Monday, June 6, 2016

FFIX – Part 13: Tales of Lindblum (part 1)

Summary: Synthesis. The party explores Lindblum. A huge city and huge session, so I’ve split it up.


Teach Me, Mogster! Synthesis

-We’re learning this time about the “Synthesis Shop.” Hm.

-You take two items and gil and combine them for a new item.



-OK THIS IS FUCKING COOL. I’ll definitely experiment a bit with this!

-Somewhere out there is a legendary synthesist who can create the best items.

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Lindblum Inn - Zidane

-Moogle here. Moodon.

-Letter… for Zidane! From Ruby. She’s opening up a theater in Alexandria.

-A goofy looking bird statue is here, a Bobo bird statue. Brings good luck, according to “Olgan” myth. I don’t think I’ve seen that term, “Olgan,” before.

-HEE!! There’s a comments and suggestions board in the inn, the main suggestion being to throw the moogle out because he’s super loud with his “kupo kupos”

-ATE time.

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Small Town Knight in a Big City

-Poor Steiner is overwhelmed.

-lolol the first red mage he asks for directions just thinks he’s hitting on her. XD



-A nearby vendor, Grandma Pickle, sells… well, Gysahl Pickles. Are they meant for humans or chocobos though?

-And he ate a whole one. Tough to eat, but he did it! Yay for Steiner trying new things. Though his panicked reaction is reminiscent of when I tried eating a spoonful of white horseradish for the first time this Passover.

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Lindblum – Zidane

-A woman, Elena, and her daughter are here. Could be an FFVII call-back, but until I see her eating Turkish delight or something, I’ll assume it’s not. Elena’s a pretty common name. Her daughter is Marsha. The father isn’t present, and he’s a pilot.

-Played Marsha in Tetra Master a few times.

-There’s an old “Locke” in the streets.



No doubt a treasure hunter in a former life.

-There’s a festival this year, with a competition of some kind. Ivan and a female dragon knight (dragoon?) are competing. This is probably the festival that Freya mentioned.

-There’s a “Silly Old Man” walking. His first line of dialogue was that he forgot what he had to do. I was expecting this to be a long questline where I’d come back later and have to give him an ancient sword hilt or something, but I talked to him again and he just said, “Oh yeah, I remember! I have to take a dump.”

….I laughed and felt shame for finding that funny. Yes, I’m clearly 12 years old.

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Vivi Shopping

-ATE! Vivi in a store.

-Food here reminds him of his childhood.



Another point in the “Vivi is not a doll” column.

-Alice’s Item Shop.

-Vivi sees a sign advertising the Festival of the Hunt and feels excitement.

-The nuts that Vivi smelled earlier and wants to buy are Kupo Nuts. Moogle favorites.

-For the Festival of the Hunt, they do something with letting animals loose. Vivi likes animals! Yay animals! He leaves.

-lol. After he leaves, the shopkeeper reevaluates her words, saying that it’s more “fighting savage beasts” than “animals.” Perhaps it’s like a gladiatorial coliseum. I hope Vivi doesn’t try to hug the “animals” or something.

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Lindblum Business District – Zidane

-Air Cab Station.

-Just played another game of Tetra Master, cementing my lack of understanding. I put down a card with 01 defense. The opponent (Old Margaret) challenged it arrow-to-arrow with a card with 0 attack. AND HER CARD WON? WTF.


The Tetra Master ruleset.

I honestly hope we get more in-depth details on this game at some point.

-I’m doing well overall in the game, but knowing the fuller rules would be nice.

-The Lindblum Air Cab can take me to the castle, the Industrial District, or the Theater District.

-Found the Hunter’s Gate, one of the main entrances to Lindblum. The Dragon Gate is another, but it’s closed because it’s near the Mist and full of monsters.

-There’s a stone carving that looks like Baku.

-The shopping area has a lot of stores that I can’t buy stuff from. Oil and even action figures.

-Found a card lover.



He’s got a magazine about cards. No rules unfortunately – just says that some cards may become rare.

-Found a church. It’s been here since before the city was built, when this area was just forest. Huh. I have to remember to check it out when I head back to 600 AD and oh crap wrong game.

-Even more interesting: the church is tied into the origin of the Festival of the Hunt. Not something I would’ve normally associated with a church.

-Cid I built the church to pass on the festival’s tradition. He was the first winner.



-Ah. Makes sense now. Lindblum sees the festival as more than just a pastime; it refines and honors virtue.

-Belna is another festival contestant.

-Hee! Cloud reference in the equipment shop.



-Zidane describes another suit of armor on the wall as “cheesy.”



Feels like a reference to someone else, but not sure who. I don’t know whose armor looks like it.

-im crying the face on this hippo I can’t I can’t



-Found the Synthesist shop and I love it already. I was afraid it’d be a ton of trial and error, like combining materia in Crisis Core, but it turns out that they actually TELL you what items combine to what! Bought a few things, including a weapon for Zidane called “The Ogre” from two Mage Mashers.

-I have a feeling I’ll be back to this town, so I’m trying to not just explore it but also form a mental map. It makes more sense than somewhere like Esthar, but can still be overwhelming.

-I think I’ve explored the business district pretty well. The theater district is where progress lives, so I’ll next check out the industrial district.

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Next time: the Industrial District.