We decided to camp outside again, recovering from our injuries and relaxing. Due to a mishap involving an unattended lamp, an old forgotten curse, an apple pie, an awkwardly placed lance, and an errant gust of wind, SAE ended up spending the night in Palutena's tent and the two spent much of the evening into the long hours of the night discussing dark magic. By the time morning came around, SAE has decided she wanted to study dark magic and become a Sorcerer. Based on her new powers, none of us really wanted to challenge her decision.
SylveonsAndEspurrs reclassed into Sorcerer!
In the morning, we all wandered back into the temple to visit Naga and look into saving another batch of kids from their unfortunate doom.
<Naga> Welcome back! Ready for another round of "save the kids"?
<Drohn> 4 gemstones down, so this last group has the last gem and the Fire Emblem itself, yes?
<Naga> Actually, that last group managed to make it back to Ylisstol just fine. They were the first ones back and hooked up with IE pretty handily.
<Drohn> Then what's the problem?
<Naga> The problem is that the Fell Dragon itself is going after their asses and IE's too, right at home. If IE is lost, then nothing you've done at all means anything because she's the only one alive anymore that can actually do anything good with the Emblem.
<Athena> ... You mean we're actually going to be going against Grima?!
<Naga> What, is that a problem? I mean, you guys were planning on fighting Grima in your own time too, weren't you?
<Drohn> Well, yeah, but... not yet!
<Athena> There's still lots of leveling we have to do.
<IE> I don't even have Galeforce yet!
<Naga> *sigh* Fine, man you guys are a bunch of pansies.
<Athena> Well, since you'd be transporting us to a specific time in this other world anyway that isn't affected by time over here... maybe we could go train some more and then come back later and kick Alt-Grima's ass then?
<Naga> Yeah, that should be fine. See you later!
We all breathed a bit easier as we exited Outrealm Naga's temple, none of us quite ready for an encounter with Grima yet. We continued on our way towards the Outrealm Gate, at least until we were interrupted by... Anna?
<Anna> Help! Help! I am een need of ze help!
<Drohn> Er...Anna? That is, well, Outrealms Fake-French Anna... Are you feeling all right?
<French Anna> Hon hon! You are très clever.
<Athena> What do you need?
<French Anna> Could you destroy ze Entombed zat are pouring out of zees ruins? Zey have been raiding our village and stealing all ze crops from ze fields!
<Drohn> That's terrible! ...Wait, there's a village inside the ruins? How is that even possible? And wait... What kind of a monster zombie thing eats vegetables?
<French Anna> Zey are alternotte, chérie! Eet is ze alternotte world!
<Drohn> Right. Well, um... Look, we were just making our way to the Gate to get back to our own world. If we lent you some weapons, I'm sure you could take care of a few corpses...?
<French Anna> Moi? I am just ze poor defenseless woman pretending to have ze ridiculous accent! I cannot actually do ze fighting. *Sigh* A pity... If you cannot help, I weel just have to wait for ze next passersby. Meanwhile, ze villagers will starve... I can peekture ze lamentations of ze women and ze children even now...
<Cinesra> Oh, dear me, we cannot leave this lady in distress!
<French Anna> ... "Zat pumpkin, he was like ze son to me! And now he haz been eaten!" ...
<PMJ> Even if she does sound like a weird French version of that old man we finally shoke off a few days ago.
<French Anna> ... "Mama, ze children in ze other villages have potatoes, but not me!" ...
<Keeper> Days? Man, it feels like this playthrough hasn't been updated in weeks!
<French Anna> ... "Mon amour, I warned you not to dress like ze tomato! Show me zose bite marks..."
<Drohn> What? Why would anyone...? That doesn't even make sense! ...Fine. FINE. We'll kill all the damn creatures for you. All right?
<French Anna> Merci! Bon chance! Tee hee! *wink*
<Drohn> Le sigh... Alright everyone, let's get going.
<French Anna> Non! Zere are too many of you for all to come. I shall take 6.
<Drohn> Alright then. Draw straws everyone for who gets to go on Risen-killing duty.
<Keeper> Oooh, ooooh, pick me! Pick me! Dead things! I love dead things! Especially when I get to kill them again. That's a very special experience.
We did actually keep a bundle of straws ready to assign various chores and tasks, and Drohn whipped them out for us. The lucky winners ended up being me, Cinesra, Drac, IE, SAE, and Celever. Keeper was the most disappointed out of everyone with this turn of events. We geared up and followed French Anna into the ruins. The majority of the enemies were in the main corridor, though I sent IE and Cinesra to go down the side paths to clean up any stragglers. Soon, we were engaged in battle.
<Athena> Fighting vegetarian zombies ought to make for an interesting experience... nope, just like fighting regular zombies. Shame, really. I was hoping for something more impressive from the Outrealms.
<Cinesra> I heard somewhere that the Entombed are like the Risen's nobles. Not very noble of you to purloin carrots and cabbages from the weak, though. I fear I must bury you in the name of upper-class beings everywhere!
<Drac> Attacking crop thieves brings back many colorful memory! Drac only needed to flex muscles, and bad men run crying to mother. *Sniff* Was good times...
<Celever> I sometimes pick stuff off the ground and eat it, too. But never other people's property! That's just rude. Guess it's time for Nowi teach you some proper manners!
