Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

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Re: Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

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Chapter 5: The Anti-Imperial Movement

- In the town of Kirov, they get to watch a man and a woman hunted by imperial soldiers (from the Arus region) led by a commander named Gangolf. The man tells the woman to run away, and after some hesitation, she disappears into an alley.
- Morio rashly steps in to help the man fighting off the soldiers, his party members following him.
- After the battle (Gangolf flees), the man runs into the alley to search for the woman. Morio & Co follow him and find them along with another swordsman in a street corner where another battle took place in the meantime. The woman thanks the swordsman for saving her life. She introduces herself as Odessa, the leader of the Anti-Imperial Movement, and the man Morio supported as Sir Humphrey. The swordsman who saved Odessa introduces himself as Flik. Odessa tells them about the Anti-Imperial Movement and that she and Humphrey are trying to find recruits for it, so she asks all attendants to join. Morio rejects, telling her he has to find his friends and being on another mission anyway. However, Viktor decides to join Odessa’s party along with Flik. They part, and Morio and his party travel north.
[There is a quest guild in Kirov which can be visited before leaving. When Morio first enters it, he is immediately addressed by a young woman called Risha, who leads them into the quest guild (the party follows in hope to get information). Inside, another young woman called Azra introduces the quest guild and gives some information about the region. Unfortunately she knows nothing about 2 stray ninja or the experiments in the mines, but she asks Risha to help find them (to actually get rid of her for some days). Risha tells Morio she will help him just for the weird story, because normally ninja are hired to find a person, so she is looking forward to spread the story of her being hired to find ninja (Azra also joins, but only in NG+).]

Chapter 6: The Ruins of Kalekka

- Morio’s party enters the ruins of Kalekka. In NG+ Azra and Risha will have an argument over work ethics to introduce them, otherwise Risha delivers a monologue.
- Suddenly they are ambushed by a patrol from the Banner Mines. The very same sorcerer, whose conversation with the chief warden was overheard by the 3 ninja, steps forward, recognizes Morio, introduces himself as Corentin, wishes Morio a quick death, and before teleporting out, he tells the 2 commanders, named Amon and Iris, to deal with the criminals. Morio & Co are hard-pushed by the enemy, until unexpectedly Odessa and her fellows show up. Together they fight off the foes.
- After the battle, Morio thanks Odessa for saving his party. Odessa explains that she is about to return to her headquarters in Sarady. She tells him that Sarady is the place where he could find her in case he decides to join her cause. Morio tells her that this is unlikely unless he is ordered so by the ninja chief. The 2 groups bid farewell to each other, and Odessa walks east towards Sarady, while the hero continues his walk northwards.

Chapter 7: Prisoner Transport

- In the hills north of Kalekka, Morio’s party is approached by Yumiko and Kakuji. The hearty reunion is intercepted by noises of an advancing carriage. They leave the road hiding behind bushes and watch a prisoner transport passing by. Through the grated window of the carriage they spot a girl. Being of the mind that a girl this young could never be a dangerous criminal, Morio asks the others to help free her.
- In this battle, the goal is to open the carriage containing the girl. When doing so, the surviving imperials will flee.
- When Morio asks for her name, she answers “You’re so funny, father. It’s me, Flare. Stop pretending…” Everyone realizes that the poor girl is lunatic (most of them shouldn’t know Flare, but Morio is obviously not his father), so they ask themselves what her real name might be and where she comes from. Morio spots a bracelet in which the word “Yalda” is imbedded. No one knows what it means, but since they don’t know her real name, they would use it when talking about her (when addressing her directly they would use the name she suggests). Morio invites “Flare” to their camp. At the camp, Morio bids Gohu and Griselde to get some food, whereupon Yalda tells Morio “I’ll get some food for our merry pirates. Let me take care of it, Edgar.” Yumiko and Kakuji tell Morio that they were searching for him at the Dunan river for some days, then decided to lurk beside the main road to hopefully get information about him. They tell him that by eavesdropping imperials, they could only pick up information like their plan to attack Sarady from two sides soon. They want to find a fugitive called Odessa there, and in case she flees, they would put the blame for the destruction of Sarady on her. Paralyzed upon hearing that, Morio tells his ninja friends that Odessa is a friend and has to be warned. Then he addresses all others and thanks them for helping him find his friends, and that they were now free to go. They all decide to stay by his side, of course.
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Re: Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

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Chapter 8: The Pass to Sarady

- The party returns to Kalekka to take the road east. Morio tells Yalda she should stay in his group as long as he doesn’t know her origins. Yalda replies “I’ll always be by your side, Edgar.”
- When the party reaches the mountain pass leading to Sarady, it is blocked by an imperial outpost. A battle is inevitable. The enemy commander is Gangolf again.
- After the battle, Gangolf flees again. If Risha is recruited, she tells Morio about an ancient palace within the mountains (optional dungeon) south of their route, and that it’s worth exploring it, because a lot of treasures can be found there. She also explains that she doesn’t care too much about treasures, but rather about the fact that only the bravest heroes dare entering it, because of the many dangers inside. Morio promises her to explore it together with her in the future, but for now, they have to get to Sarady as soon as possible. Following the pass, they cross the mountains and reach Sarady.

