Summary: Delkfutt’s Tower to save the Bastok ambassador. Joining Tenshodo. Stealing magicite from the Quadav.
Mission: Jeuno – Finding the Ambassador (Bastok)
-Continuing my work for the Bastok embassy in Jeuno. Currently, that has me entering Tower to find the adventuring Bastok ambassador.
-Climbed the three floors of Lower Delkfutt’s Tower and didn’t see the ambassador. I’m now in Middle Delkfutt’s Tower.
-Magic Jars make their appearance here.
-Tenth floor. Upper Delkfutt’s Tower. Tons of giants and goblins in here.
-Up here on the tenth floor, I found a door that takes me to a secret path off the map, but there’s an “incredibly tough” enemy here, Demonic Doll, in front of me. “Incredibly tough” means waaay higher than I should be taking on.
-Woohoo! Got a Delkfutt Key from the enemy at the top, a named giant called Porphyrion. Not sure what I’m supposed to do with it, but yay!
-HOLY SHIT MY WYVERN HAS HEALING BREATH!!! I was getting swarmed by giants, about to die on the tenth floor, and she totally saved my ass.
-Aha! There’s an elevator in Porphyrion’s room at the top that I use the key to open. It opens up a long and winding staircase that takes me to a new area: the basement of the tower.
-I’m moving super cautiously at this point. I’ve taken such a long long road to get here, and a death would mean repeating a TON of content.
-Behind a door in this basement, I find Altair. Probably the Bastok ambassador, and definitely a callback to the city of Altair in FFII.
-Yup. Ambassador Altair. He’s happy for the rescue, but also says something “more ominous” is afoot here. I’ll meet him back at the embassy in Jeuno.
-Btw, following in the tradition of giants as far back as FFI, these giants drop really good gil.
-And I’m out. Left Delkfutt’s Tower. I LOVE that place. It reminds me of some of my favorite times dungeon-crawling in EverQuest, specifically of a zone called Tower of Frozen Shadow. An honest-to-goodness sense of exploration.
-Back in Jeuno, I meet Altair at the embassy.
-He assigns me to the position of special attache to Jeuno from Bastok.
Woohoo!! Rank 4 in my reputation with Bastok.
-I return to Bastok for my next mission.
-Didn’t find any new missions here – perhaps I have to go to a Jeuno guard instead, since I’m the attache to Jeuno now – but HOLY SHIT I DISCOVERED SOMETHING AMAZING??
-So every day, there’s a new “challenge” (called “Records of Eminence”) I get. Kill 20 flying things. Collect 3 Beastman Seals. Something like that. When I complete the challenge, I get “sparks” and gil and xp. The gil and xp is really nice, but I hadn’t paid attention to the sparks until I just now talked to Isakoth, the NPC who first introduced me to these challenges.
-Apparently, I can use the sparks to buy really, really good gear for my level. This is so cool! I also regret spending 10k gil on a polearm from the auction house because I could’ve just spent a small amount of sparks (I have a ton of them) for a comparable weapon.
Mission: Jeuno – Finding the Ambassador (Bastok)
-Continuing my work for the Bastok embassy in Jeuno. Currently, that has me entering Tower to find the adventuring Bastok ambassador.
-Climbed the three floors of Lower Delkfutt’s Tower and didn’t see the ambassador. I’m now in Middle Delkfutt’s Tower.
-Magic Jars make their appearance here.
-Tenth floor. Upper Delkfutt’s Tower. Tons of giants and goblins in here.
-Up here on the tenth floor, I found a door that takes me to a secret path off the map, but there’s an “incredibly tough” enemy here, Demonic Doll, in front of me. “Incredibly tough” means waaay higher than I should be taking on.
-Woohoo! Got a Delkfutt Key from the enemy at the top, a named giant called Porphyrion. Not sure what I’m supposed to do with it, but yay!
-HOLY SHIT MY WYVERN HAS HEALING BREATH!!! I was getting swarmed by giants, about to die on the tenth floor, and she totally saved my ass.
-Aha! There’s an elevator in Porphyrion’s room at the top that I use the key to open. It opens up a long and winding staircase that takes me to a new area: the basement of the tower.
-I’m moving super cautiously at this point. I’ve taken such a long long road to get here, and a death would mean repeating a TON of content.
