My Sexy Skill Has Increased! Let's Play A Dance with Rogues

do we get to murder his face yet

As soon as we get to the main floor, we realize that something's gone terribly wrong.





"Don't ask me! I didn't bring them here."

Or did I? Vrigor said he wanted to get inside the castle, and I opened the gate. If the orcs found their way in after me...

At least they're killing the Dhorn soldiers, although that doesn't help much if we just have a new enemy to fight past.

"It might be prudent to assess the situation first. If there are orcs inside the castle, it is likely that there are orcs within the city, too. And we can only guess what consequences that will have..."

"Gods Anden, I wish you wouldn't be so orotund all the time." She rolls her eyes.

"Funny that YOU say that."

"Pfft."



We fight our way past a dozen more orcs. Some of them are still busy fighting Dhorn, and the confusion inside the castle is a great help to us.

I take Anden's advice to heart and decide to scout ahead before we leave the castle for good. Of course Vico insists on coming, and jumps into the fray immediately.



Does no one have the decency to stay dead anymore?





The orcs keep arguing, which gives me time to yell for the others.





Apparently if the Dhorn guards attack you going into the castle, they don't go away when the orcs come. So I had Dhorn attacking me in the middle of a cutscene, and had to rely on Vico jumping in and taking care of them until my cutscene paralysis wore off. Thankfully I got a few good screenshots anyway.

This is probably the most entertaining bug I've gotten in Part 2, because most of the others are just irritating.

EDIT: Sorry it took me this long to find the duplicate image in this post. Fixed, now.

next update

Just what I wanted to start the year with!

Seriously, can we kill him yet. It's never too soon to murder such an ass.

Awwwwwww Ack, no no, we're not pursuing his romance. Still, aw. And he's being all cute and banter-y with Pia. Why does his romance have to suck?

And to make it worse his romance with Norah is cute. He just becomes prissy with the princess. Bah I hate when LIs do that. Don't be all doe eyed and adorable with someone else then turn into mr wangst or uber serious with my PC.*Spoilers for LIs in Dragon Age 2

*tagged to be safe.

Eh light spoilers for a DWR so I'll tag it

I think the issue is that Anden has a virgin/whore complex. I mentioned earlier in the thread that I don't get the sense Anden wants to have sex with the Princess, only worship her from afar. All his dialogue indicates that he sees the Princess as a pure, innocent virgin, to the point of ignoring obvious sexual acts that she does or dismissing them as something like "you obviously had no choice and that's sad." He doesn't have the same issue with Norah, I think, because he doesn't see her as either high above him socially or "marriage material."

I've decided to do a series of non-canon updates with bits of the romances we didn't get, so don't despair, anyone!

(First up is Vico. Oh God.)

Ah that makes a lot of sense actually. Goddamnit Anden. >_>

On the plus side...it can only go up from there? :P

Rizzen ;)

There's more orcs at the docks, but I recognize the people fighting: Bran, Norah, and Gemli from the Three-Headed Orc. I cut through the crowd of orcs towards the ship. Bran smiles when he notices me.



"Looks like she's found her friends in the meantime."

"You guys know them humans?" The dwarf eyes me dubiously.

"I would say so. Right, ranger?" She grins at Anden.

Anden clears his throat and glares back at her.

"Teaming up with a dwarf now, are you?" Vico regards them contemptibly.

"You fancy another pounding?"

"You fancy a blade in the nuts?"

"Please, stop. Both of you."

We could use all the help we can get. I hope Vico didn't scare them off.

"What happened her?"



"Norah and I heard the fighting. Was quite a bunch of orcs. So we took a stand at the docks along with Gemli here. You know the rest, girl."

"Her name is Riona!"

"Really?" He raises his eyebrow at me and grins.

"Is this the first time orcs attacked the city?"

"Not really. But before the Dhorn came, the garrison fought off all orcs easily enough. But without a garrison... Guess it was just a matter of time now." He sighs and shakes his head. "I think Westwood's done. The Dhorn destroyed half the city, and the orcs will finish the rest. Most of the townsfolk wanted to flee anyway. It's time to move on, methinks."

"And what are you going to do?"



"I need to travel through the mine. Into Dhorn territory, to be more specific."

"Then I wish you good luck. You will need it. There are a LOT of nasty things below the Black Mountains."

"Why don't you come with me? I could use somebody who knows the way."

The dwarf isn't crazy about traveling with Vico, and I don't blame him.

"Ask them folks here if you need more peeps for your quest, but leave me out of it, okay?"

"Peeps"? For reals?

"You're on a quest? Tell us more."

He seems interested, so I tell him about Master Nathan and the others. He's a strong warrior; maybe he can help.

