Quesada's Swan | Tales of Berseria - Part 33a: The Missing Man In Galles Lake Road (Part 2-8)

Aside: I wrote this part of the session a week after the previous one.

I go through the cutscene with the Bloodwing Agent again to see if I've missed anything, and to see the "favorite foods" skit again.

I have the party battle several rounds to build them up to a formidable group.

I'm a bit more cautious in battles this time...

I head forward to Galles Lake Road.

We look downhill: there's one "code red daemon," a giant gorilla-like daemon with a club!

Velvet's not bothering with the daemon below. She's making a wise decision. Rokurou, though, wants more action on his plate. He then makes his case.

Laphicet thinks that "Teresa and the legates could probably take it on."

Eizen deduces that since the Abbey is very strong, it's a good reason to fight the daemon, to build more strength in preparation for fighting them.

Velvet "concedes her point." But, we have to be prepared before fighting this guy. Eizen agrees.

Velvet: "I'd rather not get myself killed due to inadequate preparation."

Rokurou tells Velvet not to worry a lot, and promises to "keep [her] safe [himself]" if she wants to pick a fight with the code red daemon.

Velvet: "I don't recall asking for your protection."
Rokurou: "You don't need to."

A wolf almost catches us unawares! Luckily, we didn't get into a surprise attack!

We check around for more Katz Spirits before saving at a nearby point before the path to Galles Lake Road.

We arrive at Galles Lake Road, the Yawning Wetlands. The scenery here looks gorgeous...

There's a lot of monsters roaming around the land...

We pick a fight with Pixies...they're usually light-elemental spellcasters, vulnerable to martial-type artes.

Snakes still keep chasing us...

We jump to higher plateaus, and see over a vine-covered boulder.

Rokurou burns away the vines with a sweep of his hand before rolling the boulder over to the lake...

Jump, jump, jump, jump over to the other side of the lake...

We see a skunk-like monster, which is actually a Marmot!

Afterwards, we head to the north end of the Lake Road. There's a circle and an X marked at a point on the map in this area. This must be where another code red daemon is...

A few battles and some scavenging later, we jump to another plateau and roll another boulder into the water.

I see the code red daemon on the far side of the wetland, a dark aura emanating around them...

The code red daemon's a Medusa or a Naga Queen of sorts...

I do my best to avoid the code red daemon while collecting more Katz Spirits...

There's also a chest of the far end of where the daemon is...

It's so tempting to get the chest without going face-to-face against the daemon...

After getting the chest's contents, I leap away from the daemon's line of sight and head southeast...

I also pick up Calcite Boots from another silver chest!

We're now almost close to where Mendi's at.

More fights with Pixies...

We head to the southwest area, where we take the loot we missed here.

There's plenty of Marmots here as well...

Luckily, I didn't take this route since there's a wide gap of water here.

We double back to reach that area.

We make it! There's a Katz box situated in one of the plateaus around here.

After rolling a boulder into the water, I jump to the plateau where the Katz box is, barely dodging a battle with a Marmot!

We free the Katz and we get an Angel Halo!

While rolling a boulder, I spot another silver chest from afar!

But as I make land there, a whole fleet of monsters chase us!

We get an Aqua Ring!

After tons of battles, we head back to where Mendi's held hostage...

But, a surprise comes in the form of two guards, or Mercenaries. Even Rokurou notices.

Rokurou: "What on earth are guards doing here?"

They summon two malakhim!

Eizen notices it too.

Eizen: "They're no ordinary sellswords!"

I'm thinking they must have been former exorcists, but quit the Abbey.

I have Rokurou take care of the Primal Pythons, their malakhim, first.

After a semi-long battle, Rokurou asks what or who they were guarding. Velvet assumes the same thing I'm thinking: Mendi. Why, though?

We get a Courier's Ventite as a reward...

Turning a corner, we see a camp, and a few people sleeping around the pitched roofs there.

The camp's full of miners. But, what are they mining?

A man with a shovel's asking us if we took care of the mercenaries meant to watch the camp.

I wonder what these red gems are in these crates?

All the people here with pickaxes and shovels are still on guard...

Velvet asks where Mendi is. Mendi's here, and is relieved that he can go home.

Eizen's surprised that the Abbey, or another group, had him mine for vermillion ore.

Rokurou's curious about what vermillion ore is. Laphicet explains. It's meant as a medicine, or an ingredient in medicine, but it's poisonous too...

So the people holding Mendi captive were making him make Nectar.

Vermillion ore's like a dangerous drug since it's so addictive...

Velvet asks if Mendi can make it out on his own. He can. The mining captives also join him back on the way to town.

Speaking to a man nearby, I learn that vermillion ore's red because they're naturally formed by volcanoes...he also tells us that a "fire-breathing dragon" used to reside in Galles Lake Road.

It seems we actually freed the miners from the mercs who forced them to make Nectar. Yes! For a second there, I thought they were from the same guild the mercs were from.

Not taking any chances, I use up a Holy Bottle to avoid the endless encounters on the way back...

I save outside the road to the wetlands and make our long way back...

We get huge treasure from another expedition: Twins' Clothes, and a Pirate Flag! Who were the twins, though?

I read dialogue between Laphicet and Rokurou explaining the Twins' Clothes. They were worn by mimics. Rokurou does not know what a mimic is. Laphicet explains.

Rokurou even makes a malapropism here: "a nasty pair of dogs," or a nasty paradox.

A few battles around the gates of Loegres, and we head for the tavern...

Skit: Eizen and Rokurou point out that the Shepherd and the Abbey have gained enough power to "be the Empire now."

Velvet loathes the idea of the Shepherd as "the Savior of Humanity."

Eizen and Velvet mention the Shepherd's speech about the "blessings of Innominat."

Eizen also says that malakhim aren't sure of who or what Empyreans actually are outside of legends and tales...

He also wonders why the Shepherd calls Innominat the "fifth Empyrean" when there's only four of them.

Laphicet also doesn't know about this growing development.

Velvet advises caution, knowing that the Shepherd can do anything, even lie, to get what he wants. She's also doubtful that the Shepherd has bound a god to his whim...

Eizen knows that the Abbey could make that possible, saying not to underestimate them. If an organization can submit a god to their will, that's a really big indicator of how strong they are, or could be.

Hence why Velvet's using the shadow guild to bring them down.

We talk to a blond woman in black and red outside the tavern with a beast icon above her head. She rewards us for taking care of the masked daemon bat from Hadlow Hollow.

We head inside and talk to the woman in black.

We take on the ambush stopping job next, which calls on us to stop a planned ambush for the Royal Medical Society...

Laphicet and Eizen give a background of the RMS, who are funded by ordinary people.

Rokurou asks good questions here:
Why would anyone want to ambush a group of doctors?
And why would a shadow guild protect them for?

My guesses are that they may have aided in a few Bloodwings, or may have done some work for them...