Quiahuitl's Story: Chapter 3

VS Erlingr: Rot

Feb 09, 2023

Open on Quiahuitl’s Ship

Quiahuitl, Epcoatl, and their attendant on screen.

Epcoatl: Are you feeling alright, my love? You look troubled.

Quiahuitl: It’s nothing, a minor thorn in my side I’m paying too much attention to. What do you know about my next fight?

Epcoatl: Was it something Nisha said? I hear she can be outright venomous when displeased.

Quiahuitl: I shouldn’t pay her words any mind, I won. Let’s focus on what’s ahead.

Epcoatl: If you insist.

Epcoatl: Once you’re past this next fight, you’ll be halfway to winning the tournament. Your opponent is Erlingr, a gladiator of the Radakali tribe, the same one the sorcerers who make those illusions in the arena belong to.

Quiahuitl: So I should expect him to use illusions of some kind. That kind of power seems like it’d be useful to have as a surprise if someone like Zolin tries anything.

Epcoatl: Apparently it’s forbidden for the Radakali to teach their magic to outsiders. There are even laws to prevent slaves from being forced to teach it.

Quiahuitl: I see. I’ve been trying to not think about how we’re the guests of slavers. People call me power hungry, but the people of the Revolving Sea seem obsessed with power.

Epcoatl: Of all the other lands, theirs is the most alien. Let’s simply focus on what they can give us and how we can keep them from being a problem.

Epcoatl: Erlingr apparently had a reputation as a skilled warrior before he became a gladiator. My sources say the greatest struggle with Radakali magic is that it requires deep concentration, but with his skill I doubt you’ll be able to break it.

Quiahuitl: Then I’ll keep him from breaking mine. And our battleground?

Epcoatl: They won’t be transforming the entire arena, but the sorcerers will create various platforms during the fight. Those platforms will only last for a while. I’d advise not relying on them.

Quiahuitl: That’s what I think as well. It’s a wonder how perfectly aligned we are.

Quiahuitl’s reacts like she’s been hit. Epcoatl and the attendant moves closer to her.

Quiahuitl: My body, it feels like I’m burning alive.

Epcoatl: Stay still! I’ll get the healers.

Epcoatl heads towards the left side of the screen, watched by the attendant. Then stops and turns back to look at Quiahuitl.

Quiahuitl: No. The next fight is soon. I have to compete. Have them prepare for afterwards.

Epcoatl: Have you gone mad?!

Quiahuitl: If I don’t fight the people will think I’m weak. That will be deadlier than any poison. I have no intent of outliving my authority.

Quiahuitl: With how awful this timing is, it must be a curse or poison. Find the one responsible.

Epcoatl: Quiahuitl don’t endanger yourself. Let me take care of this.

Quiahuitl: I am ordering you to do as I’ve said.

Attendant: Our Revered Lady, at least permit me to help you to the arena.

Quiahuitl: I can’t be seen needing help. You go and tell the healers to prepare for after the battle while Epcoatl investigates.

Quiahuitl walks off-screen to the right.

Transition to Grand Festival Hub

Exploration Start

Someone must really hate Quiahuitl, because there’s a lot of obstacles in your path to the next fight. Thankfully the platforming to get around them isn’t too difficult, needing double jumps is the most complex it gets.

This time there aren’t any NPCs to eavesdrop on, so just get to the next fight as quickly as you can. When you approach Kazuko the next scene will bring.

Exploration End

Quiahuitl walks forward and stops.

Kazuko: Hey are you okay? I can tell that you’re only pretending to not be sick, you need help, you shouldn’t be on your own.

Quiahuitl: If you knew who I was, you wouldn’t speak to me so casually.

Kazuko: That’s rude. You’re the leader of the Xilaman Empire, the huey chihuatlatoani if I got the word right. A lot of people must rely on you, so I think they’d be worried if they knew you were being careless with your own health.

Kazuko: Let me help you.

Quiahuitl: I don’t need your charity.

Quiahuitl walks off screen to the right.

Transition to Gaiapolis

A city located within a mountain, with a wide river running through the interior as well. This stage moves through several areas.

It starts in the harbor with a merchant boat serving as a platform. then ascends to the residential area with houses built into the side of the mountain before ending on the peak of the mountain itself, looking out into the desert beneath a cloudless sky and oppressive sun.

Quiahuitl and Erlingr are at their starting positions in the initial area of the stage.

Quiahuitl: This… wasn’t what I expected.

