MKDA has my favorite take on Reptile, even if it's because he was literally going insane.
I miss pirate Nitara too. There's absolutely room in MK for a pirate.
Vampires of the DA era are of impressive size.
The game manual post had some technical difficulty, so I split it. If the prior post is hidden, it's because tumblr is labeling "mature" likely by auto error.
The Japanese manual, for reference.
"How are we on your list?" ask Luminița, "We fell from-" She looks up to the completely normal ceiling. She sputters in confusion.
Lurentooz smiles, as best as a cluster of tendrils posing can be considered to be. "Let me show you to your rooms."
In spite of being a trans-dimensional vessel, the Love Craft looks very much like an extravagant sea vessel. The fancy wood is clearly of alien origin, but still distinctly wood. The other main material is mysterious; it is as a hard white liquid, but neither earthen nor organic. Most of the vessel's exterior is made of this unnatural substance.
The trio has little chance to protest as they are led to their cabins and advised as to the hot mingling spots.
J: As tired as I was, I was not climbing into a strange bed in a strange world.
Feeling peckish, Jevoi makes her way to the dining hall. A veritable menagerie of beings sit at dozens of white-clothed tables. Merry feasting and conversations fill the room. The banter is incomprehensible to the gex for it largely is in languages she cannot speak.
Alone with her thoughts, a marilith in a sleeveless green dress sits picking at a piece of meat. Jevoi takes care not to stare as she crosses the room to the bar.
The bartender, a floating multieyed spherical creature, greets her with a smile. His ID labels him Yyzax.
"What can I getcha?" he asks, his central eye staying focused on her, while his eye stalks continue to observe the room.
In spite of (or perhaps, because of) her mother, Jevoi struggles to answer the question. "Something ...buggy?" she spits out.
As Yyzax mixes a drink with his eye beams, he says, "Saw you eyeing that lonely lady."
"Yeah?" says Jevoi defensively, "Is there a problem?"
"Nah," says Yyzax, sliding a cockroach cocktail to Jevoi, "Just saying what I'm seeing." His smile says a lot.
Jevoi takes the drink and then takes a drink. Its meat gives her a slight buzzing feeling. She looks at the demon again, a titanic woman. She's going to do it. She's going to talk to her. Just as soon as she can remember how.
The shady little lady suddenly grew twice as large. Her outfit pulls apart as she returns to her natural size, exposing scaly limbs and belly. The dark cloak is barely a cape now. The gex licks her own eyes. "G'day, mate," she says, "This do?"
Dr. Ling puts her claw on the fake lycan, whose image fades away, leaving only a blonde gnome guardswoman behind.
"Sorry for wearing your daughter's face, Ma'am," says Tanglepork, "But we had to make sure the trail was safe."
"Why wouldn't it be?" Ioana squints her eyes.
"Chil-"
"Claims of a strange svelte man lurking out here," says Ling, "Leaving messages about."
"Oh, him," says Ioana, opening her door wide, thus allowing to see her fully. An elderly lycan, her fur is greying in numerous places. She is clad in a thick pastel floral-print nightgown. "Come in, dears."
They do.
The old cabin is decorated in many old furs, hunting trophies, and small bookcases. It is divided into three rooms a simple kitchen, a comfy bedroom, and the main room with a rocking chair and a stool by a fireplace.
The elderly lycan sits in the rocking chair as Ling closes the door behind her. "Come, sit," she says.
Tanglepork sits on the stool, while Ling manifests a bone chair.
"Now, what's this about that night creeper?" asks Ioana, "What has he done?"
"We're not certain yet," says Tanglepork, "But we suspect him of the kidnapping, or worse, of several children."
"Ya wouldn't have seen any kids of late, right?" asks Ling.
"No, only my little Loomy," says Ioana, rocking, "Last week exactly."
"How long has Note-boy been out here?" asks Ling.
"And what's he look like?" asks Tanglepork.
"Less than a week," says Ioana, "He's a tall elvenoid — twice an elf, in fact — in a fancy suit, like from the old cities, but his face: it's wrong." She rubs her paws on her face. "He looks like you- er, like whoever is looking at him."
Ling leans to the side and asks, "So ya've spoken to someone who's seen him too?"
Ioana face droops. "Y-yes, a few neighbors."
"Can you tell us where these neighbors live?" asks Tanglepork, "The woods are pre~tty~ big."
