Game Manual 1.5

WLC 6.F: One Last Shot

The lycan, Ioana, stands in her nightgown wearing a simple jacket, Ling's wig in hand. "What is going on down here?"

"Oi, my hair." Ling holds up her hands in front of her, inviting Ioana to throw it her way. "Thanks for that."

"Deputy, where are the others?" asks the sheriff, "Also, my knife?"

"I'm the only one, sir," says Tanglepork, saluting, "And it's in the pond, sir."

"Then why didn't you grab it?"

"The fair lady will only give it to its owner: you."

"A man's got to do everything around here."

"Shove it, mate," says Ling, adjusting her wig, "First is the witches. We con-"

"Oh, new guests!" shouts Zingiber, twitching with excitement, Gudrun right behind her.

"Which one do ya want, Doctor?" asks Gudrun, "Ya've earned it."

"The bl'ell are ya spouting now?" yells Ling.

"Wait, who's what?" sputters Tanglepork.

"Deputy, get the men," says Honeycrisp, his nostrils flaring, "I'll handle this brainjacking b***h."

"Ya took control of him?" asks Gudrun.

"Are you throwing us under the cart?" asks Zingiber.

"Officer," whispers Ioana to Tanglepork without looking away from the witches, "I think we need to get out of here."

"What are ya trying to pull, Gudrun?" Ling adjusts her cloak.

"Porky." "Deputy." "Officer." "Gnome." "Little thing." The voices blended together, contradictory commands overlapping pulling the gnome's attention apart in a dizzying cacophony.

BANG

"Oh," says Ioana, stumbling forward, "Why?"

Tanglepork's gunhand trembles as she stares into the hole in the back of Ioana's head. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Yes," growls Ioana, turning to face her attacker, her face contorting savagely, "I do."

"Why did you do that, idiot?" barks Honeycrisp, "You really trying to kill an eldritch witch with a gun?"

"Bl'ell, everyone wait," says Ling, "I talked to your boss, witches. The kids are alive; we can work this out."

All attention turns to the doctor.

"Why would you trust it?" asks Honeycrisp, "The thing's helping these-"

"It said... something that meant it was talking to the kids," says Ling, nervously, "Or, at least, knew them."

"Is this about the brat you're selling drugs to?"

"I'm not selling drugs."

"Right," says Honeycrisp, "Giving drugs to."

"Not the time, Sheriff."

J: Why didn't you ever just use that surgery spell you crafted on her? L: Because she didn't want it? J: ...Valid.

Zingiber interrupts. "Oh, if they're still alive, we can kill them ourselves!"

"The screaming was nice," says Gudrun, fondly, "We can make a whole choir this time."

"Hate to waste that meat," mutters Ioana.

"What is wrong with ya?" yells Ling, "I'm trying to get ya c**ts out of this!"

"If you think I'm letting these c**ts go," yells Honeycrisp, "You'd best be ready to share a grave with 'em!"

"Ugh, so glad my son doesn't talk like this," mutters Gudrun as the doctor and the sheriff resume cussing each other out. She turns to her elven cohort. "Ioana's got the gnome, I'll take Captain Bulls***e, and-"

"Dr. Ling will feed me my own a**e," says Zingiber with a chipper enthusiasm more appropriate for boarding a carnival ride.

"Or ya could try winning," says Gudrun, exasperated.

"Love the confidence, and I will try," says Zingiber, "But she's going to destroy me, just like she did earlier."

The deputy is unfortunately not forgotten in this mess. The lycan looms over her. What they have to say transcends language, visible by a glance: Ioana expresses an intent to eat and Tanglepork expresses a need to change her pants.

And thus, the fight begins.

Making Characters Act

Since the cutscenes of Bushido Blade 2 are handled in-engine, it's super easy to put different actors on different stages with repurposed animations.

