,---__ /\ ,. | \ `==-_ ,.__/_|' | \ \_ ._ `. ,~~-__ __ ,----./,-,-,.-. / \/ \ \ `. \\ ._ \ ,--. ,---.,---.,. ,.,---.,-.,-.,='__| / ____/ / / |' \ \ \ \ \\ \_| | ,-.\ |,"\|| | || \||| | || || || .__ / /_| / / / \ \ \ \ \\ _ <\'-' \||_-.| | || . || | || || || `__|\___ \\ / / / \ \ \_/ : \ \\ \|_|\_|\__/\___/|_|\|\ _''.__.'| '-.. ,. : |/ / / \,' _~'\/-//-|-''-'`--' `--'`-'`' `~_' \__|/'___'/\ " /| / / /\ _~' / `-' '-' `--' \`--||_,',' \ \~' _~~' ____ _______ ___ `---|__-' `/_~~' `..' ',,''..'..' \\ // || || \\ // || || \'/ || || ' '--'--' DRAGON QUEST VII WARRIORS OF EDEN GUIDE PART 2: WALKTHROUGH (SPOILERS!) Written by Ian Kelley: ikelley@mail.sas.upenn.edu Version 1.0: Released 1/19/00 First Version: 1/19/00 Copyright 2000-2001 by Ian Kelley (see end of document for details) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This document is Copyright 2000 by Ian Kelley. This FAQ is for private and personal use only. It was created and is owned by me, Ian Kelley. If you wish to use this FAQ on your non-commercial website, please contact me for permission. Distribution of this FAQ must be done electronically and in an unaltered form. This document may not be used in any way, shape, or form for any sort of commercial or for-profit purposes. This includes but is not limited to publishing in a magazine, in part or in whole, magazine/book/guide writers using it as "source material," etc. You may not make any sorts of updates to this FAQ (such as changing names to fit a domestic release) and distribute it without the author's explicit permission. Dragon Quest is a trademark of Enix Corporation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The most recent version of this guide can be found at: www.gamefaqs.com (GameFAQs) ################################################################################ CONTENTS ################################################################################ Introduction Version History Future Changes Chapter 1: The Ancient Temple Chapter 2: A New World Chapter 3: Sacrifice to the Fire God Chapter 4: The Gray Rain Chapter 5: The Animal Town Chapter 6: Assault of the Mechanical Soldiers Chapter 7: The Gray Rain strikes again Chapter 8: Keefa's Decision Chapter 9: The retaking of Darma Shinden Chapter 10: The People of the Desert Chapter 11: The Craze of Crage Chapter 12: A Stitch in Time Chapter 13: The Great Flood Chapter 14: The Perils of Lumen Chapter 15: The Revival of the Legendary Hero Chapter 16: Aira, Heir to the Dancer Chapter 17: The Valley of the Wind Chapter 18: The Gentle Monster Chapter 19: Sharkeye, Pirate Legend Chapter 20: God and the Demonlord Duke it Out Chapter 21: God, the Tyrant Chapter 22: The Fire Spirit Chapter 23: The Earth Spirit Chapter 24: The Wind Spirit Chapter 25: The Final Conflict Chapter 26: The Grand Finale Appendix A: Tablet Fragment Locations Appendix B: Small Medal Locations ################################################################################ INTRODUCTION ################################################################################ This is part 2 of my Dragon Quest VII guide, and is intended to be a comprehensive walkthrough of the game. It's chock-full of spoilers, so be forewarned before reading it! Note that this is part TWO of the guide, and is not intended to be a stand-alone document. No gameplay or game-system issues are addressed in this document at all. All such information is addressed in part 1 of this guide. Before sending me any questions about gameplay issues, please consult Part 1 of the guide first. I split this (and most of my other FAQs) into two pieces because I tend to write really long FAQs, and this makes reading and downloading much easier. The main purpose of this document is to provide a walkthrough and plot summaries for people playing the Japanese version of Dragon Quest VII, with clarification for those with little or no Japanese ability so that they will know what is going on. If you can read Japanese, you probably won't find this document as useful, but it should be able to help you if you're stuck, regardless of language skills. (I hope) Like the first part of this document, I've taken a different approach to this FAQ than earlier FAQs I've written, and instead of primarily using romanized Japanese terminology and providing translations in parentheses, I've just used English translations wherever I can. I've tried to keep translations consistent when dealing with words that don't have a one-to-one meaning, (for example, "fushigi" could be effectively translated as "amazing," "mysterious," "miraculous," etc) but I probably slipped at least several times in the document, so you might see different terminology used to explain