WLC 2.F: Quest Complete

WLC 3.1: By Dawn's Early Plight

Melandria, the Shadow Queen, oozes out of the darkness into the sleeping town of Rankedge. The sun, what the Inner Glowians call that weird rock floating in the center of the planet, shines its light on the lands to the east. No matter how many times she sees this inner world it still unnerves her; the bending of the land into such an unnatural state.

The goblin town has recovered since last she was here, but one building is largely unchanged: Dr. Ling's brutalist brick apothecary. The placards on the side identify it as the Wizard Lizard's Pharm.; they also direct people seeking the Lizard Wizard, Lang Cantor, to the other side of town, by the Gizzard King, a local restaurant.

Melandria, as beautifully dressed as ever, takes a deep breath and knocks on the door. While she waits, she looks about the empty roads, at the the simple stone huts that line this side of town. Her mind drifts into nostalgia, only to be pried back to reality by the sound of the door unlocking.

The door creaks open and a child peers out. The little gecko, almost a miniature Ling wearing a pink smock, stares at Melandria for a second, then says, "Mum's not home." She closes the door suddenly.

J: The end. D: What that's it? J: I'm kidding. There's more.

Melandria knocks on the door again. When the little one opens it again, the darkness grabs it and holds it open.

"Let's try this again," says Melandria, "I am the Shadow Queen and I am looking for Dr. Ling, who I assume is your mother."

"Yes," says the gecko puffing out her cheeks, "She's not here."

"Then, where is she?"

"Get out of my house."

Melandria conjures her magic orb, black like all her things, to her hand. She calls Ling and hears a faint buzzing come from within the house. "Did she leave her orb here?" asks Melandria, pushing her way into the building. "Ling, I need you."

The apothecary is in a sorry state. Contraptions of various types line walls, while a cluttered counter blocks the way into the backroom. The backdoor is actually several threads of beads. A small hammock hangs near a messy dresser in the corner.

"Get out of my house," says the gecko, "You, big titty w***e."

"Child," gasps Melandria, " Where did you learn that word? You shouldn't say things like that."

"Jevoi, what's that racket?" calls a groggy voice from the backroom.

"Ling, it is I," says Melandria, "The Shadow Queen."

"Bl'ell, Mel," says Ling, audibly rummaging around the other room, "Why didn't ya just call?"

"I did," says Melandria firmly, "Several times." She enters the backroom.

The super king sized bed takes up most of the room. It's blankets are crumpled to the side and the pillows are scattered. There are a ludicrous number of shelves along the walls, most of them supporting water bottles. So many water bottles. The rest of the shelves hold an assortment of wands, amulets, scrolls, and books. There is a second door in this room with a plush alligator sitting over it.

Ling is sitting naked on the side of her bed, flicking her magic orb. "What's the problem?" she asks without taking her eyes off it, "So I can prepare."

"Ecological disaster."

The final set of Vs sprites. We've got Tsubame and Katze, Nightstalker and Tony, Sazanka and Highwayman, and the secret characters. This first pair is actually unused in-game because Tsubame and Katze can only be selected in Vs mode (and Group Battle mode, which uses no sprites).

The secret duo, Otomaru and Ohomaru, are also only in Vs.

Character Select Face

On the right here, is the game's Story mode icon, which itself is a frame from the game's intro movie. Left to right: Gengoro, Jo, Kaun, Tatsumi, Mikado, Kannuki. Below are the Vs sprites for those five.

Due to a few characters' asymmetrical designs, they get two different vs screen sprites.

Last Several Days

I have spent a lot of time now going back though the list of likes and finding people to follow. I'm still not sure if I'm using this right.

WLC 5.9: Hey, Demon, It's Jevoi

"G'day," says Jevoi, "Is this- this seat taken?"

The marilith looks at the mortal, but only briefly. She rolls her eyes and continues staring at her food, strange purple meat. "Sure, whatever," she says, "Pretty gutsy walking up to a demon."

D: So what did you talk about? J: Philosophy. L: What kind? J: That's not important.

Jevoi sits down with her drink in hand. "Well, I mean," she struggles to say, "Who says demons have to be bad?"

"The gods?" says the baffled mailith. She stabs the meat; it oozes in response.

