Flipz

Well, I mean, to be fair there's been a dearth of Quests that can fail through non-battle means. There's a LOT of meat there that's just been left untouched recently. Even something like the brainwashed minions fight in 99, just with Quest failure instead of optional rep on the line, would be nice to see more often. (Not complaining about 147 here, just about Quests in general--the shared HP mechanic IS a good way of keeping the weaker enemies around for the weaker players to fight, I just don't want it to become the ONLY think like Level ??? was for a while.) Do keep in mind, though, that planning to burn through ALL of a party's resources isn't the best plan--it irritates players when they dump hundreds or even thousands of gold worth of consumables surviving, and then get very little back in gold and consumables to restock. I actually think Zeph did a really great job of it in the Dastan fights--the loot out-to-resources in ratio was just about perfect for our party's average Level and Power. At higher levels, Artifacts and weapons tend to diminish in value, as by then you've usually narrowed your build down pretty well and are just looking to augment or improve what you already have. To get back onto the subject, I do like to encourage my players to invest some resources into the fights, but at the same time I explicitly don't want to bleed them dry; on the scale of Monty Haul to Dark Souls I'd rather err slightly towards the former, especially since if I've done my job right the players will want to move on to their next Quest, and going in dry just is not a particularly pleasant sensation for anyone involved. I do appreciate how you've handled AoE this Quest. AoE should always be handled carefully, as it basically punishes all the players (through no fault of their own) for one character's poor luck. In my view, it's best to use it sparingly, and to make it a punishment for poor strategy more than for poor luck. If Heroica were pure RNG, it wouldn't really be fun; it's the combination of luck and strategy that pulls the game mechanics together. It's not just high-level and low-level divides, though, there's significant gaps in power curve based on classes and permanent boosts and builds as well. Additionally, as you start looking at the higher-level parties, you end up having to do at least some level-mixing, if only to avoid taking the same four Heroes through every single Quest you host; usually Level 30 Heroes can do just fine in a Level 40s-ish party, but again based on builds and boosts, the same gaps can appear. Additionally, as the overall player base gets smaller, you end up having to make mixed parties, particularly if you're paying off storylines that characters from multiple tiers have invested into. It's not a problem that's particularly easily avoided anymore, so it's definitely worth considering options.

<They have roamed the world since time immemorial. They were old when the First Mortals were young, even before the First Mortals Hope, Passion, and Regret became known as the Old Gods. The Old Gods themselves have seen their history woven into myth, then myth into legend, then legend into distant, threadbare memory. It is not beyond reason that the Old Gods or the Witches--or even both, as they often appear together--could have become known as the Fates of your people.> Miirym's azure eyes--a near-perfect mirror of her grandfather's--take on a dangerous, icy gleam. <But if your Fates are indeed the Witches, then I fear that your Wanderer either has, or will, pay a terrible price for their aid.> "...well, you're in a cheerful mood." <I suppose it runs in the family,> Miirym fires back flippantly. <Both sides of it, it seems...> she half-mutters, though with little venom behind the jab.