"I'm not sure if it was such a good idea to tell them, Riona..."

"We will not betray you. You are on an honorable quest. We respect that."

"Perhaps you'd accompany us then?"

"That's probably the dumbest idea you've ever had, Riona."

[Persuade] "Who knows what kind of nasty things we'll face on our journey. We may need them, Vico."

[Success] Vico glares at me, then kicks a rock and snorts.

Bran and Norah step aside and whisper to each other for a few minutes.

"Alright. Bran and I are coming with you." She smiles at me.

Vico shakes his head in disgust.

"You may stay here, if that is your wish. I would say little Riona is better off without you, anyway."

"Too bad I don't care about what you say."

We may still need Vico, but I feel better having more people around who hate him.

"What about the man you mentioned? Who traveled through the mines and tunnels to the other side of the Black Mountains?"

"His name was Old Pete. He's buried in the graveyard outside the town. The Black Mountains are to the north, separating your father's kingdom from the Dhorn Empire. No man has ever crossed their crests."

"Why is that?"

"The mountains are huge, Lady Riona. Most of the summits are always covered with snow. There are also several large orc tribes living in the wilderness, and other beasts. Maybe even dragons if the rumors are true."

If there are dragons, I only hope they're as friendly as the last one we met.

"I'm really glad that we're taking the underground way then."



"It was good advice you gave me."

I smile, and he bows at me. I wish he'd stop that.



Gemli shrugs. "Fine with me."

"And while we're at it, stay away from Riona, too."

"Leave Gemli be, Vico. He's a decent healer, plus he knows the mine and its tunnels."

"Yeah, and I can see him wanting to explore your tunnels, too."

"Jealous?"

Vico shakes his head. Whatever.

In case you were wondering about that drinking contest: if you accept it, you wake up the next morning in Gemli's bed with no recollection of what happened the night before, which makes this exchange with Vico predictably longer/more awkward.

ADWR wiki alleges that if you confront Gemli, he'll confess that he didn't actually sleep with you. I don't know if that's for a previous version, because all the dialogue I found on that subject was you saying to Gemli, "Hey, you raped me, and that's kind of not OK," and him saying, "Oh, haha, whatevs," and nothing coming of it.

Also, sorry for the huge dialogue dump here. This is the scene where you assemble your party, and I wanted to give enough sense of their personality, etc.

next update

It would be even better if said people could make him disappear in a bloody, mutilated way go away so Riona won't have to deal with him anymore and it makes everyone happy...just saying...

That should be our new recruiting method. "See this man here? Do you hate him? Yes? Welcome aboard!"

I don't think the game engine could handle that many people in our party.

Sorry for the delay in updating. I'm feeling better now, I think.

Pia pulls me aside, glancing at Bran and Norah warily.

"I hope we can trust Bran and Norah... I don't like the way Bran looks at you..."

Is Pia... jealous? I know we were... that night, but... I don't think of her like...

The way I could think about someone like Bran.

"He looks at me?"

"Well, right now he studies your backside." Pia giggles. "And Norah... Did you see that she wears nothing beneath her pinafore? That's got to be kind of chilly, don't you think?"

Pia, you are not one to talk.

I shrug. I think Norah's pretty. At least as pretty as Pia. Bran, too, he's... he's got very nice muscles.

I shouldn't think about this right now. But I do need to learn more about them, if Pia and the others are going to trust them.



"I'd like to learn a bit more about you and Norah. Where are you from?"

"Churn. You know where that is?"

[Lore] [Failure] Doesn't ring a bell. "I'm afraid I do not know Churn."

I love checks like this in dialogue. Unfortunately I haven't put any points in Lore, since I have Pia around as an item identification machine.

"It is a desert land many many miles to the east. Our people call it Ar-Van-Tur. The "Wild Land," in your language."

"You are pretty far from home..."

"We are on a quest, little Riona. Once we have fulfilled it, we may go home."

Bran and Norah won't tell me anything beyond that. It's a tribal thing they can't share with outsiders. I understand that, I guess, although it makes me a bit uneasy. Their enemies could be following us, as well as the Dhorn.



"Did you fight any Dhorn patrols on your trip?"



"Too bad he only had twelve men with him."

I hope even Vico can respect Bran as a fighter, and an enemy of the Dhorn, at least.

We leave Westwood before dawn.



"No more orcs to be seen. Good."

"Yes. I'm still concerned about the villagers..."

"Dear Gods, Riona, you sound like a fucking sermonizer."

"The villagers should be fine. Though it is noble of you to care, Riona."

There's a graveyard just ahead. Vico stops me as we draw near.