-Behind a door in this basement, I find Altair. Probably the Bastok ambassador, and definitely a callback to the city of Altair in FFII.
-Yup. Ambassador Altair. He’s happy for the rescue, but also says something “more ominous” is afoot here. I’ll meet him back at the embassy in Jeuno.
-Btw, following in the tradition of giants as far back as FFI, these giants drop really good gil.
-And I’m out. Left Delkfutt’s Tower. I LOVE that place. It reminds me of some of my favorite times dungeon-crawling in EverQuest, specifically of a zone called Tower of Frozen Shadow. An honest-to-goodness sense of exploration.
-Back in Jeuno, I meet Altair at the embassy.
-He assigns me to the position of special attache to Jeuno from Bastok.
Woohoo!! Rank 4 in my reputation with Bastok.
-I return to Bastok for my next mission.
-Didn’t find any new missions here – perhaps I have to go to a Jeuno guard instead, since I’m the attache to Jeuno now – but HOLY SHIT I DISCOVERED SOMETHING AMAZING??
-So every day, there’s a new “challenge” (called “Records of Eminence”) I get. Kill 20 flying things. Collect 3 Beastman Seals. Something like that. When I complete the challenge, I get “sparks” and gil and xp. The gil and xp is really nice, but I hadn’t paid attention to the sparks until I just now talked to Isakoth, the NPC who first introduced me to these challenges.
-Apparently, I can use the sparks to buy really, really good gear for my level. This is so cool! I also regret spending 10k gil on a polearm from the auction house because I could’ve just spent a small amount of sparks (I have a ton of them) for a comparable weapon.
---
Mission: Magicite (Bastok)
-None of the Jeuno guards have a mission for me, so I head back to the Bastokan embassy in Jeuno. Success! The guy at the front desk sends me inside.
-Altair the ambassador asks for me for a special operation. I have to gain the archduke’s trust by helping him out. (Archduke is the leader of Jeuno.)
-I head into the palace and meet Archduke Kam’lanaut, sitting on his throne.
-I also meet the person I think is the Archduke’s… um, son maybe? Eald’narche. He’s got an eyepatch.
Oh, his brother, not his son.
-Beastmen in Davoi, Beadeaux, and Castle Oztroja are conspiring to return the Shadow Lord to Vana’diel. (He was the Big Bad from like 20 years ago.) They plan to do so using magicite. My mission is to go into those three areas and retrieve the magicite. My reward for doing this is an airship pass.
-As I turn to go, one of the Archduke’s aides, Mawl’gofaur, tells me they’re seeking the assistance of the “Tenshodo.” Ah! I heard of them from some folks in Jeuno. Some kind of super-secret organization.
-Aldo is the leader of the Tenshodo. I have to get access to him. He shows up on my scan on the map in Lower Jeuno, but nowhere I can yet reach. Behind a door in the probably!Tenshodo inn, guarded by someone who won’t talk to me.
-The innkeeper from the inn in Jeuno where I first heard about the Tenshodo tells me to go to Bastok to apply. Not sure where in Bastok, but maybe it’ll be obvious if I go? Idk.
-OOH I KNOW!! What if it’s that off-limits place in Bastok I haven’t been able to reach before, in the Mines?
Lol never mind. The guy in front of that area still just says “This area is off-limits.”
-What about… no. I talked to a dude who was standing in front of a boarded up door, but he just said “Get out of my sight, outsider.” Again.
-One more place I can think of, then I’m looking it up. Another boarded up door.
-Nope. “The door is firmly shut…” Looking it up.
-The Tenshodo NPC is a random dude in a random warehouse in Port Bastok.
[Later edit: I checked back through my really early explorations of Bastok, and saw that I actually met the Tenshodo before. I found this warehouse with the Tenshodo in part 5. But that was a while ago, so I don’t feel bad for not remembering.]
-Well! That was easy. Got it, brought it back to the Jeuno innkeeper, and now I’m a member of the Tenshodo. I thought I’d have to make someone wear cement shoes.
-Aldo, the leader of the Tenshodo, was in the wars twenty years ago and apparently suffered badly.
-I find Aldo and gives him the archduke’s message. It’s to learn more about magicite.
Mission: Magicite (Bastok)
-None of the Jeuno guards have a mission for me, so I head back to the Bastokan embassy in Jeuno. Success! The guy at the front desk sends me inside.
