TW: State violence.
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The Stubborn Remainder
-Yugiri’s been away from Doma proper for a while. I’m only just now seeing it. Maybe we should take some time to fulfill Lord Hien’s request.
Let’s “learn the truth of her heart.”
-Yugiri removes her shinobi gear. We’ll pose as traveling merchants in the village of Namai.
-They’re not used to seeing merchants. Makes sense – the Empire made the borders much harder to breach, and now supplies are scarce.
-The villagers here all survived the purges. And as survivors, they obey the empire.
-There’s a Lupin here, a werewolf. They serve Doma loyally.
-All this disheartens Yugiri. She didn’t expect the remainder to question the wisdom of opposing the Empire. Yotsuyu’s purges have been very effective.
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The Ones We Leave Behind
-We’ll explore farther, talk to farmers outside Namai.
And shit gets even BLEAKER.
I meet a kid and help her with her chores. What chore? Planting rice? Cleaning clothes?
Nope! Picking flowers for her parents’ graves. Her parents were part of Lord Kaien’s rebellion. They were captured, brought back to the town, and presented before the townsfolk.
The Imperials gave the town a choice: everyone dies, or everyone proves their loyalty to the Empire by beating the parents (and other captives) to death.
”I heard them laugh, but I dared not look up. One leaned close and whispered in my ear what he’d do to my sister if they had to come back.”
jesus.
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A New Ruby Tithe
-A sound sends Yugiri scurrying into hiding. Imperial patrol? …Yup.
-They make everyone form a line, and announce that Confederates attacked Yotsuyu while she was on a “charitable mission to Isari Village.” Uhhhhhhhhhh k.
-So he’s conscripting folks for rudimentary tasks. Cleaning, maintenance, etc. Suuuure.
-Yugiri nails it: this is just an attempt to intimidate anyone who might’ve supported the Confederates.
-The recruits include the older brother of the girl I helped earlier.
-Yugiri will start tracking these men to rescue them eventually. But we have to be so cautious. It’s like Ala Mhigo. If we jump out and just start killing Imperials, the whole village will suffer.
-Yugiri and I sneak closer to the storage facility where the Imperials are holding the villagers. There’s a fun mini-game along the way where I get to use blow darts to knock out imperial guards.
-The villagers are about to be transported to another facility, where their assignment is unlikely to be temporary.
YUGIRI: “They’ll die in servitude.” We free them now or never.
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The Will to Live
-We still have to be stealthy. Yugiri knocks a few soldiers out and we steal their uniforms.
Ququshu in stolen imperial garb.
-Btw, on the way over I found this awesome-looking enemy that I swear was a thing way back in FFVI:
-See, I’m not so sure they’ll want to be saved. They’re more likely to want to stay in the Imperial service if it means keeping Namai safe.
-They’re definitely resistant, though Yugiri chastises them. “Has the will to live been beaten out of you?”
ISSE (the brother): “We’re not [Lord Hien’s soldiers]! We’re lost and afraid! We hate this – all of this – but we can’t do a damn thing to change it! And trying will only make it worse!
“It’s a pathetic existence… but it’s all we’ve got. And when people like you come here pretending it can be different, it – it doesn’t help, all right?” A reasonable line of thought that we saw in Ala Mhigo.
-An older man in the group rather poetically describes how awful it has been for them to sell their souls, surrender their dignity.
I see. Yugiri’s courage and resolve here is salt in that wound.
-Yugiri finally breaks through by validating them. She offers to back away for now and applauds their survival through all of this. Swears she’ll never stop fighting for these villagers and Doma.
-It hits home. Makes them take the first steps – literally. They walk away from the now-unguarded camp and return to the village.
-There’s no way this is the end of the Imperial reaction. The villagers say that if the Empire asks them what happened, they’ll just say an Au’Ra tricked them into leaving, but I don’t buy it. We’ll have to act or else the Empire’s gonna shoot first in Namai and ask questions never.
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Daughter of the Deep
-In the short term, Yugiri will administer a confusion drug to the soldiers. They won’t remember what exactly happened. Maybe they’ll be too embarrassed to blame the villagers, or fear the blame would be on their heads.
