CHAPTER 15 ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING AND THE SOURCE OF THE MIST

Forgive the lack of chapters this week. I was unable to type due to an injury, but I'm back now. So onward we go with

 CHAPTER 15 ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING AND THE SOURCE OF THE MIST

Before pressing on, I should probably touch base on the Phoenix Pinion and why we have been saving them thus far. You likely noticed that you can use the Phoenix Pinion to teach Eiko the Phoenix Summon. Using the Phoenix summon will deal heavy fire damage to the enemy and revive any fallen comrades. However, this is only half of its worth. If your party is wiped out by a monster, and Eiko is in that party, there is a chance that Phoenix will appear and save your butt. This chance is determined by the number of pinions in your inventory. This chance is (# of Phoenix Pinions in stock/256)*100). So if you had the max number of 99 in your inventory, that would equal a 38.671875% chance of Phoenix being summoned in such an emergency. Moral of the story, collect as many pinions as you possibly can.

Finding your next destination is quite easy. Once you’re back on the world map, simply rotate the camera until you are facing away from the mountain path. To upper-left of your current position is Madain Sari. Also note, there is a Friendly Yeti in this area which will give you 20 AP and an Elixir for your troubles.

We enter Madain Sari and are immediately greeted by a coven of moogles. When we get control again, we first watch Vivi’s Feelings, which detail Vivi’s thoughts on the idea of death. An interesting topic for a kids his age to be concerned about but I didn’t write the script. After that, we have full control again, at least for now. Right behind Dagger is a chest. By the broken section of the fountain is the Libra coin. Exit, Stage Left even. Zidane talks to Vivi and we get another ATE, Dagger’s Feelings. Next try and enter the little house there. A moogle tells you not to enter and we get yet another ATE, Eiko’s Feelings.

This is an interactive ATE. Eiko wants to make a scrumdidliumptuous dinner for everyone but the moogles all agree that she can’t cook worth nothing. So we get to help out. Not Zidane and Co, I mean us, the players at home. 

When prompted to choose who should do what, here is what you should answer.

Dig Potatoes-Mocha
Help in the kitchen-Chimomo
Fish-Momatose.

Go back to the fountain and this time take the northeastern exit. Try and enter the odd structure. We are told it’s restricted and then we get to watch Quina make a pest of him/herself again.  Go back to Eiko’s house and talk to the moogle there again. Morrison says he is to take you to see the Eidolon Wall. When we go back to the fountain screen we get another ATE. Eiko’s Kitchen.

Yet another interactive ATE. We get to help Eiko cook some more. Simple solution is this, water for 11 people. NO OGLOP! And when Momatose catches a fish choose to let Chimomo handle things and go give him a hand. This lets us reel in Quina, whom Eiko mistakes at first for Kuja (snort, snicker).

Head back to the odd structure that we now know is the Eidolon Wall. After some talk, Zidane asks if he can bring Dagger along because she can summon Eidolons too. Dagger is at the entrance path of Madain Sari if you remember from Dagger’s Feelings. Find her and bring her back here. Talk to Morrison to initiate the next automatic sequence. When it’s over, exit the wall to trigger another ATE (Eiko’s Kitchen 2).

During this ATE, ask Quina for help and s/he will grade you on your progress in the kitchen so far and will suggest having Vivi help with the fire.

Return to Eiko’s hut and Mog will let everyone know in his adorable way that it’s time for dinner. Bon Appétit. During dinner, the question of the Summoners of the village is raised. Where are they? Why is Eiko all alone? These are very valid questions after all. Eiko also makes some very obvious gestures toward Zidane but either he doesn’t notice or he purposely ignores them because even he wouldn’t hit on a 6 year old (he’s not Edgar!).

Before getting the pot, get the treasures in the room. Take the pot now to Eiko. Once you’ve dropped it off you’ll be able to find the second rare coffee, Kirman, in this room. See the picture to the left.

Next you should try to leave the house entirely and you will be prompted to rest for the night. In the middle of the night, Vivi can’t sleep so Zidane talks to the boy and introduces him to the joys of male bonding (NO NOT THAT YOU GUTTER BRAINS!). The next morning Eiko decides she’s going to take the group to the Iifa Tree (and thus retains the fourth spot in our party).

You’ll remember from a previous chapter that we were told that a silver dragon was seen on the northwest of the continent. We are on the northeast side of the continent. How do we get to the northwest you ask? Return to the Mountain Path and from the intersection where you fought Hilgigars, take a left.

On this side of the continent, we can encounter yet another friendly creature, the Nymph. She’ll ask for 3 ores and will give 30 AP + 1 Emerald in exchange, not a bad deal. However, since we shouldn’t have any new abilities to learn at this time, forego her for now. When we are ready to come back here for her, this section is called Pualei Plains.

I hardly think directions here are necessary, as it should be obvious that our goal is the big tree in the center of the plains. Enter for a short scene in which we first make morons out of ourselves, Eiko undoes the seal, and we acquire the next Eidolon, Carbuncle.

Those who have read the Treno chapter know that I do not like the Reflect status, which Carbuncle is best known for. However, Carbuncle has more than just Ruby Light this time. Once you have learned the ability completely, you can equip different stones to allow Carbuncle to use different status effects on our party.