Erlingr: Surprised, cheater?

Erlingr: The organizers of the tournament found out who was telling you about the arena ahead of time. Even Councilor Hákon went out of his way to make sure he didn’t have that information in the name of fairness.

Erlingr: It was my great ancestor who made the arenas into what they are today, and you’ve disrespected his work with your subterfuge. For the pride of my tribe I’ll eliminate you from this tournament.

Quiahuitl: (Why must the gods place a challenge this great in front of me? If I lose here the consequences will be twice as terrible now.)

Quiahuitl: Why do you care for the honor of the institution that enslaved you? You make these arenas sound so noble for treating you like a commodity.

Erlingr: Foreigners like you never get it, and you of all people have no right to lecture us. These days I hear even that right hand man of yours is sick of you.

Quiahuitl: (What are they saying about Epcoatl? I’m letting this go on too long. My entire body is in pain, but I can’t let it show, not even by refusing to argue.)

Quiahuitl: That’s enough from you. I don’t need any advantage to win here.

Battle Start

You must be thinking that it’d be really inconvenient if Quiahuitl being poisoned had an impact on the gameplay. Well guess what, it does. Quiahuitl will take constant poison damage throughout the match. This means it’s practically a race against time.

Gaiapolis is also an active stage, after a set amount of time the screen will begin to move and you’ll have to move with it until you reach the next part of the stage. Failing to keep up will make you subject to a ring out. This will happen only two times however, once you reach the top of the mountain there’s no more movement.

The first part of the stage is bisected by a river, but has a boat floating in it to stand on. You can still fall into the water however. There’s also a platform on each side of the river. Getting on top of the boat from the ground will take a double jump, but if you approach from the other platforms it’s only a single jump.

Part two of the stage is like the first, only without the river and boat in the middle. Then after another transition phase you reach the top of the mountain. While previous phases had walls, there are none here, you can get thrown off the edge. There’s also a slight downwards slant on the left side of the stage.

When going between forms of the stage you have to jump from platform to platform as you ascend. Try to maintain your offense without letting yourself fall behind. This is a poor time in the match to go for rallies with your ball, but more direct air attacks will work well.

Thanks to the poison you don’t have a choice about how to fight, you need to get aggressive, that’s the only way to get any sort of lead. Erlingr will hit your ball back, so be prepared to rally. If it can connect after a few rallies the chunk of damage should help. Your Fourfold Strike super lets you skip that process to hopefully tack on a lot of damage in a single hit.

Of course, ring outs don’t care about how much health you have left. The first, third, and transition phases all have openings for you to potentially score a ring out victory. Going for a ring out in the transition phases is inherently a bit risky, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and being poisoned probably counts as a desperate time.

Erlingr has a special mechanic where any damage he deals out or receives fills up a meter for him, it can also be filled through him meditating. Once filled he’ll automatically enter a state where he uses his magic to make two tentacles for himself, which increase the strength of every attack he uses. You’ll have to be careful once that happens, you can’t afford to wait it out, so bait out a strong attack and get in there.

You also have to deal with enemy super moves now as well. A Thousand Punches is telegraphed by Erlingr briefly meditating, use your faster attacks to disrupt it.

Phantom Combination on the other hand will make you regret approaching him from the air once the uppercut part of it lands, followed by the other attacks. If you’re not confident in your ability to bait out Phantom Combination, try to stay on the same elevation as Erlingr.

Once you finally triumph over this complicated fight you can take a deep breath and congratulate yourself on winning a rather unfair battle.

Battle End

Quiahuitl and Erlingr are standing on the mountain top part of the stage.

Quiahuitl: Ha, once again I triumph. I can’t be stopped.

Quiahuitl turns around and takes a step to the left. She immediately falls to the ground.

Chapter END

Note from the Author: I was looking to do more with special conditions for the fights, which contributed to how events in this chapter played out. Goes without saying that this is a turning point in the story, and the chapter I’m most excited to share.

Much of the game part of this story takes inspiration from Smash Bros, but the Gaiapolis stage was inspired by a stage from another platform fighter, that being Alden’s Tower in Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale.

Also, I’m going to experiment with including discussion prompts at the end of each chapter. Like the one right below this paragraph.

Optional discussion prompt: Quiahuitl got a rough deal this chapter, but she hasn’t exactly been the fairest or nicest competitor either. Do you sympathize with her, or do you view her as more of a villain protagonist?

The Warthog Report

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