RANDOM ACTION HOUR .:. Ruin Explorers: Oh, Spirits That Reside in the Air

The two camping out together, Ihrie is trying to get Fam to remember a few more magical enchantments for the night, but upon failing to remember more than the first sentence is given a smack across the noggin. Ihrie justifies this act of frustrated violence by claiming that just because they managed to get the first of the three treasures doesn't mean the rest will be a cakewalk, and if she has to rely on her bumbling Wiccan friend then they're making slow progress towards getting the Ultimate Power. These comments fly right past Fam as she laments how her companion only seems to be talking about the Ultimate Power these days, and is none too happy about it.

And thus, Fam packs up and leaves. She reminds her friend that she'll be gone forever, never to return to her side, NEVER EVER AGAIN NO SIR INDEED. Ihrie shrugs it all off and goes to bed without as much as a goodbye, knowing she has nowhere else to go, so tail girl leaves in a huff.

Basking in the minimal light of dusk, Fam considers returning to her buddy, but knows to be so defeatist would ruin everything, and it's Ihrie's fault for not treating her respectfully in the first place. Interrupting that thought is the sight of a cloaked individual letting his horse drink from the nearby lake. Spying on this goes relatively well until Fam is sighted, prompting her to remind this stranger that she has nothing valuable, nor does she taste good either, before deeming it wise to flee.

The stranger calls her back, informing her that he isn't a bandit, and she's very likely to get lost if she runs around the wood like this. He removes his hood, and reveals himself to be mildly hot, and he talks like Ringo Starr! How can you not trust someone like that?

Meanwhile, at morning, Ihrie realises the ramifications of pissing off her little friend and making her run off: Fam took the sacred treasure!

And, stumbling into town, she laments that the food and her wallet were swiped as well! Life sucks.

Then, conveniently enough, she spies a one-man marketplace with a metric ton of customers, and who's behind it? None other than Galuff! Who, bastardly enough, is selling a majority of goods that were once in her possession. Needless to say, Ihrie chokes a bitch while the poor merchant claims he's no longer the man he used to be and will do anything she asks him to. Ihrie has an idea that will allow him to be let go, but when you get that "I'll do anything" question and answer it in public, you just know it'll always lead to unintended innuendo.

Ihrie hoped to get a job from him, but it wasn't exactly what she was hoping for. Before she can get a few knuckle sandwiches delivered to his maw, let alone a bite to eat, she's told to get some waitressing done, delivering a turkey to a table...

Laughing ensues, which is responded to with a dinner plate to Migel's face, while the two corner her and demand the Proof of Royalty from her, but they refuse to believe her claims that Fam swiped the treasure and ran. Before any more violence can be exchanged, the manager steps between the two and reminds them that if they have a complaint, it will be addressed to him, not the staff.

Ihrie scarpers while that lecture is being given, prompting Rasha to give chase and Migel to swipe at the distracted manager, who merely ducks and smashes Migel's face in.

Meanwhile, Fam and the stranger, Lyle, are on the way to Salehim on horseback, expecting a two-day travel from here, while Lyle thanks the Wiccan for helping him escape the forest. He first landed himself there when a supposedly kind old fellow sold him a map that lead to nowhere. Hmm!

The brawl between Migel and the manager has worked up quite a crowd, while Rasha has Ihrie cornered on the upper floor. Rasha attempts to cast a spell, only to be bumbled into by a fleeing Galuff, which gives Ihrie an opening to use her own magic...

Which totally destroys the floor they're on, effectively ending the fight below, too. Ihrie peeps down, and it's revealed why she refuses to use magic until she's in dire straits: It turns her into a mouse. Quite an inconvenience! Especially when Galuff's dog, Gill, is eyeing her in a carnivorous manner. So she jumps down, and lands right between Rasha's eyes.

Migel follows after his companion while Ihrie returns upstairs to find Galuff rummaging through her stuff, which shouldn't be surprising. He discards a bottle of what he assumes to be medicine, which she dashes to while on the run from Gill. The grubby merchant laments that she has absolutely nothing of worth in her possession (which shouldn't be surprising, since he robbed her and all)...

