell yeah! I totally kicked ass!

[Sublime 2]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

The Liberators demand more action

As do the Alternate Liberators!

[Vince]

Ok, we're plowing ahead! I'm bored, and I just did my chores for the day, so I'm going to run through the next stage tonight as well. kingfc22 has declined the invitation to be a Vampire, so tucker342's the only one left. Methinks he'll decline too, but just in case, I'll save the Blood Kiss for one more battle. We're getting close to the point where our Beast Tamers will be at level 12, as well, so be on the lookout for a contest to see who gets to be a Dragoner soon!

[Vince]

Quick item draw: The Fire Staff is an intelligence raising item, that means our magicians are on the hot seat. JeeberD, MrBug708 and ntndeacon are the options...and our number is 1! JeeberD, you're going to keep the Fire Staff for the foreseeable future.

For the next battle, we look to keep the Liberators, Alternate Liberators and Scouts quite busy (Tell's gotten a lot of work lately, so the Alternate Scouts will probably just be on a treasure hunt again). That being said, this is a long level, so everyone should get some play!

[Poli]

AE and TonyR for more action!

[Vince]

Battle 7: Slums of Zenobia
Once a beautiful city, Zenobia has fallen into dissarray as the Empire's tyranny continues. Citizens fleeing their own homeland to find a better life in the city find that things are as bad or worse in Zenobia, and the city is in a downward spiral. One of Empress Endora's four 'Devas,' Kaus Debonair, has been 'demoted' to Zenobia, and rumors are flying that it is because he is beginning to lose faith in her...



Ahhhh...roads. And open plains. It'll be nice to fight through normal terrain again. However, there are city walls -- and they are shut to keep us out. Only flying units will be able to get over the walls, unless we can find a way to bring them down. The forest Southeast of Zenobia itself is going to be a huge battlefield.

We begin by sending the Liberators, the Alternate Liberators, and the Scouts right out into the fray -- kingfc22 and the Liberators will free the Roshian Temple in the center of the map from the Empire's regime, and will hold there while we take stock of the situation. Sublime will follow the western branch of the main road up towards Anberg, and hold just north of the mouth of the river. Ardent and Tony will continue to the heart of the forest; their speed will give us a quick first look at the enemy.

Travis and the Crimson Slayers, back to full strength with ntndeacon back, and a little disgruntled to take Tellistto back as well, head along the southern branch of the road, to liberate Pruzen, the Roshian Temple, and then to hole up at Fillia, in case the enemy breaks through our front lines. Sachmo71 and the Wizards will follow and fortify at Pruzen. Gilbert and our alternate scouts, now without Tellistto, will head north to the mountain pass just northeast of our home base at Mulnique -- roads to nowhere usually mean a hidden temple or city. From there, they will head north to By'Roit -- their flying ability will allow them to liberate the city, as the walls there are also shutting us out. They will fortify there until we get a handle on our enemy's troop movements.

The Nightcrawlers, already far outstripping the rest of our forces in levels, will remain at base this battle (sorry law90026). The Heavy Hitters, however, will follow the main force as our reserves -- once the main force advances past the Roshian Temple towards Elrangen and Anberg, they will take over the garrison at the Roshian Temple. Lastly, we dispatch a Valkyrie/Amazon/Cleric non-FOFC unit to liberate Post Ina and then return to Mulnique, acting as a rear guard in case the enemy breaks through to our home base. My unit is stationed at the base, but my unit is also woefully inexperienced -- this way I won't be afraid to cut and run, leaving Mulnique undefended, if things go south.

The battle opens smoothly, as Gilbert does indeed find the town of Palma just to the north. With no unit available to garrison it yet, we leave it in Empire hands for now, and Gilbert continues on towards By'Roit. Kingfc22 and the Liberators take the Roshian Temple with no trouble, and we are still awaiting our first look at the enemy. Sublime has reached the mouth of the river, and with no enemies in sight, the Alternate Liberators begin to advance up the western road. Ardent and Tony are our eyes and ears, and they continue to advance right up the gullet of the forest -- and it's not long until we catch our first glimpse of the enemy. With LOTS of flyers. Since the gates are closed, the enemy is also forced to cross the walls with flying units. Cockatris, Griffons and Wyrms abound, all at level 7, 8 or 9. Should make for some tough battles -- these enemies are quick, and quite resilient. The Scouts, our advance force, are also only at level 4 -- they've got a difficult assignment ahead of themselves. Undaunted, they enter the fray.

