Beyond the Salikawood
-Now that I beat the King Bomb, let’s see what lies beyond.
-Reached the Necrohol of Nabudis. I’ve heard of this in Nalbadia.
-Two years ago, the Midlight Shard destroyed Nabudis. The nethicite’s concentrated Mist corrupted this area. The more I hear about Nethicite, the more it sounds like nuclear weaponry. Massive damage, lasting fallout.
-MISTAKES WERE MADE – the enemies are WAY too high for right now.
-The zone north of Salikawood is Nabreus Deadlands. Level 43 enemies greet me, and my level 29 ass nopes out. Back to the main story for now.
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Old Guard, New Guard
-Ashe and Basch debate how awful but potentially necessary this potential alliance between Dalmasca and the Empire. Ashe is having an especially tough time swallowing the shame of such an alliance.
BASCH: “If I could protect but one person from war’s horror, then I would bear any shame. I would bear it proudly.” Well said.
-They watch the group’s kids – Larsa, Penelo, Vaan – enjoying each other. XII takes full advantage of the party’s age diversity, the range of experiences
-Scene change to Archadia. A group of judges discuss the senate’s plans for Vayne. The Senate underestimates Vayne’s skill and ruthleness.
-Vayne killed two of his brothers in service to the Empire, including Judge Zecht. Ruthless af.
-I like this diversity of Imperial opinions. Judge Drace finds Vayne’s ruthlessness contemptible. Another judge sees Vayne’s ruthlessness as virtue when in service to the Empire.
-Judge Zaargabath plays it close to the chest, but seems to support Vayne.
-Lord Vayne arrives in the capital, off-screen.
-Gabranth speaks with Drace privately. Both like how capable Lord Larsa is, even as a child, but fear the Senate will react violently if he’s installed as Emperor and not easy for them to manipulate.
They come to a pact. They’ll protect Larsa from the Senators.
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Golmore Jungle
-We enter the Golmore Jungle. Panthers and malboros abound, though these malboros lack crown and mustache. Poor lil fellas.
The panthers look somehow alien.
-The jungle denies our passage with barriers all over.
ASHE: “What have we done?”
FRAN: “We? No. I.”
FRAN BACKSTORY?!?! EEEE!
-Fran summons a magical path to the viera village.
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Eruyt Village
We take the hidden path into the village, looking for a viera named Mjrn.
-I’ve seen monsters that mimic chests, but some apparently mimic save crystals. That’s just cruel.
-The viera here are cold and hostile to humes. Isolationist.
-Mjrn is not in the village. Jote seems to be the viera leader.
-The viera are cold towards me, but all kinds of hostile towards Fran. She left the village. A betrayal.
-Jote can hear the Wood directly. Fran cannot; she’s been away too long.
-Mjrn has left the woods too! Like Fran.
-Jote listens to the Wood and tells us where to find Mjrn. Mjrn has gone west to “warrens of men who hide themselves in iron.” Some Imperial setting. Maybe even Rozarria, which is to the east.
-I GOT HASTE! I worried I’d missed it somehow.
-A villager to Fran: “You flaunt our laws, abandon our village… does returning here not shame you? Did you think a mere fifty years would find you forgiven?”
I’d assumed Fran ran off with Balthier, but if this happened fifty years ago, it was way pre-Balthier. Good. I already like this better than what I imagined.
-We depart the village. Larsa thinks that Jote was talking about the Henne Magicite Mines.
Vaan pauses, as if he’s about to ask something super deep… and then basically asks Fran how old she is if she left here fifty years ago. I mean… I’m curious too, but maybe don’t just ask that.
LOLOL EVERYONE IS DISGUSTED AT VAAN’S RUDENESS AND SIDE-EYES THE FUCK OUT OF HIM. Vaan, never stop being awkward.
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Barheim Passage Revisited
Before progressing, I want to check on Dantro’s wife’s patient by the Nebra.
-Yay! The person we cured is rested and ready to go. Thanks me with the Barheim Key!
-I head to the nearby weather-beaten door and enter the Barheim Passage.
-The enemies here are in the high-30s. I’m around level 30 now.
-Found a black magick spell, Toxify.
-It’s not super overwhelming here, but it’s tough. I’ll come back later.
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Into the Mines
-I come across an injured Imperial and his comrade on the way back from Ozmone Plains. I offer them help, and hope this choice doesn’t come back to bite me.
-They thank me by lending me their chocobo. I’m about to pass (more killing = more LP/XP), but take them up on it.
-SUPER glad I did. They tell me that some areas with chocobo footprints are only accessible by chocobo. I had no idea! I’ll have to watch for that.
-I chocobo over to the mines. Corpses lie outside it – a bad sign. Researchers from Draklor Labs.
-There’s a neat gate mechanic in here. I have to swap between blue and red gates to explore fully.
Fighting off a sudden jelly swarm.
-The mines deep in here resemble Bhujerba’s mines in terms of their nethicite content.
-Mjrn is here. The Mist is thick. She looks dazed, feral. Roars at us, runs away.
-We chase after here and another Ring Wyrm-type boss blocks us. Tiamat.
-I like that I can change gear mid-fight. As soon as I see it start casting Disablega, I swap on Black Belts.
-Afterwards, Mjrn stumbles out. She drops a glassy thing. Nethicite? It shatters, it looks like something that was possessing her leaves her body. Wtf was that?
-Mjrn no longer looks feral or dazed. Just tired.
-Hume soldiers came to her village. Most viera ignored them, but Mjrn was uneasy. She followed them out.
FRAN IS MJRN’S SISTER??
-The humes captured her. They made the stone possess her somehow, used her as an experiment. Jesus.
-We saw this with Fran. Sort of. The Dawn Shard’s mist didn’t possess her exactly, but it changed her somehow and drove her into a temporary frenzy.
-This wasn’t one of the Shards. It was manufacted nethicite. Way more dangerous than Larsa thought.
-We return to the village. Jote hears the Wood’s whisper again, and entrusts us with an item to let us pass through the barriers.
-Mjrn wants to leave the wood permanently, like her sister. It’s not random wanderlust – she sees the isolationist viera traditions as an abdication as citizens of Ivalice.
But Fran urges her to stay. She knows how hard it is to discard your home.
“I won my freedom. Yet my past has been cut away forever. No longer can my ears hear the Green word. This solitude… you want, Mjrn?”
-Fran will part now once more from the Viera. At least it’s on better terms than last time.
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Next time: Cleaning stuff up. Making sure I know what I missed, exploring the world again, seeing if I can do new stuff with a more powerful party.