Guest QM Note: Goliath's HP is off for being a Level 2 Barbarian (it should be only 9 max); did he consume a permanent HP-increasing item, or was there just a copy-paste error somewhere? Round 1 of the Crimson Crown Crackdown: >Petaldan (Brine Blade) vs. The Cardinal - Damage (Petaldan: no deflection, 50/2=25-9=16 damage + Sealed) >Hunkan (Sharpened Fang Dagger) vs. Crimson Crown Elite Acolyte A - Hide Damage (Hunkan: hides) Goliath (Ebony Scorpion Spear) vs. Crimson Crown Apostle - Special Damage (Mark of the Order - Goliath: Doomed) >Kid (Crossbow) vs. Crimson Crown Elite Acolyte B - Damage (Kid: 10 damage) >Ezeran (Fire, Ancient Sapphamber Staff) vs. Crimson Crown Chemist Mob A - SHIELD Spell (Magic Burst - All enemies: 8+14+2=24*2*2=96 damage; Ezeran: -7 Ether) Ellaria (Mythril Mallet) vs. Crimson Crown Chemist Mob B - Hit Damage (Crimson Crown Chemist Mob B: 20+34=54*2*2=216 damage (KO!)) Ellaria (Mythril Mallet) vs. Crimson Crown Chemist Mob B Elite Acolyte A - Chrysopoeia Chrysopoeia (Ellaria: +1 Gold Bar) Sigil vs. Crimson Crown Chemist Mob A & Crimson Crown Chemist Mob B Elite Acolyte A - SHIELD (Summon - Wood spirit summoned; Sigil: -1 Ether) Free Hits: Crimson Crown Elite Acolyte C vs. Petaldan: 10-9= 1 damage Etherium Shutdown - No Sealing The Cardinal decides to take advantage of Petaldan's metaphorical bleeding heart by stabbing him in his literal one. Only the Knight's defensive stance saves him from fatality--a few centimeters to the left and his fate would have been as Sealed as the rest of him now is. Cowed by the display, Hunkan hides behind the rest of the party, his opponent's shot narrowly missing him. Goliath lumbers towards the Apostle threateningly, but only gets a facefull of Doom dust for his trouble. Kid, meanwhile, takes a bullet to the gut; his crossbow slips to the ground, the part-leprechaun barely able to stand. As the Crimson Crown prepares for what may well be a fatal volley, Ezeran and his symbiont suddenly erupt in an immense inferno, the fierce flames forcing their foes back into their own flames for even more mayhem. While none of the foes fall, the attack does leave the second group of chemists out of position, and Ellaria quickly clobbers them into submission. A Gold Bar falls free from one of their satchels, and the Alchemist quickly picks it up. Amidst the chaos and calamity, Sigil manages to summon some kind of spirit of Wood, ready to serve the Evoker next Round, but the Crimson Crown aren't quite finished, as the forgotten Elite shoots directly at the wounded Petaldan. He twists again, but the Knight can feel the bullet lodged mere milimeters from his heart. Six Crimson Crown members stand against six Heroes and their Imp ally. THE BATTLE CONTINUES!! Weather: Hot (fire-elemental attacks are doubled and ice-elemental attacks are halved). Note: A ring of fire surrounds the party. Switching rows will deal the Burned-5 effect. The party cannot flee. Note: The Mob counts as one target but is made up of individual members. As each member of the Mob is killed its stats lower, also until the Standing Party #>Mob # the Mob always gets a free hit. Enemies: The Cardinal Level 50 Humanoid *Attacks deal Sealed* *Immune to negative effects* Health: 904/1000 Special I: Etherium Reap - Halves the target's health and deals the Blind and Sealed-effects. Special II: Firebrand Arc - Deals fire-elemental damage to all opponents equal to their level, regardless of row or defense. The Cardinal also gains the ability to use fire-elemental attacks for the next round. Specials decided randomly. Passive Special: Etherium Shutdown - At the end of each round The Cardinal has a 1/6 chance to spread Etherium dust across the battlefield, dealing the Sealed-effect to all opponents for the following round. Drops: Etherium Ore (may applied to one weapon to allow it to deal the Sealed-effect permanently) Crimson Crown Apostle Level 30 Humanoid *Attacks deal Sealed* *Immune to Sealed, Stunned, Confused and Doomed* Health: 681/777 Special I: Mark of the Order – Crimson Crown Apostle deals the Doomed-effect. Special II: Life to the Order – One random Crimson Crown member dies and restores the Apostle to full health. Used when the Crimson Crown Apostle is below 400 health. Passive Special: Followers of the Order - Crimson Crown Apostle summons a random Crimson Crown member to join the battle at the end of every third rounds. 