Pre-Marquis Exploration
-Our next step is to meet back up with Marquis Ondore, but will explore before that.
-Vayne is next in line for Emperor.
Here’s my absolute favorite part of Bhujerba.
-Yrlon is the Staras’ son. He ran away.
-A Lhusu Parivir has a key to Site 3 in the mines and wants to return it to the Staras.
-Bought the Horology technick. It does damage “based on a factor of time.” In-game time? Time of day?
-Found Yrlon chilling on the Khus Skybridge. He asks me keep quiet about finding him.
Sure. At least, as long as your parents don’t offer me a reward. Then all bets are off.
-Never mind. No dialogue at the Staras residence.
-The Empire is keeping Bhujerba’s best magicite in a lab. As soon as I read that, “Devil’s Lab” blasted in my head.
-I spent a while testing quickenings in the Lhusu Mines, and really enjoy the minigame. One time I chained together 10 hits and it did FRIGGING 12K DAMAGE.
-Quickenings can chain together into elemental combos. Inferno for fire, Torrent for water, etc.
My testing wasn’t rigorous – I didn’t control for enough factors – but in general, Inferno seemed the one I got with the smaller combos, then Cataclysm (earth), then Torrent, and only once I got a wind one.
-My individual quickening is Ruin Impendent. Basch punches a hole in reality that sucks in the enemy.
-I dig Penelo’s dress. She looks like a Besaid Auroch uniform.
-I hop a ship back to Rabanastre. A “Paranoid Man” on the airship senses things in the sky.
-Delivered the flowers to the chief stewardess to help get the asshole Archadians to lay off them. Two down.
-Hi Migelo! He’s happy to see Penelo free.
-Vayne has cracked down on Imperial guards for acting awful. Maybe he legitimately wants to be a benevolent dictator.
-The “Akademy” is the Imperial military school.
-“Demented Merchants” in Low Town act super shady. I feel like they’ll eventually be more than just background flavor.
-Found a mini-quest in the Nebra River Village. The Flowering Cactoid’s flower helped cure a sick person, and now I’m sent on a chain of collections to get new medical ingredients to help this patient.
-Stopped. One chain of the quest has me collect stuff from across the river. No ferry running right now.
-Checked whether I could re-enter Barheim Passage through Nalbina Fortress. No luck.
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A(nother) Voluntary Kidnapping
-I go see Marquis Ondore.
-Vayne suggested the suicide announcement. It both put Ondore’s credibility on the line and drove a wedge between the escaped Princess Ashe and Marquis Ondore’s Bhujerba.
-So what now? Even if they join forces and defeat Vayne, he has the Dawn Stone that proves her royal heritage. She can’t reclaim her throne without it.
-Scene change to Balthier’s ship. Ashe is trying to hijack it temporarily to go retrieve the Shard. She thinks she knows where it is.
-Balthier arrives. He doesn’t want to lend his ship to her… but she has a suggestion. Why not “kidnap” her? LOLOL OK DAGGER
-She offers the Dynast-King’s treasure from King Raithwall’s Tomb as a reward for Balthier’s cooperation. The whole gang will join.
[Later edit and non-rhetorical question: I’m a bit confused on why they need to fake kidnap her rather than just going. Is it so Marquis Ondore can maintain deniability with the Empire? But even then, the Empire presumably doesn’t know Ashe is hiding out there.]
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Imperial Succession
-Scene change to the heart of the Archadian Empire. Judge Gabranth arrives with that awesome Star Wars villain music.
-The Judge reports in to the Emperor that Cid receives funds from Vayne, and does something (?) at Draklor.
-The Emperor is old and sick. He knows he doesn’t have long.
EMPEROR: “The senate fears the young peregrine Vayne. They prefer a young fledgling Emperor.” I don’t quite understand this. Maybe Vayne wants to convert the Empire into something freer.
-Judge Gabranth is from Landis, a nation conquered by the Empire. Now he serves the Empire.
-Gabranth’s brother had a different reaction to the conquest of Landis. The brother fled to Dalmasca. I assume this means Gabranth’s brother is Basch, but it could be Balthier if my earlier theory is right.
“I follow his every move. He is an enemy of the Empire. He will be cut down.”
-They don’t really have a bead on Basch as far as I know, so maybe he’s talking about Balthier. Hm.
-The Emperor applauds Gabranth’s ruthlessness, but wants to ensure “it does not become this way with Larsa.” Interesting! I think he wants to protect Larsa, to be Larsa’s “black ops”/wetworks guy.
“Do this for me, Gabranth. I could not bear to see my sons war with each other again.” Talk about a tantalizing intro to the Empire’s perspective.