For example, this is Mikado and Jo reenacting part of Kannuki's ending in the Shainto Group Battle Stage. Jo is even using a different weapon from Mikado, unlike how Tatsumi wields the same as Kannuki.

The way Tatsumi falls in Kannuki's ending is so stiff; it's a very low-budget fall.

By contrast, "Tatsumi's" attack is a complete whiff in Mikado's ending, but the fall is more dramatic.

There's a few hiccups to the process of making this, but I can mostly make anyone in this game do anything someone else can do.

WLC 3.2: Fast Travel

Ling quickly throws on her robe and wizard hat. "Get your stuff, kid," she says, "We're going out."

Jevoi grumbles, but pulls a pink tunic out of the dresser which it was hanging out of.

"You're bringing her?" asks Melandria, "Into the Underdank?"

"It'll be fine," says Ling, "We're with ya." Out of the corner of her eye, she spies Jevoi picking up a knife from the counter. "Ya don't need that."

Jevoi mutters to herself and puts it back. Ling and Melandria reenter the main room and the group stand in a circle.

L: Is it really a circle with three people? J: Fine, we stood in a triangle.

Melandria's dark aura swallows the geckos and the group are shunted through the earth. In a manner of seconds, the group arrives in the parlor of Melandria's castle.

The trio stand in the teleportation circle in the center of the room. The walls display banners of Melandria's silhouette in various poses. A few black leather benches set along opposing walls with grand doors on the other pair.

A Vrow sorceress is waiting for the group. Her left arm is incorporeal and her left eye is a spark in a dark void. Her attire is immediately recognizable to Ling, nostalgic even.

"Oighrig," says Melandria, "Has it returned?"

"Thankfully not, Your Darkness," says Oighrig with a bow, "Ah, great wizard Ling, thank you for coming."

As Ling talks with Oighrig, Melandria turns her attention to the upset little gecko. "Are you alright? That wasn't scary was it."

"Are you another wizard?" asks Jevoi, bluntly.

"Not exactly," says Melandria, "I'm a sorceress."

"What's the differ-"

L: Wizards study magic; sorceresses are given it free. J: Sorceresses create magic; wizards copy it. L: Ya stole your power; ya didn't create s***e. J: Language, Mum!

"Well, if ya've already killed it," yells Ling, "Then why the house call?"

"Because it keeps coming back," says Oighrig, "And we still don't know what it even is." She contorts her phantom limb into a hydra. "It's a massive-"

Suddenly the earth quakes, the tower vibrates from the force outside.

"Good timing," says Ling, as she charges out the door and kicks it open. The stench of death is immediate and overwhelming.

"That is unnecessary, Ling," says Melandria, racing behind her with Oighrig and Jevoi on her rear.

The women look out to the writhing mass of worms pouring into the cave crushing the ravaged farmland. Each worm large enough to swallow a person whole. The infestation blocks out the crystal "stars" in the ceiling.

"How in f'ell!?" yells Ling, "Is that a b****y warsworn!?"

"Giant worm!" yells Jevoi, ecstatic.

WLC 3.9: BLOOD

"What do I do? What do I do? What do I do I do?" chants Gank, walking in place. The unconscious child on the floor continues to bleed from her arms in front of Gank. "Right, blood. I have to stop the blood," she says to herself.

Gank begins running around the room looking for anything that could help her situation. As she paces about, she licks the blood from her own claws.

J: I can see you struggling to keep your mouth shut, Mum. L: I wasn't saying anything.

"Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?" Gank searches frantically for the salve she knows is somewhere in this room. "I know ya keep it somewhere here; ya suck at healing, mom." She spots a box sitting beside a shelf, and throws it open. "Jackpot."

The box contains potions, powdered medical herbs, and other supplies. "I'm going to get caught the next time she checks this thing." She grabs the salve and a towel and races back to the bleeding child.

J: Why didn't you grab the potion? G: You were bleeding; I was panicking. L: She was, like, fourteen.