"Of course, I can, dears," says Ioana, eyeing them with a sigh, "But it's so lonely being so far out here. Could you stay a while longer?"
J: Mum, tell me you didn't. L: Does it really surprise ya...
The chamber for Vanessa is as white as the rest of the shrine, but with a splash of color upon the pulpit coming through the stained glass window depicting the goddess' most common appearance: six winged eyes encircling a larger one, all wreathed in golden flame and squished as if concealed by unseen eyelids. A stack of prayer mats are tucked in the corner by the door. The altar stands less than a meter in front of the pulpit; it's supports resemble a bed frame decorated with engravings of the goddess' eyes with inset jewels for their pupils.
As Maraja approaches the altar, Ling slips up to the pulpit and stares into the window. Maraja and Kalyani begin praying and the eyes of glass give a brief twinkle.
L: Weren't really listening to what they were saying. It didn't look like it was working anyway, so, after ten minutes or so, I joined in as respectfully as I could.
"Oi, ya heavenly b*****d!" yells Ling, "Your girls need your help. Get down here!"
Kalyani gasps in shock.
"Hold your tongue," says Maraja, "You can't act like that here."
L: Though, my wizardly ways were less than appreciated.
Ling pounds on palms onto the pulpit persistently. "Ya dumb b***c," she yells again, "We came to see you."
L: And maybe the drink had its say too.
The blessed women grab Ling and attempt to pull her from the room. She clings on, yelling at the window.
"Thhiss behaviour iss unaccceptable," says Kalyani, "You are more likely to incur divine wrathh thhan aid."
L: But it worked.
A bright light fills the room as the goddess Vanessa emerges from the glass, her eyes and wings shimmering and a weaving of colors spirals behind her.
L: I'll never forget what we first said to each other. I told her, "Your radiance is blinding."
"Hey, ya glowing c**t," shouts Ling, desperately covering her unblinking eyes with her hands, "The room's white as snow, ya drongo!"
L: I doubt any mortal's said anything like that to her.
J: You expect to believe she knew you already? L: Why wouldn't she? Of course, the Love Goddess'd heard of me. J: And you're proud of that? D: What are you talking about?
"Are ya going to help her or not?" asks Ling, her voice as flat as someone investigated by a blind elephant.
"I heard ya," says the wizard, "Ya can deal with me after ya help your champion rescue her girlfriend." She licks her eyes and resumes staring into the largest of Vanessa's.
Maraja resists correcting this statement, too afraid to speak in the presence of an angry god.
L: Angry's overselling it; irate, maybe?
L: It's an odd question, right? Took me a second to get it. Why wouldn't she just strike me down without being there?
"Ah, I see," says Ling, "This is a trial, right? Gods love trials. Ya already said ya knew me."
L: So we did a trial and I passed. D: What was the trial? L: Oh, uh, it was just some questions to prove... that I understood- understood... the concept of love. J: ... L: Shut up, Jevoi. That trial took several hours. Several long, glo- I mean, long, tedious hours.
Chihiro is troublesome little boy. He likes to throw frogs at people.
POV: The enemy leader is afraid of your pet frog.
Mikado, Red Shadow (also known as Hotarubi), Jo, and Hongou all react to this frog in this over-dramatic way. This behavior is tied to their movelist, so any character can be made to react this way.
POV: A grown woman, who is also a samurai assassin (and might be able to hear the dead), is afraid of your pet frog.
POV: You found the only ninja that doesn't like frogs.
POV: That one girl in class thinks she's so cool.
POV: You found the guy that's bullying your brother.
POV: That girl came back! She's friends with the bully!
In their defense, it's a big frog. It also continues to move around the stage and can jump off ledges. It is a pain to pick back up in first person mode.
Further, nothing is stopping any character from picking the frog up and throwing back into Chihiro's face.
What a lovely tribute to our beloved sun goddess.
We painted a new Shiranui zodiac piece this year featuring all the brush god constellations!
(Shiranui themself is in front of the Hanagami, but we did paint them. They're still there. It counts)
Here are some some details and pictures from the games' official manuals.
Mikado and her Shainto counterpart Kaun face off.
The manual pairs her with Jo as speed-type. The stats the ladies have are similar with the four swords, but the polearms are a different story. The Shainto spear is Jo's worst weapon, but the Narukagami naginata is Mikado's best. Mikado and Kaun have the maximum speed and power with the big pointy sticks!