1/3 chance to summon an Acolyte Elite, 1/3 chance to summon a Chemist, and 1/3 chance to summon another Apostle. Drops: 100 gold, Etherium Pauldrons (SP:3, immune to sealed; backwear) Crimson Crown Chemist Mob A *Immune to poisoned* Level 15 Humanoid (5*3) Health: 204/300 (100*3) Special I: Healing Balm – Crimson Crown Chemist heals the enemy with the least health to full health and removes all negative effects from them. Special II: Injection – Crimson Crown Chemist gives a random Crimson Crown member a random positive effect, either encouraged, hastened, lucky, or inspired. Specials decided randomly, unless no enemy is injured. Drops: Mead, Smelling Salts, Nostrum, Mulled Wine Crimson Crown Acolyte Elite A *Back Row* Level 10 Humanoid Health: 84/180 Special I: Explosive Shot – Crimson Crown Acolyte Elite deals the Blinded-effect and deals 5 damage to all heroes ignoring row. Special II: Etherium Shot - Crimson Crown Acolyte Elite deals the Sealed-effect and deals 5 damage to all heroes ignoring row. Specials decided randomly. Drops: 25 gold, Etherium Handcannon (WP:10, deals Sealed) Note: Crimson Crown Acolyte Elite fights from the back row, so all non-ranged attacks will do half damage to him, while his attacks do full damage to heroes in back row. Crimson Crown Acolyte Elite B *Back Row* Level 10 Humanoid Health: 84/180 Special I: Explosive Shot – Crimson Crown Acolyte Elite deals the Blinded-effect and deals 5 damage to all heroes ignoring row. Special II: Etherium Shot - Crimson Crown Acolyte Elite deals the Sealed-effect and deals 5 damage to all heroes ignoring row. Specials decided randomly. Drops: 25 gold, Blind Bomb Note: Crimson Crown Acolyte Elite fights from the back row, so all non-ranged attacks will do half damage to him, while his attacks do full damage to heroes in back row. Crimson Crown Acolyte Elite C *Back Row* Level 10 Humanoid Health: 84/180 Special I: Explosive Shot – Crimson Crown Acolyte Elite deals the Blinded-effect and deals 5 damage to all heroes ignoring row. Special II: Etherium Shot - Crimson Crown Acolyte Elite deals the Sealed-effect and deals 5 damage to all heroes ignoring row. Specials decided randomly. Drops: 25 gold, Seal Bomb Note: Crimson Crown Acolyte Elite fights from the back row, so all non-ranged attacks will do half damage to him, while his attacks do full damage to heroes in back row. Party: Ezeran Yavarr (MysticModulus) 42 year old male human Mage Level 14.5 *Immune to wood and fire* *Absorbs Darkness* *Enemies that hits Ezeran become slowed* *Encouraged* *Lucky* *Nimble* Power Bonus: 0 (+2 spellpower) Defense: 3 Health: 18/18 Ether: 5/18 Gold: 3 Equipment: Ancient Sapphamber Staff (WP:8, doubled against Ancient enemies, Wind-elemental; staff), Sneezing Demon (SP:2; enemies that hit the wearer becomeslowed; immunity to wood and fire; suitable to Ezeran only; bodywear.), Hood of the Elementalist (SP:1, *Absorbs darkness*; headwear, suitable to anyone), Inventory: Emerald (Wood), Ruby (Fire), Scroll of Blindness, Remedy X3, Bedroll, Smoke Bomb, Pick Axe, Trickster’s Baubel (WP:6, each hit causes one random effect: stunned, poisoned by 1, asleep, blinded, sealed or confused; wand), Grand tonics X2, Potions X5 Hunkan Silvertoss (BountyBeast) 53 year old male dwarf Rogue *Immune to Blinded* *Lucky* Level 8 Power Bonus: 0 Health: 14/14 Gold: 166 Equipment: Ebony Scorpion Dagger (WP: 5, deals Poisoned-by-3), Goggles (Provides immunity to Blinded effect, Headwear) Inventory: Potion, Phoenix Essence, Mead, Remedy, Fire Bomb, Wooden Sword (WP:7; Suitable to Anyone), Shovel, Pickax, Sharpened Fang Dagger (WP:8, deals Bleeding-4; dagger) Ellaria Arbour (Sandy) ~Party Leader~ 25 years old female human Alchemist Level 34 3/4 *Immune to Fire* *Three rolls for Mixture* *Transfer poisoned and bleeding upon being hit* *No Free Hits for 3 rounds* *Encouraged* *Hastened* *Lucky* *Inspired* *Blessed* Power Bonus: 0 Defense: 6 (1+5) Health: 55/55 110/110 (9+33+10+1+2) Gold: 189 Equipment: Mythril Mallet (WP: 20, wood- and darkness-elemental; Hollow [-]; hammer), Rubber Gloves (For Mixture, the die is rolled three times instead of twice, and the highest two results determine the created item; suitable to alchemists; handwear.), Robe of the Magi (SP:1, suitable for mages, clerics, alchemists, chi monks, decamon drafters, necromancers, regulators, scholars and weather mages; bodywear.), Spider Helmet (SP:5, passes poisoned and bleeding effects to the enemy when the wearer is hit; immunity to fire; headwear), Spirit Robe (Renders wearer invisible to the