"Do you want to defile a couple of graves now?"

"I thought we might try to locate Old Pete's grave. Perhaps we'll find some useful information."



"I do not wear any panties."

I bite my tongue. I don't know why that slipped out. Vico just laughs at me.



"We just want to take a look. You don't have to fuck any corpses."

"I hope YOU can keep your fingers off them as well."

"I'll do my best."

"Watch your tongue!"

"But I do. Else it'd be busy between Riona's thighs right now."

"In your dreams."

"Want to know what else I do to you in my dreams?" He smirks.

"Oh, tell me."

"You'd just wet your panties."

next update

but i thought we didnt wear any
vico you are a terrible listener

I'm experimenting with spoiler tags for posts that are mostly large images, but leaving them off for posts that are mostly small portraits. Let me know if this is a good or bad idea.

"Lady Riona, are you well?" Anden bends over me, feeling my forehead.

"Oh... What happened?"

"You touched the altar, then you let out a shriek and tubmled to the floor. Are you alright, M'lady?"

It was just a vision. A dream. Arto Benthur...



"Odd."

"Is really everything okay, Riona?"

"I'm not sure. I had a vision of sorts. It was about the Dhorn who killed Tarleth, back at Betancuria..."

"Oh?"

"He fucked me."

Anden winces at my bluntness, but there's no other way to put it, really. He was rough and cruel and enjoyed hurting me, but in the vision I was willing, I think. I don't know why. I don't know if that means anything.

"It... It was probably some stupid dream." She hugs me softly. I hug my feet and stare at the wall. "I won't let him touch you! I swear that!"

Vico leers.

"That's a really... interesting vision."

"I did not have that vision deliberately."

"I would have guessed so."

"I wonder if this altar had something to do with the vision. Hm."

"You're a genius. Nobody would guess that. Seeing that she had her vision when she touched it." Pia rolls her eyes.

"I couldn't find anything special about that altar. Maybe it was just a coincidence."

I shrug. Vico pulls out the blade from beneath the surface plate and tosses it to me.



It doesn't look like anything special, or particularly evil, but I don't feel comfortable carrying it. I hand it back to him, and try to shake the feeling that I've given him a gift.

"Good thing you've told me."

He looks around. "This reminds me of a certain girl. Her parents had a farm south of Betancuria. She and I spent a lot of time in the hay."

Pia blushes profusely.

"If you feel so drawn to the hay, go ahead. We'll wait outside until you're done."

Pia giggles.

"Now where did you learn to be so sassy?"

The barn seems abandoned, so we rest for the night and continue on in the morning.



The inn... I told that man I'd help his daughter! I hope it's not too late.

next update

i'm sorry did he just say sassy
did he just say my word
lord i don't know what to do with myself right now

Punch Vico in the face. That's always a good answer.

Now that I'm thinking about it, here's a word about cutscenes.

Part 2, unlike Part 1, has a number of cutscenes showing events you're not actually present for. Here's what one looks like uncropped:



Basically, in order to show you a scene when you're not actually there, ADWR teleports you to a new area, polymorphs you, and turns you invisible before engaging cutscene paralysis. If you mouseover in just the right place, you can see where your party is on screen.

It's hardly an ideal way to script cutscenes, but I don't think the engine was really built for it, and I appreciate the author's creativity in finding a workaround.

I don't appreciate that half the time the camera gets stuck during transition to a cutscene and the dialogue pop-ups end up outside the visible screen, though.

It's not quite as proximate in the actual game, but I like this transition.

"Let us be careful anyway."

"Strange."

"What, Bran?"

"This inn stands in the middle of nowhere. There's nobody here to defend it, yet still it hasn't been plundered?"







Gemli's right. Damn it.



The inn's servants are locked up in a side room.



"Greetings. Are you Nela?"

"How do you know my name?"

"Your father sends me. He was worried about you."

"Oh! My poor Dad! I better see him at once!" She runs off before I can say anything else.

It's not too far back to Westwood, but I hope she gets there all right.

The other prisoners are still frightened, but they calm down once they see the orcs are dead. Apparently the orcs took over the inn and put them to work. They're not sure where the orcs came from, but at least now it's safe for them to leave.

"Thank you so much! It's a sign of the gods that you are here!"

Pia beams. "We're more than happy to help!"

Anden bows deeply.

Vico yawns. "Done already?"



"What do you suggest we should have done?"

He grins. "Rape the women, kill the men, enslave the children."

I don't know why I even asked. I shake my head, and he scowls at me.

"I was joking."



"Yes, I am glad we arrived in time."

Bran smiles at me, and my heart flutters. I'm glad he approves. But it's more than that. I'm just glad we could help people. I'm glad...