-Altair the ambassador asks for me for a special operation. I have to gain the archduke’s trust by helping him out. (Archduke is the leader of Jeuno.)
-I head into the palace and meet Archduke Kam’lanaut, sitting on his throne.
-I also meet the person I think is the Archduke’s… um, son maybe? Eald’narche. He’s got an eyepatch.
Oh, his brother, not his son.
-Beastmen in Davoi, Beadeaux, and Castle Oztroja are conspiring to return the Shadow Lord to Vana’diel. (He was the Big Bad from like 20 years ago.) They plan to do so using magicite. My mission is to go into those three areas and retrieve the magicite. My reward for doing this is an airship pass.
-As I turn to go, one of the Archduke’s aides, Mawl’gofaur, tells me they’re seeking the assistance of the “Tenshodo.” Ah! I heard of them from some folks in Jeuno. Some kind of super-secret organization.
-Aldo is the leader of the Tenshodo. I have to get access to him. He shows up on my scan on the map in Lower Jeuno, but nowhere I can yet reach. Behind a door in the probably!Tenshodo inn, guarded by someone who won’t talk to me.
-The innkeeper from the inn in Jeuno where I first heard about the Tenshodo tells me to go to Bastok to apply. Not sure where in Bastok, but maybe it’ll be obvious if I go? Idk.
-OOH I KNOW!! What if it’s that off-limits place in Bastok I haven’t been able to reach before, in the Mines?
Lol never mind. The guy in front of that area still just says “This area is off-limits.”
-What about… no. I talked to a dude who was standing in front of a boarded up door, but he just said “Get out of my sight, outsider.” Again.
-One more place I can think of, then I’m looking it up. Another boarded up door.
-Nope. “The door is firmly shut…” Looking it up.
-The Tenshodo NPC is a random dude in a random warehouse in Port Bastok.
[Later edit: I checked back through my really early explorations of Bastok, and saw that I actually met the Tenshodo before. I found this warehouse with the Tenshodo in part 5. But that was a while ago, so I don’t feel bad for not remembering.]
-Well! That was easy. Got it, brought it back to the Jeuno innkeeper, and now I’m a member of the Tenshodo. I thought I’d have to make someone wear cement shoes.
-Aldo, the leader of the Tenshodo, was in the wars twenty years ago and apparently suffered badly.
-I find Aldo and gives him the archduke’s message. It’s to learn more about magicite.
-Magicite is in beastman strongholds: Castle Oztroja, Davoid, Beadeaux.
-Aldo gives me a key for Beadeaux.
-Interesting. The Archduke also ordered Aldo to help evict the peaceful beastmen living in Jeuno. They haven’t hurt anyone, but average Jeunoans are jittery. HM COULD THIS BE RELEVANT IN TODAY’S WORLD???
-His friend or sister or something, Verena comes out to argue on behalf of the beastmen. No decision made yet by Aldo as to what he’ll do.
-A goblin comes in, Fickblix. He’s friends with Verena. They leave together.
Aww! Gobby friend!
-Aldo gives me a silver bell to help get through Beadeaux, but hints there are more traps and tricks in these strongholds, that I should talk to adventurers around town to learn more.
-An NPC tells me I need a coruscant rosary and black matinee necklace to get into a part of Beadeaux. He’ll trade those to me in exchange for a Quadav charm and a Quadav augury shell.
-So that’s my next step for this quest. Beadeaux.
---
The Road to Aht Urhgan
-Someone in the Tenshodo shop tells me about Aht Urhgan. This sounds like the breadcrumbs quest!
-The things I need: a damselfly worm, a magicked skull, a crab apron, a wild rabbit tail, a cup of dhalmel saliva, and a bloody robe. Six of those. Wait, does that mean I can give him six damselfly worms?
-Or… Oh, I like this better. I can bring a jade cryptex, a silver engraving, and a thirteen-knot quipu. Those are things the beastmen have been using to relay orders, that he plans to resell in the Aht Urhgan. I like those better because I’m about to quest in beastman territory, so hopefully will pick them up.
The suave questgiver.
