Calm Lands
-Thought about doing more racing stuff, but didn’t feel like it. Going to move on. I expect I’ll be able to return when I get an airship.
-The north section is a bridge. Some Guados stop us.
-They threaten us. An awesome-looking rock golem comes to back them up.
Defender X.
-It hits hard as hell and retaliates with Blast Punch. Immune to slow. Will it retaliate to magic or just physical?
-Nope. Retaliates to magic as well. Immune to bio.
-This is a major challenge. It keeps obliterating my party members with hard hits.
-Auron’s good here.
-Trying out Bahamut.
!!!! HOLY SHIT???!!!?! Bahamut just did over 24,000 damage in a single Mega Flare!! I didn’t know he could break the 9999 damage limit. That’s awesome.
-Defender X got off a Mighty Guard, but it didn’t matter in the face of a second Mega Flare. Bahamut alone did about 48,000 damage. Jeeeesus.
-We’re at a crossroads. There’s a valley and a bridge. Lulu seems to know her way around here, to Wakka’s surprise.
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The Gorge
-I took the route down anyway to see what’s there, despite Lulu wanting us to cross the bridge.
-Lady Yocun was a Crusader before she was a summoner, and this place is sacred to her.
-The Crusaders still seem to be kicking as an organization. At least some vestiges of them.
-Just obtained a “Rusty Sword.” Seems like it’d be useless, but it’s a key item. At some point I’m going to have to go through my key item list and see what I can make of these.
-There’s kind of a cave thing down here too. Fayth, and fiends.
-Wakka seems to know this place. Lulu says it’s where her first summoner died. I KNEW IT!!
-Oh boy. Here we go.
Lulu is visibly anxious.
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Cavern of the Stolen Fayth
-“Stolen?” The Fayth was stolen? From where? By whom?
-Okay, initial guess: this placed used to be a Yevon temple. Lulu’s summoner came here to commune with the fayth, was rejected, tried to take the fayth by force, and just killed for it.
-First enemy here is Thorns which are SUPER annoying with their sleep gas.
-The worst part is that They just mow me down with Fira which doesn’t wake us up.
-There’s a currently inactive teleport pad by the entrance.
-New enemy: “Magic Urn.” I seem to remember this guy from FFVI and Crisis Core where I have to do something special to get a reward. In this case, the pot has 7 eyes, and I have to hit the correct one for a prize. How do I know which is correct? Scan?
-I got two minor items for hitting two correct eyes and then hit a wrong eye. Feels like just luck, since I didn’t see any indications as to what was a right eye.
-Pyreflies abound here.
-Lulu says the fayth was stolen from a temple long ago. Auron hypothesizes that it was stolen because without the fayth, summoners couldn’t train, couldn’t progress on their pilgrimages. I first thought he was implying the thief was a Sin cultist, but no. Probably an Al Bhed who wanted to stop summoners from dying.
-MOTHER OF GOD
-IT’s A TONBERRY
-It’s scan scan text says: “Advanced four times. Defeat it by then, or else…” I know what the or else is. He’ll break out the kitchen knife.
-Whew. It used Karma (this game’s version of Everyone’s Grudge probably) but wasn’t nearly as brutal as the prior incarnations of Tonberry.
-I’m looking really hard for a tell with the Magic Urns that says which eyes are right and which are wrong. Just not seeing anything.
-Tried a multi-attack with Wakka’s overdrive. It didn’t work.
-Al Bhed Primer XXV, O->Y.
-Creepy! Encountered a Ghost fiend. Brought Yuna in to heal up, and she says in this low, sad voice: “You couldn’t reach the Farplane…” Reminds me that these aren’t random vicious monsters. These are regular people who died, were not sent, and are clinging to life. Twisted and corrupted. A touch of pathos even in random encounters.
-Kimahri lanceted Doom from a Ghost. I wonder if that’ll work against some of the heavy hitters I might encounter, like Behemoths.
-Starting to encounter Level 3 Locks on the sphere grid. Opened my first one for Auron, moving towards an ability I can’t yet reach called “Entrust.”
-Save point. I smell a boss fight coming up.
-Pyreflies amassing in the room ahead. Kimahri says it’s an unsent.
-OH FUCKING SHIT HOW DID I NOT SEE THIS COMING
IT’S LULU’S FIRST SUMMONER
Lady Ginnem.
-Yuna starts to do the sending dance, but Lady Ginnem lashes out. She doesn’t want to be sent.