the same thing. It should still be straightforward enough to understand though, I hope. As of this writing, there has been no announcement for an English-language version of DQ7. (and quite frankly, I doubt DQ7 would sit well with most of the American public-->no snazzy graphics) Even if it is eventually announced, I have no intentions of adapting this document to follow the English version. I don't own a domestic PSX, so I couldn't play any domestic version in the first place. So use this at your own risk if you're playing Dragon Warrior VII (or whatever the domestic release might be called) as sections may not apply. Any questions regarding English language versions of DQVII won't be answered, primarily because I don't want to give out particularly misleading information. I may allow a more domestic-release inclined friend to update this document for me should such a release come out--all questions should be directed to them in this case. ################################################################################ VERSION HISTORY: ################################################################################ 1.0, 1/19/00: Initial release ################################################################################ FUTURE CHANGES: ################################################################################ 1) Add walkthroughs for the bonus dungeons 2) Add HP levels for the bosses 3) Add Monster Manual/park data and where to find individual monsters ################################################################################ Chapter 1: The Ancient Temple -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Fishbell: Medical Herb x 5, 10G, 110G, Leather Hat, 3G, 2G, 1G, Hairband, 4G, Antidote Herb, Amitt Cracker, Defense Seed Grand Estard: Hinoki Stick, 2G x 2, 1G, 5G, Intelligence Seed Ruins: 10G, Life Seed KEY ITEMS: Royal Ancient Document Pearl Ancient Key Saint's Helm Saint's Sword Saint's Shield Saint's Armor Amazing Map TASKS: 1. Sleep in your bed 2. Bring Bolkano his lunch 3. Uncover Maribel's stowaway plot below deck 4. Go to the castle and speak to the King 5. Learn that Keefa is looking for you and meet up with him in the ruins 6. Find the Pearl 7. Bring the Ancient Document to the man below Grand Estard 8. Try to use the Pearl on the Statue's rod 9. Regroup with Keefa in his room 10. Talk to the old man below Grand Estard 11. Return to the Forbidden Area and unlock the Shrine door 12. Solve the Guardian of Flame puzzle 13. Solve the Scales puzzle 14. Retrieve the Ancient Key from the lion's head 15. Solve the Branching Paths puzzle 16. Solve the Pillar Puzzle 17. Place the Saint Items on the four Saint statues 18. Solve the Blue/Red flame puzzle 19. Put the Yellow tablet fragments into the hole 20. Return to Fishbell and get a Yellow Tablet Fragment from Bolkano 21. Bring the fragment to Keefa, and complete the first Tablet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At the end of the intro move, you'll see a voice saying "Well, lets go back for today...but keep this a secret!" You'll start out the game in the small fishing town of Fishbell. Maribel is trying to get some information out of you. She says "So you really won't tell me?" She insists that she will eventually find out what you're up to. She realizes that tomorrow is the annual Amitt fish day, and leaves. Head home to your house on the beach. Sleep in your bed. Your mother, Mahre, will wake you up. She says your father, Bolkano, has already headed to the docks. She tells you when you come downstairs to head to the dock to help your dad. before you go, gives Anchovy Sandwich to give to dad. At the docks, people are there to see your dad and Amitt off. Talk to the merchant, he will give you a free Amitt Cracker and Amitt Bun. Go onto the ship and Amitt and Bolkano are talking. Amitt doesn't want to change course, but Bolkano insists, because of the way the sea is traveling--says catch more fish. Give the sandwich to Bolkano, who scarfs it eagerly. Tells you to help clean below deck. Below deck you'll find Maribel hiding among the barrels. She tells you to be quiet, and the cook hears her. The Cook finds her, and tells her she should stop sneaking aboard the ship. Maribel asks him to let it slide and starts kissing his butt, telling him his food is great. The cook tells her sweet-talking won't work and tells her to get off the ship. She gets mad at you and threatens to "expose you and Keefa." As you go back above deck, Bolkano tells you that once you get strong you can come with him. He asks you to take care of your mother, and you get off the ship. It leaves. Head back toward your house. A soldier will come up to you and tell you that the