Chapter 21 Sidequests Part 2 and Oeilvert

Today we are going on a hunt for Frogs, Blue Magic and Friendly Creatures. Blue Magic is listed above of course. Lanar Isle is the island beside the Ocean Chocograph Island with the Qu’s Marsh. There is a beach there. I recommend bringing the boat for this because you will need to switch Quina into your party (keep Dagger and Amarant, Steiner will get plenty of grinding time in a bit). Speaking of grinding time, we will be having more grinding sessions, at least one per area, from here on in.

Hit each of the marshes at this time and catch frogs. If the pond has a gold frog, leave it to help the spawning rate and leave a male and a female frog in each pond but catch the rest. You should reach at least 33+ and earn a Bistro Fork for your efforts. Hit the Mist Continent Qu’s Marsh first, since we’re right there. Do the Lanar Isle second. Grab the Blue Magic you can get there. Put either the Gaia Gear or the Feather Boots (coupled with Auto-Float) onto Quina and have her equipped with as many status preventions as possible (Gaia Gear would be better as it absorbs Earth elemental).

After learning the Blue Magic here, go to the Outer Continent’s Marsh. Get the frogs there and head back to the Black Mage Village to begin advancing the plot. If you have not met the Ladybug yet, this is where you do it. She wants ore.

Entering the Village we see that it has indeed been deserted, save for three Black Mages. If you missed the Black Belt here earlier, you can get it now. It’s in the Item Shop, climb the ladder and check the loft above. You’ll find Virgo in the Inn’s Bedroom. Outside the Weapon Shop, on the right side of the porch you can find an Elixir. The chest hiding in the Synth shop (blind spot behind the tall chair) has 2000 gil and climbing the ladder in the Synth shop, check the roof for 843 gil (upper left, hiding). Go to the Black Mage grave yard to talk to No. 288. When we’re done with him, go to the Chocobo Egg Hut for an event.

Head back to the Blue Narciss. Before you set out for Kuja’s place, I highly suggest getting the Lvl 5 Death Blue Spell from either the Zombie Whale or the Dracozombie at the Iifa Tree. Also meet the Nymph and the Yeti if you haven’t yet. The best place to find the Yeti is in the green spot in front of Madain Sari and the Nymph can only be found in the forest near the Iifa Tree. Hit triangle when on the ship to enter it. Speak to Cid to change your party and remove all the equipment and change your party to Zidane, Steiner, Freya and Eiko (equipping them of course with the weakest abilities to learn first). From the beach on the northern edge of the continent, turn right and hug the continent and dock at the first beach you come to. Walk to the left, across a thin section of land and you’ll find pits of quick sand. Watch the pits. Three of them will spit sand every few seconds. One will not, this is the right one. Enter it and hit X. WARNING: POINT OF NO RETURN

Zidane wakes up in a strange cell with strange metal floor. When we gain control of Zidane again, head straight down and the Black Mages will teleport you. Kuja talks to him and threatens him into doing as he wants. He wants us to go to the Forgotten Continent, to a place called Oeilvert and retrieve the Gulug Stone.

We have to pick our party again. Again, take Eiko, Steiner and Freya. We are teleported once more to Kuja’s airship station. You may encounter an enemy here with bouncy balls for heads, red, blue and yellow. If the red is on top, attack with magic. If the blue is on top, attack with physical attacks. Run over to the airship and we leave. When the airship lands, you cannot board the ship but you can talk to it to get Zorn and Thorn to open their item shop. Buy vaccines.

Before heading to Oeilvert, head towards the Qu’s Marsh but go past it. You will eventually reach a set of tracks. Call Choco because it is time to get the remainder of the available treasures.

Activate Forgotten Plains and from the Chocobo tracks head to the North-West peninsula. You’ll pass a giant pit with an odd structure inside but ignore it, pressing onward to the plains ahead of us. On the first rise, a few steps away from the second level you’ll find it and find out why I didn’t press getting the Demon’s Mail from Tantarian.

Using the map above, head to Dead Pepper Crack 2. You should be in Seaways Canyon when you reach it.

After hitting the crack with Pepper Power, head south just over another set of mountains to a forest with three tips, and hop off Choco to run around in the forest. I have the best luck finding the Jabberwock here. He wants the Emerald you got from Nymph and will give you the Moonstone, instructing you to find the Friendly Feather Circle next. Activate Dusk Plains after and head directly west from this forest to another set of mountains. On the southern face of these mountains you will find Dead Pepper Crack 3.

You will find in this crack, Freya’s best weapon in the game, the Dragon’s Hair.  From this last crack, head southward finding a set of cliffs with a spiraling cut through. Go over the tip to the “Dusk Plains” and hunt for the last treasure available to us. It will give us the Kaiser Knuckles, one of the best weapons for Amarant.

                                  

After, return to the path through the canyon. This will lead us to Oeilvert. Hop off Choco and head inside. Here will we grind for the characters we have in our party, since we have a moogle to rest at when we need to. Teach everyone the smaller abilities (you’re safe to wait to teach them the abilities that need between 150-200 AP to finish or even teach them as the plot goes on). Save when you are done (in fact, save every time you learn new abilities to keep from having to do it all over again if the worst should happen and the power go out or you get a game over). Meet me back here when you are ready to continue.

The moogle outside runs a shop and has a letter for you to give to a moogle inside.