Diamond – Diamond Light – Vanish or Vanish and Protect
Emerald – Emerald Light – Haste or Haste and Protect
Moonstone – Pearl Light – Shell or Shell and Protect

Now is as good a time as any to cover summon sequences. When summoning eidolons thus far you have likely noticed that sometimes you get a longer animation and sometimes you get a shorter animation. The length of the animation determines how powerful the summon will be. Or in Carbuncle’s case, determines whether you get one or both possible effects. Once again, this is also effected by how many of that eidolon’s jewel you have collected.

Either way, you should give Eiko the Ruby right away and get Carbuncle over with. Enter the Iifa Tree.

This area has two types of monsters. Stone and Undead. To finish off the Stroper (stone beast) easily, use a Soft on it. To take care of the obvious undead monsters, use either a Life spell, a Phoenix Down or a Fira. There is also some Blue Magic to get here, but since we don’t have Quina in our party, there’s no point in covering those spells just yet. Make your life easy and equip Zidane with Stone Killer and Undead Killer too. Oh and make sure you have everyone equipped with Jelly.

It’s impossible to get lost here, just keep going to the next screen. What we need to worry about is the treasure here as it is possible to miss one or two. A moogle waits you after the sixth screen. You have a letter for him from Mogryo if you remembered to get it. Approach the center of this screen to reach an odd lift. Try standing on it to move on.

We are now INSIDE the tree. Press on, down the root-path. In the second screen you’ll see a chest you can’t quite get yet and right beside it is another small offshoot. On this offshoot we see the telltale !. Press the switch to make the chest fall down. Grab the Phoenix Down and keep going, taking the next offshoot for a Hi-Potion. Be very careful on the next screen as there’s a very easy to miss Ether. The third screen down, look on the left side where the there's a hidden switch -- this drops a Healing Rod in the area right before. The next offshoot has two treasures, a Lamia’s Flute and a Remedy. On the next screen we are treated to another interesting lift in the shape of a leaf. We hop on and another automatic sequence starts up. At the end of which we are thrust into battle with undeads. After stepping off the leaf and regaining control over Zidane. At the bottom of the longer staircase is an Elixir and around underneath the top level in a blind spot you’ll find a Brigandine (give it to Zidane). Now Zidane finally gets Ability Up.Speak to Vivi first, then to Eiko and finally to Dagger. When you are ready to advance the plot, approach the very left of the bottom floor. We call Dagger to join us but she loses her footing. Go and get her and everyone gathers at the very left of the screen. It’s BOSS TIME!

Beating Soul Cage earns us this FMV, where I will leave you for this chapter. Next Chapter we will see the Disc 2 Finale.

Chapter 14: Here Comes the Bride and She’ll be Coming ‘Round the Mountain

The first thing we should do upon entering Conde Petie is go back to the boat. Squeeze past the dwarves standing by the left side and check the front of the boat for a diamond. On this same screen, on the right side of the boat to the north (in front of a path of stairs) is a gatekeeper. Speak to him about moving onto the Sanctuary. The dwarf explains that only those who go through a special ceremony can go there and that we should talk to “His Holiness” but he doesn’t know where he is. Before we go find him we should return to the equipment shop and purchase two more Multina Rackets. Go back to the hallway right before the Inn. His Holiness, Father David Heavenguard, is now roaming this hall. Talk to him about the ceremony to learn that it is a *le gasp* wedding (whistles the Wedding March). Zidane jokingly tells Dagger that they have to get married in order to continue with their quest, expecting her to protest, but his joke backfires when she agrees. Although it is not usually kosher for non-dwarves to go through the ceremony, Father David also wants to have their 100^th Ceremony before the next Ice Age, therefore here comes the bride. After the silly scene, we have to decide what to do about Vivi and Quina. You have two choices. “First let’s go see the twins” or “Why don’t you guys get married too?” The second choice will get you another ATE and some giggles, so choice 2 is the obvious choice. After another silly scene, we go to see the twins. Just as we are making our grand announcement, a ruckus is raised, as a little girl with cropped-purple runs past us. After that ragamuffin.

We find her caught on a branch with her friend, Mog, a baby moogle, hovering by her worriedly. As the party approaches, the moogle flees. The little girl, scared to death, tries to say she’s not good-eating (like we would eat her) and Quina ponders that maybe Mog would taste good and he/she/it runs off, leaving the party for now. As Quina jumps off, the little girl is knocked off the branch and Zidane catches her. Some playful banter later and we get to name the little girl (Eiko) and she joins our party.

Eiko is another white mage and summoner. However, her Trance is Double White. She will soon be our main healer in the party as Dagger’s summons are much more powerful and useful. This means that after she has finished off the weaker equipment, her equipment should focus mainly on her Spirit and Dagger should be switched to equipment that boosts her Magic Power. If you forgot to strip Quina’s equipment, like I did, you should head back to Conde Petie and buy another Magic Armlet. 

To start Eiko off, you should equip her with the Steepled Hat and the Silk Robe (to start her on Protect and Ability Up). Leave the rest of her equipment alone. Do not officially designate her the official healer until AFTER she has finished off Cura, at which point give her in succession the Air Racket and Multina Racket. As I said, the trick is to work on the weaker abilities first for her, get them done and over with so that by time it is needed, she will be on the best equipment.

