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* When last we left off, Stocke had discovered that there was another person out there with another chronicle, and so he needs to meander between timelines to get the info he needs so that he can change his timeline to continue pursuing the 'true' version of history that doesn't result in a complete apocalypse. Solid.
* ...now to try to remember how I was going to do that.
* Well, looking at the White Chronicle, the only branching part I can find where I still have a new option available to me is the "Will you keep your job or go work with your friend?" node, so time to backtrack and choose the other path! Though the little dotted lines suggest there'll be a Third Option at some point, likely after I've tried both the two main ones.
* Anyway, I skip through the "Gosh, weird soldier turning to sand assassination attempt, huh?" conversation and charge upstairs to say "Sure, Rosch, let's work together!"
* Cut to: ominous bald guy (who is thus probably evil) surrounded by mecha, speaking for the Prophet Noah. Overtext helpfully notes that Noah saved us from Granorg at 16, but it's been 70 years and he no longer shows up in person. Huh. Previous protag, I guess.
* After a lot of build-up, General Hugo tells the crowd "Now is the hour when the melted snow shall water the sandy soil." The general then helpfully interprets this to mean that everyone should join up to attack Granorg and thus save the world. It's a crusade! Yay?
* Cut to: ????, hanging out in an office. Prince Valiant haircut, armor /and/ cape... He must be important. He's apparently Bosch's boss. ...he looks, like, nineteen, but I guess people get promoted fast in wartime.
* Raul disapproves of Hugo, likes Rosch, is happy to welcome Stocke in, and seems competent. I worry.
* We also learn Heiss just kinda showed up one day and created the whole spy department he runs and never... got government approval? Man. This kingdom's governmental organization does not impress me.
* Raul notes he's technically just recalling Stocke into the military he never officially left, and even gives credit to Heiss for saving the kingdom a few times. He seems really good at his job. I worry a lot.
* Raul predicts Heiss will find an indirect way to get even. "That sort of thing is part and parcel of any big organization. It's the nature of society." I really, really like this guy and wish he were our protagonist. He'll probably end up dead.
* Rosch is also being sent into action, with his almost completely untrained brigade. But at least he has Stocke with him! "He has some personality quirks, but to my knowledge, his skills are unparalleled." And that's before you take his time traveling powers into account.
* Raynie and Marco are slightly confused but accepting of getting transferred along with Stocke. "They decide; we obey." Aw, what good minions.
* Sudden new ???? character! With a full portrait, so he's not biting it immediately. Spiky hair, weird yellow belt headband, wide-eyed innocence... He would be the protagonist in another version of this game. He's so defensive about Rosch's dignity! He speaks in exclamation points!
* We're going to Alma Mine. Yeah, that ended well the last time we went there.
* Rosch helpfully explains the strategic stuff about the Sand Fortress and all that we heard before in the other route.
* New Kid is one of the new cadets, and "sort of the leader of the fresh faces." Oh god. Anyway, he's named Kiel, he's adorable, and I hope he doesn't die too soon.
* "I'm great at fencing! Well... sword dancing, technically." Kiel, I hope you become a permanent party member. Your simultaneous hero worship for Rosch and Stocke is adorable.
* Stocke wants to see Kiel's sword dancing, if you know what I mean, and alas he pretty much just means the 'stab enemies with weapons' aspect of it.
* Stocke is going to get to take the vanguard, with Kiel's group right behind to see proper soldiers in action and, ideally, not die immediately. That seems sensible.
* Rosch joined my party, but not Kiel. Damn.
* Picked up a side quest to get a soldier on night watch meth to keep him up when he's on duty.
* Off in the hills, there are areas with rocks blocking them off and movable barrels that must be a way to solve it, but I can't figure out how. Maybe I don't have that superpower yet.
* Rosch is currently level 11, unlike the level 8 rest of my party, so he's not getting into the main party for a while yet. My party members must be leveled evenly! Perfectly evenly!
* Several insta-kill random encounters later, we meet up with a mysterious hooded agent in Alma Mine. We're up against Count Selvan's troops! (Can't remember if I know who that is.) Rosch helpfully gives a ! and exposits that "he's the brains supporting Dias from the shadows," and now I'm trying to remember who Dias is. These political plots make more sense when I don't go weeks between sessions.
* Anyway, there's a cave-in here, which is a problem.
* Kiel suggests breaking it up with thaumachines, since the explosives needed to clear the blockage have mysteriously not arrived. Rosch says there aren't any available, kid. Kiel's next suggestion: ambush them here! Ooo. Now I have a decision: go looking for the missing explosives, or wait in ambush.
* What the heck, let's try an ambush, given that 'go find the missing X' has been going really poorly for us so far.
* Result is given in text: the ambush worked great! But Granorg's forces were already attack the Sand Fortress, and once that fell, Alistel was conquered. Please go back and try again.
* I got yet another bad end! Woo!
* (I do sort of appreciate that once you've made a Bad End decision, they just summarize the big picture results, rather than running you through it just to go 'But it didn't work well enough, the end.')
* Jumping back: "An ambush would be too time consuming," Stocke says, and then the elf twins show up to say, BUT WAIT!
* Elf Boy starts to tell me about the other chronicle, then just goes all "You remember how we talked about that? Good." So, since in this history we met the field agent who was already dead in the /other/ history...
* Meanwhile, Kiel and Rosch are confused by Stocke standing in a corner mumbling to himself.
* I'm... hm. I'm not quite sure what to do, here. They keep telling me think carefully and that things I do in this history may affect what happens in other ones, but jumping to other nodes gives me the same options and bad ends as before. Hm.
* Yup. I am completely stuck, and can't figure out how to progress. I will consult the internet next time.
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I also like the idea of handling Bad Ends in quick summaries. Saves some time.
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