-Afterwards, Yugiri heads to the shore nearby. A relaxing place for her. Makes sense.
-She now admits what her mother already told me – that she’s not from Doma. She’s from beneath the Ruby Sea.
-I now relate to Yugiri meeting her parents, and she’s SO RELIEVED that they’re safe and okay.
Her voice actor is great btw.
-She trained to be a shinobi to help the Doman Liberation Front, and there met Lord Kaien, Lord Hien, and Gosetsu. She learned to love Doma and its people.
YUGIRI: “…But, in the end, I will always be of the sea.”
-An imperial airship flying towards Doma Castle interrupts our conversation. We head back to Doman Liberation Front HQ to regroup.
-The airship we saw going to Doma Castle belongs to the Crown Prince. The Garleans are worried about the events in Gyr Abania (near Ala Mhigo), worried about subversive elements organizing.
ALISAIE: “Though Yotsuyu governs Doma, Zenos remains the province’s anointed viceroy – and it would seem he has come to assess the current situation.”
I’m a bit confused. Did we know Zenos was the Crown Prince before this? They probably said it and I just forgot. His name is “Galvus” so that should’ve clued me in at the least.
Also, I felt so sure that Yotsuyu was officially the Doman viceroy, but apparently not. She’s just a governor serving under Zenos yae Galvus, not a peer.
-Yugiri wants to go kill Zenos. That… doesn’t seem likely lol. He defeated EVERYONE last time.
-Lyse balls up a fist in rage at the memory.
That defeat really hurt her. It was her chance to end things (I mean, probably not, the Empire is more than just one person, but I think that’s how she’d see it) and she lost.
-Yugiri gives some background on Zenos. He’s a swordsman trained from childhood by Imperial tutors, peerless in combat.
So Yugiri doesn’t want to meet him on the battlefield. She’ll strike from the shadows, like a shinobi.
-Gosetsu disagrees. He wants to heed Lord Hien’s words. Is Doma ready for the consequences of assassinating the crown prince?
GOSETSU: “Even should you succeed, Zenos’ death will not win Doma her freedom. More likely her doom.”
-She’s set on her path though. She stalks off, presumably to plan an assassination. This is not going to go well.
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Path of No Return
-Gosetsu is okay for now agreeing to disagree with Yugiri. Their master gave an order that’s tricky to interpret, and she’s doing it her own way. He’s hopeful she’ll realize the futility of her plan before she acts.
-I go catch up with Yugiri. She’s defensive at first, but lets her guard down when I assure her I’m not here to stop her.
-Her plan is underway. She already intercepted the crown prince’s itinerary from a spy in the castle.
-Zenos doesn’t plan a long stay. He’s inspecting the Moon Gates tonight (presumably the magitek barrier blocking Doma Castle).
This trip was planned in a hurry. Security is relatively minimal. No full escort for Zenos.
STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING YUGIRI. HE DOESN’T NEED A FULL ESCORT. HE’S SUPER POWEFUL. I don’t think it’s just a battlefield thing either. He seems to have some built-in magitek defenses. A surprise attack is unlikely to be successful imo.
-She’s so convinced that her path is the right path, that it’ll change Doma and Ala Mhigo forever and for the better.
-Well, might as well pitch in. Ququshu offers to help.
[Later edit: I find that when I agree with my character does, I use “I.” When I’m not so sure, I call her Ququshu.]
-OH GOD. THE BROTHER, ISSE, OVERHEARD US. He debates with himself whether to turn us in or not.
”No one knows you overheard two rebels plotting… to kill the crown prince…”
I don’t blame him for either choice. I hope he doesn’t turn us in obviously, but I could easily see two choices in his head:
1) He doesn’t turn us in. We kill the crown prince (or fail), and the Empire destroys his village – sister included – in retribution.
2) He turns us in. We die, but his village is safe. Maybe even rewarded, given some higher status for his show of loyalty to the Empire.
It’s unlikely that “the assassination overthrows the Empire and Doma is free!” enters his mind with all he's been through.
-I head down towards the Moon Gate to meet Yugiri.
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Next time: Aiding Yugiri’s plan to take out Zenos yae Galvus.