From where we begin, run left and up the hill. Climb up the vine and grab the Remedy before running to the right. At the end of this path is a statue. Take the stone from it and head back to the previous screen and back down the vine. Go down and around to the right. At the next screen, climb up the next vine and go back to the left where a chest and another statue (Red Stone) waits for us. Return to the last screen and climb back down the vine and keep pressing on. If you can, try and catch an oglop but don’t beat your brains out trying to get it. Eventually you will reach the next moogle, and Stiltskin who has some more stuff for us to buy. Give Suzuna her letter. Head to the right to find another statue. We are not ready to use this statue yet. The presence of a moogle means only one thing, it is once again grinding time, with your focus being on Eiko. Equipping Ability-Up will make the job go by 2x as fast. By now you know what to do. When you are done grinding meet me back here for the next half of the Mountain Path.

Now that we’re ready, head to the left path and climb the ladder. Cross the vine to see this foreboding FMV.

As we approach the decline of the path, we hear and feel some vibrating in the ground, something terrible is waiting for us at the bottom.

After the battle, Eiko explains to the dumbfounded party that summoning is nothing new for her and that her family and ancestors could do it too (the plot thickens). Eiko also explains that while the Dwarves call it the Sanctuary, it’s proper name is the Iifa Tree. When we have control again, grab the stone from the statue and head right. Take the lower path to another statue and a chest. Now we have all four little stones. Take them back to the big statue (the path to the right of the moogles). Put every stone in to get a Moonstone. Continue back towards where you got the last stone but this time take the upper path out of this area and back to the World Map.

Keep an eye out tomorrow for Chapter 15: Adventures in Babysitting (Madain Sari part 1)

Chapter 13: Rally-Ho and Pyntie-Hets

	Nobuo Uematsu - Mountain Pass - Conde Petie .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

As we exit the Fossil Roo and step out into the light of the Outer Continent, we blink our eyes trying desperately to get used to the bright sun again. After we’re through blinking the spots out of our eyes, the first thing we notice is that there is not Mist here. This does not mean that this place lacks monsters however. So keep on your toes.

Run around to the right, going underneath an odd -looking structure. As you continue to the right, around the mesa, heading east, you’ll see a Qu’s Marsh. To the northeast of the marsh are a set of chocobo tracks. Call Choco and hop on. Open “Abandoned Beach.” Follow the green ground to the beach on the Eastern Coast and dig around until Choco goes K-K-KWEEHHHHHHH!

Now follow the world map to the west, up the hill, heading towards the structure built on roots. Hop off Choco and enter the home of the dwarves. The Mines of Moria? No, Conde Petie. Lali-Ho, err, Rally-Ho.

Immediately after we enter, after we watch a couple silly scenes, right behind the first dwarf is a stash of gil (2700). Go through the door on the left by the lady dwarf. Go straight left and through the next door. Watch each ATE in the order they are given in the list (since it doesn’t really matter in what order they are watched, it’s just quicker). We are in the inn area now. In the bedroom, in the corner by the bottom left bed we’ll find another stash of 1800 gil. Leave the inn and head up the stairs. Again just keep watching ATEs as they come.

 Walk south in this area and find Vivi on the bridge here. Vivi seems very confused as this is the first time since the Black Mage War started that someone hasn’t run away in fear or accused of murder and instead these people talk to him like they know him, or others like him. Now after watching “Hungry Bryan” go down the stairs in the bottom right to activate another auto-sequence.

We learn that the Pyntie-Hets live in the Sootheast Forest. “They live sae deep in the forests that even owls dinnae live there!” states the Dwarf at the entrance. Remember that for the future my friends. But do not head out yet. Go back to the shop (it’s quicker if you just turn right at the entrance). In the shop, at the corner of the stairs going upward is a Phoenix Pinion. . Talk to the moogle Mogmat to get a letter for Suzuna. Leave this shop at the top right door to reach the Equipment shop. If you don’t have the Oak Staff for some strange reason, pick one up now for Vivi.

Shopping
4 Ritual Hats
4 Magic Armlets
1 Lamia’s Tiara (for Quina)

We are reaching the part of the game where Magic Stats are becoming divided. Up until now, magic-boosting equipment boosted all Magic Stats. That is changing. The Magic Armlet you have bought raises Magic, Magic Def, and Magic Eva and lowers Spirit. Spirit determines many things. For example, where Dagger is concerned, Spirit determines the effectiveness of her curative spells. Zidane’s steal accuracy is determined  by Spirit to a negligible degree. It affects the Critical Hit Rates, status effects (the duration of), Trance, and the amount of damage dealt by swords and thief swords. If you want more information on the algorithms involved visit http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Spirit_(Stat) and go to the Final Fantasy IX section. Magic Power obviously affects spell damage, including summons . Magic Def is the target’s resistance against harmful magic (unless it is absorbed or it deals random damage or is Gravity elemental).  The long and short of it is that you want to use certain equipment certain characters and other equipment for other characters. For now, you want Dagger’s Spirit boosted because she is our only reliable healer but in the near we will want her Magic Power boosted to make her summons that much more powerful. We will ALWAYS want Vivi’s Magic Power boosted because his Black Magic is his forte. For Zidane, where his thievery is concerned, we are more concerned with his Speed stat for reasons you will see later. Spirit for him is negligible and can be bypassed with his Bandit ability and another ability down the road.