enemy for the first three rounds of battle so they do not take free hits; backwear) Inventory: Weapons Ignis Fatuus (WP:13, permanently poisoned by 15, fire- and lighting-elemental staff), Sylvania's Crossbow (WP:10, wood-elemental crossbow), Pan Flute (WP: 7, instrument), Wizard's Staff (WP:1, fire-, wind-, water- and earth-elemental staff), Wormtail Whip (WP:15, earth-elemental, whip) Artifacts: Ranger's Quiver (WP: +1 to bows and crossbows, suitable for rangers, beast warriors, infiltrators, and winged warriors; backwear), Robe of the Archmagi (SP:3, Max Ether +5, protects from sealing; suitable for mages, clerics, necromancers, scholars and weather mages, bodywear), Cherokee Rose (Doubles potency of both incoming and outgoing restorative consumables and healing; suitable for Ellaria only; accessory.) Spell Items: Scroll of Inspiration (Inspired for rest of battle, 10 ether, 50/50 chance) Scroll of Sealing, Scroll of Frailty, Scroll of Weakening, Serenade of Water (Causes Water damage equal to the minstrel's level to all enemies per round for as long as the song is sung. Costs 10 ether per round. Battle Song) Consumables: 10 Grand Potions, Health Core, Arc Potion (restores 30 health to all allies), 4 Tonics, Diluted Arc Tonic (Restores 10 ether to all allies), 3 Grand Tonics, Ether Core, 2 Hyper Arc Tonics (Restores full ether to all allies), 2 Elixirs, Arc Elixir (Restores 60 health and 15 ether to all allies and removes negative effects.), 2 Remedies, Purifying Water (removes negative effects from all allies), Neutralizer, Tiger Balm, 2 Phoenix Essences, Last Resort (revives all knocked allies to 1 health), 3 Meads, 2 Smelling Salts, Nostrum, Soma, Mulled Wine, 2 Smoke Bombs, Holy Rain Bomb (Causes 20 water-, wind- and light-elemental damage to all enemies), Bad Breath (Poisoned by 1-effect to all enemies), Feather of White, Demon Repellent, Ancient Bone (Can be thrown at monsters to distract them for 3 rounds. Worth nothing, except in magic shops where it is worth 50 gold.) Tools etc.: Bedroll, Shovel, Pickaxe, Telescope, Magic Compass, Magnifying Glass, Chemistry Set (Allows the user to use Mixture outside of battle, costs 2 Gold Bars/un-modified roll, suitable for alchemists; tool), 4 Gold Bars Paladin Petaldan Parfenius (Played by Palathadric) 5-year-old male "wonder" Knight *Immune to Stunned, Bound, Petrified and Earth* *Sealed (3 Rounds)* Level: 12 Power: 16 Defense: 9 Health: 5/23 10+10+2* Gold: 153 Equipment: Brine Blade (WP: 5, 1/6 chance to trigger a Flood (see Weather Mage) when dealing damage, Longsword), Shield (SP: 5; Shield), Gloves of the Boy Wonder(SP:2; immunity to *Stunned*, *Bound*, and *Petrified*; suitable to Petaldan only; handwear), Really Hard Helmet (SP: 2, Immunity to Earth) Inventory: Weapons: Slimy Sword (WP:12, can be split into several weaker Slimy Swords or combined with other Slimy Swords to increase WP and split apart again at any time, Longsword) Gems: Emerald Consumables: 2x Grand Potion, 2x Remedy, Phoenix Essence, Ambrosia, 2x Smoke Bomb, Fire Bomb Tools: Bedroll Goliath (Goliath) Automaton Barbarian *Encouraged* *Doomed (3 Rounds remaining)* Level 2 Power Bonus: 0 Defense: 0 Health: 11/11 (8+2) Gold: 0 Equipment: Ebony Scorpion Spear (WP:5, deals Poisoned-by-3; spear) Inventory: Potion x4, Mead x3, Plasma Cutlass (WP:3; Greatsword), Magma Maul (WP: 6, 1/6 chance to trigger an Inferno (see Weather Mage) when dealing damage, hammer), Tonic x2, Bunch of 10 Cherries (Each cherry restores 1 ether when eaten), Smelling Salts, Nostrum, Blind Bomb, Dirt Bomb, Bedroll, Shovel, Rusty Pickaxe (tool; 1/3 chance to break with each use) Debts: 20 Gold (Torald) Kid Reddson (dum) 19-year-old Male Human (1/4 Leprechaun) Ranger Level 6 *Aims become Hits* Power Bonus: 0 Health: 1/11 Gold: 2 Equipment: Crossbow (WP 3), Quiver of Homing Arrows (Rolls of AIM become HIT; can only be used with a bow or a crossbow; backwear.) Inventory: 3 Smoke Bomb, 2 Potion, Phoenix Essence, Venom, Fire Bomb, Mead, Sterile Gloves (Grants Immunity to Poisoned and Bleeding effects, Handwear), Bedroll Sigil (controlled by Sandy) 29-year-old Male Imp Evoker Level 15 *Healing* *Counterstriking* Power Bonus: 0 Health: 22/22 Ether: 15/16 Defense: 2 Equipment: Claws (WP:5, dual-strike daggers suitable to Sigil, unremovable), Horns (SP:2, counterstriking; headwear suitable to Sigil, unremovable), Olegaian Wisdom (grants Healing job trait; accessory suitable to Sigil, unremovable) Inventory: Emerald, Garnet