Gank slathers it over Jevoi's arms, desperately trying not to cut her further. She then wraps the towel around the limbs and pushes gently on them. She feels the slowing rhythm of Jevoi's heart.

"I think this was how it worked. How'ya feeling?" she asks and receives no answer. "Yeah. That makes sense." She looks at the blood drying on the floor and has an idea.

Dipping her claw in the blood, Gank begins painting a magic circle around Jevoi. "It's like this, and this," she says to herself. Her claws shaking, she manages to etch the runes she knows. "Okay, okay, okay." She slaps the circle, the spirits of the cave answer the call and pulse life through Jevoi's body.

"All I have to do now is..." Gank looks at the bloody evidence still around here. She sighs.

Gank begins licking the blood off the floo-

D&J: EUAGH L: Why? G: Ya don't have room to judge me. I know where ya put your tongue. J: No, eeegh.

To repeat: Gank begins licking the blood off the floor and a primal urge rises within her. The soft meat of a helpless animal is right there. It must taste so good. A rare cut from so far away.

"No, focus." Gank throws those thoughts away and keeps at the floor.

L: So, on the topic of rituals: outside we were blessing the land.

WLC 6.B: And They Were Broom-Mates

As Ling approaches the metal windmill, the ground under it groans and shifts. A chunk of land rises up, revealing a crude staircase.

"If anyone is still alive up there," demands a young woman's voice from the dark, climbing upward, "Identify yourself."

"A passing wizard," says Ling, "Who's asking?"

"I am the Gr- hold on, give me a second," says the voice, hurrying up the stairs. As she reaches the surface, she announces, "I am the Great Witch Zingiber, Herald of Calamity."

Zingiber is a tan elven woman, barely a few centuries old, with fluffy red hair. She wears an extremely dark red cloak. Her ruby earrings are so large that the bend her long pointy ears (as they are hooked into the tips). She posed dramatically when she emerged and sneaks a look with one eye to see what reaction she garnered.

"By the Gods," says Zingiber, dropping the pose into one of exaggerated shock, "You're Dr. Ling, creator of Tendon Tearer! It's such an honour!"

L: It was a nice feeling being identified for magic for once. Wish it had been my food magic...

"Ripper, my rep precedes," says Ling, "Sorry 'bout ya're spell minefield, but I couldn't give ya a bell."

"Don't worry about that," says Zingiber. She turn around and waves for Ling to follow, "Come in, please." She giddily kicks about before squealing and charging in.

Into the darkness, Ling descends. Her orb's shine guides her until a distant glimmer sparks into view. This staircase must reach into the Underdank. If that's the case, then the sheriff was half-right.

The room at the bottom is bare, lit by the single smokeless torch hanging on the wall. A large metal door stands in the far wall inscribed with runes.

"Apple crumble and filch," says Zingiber to which the door opens. "Let me show you around."

The cavern was carved in an uneven yet cubic way, a chaotic and artificial mess. The dark stone lit by yet more smokeless torches and splattered with dried blood. An arrangement of mini mesas form a set of table and chairs with small cushions set upon them.

L: The room was a tripping hazard deathtrap. One wrong step and there's a pointy corner in your face.

"This is our main room- oh, I NEED to introduce you to the rest of the coven!" Zingiber turns down a corridor and yells, "Gudrun! You'll never guess who's here!"

"This better be good, or they better be dead," grumbles a distinctly dwarven voice from down the way.

Stepping into the room in an extremely dark green variant of Zingiber's witchy robe is a brooding pale middle-aged dwarven woman. Her hair, beard, and overdone eye shadow are as black as the stairwell Ling just crawled down. Both her long hair and beard run through simple sapphire bands.

"Why'd ya let a stranger into our lair?" asks Gudrun, "What part of secret is escaping yer erratic brain?"

"But this is Dr. Ling," whines Zingiber, "The genius that created all those body horror spells I've been practicing. She's my inspiration."