-Or, a third option! A single coffer key from a beastman stronghold, including Davoi, Beadeaux, or Castle Oztroja. He also names some other places, but I’m going to those three. Hopefully I’ll pick up a coffer key. Or a “testimony,” or “chips from Pso’Xja.”
-So I have choices. I’ll see what drops from the strongholds I’m heading to for the magicite quests. The reward is a boarding pass to Aht Urhgan.
-Found a silver engraving from a random Quadav in Beadeaux later this session, so I’ll feel reasonably sure that when I go to the yagudo and orc areas I’ll get the jade cryptex and thirteen-knot quipu.
---
Chains of Promathia – Cutscene
-Huh. I walked into Upper Jeuno and am getting a cutscene. Another between Wolfgang and the doctor, Monbereaux. Monbereaux is treating that kid who survived whatever happened at Delkfutt’s Tower.
-Monbereaux is worried that Jeuno’s scientists were up to no good in the Tower, but Wolfgang doesn’t really confirm or deny.
-These two are friend. Frenemies? Something like that.
-They’re moving the kid to the archduke’s palace.
-Aldo gives me a key for Beadeaux.
-Interesting. The Archduke also ordered Aldo to help evict the peaceful beastmen living in Jeuno. They haven’t hurt anyone, but average Jeunoans are jittery. HM COULD THIS BE RELEVANT IN TODAY’S WORLD???
-His friend or sister or something, Verena comes out to argue on behalf of the beastmen. No decision made yet by Aldo as to what he’ll do.
-A goblin comes in, Fickblix. He’s friends with Verena. They leave together.
Aww! Gobby friend!
-Aldo gives me a silver bell to help get through Beadeaux, but hints there are more traps and tricks in these strongholds, that I should talk to adventurers around town to learn more.
-An NPC tells me I need a coruscant rosary and black matinee necklace to get into a part of Beadeaux. He’ll trade those to me in exchange for a Quadav charm and a Quadav augury shell.
-So that’s my next step for this quest. Beadeaux.
---
The Road to Aht Urhgan
-Someone in the Tenshodo shop tells me about Aht Urhgan. This sounds like the breadcrumbs quest!
-The things I need: a damselfly worm, a magicked skull, a crab apron, a wild rabbit tail, a cup of dhalmel saliva, and a bloody robe. Six of those. Wait, does that mean I can give him six damselfly worms?
-Or… Oh, I like this better. I can bring a jade cryptex, a silver engraving, and a thirteen-knot quipu. Those are things the beastmen have been using to relay orders, that he plans to resell in the Aht Urhgan. I like those better because I’m about to quest in beastman territory, so hopefully will pick them up.
The suave questgiver.
-Or, a third option! A single coffer key from a beastman stronghold, including Davoi, Beadeaux, or Castle Oztroja. He also names some other places, but I’m going to those three. Hopefully I’ll pick up a coffer key. Or a “testimony,” or “chips from Pso’Xja.”
-So I have choices. I’ll see what drops from the strongholds I’m heading to for the magicite quests. The reward is a boarding pass to Aht Urhgan.
-Found a silver engraving from a random Quadav in Beadeaux later this session, so I’ll feel reasonably sure that when I go to the yagudo and orc areas I’ll get the jade cryptex and thirteen-knot quipu.
---
Chains of Promathia – Cutscene
-Huh. I walked into Upper Jeuno and am getting a cutscene. Another between Wolfgang and the doctor, Monbereaux. Monbereaux is treating that kid who survived whatever happened at Delkfutt’s Tower.
-Monbereaux is worried that Jeuno’s scientists were up to no good in the Tower, but Wolfgang doesn’t really confirm or deny.
-These two are friend. Frenemies? Something like that.
-They’re moving the kid to the archduke’s palace.
---
Mission: Beadeaux Magicite (Bastok)
-I head on over there. There are some sliding doors that now open, but one near the entrance, a Heavy Sliding Door, that does not yet open. Deeper in, I find a few other Heavy Sliding Doors.
-Found a Quadav Charm on a named enemy in Beadeaux, so I assume the next item is also on a named enemy here. A million dead turtles later (and a few levels gained), I get the next item, the Quadav augury shell.
-Traded for the new key items back in Jeuno, and I’m ready to go.
-The Heavy Sliding Doors now open… but they don’t have the magicite. Hm.
-I look up where to go. I’m supposed to head to a different zone, the Qulun Dome, that borders Beadeaux.