"The Witches are...for lack of a better word, harbingers, of momentous, world-shaking events. They grant power and advice to certain individuals, but from what I've seen of it power so gifted must always come at cost. A strong ally of mine once described their deals as 'questionable', and it seemed to me he was being generous in his description." <Mallelio spoke of them in Dastan. They are Deci, Nona, and Morta, and they are associates of the Old Gods--the immortal remnants of the First Mortals who came into existence.> "They have grown more active, as of late. And that degree of activity forebodes great and terrible things to come." <At least they did not appear to us during our mission. I would have far more doubts as to our odds of success had they come forth to tempt us. Do not falter, Vindsval, Karie. Our victory is within reach. I have no doubt of that.>

Guest QM Note: Since Kid's player has not logged in for several days, can someone else please give actions for Kid?

A thought that just came to mind: Characters who are higher-level are more likely to make it through a battle than characters who are lower-level (through Artifacts, Artifact slots, higher health pools, more consumables, and just generally having more resources). Is this a good thing or a bad thing? As an argument for "good thing", characters at higher levels need more experience to level-up, so while a Level 40 or higher character will likely make it through 5 out of 6 battles, they need to actually meet those odds to level up, whereas a Level 5 character only needs to survive one of those battles to increase their Level (and the benefits of leveling are a lot more impactful to a low-Level character than a high-level character). Additionally, high-Level characters should be stronger and tougher than low-Level characters because of all the time and effort they've invested into attaining their status. As an argument for "bad thing", it puts a barrier of entry into the game, where high-level characters tend to breeze through battles while low-levels hang on the edge of death; similarly, low-level characters often end up sitting around doing nothing because the Big Bad Major Enemy with a massive health pool and a ridiculous Power will one-shot low-level characters several times over while the high-level characters can take two or even three hits to drop. In addition, low-level characters NEED every point of HP they can get just so they CAN survive battles, whereas at high levels just one or two points of HP don't do much for your overall survivability. So which perspective is right? What can be done on the QM side to even or reverse these odds? Are things like level-matching ("Level ??") enemies enough? What about things like Endgame's shared-HP mechanic? Do these actually change the survivability dynamic, or are there other factors in play that need to be addressed as well? Just food for thought.