Chapter 9: Confusion

- Upon entering Sarady, the party is stopped and questioned by anti-imperial guards, so Morio tells them he is a friend of Odessa and must urgently speak to her. The guy in charge of the guard unit doesn’t believe Morio’s story and accuses the party of being imperial undercover spies.
- In this battle the goal is to defeat the commander, who is just a support character, hiding behind his fighters and raising their defense by his skill.
- Right after taking care of the commander, Odessa steps in, tells everyone to stop fighting, and clears up the whole confusion. The commander apologizes to Morio and introduces himself as Sanchez. When Morio tells Odessa about the imperial plan to attack Sarady* soon to kill her, she thanks him for taking all these inconveniencies to tell her this and wishes him good luck for his own mission. Morio replies he can’t let her fight this alone after she saved his life, so he asks his party members, and they all agree. Finally an alliance is forged, and within the hideout, Odessa puts forward the first of two requests with regard to battle preparation. Since they still have too few fighters despite the alliance, she wants to ask the bandits of Mt. Tigerwolf for help. Some members protest saying the bandits are nothing but scoundrels, but Odessa insists on paying them a visit. Morio agrees to follow her to Mt. Tigerwolf.
*In the SME, almost nobody knows or believes that the Kalekka incident was a false flag operation. Likewise, the residents of Sarady wouldn’t believe Morio’s story; they tolerate the Anti-Imperial Movement, but they can’t imagine the SME attacking their own citizens. They feel safe because Odessa’s hideout is located outside of town, so they believe Sarady and its residents would be spared. Odessa wouldn’t put any evil past the imperials. Knowing the fate of Sarady lies in her hands, she plans to fend off the imperials, and she also knows that by doing so, the Anti-Imperial Movement would gain reputation and the trust of the people.

Chapter 10: A Bandits’ Quarrel

- At the fortress of Mt. Tigerwolf, from the distance they spot two bandit gangs facing each other with their leaders furiously arguing. Suddenly a brawl breaks out. Odessa and Morio, unwilling to watch their potential recruits diminish each other, intercept the brawl. All the bandits are enraged by the interception, and their leaders shout at the party that they should never ever intercept brawling bandits. On the one hand the heroes succeeded in stopping the bandits fighting each other, but on the other hand they end up being attacked by both gangs.
- The goal of this battle is to take out the leader of the one gang, as well as the two leaders of the other gang.
- After teaching the bandits a lesson, they surrender and when asked for their names, they introduce themselves. The leader of the Mt. Tigerwolf bandits is Kessler, and on his side is a young roguish looking woman named Lexy (thief support character). The leaders of the other gang from Mt. Seifu are Varkas and Sydonia. When asked what their fight was all about, Varkas explains that Kessler is unwilling to repay the money which Varkas paid in advance for smuggled goods he has never received. Kessler explains he sent them accordingly, but the transport was blocked by imperials within the Arus region, so he doesn’t feel responsible. Now Odessa reveals why she came here and promises them a proper salary if they forge a temporary alliance with her. The bandits agree. Odessa puts forward her second request, which is about asking her uncle Leon for help, who lives hidden in the ruins of Kalekka. After making some preparations they head for Kalekka.
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Re: Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

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I like the idea of Sanchez being a support character, and I like the battle with both bandit gangs. This is getting good!
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Re: Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

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Chapter 11: Finding the Strategist

- Kalekka has a small part controlled by the few remaining inhabitants. However, the biggest part is abandoned and heavily destroyed, making it look like a ghost town, although a variety of animals and beasts haunt the houses now. In the inhabited part, the party is told that Leon still lives in his house in the abandoned part of town. The party finds his house and when entering it, they are attacked by monsters.
- In this battle, all enemies have to be killed (would be nice if these were the same monsters as in S1: Hawkmen, Shadows and Demon Wolves).
- After the battle, Leon emerges from a secret door on the floor. He complains about the noise, and accuses the party of breaching domestic peace. Odessa steps forward and apologizes to her uncle. When she asks him for support, he rejects, and tells her to ask her brother Mathiu (after the Kalekka incident, Leon and Mathiu haven’t talked to each other). Odessa replies she doesn’t know his whereabouts and doesn’t have time to search for him. At last, Odessa fails to convince Leon, because he doesn’t seem to care much about the problems of his niece. Suddenly Humphrey steps forward and tells Leon about the imperial plan to destroy Sarady and blame it on Odessa. He asks Leon what he thinks about it and if that does remind him of something (a reference to the Kalekka incident which was orchestrated by Leon). Feeling that the conversation goes into an uncomfortable direction, Leon agrees to help them for this one time, he doesn’t state avoiding another Kalekka incident as his reason. He says he hopes Mathiu would feel bad about the fact that it is him who helps Odessa instead of her brother (which is just a pretext of course).

Chapter 12: A suspect Weaponsmith

- At Odessa’s hideout, Leon gets a picture of the situation, and then he tells the others that the only thing that’s missing is a special type of weapon called hooked lance, and they would need at least 200 of them. He explains that apart from imperial armorers, the only person who could have this weapon in such a quantity is a weaponsmith called Mose, who can be found in a trade post north of Kalekka. The party immediately sets off. At the trade post, they find Mose and ask him for the weapons. He replies he could easily provide 200 hooked lances within a couple of hours and mentions the prize (it’s always double the amount of money the party has, but at least 100.000). Knowing they can’t afford but are in need of them, they pretend to have the money. Mose tells them to wait here and disappears.
- After a couple of hours an imperial patrol unit led by Amon shows up and attacks the party without hesitation.
- After the battle, Amon retreats southwards. The party believes that Mose has betrayed them, but suddenly he appears with a cart containing the ordered weapons. When he spots the dead bodies of imperial soldiers, he asks them who they are, so Odessa tells him about the Anti-Imperial Movement and the upcoming battle. Mose replies that in this case they could get the weapons for free, but only if he was allowed to join the movement. Odessa welcomes him, and the whole group heads for Sarady.