-Lulu is crushed. Guilty as hell.
LULU: “Very well then. Allow me to perform my last duty to you. My last as your guardian.”
-ughghhhh this is hard to take. The music is light, acknowledging the tragedy of this situation. It reminds me STRONGLY of FFIV, when Edge had to fight his parents-turned-monsters as a mercy killing. The music and setting and themes and everything.
-She summons an aeon, someone new to the series: “Yojimbo.” I know the name, but can’t pin it down. Non-rhetorical question for y’all: Is Yojimbo someone from Japanese myth or history?]
-Yojimbo’s got an ADORABLE pupper with him.
-Part of me wants to break out an aeon for this, make it like an aeon duel, but I really want to win this with Lulu on the battlefield. Even if there’s no extra dialogue, it just feels right.
-Ah heck, I’ll try to at least take out Yojimbo with a summon.
-See ya, Yojimbo. May you and your awesome pupper stay safe.
-That’s the end of the fight.
LULU: “Strange. I thought it would be sadder, somehow.” THAT WASN’T SAD?? ;_;
-Wakka tries to comfort her.
-Hit a random encounter checking out the room, against a Malboro. YESSSSS – Kimahri’s Doom works on it.
-Stepped on the teleport. I Chamber of the Fayth or to “???.” Three guesses where I choose.
-It’s a room with a treasure chest and not much else. A Flexible Arm. Hee! It’s a Rikku weapon, but my first thought is a memory of Chrono Trigger. I briefly thought, “Nice, an upgrade for Robo!”
-Found another ??? room with some minor treasure. Onto the chamber of the fayth.
-It looks like the fayth is hidden/buried under loose tape.
-Yojimbo, the Blade of Vengeance.
Duel coming?
-WTF DUDE??? 250,000 GIL??? I don’t have that much. I offer everything I have, but it’s not enough.
-Wait. I offered, and he countered with something lower. Can I perhaps bargain him down to 140,000?
-Tried really low-balling at 12k, and… yeah. No deal.
-50k too low too. I creep my offer up, but even 100k gets the “chicken feed” response that shuts off bargaining.
-I can bring him down below 200k, but not much farther. I’ll come back when I have more gil.
-Went back to the Calm Lands camp to sell. Trying again at over 160k gil now to see if that helps. If not, I’ll grind up to 190k.
-No desire to tangle with Thorns anymore. So I’m bringing in the perfect counter. Ifrit.
-I was grinding up in the cave, and all of a sudden a dude starts walking in!
-And he has Yojimbo with him. Boss time I guess.
-WHAT THE FUCK HE JUST SLASHED ME FOR 99999
-Well. My first game over lol. Gonna guess I need to get Yojimbo before taking on this dude.
-WAIT!! An idea about the pots. What if it’s the same order every time? Middle, top left, bottom left, bottom right…
No. They changed up the order. I’m just as lost as before.
-Up to 190k gil. Is there a deal to be made here? No. Not that I can find.
-Ah well. One more bout of grinding. I think if I get 200k, I got this.
-Ok, Yojimbo. I think I got this… Yes!! Just over 197k. We’re now his “client.” Hee! Got an achievement, “All About the Money.”
-Let’s try this random insta-kill summoner again now that Yojimbo is in my corner.
-lol still dead. Maybe I need Yuna in my party when I attack?
-Nope. Still insta-death. Perhaps I have to trigger the dude to walk up, then teleport out behind him? He’s hitting me for 99,999 each time as an ambush, so there’s gotta be some gimmick around this.
-Ported back to the entrance, and the boss music disappeared. I don’t think I’ll be able to ambush him. Just missing something, and I don’t feel like walking the whole cavern just to check.
-One last thing to try: maybe if I go back into the Chamber of the Fayth with Yojimbo as my aeon, something will be different? …no. Can’t access the Chamber anymore.
-Ooh, another “last” thing to try: can I use the Rusty Sword I got before? Or even the Flower Scepter wthat has to do with a hidden aeon? Triggering the encounter, and maybe now I can click on it.
-Nope. Nope nope nope. Dead dead dead.
-Okay. Giving up for now. Maybe something will occur to me later to survive not!Yojimbo.
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Cavern of the Stolen Fayth Monsters Captured
DARK ELEMENT
EPAAJ
GHOST
IMP
NIDHOGG
THORN
TONBERRY
VALAHA
YOWIE
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Next time: Past the bridge, down the critical path.
