Sleight of Hand

About

Sleight of Hand is the third journey area in "Normal Mode."

Parchland

Upon first entering the area:

The Oldtowners' magicked BRIDGE is all that was promised: Sound as a bell, and potent as sandwine.
Your sight blurs, becomes other senses. You hear chartreuse and see keening... then come to, ankle-deep in the dunes.

BOSS: YT-8 Southpaw

• 01 Call this Not
• 02 The Sand Sea
• 03 Lest This
• 04 Whiff of Water
• 05 Prove a Cruel
• 06 Mock Yet Here
• 07 Be Monsters
• 08 Stone Dragons
• 09 Killing Winds

STORY

• Upon entering Mission 01:

"Now THAT'S a shortcut! I stand gladly corrected, even with this wind.
Covered in sand, raving of old magic. Hm, ill-fits an envoy to the mage king."

• Upon destroying YT-8 Southpaw Lv. 1:

"The exos already here? We may be too late with our mission...
This desert has long been contested land. The theri love its vast clarity, but...
The mages would drain the spice from its sandy hold, and carouse atop the hulk."

• Upon destroying YT-8 Southpaw Lv. 2:

"What new madness is this? These theri hunt us as though we're exos.
Breathe enough sand, we literally turn to stone. Happened to a whole theri clan.
We're all like to perish in this storm--we must get to the city!"

• Upon destroying YT-8 Southpaw Lv. 3:

"We've a problem. The storm is a knife: the band cut in two, fighters scattered.
There's a fighter who hails from nearby. She may be able to find shelter.
Too many are injured, we cannot stay out here much longer."

Well of Allax

Upon entering the area:

Pro tip: Next time, teleport directly to the city, not some desert. The golden dunes have boiled into a poison-brown soup of DUST and HEAT.
The SANDSTORM slows your progress to a crawl. Fighters stumble and flail. "This way!" A fighter bawls into your ear.
"OASIS!" she shouts. "Nearby." One look at your folk, and you nod. DOTS are being blasted right off, leaving pocks and gashes.

BOSS: YL-4 Sphinx

• 01 On Covey Eve
• 02 Came a Storm
• 03 Turned Every
• 04 She-Dragon
• 05 To Stone The
• 06 Tears Of The
• 07 Males Sunk
• 08 An Oasis And
• 09 Feed it Still

STORY

• Upon entering Mission 01:

"Don't worry about the stragglers--I'll find them. Quite the sand-mole I am.
Just get to the oasis! We must hope we won't lose anyone."

• Upon destroying YL-4 Sphinx Lv.1

"Hm, there's no getting away from the enemy. Seems all of Texel's at war.

But we're out of the storm's way here, and there are plants for physicking.

I suggest we camp here till we recover, and the storm lets up."

• Upon destroying YL-4 Sphinx Lv.2

"Seems we're mending, 'spite everything. We might turn to stone, but not today.

But these theri attacks... There's no reason--and no reasoning with them.

This desert is a killing place now, where exos and theri hunt..."

• Upon destroying YL-4 Sphinx Lv.3

"All the stragglers are here, and they've a curious tale: some theri saved them...

...By fighting off their own. Xana are fond of infighting, but not the theri.

The answer lies in the city, but with the exos here, I fear what we'll find."

Louran

Upon entering the area:

A shocking sight greets you in LOURAN, the city of MAGES: Folk are heedless of the war, abuzz over the king's bid for a new SPELL.
You make your way through the revelry to the PALACE, only to be told all state business must wait until the SPELL is complete.
The streets run with magic, sandwine, and NEWS told with a sybarite's unconcern: A number of THERI out in the sands, for reasons unknown...

• 01 From a League
• 02 Away Cureleaf
• 03 Wine and Atir

BOSS: Belit Lv.1

• 04 None Better
• 05 Than His Very
• 06 Latest Spell

BOSS: Egmund Lv.2

• 07 No Goodness
• 08 Besting The
• 09 Least Pleasure

BOSS: YT-9 Haymaker Lv.3

STORY

• Upon entering Mission 01:

"More the fool me. Why fret about those who worry not about themselves?