Chapter 13: The Day of the Battle

- At the hideout, Leon reveals his battle plan. There will be three battles. One on the path leading to Sarady from the southwest, another one on the path coming from the northwest (since they got the information that the imperials plan to attack from two sides). These two units are each ordered to hide on the waysides and let the forefront of the imperial column pass, and then ambush the main force using the hooked lances to drag the soldiers from their horses. Then the strongest men among these units must step in to kill the remaining soldiers in the rear. The two forefronts of the imperial column will meet at Sarady, and when they are about to attack the citizens, the third unit must step in to defeat them (the reason for the third battle is to gain the trust of the people and raise the movements reputation). The first unit is to be led by the bandit leaders, the second one by Morio and his ninja friends, and the third one by Odessa.
- The first battle in the southwest is fought by bandits led by Kessler, Varkas and Sydonia. They wait for Gangolf and about 20 more soldiers to pass, and then attack the main force as planned. Then the three leaders and some more characters (chosen by the player) emerge to fight the rear led by Amon. After defeating them, Amon flees.
- The second unit in the northwest is led by Morio. Same strategy: let about 20 soldiers pass, then ambush the cavalry with hooked lances. The remainder in the rear led by Iris is then attacked by Morio, Yumiko, Kakuji and some more characters (chosen by the player). After defeating them, Iris flees.
- When the two forefronts of the imperial columns meet at the entry of Sarady, Gangolf decides to not retreat despite their reduced numbers, but instead quickly kill the citizens before the armed forces of the movement return. When they start to charge the market square, armed fighters led by Odessa emerge from among the citizens. Odessa, Humphrey, Viktor, Flik and some more characters (chosen by the player) defeat the foes and surround the wounded Gangolf. When Gangolf says that after Achilles death it would just be a matter of time until Odessa will be killed too, Odessa loses her temper and kills him with an arrow. Everyone tries to calm her down.
- When the other units return to Sarady, Odessa thanks them and declares the alliance dissolved. She wishes Morio good luck on his mission and promises to provide support whenever he is in need for it. Then she offers the bandits the promised money and wishes them well too. The bandits leaders explain that among bandits it is tradition to celebrate after a victory in battle, and that they wouldn’t take the money and leave before having celebrated, and moreover, a farewell is one more reason to have a feast. Everyone agrees and a feast is celebrated that night.
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Re: Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

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Chapter 14: The Sorcerer and his Horde

- Early the next morning, two guards bring an elven woman before Odessa and tell her she tried to run into Sarady while crying that everyone must flee. Odessa tells the guards to release her and asks the woman who she is and why she came here. The elven girl introduces herself as Trishna, and tells her she is living near a village northwest on the other side of the mountains. She claims to have witnessed a huge horde of unknown monsters running towards the village, so she immediately fled to warn the next town on their route, which is Sarady. Flik warns Odessa that this could be a trap, but Odessa replies that she has never seen an elf in the service of the empire, and that the consequences will be more devastating if this is ignored and turns out to be the truth. Odessa orders to mobilize all forces and to prepare the evacuation of the town. She asks Kessler to bring the population to Mt. Tigerwolf in case Sarady will be attacked. Soon after, a wide stripe of monsters appear at the northwestern horizon. When they come closer, Morio and Odessa realize that they are no match for this horde, but they have to stall them until the population of Sarady is safe.
- Right before the battle, the imperial sorcerer and the chief warden, who were overheard by the 3 ninja at the Banner Mines, teleport in. The chief warden complains about the village being almost abandoned. The sorcerer replies that this is just a test, and soon the horde would be so fast and strong that criminals or collaborators could neither defeat nor escape it. He further says the horde shall roam free for one more day and then be ordered back. When the chief warden spots the 3 ninja, he addresses them saying he feels some consolation, because at least some dirty spies will fall victim to the horde. The two villains then teleport out and the battle begins. The party has to survive a certain amount of turns until Odessa says that the population should be out of reach and tells everyone to escape and meet at the hideout.
- At the hideout, Kessler appears and tells Odessa he ordered his men to host the people of Sarady until they can return. Morio and Odessa thank Trishna for warning them. Morio then tells Odessa everything about his own mission and what they have overheard at the mines. Everyone agrees that whatever it is it must be stopped. Trishna joins the group and asks them to help look for survivors in the village northwest, which lies en route anyway.

