Gargan Roo
-The plan is now to head to Treno via Gargan Roo to hide/regroup.
-Crap. Something stopped the gargant. Is it the same boss as before?
-Not quite. Huge worm thing, but green instead of purple. And this one looks like a giant worm crossed with a lion and a woolly mammoth.
-Zidane tries to steal a bunch, and Vivi takes care of the damage. Three focused Blizzaras knock it out. This was cake, when I compare it to that frigging book monster.
-Ruh roh. The gargant is running, but another of those boss monsters is chasing.
-So much for the Treno plan. We passed Treno because the gargant was running too fast.
-We crash out of an exit.
---
Castle Alexandria
-Queen Brahne on her throne.
-Zorn and Thorn try to get to her and report, but the Beatrix guard blocks them. Strict orders not to let them through. Haha!
-Two new players enter the picture. Two “guests” of Brahne. A woman and a large, red-haired, green-skinned man.
-The woman is Lani, the “best and most beautiful bounty hunter in the world.” The guy doesn’t introduce himself yet.
-Brahne assigns them to recover Garnet’s pendant. And to assassinate Vivi. YOU MONSTER.
-Why does she care about Vivi? She calls him a “soulless golem, a defect running free,” and I’m about ready to punch the monitor.
-The red-headed man is more interested in Zidane. Hm. Old rivals?
-A soldier tells Brahne that the Alexandrian fleet is preparing to depart. For where?
---
Pinnacle Rocks
-They crashed out at Pinnacle Rocks, near Lindblum.
-Oh hey, this is the place I couldn’t get to before! The place with the ghost.
-No news yet of course on Freya, Beatrix, Marcus, Blank, or Steiner.
-The ghost appears!
It’s an old man, floating above the river.
-NO WAIT IT’S RAMUH!
-Ramuh tells Dagger that Odin responded to a “woman filled with greed” to destroy Cleyra, and the news crushes her.
-Dagger wants Ramuh to serve her to help stop Brahne, but he doesn’t want to serve a poor master.
Time for him to test us. Of course.
-Interesting! Not an immediate fight. He says he’ll “hide 5 manifestations of himself in this forest. Each carries a piece of the “Hero’s Story.” We have to collect the pieces and tell the complete story to Ramuh.
-Monty the moogle is here. Save.
---
Searching for Ramuhs
-Dagger is a bit underleveled. Only level 13 while the others are 20.
-This zone has a lush beauty to it.
-Found the first Ramuh. Provides “a historian’s explanation,” about people not reporting someone’s death to his daughter as a sign of their guilt, part of being human. Hm. I’m curious what the rest of the hero’s story is. We’re starting in media res.
-Next: Joseph helped…
WAIT A SECOND THIS IS THE FUCKING STORY OF FFII
THE “HERO’S STORY” IS ABOUT JOSEPH HELPING OUT FIRION AND MARIA AND GUY IN FFII LOLOLOL
God I can’t do this this is SO AWESOME
p.s. Fuck that adamantoise. That was such a brutal boss.
-First lesson was “Human,” second is “Cooperation.”
-As I use scan, I see that Dagger may not be underleveled as much as the rest of my party is overleveled a bit. The monsters here are level 12.
-The next part is about how the party didn’t tell his daughter about his death afterwards. “Silence.”
-This is so wild. This isn’t just a random callback to a character’s name from a past game – this is drawing on a whole past game’s story as a lesson/story within FFIX. There were times in FFII where I was a bit hesitant about playing it (Deist Caverns, I’m staring at you right now. Hard.) but this makes it all worth it.
-Found “Beginning,” where we learn that Joseph owed a debt to a rebel troop fighting against the empire. So THAT’S why Joseph agreed to lead us to the snow caverns! “Beginning.”
-I have the feeling that I’ll have to piece this story together for Ramuh. Beginning, then Cooperation, then Silence, then Human.
-Found the piggy from Festival of the Hunt.
Zaghnol.
-The final Ramuh fragment. Although Joseph’s death wasn’t reported, the manner of his death speaks for itself. “A true hero.” Damn right. He was one of the best characters in that game, the most memorable. I loved Joseph.
DAMMIT FFIX WHO TOLD YOU IT WAS OKAY TO GET ME MISTY EYED ABOUT FFII WHEN I HAVEN’T PLAYED IT IN LIKE TWO YEARS
-The last piece. “Hero.”
-Yikes. He said the story is composed of only four parts and one doesn’t belong. Hm. They all seemed like they belonged.
-Beginning first. Then cooperation. Then silence. The question is: do I go with Hero or Human for the last one? I think the “Human” section puts the focus too much on the party’s guilt. It’s Joseph who’s the true hero here. “Hero” it is.
*fingers crossed*
-Ramuh recites it for us. Then asks why we chose “Hero” rather than “Human” for the conclusion. Aha! Maybe it’s a puzzle where both conclusions are right but reveal something different about us.
-YES! Ramuh is using this to learn about Dagger’s reasons for doing what she’s doing after all. That’s the point of this exercise. She justifies her choice of ending as a hero acting on the straightforward path no matter what.
*sniff Joseph sniff*
RAMUH: “Your soul is very tense right now. Maybe you’ll begin to relax once I become your eidolon.” HELL YES GO DAGGER
-I’ve said it before and I’ll say it until the cows come home. A worse game would have made this whole adventure about the ostensible “main character” in Zidane. FFIX doesn’t fall into that trap. This part of it, right here? This is Dagger’s story, her choices, her dilemma, her morality.
Zidane was in the background for that whole exchange, and as Dagger runs off ahead (to Lindblum next) he wonders what that whole puzzle/story was all about.
Don’t worry, Zidane. It’s not about you right now. You’re not the one who needed to understand what just happened, and that’s okay.
-Hee! Vivi says what I had just said a bit ago, that Ramuh probably would’ve become her eidolon no matter what.
-Ramuh actually answers Zidane beautifully. That what people say of a heroic action after the fact doesn’t really matter. What matters is being true to oneself, and he wants to help guide Dagger on that path.
-Dagger ran up ahead and can see Lindblum Castle.
(I swear, the art in this game is like a painting.)
I go back and save now before we move on.
---
Next time: Either Lindblum Castle with this group or rejoining Team Freyatrix, not sure.
