Rendezvous Round Back – Fane of Tehp Qul (3-2)
-We’re trying to break into this temple but the nearby summoning gates are blocked off. No espers allowed on this mission.
-Llyud will lead the group to a secret entrance while Vaan sneaks to a switch that’ll open the way.
-It’s tricky. The controls are rough, and I can’t win by combat so it gets a bit frustrating.
One of my failed attempts.
For comparison, think of the stealth parts of FFVII.
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The Crystal’s Cry – Auralith’s Cradle (3-3)
-We reach the inner part of the temple where sky pirates are attacking the auralith.
-Unlocked a rank 2 fire ranged esper, Lamia, which helps a lot.
Two of my new espers. Even chibi!Tonberry is terrifying.
The rank 2 espers seem to have magick too. Lamia, for instance, uses confuse.
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Judge of Wings – Auralith’s Cradle (3-4)
-Ominous mission name. Are we actually gonna meet the judge?
-The sky pirates really did a number on the auralith. They erected some kind of machine near the crystal.
-Someone starts walking towards us from the dungeon entrance. Her footsteps are heavy, make the earth shake. She has wings. She sure as hell looks like the Judge of Wings.
-We hear her voice projected in our heads: “Sky pirates from the underworld. Such power you possess.”
-The music is SUPER INTENSE.
-She wants us to join her. Offers all the auracite we could wish. Offers to grant any wishes we have, to transform Ivalice however we want.
JUDGE OF WINGS: “Perhaps you, too, seek the Eternal?” At least this confirms that the Judge of Wings is not herself the Eternal.
-She says that we’re “friends of that arrogant fool.” Balthier maybe.
-Yuuup. She transmits a flashback to us, one of her memories where she met Balthier.
-She made the same offer to Balthier. He turned her down. “All roses have thorns. But you, my dear, poison yours. You’ve no sense of fair play.”
-Balthier took a stone (an auracite?), threw it in the air in front of the Judge of Wings, and shot it.
-He rips the “eternity” she seeks as an illusion, something that would really enslave her.
[Later edit: I notice now the parallels Balthier must be seeing between the Judge of Wings and Cid. I wonder how personally Balthier knows this Judge.]
JUDGE O W: “Illusion is the only true reality. Our desire for the Eternal is the desire to become undying.”
And she calls US greedy?
-I don’t quite know what happens next. Balthier says he will have to tame “our winged shrew” when the Judge of Wings gets the jump on him, summons some kind of woman behind him, and knocks him out.
-During that whole flashback, it looked like there was a woman crumpled up behind Balthier.
-Back to reality. The Judge tells us she freed Balthier from life’s burdens. No chance she killed him so unceremoniously, but maybe she temporarily converted him, or to use FFXIV terminology, tempered him.
-She summons a few separate espers to ward against us, and then sends the machine focusing on the crystal into overdrive.
-Now I see who she summoned to take out Balthier: it was Shiva.
Lol if there were any doubt in my mind before about whether Penelo and Vaan were currently an item, that’s gone now. Vaan mentions that they need to keep an eye on the scantily-clad Shiva, while Penelo says something like “not TOO close an eye.”
-We take out the Judge of Wings and Shiva (temporarily of course), but it’s not enough. The crystal shatters. The Judge absorbs its power.
-A shard of the auralith is left behind. I can use to accumulate “astral power (AP).” Dunno what that does yet.
-Llyud is devastated. The auralith is both a sacred relic and a practical defense mechanism for the aegyl.
-Our party rushes off after the Judge. Llyud stays behind a moment longer.
Llyud.
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Backstabbing Bangaa – Fane of Tehp Qul (3-5)
-Ba’Gamnan’s former crew approaches us here. They’re breaking from him permanently.
-They learned to summon espers too. Crud.
-So astral power can be used to “fortify” espers. This increases my espers’ level for a short time.
-These bangaa are following the Judge of Wings now, guarding her path. She went to “the skysea.”
-They flee, but no way we’re done with them.
-Since only one auralith is down and two are up, the barrier protecting Lemures is still there in some fashion. If it goes, Llyud isn’t sure what would happen.
-Ah, I was mixing up barriers! There was a barrier protecting Lemures that we knocked down through the events of FFXII. But the barrier the auraliths support is holding something at bay. Some Big Bad I assume. Maybe even the Eternal, if the Eternal is bad or destructive.
-Filo teases Kytes for being nervous about all this happening, but tbh I’m on Kytes’ side. And I’m a full-grown adult.
PENELO: “I think Kytes is scared and has good reason to be. But at times like this, look inside yourself. And that’s where you find hope.”
(I’m paraphrasing btw, the actual dialogue went by before I could write it down.) I really love how Penelo has taken a leadership role in this group.
-The island to the east holds the skysea. That’s where we’re heading next.
-Chapter 3 complete!
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Ship Time
-The airship has become a real hub, a bazaar. Tomaj is quite the entrepreneur.
-Penelo will run the kitchen, although nobody seems to like her food.
-omg namingway is on the ship as a sahagin XD
-There’s a Cu Sith on board who’s bound to “Master Tomaj.” Neither of them will share the backstory. Hm.
-Cu Sith is my crafter. This is my first attempt at it. I don’t quite understand what’s going on, but going to roll with it.
-I give her the materials, then she asks a series of questions that seem like they’re out of those “which Hogwarts house are you in” type quizzes.
I guess she really wants to personalize the crafted weapon.
-She uses my materials to craft a massive upgrade for Llyud, a water-based trident I even get to name. Pretty epic.
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Next time: pursuing the Judge of Wings to the Skysea.