Guest QM Note: Hey, everyone, your friendly neighborhood guest QM here! I'll be rolling your rounds while JimBee's away. Guest QM Note: For the Acolyte Elites, they're already stated to be chosen randomly; likewise, the Apostle only uses its second special when it's below 400 HP. For all other enemies, I'll alternate the Specials, unless JimBee pops in to say otherwise.

OOC: 1/6 deflect chance for shield-bearers? "The Witches." <Deci, Nona, Morta. Mallelio spoke of them in Dastan--about when he spoke of you, actually.> "They're active again now, you know. I hear Heroica has had more than one run-in with them...not all of them positive." <That bargain you made...surely you do not believe it was without cost?> She lands briefly, gesturing at the assembled party, ready to strike once more. <This...this is that cost. I am that cost. On this night your debt is being reclaimed.> "Do it next Round. This round, all of us need to attack the left wing from the Front Row. We can stack a lot of damage on it if we do, and Vindsval's angel will handle the Free Hits and any attacks thrown at us." Arthur attacks the Left Rapturewings with his Gladiator Trident from the Front Row, twice. Miirym uses her Breath on the Left Rapturewings from the Front Row, twice. OOC: That is correct, yes.

OOC: I could have sworn I gave Thormy my Noxious Venom and Crumbling venom ages ago, when he first bought the Splattering venom...? If Arthur is in danger of KO, he uses his second action to meditate with the First Breath, otherwise he repeats.

OOC: No, Sealed only applies on physical attacks, and you cast spells but didn't get SHIELDs. They should be Fragile, though.

Soo...I did a thing. I may have gone overboard. Looooots of redlinks there, and more than a few sections where more photos would be nice. It'd be great if people could fill some of those in. ...dagnabbit. Curse you, excessive numbers of open tabs!

Yes, absolutely. In general, excess tags play havoc with indentation and line breaks both, it's really bad. Generally, color transitions tend to introduce the most excess tags, but I've seen paragraph breaks and bold/indent formatting trigger them as well, particularly if the text has been copied and pasted into the rich-text editor from somewhere else (including copied and pasted within the editor itself).

OOC: Never mind, Fenghuang Incense. ...aaand ninja'd. I'm also assuming his drops are logically non-stealable?

OOC: I hate to say it, but shouldn't Lind's second attack have been cancelled by his being KO'd? Miirym next makes Thormanil and then Arx Lucky, repeating on Thormanil if initially unsuccessful. Arthur repeats (Gladiator Trident vs. Immortalis from Back Row). Neither says a word.

Your tags need cleaning. Unfortunately, I'm going to be too busy through the weekend to try and fix it all up. On that note, this weekend is the final Splatfest in Splatoon, which means 90% of my time is going to go towards playing it. I might miss an update or two, but I should be back to 100% on Monday or Tuesday.

Arthur bounces slightly on his heels, eager for the rush of battle to distract from the tragedy that already had and would continue to unfold. Above him, unbeknownst to the Dragoon, Miirym's calm circling belies the same desire, merely better hidden. The Dragon notes her adoptive father's mild lack of composure. Like father, like daughter, she muses to herself as she continues to focus her will.

OOC: Bonus points for putting it on a dual-strike weapon that can splash the poison twice per successful hit.