-I head in, using the Tenshodo items to unlock the way.. There are no enemies. Just the magicite shards ahead of me.
I grab for them.
-Cutscene. Three miners in Bastok. They’re talking about explosives.
-One of the miners is upset. A kid named Raogrimm walks up to him. The miners found a Quadav temple, and he wanted to preserve it but the others blasted it anyways. “As always, they don’t even try to understand.” What does this have to do with the magicite now?
-Interesting! That was a flashback. We flash forward to that kid, Raogrimm, now grown up. He’s adventuring in a Quadav mine with Cornelia and a dude named Ulrich, looking for loot. As adventurers are wont to do. But Raogrimm feels terrible – he sees that the only treasure is eggs that the Quadav were trying to protect.
Their own young. God, rando adventurers are the WORST.
-We flash forward. Ulrich, one of Raogrimm’s fellow adventurers, is attacking Raogrimm.
Betraying him. Ulrich stabs Raogrimm.
-WAIT HOLY SHIT NO HE DOESN’T!!! CORNELIA INTERVENES, AND ULRICH STABS HER BY ACCIDENT.
-Wait, Cornelia is dead? But we saw her! All throughout the Bastok Mining District! Doing things, helping the Galka. It sure as shit looks like she’s dying. That must be something from the present.
-The cutscene ends. I take the magicite.
What a cool short story, but I hope like hell that Cornelia is still alive. She took a sword to the gut, so probably dead, but we’ll see.
I’m also not sure what that short story about Raogrimm was about. Like, what the point of it was, and why I saw it as I grabbed for the magicite. In the background of all these main missions are some kind of Bastok intrigue, something happening with unrest among the Galka population. Perhaps this is related? I dunno.
---
Next time: Collecting the next two pieces of magicite from the orcs and yagudo.
Mission: Beadeaux Magicite (Bastok)
-I head on over there. There are some sliding doors that now open, but one near the entrance, a Heavy Sliding Door, that does not yet open. Deeper in, I find a few other Heavy Sliding Doors.
-Found a Quadav Charm on a named enemy in Beadeaux, so I assume the next item is also on a named enemy here. A million dead turtles later (and a few levels gained), I get the next item, the Quadav augury shell.
-Traded for the new key items back in Jeuno, and I’m ready to go.
-The Heavy Sliding Doors now open… but they don’t have the magicite. Hm.
-I look up where to go. I’m supposed to head to a different zone, the Qulun Dome, that borders Beadeaux.
-I head in, using the Tenshodo items to unlock the way.. There are no enemies. Just the magicite shards ahead of me.
I grab for them.
-Cutscene. Three miners in Bastok. They’re talking about explosives.
-One of the miners is upset. A kid named Raogrimm walks up to him. The miners found a Quadav temple, and he wanted to preserve it but the others blasted it anyways. “As always, they don’t even try to understand.” What does this have to do with the magicite now?
-Interesting! That was a flashback. We flash forward to that kid, Raogrimm, now grown up. He’s adventuring in a Quadav mine with Cornelia and a dude named Ulrich, looking for loot. As adventurers are wont to do. But Raogrimm feels terrible – he sees that the only treasure is eggs that the Quadav were trying to protect.
Their own young. God, rando adventurers are the WORST.
-We flash forward. Ulrich, one of Raogrimm’s fellow adventurers, is attacking Raogrimm.
Betraying him. Ulrich stabs Raogrimm.
-WAIT HOLY SHIT NO HE DOESN’T!!! CORNELIA INTERVENES, AND ULRICH STABS HER BY ACCIDENT.
-Wait, Cornelia is dead? But we saw her! All throughout the Bastok Mining District! Doing things, helping the Galka. It sure as shit looks like she’s dying. That must be something from the present.
-The cutscene ends. I take the magicite.
What a cool short story, but I hope like hell that Cornelia is still alive. She took a sword to the gut, so probably dead, but we’ll see.
I’m also not sure what that short story about Raogrimm was about. Like, what the point of it was, and why I saw it as I grabbed for the magicite. In the background of all these main missions are some kind of Bastok intrigue, something happening with unrest among the Galka population. Perhaps this is related? I dunno.
---
Next time: Collecting the next two pieces of magicite from the orcs and yagudo.
