March 8, 2011

Novia Revisited

Lady Novia.. that famed Ice Mistress of the Glacial Fortress within Glacial Plane beyond the Wastes... (geeze that sounds epic) ..has been taunting the Family for months. Every cold breeze, every falling snowflake whispering of our imminent defeat should we return, and reminding the Experts of their last. With Spring coming ever nearer and the grip of Winter weakening, the family decided to pick up arms and try to seal her away once more.

Only Jisket this time remained of the first trio. Joining was Italy and Margaret for a bit of an elemental edge. Two experts and a vet.. so far this was turning remarkably similar to the first time. With the best gear available to them they warped out to the Fortress, spoke to the statue and entered. Just within the icy door, a brief investigation once more landed the Alzeda family within the presence of Novia herself. Bewildered and disoriented the Family missed the buff spot, and true to the whispers, littered the floor within seconds. Minions punted the defeated trio out of the tower. The Family waited just long enough to patch their wounds, and they charged right back in.

The Second Time started off a bit better.

The second attempt was met with a little more success - surviving the initial wave is always the most difficult part. Even armed with the buff, Margaret went down fairly quickly. Apparently there was a bit of a graphics glitch that showed the trio standing in the same place while clicking off to the side and the bosses chasing in that direction and obviously hitting them. Couldn't attack them either. Huh. Anyway it rectified itself soon enough and after a little circling Italy and Jisket took on Elbrid, Elnugad, Elminor, and Montoro, and so the following ensued..

 Italy took on the trio, while Jisket contended with Montoro.

Once they were down, Margaret rezzed they went after Novia - So very close!

...and then Montoro showed up. Again. (Didn't we just defeat him?)

"Ah!" Proclaimed Novia, pausing in her assault while glaring at the fighter in front of her. They hadn't died as easily as last time. In fact they hadn't, at all. "What did you do?" Asked a voice from behind. A quick glance revealed it to be Montoro, young and unchanging as always. "How come it's so different?" Only silence answered his inquiry. Margaret could practically see the sigh. "This is dangerous." Montoro muttered, suddenly changing the tone. "I think I have to escape now, but I wouldn't just let go off so easily!"

"Die, Montoro!" Yelled a female voice, the sound of a rapier blade slicing the air.

"Selva!" Garcia yelled as red lines suddenly formed across the ground, one didn't need to see the smirk on Montoro's face to know what was about to happen. Suddenly as quickly as it began, it was over. Jisket couldn't spot Montoro - he had vanished. Novia also faded as her strength was depleted and the seal reclaimed her. Helplessly Garcia crumpled to the ground, having dashed in taken the brunt of Montoro's spell.

"...You stupid fool." Muttered Selva, putting her rapier away and glancing icily from him to the Family. "So... I told you not to follow me." Italy stopped short of a retort as an old man ran up to them. "Everyone okay? Garcia!" The boy was hurt, badly. It took only moments for the man to figure exactly what it was. He'd likely seen it before. "It seem like you've been attacked by Montoro's magic. Ummm, It's fine, I think I can break the spell. Okay, is Novia safely sealed?" He glanced around, the Ice Queen was nowhere to be seen. Well - one of them anyway. "Montoro?"

"Invierno." Margaret spoke up, hushing a look to her irritated sword-loving sibling. Glancing down at Garcia, she frowned, worried. "We fought him but.." Jisket refused to look at the rest, only crossing her arms in the silence. She'd shot the hell out of him, damnit, and he was still alive and kicking. The elementalist continued. "..Montoro escaped. Again."

"That," Invierno grunted, and got back to his feet from Garcia's side. "He must have escaped to Cortes. One of the Ten Nobles. I heard that he is planning something in the Caebolan zone these days." Selva's look hardened at the thought. Strange tales were told of those lands. Old man Winter continued.

"He went? Well.... I can't leave him here like this. You should help me. Let's get out of here first." Italy nodded to Invierno's suggestion, helping to pick up Garcia and make their way out of the Tower. Staring down at the body she couldn't look for long. Humans weren't supposed to be petrified. But this was the New World. Her and the rest of the Family had seen a lot of strange things since their arrival nearly three years ago.

"Why did he jump in at that moment? He hasn't been completely petrified, so we still have some hope." Invierno started once Garcia was safely tucked away, far from the tower and it's chilling image. Selva had once more left the group during the journey. "Fortunately, if we have some Snowfield Soup and a Philosopher's Stone, we can save this friend." He chuckled. "Snowfield Soup needs the golden apple, beet, cabbage, and wolf meat. Please bring me 1 Snowfield Soup. I can use the pot to make this, I believe that you know the Philosopher's Stone too. I think 10 of them will be enough." With a quick agreement the trio left. They knew those ingredients well. The meat and stones would be a cinch. The apples however.. Once they were out of earshot, Jisket groaned and kicked at a snowbank. "I hate farming!!!!"

- - - - -

..........yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh I couldn't resist. Sorry guys but it was just too tempting with all the supplied lines. Yes indeed the horrible dialogue (well, from the npcs at least) is all verbatim from screen shots I took during the instance. I have a weak spot for the storylines in Sword, so I mused over making the storyline more.. story-ish. Heh. ^^;; Moving on. >_>

Quest-wise:
Expert Italy had 59 AR - 64 DR, thanks to a 2DR shield, and a lent Le Noir.
Expert Jisket had 60 AR - 62 DR, thanks to some Trump pistols and a lent e96.
Veteran Margaret had only 56 AR - 57 DR. thanks to a Trump bracelet and vet pio lightning bracelet, her e84 robe, and a pair of lucifer wings. That extra 1k hp kept her barely alive through several of Lady Novia's assaults.

Success!

Now to do a bunch of soup farming. There's no way in heck I'm paying xxxM for all the ingredients. The family already has two to make, and still just short on resources to make one. I don't mind farming too much but... oy. Time to haul in the levitating vets. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it. @_@

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