Chapter 15: Master of Fire

- While crossing the mountains the party spots smoke in the distant skies ahead. When they get close to the village they realize that the village is not aflame, but instead a giant ring of flames curves around the village, protecting it from besieging monsters. Trishna tells the party this must be the work of the village elder who is a retired imperial magic instructor. She bids the leaders to help fight off the monsters before the magic powers of the wizard are exhausted. The party hurries to the village.
- These monsters must have been the rear of the horde. They’re not many, but still a threat to the village, because it doesn’t have many armed forces.
- After all the beasts have been killed the aged village elder emerges out of the fading flames, thanks the party, introduces himself as Eldur, and invites them to the village to take a rest. That night Morio has a conversation with Eldur. When Morio mentions the chief warden and the sorcerer, Eldur tells him everything he knows about them. The sorcerer is called Corentin and he was a pupil under Eldur in his time as a magic instructor. Corentin is an orphan who was granted imperial education because of his magical skills. Since he didn’t come from a renowned aristocratic family, his fellow pupils envied and bullied him. Having been lonely for most of his life, his magic skills became his best friend. Finally he was taken into service of a powerful sorceress who didn’t care much about ranks, and who became the court magician recently. Morio tells Eldur that he’s an orphan himself and that he was saved and raised by the ninja. Eldur replies that by saving him, the ninja saved one life, but by accepting him, they probably saved even more lives. As for the chief warden, Eldur tells Morio he doesn’t know him personally, but he has heard of his tragic past. The chief warden is called Norbert, and he had once been a kind-hearted person, a good husband, and a skilled and loyal imperial commander. Shortly after his wife bore a son, he was promoted to chief warden of the Banner Mines, but this turned out to be his demise. This position demanded torture, beating and killing people from him, guilty or not. He suggested his wife to leave the empire with their son, but she didn’t want their son to grow up as a vagabond. As soon as the son was three years of age, the chief warden was so desperate, that he decided to kill his son. He didn’t want to raise a son who would either despise him or become like him. He took him to the forest north and killed him. As a result, his wife left him and was never seen again. All these events made him this cruel and heartless. Morio suspects Norbert to be his own father, but he doesn’t tell anyone about his thoughts. He secretly wishes to face Norbert to show him his scar, because Norberts reaction would tell more than words could express. The next day, Eldur tells the party he will come along to support them with his magic. The party continues their march northwest.

Chapter 16: Banner Shallows

- At the Banner Mines, a conversation between Iris and Amon takes place. Iris complains about the latest attacks on Sarady. She tells him she didn’t approve the false flag operation on Sarady, and she’s actually happy that it didn’t came so far for her to slaughter civilians. She further expresses her contempt about the use of monsters (in their position as constables, they are not allowed to enter the mines, so they don’t really know what’s going on there). Amon agrees. Iris reveals her plan to get clothes from the mines staff and enter the mines to get a picture of what is going on, while Amon prepares the escape. Then they would hurry to Gregminster to give a detailed report rather than just come up with assumptions (being convinced that the use of monsters cannot be in the interest of the empire). Amon agrees and they start immediately.
- In the shallows, the party’s route is blocked by overturned prisoner carts, guarded by soldiers and monsters side by side. The party is forced to fight its way through this obstacle. After the fight, Leon points out that the carts and uniforms could be of use.
- Back at the mines outer site, Iris meets Amon in the horse stable. She tells him that outrageous things are going on inside and that they must hurry to avoid a catastrophe. Suddenly guards appear on all sides of the stable. Norbert the chief warden and Corentin the sorcerer appear. Corentin congratulates Amon on his promotion to deputy warden, while Norbert orders the guards to imprison Iris. Iris curses Amon, calling him betrayer. Amon replies that he thinks it’s funny to be called betrayer by a traitor. Iris is brought into the mines.
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Re: Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

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Chapter 17: Intrusion

- The party hides in a wooded area near the gates. Kakuji returns from scouting. He explains that the monster horde is quartered in a stable complex near the gate, so if the guards of the fortification can be taken out quickly, they could take control over this complex and prevent the release of the horde. Leon suggests some characters don the imperial uniforms, while more armed forces hide inside the prisoner cart (the player has to choose the party). The plan is executed, and as soon as the cart disappears behind the gate, the main force charges.
- Inside the fort, the battle party emerges from the cart. In this battle, the party must split and capture the two spots from which the gate can be pulled open. As soon as this is done, the main force storms the site and gains control over it.
- When Morio and the others discuss how to proceed, Mondo appears out of nowhere. He tells the 3 ninja to follow him back Rokkaku, as ordered by Hanzo. Morio answers he won’t, because there is an evil sorcerer in the mines whose project threatens the whole region including Rokkaku and must be stopped as soon as possible. Mondo darts out his claws. Morio’s friends draw their weapons and place themselves in front of him in a protective position. Mondo says “let’s stop it quickly then, Hanzo is waiting” and joins.

Chapter 18: Liberation

- Morio’s party enters the mines while the main force guards the outer site. After straying around in circles for some time, they finally reach a large hall with hundreds of cells on each side, spread over several levels. At the end of it, Amon and a bunch of elite soldiers and jailors block the way to several exit doors.
- After the fight, Amon flees.
- Morio and Odessa approach the cells to the left. These contain children, women and aged people exclusively. Convinced that they could hardly be criminals, they release them, whereupon many of the prisoners hurry to the cells on the right side. These contain young fighters with weapons and armor, most of them parents or offspring of those on the left side. When Morio asks Odessa if they could be criminals, a voice from a cell there tells them they are not, they’re just gladiators to test monsters, whereas those on the left were fodder. Morio and Odessa follow the voice and find a cell containing Iris. Morio asks her why she got imprisoned. She answers it was for the same reason why Morio and Odessa would kill her: for being loyal to the empire. Odessa tells her she didn’t come here to kill imperials, but instead to stop a threat which is far greater than a bunch of corrupt aristocrats. Then she releases her (and the other gladiators), saying she is free to go and report in Gregminster, and because Odessa is convinced of her loyalty towards the empire, she’s likewise convinced that Iris will tell the truth. Instead of leaving the mines, she walks towards one of the exits. The others ask her what she’s doing. She replies she has to stop a threat which is far greater than any gang of fugitives, and she doesn’t want to report that she ran away while the Anti-Imperials dealt with it. Glad to have someone who might know the way in this labyrinth (she had infiltrated the mines before), they follow her.