Alright, it’s time to move on with the plot. Leave Conde Petie and head back down the hill, remember where we found Abandoned Beach? From the bottom of the decline turn right into a less-than-green forest. You should be able to meet up with the Ragtime Mouse again from this point (6x more and he rarely shows up in the same patch of forest twice in a row).  Head through the forest until you reach a dome of forest, sort of resembling a Chocobo’s Forest.

This place sort of has a motion-bending spell on it. You’ll run down a path and end up looping back onto the same screen from another path. You should notice a sign. Read it and go down the path “where there are no owls” and one of the owls should fly off. Wash, rinse, repeat until only one owl remains and we see a Black Mage creep back onto the screen and run off just as fast. Follow that Black Mage.

We enter the Black Mage Village and upon seeing us, the citizens race away at top speed. Obviously they don’t trust humans. As usual our party splits up. Watch first “Gourmand’s Nose” to find out where Quina has gone. When it ends, approach the building to the left, carefully so as not to miss the Elixir right beside the door. Enter.

Shopping
2 Mythril Daggers
2 Gladius
99 Steepled Hats
1 Survival Vest
2 Lamia’s Tiaras
1 Stardust Rod

Leave the equipment shop and take the path to the right to a Chocobo Stable, watch “Life Cycle”, and another Moogle. Talk to the moogle to get a letter. Enter the stable and watch “Everyday Life”.  Remember to ask for “the usual” when we see this guy. Check the inside of the stable for some Gysahl Greens. Now go back to the first screen and run up to the north building and go right again. Watch Life on the Run and enter the building across the bridge. This is the inn. Inside, you’ll find they aren’t ready for you yet but in the bedroom, on the wall is the Virgo. Backtrack to the beginning of the area and go left at the building this time. Watch “Visitor not Invader” then enter the Item Shop on the right. Talk to the Black Mage and tell him to give you the usual. When he moves out of the way, go up the ladder and climb up on his bed to get the Black Belt. Equip on Zidane as soon as he finishes off the Distract ability on the Reflect Ring. Now go to the shop that we saw Dagger enter. After some playful banter grab the gil beside the Black Mage in the high chair and head up the ladder. Follow the path up and left into a little alcove with 843 gil just waiting for you. Head back and talk to the synthesis.

Synth
1 Rune Tooth
2 Extensions
2-3 Madain’s Rings
Power Belt

Low on dough? Cure that malady with the Cotton Robe Trick.

Leave the shop and head towards the left exit to trigger a small scene. Now head to the cemetery and talk to the Black Mages there before heading back to the inn. In the bedroom, Vivi is having an emotional moment. Zidane tries to talk to him but Quina interrupts before he can get a meaningful answer and we sleep. In the middle of the night, Vivi gets up to take a walk and Dagger expresses worry. Zidane puts her at ease and tells her a story to help her understand what Vivi’s feeling, and we get a little more insight into Zidane too.

Vivi talks with Mr. 238 a little more and finally we get the sleep tune. When morning comes, Dagger is getting some information from one of the Black Mages. Apparently they saw a silver dragon in the northwest. If you’ll recall from the end of disc 1, Kuja was riding on a silver dragon. The northwest part of the continent however is past Conde Petie and for some reason the gatekeepers won’t let us through. We should go back and talk to them and find out how we can pass.

That we will cover on Monday. That’s right, do not look for a chapter tomorrow, it’s Christmas and I will be busy with my family. Following is the prospective schedule to look forward to.

Monday: Chapter 14 Here Comes the Bride
Tuesday: Chapter 15 Babysitting Moogles and Climbing Trees
Wednesday: Chapter 16 Memories of a Fiery Sky
Thursday: Chapter 17 Disc 2 Finale

MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HANUKKAH and HAPPY KWANZA to all who celebrate their respective holidays. If you don't celebrate any of those, than HAPPY DECEMBER! :P 

Chapter 12 Lindblum Redux and Fossil Roo

LINDBLUM REDUX

Upon entering Lindblum, Zidane wisely suggests that Vivi hide while he and Dagger goes to investigate the damage. Enter inn and go up to the moogle, Moodon. You have a letter for him from Serino, remember. He’ll have a letter for you to deliver as well. Save your game. Head out and head to the square of the Business District. You’ll notice that the alley to the Church is blocked off. Check the debris there for the Lindblum Card. Enter the house beside the alley and open the chests here. Leave the house and head to the shopping area to trigger the next set of events.

We are taken to see Regent Cid. After some discussion we decide the thing to do is to find and stop Kuja in order to cut off Brahne’s weapon supply. Cid has deduced that Kuja must come from the Outer Continent and that there must be a way to get there from the Mist Continent without a boat or an airship, and no it doesn’t involve a whole lot swimming. Basically he has said our next destination is the Qu’s Marsh, but before we can leave, they want us to do some shopping first (and they give us a gift of 3000 gil to help out the war effort).