"Not really a fan of them anyway," shrugs Jevoi, "Seems like there's a lot of problems they're choosing not to solve."

The marilith looks up, bemused. "And how'd you fix them?"

"My mum always said that we have to keep working to override the people seeking to make everything worse."

"You believe that?" The marilith twirls her fork. "Just try harder?"

"No," says Jevoi, "If there are people dragging us backward, then logically the best thing we can do is get rid of them."

"Get rid of them... how?" asks the marilith. Her gaze intensifying.

"Kill them," says Jevoi blunt, swift, and cold, staring into the marilith's eyes.

A: That look in your eyes that day. I still remember it. L: So ya let her into your cabin then? Eh? Eh? J: Mum, no!

Looking into those eyes, it is as if the whole room has gone silent. The marilith had never had a mortal look at her this way before. She laughs, and says, "Want to walk with me? Name's Angustias, by the way."

"You can call me Jay," says Jevoi, sipping her drink.

"Afraid to tell a demon your name?" asks Angustias, coyly leading Jevoi out the door.

"You're not the first demon I've met," says Jevoi, following coolly.

A: You were trying so hard to be an aloof rogue. J: And you were trying to be seductive. A: I was succeeding.

The duo step out onto the deck and looking out of the bubble surrounding the ship. The stars and galaxies sparkle and shine in the great dark void.

D: Stars? L: Distant lights in the surface world's sky. J: Magnificent beacons of power that fill the cosmos. A: They're really not that special, just plasma.

The pair lean on the railing, neither sure what to say, and so, they linger in silence. A good silence, to be fair.

Mikado of Narukagami

I would like to draw your attention to one of my favorite characters. She is one of the protagonists of Bushido Blade and I have several posts I'm going to make about her.

A shrine maiden at the Tatara Shrine, member (turned acting head) of the Narukami shinto school, and (former) assassin of Kage. Her design is rather straight-forward, sure.

In 1997, the dojo master, Hanzaki, went mad (got possessed) and had to be put down. The other major players went their separate ways, but Mikado stayed to continue the organization's true purpose: protecting the last descendant of the Kagami family.

In 1998, the rival school Shainto saw the weakened Narukagami and launched their attack. Mikado, however, had foreseen this and had called most of the old team back, plus a few new friends. The Shainto had overplayed their hand and Mikado saw the chance to bring the 800 year feud to its end, once and for all.

Wizard Lizard Chronicles 1.1: Prologue of the End

Under the blackened sun, in the half-buried remains of a town, walks a gecko in a regal military uniform. The gold trim of her dark suit matches the streak in the bangs of her long, straight black wig. A band of darkened scales sits across her face, pierced by her unyielding eyes.

"Back where we started," she mutters, as she approaches a the remains of an old stone alchemical store. Her boots kick up dirt as she marches, smashing through numerous magical barriers and wardings; her own power emanating from her (no fancy hand signs or magic words, just raw stubbornness) to clear her way.

She pushes open the battered door with a loud creak and steps in. The building is filthy, but not as abandoned as it appeared. Sitting in a chair of molded dirt in the dark is a figure in a robe and pointed hat. The wizard leans back to see under the brim of her hat and asks, "Came alone, did'ya?"

The intruder licks her eyes. "Yeah," she says, "Finally tired of running, Mum?"

Making Characters Act

Since the cutscenes of Bushido Blade 2 are handled in-engine, it's super easy to put different actors on different stages with repurposed animations.

For example, this is Mikado and Jo reenacting part of Kannuki's ending in the Shainto Group Battle Stage. Jo is even using a different weapon from Mikado, unlike how Tatsumi wields the same as Kannuki.

The way Tatsumi falls in Kannuki's ending is so stiff; it's a very low-budget fall.

By contrast, "Tatsumi's" attack is a complete whiff in Mikado's ending, but the fall is more dramatic.

There's a few hiccups to the process of making this, but I can mostly make anyone in this game do anything someone else can do.

WLC 2.C: DistrAction

The two duos, one metal-clad, the other leather, approach each other across the black sand.

L: By the way, they are Gish and her brother, Gash. They never told me their names; Melandria did.

D: Spoiler.

L: What? You should already know I talk to her; that's the whole point of the story!

"Why are you out here?" asks Gish.

"Where do you think you are?" asks Gash.

