Overworld
-So. Where to now? I could go to that place in Esthar, but first want to use the Ragnarok to get a better sense of world geography and to explore a bit.
-Edea’s house. Cid says Edea was unaware that when she got rid of her powers that they went to Rinoa and feels bad about it.
-Try as I might, I still can’t reach the lighthouse.
-Tried out the Cactuar summon and he’s as delightful as expected.
-Bit of wandering on Centra’s Poccarahi Isle. Not much to see. Just normal enemies.
-I’m a masochist, so trying again in the Forest of Solitude. The clue is “Search carefully when the sonar reacts.”
No luck. 10 minutes of searching and starting to get angry again so I leave.
-Nothing much in Timber.
-Change of plans. This is boring, so I’m going to do a quick world sweep for anywhere I couldn’t access previously then move on with the story.
-Deling City. To my surprise, everyone seems to know that Seifer and Ultimecia are the leaders. The guards are very open about it. Mixed opinion – some are afraid of her, some are excited about her.
-General Caraway hints that he has a Rinoa card and plays it rarely. I’ll give it say… 10 tries.
-No luck. If anything, I appreciate that he told me this card was rare, but I thought, “Nah, forget it. Caraway, I don’t care!” I leave.
-Found an island off of Dollet called “Holy Glory Cape.” Small spit of land. The very name of it makes me think it should be important but only finding normal monsters.
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Trabia – Mystery Dome
-Cool! Found a place on Winter Island called Mystery Dome.
-Hey, it’s the Shumi Village!
-hahahaha – there’s a draw point that I have to pay to use. Love the response options. XD Got some Ultimas.
-We’ve been given “special permission” to visit the village. Perhaps in payment for the sins of NORG.
-What the heck? We’re on Winter Island. We took an elevator down to the village, and I was expecting a bunker. Instead I’m outdoors and it’s summertime.
-The music in the Shumi Hotel is familiar to Squall.
CLERK: “Overcome difficulties with effort and ingenuity. That’s the Shumi way.” He says this as he uses a mechanical pedestal to raise himself above the desk.
-Definitely a technology-heavy society, if not in Esthar’s league.
-There’s a music box with a Moomba in the hotel room. Neat.
-It is a village of miners that usually only deals with outsiders for trade.
-A Moomba outside a building with a save point won’t let us past. Perhaps we’re meant to come back here later.
-An artisan in the village shows us the model trucks and cars he made, talking about how he’d love to see an old group of artisans he once saw in a wasteland again.
-...There’s a Laguna statue in town.
-This is the place where Laguna was taken to heal up after the cliff fall in Centra.
?A?Q?!?!?!? SHUMI BECOME MOOMBAS AS (one possible) FINAL FORM!! For all I know, that little spiky-haired dude guarding the Elder’s house is NORG.
-They evolve into what is in their hearts. The passionate become the red-headed Moombas. Calm become “honorable Elders.”
-Oh wow, the Sculptor is fucking PISSED as Zell for calling the Moombas “beasts.”
Seriously Zell, you should know better than to call their final form “beast.” It’s insulting their elders.
-LAGUNA IS ~~~IN~~~ THE VILLAGE?? The Shumi Elder (with a beautiful house btw) wants to talk to him.
-I was wrong – of course, it wasn’t after the cliff dive in Centra that Laguna was taken here. It must’ve been after that dragon incident.
-The Elder speaks eloquently (and ironically) about how Laguna valued words too much. He even tried teaching a Moomba to speak, but the Shumi believe communication is more effective through other methods.
-They honor Laguna for his ability to “attract people.” Huh. They don’t quite understand that attraction and thought that building a statue of Laguna might help the Shumi understand.
-I must’ve misunderstood something. There’s nothing to indicate that Laguna is still around now.
-Tried a Triple Triad game against the Elder. Fuck random. Fuck it so hard. God I hate it. I lose and lose Angelo. BOOOO. Again, not going to try winning him back. What’s the point when Random always fucks me over?
-Something else. Before I leave the Elder’s house, he tells me he has a gift for me that Squall has to put in some effort for.
-We have to find five different kinds of stones.
-The specialist thinks they “had blue stones in stock the other day.” That’s it? That’s your hint? I don’t know if this means I have to kill monsters to find it or search through houses in Shumi Village or something else. Hopefully the latter?
-lolol the blue stone was right in the sculptor’s room. He forgot it was there.
-Ok, it seems like this is a hunt around the village. The wind stones are somewhere “breezy.” Found it near the Sculptor – it was the sources of the breeze.
-Life stone up next. It’s among the trees, and I found some in the roots of a nearby tree.
-Shadow stones. Where shadows overlap, and Specialist hasn’t seen one in a while. I don’t find it in the village – maybe upstairs? – JACKPOT!
-Last is the water stone. This one’s easy. In the pond outside the Sculptor’s house.
LOL this game is such a fucking troll. I hand him the stone, and he says, “No, this is just a stone we put by the water. We need a water stone.” Found the actual water stone in a Shumi’s kitchen sink.
-Back to the Elder’s house. He presents us with a gift: an.. empty hand? Is he trolling us too, or trying to teach some lesson like “the greatest gift is hard work!” or something?
-….
-……………………………………..
THANK YOU OH WISE ELDER FOR PERMITTING ME TO VIEW YOUR AUSPICIOUS AND GLORIOUS HAND.
-That’s kind of hilarious. Leaving now.
-On the way out, they also give Squall a “souvenir” – Phoenix Pinion.
-Outside, Squall demonstrates a pretty astute understanding of what happened – that they really were honoring him with the hand thing.
SQUALL: “Funny, the Elder humbly concealed his hands. NORG on the other hand showed them off.” I wonder if we’ve seen the last of NORG.
-WHOA! Change of perspective back to the cabin!
ELDER’S ATTENDANT: “What a sham! They probably already know.”
ELDER: “There was a fierce shrewdness about their eyes, and an unimaginable destiny awaits them. There’s no doubt that they know.”
ELDER’S ATTENDANT: “Then why did you bother with that charade? You should have just said, ‘here, there’s nothing.’”
ELDER: “I did not want to give them material things. I wanted to give them a moment of peace, and our heartfelt welcome.”
The attendant doesn’t quite understand. Hee! The Elder (as a learning exercise, or gentle punishment perhaps) assigns the attendant to help the Sculptor finish the Laguna statue.
-Almost done here I think.
-On our way out, the Specialist (who gave the stone clues) tells us he heard what happened to NORG, and that apparently happens to a lot of Shumi who leave the village. They set out to find their own path, but find nothing different from here.
Reminds me generally of people who seek a “geographic cure” for their problems – who think that moving somewhere different solves their issues, when the problems move with them. Or even of experiences I’ve heard from some who grew up Amish and decided to leave, but I’ll avoid speaking more about this beyond a vague reminder as I have no expertise around this culture.
-That was a fun side thing. I’ll have to remember to return here later to check on the statue.
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Next time: Some more world exploration until I’m satisfied. Immediately, will head to the chocobo forest right near the Shumi Village.