With TonyR manning the front line and ardent and Barkley holding up the back, the Scouts are our fastest unit. Even at a lower level, they get off the first couple of attacks almost every time. Barkley snaps his whip, ardent sends gale force winds damaging every enemy, and TonyR swoops in with a vicious beak swipe. Knowing that they are outgunned in a prolonged battle, the Scouts make good use of their speed, striking quickly and retreating before the enemy can get a shot off. Quickly modifying their angle, the Scouts can continue to intercept the same enemy unit over and over again, slowly working them down before finishing them off completely. Though they do slowly give up ground to the enemy in this fashion, we are well defended behind them, and have no problem giving up this ground. ardent and TonyR each pick up a pair of kills quickly as the enemy advances along the eastern branch of the road towards the Roshian Temple. Seeing a tactical opportunity, the Scouts retreat for now, allowing the Liberators to take the brunt of the assault.

Much better suited for a toe-to-toe battle with these foes, kingfc22, BYU 14 and tucker342 are relishing the idea of holding the enemy off. Bolstered by MrBug708's healing abilities, the trio avoids the deadly stone gaze of the Cockatris, withstands the Beast Tamers and Wyrms, and puts down the attacks of the Valkyries and Griffons. kingfc22 seems to have not eaten his Wheaties before the battle, however, as he is missing quite a few attacks -- tucker342 is happy to help, however, as he picks up 3 kills quickly.

With the brunt of the attack coming along the Eastern Road, Sublime 2 and the Alternate Liberators move north, flanking the opposition. Similarly, The Scouts are flying northeast, sweeping around the rear of the foes across the plain to the east of Elrangen. When both units are in place, a quick three-fold pincer move with the Alternate Liberators sweeping in from the West, the Scouts from the northeast and the Liberators advancing Northwest from the Roshian Temple decimates the initial enemy assault -- as one group wins a minor victory, the enemy is forced to retreat right into the teeth of another advancing unit, and there is no respite for them.

Meanwhile, Travis and the Crimson Slayers have liberated Pruzen, and moved off towards the southwestern Roshian Temple. sachmo71 and the Wizards station themselves in Pruzen, just in case...and it turns out that's a good thing. The triple advance to the north was almost a 100% success...but one enemy unit managed to retreat south past the Liberators, and they head straight for Pruzen! Already weakened, they have no idea what they are getting themselves into, and the Wizards make short work of the injured unit as JeeberD and Katon earn a kill each.

The enemy is already attempting to mount a second charge, but in the brief respite, our main fighting force advances further north. Opting to leave Elrangen and Anberg in Empire hands for the time being, our three units spread out to cover any possible advance by the enemy to the Southeast, picking defensible positions on each road, and one in the middle of the forest.

Gilbert has now reached By'Roit, and we discover an old knight named Ashe, who is seemingly waiting to die. He asks if we will take him along with us on the rebellion, and we agree. However, shortly afterwards, we learn from the people of Pruzen that he might have been the one to slay king Gran and his family...not exactly comforting words. Ashe is a level 9 Knight, and he brings along two level 7 Knights and one level 8 Stone Golem. We dispatch him, and send him along the western road for now, not exactly sure what to do with him as of yet. Without a clear look at Zenobia yet, we can't be sure what our enemy is up to, so we leave Gilbert in Zenobia at the moment. Simultaneously, our non-FOFC Valkyrie unit has liberated Palma, and the Heavy Hitters have taken up a fortified position at the central Roshian Temple.

The second wave of enemies is upon us now, and the fighting is fast and furious. Having picked up three level-ups already, Ardent, Tony and Barkley are definitely holding their own, no longer having to resort to hit-and-run tactics to win battles. With 4 kills each, the Scouts back out of the battle, and fly east to relieve Gilbert of guard duty at By'Roit, letting the Liberators and Alternate Liberators handle the remaining flying creatures.

An interesting, and somewhat annoying, side effect of the enemy having 100% flying units is that if they retreat in an odd direction after a fight, our units are not quick enough to catch them to finish them off. Due to that fact, many severely weakened units would slip by one of our two sentinel groups, only to be demolished by the Heavy Hitters at the Roshian Temple. Though Godzilla Blitz must have been eating the same pre-battle meal that kingfc22 did with all the misses he had, the unit was still able to make mincemeat of the stragglers that made it through. Somehow, even with all the misses, Godzilla Blitz was able to pick up 3 kills, the same amount as Blade6119. cschex accrued 4 himself.