Here’s our shopping list. You’ll notice we’re mainly sticking to the Synthesis Shop and you only need two pieces of equipment.

Synth
Exploda
Barette

Speaking of equipment, you will notice in your inventory an accessory called the Peridot. We got that last chapter from Ramuh. Equipping this on Dagger will allow her to learn the summon Ramuh. One thing to note, each Summon/Eidolon has its own jewel. In order raise their power, you want as many of their jewels as possible. For example, to raise Ramuh’s power in battle, collect Peridots. The more you have in the inventory, the more powerful he will be.

After your shopping is done, head to the Air Cab and take it to the Theater District, watching “The Third Jewel” along the way. Talk to Lowell in front of the Tantalus’ Hideout to send him to Alexandria. Collect the chests of gil in the hideout and head back to the Business District Shopping Area. Talk to the guy in front of the fountain to move on with “Brahne’s Fleet Arrives.” As we reach the base level of the castle, we learn that Cid has been doing his best to hinder the Alexandrians. He gives us the World Map and we hop on the trolley to Dragon’s Gate. Around the corner, hidden is another Bandana. Talk to the moogle, give him his letter.  You may want to buy a couple extra Adaman Vests from the merchant here. Save and leave here.

Before we move on with the plot, we should first take that Kupo Nut that’s been burning a hole in our pockets over to Moguta in Gizamaluke’s Grotto for another random reward. Now head back to Qu’s Marsh. Find Quina back at the Frog Pond (now how the heck did he/she survive Cleyra’s destruction?). Re-recruit Quina and go talk to Quale, we need Quina to get into our next dungeon area. But first lets catch a few more frogs. Remember to leave the Golden Frog and 1 male and 1 female frog. Go back to where the two moogles sit and walk all the way right until you can go no further and go up the path through the grass.

Thanks to Quina’s gluttony, we find ourselves at what looks like an entrance into a subway. This is the Excavation Site aka Fossil Roo. Run on in.

Recommended Equipment and Abilities
Zidane: Exploda, Bandana, Bone Wrist, Adaman Vest, Power Belt
Man-Eater, Bright Eyes, Insomniac, Antibody, Bandit, Alert
Vivi: Oak Staff, Mage’s Hat, Mythril Armlet, Magician Robe, Reflect Ring
Level up, Ability up, Loudmouth, Insomniac, Antibody
Dagger: Stardust Rod, Mage’s Hat, Mythril Armlet, Magician Robe, Peridot (when Ramuh is done put on the Barrette)
Chemist, Level up, Ability up, Loudmouth, Antibody, Auto-Potion, Auto-Reflect (if you have it)
Quina: Mythril Fork, Bandana, Bone Wrist, Bronze Vest, Fairy Earrings
High tide, Level up, Millionaire, Loudmouth, Insomniac, Antibody

                                                                                                                                                                  

FOSSIL ROO

Head down, down, down to a screen with a cage with something inside it, though we don’t know what yet. Run all the way to the right to trigger a chase/boss fight.

Those pendulums in the path are horrible. Running into them will get you thrown backwards, thus stalling your running. And we do manage to get away from the thing, but on the very next screen we  find ourselves confronted with yet another boss.

Give Zidane the Gladius. When the battle is over, head back to where we were first confronted by Armodullahan. In the cage area, you’ll find an Elixir. Now back to where you fought Lani and down the stairs.

In the next area, we see why  they put the word Roo in the name of this place, the gargants. However, you’ll have to catch them manually. It’s a lot easier than it sounds, just pick the yellow flower and go to the where you see the ! and hit X to call the gargant to take you to the next spot.  At the first drop-off head into the door on the right. You’ll see a miner as you enter and two moogles down on the lower platform. Stiltskin is one of them and he has three more items for you to buy. Buy them and talk Mognet to Mogki. Tent up and Save. Afterward, go out through the bottom right of the stage. Take the gargant. At the drop-off go through the doorway and pick up a pair of Fairy Earrings out of the chest. Go back to the screen with the moogles and take the exit to the north. Take the gargant to the next switch. Flip and go get back on the gargant. Where the gargant drops you go up the stairs and to the next screen for a chest. Double back and go to the next screen again, this time you’re on the bottom tier. Go to the end of the path and flip the switch. Go back to the gargant flowers and take them up the stairs to the guard rail to call the gargant in this area. You’ll end up back at the last switch. Flip it again and head back to the moogles. Tent and save so that if the worst should happen, you’ll won’t have to do the first half of this dungeon again. 

This time take the very first gargant we used (when we got the Fairy Earrings). The guy here we see when we first land has an equipment shop, but we don’t need anything from him.  Head up the stairs and flip the switch before exiting stage right. Take the gargant here and find  a Lamia’s Tiara at the end of the path to the right. Equip this on Dagger right away to go ahead and start teaching her Confuse. Go back to the Gargant and take it back to the previous area. Flip the switch again and take the gargant again. Follow the path around to the right and you’ll reach a pretty little pond (one of my favorite areas, for its beauty, the designers went over the top on this one).  Climb across the vines, being careful not to get too close to any of the statue mouths. Climb directly right of the starting point. Go through the lit door and speak to the miner. Give him a potion and he will let you dig. You want to dig all the way to the right, against the pile of rocks in the wall. Dig and dig and dig until a moogle falls out. Immediately ask about Mognet and Kuppo will give us a letter to take to Kupo. Tent and Save as per usual and talk to the miner to both end the mini-game and move him out of our way. Once he’s moved his kiester run to the right and around to the end of the path where you’ll see the field icon. Pick up a Survival Vest. Backtrack back to the mine.