Chapter 19: Scar of Truth

- Iris leads the party to another hall which has an entry to a cave where Corentin performs his monster breeding and manipulation experiments, but the entry is guarded by Norbert and a bunch of upgraded monsters. Here is the conversation written in novice style…
Norbert: “Well, if that isn’t spy and almost-widow. What can I do for you today? How about some torture or a free trip into the feeding toughs of our newborns?”
Iris: “Traitor! How dare you disgrace the empire?!”
Norbert (putting forth an official letter): “Traitor? I’m following orders from the capital, signed by your highness king Barbarossa himself. Oh, and there’s the beautiful imperial seal below…”
Norbert throws the scroll towards the party. Iris picks it up.
Iris (checking the scroll): “That’s impossible…”
Odessa: “You and this sorcerer are a disgrace and a threat to the people of this country. We will stop you now.”
Norbert: “Hahaha! So young and foolish. Who do you think you are, and who do you think we are? If you kill me, there’ll be another chief warden tomorrow, and even if you destroy the mines, they’d be rebuilt tomorrow. You’re just wasting the lives of your friends. Poor Achilles…”
Odessa (clenching her fists): “Don’t you mention his name…”
Flik: “Odessa, please, don’t let this blithering idiot drive you mad. You’ve got too much responsibility to make mistakes.”
Viktor: “Flik is right. And don’t worry about new imperial oafs replacing former ones, we’ll simply keep on smacking them.”
Odessa: “You… thank you.”
Norbert: “You can’t but fail! Leader of the Anti-Imperial Movement, you will be known as the rebel who failed to overthrow the empire! Ninja children, you will be known as the ninja who failed their mission!”
Morio (steps forward, removing his face cover): “And you will be known as the father who failed to kill his son!”
Norbert (in an instant flash of sanity): “…Noel?!”
Morio: “My name is Morio, Noel died when he was three. And you are just the chief warden, Norbert died within three years short after Noel was born.”
Norbert: “Scoundrels, trying to fool me! You will all die today! Attack!!!”
- After the party battle, there’s a duel between father and son.
- Norbert is lying in front of Morio, heavily wounded and taking his last breaths of air. Morio kneels down to him and they look into each other’s eyes.
Norbert: “I’m glad I finally got what I deserved. Take this…”
Norbert puts forth a letter and hands it to Morio.
Norbert: “You have her eyes. Forgive me… my son…”
Morio: “Father…”
Morio drops his head and closes his father’s eyes.
Yumiko: “I… I’m sorry, Morio.”
Odessa: “Let’s leave him alone for a moment and open the gate to the cave.”
While the others open the gate, Morio alone reads the letter given to him by his father. It was written by Morio’s mother some time after she left her husband. Therein she curses him for what he has done, but also reveals that she lives in Zelant now.
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Re: Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

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Chapter 20: Into the Lion’s Den

- Morio rejoins the others and they descend into the cave. Surprisingly they end up in an impressive cave arch with statues of famous imperial generals of old along the walls. From a balustrade on the opposite side Corentin welcomes them, saying they’re the first test objects coming voluntarily, and in appreciation of their courage, they’re granted a very special challenge. From each of the five side chambers, a huge beast appears.
- These are five huge and powerful monsters, one for each element, each one able to cast some spells and to inflict serious physical damage, similar to dragons from Rhapsodia (3*3 squares) but each one is an individual creature with individual skills, stats, movement etc.
- After the beasts are slain, Corentin congratulates them on their victory, and thanks them for demonstrating the weaknesses of these breeds. He promises the next offspring will be tougher, and tells them to come back in a couple of weeks. The party tells him this was his last breed and challenges him to fight. Corentin expresses his regret about them not being alive to witness his next breed. He then magically animates the statues, which join him in his fight against Morio and his friends.
- These are eight mighty clones of legendary imperial generals, one for each normal weapon type: Sword, Gr. Sword, Axe, Spear, Hammer, Bow, Darts, and Fists. They’ve got max weapon level, max skills, as well as their respective command and elemental sword runes attached. Stat-wise, they’re like above-average characters, but they’re some levels higher than the average of the 8 highest-leveled characters of Morio’s party. Corentin the sorcerer joins them in battle and casts powerful spells against the party, and always tries to hide behind the frontline of his animated statues. As soon as Corentin falls, the battle will end, and if there are statues alive, they turn back to stone.
- Rays of dazzling light beam out of Corentin’s wounds. Screaming and cursing Morio, his body starts to pulverize until there’s only a light silhouette left. Casting his last spell, the light ceases until it’s gone. His last spell causes a powerful earthquake that makes the place tremble and debris fall from the ceiling. The party hurries out of the mines, their way led by Iris.