OOC: Yeah, Confused doesn't splatter, but by splattering Poisoned across all body parts we massively increase the damage over time, which is the best way to get his health down.

OOC: Arthur should be Encouraged, and I don't recall him using the Phoenix Incense he had in his Duplovian Swift Halberd's Hollow Blade? Also, "Bleeding, Poison, Bleeding, and Fragile"? Was one of those "Bleeding"s supposed to be Burning? Also, if Confused (say, from Noxious Venom and/or splattering Noxious Venom, hint hint Thormy ) tricks part of Immortalis into Electrocuting himself, would that fall under the same lack of immunity? Miirym makes Arthur Lucky. Arthur attacks Immortalis with his Gladiator Trident from the Back Row. If given a second action, he repeats; if Miirym successfully made Arthur Lucky, she tries to make Siercon Lucky, otherwise she repeats.

"The fact that we're even having this conversation means that Miirym could not convince you to back down. And if she could not...I don't believe the rest of us can, either. So only one plan remains." Arthur unlimbers his weapons, as prepared for battle as he could be. "We stop you. No matter what it takes." With a glance back at Immortalis and Arx, Miirym takes to the skies, circling the soon-to-be battlefield before sweeping down behind Arthur. <I am sorry that it must come to this. But at least now I understand that this moment could not have unfolded any other way.>

Arthur partakes from the mead being passed around, then uses a Nostrum each on Jinnifer and Vindsval. "Gabriel, go ahead and smoke that last cigar of yours. No sense not using it now..."

"This is a bad idea, Vindsval. Let him go. Let him be with Telethia. Look, you didn't even bind all of his wounds..." With a frown, Arthur places his hand over a large wound in Charon's chest, ironically a wound from a handcannon round mirroring the one that had felled Telethia. As Vindsval keeps moving across the battlefield, Arthur stumbles a little, then steps away, worn from his exertions. "Like I said, I'm not going to strike him down now. But helping him here...well, I suppose saving Glaz and Corvis worked out. But unlike them, he's not shown the slightest inclination of good, nor did he attack non-fatally as they did--not to mention the way he held the city hostage. Best to have some insurance if we insist on saving him." Arthur's frown only deepens, as he mulls over his values that have come at odds with each other. He scrawls a note and seals it, walking up to Vindsval once more and tucking it into the archangel's robes. Oddly, Arthur flashes a glance at Karie before answering. "I...no. No, I can't believe she'd do that. I fear for her, but she is...let's say 'strong-willed' for politeness' sake. I can't believe she'd be swayed by Immortalis' arguments, no matter how persuasive. If anything, it would be the other way around...but alas, I don't believe that is the case, unfortunately."

"Karie, might I suggest we just pop one of those Arc Meads now? Would save us all some supplies, and we've all been burning through ours like nuts tonight." "Hm?" Arthur looks down at the body. "...sh*t, I could've sworn I'd killed him with that last attack. I'm not okay with striking him down while he's helpless, but I'm fine with waiting for him to die on his own--he is still bleeding, after all. Bastard doesn't deserve our help, and even if he did..." Arthur stares down the long hall. "Miirym hasn't made it back to us. And Immortalis didn't swoop in and call off his lackey. That can only mean that she's failed. So now, if we've got to fight the big guy, we need every advantage we can get."

Good to see you back! Sorrow has your items for our trade in the Hall.

Arthur shoots Jinnipher an appraising look, comparing her strength to that of the rest of the party's armor. "...all right, I guess the only one in danger of redirected attacks right now is you yourself. But if other people start attacking out of line and we all start going down to our own blades, don't say I didn't warn you." Arthur looks to Karie. "Don't bother with the Rapid March, it's a waste of Ether for you at this point, Ether we'd be better off conserving for the final battle. Besides, it's not safe for even me to attack more than once in a Round--I could knock someone out, and I don't want to take that risk." With his second action (if Karie doesn't cancel the Rapid March), Arthur uses a Grand Potion on the party member with the lowest health who's not already being targeted by another healing action.