I feel different, somehow.



next update

I guess I was so worried about gaining Evil alignment points in Part 1 that I overcompensated, because this has never happened to me before.

It's a good answer if you're wearing spiked knuckles or, I dunno, a powerfist. Otherwise that answer is wholly inadequate.

We stop in Westwood briefly on our way back towards the mines. I'm glad to see that Nela has returned safely.



I give them some money so they can leave town.



"That was really nice of you, Riona." Bran gives me an approving look.

"Yawn."

We check the boat again, but it's still empty. Warek's probably dead, or worse. But there's nothing we can do except turn around and head north.

I whisper to Norah when we have a moment away from the others.

"There's something I wanted to ask about Bran..."

She smirks and raises an eyebrow.

"Do you know what sort of women he prefers...?"

"Oh, he's just like any other man in that respect. He likes girls with big boobs."

I critically look down at my breasts.

She smiles. "I was making fun. I'm sorry, Riona. But seriously... it's hard for me to say. Bran's certainly not a saint. He's had his share of tavern wenches, and they did not have much in common."

"Tavern wenches, you say?"

"Yes, well. A lot of girls like his muscles. He doesn't have a hard time picking them up, usually."

I understand that, but I hate how it makes me unhappy.

"My sis wrestles like a grizzly. She's a little sluggish at times, however."

"Fast enough to beat you."

"You're so different from the women I know."

"Am I? I think not." She laughs.

"Oh. No, I meant, most women I know live in a city, or on a farm, work, raise children... They're usually only interested in clothings, and they do not fight."

What's gotten into Anden? I've been fighting with him longer than he's known Norah. And Pia... well, Pia's probably more interested in clothes than fighting, but she still does it when she has to.

Also, I find it hard to believe that, before joining our party, Anden ever knew multiple women.

"Well I also care about the look of my armor."

"Your armor is most beautiful, M'lady."



Anden blushes and glares at Pia.

Norah grins. "You only have to ask if you want to take a look.

Anden turns bright red.

Norah laughs.

I'm glad he's coming out of his shell, I guess.

"You're Perrent, aren't you? I've seen you at Westwood. In the tower..."

The ghost slowly turns its head towards me. "Korina...?"

[Bluff] "Yes, it's me."

[Success] "Korina..."

"You must not keep that sword, Perrent. It poisons your thoughts."

The ghost stares at me, then, very slowly, lifts his sword and looks at the blade.

[Persuade] "You're a great warrior. You've bested the beast living in this cave without the help of that blade you now carry. You don't need it. Why don't you just throw it into the river? And then we'll go back to the village, and you tell me all about your victory."

[Success] "Hsssss... Yes..."

The ghost disappears.



"I was just trying to help that ghost."

"Yeah, right, you're such a kind girl."

Too bad I don't care what you think.

And too bad we couldn't get the ghost to stab Vico in the throat with that sword of his before disappearing...I apologize. This is a good game...but I just hate Vico THAT MUCH. I will never understand how a scumbag like him is suppose to be a love interest, let alone the popular one....

Recruit the ghost! :D What, I like ghosts.

I can see why he's popular (at least the version of him that you end up romancing is my favorite type of LI. *nice to the protagonist, snarky, green eyed monster ...yeah I like the crazies* But then I remember he raped the protagonist and then pretty much goes lulz about it and just go WTF are you doing to me game. I like my crazies but just...there's a line.)

What no request to romance the ghost?

There's actually a scene where you can go back to the tower and see the ghosts have a happy ending now that you've helped him, which is sweet, but town is like a day's journey round-trip and I really don't have a way to justify that in-story.

I would, but it just doesn't seem right to request that when the ghost thinks Riona is his lost love. That would make a heck of a story though.

Finally caught up! /wipes sweat from brow
That whole thing with the spirit/demon and the ring was sooooo cool, by the way (and ages ago /weeps)~ *ω*
And I liked Simon - he was a pretty decent person. Why isn't he romanceable? ;~;

I cannot wait for the moment when we get to kill Vico: every time that man opens his mouth, I hate him all the more. Even when he's being 'nice', because all I see is him trying to manipulate the MC. D:< Ugh!
Why can't we kill him already? Why is romancing him even a thing?!

And now I shall to bed, since, between reading this and finishing that Chemistry assessment and reading that damned FATAL review someone posted way back D:, I'm not sure how my brain is still even working. :< And it's so ridiculous a.m. that I cringe when I look at the clock. >,<

I was terribly amused when I logged on this evening and discovered I had 90-someodd new likes, so thank you, Candied Citrus!

Also, "ridiculous a.m." is my new favorite time.