Which Ihrie mock-apologises for, enquiring if he's lost anything in there. He claims he's just reorganising her stuff. Cue punching!

Having had some sense knocked into him, Galuff informs her that the second artefact is in a ruin just up ahead from the town, in an underground city known as Salehim, having heard this info from a knight he met in his travels. Hm!

Camping out together, Lyle admires the Proof of Royalty and asks Fam if it's really okay for them to have it, since she and her comrade worked together to acquire it. Fam claims it's justifiable because Ihrie's a big grouchy doodie head. Lyle is then asked why he wants the Ultimate Power, and although he does say it's not exactly the Ultimate Power he's after, he refuses to answer.

Galuff, Gill and Ihrie trek out towards Salehim, though she's naturally suspicious of how truthful the map is. Rasha and Migel set about following them, but the sounds they make lead Ihrie to believe Fam is following after, and thus says out very loud where their destination is, as well as the fact that to get the Ultimate Power they'll need more than just one sacred treasure, just for teasing purposes. Rasha sees it as awareness of their presence, and suggests they make some distance between them.

Ihrie breaks a twig just to spell out the path for whom she believes to be Fam, but when Rasha stumbles upon it, she believes it to be a trick that's just going to lead them into a trap, and goes down the other route.

Ihrie and Galuff arrive at their destination, Salehim, and just as the "underground city" moniker suggests, it sure is undergroundy. It's shaded by a giant tree where the branches grow downwards, as if attracted by a force more powerful than the sun; and with something this spectacular, perhaps it holds the Ultimate Power itself!

Inside, Fam mingles with the spirits, but notices that they appear to be afraid of something, which is rather understandable regarding the ruined environment. Lyle explains that a war took place, where the lord that ruled over the city wanted all of the magic for himself, but the magic users resisted fiercely. The magic that powered the city was allowed run amok, and within seconds, the city was decimated; the giant tree is a symbol of just powerful and untamed that magic was.

Lyle tells Fam that she should make amends with Ihrie and rekindle their friendship, which she responds to with silence. Before the talk can get any mushier, the spirits vanish from the air, and shapes whiz around the room. Evil shapes! Armed and dangerous shapes, that threaten their lives with death!

Ihrie and Galuff aren't faring too well, the merchant seeming unsure about his directions and whining about how cold it is, while Rasha and Migel have gotten themselves inside but lost track of their targets. The groups both know that the treasure is always at the very bottom of a dungeon, so if they just keep going dow--

Ihrie and Galuff find themselves in a room where all the paths go upwards, so although they may be at the very bottom, they feel like they haven't travelled far enough yet. But before they can make a decision, Rasha and Migel come crashing down from above!

And crash into the floor with enough impact to shatter it, sending them to depths unknown.

Lyle fends off the bladed creatures, which Fam can't get a spiritual response from, which her comrade explains: They're not living creatures. They're no more than artificial puppets made sentient by magical means, and Lyle is all too familiar with the man controlling them. The creatures merge into one large entity, imposing most threatening demises to all...

Only for Ihrie, Migel and the rest to fall down on top of it, splitting it back into its component forms. Everyone is naturally shocked to see each other, but Migel tells them all to stop their cat fights and get battling these things, with varying results. Rasha requires rescuing from a beast by Lyle, and immediately fancies the socks off him, much to Fam's displeasure. Migel sets about tearing pretty much the entire army to shreds...

Only for them all to gain shape again, meaning physical weapons are useless. Ihrie calls to Fam and demands some magic be brought into the situation, but the Wiccan is still upset over the reason she left her in the first place. Ihrie understands, but reminds her this is a dangerous situation, and she's the only one who can get them all out of it; plus, without Fam, she'd be nowhere. With some extra encouragement from Lyle, Fam busts some magic on the monsters' asses and obliterates a large chunk of their forces.