With the moogle in this room, this is a great place to AP grind. Rotate the Survival Vest from Vivi, Dagger, Quina and Zidane, leaving it on Zidane until further notice. When Zidane has finished Annoy, give him back the Exploda, both it and the Gladius have Lucky Seven. When Dagger and Vivi are done with the Survival Vest, give them both Magician Robes. When she’s done with the Barette. Use the Magician Shoes to teach Zidane Clear-Headed, replacing them with the Madain Ring when he’s done with it. Save the Magician Shoes for Dagger. Vivi should already be wearing a pair. Quina should rotate from the Silk Robe to the  Bronze Vest to the Magician Robe to the Mythril Vest to the Survival Vest and ending with the Adaman Vest. Zidane and Quina should be wearing the Bandana, Vivi the Mage’s Hat, and Dagger the Lamia’s Tiara. When Zidane is done with the Madain Ring, he should put on the Reflect Ring (if only to have someone working on it and he won’t need to worry about Level Up, at least not for a while). When you’re done grinding for AP, remember Zidane is mainly a melee fighter, Dagger and Vivi are magic users and Quina is inbetween. Therefore, Zidane should be wearing equipment that either boosts speed, strength, stamina or defense. Vivi and Dagger should wear equipment that boosts magic and spirit (as well as magic defense). And Quina should wear a mixture.

When you are ready, return to the pretty pond and climb going up and left. Your goal is the switch at the very top of the left wall. To avoid getting washed out, climb as close as possible to the last statue’s mouth. Jump off and push the switch. Hopefully you have all the treasures here because once you flip this switch, that’s it. Hop back on to the vines and get far enough under the statue’s mouth to initiate a torrent of water sending you into the pond. When you see the field icon hit the X to jump out of the water and run to the right. You are at the last gargant area. Pick the flowers and summon the gargant. As you hop off, we are at the exit. That’s it for this well-designed very entertaining area.

As usual, thank you so much for reading. I do hope you will deign to leave feed in the comments section. See you tomorrow for Chapter 13 Rally-Ho and Pyntie Hets.

Chapter 11 Alexandria Castle Again and Seeking Ramuh

It’s time to bust Steiner and Marcus out of their bird cage. To do so, swing the cage side to side, following Marcus’ lead. Once you are out, equip Steiner with the Ice Brand, Thunder Gloves, Mythril Armor and the Power Belt. Don’t worry about Marcus. Give Steiner the Man Eater ability. Once you’re ready run to the left. There is supposed to be a trick here to level up Steiner fast. I don’t use it because really, you shouldn’t need it and this is not the best place to level up anyway. Head up the ladder and out the door there. The game takes over for a few moments as Marcus leaves the party and three from Cleyra (Quina didn’t want to jump into the warp field) arrive. Hopefully you have taught Freya and Steiner as many abilities as you want to by this point because this is NOT a time for grinding.

Note, there is an optional boss fight in this area, during which you can steal and win some valuable items. However, neither of these items are critical at this point and this boss fight will be infinitely easier the next time we are in the vicinity. Conversely, you can win 30 AP and so, for the ambitious, I will include HCBailly’s coverage of this section and he will show you exactly how to win this fight now.

We follow Marcus out of the tower just as a 30:00 timer starts. Yes, you only have 30 minutes to find Dagger. Good news, it’s very easy. Just follow the path out of the tower, up into the castle, avoiding as many of the soldiers that you can. If you are thrown into a battle, don’t even bother stealing, just kill the soldiers and end it. Go to the place where Zidane first saw Dagger and run through the double doors and then up into the room at the top of the screen.

In the upper left corner of the Queen’s Chambers is a candle that emits an eerie purple light. Run up to it and have Zidane touch it to reveal a secret passage in the fireplace (wow just like in all those mystery novels). This is a straight forward path. The rotating platform in the beginning of the path will swing around and around, hop on and wait for it to take you to the two chests in the middle. You may have to hop off the other side and hop back on the other end of the platform. Open them for the only two treasures in this place. Hop back on and let it take you to the right side of the room. Run down the stairs, around and around until you reach the bottom floor. You want to go into the room at the top. Upon entering, you will be thrown into a boss fight.

Run up to Dagger to stop the timer and trigger a short sequence. On the way out talk to the moogle, as always. Save, Tent, Mognet in that order. Remove Freya and Steiner’s accessories. Next return to the Queen’s Chamber (you should know where that is by now). Shortly after we enter the Queen’s Chamber (after a sequence) we will have yet another timed boss battle with you-know-who and I don’t mean Voldemort.