King wishes to speak with you. He asks you to come to the castle. Maribel comes outside and asks you to take her with you. (No matter what you say, you'll have to) Walk a bit, and Maribel will "remind" you how to speak with your party members. Head to Grand Estard. Maribel will go off, and thanks you. She says she'll make it back on her own. Wander the town if you like. You can hear nasty rumors about your lazy uncle, (you can even find a kid he stole candy from) Hondara, and find Maribel philandering with Orca, the son of the item shop owner. Head to the castle. You can talk to the soldiers there (the one in the southeast gate tower is the only person in the game that likes Hondara) and learn rumors about Keefa trashing the treasury. Talk to Keefa's sister Lisa, and she will tell you that Keefa doesn't believe that Estard is the only continent in the world and is on a quest to try to discover new lands. Once you go upstairs, you can hear the king calling to see if anyone's found Keefa yet. He comes downstairs flustered, and the Prime minister tries to calm him down. The king sees you and takes you to his chamber. He sits you down and says "You're hiding something from me, aren't you!" No matter what you say, you'll learn that Keefa took his mother's Memento Ring. He asks you to ask Keefa to act more like a prince--as you're his best friend, he might listen to you. Go home. They're you'll learn that Keefa looking for you, and will be waiting in "usual spot"--this refers to the Forbidden Lands to the north. Go there. Keefa will give you the Royal Ancient Document. He tells you to read it. Inside is a picture of a man with a bright glowing staff. The next page has a picture of something looking like a tablet on it, but you can't read it. Keefa says the man looks just like the statue, and that the document says something about the sun. He thinks that something will happen if you can fiddle with the statue. He pulls out the Sunstone Ring that he took from the castle. He puts the ring on the end of the staff. It looks like it shines for a bit, but nothing happens. Keefa tells you to hold onto the document while he goes back to the castle to search for other possibilities. Head back to Grand Estard. You won't actually find Keefa, but you'll hear about him trying other possibilities (including jumping into the pool on top of the castle after seeing the sun's reflection) and going back to the ruins to try something else. If you talk to the women by the well you'll see something shining down in the well. Go down and search, and you'll find a Pearl. Return to Grand Estard and bring the book Keefa gave you to the old man who studies below the town. At first he thinks you're trying to sell it to him, but then realizes you want him to study it for you. He takes it and asks you to come back later. Leave and try to use the Pearl on the statue. You'll find a letter from Keefa asking you to come to his room to discuss any further plans. Go back to Keefa's room--he's tapped for ideas. He asks you where the book he gave you is. After you tell him about giving to old man, suggests you go there to see what he's found. Man finished decoding, says that it's not the sun, but "the light of your heart and the strong will of the chosen one." Keefa asks "chosen by whom?" and the man says "by whoever made the ruins." Keefa says that he might fit those requirements, and the old man laughs, saying that you need to stand before the statue and pray. Keefa gets psyched and tells you to head to the statue. As you leave the area, however, Keefa gets dragged off by some soldiers who were looking for him. He tells you to head home and wait for him there. In the middle of the night, Keefa wakes you up. He says his dad shut him in his room, and he snuck out. Head to the ruins. Stand in front of statue and concentrate, and a light on the staff shoots out to open the shrine door. Investigate inside. There's stuff written on the floor, but you can't read it. Try to read it though, and your arm will give off a strange light. After it subsides, suddenly you can read the ancient text. "When the ruins are opened, the legend will be told again." "The saints in a line protect the ruins and will lead to the road of revival." "Continuing into the dark clouds will not open the way." "Use your inner sight to solve the keys within the directions given" Proceed into the basement of the shrine. As you proceed, you will be confronted by several puzzles that you will need to solve before you can continue. Puzzle 1: "I am the Guardian of Flame. When all the flames are extinguished, I will light them again, and give up again the helm I guard." Solution: Extinguish the central flame in the