Before she can receive praise from Lyle, Rasha shoves Fam aside and uses some magic of her own, tearing chunks of the wall and floor to be flung at the beasts, which does knock them for six, but also threatens the integrity of the very ground they're standing on. You know what that means!

Everyone lands safely, and despite that life-risking situation, Rasha wastes no time in trying to snuggle up to Lyle, which Fam doesn't exactly approve of, prompting a fight between the two. On top of Migel's head. He has no choice to break it up, wherein both participants blame each other for starting it.

Lyle explains that the individual who generated the creatures earlier is also after the Ultimate Power, and that person is who he's really after, and only using the leads towards the Power to find him. Ihrie deems this a wise decision for her and Fam to stay out of Lyle's way, but the Wiccan desires to remain with the hot bod. Venturing through a doorway, they stumble upon the artefact they've been seeking: The Sword of Sargus!

Ominous laughing fills the air, and a voice from above enquires if the artificial creatures were enough of a challenge for Prince Lyle. Lyle explains that, yes, he's a prince; Lyle Robert Lyon, son of King Lyon, the long-gone king of Rehbert. And the man speaking from above is the demonic creature who murdered his father and ravished the land, Rugudorull! Galuff knows of that very man too, as it's said Rugudorull managed to conquer the entire North Continent all by himself! The son of a bitch is pleasured to have the prince remember him, but Lyle is all too disgruntled to once again encounter the archbishop who was a great peacemaker for the nation, but whose ambition for power proved to be the very thing that destroyed it.

Rugudorull teleports down in front of them, and driven by rage, Lyle drives his sword into him. This does nothing but make him smirk, and the prince is blasted away with a dosage of electricity.

Rasha summons a wave of fire to engulf the cold-hearted bastard, but he merely dissipates it with a magical shield. Rugudorull, despite given the perfect opportunity to take the Sword of Sargus and claim the artefact for himself, decides to leave it for their taking, as a reminder of this encounter. And with that, he teleports away, still laughing as evilly as he can.

Rasha and Fam set about healing Lyle while Ihrie remains shocked that Rugudorull could use magic without uttering a spell first. While they tend to that, Ihrie sets her sights upon the Sword, and reaches out to grasp it... only to be repelled by a stinging shield!

Rasha mocks her for not having what it takes to grab the silly thing, only to have the same thing happen to her, and even when the mighty Migel is brought in, he suffers the same. Galuff is reminded of the Sword of Temptation he had heard tales about, a blade that a man with earthly desires could never take hold of.

Fam decides she wants to try it. Walking up and taking hold, the blade emanates with a white light, and soon Fam completely vanishes.

Waking up in a golden nonentity land, Fam is asked by a booming voice for her wish. Her spirit is said to be more comforting than those of the people who destroyed the city, and any wish she asks will be granted.

Fam reappears before the rest of the group, and when queried on where she'd been, she states she had been talking to the spirit of Sargus. Ihrie, although pleased with her buddy's return, is more chuffed with how they've got the second treasure towards earning the Ultimate Power, but they see the sword whisk through the air... and into Lyle's hands. It's his property now, and if they want the Ultimate Power, they'll need to go along with him and settle his qualm with Rugudorull, as well.

Rasha wastes no time in sucking up to him, while Lyle thanks Fam for her selflessness, and Ihrie admits the sword has gone to better hands, as she was unlikely to make use of it or anything. Ihrie continues by saying she still wants to come along on the quest for the Ultimate Power, and will side by Lyle through thick and thin. Migel isn't so sure on the idea, but a boot to the head sorts him out.

Marching through the evening lands, it turns out even Galuff and his dog Gill are interested in joining the adventure! The more the merrier, Ihrie says, and despite the fact he's nearly gotten everyone killed at some point, they let him tag along.

And so, the six man and one dog group stand strong, bonding together in their unified goal for the Ultimate Power, and to simultaneously vanquish the threat of Rugudorull, avenging Lyle's long-gone kingdom.

The treasure is called the Proof of Loyalty in the previous episode, but becomes Royalty in this one onwards. You know the L to R thing by now.