Epilogue: Farewell

- When they reach the outer site, a big part of the mines collapses. Without a force of control, the monsters in the stables have started attacking each other. Some ending scenes follow…
- Morio, Yumiko and Kakuji standing together…
Kakuji: “Yeah, not bad for the first mission, but I hope the next one is more exciting.”
Yumiko (upset, pulling Kakuji’s ears): “We got nearly killed, you idiot!”
Kakuji: “Stop it! I was just kidding!”
Yumiko (lets loose his ears): “Whatever. I’m happy it’s over, even though we actually failed the mission. I mean, we were sent to look for the reason of a threat, and not to defeat it.”
Morio: “Listen guys, I’ve got to tell you something…”
Eldur and Trishna approach Morio and interrupt him. After some words of farewell they leave. Gohu, Griselde and Yalda approach Morio.
Gohu: “Morio, please don’t tell me you’ll leave us now.”
Morio: “I’m sorry, Gohu…”
Gohu: “But there must be a reason why we’ve met.”
Griselde: “Brother, we’ve just destroyed the reason.”
Gohu: “But… but…”
Morio: “I have a request, please take Yalda with you.”
Griselde: “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of both of them.”
Morio: “Yalda, I’ll be back soon, I promise.”
Yalda: “Dario! Nalleo! Let’s get going.”
Mondo jumps into the group.
Mondo: “It’s getting dark soon, let’s set off. Are you ready?”
Morio: “Wait a minute. I want to say goodbye to Odessa.”
- In the meanwhile there is some conversation within Odessa’s group.
Odessa: “Thank you guys, but as for me, this was just a start. Can I still count on you?”
Humphrey: “………………………….yo.”
Viktor: “I’m sorry, but… yes of course, no need to ask.”
Flik: “Yes, you wouldn’t get rid of us anyway.”
Mose: “If you need weapons, just tell me.”
Sanchez: “I’ll follow you in case you need other things than weapons, …”
Viktor: “Don’t worry, Flik will handle this.”
Flik: “Viktor!!!”
Sanchez: “…like quill and paper.”
Odessa: “All of you… thank you. To you as well, uncle… (looking around) gone, but still, thank you.”
Kessler: “Can’t we hurry up a bit, we’ve got a long and epic feast to celebrate.”
Lexy: “But don’t drink too much boss, I won’t support you on the way back to our stronghold the day after.”
Odessa: “Varkas, Sydonia, I’ll give you the money in Sarady as promised.”
Varkas: “Ahh, never mind. We’ve emptied a lot of imperial pockets on this journey, so we’ll return with more money than expected anyway. Am I right, Sydonia?”
Sydonia: “Heh.”
- Morio approaches Odessa.
Odessa: “Morio, I owe you so much. You’ve rendered a great service to this land and its people. I can’t find the right words to thank you.”
Morio: “Stop it, Odessa. You know very well we’ve accomplished it together. But listen, it’s you who needs the credits in public. We ninja don’t need it. Seriously, don’t be too modest, you’re a leader after all.”
Odessa: “I’ll try my best. But promise me, if you ever need help, tell us.”
Morio: “Thank you. As long as the empire works as we’ve witnessed, I’m sure ninja and rebels will fight side by side again soon. Well, I’ve got to go now.”
Kessler: “Go?! What do you mean? There is a feast you don’t want to miss.”
Morio: “Haha! We’ll catch up on it someday. All of you, thank you and farewell!”
- Halfway between the mines and Rokkaku, Mondo and the ninja pitch a camp. Early the next morning, Mondo enters the 3 ninjas’ tent. They’re gone. Mondo finds a letter which has been conspicuously placed in the middle of the tent. It is addressed to Hanzo. Mondo hurries to Rokkaku and hands it to Hanzo. Hanzo opens it and the scene fades. There are some animations in the background, quiet music is playing and the letter is read by Yumiko’s voice actress (the letter was written by Yumiko). Therein, Yumiko doesn’t reveal all the details, but she explains that Morio has received hints about the whereabouts of his mother, and that she and Kakuji will stay by his side. After all, without Morio they wouldn’t be complete (Hanzo told them to return complete). In addition she gives an indication that the goal is far away, without telling where it is, so that the ninja can’t catch them and keep Morio from his search, but also for the sake of preventing Hanzo from wasting ninja forces to search for them. Lastly, on behalf of all the three, she thanks Hanzo for everything he has done for them, apologizes for all the inconveniences they brought upon the ninja. She promises to return one day with Kakuji, because at least the two of them have family in Rokkaku.
"Within the four seas, all men are brothers" Shuihu Zhuan
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Re: Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

Post by Wolkendrache »

