---

It's an end-of-chapter blowout, featuring over 300 screencaps taken and much more dialog than any chapter before it. Here we go!



To the Bottlemail plant!



"No haggling, she'll probably just take it all!"

Incidentally, we have another relevant news piece:



I'm getting the impression that the Ivoire Times is more of a tabloid than a credible news source.

While we're at it, here's Castile's latest letter.



Well, we won't have to if she accepts our offer on the island.

---



This looks like a really bizarre Simcity map.



Comically, he doesn't even go into the back room, he just takes a few steps and then starts yelling.



We now know which character is providing the narration for the story.



All that time we spent betting on the Rat Race and the Virtue Wheel won't go to waste!



! Intruder in the back!



Like those chumps that buy up dozens of copies of Ogre Battle and sell them at an 800% markup on eBay, here comes Cauldron.



Flashing the cash-loaf.



I'm filthy rich!



Don't tell me you want even more!



Being ambiguous sure is fun.



Here it comes.



Snap!



He'll do anything for that 50 square feet of land.



Celebrating a little early, I'd say.



Let's make it interesting.



Some time later....



Walnut's up to his usual tricks.



Master of the snappy comeback.



Guess Sienna agreed to our offer.



Of course, that means we'll have to fight our way through everyone else here.



There's really not much to say about this group; there's no Protections on the field and only three of them to fight. Just come in at level 17 or higher and this should be a cakewalk.



Walnut sabotages the Amazons.



He's the LAST person I'd want to be in league with.



The lead Amazon's name is "Flame", by the way. How ironic.



On our end of the field is this Anthill, which beams out a Defense -10% Protection to every confinable object we start out near.



The amazons are worse off, though, getting a Defense -30% Protection from this cactus. So yeah, no tricky strategies required here.

---



Meanwhile...



Sienna and Cauldron enjoy an awkward visit.



"I've got a bum leg and she can summon two level 70 phantoms with First Strike. I'm not messing with that!"



Guess she's not going to make that public just yet.

---



Walnut meets Fox, perhaps better known as zombieface.



Big talk for a Titlist!



We have a knack for showing up at just the wrong time.



Mmyep.



He's taken up a side job as a Necromancer.



Like the last map, there's an object beaming out Defense 10% Protection to everything readily confinable.



Fox himself projects Defense +10% to all of his zombies, but at the same time this rock gives Attack -10% to all of them as well. So again, no real tricks needed.



This owl guy sounds remarkably like Wernstrom from Futurama.



Oh damn it, he's left us stuck with the check again.



Whoosh!



They really love the disadvantages on the Island of Evil. This one's giving off Speed -30% to all of our enemies and most of the confinable objects on the board.



One of the few exceptions is this, which will give 2X strength but also gives Warp, which teleports you to a completely random location on the board before each of that character's turns. So it's also a bit of a gamble as to whether you'll get to use your newfound strength or not.



There's also these, which broadcast "No O.B." and "Rooted" to each other. The former prevents that character from being thrown out of bounds, while the latter makes that character unable to be lifted or have items stolen from them. They're fairly out of the way though, so save these for characters with good movement range.

---



Looks like someone beat us to it.



You have to kick a lot of ass when it's real estate on the line.



At last we meet the genuine article.



He was a werewolf too! Can you believe that?



Kicked him and his slime buddies to the curb.



Trade you for the bird. And no, not the raised middle finger kind.



Just can't turn down a duel, this guy.



He learned honor from Japan.



1. (Anc. Astron.) An instrument or machine for showing when
the sun arrived at the tropics and equinoctial line.
[1913 Webster]

2. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Heliotropium; -- called also
turnsole and girasole. Heliotropium Peruvianum is
the commonly cultivated species with fragrant flowers.
[1913 Webster]

3. (Geodesy & Signal Service) An instrument for making
signals to an observer at a distance, by means of the
sun's rays thrown from a mirror.

I guess 3 makes the most sense.



As you might guess from his level of 60, you're not supposed to win this fight if you come here at the game's recommended level. Looks like the joke's on him, though.



Regardless of whether you've leveled up or not, though, you'll want to swipe his sword, as it grants a powerful attack skill called Heliotrope. You can do this with a Bottlemail at level 25; just have a few extra units around to draw Raphael's attacks away until the bottlemail's last turn expires.

If you did level up enough, though, there's no Protections or other enemies on the field, so just blast away at him.



The end result is the same regardless, but it's more satisfying to defeat him.

---



Well, we got what we came for.



And what he came for, apparently.



Itching for a fight, this guy.



Ash needs to work on his comebacks.



Getting his Psycho Drive on.



Pretty much every object on the board's getting some hefty Attack and Defense penalties, so you'll just have to deal with that as you battle Walnut. Guess they had to make it tougher since he's the only guy you have to defeat here. I'd recommend bringing in some Mages.



On a seperate island, there's this Mimic, sitting atop one of the game's rarer items, an egg. If you want to take it for yourself, you'll have to have someone lift and throw Marona from the very edge of the platform you and Walnut start on. As usual, a Bottlemail is your best bet for taking the egg.



The dialog box doesn't convey it very well, but he sounds like shit.



Could've fooled me.



You'll probably regret this later.



You're WAY too nice, Marona.



The Rainbow Bird puts on a nifty laser show.



And then vanishes. Well damn, now we're both SOL.



Back to report on another bungled job.



She doesn't seem very surprised.



This is where you knock him on his ass to prove a point.



Or that.



He's becoming popular lately.



Well, it is in every newspaper.



Sienna the ever-mysterious.



I think if she was going to toss you out, she'd probably have done that a long time ago.



Alright!



No no, this is the part where you leave before she changes her mind!



Well, I wouldn't go that far.



Mmmkay.



A model ship?



Deal!



It's our fifty square feet now.



Time to take a break from all these brutal battles.



Hey, it was a con!



With the help of a... Putty mushroom thing. Looks like we've still got a part to play in Ivoire's future, to boot.

Elsewhere...



Cauldron chews out his hired goons.



Looks like they found Walnut before he could get away.



And nobody's too happy about it.



They use christmas ornaments as currency on Ivoire.



Still had enough strength in him to get all the way back here.



Walnut doesn't have much going for him, does he?



Meddling kids... and their Cerberus too!



Been a while since we've seen or heard mention of those.



Did you remember to turn in your two weeks' notice?



Guess we're still in the Chroma trade.



And will be for the long haul.



Stay tuned for Episode 8, where there is no stirring.

---

- Spoony Spoonicus <- 10:16:36 pm, friday, april 11th, 2008 pdt <- (updated 11:14:58 pm, fri, apr 11th, 2008 pdt)