Quesada's Swan

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Everyone inside the hideout's got something new to say.

Eleanor compliments the pirates' work ethic. Laphicet's curious about what's under Bienfu's hat. Magilou and Rokurou ask about their manners of speaking.

Medissa judges Dyle.

Skit: Kamoana asks Laphicet about Dyle. Phi points out Dyle looks like "Ymir monitor lizard" at a glance. Dyle jumps in.

Another pirate tells us about another Class 4 Zone, filled with bird enemies!

The pirates have "Aifrecise"s instead of exercises! 99 of them!

Dyle's the head of the hideout, even though Velvet points out he's a navigator, someone has to look after the hideout.

After Velvet got Dyle's tail, he's lost his balance a bit, and thinks overseeing the hideout's a slightly better job for him.

Velvet thinks he's lying.

We travel to the Class 4 Zone first. It's near Northgand, making the place pretty chilly.

I free the Katz and set sail for Taliesin.

It's a long boat ride there.

Another dream: Velvet's holding an apple while looking at windows. She bites the apple. It tastes sour.

Seres: "So you've kept your sense of taste?" Huh? I thought she lost that.
Velvet: "In my dreams I have. Nowhere else."
Seres: "Does that make this a dream?"
Velvet: "It would have to be wouldn't it? After all...I devoured you."

Seres tells her not to forget it.

Velvet crushes the apple!

She wakes up!

She looks at her arm.

---

The Van Eltia's traveling through thick fog...

Velvet tells Eleanor one thing: "Laphicet is not 'your little malak.'" Exactly.

Eleanor also says the same thing to her.

At least both of them agree on Laphicet's personhood. Eleanor's trying to learn that.

Eleanor: "You're right. Malakhim aren't just tools to be used by exorcists as they please."

Magilou reminds Velvet about their bet from the Ravine. Yikes! I almost forgot that. Velvet hasn't, though.

Magilou: "A word of caution! People can fight against pain, but they can't fight against happiness." Yikes! She sounds like Edel here.

Magilou advises Velvet to dream good dreams. Velvet can't. She always has nightmares.

Eleanor's relieved the ship made it past the fog. Eizen feels offended.

Eizen: "Who do you think runs this ship?"
Eleanor: "A bunch of shameless rogues who are very good at shameless roguery."
Eizen: (smiles) "Damn straight."

Benwick points out the lack of fog in Taliesin. Must be because of the windmills keeping it out....

Now we make it to Taliesin, Cliff City of the East.

Pirates are telling kids near the port about the awesomeness of the Van Valvali. One pirate gave away their secret, that that's not the ship's real name. Or did he?

There's a lot of cats in Taliesin.

The music sounds nice.

Past the stairs and the double doors...

Phi's the first to run up more stairs. He compares the city to a castle. There's lots of stairs and steep cliff estate here.

Velvet explains the history of Taliesin. It was originally a "rich trading family's" HQ.

Velvet: "But even so, to us, it was the big city of our dreams."

Eleanor points out Velvet's knowledge of Taliesin. Of course. Velvet explains that she grew up in Aball. What will she find there?

The therion's probably near the ruin past the Tranquil Woods there, or in Aball.

Velvet points out no one's going to notice her.

Velvet: "Everyone I knew...I already devoured." Oh god...

---

We go down stairs and into a tavern. A Bloodwing agent gives us three new code reds to find.

Outside, we do a lot of weapon customization at the shop nearby. My lord, we've got a lot of equipment!

There's Grape Gels being sold there too! The stakes of this game are getting higher!

As we go up to higher ground, there's a person who mentions a name I haven't heard since the beginning of this playthrough: Niko!

Velvet gasps.

Man: "I heard she doesn't want to leave the village because she's waiting for her missing friend to return."

Velvet yells to him that Aball's in ruins!

The townsfolk give credit to the Shepherd for Aball's survival.

Velvet's in shock!

It feels like Nibelheim all over again...this feels really unsettling.

Skit: Eleanor and Phi mention Aball. She asks if there were settlers that moved in. Phi points out about Niko.

Rokurou asks about the earthpulse point near Aball.

Bienfu doesn't feel right...

Magilou suggests going forward.

Eizen: "What's going on?"
Velvet: "That's what I'd like to know."

One woman points out about the Shepherd being from Eastgand, and his quest that started...by sacrificing Velvet's brother.

Climbing ladders, there's a wide gap that's geoboard-crossable.

We find another Character Cards player, Takeshi, or Yuto, sitting on a bridge...

After two games, I find and activate the geotree and head down to free the Katz here! We get a Water Normin Set for Magilou!

We talk to a man who's lucky that the fog didn't last long. Phi's lucky no daemons were around in the fog.

The man thanks the Shepherd (again) for saving Eastgand from daemons. There's no daemon attacks in Eastgand after the Advent.

The daemons don't attack the settlements in this continent, but they're outside of town.

He mentions "the Shepherd's power lingers" in this continent.

Velvet has the same question that I do: Why are daemons avoiding the towns?

---

The inn here looks nice.

Inside the sanctuary, where a woman tells a girl about Lake Perniya, and the Holy Kingdom of Hyland sunk beneath the lake. It was a prosperous town, until dragons flooded the kingdom...

The soldiers and priest compliment each other for another peace.

The merchant warns us about Perniya Cliffside Path and Morgana Woods. Velvet knows about the places here, but he's probably talking to me.

Next to him is the first sign that we're in Eastgand: autumn trees.

A vet near the exit's looking for a cat.

A believer asks about the condition of daemonblight in other places. Magilou exaggerates again. The woman mentions there were no daemon attacks in town for three years. What the heck?

The only thing that's changed in the continent is the prickleboar meat. It's more tastier.

Velvet points out everything's the same as ever.

Eizen correctly assumes there's a therion in this continent.

No exorcists in Eastgand at all. It's a squeaky clean continent. Phi asks about where the exorcists in Eastgand are currently at. Still in Northgand...

The man also tells us secretly that if the daemons were gone, it's only the exorcists that would be intimidating or something. He's onto something here.

At the entrance of town there's a Katz with another geoboard minigame: Flag Fetcher!

An old man tending his potted plants mentions Taliesin's claim to fame, the stairs. Surprisingly, he sees nothing wrong with the stairs.

He mentions the people of this town has "strong legs and [a] sturdy back."

A brother and sister talk about "a festival in Aball."

Niko's namedropped again...she's being hailed as a great chef for her "masterquiches".

They have to prepare for their town's fish festival soon.