Character Endings

Morio: Traveled to Zelant to search for his mother and never returned to Rokkaku.
Yumiko: Accompanied Morio for a couple of years, then returned to Rokkaku with her husband…
Kakuji: Followed Morio to Zelant where he married Yumiko some years later.
Gohu: Swore to stay by Morio’s side until his scar disappears.
Griselde: After some initial opposition by his brother, she married a swordsman in Zelant.
Yalda: In hope of finding a healer, Morio took her along to Zelant.
Odessa: Moved her headquarters to the Arus region and renamed her movement as Liberation Army.
Flik: Swore to protect Odessa and named his sword after her.
Viktor: Thanks to the chance encounter with Morio, he found a new home.
Humphrey: The sound of his name sends shivers down the imperial spines.
Sanchez: Became chief accountant of the Liberation Army.
Mose: Turned his secret storehouse into a forge facility for the Liberation Army.
Leon: Returned to his house in Kalekka immediately.
Kessler: Returned to his lair on Mt. Tigerwolf.
Lexy: Told her brother Ledon of her adventures.
Varkas: Turned down Odessa’s money and returned to Mt. Seifu.
Sydonia: Followed his boss back to Mt. Seifu.
Mondo: Resumed his training and served faithfully under Hanzo.
Eldur: Died of natural causes two years later.
Trishna: After Eldur passed away, she disappeared.
Iris: Set off on a journey to find Amon and take revenge.
Azra: After a dispute with Risha, she left the country to open a quest guild elsewhere.
Risha: Initially happy about Azra’s departure, she followed her the next day.
Warren: Returned to his mansion in Senan, where he secretly houses people framed by the empire.
Taggart: Continued assisting Warren.
Maximillian: Trotted off to keep on fighting injustice.
Sancho: Followed his master, telling him every day to take care of his health.
Jeane: Moved to Kunan and found a job in the rune shop of Antei.
Viki: Was invited to the victory feast where she got a hiccup and disappeared.
Lorelai: Fooled by Killey, she traveled to Gouran to find Sindar traces.
Eikei: Moved to the southern parts of the empire in search of worthy opponents.
Hellion: After visiting Eldur’s grave, she traveled through the empire.
Anji: Returned to his hideout on Lake Toran and continued his “business”.
Kanak: Happy about leaving the cold Dana region, he followed Anji.
Leonardo: After returning to Lake Toran, he recovered from his “landsickness”.
Blackman: Returned to his fields in Kalekka.
Lester: Returned to his restaurant in Kirov and became a famous chief.
Pesmerga: Continued exploring the empire to find a man called Yuber.
Zamza: Feeling he wasn’t credited appropriately, he left the country.
Gantetsu: Continued his journey, as well as the training of mind and body.
Anita: Moved on to prepare for a future duel.
Oulan: Hired as bodyguard by a landlord, but chased away after beating him up for some reason.
Shin: Moved to Jowston and was hired by the mayor of Greenhill as bodyguard of his daughter.
Rikimaru: Got married some years later.
Badeaux: Left the country to find a more quiet and peaceful place.
Simone: Saying he missed civilization, he went home to Gregminster.
Killey: After cunningly getting rid of Lorelai, he disappeared.
L.C. Chan: Even though still no school, he got his first student some years later.
Georg: Disappeared without a trace.
Elza: One day she heard a rumor in town and disappeared.
Cathari: It is said she returned to Harmonia.
Roy: Moved on to the Grasslands and inspirited many children.
Faylen: Unintentionally irritates Roy more and more with her flowered out feminine curves.
Faylon: Getting hails from the juvenile audience gave him a boost of self-esteem.
Josephine: Realizing the north isn’t much different in terms of noblesse, she moved back south.
Water Creature (Snake): Jumped into the Dunan river and disappeared in its currents.
Fire Creature (Salamander): Walked into a campfire, turned to flames and vanished.
Wind Creature (Roc): Ascended into the sky until it was out of sight.
Earth Creature (Boar): Entered a cave and never came back out.
Lightning Creature (Cockatrice): Missing after struck by lightning on a stormy night.

I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to give some feedback, ideas for improvement and so on...
"Within the four seas, all men are brothers" Shuihu Zhuan
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Re: Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

Post by sticky-runes »

You've written a lot since I last replied, so I'm reading this in bits.

Chapter 11: Not sure about a battle taking place in Leon's dinky little house, maybe a battle map that features a whole part of the town with several ruined houses would be more fun? Maybe when we reach Kalekka, it's like a normal town at first with just a tavern where we can talk to a few people that have gone into hiding and stuff, and they provide information that monsters roam the town at night, and that Leon's place is at the other end of town. Maybe the monsters feel drawn to the characters because they smell of blood (a little nod to the meeting with Zohar in Vandal hearts 1 there)
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Re: Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

Post by Wolkendrache »

Thanks!

I almost fully agree. A battle inside the house would be boring, because of the limited terrain options. It’s been a decade since I’ve played VH1, I remember Zohar, but I can’t exactly remember the battle maps. If you’ve played VH2, then imagine something like Domigo village where you meet Hammet and fight some zombies. You could climb small houses or walls and attack the enemy with your L-ranged fighters. Something like this would indeed be better. I loved the battle maps of VH2, they had a high height differential which forced the player to comply the battle strategy to it. Rhapsodia’s battle maps look like the movement area of an airport, flat! This should be changed. Not every map has to look like Dybosa Ridge or Rainbow 4, but well, you get the point.

The only thing I disagree with is the blood theme. Even without blood it already sounds like a zombie movie, because we have a small inhabited colony as well as town ruins infested with monsters. It’s not a zombie apocalypse, it’s the Suikoden world, where you can bribe monsters, so they’d rather smell your money. :shock:

I’m looking forward to more feedback!
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Re: Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

Post by sticky-runes »

I don't mean the blood of the characters themselves. When you meet Zohar in VH1 after killing the spark monsters, he says something like "those creatures were drawn by the smell of blood. You people have the blood of many on your hands." so he meant the blood of your enemies that you have killed, and since Morio and his friends have been caught up in a violent conflict against Imperials, that kinda makes sense here as well.

Obviously the regular Suikodens don't give explanations for every random fight we get into, but with tactical RPGs there usually is a bit more thought put into each combat situation because it sets things up for how each battle plays out. I think a bunch of demonic spirits lurking around a ghost town that was once a war zone and site of horrific tragedies, suddenly becoming active because they sense a group of rebels walking into their territory preparing for war... that would be kind of poetic.