"So, ya're the lovely partner to this little psycho?" asks Ling, "Where's the third?"

L: Not a fan of being labeled a body horror wizard.

J: Then stop making new body horror spells.

L: Those are my "stop trying to kill me" spells; ya have to keep making new ones or your enemies will learn how to counter ya. Anyhow, I knew I had to distract these two to search the place.

"Elsewhere," says Gudrun, "How'd ya guess?"

"All covens have at least three witches," says Ling, "But I guess I can be your third 'til morning." Ling licks her eyeballs.

Zingiber squeals again, but Gudrun seems hesitant.

"One of my idols wants my body," she says to no one specifically. She swiftly spots Gudrun's face and falls to her knees before her. "Please, please, please, please-please, pleeeeeeeeease. We HAVE to."

Gudrun shakes her head, "We shouldn't. Not without her."

"Well, if she wants to be an equal part of this relationship then maybe she should be living with us instead of leaving us alone."

"Fair," says Gudrun, "Alright, lizard, hope ya're better than my ex-hub."

"I'll get the honey and the chaaaains!" says Zingiber darting off.

"Wait," says Ling, casting a spell on the elf. The confirmation sign appears over her head. "Carry on." She turns to the dwarf, "So, ya and this one, huh?"

"Ma always said not to stick yer tongue in crazy," says Gudrun, "But what Ma don't know won't kill her."

"Strewth."

Thorn and Witch are right up there, but Adversary can't be beat.

iiiii love devil women who could punch me into obliviomn

WLC 6.A: The Real "Disarm Traps" Spell

Ling looks upon the runic circle and scans the area. As she expected, the big trap is filled with various smaller traps, some more cleverly hidden than others.

"Bl'ell," says Ling, "Only one way to deal with this."

Ling conjures a herd of false deer. She directs the biologically accurate meat puppets to charge through the field while she hides a magic shield-tree. The traps and curses detonate with explosions of various flavors of energy. Flaming chunks of meat fly into the air.

When the cacophony ends, Ling peers out onto a wizardly warzone. Stone and ice statues stand over struggling half-sunken beasts, all coated in viscera amid the burnt field and corrosive pools. Several deer suffer from various disfigurations: extra limbs and openings (like Ling's own spell "Unwanted Orifices"), inside out (Sir Kenra's "Bodily Inversion"), and a torrent of diseases - both natural and magical.

"Guess I have a fan," mutters Ling.

A: You created that spell? Wouldn't have expected you to craft such a horrifying transfiguration. L: It only lasts a few seconds. J: Enough time to cause mental damage, sensory discordance, and intense physical pain. L: Yeah, that's how suddenly gaining and losing fully functioning body parts works.

The meat and deer dissipate, causing the crumbling of the now hollow statues. Holes remain where they had been trapped.

Ling still keeps her attention focused for more hazards as she approaches the broken windmill, carefully stepping around the lingering hazards.

Mikado of Narukagami

I would like to draw your attention to one of my favorite characters. She is one of the protagonists of Bushido Blade and I have several posts I'm going to make about her.

A shrine maiden at the Tatara Shrine, member (turned acting head) of the Narukami shinto school, and (former) assassin of Kage. Her design is rather straight-forward, sure.

In 1997, the dojo master, Hanzaki, went mad (got possessed) and had to be put down. The other major players went their separate ways, but Mikado stayed to continue the organization's true purpose: protecting the last descendant of the Kagami family.

In 1998, the rival school Shainto saw the weakened Narukagami and launched their attack. Mikado, however, had foreseen this and had called most of the old team back, plus a few new friends. The Shainto had overplayed their hand and Mikado saw the chance to bring the 800 year feud to its end, once and for all.

WLC 5.5: Twister Shot

The whirling dust around Ioana approaches Jevoi and Tanglepork. "I shall have vengeance!" howls the glowing counter-silhouette.