-I still don’t know who the game’s Big Bad will be. The logo is a Judge, Gabranth is a possibility. But it could also be Vayne – like, I could see an arc where he tries to be lenient, finds resistance and just goes full-on “FUCK IT, I AM THE JUDGE EMPEROR.”
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Dalmasca Westersand Exploration
-The ship hovers in Dalmasca Westersand and cloaks. What a badass feature!
-Libra can spot traps! I had no idea.
-You can float over traps to avoid setting them off. I haven’t gotten float yet.
-Before heading west, I want to explore the Dalmasca Westersand to the east.
-I’m starting to explore the gambit system a lot more now. I kind of wish it had another level of complexity to it – like, I wish I could do something like:
IF [self: targeted by foe] THEN [cast Decoy on Fran]; or…
IF [there are 3+ foes] THEN [cast Decoy on Fran]
-OHO!!!! This is huge. I tried setting Basch to cast Protect on an Ally just for the heck of it. I assumed it wouldn’t work, that it would just make him spam Protect, but he only seems to cast it when it runs out.
-As I test, I commit some horrific missteps.
”Ooh, I know! Attacks help her mana, so if her mana goes low, she just has to attack any nearby enemy to replenish it.”
”NO PENELO, THE ENEMY, HIT THE ENEMY, NOT YOURSELF!”
-Found the Zertinian Caverns. Let’s check it out.
-BAD IDEA BAD IDEA – the Slimes and toads here are nasty as hell. Doable, but nasty.
-Ow. Fucked up my gambits again. I tried a gambit where Penelo would cast Disable when targeted by an enemy, but it just made her cast Disable on our party, not on the enemy. eat me.
-The end of Zertinian Caverns is blocked off by sand.
-Sage Knowledge, Ivalice: Valendia, Ordalia, and Kerwon are the three continents.
-Killed a Rare Game target, Fideliant.
-Sage Knowledge, Ogir-Yensa Sandsea: A desert west of Jagd Yensa. Home of abandoned drilling rigs. The Urutan-Yensa are a species of some sort that drove humans away.
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Ogir-Yunsa Sandsea
-I head west to the Ogir-Yunsa Sandsea.
-It looks incredible – like a watery sand ocean. FFXII’s oil painting-ish art style works well here.
-The Rozarrians built these oil derricks. God, we still have no idea who they are! For all I know, they could be more oppressive the Archadians.
-I love that we’re seeing this from the perspective of a small nation stuck between two titans. American media doesn’t often show this perspective.
-Vossler shows up. He followed our “kidnapping,” and will accompany us.
-Fran senses the Urutan-Yensa nearby, a local hostile species.
-They look so badass! They ride atop submerged sand fish, whooping and cheering.
-The Urutan-Yensa are weak to air. Black Mage Ashe is an all-star with her aoe Aero.
-Bestiary, Urutan-Yensa: they evolved from crustaceans. CRAAAAAB-PEOPLE CRAAAAAB-PEOPLE
[Later edit: lol Microsoft Word pinged the second CRAAAAAB-PEOPLE as a misspelling, but the first one is apparently fine.]
-Found Reflect! This game rewards exploration well.
-Another entrance to Zertinian Caverns proves a bad idea. Fled on seeing level 36 enemies.
-Found a technick called “Sight Unseeing,” an attack only available when blind. I’ll bet I could have used this if I had Monk.
-Got the exceedingly odd Turtleshell Choker. “Enables casting of magicks with gil instead of MP.”
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Desert Justice
-A reasonably friendly Urtan-Yensa asked a nearby Moogle for help. A giant tortoise is rampaging through the Urtan-Yensa. He’ll reward anyone who could help.
-The turtle, “Urutan-Eater,” is nearby.
Beautiful shell and ornamentation. I take it out and return for my reward.
-The Urutan-Yensa has convened a gathering of their race with a queen at the head of the group.
It’d be awesome if this turned them non-hostile so I could pass through the Sandsea easier.
-WAIT WHAT??? The group is going to execute the Urutan-Yensa who asked for my help?! The Queen of the Urutan-Yensa is ashamed that he asked for help, thinks it weakens their independence and reputation.
HOLY SHIT SHE BLEW HIM UP!! WITH A WORD, SHE SET HIM ON FIRE AND HE DISINTEGRATED
Note to self: do not fuck with the Queen of the Urutan-Yensa.
-The group disperses and I see the rogue Urutan’s “treasure.” It’s a rare flower. Somehow, that’s far more heartbreaking than if his reward were a sword or shield.
-A dangerous bird known as the “garuda” (lol) hates the flower’s scent. I’ll bet the berries I pick can debuff the garuda.
-Sold my loot from this session. Got a pouch of water elemental based bullets and a Scholar’s Monograph that lets me get “superior loot from constructs.”
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Next time: Catching up on some bestiary entries, then proceeding west into the Nam-Yensa Sandsea.