At the end of the boss fight, Zidane finally manages to talk sense into Beatrix, showing her the comatose princess on the Queen’s chair. Beatrix marvels that the Queen really did intend to kill her, which Steiner vehemently denies. Beatrix tells Steiner basically that it’s time to wake up. Beatrix uses her magic to revive Dagger and Queen Brahne arrives. Freya and Beatrix join forces, urging the others to run just as Brahne sends a Bandersnatch at them.

After the battle, when we have control of the core four, immediately equip the Stardust Rod onto Garnet as well as a Mage’s Hat, a Magician Robe and a Mythril Armlet (magic heavy) and a pair of Magician’s Shoes. It’s not going to be an easy run down this time (well not as easy as the first time down) as we will be attacked by Bandersnatchs and Black Mage Type C’s.  When we’re almost at the bottom, Steiner will return to Freya and Beatrix. After fighting a couple more bandersnatchs we pan back to the core group. Run back down to where we found Dagger. Go talk to the moogle again and ask about Mognet, Save and Tent up. Run out of the chapel and out through the bottom-left of the screen. We’re back to where Zorn and Thorn originally caught Dagger’s group. It soon seems as though they’ve got us again when Blank and Marcus show up and knock out the jesters. The group runs to the waiting Gargant and hops into the cart.

Once again, on the way to Treno, we are attacked but this time by an evolved form of the previous worm.

After the battle, the trio hops back into the cart and the Gargant starts off at a slow crawl but soon picks up to a reckless speed, racing past Treno and we see this.

PINNACLE ROCKS

We wake up in Pinnacle Rocks. Zidane is out scouting the place and Vivi is looking after Dagger. When Zidane returns, an old man appears and reveals himself to be Ramuh. Ramuh tells Dagger of the destruction wrought by Odin and Dagger mourns. She seems to be ready now to learn to really use her summon powers. Ramuh challenges her. Find all five parts of him to hear a story about a hero named Joseph. The map above will tell you where each part of him is. The story itself is a reference to Final Fantasy II.

Find “Beginning” on the top path. Double back to where the Gargant crashed, to the cliff to get “Hero.” Go talk to Monty, give him his letter, Tent and Save. Go to the bottom floor of this area, grab the chest, and before going to the next screen, turn right and find “Human”. Take the top branch now to the next screen and run to the right, keeping to the edge of the path until you get the ? and hit X to jump down and grab the chest. Once in the water turn to the corner to find “Silence”.  In front of the next chest is the last piece, “Cooperation”. Grab the chest and head up the incline and back around the path to the door. Ramuh appears here and asks you to put the pieces of the story in order, leaving out one piece. The correct order is Beginning, Cooperation, Silence, and either Human or Hero (makes no difference). Dagger is given the Peridot and after a short scene we leave and we get another short scene during which we get another set of chilling FMVs.

As the videos end, I leave you here for the time being. Next time we’ll come back and grab the two chests we weren’t able to get before possibly. We have run out of time for this evening. Thank you for following me here at “The Wonderful World of Final Fantasy.”

Tune in next time for Chapter 13: Lindblum Redux

Chapter 10 The Sandy Tree House

The first thing we want to do is to take that Kupo Nut back to the grotto. The second thing is to head back to Qu’s Marsh for some more frog catching. You should be able to catch up to four, hopefully getting your total up to 9. When it reaches 9, Quale will give you a silk robe. And if for some strange reason you didn’t get Quina before, get him/her now. Quina is your key to obtaining two treasures that you would otherwise be unable to get.

Now that’s done head back through the grotto and from the grotto (on the Burmecia side) head west into Vube Desert. In the very center you’ll see a swirling sandstorm. This is Cleyra, your destination. The treasures in the checklist are what is found on your way up the trunk.  You might not get them all on your first trip on but rather on a trip down. I will list the rest of the treasures when we reach the Settlement.

Pass through the few couple of areas until you actually reach the trunk of the tree. Go up the stairs beside the little door and pull the lever to open the door. Enter and go around the right path to find a Phoenix Down. Proceed onto the next screen. As you enter this room directly down from the entrance, hidden in the wood is a chest with a pair of Magician Shoes. Up from the entrance, near the top of the room is another chest with an Ice Staff inside. Exit the room stage right. Ignore the vine out here and walk right and up. On this next screen, grab the Ether and then notice the little notch in the tree at the end of the path. Have Zidane put his hand inside. Now go back one screen and NOW go up the vines and into another room. Just go straight out of this room and into the next area. Directly left of where you came in is another chest with a Needle Fork (A little late but hey, if for some reason you don’t have it or the Mythril Fork, here ya go). Proceed up and take the next left to talk to Monev and give him his letter. Camp in a tent, save the game and go back right and continue up the trunk, grabbing the chest on the way. Head up the path and take the diverging path to find another chest. Now follow the sign that says To Cleyra in the foreground. At the next screen just head straight across the bridge. In this little cave, hidden by the root directly in front of you is a chest with a pair of Desert Boots. A little Northwest of this chest is another with a Mythril Vest. Now run straight into the background. Taking the path on the right will lead to the same place and you’ll pass another chest with a Remedy. Pick up the Mythril Gloves and keep running up. At the end of the path trigger the lever and head back the way you came. Take the left path this time. Grab the Potion and take the right fork to another chest. In this next section you will see two chests guarded by a trio of quicksand. You can try and get them now but I recommend you wait until later. Trust me. Instead head towards the left. When the quicksand pulls you in, hold the left directional button and mash the X button and hope that you get it. Follow the path and on the screen with a ladder, there’s a chest just beyond it. Go up the ladder. We’re almost there. Just head up the stairs and welcome to the Cleyra Settlement.