Mikado's stats with each weapon, if you're curious are:
Weapon-----Power----Speed
Naginata----22/22----15/15 Same as Kaun with Yari (Jo is 15 and 12)
Broadsword-15/22-----12/15 Same as Jo
Katana-------12/22-----14/15 Slower than Jo
Nodachi-----15/22-----13/15 Much weaker than Jo (18)
Longsword--10/22----14/15 Slower than Jo (Tied for the weakest Char/Weapon combo in the game.)
Notes: The lowest normal power is 10 and speed is 12. NPCs and the secret duo are above the limit. Mikado is weaker and slower than Kaun with all swords except being as fast with the katana.
In the original game, Mikado and Black Lotus (aka Kokuren, aka James, aka Highwayman) are the medium characters. Sadly, I haven't found the character stats in BB1 yet.
Also, that codename: Gate of the God's Descent. That's even cooler than my nickname for her: the Empress.
Mikado and Tatsumi face off, back when she was balance and he was speed.
These scans came from Archive.org, so that's why the text is scrunched like that.
Jevoi awakens slowly. Her body greatly resists separation from the bed, adhering itself to it like honey. With considerable effort, she rises.
The cabin's shower is pleasant and its water warm. As she cleans her scales, Gank keeps watch on the cabin. The ship's distractions may not avail the lawgnome's thievish intent.
There had been no disturbances during the night, or whatever could be considered night in space. Does time even flow here in this outer void?
'She's here,' thinks Gank, 'Keep the water on.'
Jevoi slips silently back into the cabin's other room. Despite the door out still being shut, Jevoi can clearly see the gnome searching her things. Naked, but armed, Jevoi sneaks closer.
Tanglepork suddenly turns around, gun drawn. "Walked right into this, Kiddo," she says, "Where's it at?"
"Where's what?" asks Jevoi.
"Don't be coy~, Jevoi~," sings Tanglepork, "The faeriedust: where is it?"
"You think I'm some addict?" snarls Jevoi, still dripping wet, "Why would I have that?"
"You make it?" Tanglepork's voice carries sarcastic confusion. "I'm the one keeping my overzealous deputies from undoing your mommy."
"Cretin," yells Jevoi, "You have done my mum!"
"Every woman in town has done your mommy," Tanglepork rolls her pretty little eyes, "Regardless, you need to pay your taxes~."
"I'm not bribing you," says Jevoi, "How did you even get in here?"
L: I wish.
A: She doesn't pay taxes?
J: That's not- can we focus here?
"I asked Lurentooz for the key." Tanglepork holds up a purple tendril-esque key; it squirms in her hand. "Even out here, the law is abided."
"Do ya remember," asks Ling to Dalini, "What I told ya about the sun?"
"Yeah," says the little one, releasing her grip on the wizard's robe, "The sun used to shoot light of the hole in it: shoosh." She wiggles her arms in front of her. "And it span around and around: woooo woooo woooo." The older geckos watched her twirl about. "But you didn't say why it stopped," she said, pouting and no longer rotating.
"Should we tell her?" asks Ling, "Why doesn't the sun shine?"
Jevoi scowls. "Sure, let's tell her... exactly why. Let's tell her everything about that happened that day." Jevoi's face contorted into a wicked smile. "Let's not leave out a single detail."
Ling looked away. "Maybe it's too soon."
Dalini hopped around into Ling's view. "But you said-"
Ling raised her hand. "That story's too... long."
"Dalini," says Jevoi, "We can tell that story later, like after you come home." She cracks a little smile. "Do you know what a palace is?"
Dalini shakes her head.
"It's a big castle filled with all sorts of things. We can go there and you can meet your other mother, my wife. We can get you new clothes and your own room and anything you want to put in it."
Dalini's eyes sparkle in the light. She inhaled an audible gasp.
"She isn't going," says Ling, "Without me."
"Very w-"
"I'm not going, so rack off."
This happened when I ran Age of Ashes too. She got a great scene showing up to help in the sixth book.
Also she has a friend called Belmazog. She was a big bad villain who tried to summon a dark god of death and destruction to slaughter indiscriminately but she’s alright now.
Old enough to remember the NES. Pathfinder 2E DM. Fascinated by folklore, religion, mythology, and occultism. World's biggest Bushido Blade 2 fan. Really liking what's happening with indie animation lately.
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