Chapter 9: South Gate Bundt Cake and Treno the City of Eternal Night

 
Welcome to Disc 2. We begin with Dagger’s party, which is currently just her and Steiner. We will be getting a third party member, temporary though he may be. Steiner finds Dagger asleep in her seat on the cable car and decides to let her rest, thinking about what he’d heard about his queen doing. He decides that they are just nasty rumors, Queen Brahne would never do such horrid things. The cable car arrives at the Summit Station. There is a couple of shops here and a moogle. I normally forget to give the moogle her letter. Don’t be like me, give her the letter and get another one to deliver. Save as always. Next check out the shops, or rather the equipment shop as you should have plenty of healing items.

Shopping List
3 Air Rackets
3 Mythril Rods
2 Glass Armlets
1 Magus Hat
1 extra Barbut
2-3 extra Linen Cuirass
99 Steepled Hats

After shopping, grab the chest near the left exit. Talk to the guy behind the curved desk to make the car depart and start the other half rising. Leave the room and come back to find two friends have arrived. Talk to one of them and then talk to Steiner. Leave the room again and get into the second cable car to finish the ride to Alexandria. Marcus will board as well as he is looking for a way to cure Blank’s petrification. Talk to Marcus and now we have our third party member just in time for a boss fight. Good news, Marcus’ successful steals count towards  Zidane’s so remember to steal at at least once a battle.

Now that the Waltz’s are officially finished and done with, we get back in the cable car and Marcus has to accept the fact that Dagger’s going to help him and there’s nothing he can do to stop her. We get off on the Alexandrian side of South Gate and we have two choices. We can go directly Treno and do nothing in between, get no treasures that we couldn’t get last time. But where would the fun be in that. Instead, take the path to Dali (the path on the left). Talk to the guy in the window of the gatehouse twice and he’ll open the gate to let you through. Now would be a terrific time to find the Friendly Mu by the way and head to Dali.


Go to the farm and find a chest. Before you leave buy 99 wrists. Head back to the South Gate and take the path on the right this time. On this path, go down the stairs and grab the chest for 1,610 gil. Run up to the gate and the soldier will ask to see you pass then lower the gate.


This is Bentini Heights. And this is a good time to find Friendly Ghost around here. Before going into the big city head to the mountains in the east and pass through the forest and find a cave. Warning, you might run into Mandragoras. These horrible things may seem easy at first but unless you can kill them in one shot, will kill you with an attack that works like Minus Strike. Enter the cave.

Welcome to Quan’s Dwelling. Follow the straight forward path first down a path of stairs on the right for an Ether then to the left and down a rope. The steaming pool is a healing spring. Hug the rocks and find Scorpio before you open the chest at the end of the path for an Ether. Go back up the rope and through the doorway at the end. Climb the ladder and grab another Ether. Time to leave the cave. Head back to the round city just path South Gate.

Treno: City of Eternal Night

Upon entering, as usual the party splits up and we’re left with Steiner. Now in order to get the Power follow these instructions to the letter.

Watch Treno Tradition. Follow Dagger. Watch Pursuit. Follow Dagger. Enter the Synthesis shop and talk to the four-armed man in the hallway. While we’re here, continue through the bottom screen and enter the Synthesis Shop. Synthesize some Cotton Robes. Now go back to the town entrance and take the path to the right. Head down the ladder in this area and get the chest for 1 gil and behind the box with the purple fruit in it you will find the Taurus. Now it’s time to make use of these Stellazio coins. Go back to the synthesis shop screen and head north. You will find a mansion on a lake. Go inside and talk to Queen Stella until you have given her all the coins you have right now. She will give you a reward for each one.

When that is done, go back and follow the sidewalk several screens where the Equipment shop is. Start up the stairs and send a moogle running with a dog chasing her. Talk to the moogle to read a letter from Stiltskin. I will go over the shopping and synth lists here.

Shopping List

1 Lightning Staff
6 Bandanas

6 Bone Wrists

5 Chain Plates
3 Chain Mails

4 Mythril Swords (saving 2 for synthesizing later)

Synthesize
1 Coral Ring

2-3 Gold Chokers

2 Cachusha

Once you have done your shopping, give Steiner the Blood Sword, the Chain Mail, and the Gold Choker, ask the shopkeeper about the monster, and then ask to fight it. Beating it should be easy with the Blood Sword and the Gold Choker equipped. You’ll win a Tonberry Card. If you lose just try again. Next leave the weapon shop and go up the flight of stairs at the top of the screen and you’ll reach the Auction House. Under the window at the left end of the screen you’ll find 2,225 gil and enter the Auction House. When you have control again, reenter the Auction House to participate in some auctions. Trick here is to wait until the auctioneer asks if there anymore bids then bid just 100 over the highest bid. This place has several Final Fantasy III references (the original not the American Release of VI)

Auction House

Mini-Cid, Doga’s Artifact, Une’s Mirror, Griffin’s Heart, Fairy Earrings, Reflect Ring, Pearl Rouge, Magician Robe, Madain’s Ring

Try and get at least two Pearl Rouge’s and two Fairy Earrings and two Reflect Rings. If you run low on cash there will be a place shortly where you can grind for gil.

 When you’re ready head back to slums and into the inn where Marcus waits for us in order to advance the plot. When you have control follow Marcus to the boat, staying ahead of Steiner and we’ll get an automatic sequence during which we learn a little more about Kuja and a lot more than we should ever want to about what’s going on in Steiner’s head and Dagger gets a little more back story and we meet a new NPC yet Plot-Character named Dr. Tot, whom Baku calls Tootsie (Tootsie pop? No, no).

After this lengthy scene, leave the inn and turn left, taking us back to the beginning of the town. Leave the city and head back to Dali and buy 99 more wrists. Return to Treno and take the left path to the tower at the end of this screen. Get the chest here and enter the tower. Climb the stairs and meet Tot at the top. He tells you the Supersoft is in the chest and Marcus helps himself. Talk to Tot again to get some more plot. Tot opens up a not-so-secret-yet-oh-so-convenient hatch into an underground area. There are monsters here, formations where you can get as many as 3 AP per battle. There is also a moogle here for whom you have a letter. You know what this means. It’s GRINDING TIME. This is going to be some major grinding. You are going to teach every ability from every piece of equipment you can. The only ability I’m not going to stress is the Auto Reflect and Counter, although if you’re ambitious you can go ahead and learn it now. I myself am not really a fan of Reflect (I like being able to cure myself in battle and the Cure spells are fastest). Likely, you’re wondering why we’re doing all this grinding now. Well, because you’re gonna have to take off all of Garnet and Steiner’s accessories and you want them to learn as much as possible now so you won’t have to do it later. Trust me, nothing is more annoying than having to do hours and hours of grinding late game because you didn’t do enough early game. The first thing you should have Dagger learn is Ability Up to make her grinding go much faster.


When you are ready, remove their accessories and take the path on the left first and flip the switch at the end here (being sure to get the chests on this side too). Go then to the right side and run further right and Tot will guide you through the rest and soon we’ll be off to the main city of Alexandria. All is going just peachy until the Gargant stops. Get ready for a boss fight.

When this is done, everyone will hop back into the cart and we’ll be taken swiftly to a secret entrance into Alexandria Castle (It’s not a proper Final Fantasy game without at least a handful of Deus Ex Machina moments). The trio run up through the passage but as they are about to go for the stairs they are stopped in the center by a cage rising up. What will happen to our heroes now? Will Dagger get to talk to her mother? Will Queen Brahne see reason? Will we save Blank? And whatever happened to the others at Burmecia? Find out next time in Chapter 10: The Sandry Tree House