Fighting off the second wave of attackers, the Liberators made good their group's name and freed Elrangen of Empirical oppression, making the city their home base. Similarly, the Alternate Liberators took over Anberg, where we met Lyon, the self-proclaimed 'King of Beasts.' For a mere 20,000 goth, he will join our rebellion. Since we have plenty of cash for now, we agree, and Lyon the level 9 Beast Tamer joins our army, along with his two level 7 Dragons. With no need for him this battle, we leave him back at the base...but not before he tells us about his termites that he loaned to a priest -- he says they could take down the walls for us.

At almost exactly the same time (coincidence is great), The Crimson Slayers liberate the southern Roshian Temple, where they tell us of a castle that should be on the northern island. With the Liberators in a good position to watch the eastern gate of Zenobia, we switch the Scouts over to search mode, and forsake By'Roit of a garrison. They are to search the many peninsulae to the north, and also the northern island. Meanwhile, Travis and company head north to Fillia, and from there they will examine the islands in the small bay.

By this time, Gilbert has arrived near Zenobia, and is helping the Liberators and Alternate Liberators take care of the remaining flying units. Gilbert's Wyrm is a tremendous asset -- it's got a lot of HP and pretty good defense, making it a nice tank, while at the same time wounding a lot and giving the unit flying ability. Great character to have.

After a bit of searching, The Crimson Slayers find a hidden Roshian Temple on an island in the middle of the bay, where a priest gives us the termites! We waste no time in using them, and the walls come a tumbling down. We immediately advance our three main assault units (now Gilbert, the Liberators and Alternate Liberators) inside the city walls, to see what awaits us.

Dragons! Everywhere. Now that the enemy's units don't need to fly, they throw all kinds of dragons at us. From Dragons with a Dragon Tamer to Dragons with a Wizard, to Dragons with a Beast Tamer. And man, are they tough. Great defense, huge hit points, and very potent attacks (especially breathing fire from the back row), they give even the Alternate Liberators and Princess Misha some trouble. With the battle obviously winding down, however, we send the majority of our units towards Zenobia to bring this one home. The Scouts continue to search to the north, swinging around to end up on the Western Island, while the Crimson Slayers do a quick search of the southern and eastern parts of the map. While Gilbert, kingfc22 and Sublime deal with the remaining enemy units, Ashe slowly makes his way north towards Zenobia...and our units start finding treasure. Everywhere. SIX buried treasures, to be exact, and we have a bunch of great new items. The Evil Blade (+8 Strength, +3 Intelligence), the White Cape (+5 Physical, +13 White), the Elder Sign (+11 Strength, +5 Intelligence, +16 Black, +14 White...wow), the Euros (+15 Strength, +3 Intelligence), the Ice Scimitar (+3 Strength) and another White Garb (+4 Physical Defense, +3 White). Jeez...that's a lot! We hand it out mostly at random for now, and we'll divvy it up for good later.

The battle inside the city walls of Zenobia is rather brutal -- though we aren't actually using the hit-and-run tactics the Scouts were earlier, the tremendous amount of punishment the Dragons the enemy is throwing at us can take is making the battle long and drawn out. Finally, after a couple more level-ups, the Alternate Liberators start making some progress, and begin mowing down the enemies. As we're about to finish off the last of them, The Scouts discover the town of Kal Robs on the Western Island -- where they tell us that it WASN'T Ashe who killed Gran -- it was the dark knight Gares who was disguised as Ashe by a spell from Rashidi. So Ashe is a good guy afterall. At this news, we send him in to deal with Debonair once the enemies are all cleared out.

Ashe calls out Debonair (whom the townsfolk in this area have somewhat supported, as he is very morally correct -- arresting a guy who tried to bribe him, etc), asking how he can feel good about serving a 'greater good' that allows the city of Zenobia to fall to such filth? Enraged, Debonair threatens to have Ashe's head, and they battle. And it is ugly.

