Aodh's Story: Chapter 3

VS Quiahuitl: Love and Power

Jun 20, 2022

Open on Grand Festival Hub

Eamon and Aris walk on screen.

Text on screen: Day 2 of the tournament.

Aris: Is your coward of an uncle still avoiding you? Might be time to have your men help corner him and get it over with.

Eamon: No, this is purely personal. And I don’t need more people to hear about me chasing after uncle Aodh, I know what it will do to my reputation.

Aris: If you ask me, you should give up on him. He ruined Fintan’s reign, and then he did nothing to help you keep the kingdom together. You deserve more reliable allies.

Eamon: We may not be related by blood, but he’ll always be uncle Aodh to me. I can’t give up on family, father taught me that.

Aris and Eamon walk off-screen. Aodh walks on screen, having eavesdropped on the whole thing.

Aodh: Maybe you should give up.

Exploration Start

This time you’ll need to do a bit of platforming, because some asshole set up an obnoxiously big stall in your path and this is a 2d game so you can’t walk around it.

The platforming is easy, more of a warm up than anything. Once you’re on the other side you can talk to Ciara and get going to the fight. Don’t forget to eavesdrop on the way.

Lunan Noble: Obviously as the current king it’d be best if King Eamon went on to win, but King Fintan’s drake powers gives him an edge. If only it hadn’t come at the cost of his leadership.

Xilian Soldier: My grandfather used to tell me about the Hollow War and how the Lunans tried to burn down our forest. I’m glad we can leave that hatred in the past.

Lunan Peasant: Well for what it’s worth, my hometown never stopped hating King Cathaoir. Folks say even King Fintan hated his grandpa.

Xilian Noble: I don’t like that Our Venerable Lady is fighting one of the dragons. It fits her narrative too well. Though it’d be hard not to smile if Aodh beats her.

Exploration End

Aodh: Ciara what are you doing here? I told you to stay away.

Ciara: Well a certain someone taught me that blind obedience is stupid.

Ciara: Maybe you’re not ready to reunite with all of us. But how about just me?

Aodh: …

Aodh: Fine. At least for the rest of this festival.

Aodh: (It’ll be fine, if I leave once I beat Hákon there won’t be anytime for me to screw things up. And they won’t waste their time looking for me.)

Ciara: Thank you. Anyway, I checked the bracket. You’re fighting Quiahuitl next. Remember her?

Aodh: Yeah, she’s a bitch. I’m throwing her right out of the tournament.

Ciara: You finally sound like yourself again. Good luck, we’ll all be watching you.

Transition to Burnt Grove

The stage is set on a small pyramid in a grove, fighters can duke it out on the pyramid’s flat top, or go down the steps to the forest floor, where you’ll quickly run into the trees that serve as the stage’s walls.

In the background are burnt trees, giving the stage its name. A statue of a female talpman stands in the background on the top of the pyramid.

Aodh and Quiahuitl are standing at the top of the pyramid.

Quiahuitl: It’s been some time since we last met. What happened on the Bloody Day was truly tragic.

Aodh: Save the fake sympathy for someone who’ll fall for it. I know you loved not having me around to protect Lunis.

Quiahuitl: I won’t waste my kindness on someone who refuses to trust it.

Quiahuitl: Look around you, I requested this arena. It’s a reminder that my people don’t have a good history with Lunans and fire.

Quiahuitl: My people have no dragon among them, or one who would be our ally. So we’ve found our strength through unity, rather than a single protector.

Aodh: You mean the unity that came from conquering everyone around you? Sounds pretty weak to me.

Quiahuitl: You know nothing of us. I’ll show my people they don’t need to fear you, or any other power mad Lunan who’d burn down my forest.

Aodh: Your forest? You really love your own power, don’t you? Time to put you in your place, mortal.

Battle Start

Quiahuitl is going to rush you, so be prepared to deal with her offense. The safest approach is to wait until she commits to an attack with a lot of end lag before counter attacking.

If you create space between yourself and Quiahuitl, she’ll bring out a rubber ball to use as a projectile. It’s possible to start a rally by hitting the ball back, but it might ricochet in unexpected ways.

Starting from here, your opponents will be making use of their super moves once they have enough meter to use it. Quiahuitl will use hers to punish you for whiffing attacks, so be extra careful once she has access to it.

Once you have her patterns down, it’s a simple matter of defending until she’s vulnerable, then unleashing your own offense to take her down.

Battle End

Aodh and Quiahuitl are at the top of the pyramid. Quiahuitl is still in her defeat pose, lying on the floor.

Aodh: What was that about not needing to fear me? Don’t forget, I can burn down your whole empire the moment I want to. So don’t fuck with Lunis.

Aodh: (This should keep Eamon safe, without me getting close enough to ruin everything again.)

Quiahuitl gets back up on her feet.

Quiahuitl: You really love your own power, don’t you?

Aodh: I’m nothing like you.

Aodh walks away

Chapter End

Thank you for reading. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this chapter and the story so far. What did you think of Aodh’s actions at the end? What are you predicting or hoping will happen next? Any response is valuable.

The Warthog Report

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