VH2 also had the Polata ruins where Joshua gets attacked by monsters in the ruins of his hometown. I imagine the map being sorta like that.
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Re: Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

Post by Wolkendrache »

Ah, I get what you mean. I believe Zohar meant that literary rather than literally, the monsters sensing their furious hearts. Mages, priests and snipers shouldn't have much blood on their hands. On the other hand, in VH1, blood was splattering all over, all characters should have looked like dipped in blood...
Image
By demonic spirits, do you mean the spirits of the deceased? So they are villagers not realizing they're dead, instead believing they've rebuilt their town, but when they see fighters (people with weapons) they immediately turn to hostile demons, thinking these fighters want to raze the town one more time. Keep in mind that this would be really creepy for many east asian people.
Unfortunately the Polata map was relatively boring, but you're absolutely right, Kalekka is said to have been razed, so it should look like that.
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Re: Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

Post by sticky-runes »

Well, S1 didn't mention any actual ghosts haunting Kalekka, I was thinking rather the creatures that we encounter there kind of pick up on negative energies. The demon hounds could be demonic entities that have materialized in the ruins after all the death and destruction that occurred there. Maybe the shadowmen feel at home in all the decay and darkness, and the hawkmen could be scavengers that pick at the town's leftovers.
Occasionally when a passer by comes through the ruins they might jump out and scare them off, but when Morio and Odessa and their group show up - these people that have trained to fight and been fighting and killing soldiers and have violence in mind to resist the Empire - the monsters all become agitated attack. If you want to think of it as the spirits of the townsfolk influencing the monsters, or just some sort of energy surrounding the area, that's up to your own interpretation.

I think that's sort of how it happens with the Plain of Sorrow battles in VH1, where we meet Zohar. Ash has been killing bandits during his career as an officer, Grog ended up fighting and killing his own brother and his crew, and Sara was forced to fight her own comrades when they were transformed into mad soldiers by the black stone. The monsters that we fight in those battles have sensed what they've been up to and become agitated and attack.

I know I'm putting too much thought into this one battle map, but the idea of ghost towns and psychic energies just fascinates me. You could probably come up with some simple dialogue describing the event, so instead of just "oh crap, monsters" somebody says something like "This place has been through a lot of tragedy, I don't think we're welcome here..." or maybe Leon himself says something like "you people come here looking to wage war. No wonder the creatures outside have become so restless."
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Re: Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

Post by Wolkendrache »

When I wrote this, I was well aware I'd need an explanation for Leon not being harmed by these monsters. I just thought he knows the time when these monsters are active and would only leave his house while they're not, I didn't think further into details yet. Your idea is very good as an explanation. Leon walking amidst these monsters without being harmed is a weird but cool imagination. What makes me hesitant is the irony that Leon is actually the one responsible for all that bloodshed (what the monsters don't sense).
Your input forces me to think deeper into it, so it's very welcome, thanks again, keep it up!

By the way, I got another idea concerning gameplay. If height differential is more apparent in these battle maps, then we need skills to overcome such obstacles. In VH2 we had
the flyers class (armor) and the blockmake skill. I would neither introduce flyers nor blockmake into Suikoden. Blockmake is a cool idea and strategically one of the most important features in VH2, but it makes the map look ridiculous. (On a side note, the same is actually true for elemental terrain in Rhapsodia, I would like to make it look a little more unremarkable). So I would introduce a skill like "climb assistance". If a character with that skill is placed beside a wall or house, then he/she can assist other characters climb that wall at that spot. It adds +2 to the jump stat of the characters who are being assisted. Example: A ninja with jump 3 is standing in front of a ramp with height 5, so the ninja can't climb it. Place a character with climb assistance skill next to the wall, then the ninja can climb it (with a small penalty in movement and maybe speed). This skill can do more, back to the example: the ninja also has the skill and is standing on the edge, so now he can help pull other characters up, but since the wall has height 5, in this case he can only pull up characters with a jump stat of 3. This is important because otherwise characters might get stuck at certain points. And the skill contains one more thing, basically the same for downward movement: when a character with the skill is standing at the wall, it gives characters from above the option to jump down thanks to the assistance of that character. All these features require strength, so I'd suggest it is only useable by fighters. It means that mages can not assist others in climbing, but they'll still benefit from being assisted by the fighters with this skill.
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Re: Suikoden 1 Tactics Prequel - Outline

Post by sticky-runes »

Yeah, I went way too deep with all that Kalekka monsters stuff! Still, it has always kinda bothered me when Suikoden gives us places where people are living peacefully in areas where me and my heavily armed crew get constantly attacked by powerful monsters, and we're supposed to accept that just because it's an RPG and we need encounters to stop us from getting bored :P so when RPGs do provide some sort of explanation for why these monsters show up, I just think it just adds a bit more sophistication to the experience!
As for Leon's war history, maybe because he's left that life behind, he doesn't get bothered by the monsters, but all the young rebels are looking to cause violence so they do get attacked by the monsters!

The Climb Assist skill sounds good. Flying isn't really a thing for suikoden characters (except wingers and the occasional griffin/dragon/giant bug things) and the giant owls in Tactics seemed a bit desperate. If you still have recruitable creatures like roc and salamander, they can be the rare flying units that can pass rivers and impassable areas.
Maybe one of the early levels can be where Morio and his friends have to cross a canyon or something and it plays out as a sort of tutorial on assist jumping where we first practice the commands to hoist characters across gaps and onto ledges. There can be a jumping stat that shows up in the character's status box, for example:
Jump + 3 (Normal)
Jump + 6 (Assist)

It'll be nice to see more teamwork features coming into play.

Aslo, sorry if you've already mentioned this and I've glanced over it, but will there be interactive mechanisms like in the first Vandal Hearts? Like sluice gates and drawbridges and elevators that can be used to help allies and hinder enemies? Because I kind of missed that stuff in VH2 and Suikoden tactics.
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