Ship Time / Tomaj Mission
-Naming items continues to be fun.
-Penelo’s cooking! She needs cooking ingredients, and Tomaj put them on a notice board. “A Savory Task.”
-Huh. Something got messed up in my save file. It says I’m at 46 hours and the file was corrupted. (Thank God I have a backup.) Last time I played (earlier today) I was at 22. I’ll just have to keep that in mind when looking at my final played time.
[Non-rhetorical question: is there a way to start my fight with a rank 3 esper? I never seem to. I always have to find a summoning pad and summon one.]
-Penelo’s cooking is… not great, and is almost more of a threat in terms of who has to eat it. Poor Penelo
-Like, everyone’s joking about it, but Penelo takes it really hard. She’ll keep working to improve.
-Tomaj sends us on a mission to find a rare material for a ring he wants to make for some reason. Is… is he going to propose to Cu Sith?
-Everyone thinks Tomaj is just a selfish money-grubber, but he didn’t want us to find this to fatten his purse. He wanted to make a weapon for us. AWWW
-There’s a series of in-game achievements called “Mementos. Cu Sith will give us various mementos for doing different stuff. These mementos – statues, flowers, and crests – decorate the middle of our ship.
-A stoneturtle has been found at Gugoza Falls with a sword in its back. Let’s go get that sword!
VAAN: “Why all this fuss? It’s just a turtle!” WHY WOULD YOU JINX US LIKE THAT. YOU’VE JUST GUARANTEED THIS TURTLE TO BE A SUPERBOSS OR SOME SHIT
(it wasn’t too bad, despite Vaan’s best efforts)
There’s a legend of an ancient swordsman who attacked the turtle to get its delicious stoneturtle eggs.
-The sword itself, the Earthblade, is okay, but my Runey McBladeface is stronger.
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Chapter 6: Stealing Eternity – Arda, Heaven’s Pillar
-A titanic gun straight outta FFVII greets us at this new town on Arda.
-HI FRAN!
-She’s as stoic as ever. Doesn’t really give us any info, just says that Balthier is in the mountains ahead. Won’t tell us how or why they’re separated.
FRAN: “The Mist in this place… it clings to that which we hold dear. Strips it away.”
-A sky pirate is fleeing from the mountains as we head inside. Ruh oh.
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A Recurring Nuisance – The Ymir Qul Range (6-1)
-Bwagi is here! A pirate from Ba’Gamnan’s old crew. Rinuk and Gijuk too. The gang’s all here.
-Crap. They made nice with Ba’Gamnan. I don’t see him on the field yet.
-Not that it matters. We kick their butts. “Nuisance” indeed.
-Turns out they wanted to capture Fran and use her to bait out Balthier. Lololol no way they could capture her.
-Aha! That may have been Ba’Gamnan’s plan. Send this crew against Fran as revenge against the CREW THEMSELVES.
-We head off to warn Fran in case he sent others after her.
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Terms of Alliance – Ymir Qul, Heaven’s Vigil (6-2)
-As we enter the town, four sky pirates surround Fran.
-omg this foulmouthed moogle sky pirate XD
-We enter the fray and fight off her attackers.
-Not that she’d ever talk about it, but Fran seems woozy or hurt or something. Maybe it’s the Mist?
FRAN: “Don’t worry; I know who can and cannot be trusted.”
VAAN: “…which group am I in?” lolol
-WAIT IS SHE JOINING US??? That’s awesome!
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At Fran’s Side – The Ymir Qul Range (6-3)
-On the walk into the mountains to find Balthier, Penelo asks Fran a great question: what’s most important to her?
“Understanding, and being understood.” A surprising answer, given how little Fran tends to share with the group. Maybe it’s enough to have that connection with Balthier.
-She next asks what she’d do if she could be with someone who understood her forever. Yeah, I’m thinking this question is more about Penelo than Fran.
-She wants Penelo: “Eternity is an illusion. Remember this.” I’ll bet few know this better than a viera.
-Looks like Fran is just a guest for now.
-Fran is surprised when we summon Yarhi with the auracite, warns us not to rely too much on it.
I mean, I guess? But when the enemies are using it, we’re screwed without it.
-This map is covered with treasure chests, many of which are mimics.
-Fran can sense Balthier’s presence through the Mist on the wind.
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Audience at the Auralith – Auralith’s Cradle (6-4)
-Llyud is shocked to find an auralith here.
-Balthier’s at the auralith, facing down the Judge of Wings.
Good – I was afraid he was captive.
-She summons a crapload of Yarhi, including a new rank 3: Mateus.
-The fight sucks. AGAIN, I feel underleveled, and I don’t want to grind. Maybe I’m supposed to be lower than the enemies. Going to hold off on grinding until I really get stuck and exhaust reasonable strategy options.
-Phew! Changed up my strategy a bit, made sure to take out the healer and draw Mateus away from the rest of the group, and finished her off.
-Now Filo can use the Wind Soul quickening, from Mateus! Group haste.
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Balthier’s Betrayal – Auralith’s Cradle (6-5)
-Balthier’s surprised that Fran’s here. He asked her to take care of the Strahl.
-WTF ARE YOU DOING BALTHIER? He’s activating the machine, destroying the auralith.
-He pulls a gun on Vaan, when Ba’Gamnan charges in. Delighted to have finally found Balthier.
-Fran leaves the party, joining Balthier. Not surprising. It actually comforts me, makes me think Balthier knows what he’s doing and isn’t, say, the Judge’s thrall.
-This mission is to stop both Ba’Gamnan and Balthier.
-Another brutally tough mission. I barely survive. Still, I feel a bit bad for Ba’Gamnan. This must be the millionth time he’s lost.
-Afterwards, Vaan tells Balthier if he destroys the auralith he could destroy the world, but Balthier seems to have a different understanding of the situation.
And tbh, I trust Balthier waaaaay more than Vaan right now. I just wish Balthier would just SAY what’s happening instead of pulling a gun and saying “trust me.”
VAAN: “We have to save the aegyl!”
BALTHIER: “Oh, I know! That’s why the Stone has to go.”
Balthier activates the machine and shatters the auralith.
-A magic blast of some sort hits us all and we’re knocked out.
-The auralith having been destroyed, the camera pans out. It’s pulsing some sort of magic. The pulses hit us too.
Chapter 6 complete. Whew.
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Next time: interlude and into chapter 7.
