Summary: Exploring the Desert Palace of Kuja. One of the best settings in the entire FF series.
Desert Palace
-Perhaps this is the thing under the ground.
-There are two giant smiling statues that look like angels. They creep me out.
-I did a thing! I turned something on. “Offering of power: Faithful paladin, extract the power to nullify elemental properties from the ring.” Paladin? Elemental properties? Ring?
-Not sure exactly what I just did, but it gave me a Promist Ring. It gives me a passive that can restore HP automatically when near death. I’ll give it a try to see how it works, how much HP it restores.
-The statues in this palace are universally creepy. All of them.
-I have to light a lamp and then the path through the “Illusion of the Goddess” will open.
-There’s some puzzle here.
OH GOD THE HEAD OF THIS GARGOYLE DEMON STATUE IS FOLLOWING ME
-Two signs here:
1)“Promise of the Evil God: The bloodstone is the source of his power. Each color holds different powers.”
2)“Truth of the Devil: The bloodstone is proof of his power. Hide the light with your hand.”
-So maybe if I… yes!
I was able to lure the heads of the two gargoyles away from the goddess statue. A stairway opened up after her eyes glowed red. Have I mentioned the sheer creepiness yet?
-Ok, lit all the sconces here. Now I can choose again to extract magic from the bloodstone. I’m afraid there’s a cost to doing so, but let’s try it. Got an Anklet.
-This place reminds me of Ultimecia’s Castle if it weren’t worn down and old. If it were in its prime.
-Crap. It’s a Torama. These panther enemies are always my bane. I’m able to kill it before it uses Blaster, but still makes me nervous.
-The library. GOD THIS PLACE IS AMAZING
-One statue says: “Wise man’s folly: Unlit stained glass opens the path when lit.” I lit a torch earlier that illuminated some stained glass. Maybe I can go back and snuff it to open up a new path.
-Amarant’s new No Mercy ability is awesome. Similar to Zidane’s Thievery – heavy non-elemental damage.
-Dagger is able to use magic again. That’s a good sign.
-Hm. Can’t unlight that stained glass-illuminating sconce… OH! I see. I was misreading it. Illuminating the stained glass opens the path.
-HFDSKLFHDSFDHSL - Each new pathway, each new candelabra lit, each new stained glass, each new hidden door behind a bookshelf makes me basically squee in delight.
-Found a moogle, Mogsam. Gave him Mojito’s letter. The letter states that Stiltzkin is now on a quest to find out what’s wrong with Mognet.
Desert Palace
-Perhaps this is the thing under the ground.
-There are two giant smiling statues that look like angels. They creep me out.
-I did a thing! I turned something on. “Offering of power: Faithful paladin, extract the power to nullify elemental properties from the ring.” Paladin? Elemental properties? Ring?
-Not sure exactly what I just did, but it gave me a Promist Ring. It gives me a passive that can restore HP automatically when near death. I’ll give it a try to see how it works, how much HP it restores.
-The statues in this palace are universally creepy. All of them.
-I have to light a lamp and then the path through the “Illusion of the Goddess” will open.
-There’s some puzzle here.
OH GOD THE HEAD OF THIS GARGOYLE DEMON STATUE IS FOLLOWING ME
-Two signs here:
1)“Promise of the Evil God: The bloodstone is the source of his power. Each color holds different powers.”
2)“Truth of the Devil: The bloodstone is proof of his power. Hide the light with your hand.”
-So maybe if I… yes!
I was able to lure the heads of the two gargoyles away from the goddess statue. A stairway opened up after her eyes glowed red. Have I mentioned the sheer creepiness yet?
-Ok, lit all the sconces here. Now I can choose again to extract magic from the bloodstone. I’m afraid there’s a cost to doing so, but let’s try it. Got an Anklet.
-This place reminds me of Ultimecia’s Castle if it weren’t worn down and old. If it were in its prime.
-Crap. It’s a Torama. These panther enemies are always my bane. I’m able to kill it before it uses Blaster, but still makes me nervous.
-The library. GOD THIS PLACE IS AMAZING
-One statue says: “Wise man’s folly: Unlit stained glass opens the path when lit.” I lit a torch earlier that illuminated some stained glass. Maybe I can go back and snuff it to open up a new path.
-Amarant’s new No Mercy ability is awesome. Similar to Zidane’s Thievery – heavy non-elemental damage.
-Dagger is able to use magic again. That’s a good sign.
-Hm. Can’t unlight that stained glass-illuminating sconce… OH! I see. I was misreading it. Illuminating the stained glass opens the path.