Cleyra Settlement

Upon entering the settlement, you’ll get the offer of a tour. It is long and boring but it’s useful. I suggest taking it. When it’s done, you should be back at the entrance and in control of Zidane . Everyone will have split off and it’ll be time to do some treasure hunting before we move on with the plot.

When you return to the settlement after this fun excursion with just Zidane and Quina (picking up Blue Magic on the way if you can) back at the garbage pit, behind the sign is a chest with some gil in it. Go back to the pond and locate the ! near the far right wall to pick up a pair of Thunder Gloves which we will equip on Freya at the first possible moment. In the town screen by the right bottom bridge, in a little flowery dead-end is some Ore. In the inn, the middle building, near the bottom of the stairs is a stash of 1250 gil and an Ether by the nightstand. Talk to Mopli and see if he has a letter (always ask about Mognet at every moogle, always always always. Even if you’ve already asked him in an area).  Go up the stairs on the right side of the inn. On the right well is a Remedy.

By the windmill-platform, where the bridges meet, there’s a Phoenix Pinion. Head North to the Cathedral and search the lawn for some Gysahl Greens. In the yellow flowers on the right side of the entrance, you’ll find an Echo Screen. In the church lobby is a Yellow Scarf for the taking.

Now talk to the guards here and they will direct you to the inn. Make sure Zidane has Bandit and that everyone has Bright Eyes and Insomniac at this point because the game will soon take over and take you back to the Garbage Pits for a mini-boss.

Once you’ve kicked its rear, we are taken to the sanctuary of the church (the place where sermons would be held). A great event is about to take place, a dance to power the sandstone to help keep the sandstorm blowing and protecting Cleyra. The Cleyrans invite Freya to participate. This is one of my favorite sequences so I included a video.

Oh no! The harp strings snapped. This can’t be good friends. Remember, standard rule of role-playing games, all omens, myths, legends, rumors, et cetera are 100% accurate.

After realizing how much doo-doo we’re in, the scene switches over to the Alexandrian Party. Dagger is taken to see her mother at last. Dagger asks her about Burmecia and Queen Brahne feeds her some BS and you can choose whether or not to believe her. No matter which you choose the game goes the same way (makes you wonder why they even give you the choice).

We end up in control Freya at the end of more conversation where once again your choice makes no difference in the game. Take Freya to the inn and talk to Soldier Dan. It’s shopping time.

Shopping
Partisan
Mythril Armlets x5
Thunder Gloves
Mage’s Hat x4
Mythril Helm x2
Mythril Vest x4
Mythril Armor x2

After shopping go up the stairs and find Stiltskin and buy his stuff. Talk again to Mopli about mail and save. Now head down to the entrance of Cleyra to rejoin the others. Equip everyone properly, taking into account abilities not yet learned before putting on the best equipment.

Start heading down the trunk. When you reach the quicksand room you will notice that NOW you can get those two chests. Do so. You will fight Alexandrian soldiers all the way down. They are easy. Just have Freya and Zidane equipped with Man Eater and have Vivi use Bio. You may also have to fight Black Mages (for sure later) and Black Mages, according to the game mechanics are Humans, so Man Eater and Bio will get them too.

When you get down to the bridge section of the Cleyran trunk, the party begins to think that these enemies are excessively easy, suspiciously easy. Zidane valiantly runs into the town to save the citizens. You are presented with a little bit of a challenge. You must choose the correct prompt to save as many people as possible. The answers are as follows

“Let’s head right!”
“Let’s go left!” You will battle with 2 soldiers and a Type B
“Cross the bridge to the right!” Now you battle 3 more soldiers.\
"We're not safe yet!"

After several scenes, everyone is ready for the final battle. Beatriz appears and steals the sandstone and she runs off. Zidane and Co. run off after her into the lobby. Save at Mopli, now he will have a letter for you to deliver. Talk to everyone in the room to get the following treasures; Phoenix Down, Remedy, Nymph Card, Elixir, Zuu Card, Ether, Phoenix Pinion.

Put on equipment reduces thunder damage. Coral Ring priority is Freya, Zidane, Vivi, Quina. You can probably guess who the next boss is. After we’re ready, run out of the church to face General Beatrix a second time.

After the battle is over, Beatrix escapes and we follow after her. We also get this incredible cinematic.

After a short scene, run up the stairs of the Red Rose and to the Queen’s Cabin to witness the Queen sentencing Dagger to death. We also get this incredible cinematic.

Oh, no we have to get back to Alexandria on the double. When you have control again go back towards the Queen’s cabin and talk to the moogle about Mognet. Then follow Vivi back to the teleporters to trigger the end of this area and this chapter.

Coming Tomorrow: Chapter 11 Alexandria Castle Revisited

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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