Jevoi takes off running. "Tell you what," she says, "After you kill her, I can take to my mum; you can kill her too."

L: Love ya, too.

"Don't leave me here!" yells Tanglepork, scrambling to her feet. "Give me my gun back!"

"Why would I ever?" yells Jevoi, trying to figure out the mechanisms of the gun. The odd rotating piece in the center confuses her. It would be easier for her to study it, if she weren't running toward darkness.

"Don't come at me!" Luminița yells at the other women, "I'm not involved in this!"

"AND I AM?" yells Jevoi, running with Tanglepork and Ioana hot behind her, "I don't even know this woman!"

"I'm going to rip you limb from limb, Ling!" yells Ioana. The light emanating off of her continues offer a view of what the mortals begin realizing may be an infinite plane.

"Love the enthusiasm, Madam!" says Jevoi, "Wrong target!" Jevoi thinks, 'Gank, do something, please!'

'Like what?' asks Gank in Jevoi's brain, 'Ya want me to fight her?'

'You're the only one who can,' thinks Jevoi.

'I have an idea,' thinks Gank, 'Keep her distracted.' She sinks into the ground, invisible.

"Just shoot her," yells Luminița, running further ahead.

"She's a ghost, you drongo!" yells Jevoi.

"Not my bunica, idiot!" the lycan yells back, "Tanglepork!"

Jevoi aims the gun backward and pulls the trigger, but the weapon does not fire. It doesn't even CLICK.

Tanglepork laughs and throws a bone off the floor. It hits the gun causing Jevoi to drop it. She scoops it up as the gun and pulls the hammer back. She eyes Jevoi and rubs her hand along the barrel; sparkles enter the weapon. She puts both hands on the grip, turns toward the advancing dust-storm (while running backward now), and fires a glowing shot into it. A silvery explosion distorts the cyclone.

"That's how you do it, kiddo!" laughs Tanglepork, turning away.

Ioana howls in shock and the bones on the floor rattle. They rattle and shake and bounce into the air. Each begins flying in the direction of the closest mortal.

"Mamaia!" yells Luminița, "How did you screw that up, Jevoi?

L: How did ya screw that up?

6.8: The Woods, Man

L: What Ioana said was suspicious; so after she and Tanglepork fell asleep, I took a look 'round.

While setting off magic detection like a radar, Ling creeps through the house. She scrutinizes every trinket and trophy that crosses her sight. The house is too small to hide anything, but, alas, her search finds naught.

Stepping outside, the cold night air greets her bare head. It is an annoying reminder that she left it in the bedroom, too risky to fetch now.

Ling circles the cabin, checking the walls. However, the building is quite normal. While a part of Ling is relieved, another is frustrated. This dead end was a waste of the children's precious time.

Suddenly, the woods grew quiet. The wind stops, the bugs fall still. A presence, Ling feels; someone lurks amongst the trees.

"Yo," Ling calls out to the unknown. She quickly walks in its direction. "Wait, mate."

The presence does not wait.

When Ling reaches where she felt it, there is only a piece of parchment stuck to a tree. It says: Beware the Witches.

"What witches, mate?" asks Ling, "Gonna need a better b****y clue than that."

D: What are witches? J: It depends on the time. It was originally a political term used to oppress: an accusation of subservience to evil power. L: Then some claimed it as a rebellious term and some drongos thought 'evil power' sounded cool. A: And then evil powers thought more mortal servants sounded cool. J: Then other powers decided to do it too. L: So now it means a mortal who gets magic from some boss. J: Or feminist alchemists. A: Morality of any party involved: undefined. D: ...So, bad? L: Yes, this time bad.

Again, Ling could feel something deeper in the woods. She opens a door in space to its location.

The entity, a well-dressed, elvenoid over twice Ling's height with lanky limbs to match, stands hunched over affixing another paper to a tree. Its head twists around bearing Ling's own face.

"G'ev'ning," says Ling, "Nice to meet ya."