There's much to learn, however. We'll keep our ears open and our heads clear."

• Upon destroying Belit Lv.1

"Talk is that theri have been abducting mage folk right here in Louran.
The spell is to enhance the magical barrier around the city, but--
Nobody seems to be asking, why would a theri suddenly do such a thing?"

• Upon destroying Egmund Lv.2

"Sure, why not attack us? These young hexsters with their keg of courage!
So many theri of ill repute around. The barrier must be weak indeed.
This revel is like to be short-lived. Be on guard, defender!"

• Upon destroying YT-9 Haymaker Lv.3

"Did you see those theri steal away just before the exos attacked?
It was as though they knew what was going to happen...
Forget the tiffs between mages and the theri, there's something darker here."

Allodiael

Upon entering the area:

The palace of the mage KING, the castle ALLODIAEL. You finally gain an audience as the king puts the finishing touches on the BARRIER SPELL.

The ALLIANCE proposal from the GALLANTS holds no interest; the king has a toy he likes better. But as soon as it starts, the spell goes awry.
The BARRIER tears like old silk, and the ASSAULT begins: A horde of exos, and unthinkably, THERI.

• 01 Seat of The
• 02 Mage Monarch
• 03 Of High Magic

BOSS: Nidintulugal Lv.1

• 04 Made The Most
• 05 Gifted Child
• 06 Is Named The

BOSS: Nidintulugal Lv.2

• 07 Desert Pearl
• 08 To Ascend The
• 09 Nacre Throne

BOSS: XT-2 Ascend

STORY

• Upon entering Mission 01:

"By the iris, we got our answers. I almost wish we'd stayed in the dark.
These theri must have been collaborating with the exos all along..."

• Upon destroying Nidintulugal Lv.1:

"You'd betray fellow Texeli to these tinpots? Have you no honor? Traitors!
Forgive the strong words, I should withold judgement till I know more.
But I have a powerful anger in every dot of this reduced body..."

• Upon destroying Nidintulugal Lv.2:

"Most of these theri are allied with the exos, but a few fight against them.
Odd business, this. The theri aren't what you'd call sociable folk, you know.
Staying neutral--that I'd expect. But uniting to collaborate? The mind reels."

• Upon destroying XT-2 Ascend:

"The theri who fought for our side... Try as I might, I couldn't catch them.

Here, it's theri against theri, 'twasn't so in Alabast. Elsewhere, who knows?

Texel shifts like sand these days, after an eternity of the same."

Thyrsa Way

Upon entering the area:

Roused by the ruinous attack, ALLODIAEL chooses forthwith to ally with the ALABAST HOLD. The mages and the gallants will fight together.
Journey to the MOORLANDS and seek out the THERI of the south. What awaits your intrepid group? In times such as this, none can tell...

• 01 The Flowering
• 02 Stems Are But
• 03 Rock Magicked

BOSS: Dadanum

• 04 By Mages For
• 05 They Hate The
• 06 Far Starkness

BOSS: XT-3 Catwalk

• 07 Swords Anorth
• 08 Fangs Asouth
• 09 Elect the Way

BOSS: XT-3 Catwalk

STORY

• Upon entering Mission 01:

"The moorlands are vast--lovely and pitiliess. I've heard tell of many terrors:
Folk trapped in quicksand for ages, vines that bite... We must 'ware the place."

• Upon destroying Dadanum:

"Nothing's what it seems in the south. Especially where the theri are involved.
They don't see themselves as a tribe, really. Just leaves out of the same book.
I wonder if we'll at least encounter our allies from Louran?"

• Upon destroying XT-3 Catwalk:

"Did you see that? The exos ignored those theri and came straight for us!
Our own fighters were certainly not spared the fury.
What is it that the moorland theri bought their safety with--and sold us for?"

• Upon destroying XT-3 Catwalk:

"My thumb is wet; the moors are close. I was here once, so very long ago.
'Twas a mission of love. Ended badly, come to think of it. War and love, eh?
Tread lightly. Even the ground beneath our feet is not to be trusted here."