"Both questies: we're lost in the Underdank," says Ling, she gestures for Kalyani to answer.

"Quite," says the priestess, "If you could point uss in the directshion of the nearesst town, we'd apprecciate it."

"That symbol," says Gash, "That eyeball you're wearing... What manner of follower are you?"

"Do you know it, brother?" asks Gish. She reaches for her sword, but before she draws it, Gash answers.

"That's the Love God's Eye," he says, "So how do you serve her?"

"Oh, you know her?" asks Kalyani, fluttering her eyes. She slithers toward Gash. "Are you a follower too?"

"Brother," Gish voices tings with annoyance.

"Let him have some fun, mate," says Ling, scampering up to Gish, "Yous two alone out here?"

J: I should have known. You're a wizard, Mum; don't you have stories about succeeding through... you know, wizardry?

L: Magic isn't the only answer to problems, Jevoi.

"No, we-" Gish cuts herself off, "Why are you really here? What do you think you're doing?"

"What do you want me to do?" asks Ling, still sauntering forward. Lacking the ability to flutter, she quickly licks her eyes instead. At the moment, she has no idea where this will lead, but it is succeeding as a distraction.

Gish takes a step backward. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots Kalyani encircling Gash.

"Perhapss, we've not been honesst," whispers Kalyani, "The Goddesss ssent uss."

"Somebody needs our help," says Ling, "Is it ya?" Ling gets up to Gish's faceplate. "A big strong woman like you shouldn't be alone."

"I- I'm not," says Gish, "My brother and I-"

"Brother doesn't count, mate," says Ling, now fully confident, "Let's see those eyes of yours." Ling places her hands on Gish's helmet, who does not resist. Ling carefully remove it and looks upon Gish's battle-scarred tallgoblin face. "Looks like ya had some bark taken off, eh?" Ling gently traces her claw down the diagonal scars; they clearly came from a claw attack.

Gish face contorts. "Would- would you like to see," she says, struggling to keep her strong warrior demeanor, "My other ones?"

"I'd love to," says Ling.

L: Long story short: they let us into the tower and we kept them distracted for a bit.

WLC 1.5: A House Divided

"You think I'll let you keep her in this hovel?" asks Jevoi, her eyes scanning the broken shelves and piles of refuse in the corners.

"As much as ya'd think I'd let ya take her to your fortress," says Ling.

"I'm willing to let YOU in," Jevoi's voice rises as small flames sparkle around her briefly, "I have a lab and a library."

"And I do not care."

Jevoi pauses. Her face slipping back into a smug malevolence. "There's also a pair of half-orc-"

"No."

"-Vrow twin-"

"NO."

"-Princess assassins-"

"n-n-no."

"-and their girlfriends are just dying to meet you."

The old lizard hissed and rasped. "Ya- ya- ya can't get me that easy." Ling pulls her hat down over her face.

"What else do you want?" Jevoi swings her arm into air. "Why would you rather live in trash?"

"This trash," seethes Ling, removing her hat, "Was your home. I spent half my life in this house and ya spent most of yours." She hops to her feet. "I built it. My life's work was done here." The room itself begins to shake. "Work ya destroyed."

Jevoi's eyes track Dalini, scurrying toward the back door. "Let's stay calm, Mum," she says, "We can still fix this. It's not too late. You don't know how many of your old friends are working for me now."

"Like who?" Ling scoffs, "Melandria? You think she's good for a brain?"

"She kept your old notes," says Jevoi, gesturing over to the glowing pod, "But there's so many others."

"Fine," says Ling, sitting down as the room stops shaking, "But first I need to tell ya 'bout how I met her."

"Why?" asks Jevoi.

"Story time!" shouts Dalini, racing back toward the fire.

"She's the first one to fund this," says Ling, "And we promised Dalini a yarn. So, sit down."

Jevoi summons an elaborate cushioned black throne to sit on; Dalini lies on the floor. "Oh, no," says the Empress, "Don't sit on the floor." She summons a matching stool which her daughter throws herself onto.

"Righto," says Ling, puffing up the fire, "Here's how I met the Shadow Queen."

Another demon passing through my thoughts:

Wearing a hard hat, putting on safety goggles, before chasing people while dual-wielding portable power drills.