-HFDSKLFHDSFDHSL - Each new pathway, each new candelabra lit, each new stained glass, each new hidden door behind a bookshelf makes me basically squee in delight.
-Found a moogle, Mogsam. Gave him Mojito’s letter. The letter states that Stiltzkin is now on a quest to find out what’s wrong with Mognet.
-So much art of winged people. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kuja’s true
form (as I think there’s little chance his current form is his true
form) has wings.
-The next room over has a demon/gargoyle statue. “Apostle from the Underworld.”
-The status screen says that this place is “Shadow Cham.” Shadow Chamber?
-There’s a painting of a person in a hood. I lit the candle beneath it, and the light changed his visage into something stretched and demonic. The painting now has a name: “Dead Spirit’s Seduction: Dare not to follow those of evil. Strive to follow those of good.” I wonder if Kuja ever followed those of good, and somehow strayed into evil, or if he was always this way.
-Been struggling with this particular puzzle. There are two statues. One is Apostle from the Underworld, the other is Messenger from Heaven. The Dead Spirit’s Seduction message seems to be the clue. I can manipulate each statue with two candles, that can either make each statue’s shadow lean one way, another way, straight up, or not cast a shadow at all if I snuff the candles.
-So how do I follow the good, not the evil?
-GOT IT! Made it so that the evil shadow appeared to follow or chase the good statue and a crystalline stairway appeared.
-Lit a final candelabra at the top of the stairs and activated the palace’s defenses. Crap. Boss time.
-It’s an ornate obelisk of some kind.
Valia Pira.
-It’s reviewing the various bloodstones… OH!! Ok. I either did really well or really badly. I think really well. I drained all the bloodstones, and I think that leaves the palace’s defenses in a weakened state. If I had left the bloodstones active, I think it would’ve given the defense system a lot of advantages.
-It used Thundaga and Firaga, but they did fairly low damage.
-Got it! That was easy. I imagine if I had left the bloodstones alone, it would’ve been significantly nastier.
-That opened up the path to teleport somewhere else. Probably Kuja’s room.
-A black screen: “Meanwhile…” Scene switches. Zidane is fighting over whether to hand over the Gulug Stone. It isn’t pretty.
-The next room over has a demon/gargoyle statue. “Apostle from the Underworld.”
-The status screen says that this place is “Shadow Cham.” Shadow Chamber?
-There’s a painting of a person in a hood. I lit the candle beneath it, and the light changed his visage into something stretched and demonic. The painting now has a name: “Dead Spirit’s Seduction: Dare not to follow those of evil. Strive to follow those of good.” I wonder if Kuja ever followed those of good, and somehow strayed into evil, or if he was always this way.
-Been struggling with this particular puzzle. There are two statues. One is Apostle from the Underworld, the other is Messenger from Heaven. The Dead Spirit’s Seduction message seems to be the clue. I can manipulate each statue with two candles, that can either make each statue’s shadow lean one way, another way, straight up, or not cast a shadow at all if I snuff the candles.
-So how do I follow the good, not the evil?
-GOT IT! Made it so that the evil shadow appeared to follow or chase the good statue and a crystalline stairway appeared.
-Lit a final candelabra at the top of the stairs and activated the palace’s defenses. Crap. Boss time.
-It’s an ornate obelisk of some kind.
Valia Pira.
-It’s reviewing the various bloodstones… OH!! Ok. I either did really well or really badly. I think really well. I drained all the bloodstones, and I think that leaves the palace’s defenses in a weakened state. If I had left the bloodstones active, I think it would’ve given the defense system a lot of advantages.
-It used Thundaga and Firaga, but they did fairly low damage.
-Got it! That was easy. I imagine if I had left the bloodstones alone, it would’ve been significantly nastier.
-That opened up the path to teleport somewhere else. Probably Kuja’s room.
-A black screen: “Meanwhile…” Scene switches. Zidane is fighting over whether to hand over the Gulug Stone. It isn’t pretty.
---
Team Zidane Returns to Kuja’s Palace
He disembarks the Hilda Garde 1.
-We’re somewhere else now. Kuja’s voice welcomes us back, though we teleported somewhere else.
-And he wants Zidane to come alone.
-Kuja’s room. Kuja shows Zidane a cage in the middle of his room, and it looks down on Steiner, Dagger, Vivi, and Amarant face down on the floor.
So that’s either an illusion or they teleported into a cell. My money’s on it being an illusion, since it seemed like the defense measure of the palace were defeated legitimately.
-YES!!! The scene switches to outside the room, and Team Dagger teleports in to meet Eiko, Freya, and Quina. It IS an illusion.