<IE> Entombed in the Outrealms? They must have come from my future. ...Gods, their journey was rougher than mine if they've turned to vegetables. Such unnatural suffering must be ended with all due haste.
<SAE> Mmm... I smell stew. Delicious! *sniff, sniff* Oh, is that coming from you? You stew the vegetables right in your belly? That's... completely foul. ... So why is it still making me hungry?
The monsters were dispatched with ease, thankfully. It wasn't long before the remnants ran off to the hills, a job well done.
<French Anna> Et voila! Ze Entombed are no more!
<Athena> Indeed. It was actu--
<French Anna> But ze Entombed spring up like weeds, oui? So come back anytime you are looking for ze shallenge!
<Athena> You mean everything we just did was for nothing....?
<French Anna> No doubt ze villagers weel weep tears of joy to zee you again.
<Drohn> Right. Because we can save their precious vegetables... Vegetables they somehow grow amidst stony ruins... Vegetables threatened by...vegetarian...monsters...
<French Anna> Exactement! Zee you again zoon, monsieur!
<Everyone> facepalm.jpg
At least the diversion didn't take us long, even if it was super weird. However, we weren't on the road for very long until disaster struck...
<Light> Egads! My purse, it's gone! How will I ever be able to keep up with regional fashions if I don't have my money!
<Cinesra> No worries my dear, I can always-- gah, my money's gone too!
<Keeper> Well, uh, don't look now, but there's a group of Risen cackling evily and running in that direction while shaking a bunch of money bags. And not just Light's either, it looks like...
<TT> *sigh* Beaten at my own game of thievery. I'll never live this down... And why'd you have to go and take my sweets, too? Take my gold, but leave the sugary stuff alone, damn you!
<Cinesra> Those blasted ghouls pilfered my entire savings. We should strike back at once! Teach them a lesson about touching my- Er... That is, they could go on to rob others! We must strike for future generations' sake!
<Drohn> Right. And certainly not out of greed or embarrassment...
<Palutena> How dare you steal my toolkit. I would have GIVEN you my gold. But the lock of Athena's hair in that pouch was...priceless. Return it now, or I will kill you a thousand times over!
<Drac> Have they no principle, stealing from gentleman like Drac? Now Drac completely broke! For shaming on you! Drac think naughty Risen need iron spanking!
<Athena> So you guys were saving up money on the side, eh? Perhaps I've been managing the army's finances a bit too strictly... The least I can do is win back my friends private savings.
<Celever> I don't bother with gold, so you're wasting your time with me. All I've got is my pouch for food, my pouch for dragonstones, and my...HEY! Where's my pouch for sparklies?! Give me back my sparklies, you creep!
<SAE> While I'm hardly attached to material possessions, this hurts quite a bit. It took a lot of hard work to save up that emergency fun, you know! And I mean, they stole from a child! Have they no shame at all?
<Keeper> My bag is gone too, huh. The stuff in there'll probably just kill them slowly and painfully, but I'm a nice guy, so I'd be happy to finish them off quickly...
<IE> I cannot allow them to carry on like this any longer. You'll die on my blade before you trouble my father and friends again!
<Drohn> Alright, fine, let's go... *sigh* Why in the seven hells am I fighting for someone else's nest egg? I don't think I've had a less inspiring cause in my whole life...
We quickly geared up and ran after the fleeing Risen, chasing them into a large, abandoned building of some sort. They weren't particularly strong, even the toughest, and soon we had all of the monsters slaughtered, and their ill-gotten gains in a pile in the middle of the ruins.
<Drohn> There. All the gold we took back from the Risen in one big pile. Gods, look at it all... You guys were keeping all this? We're fighting a war here! Our army could use this money! Better weapons, new armor, more--
<Light> Yes, yes, very impressive. Can I have my gold back now, please?
<Drohn> Right, as if you could carry it all yourself... Light... I know you're a noble lady and you have expensive tastes and all, but what were you thin--
<Light> 27 gold, please.
<Drohn> ...Come again?
<Light> 27 gold. You know, as many as all of your fingers and toes plus seven more? That's how much gold was in my purse. Actually, I'll also take an extra gold to reimburse me for the loss of the purse itself. 28 gold, please.
<Cinesra> 13 gold, here.
<Drohn> Thir... teen...?
<Light> Are you deaf?
<Drohn> No, I just... I expected your share of the gold to be...
<Light> Bigger? Well, yes, I am rather rich, but you don't think I carry all of that around with me, do you? Most of my wealth is back home and carefully secured in the form of jewels and fine artwork. All I carry with me on the road is a bit of pocket money to keep up with fashions. Really now.
<Drohn> Then where did the rest of all this gold come from?!
<Cinesra> All this gold? All what go-- ...Oh by the Gods! Don't tell me all of that came from just those Risen?! Someone in this army must've been getting ready to open a bank!
<TT> Haha, no way any one of us could have been carrying this much on them in their pockets, not even close. Trust me; I know how much you can cram into a pocket. I will take my sweets bag, though...
<Drohn> So, if this isn't ours... who did the Risen take it from?
<Athena> I guess we'll never know.... but didn't you say the army could use the money? Once everyone's taken what's theirs, I don't think anyone else will object to us keeping the rest for new weapons and other finances.
<Keeper> Can I sleep on a giant pile on money tonight, pretty please? I've always wanted to!
It actually was getting rather late, and so we decided to spend the night in the ruins, another mostly pointless day stuck in the Outrealms.