Debonair has two Red Dragons as guards, and for the first time, the boss is protected by his hirelings. We're going to have to get through the dragons to get to Debonair. Unless, of course, I use my Fool tarot card. Which I do. Even with the two Dragons out of the way, however, Debonair absolutely tears into us. Three attacks, two for 60 damage, and one for 75, severely weaken Ashe's unit, and the knights and Golem can only manage to wound Debonair about 40 of his 150 HP. Realizing that Ashe is rather inferior, we quickly follow up with The Alternate Liberators and the Liberators in quick succession -- except the Alternate Liberators are even weaker than Ashe in terms of damage. The Valkyries can barely wound him, and Debonair has amazing white defense, so the Princess's starlight attacks barely wound him. The only significant damage is the Valkyrie lightning attack, and Debonair is absolutely thrashing the Valkyries in the front row -- the only thing keeping them alive is Sublime 2's new 4 heals, as he has promoted to a Shaman. The Alternate Liberators manage to somehow take Debonair down to about 50 HP, and the Liberators swoop in for the kill.

Even though Debonair is severely weakened, and I have used my third and final Fool Tarot Card to get rid of the Red Dragons, it takes everything the Liberators have to take down Debonair. Debonair concentrates on BYU 14 for attacks, and is "only" managing to wound 35 per shot -- not very significant considering BYU's 159 HP, and even less so when MrBug708 is able to put about 30 back on BYU's total with a heal. Kingfc22 is still not feeling up to it, as he misses BOTH of his attacks on Debonair. Tucker342 manages to wound him, though, and BYU 14 puts in the final club attack to put Debonair down for the count! At long last, Zenobia is ours!

After the battle, Debonair questions Endora's motives..."what's the use in fighting for her if she's not the same? We'll meet again..." he mutters as he retreats.

[Vince]

The Haul:

Battle 7 Kills:				Overall Kills:				Deaths:
tucker342		5		ntndeacon		18		cschex		1
BYU 14		4		cschex		17
cschex		4		Godzilla Blitz		15
ardent enthusiast		4		law90026		14
TonyR		4		BYU 14		14
Godzilla Blitz		3		Tellistto		13
Blade6119		3		blade6119		12
kingfc22		2		sachmo71		11
JeeberD		1		katon		11
Katon		1		Raven Hawk		10
				JeeberD		10
				tucker342		9
				kingfc22		8
				ardent enthusiast		5
				MrBug708		4
				TonyR		4
				Travis		2
				Sublime 2		2

Level Ups:
kingfc22 x2 (9)
BYU 14 x2 (8)
tucker342 x2 (9)
MrBug708 x2 (8)
cschex (9)
Godzilla Blitz (10)
Blade6119 (9)
Sublime 2 x4 (10)
ardent enthusiast x3 (7)
TonyR x3 (7)

Items:
Evil Blade -- +8 Strength, +3 Intelligence
White Cape -- +5 Physical Defense, +13 White
Elder Sign -- +11 Strength, +5 Intelligence, +16 Black, +14 White
Euros -- +15 Strength, +3 Intelligence
Ice Scimitar -- +3 Strength
White Garb -- +4 Physical Defense, +3 White

Promotions/Class Changes:
Sublime 2: Cleric --> Shaman

New Units:
Ashe -- Level 9 Knight
2 Level 7 Knights
1 Level 8 Stone Golem
Lyon -- Level 9 Beast Tamer
3 Level 7 Dragons

Healthiest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	HP		Smartest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	Int
1. BYU 14	Giant	8	159		1. Sublime 2	Shaman	10	106
2. Blade6119	Giant	9	154		2. sachmo71	Wizard	9	104
3. Godzilla Blitz	Hell Hound	10	148		3. JeeberD	Wizard	9	91
Strongest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	Str		Charismatic	Class	Lvl	Cha
1. Blade6119	Giant	9	104		1. cschex	Beast Tamer	11	100
2. Godzilla Blitz	Hell Hound	10	103		2. sachmo71	Wizard	9	99
3. law90026	Beast Tamer	11	97		3. law90026	Beast Tamer	11	98
Quickest Soldiers	Class	Lvl	Agi		Highest Aligned	Class	Lvl	Ali
1. Godzilla Blitz	Hell Hound	10	90		1. MrBug708	Cleric	8	87
2. ardent enthusiast	Griffon	7	85		2. kingfc22	Knight	9	84
3. TonyR	Griffon	7	84		3. Sublime 2	Cleric	6	75
Luckiest S.O.B.'s	Class	Lvl	Luk
1. kingfc22	Knight	9	56
2(t).sachmo71	Wizard	9	55
2(t). Ardent enthusiast	Griffon	7	55
2(t). TonyR	Griffon	7	55