-hjdklhfdlhfals but Zidane won’t notice in time! How could he?? He’s gonna turn over the Gulug Stone, shit shit shit shit
-Everyone charges into Kuja’s room. Will they make it in time before Zidane turns over the Gulug Stone? I’d be surprised if they do. I’ll bet he gives over the Gulug Stone, Shit Goes Down, and it sets up the next stage of the game.
-The doors slammed shut before Eiko could get into Kuja’s room.
-ARRGH FUCKING ZORN AND FUCKING THORN TRAPPED EIKO AND ISOLATED HER
-Woohoo!! The party members made it into the room in time, before Zidane handed over the stone.
-He’s taking Eiko hostage and using her as a distraction. Seems like they might have also gotten Cid? Not sure.
While everyone is watching Eiko, he uses some magical tractor beam thingy to zap the Gulug Stone into his possession.
-Kuja teleports away and we’re going after him. I’m taking Zidane, Dagger, Amarant, and Steiner. The three lower level party members, who I want to keep on an even footing.
-OMG THE FFIV CALLBACK HAHAHAHAHHA
A NAMINGWAY CARD LYING AROUND KUJA’S ROOM XD XD XD It’s even pixelated in an old SNES way. (Namingway was a ubiquitous character in FFIV who would always give you the chance to change your name Then when you later travel to the moon, you found a cave full of Namingways.)
-These Grimlock enemies are super annoying.
-..We’re too late. The Hilda Garde 1 has already flown off. The party heads back to the desert to pursue in the Blue Narciss.
---
Pursuit!
-Awesome little scene of the Hilda Garde 1 flying north with the Blue Narciss in hot pursuit.
-The pursuit takes us to the northwest. To the Lost Continent. The icy place.
-Back aboard the Blue Narciss, Dagger fears that Eiko was taken for the same reason she herself was: for Kuja to extract eidolons. Terrifying thought.
-Sticking with these four party members.
---
Next time: the Lost Continent.
Team Zidane Returns to Kuja’s Palace
He disembarks the Hilda Garde 1.
-We’re somewhere else now. Kuja’s voice welcomes us back, though we teleported somewhere else.
-And he wants Zidane to come alone.
-Kuja’s room. Kuja shows Zidane a cage in the middle of his room, and it looks down on Steiner, Dagger, Vivi, and Amarant face down on the floor.
So that’s either an illusion or they teleported into a cell. My money’s on it being an illusion, since it seemed like the defense measure of the palace were defeated legitimately.
-YES!!! The scene switches to outside the room, and Team Dagger teleports in to meet Eiko, Freya, and Quina. It IS an illusion.
-hjdklhfdlhfals but Zidane won’t notice in time! How could he?? He’s gonna turn over the Gulug Stone, shit shit shit shit
-Everyone charges into Kuja’s room. Will they make it in time before Zidane turns over the Gulug Stone? I’d be surprised if they do. I’ll bet he gives over the Gulug Stone, Shit Goes Down, and it sets up the next stage of the game.
-The doors slammed shut before Eiko could get into Kuja’s room.
-ARRGH FUCKING ZORN AND FUCKING THORN TRAPPED EIKO AND ISOLATED HER
-Woohoo!! The party members made it into the room in time, before Zidane handed over the stone.
-He’s taking Eiko hostage and using her as a distraction. Seems like they might have also gotten Cid? Not sure.
While everyone is watching Eiko, he uses some magical tractor beam thingy to zap the Gulug Stone into his possession.
-Kuja teleports away and we’re going after him. I’m taking Zidane, Dagger, Amarant, and Steiner. The three lower level party members, who I want to keep on an even footing.
-OMG THE FFIV CALLBACK HAHAHAHAHHA
A NAMINGWAY CARD LYING AROUND KUJA’S ROOM XD XD XD It’s even pixelated in an old SNES way. (Namingway was a ubiquitous character in FFIV who would always give you the chance to change your name Then when you later travel to the moon, you found a cave full of Namingways.)
-These Grimlock enemies are super annoying.
-..We’re too late. The Hilda Garde 1 has already flown off. The party heads back to the desert to pursue in the Blue Narciss.
---
Pursuit!
-Awesome little scene of the Hilda Garde 1 flying north with the Blue Narciss in hot pursuit.
-The pursuit takes us to the northwest. To the Lost Continent. The icy place.
-Back aboard the Blue Narciss, Dagger fears that Eiko was taken for the same reason she herself was: for Kuja to extract eidolons. Terrifying thought.
-Sticking with these four party members.
---
Next time: the Lost Continent.
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