Shopping
Trident
Fairy Flute
Egoist’s Armlet x3
Green Beret x3
Diamond Gloves
Judo Uniform
Gold Armor

Recommended Setup
 Abilities:
Zidane: Auto-Haste, Level Up, Ability Up, Locomotion, Bandit
Eiko:, Auto-Haste, Level Up, Ability Up, Jelly, Locomotion
Steiner: HP+10, Bird Killer, Stone Killer, Man Eater, Level Up, Ability Up, Jelly, Locomotion
Freya: HP+10, Bird Killer, Stone Killer, Man Eater, Level Up, Ability Up, Jelly, Locomotion

Equipment
Zidane: Angel Bless, Green Beret, Thief Gloves, Gaia Gear, Protect Ring
Eiko: Tiger Racket, Green Beret, Egoist’s Armlet, Light Robe, Angel Earrings
Steiner: Diamond Sword, Genji Helmet, Gauntlets, Demon’s Mail, Feather Boots
Freya: Dragon’s Hair, Cross Helmet, Genji Gloves, Shield Armor, Running Shoes

OEILVERT

                       

After our shopping, head inside the building. NOTE: You will be unable to use magic in battle while you are here. So you’re probably wondering why I told you to bring Eiko. You’ll see. From the entrance turn right and head into a darkened room. A moogle and Stiltskin wait for us. BUY STILTSKIN’S STUFF! If you leave the area and move on with the dungeon and come back, he will be gone and you need to buy his stuff to get a prize later in the game. Run around the pit counterclockwise to reach the chest and grab the Gaia Gear.

You may run into a creature here called an Epitaph. Here’s a trick for getting loads of EXP from just one of these buggers. Have Eiko hit it with her flute. Out of it will pop a copy of one of the game’s playable characters. If the character is in your party, that character will be instantly killed. Kill the clone. Have Eiko hit the thing out again and another clone will pop out. Kill it. Hit Epitaph with the flute again and one more clone will pop out. Kill the clone, use a Phoenix Down on the character that killed (if any was) and use a Soft on the Epitaph.

Returning to the first room of the area, you see two chests. Get the one on the floor first (Remedy) before heading up the stairs to the second floor to grab the other chest (Rising Sun). Head through the door on the second floor.  Touch the orb in this room and collect the treasure (Elixir). Return to the first room again. This time take the door on the lower left. Collect the first chest (Diamond Sword) you come across and begin walking around the circle to collect the second to trigger the appearance of a strange hologram. Collect the second chest (Shield Armor)  and walk down the stairs on the bottom left. Collect the chest (Power Vest) at the right corner of this new room.

In this room, you see strange pillars of light. You can touch them but to progress you have to do so in the right order. In short from the top left to the bottom left. Each pillar will show an airship. The chest on the second floor of this room contains the Feather Boots. This unlocks the door on the second floor of this room. Watch out for Garudas as you climb this long winding staircase. They are nasty birds that can cast Stop and they also have an attack that will devastate your HP. If you run into one of these, forget stealing, use Thievery and all around just go nuts on it. Kill it before it can kill you. Climb the stairs until you reach a platform with a glowing orb. Touch it to initiate a short sequence.  Keep touching it until the ! icon doesn’t pop up again and proceed up the stairs. You’ll end up back in the west wing. Go through the door directly next to the door you’ve just exited. This is the Room of Faces. Another short sequence is triggered.

When the Faces are through speaking and we have control again, go the East Wing, where the moogle is. Save, Tent and equip everyone with Clear Headed and possibly equipment that helps against Wind Damage. Make absolutely sure that Eiko has learned Mini at the very least before we’re done here. Walk counterclockwise towards the door on the top-right. Hop on the platform in this next room and we’re sent spiraling down to a triangular pedestal. Approach it and make to take the stone and we’re thrown into the next Boss Fight with Ark.

After the battle, De-Equip everyone EXCEPT for Eiko. Leave her equipped with her best equipment, you’ll see why in a bit. Grab the Gulug Stone.

The POV switches back to the party at the Desert Palace. After some story line goes by we gain control of Cid, the Frog. Cross the bridge and go to the room on the far right. We come face to face with a caged hedgehog pie. We now engage in the worst mini-game of this game. It’s a rendition of Red Light, Green Light. Use the O button to move forward but only when the monster’s back is to you. You must be STOPPED when the Pie turns around to see you or you will go back to the beginning. Your goal is the key hanging on the edge of the monster’s cage. But it’s not enough to just get the key, we also have to put weights on the scale beside it. Put the Clay, Stone and Iron weights on the scale and climb on to use the key, stop the moving floor and save your friends. Note: the worst part of this mini-game is the timer. You have 6 minutes to do it all! And if you fail, it’s game over and the last save point was before Ark. Advice: Try really hard not to fail.

We get control of the party left at the Palace. If you took Eiko with you and left Steiner there, Steiner will be the leader. If you took both Eiko and Steiner with you, Vivi will lead. Equip the party (make sure to equip Body Temp and teach it to any who haven’t learned it yet) and return to the Hedgehog Pie room. Make sure you give Vivi the N-Kai Armlet. He MUST learn Water before the boss fight. Talk to the moogle. Save, Tent, Mognet.

We’ll leave it here for now and tackle the Desert Palace next time.