room with four guardians. The guardian that will relight the flame will be the one opposite to the direction that you extinguish it in. Extinguish it from the west side, and the east guardian will relight it, revealing the pressure plate where it was before. Step on the pressure plate to open the door to where the Saint's Helm is stored. In the next room, you will find four statues. They are each labeled as "Statues of the Saints." Puzzle 2: Scales room Solution To complete this room, you need to push the blocks on top of the switches to open the doors and give you a clear path to the exit covered by the scales gate. Then, step on the scales to lift the gate blocking the door. Once you step off the scales, make a dash for the door--if you pushed the blocks onto the right switches, you should just make it in time before the gate is lowered. Puzzle 3: Lion Head. There is a sign on the wall that says: "I am one who only sees the truth. One with a pure heart will receive that which will lead the way, and one with an evil heart will lose their arm." Solution: Stick your arm into the Lion's mouth and pull out the Ancient Key. (It won't bite your arm off...it would make for a pretty short adventure if it did) With the key, you can open the door beyond the gate. Head into the next room. Puzzle 4: Branching paths. The stone slab in the next room says: "All living trees sprout leaves in the direction of the sun. Lost travelers should also head toward the sun." Solution: Look at the picture of the four trees in the center of the room, and in the next four rooms, proceed along the paths where the leaves were on the trees in the picture. (for the REALLY lazy, this is left-right-left-left) Head past the next room and up the long ladder to the room with the dragon statue. There you'll find a tablet saying: "The Dragon servant of God is born with the holy crystal, and dies with the holy crystal." To raise or lower the dragons, move the Holy Crystal from one dais to the other. Move the crystal to the right dais, and climb back down the ladder. You can then ride the raft or proceed into the lower chamber. The lower chamber you can't open at this point. If you go to the door, you'll see a message: "If you want to open my door, seek out the secret great pillars. They refer to here. Seek the four colored pillars in the octagonal room deep underground." Get on the raft and head to the central island. Go down the stairs and you'll find another tablet. Puzzle 5: Pillar Puzzle. The tablet says: "The secret Great Pillars not only show the legend, but open the way to revival. Put the tablets drawn on the stands in the correct order, and a new way will be opened." Solution: In the next room down, use the switches to raise and lower the pillars. Look through the eyeholes (make sure another pillar isn't blocking your view) to see which picture corresponds to the color of which switch in the tablet room. The color is indicated by a colored band on each pillar. Push the tablets in the right positions, and the door to the Saint's Armor will be opened. Once you have the Saint's Armor, proceed further south on the raft and get the Saint's Sword and the Saint's Shield. Puzzle 6: Placing the Saint's equipment Now you need to figure out which saint needs which item. Head back to the Scales room, but instead of proceeding beyond the gate, go up the stairs on the west end of the room. Go down the stairs up top, and head to a room with a large tablet. It has written on it legends on the four saints. Saint 1: "The first Saint is a servant of the Earth. The earth has lived for ages and ages, and the armor that protects him is indeed the earth itself." Saint 2: "The second Saint is a servant of the Wind. The Wind sometimes acts as a blade of vacuum. One could injure oneself with it. What must one hold in one's hand to protect themselves from it?" Saint 3: "The third Saint is a servant of Fire. When the Fire Saint's soul is consumed in the flames of anger, nobody can withstand him. Control your anger with reason. Put that on your head that will be such a protection to grant you that holy courage." Saint 4: "The fourth Saint is a servant of Water. Water is the source of all life. The power of a strong waterfall will become our power and drive off evil. Is true strength anger? Love? The answer lies within the tip of the Holy Sword." Solution: Do I REALLY need to say it? It should be obvious. Come on, just read the descriptions! They practically spell it out for you! :) Puzzle 7: Red flame, blue flame The next room has nine braziers, and two torches--one with a red flame, and blue flame. You need to light the braziers with the right colors, by picking up the torch and using them to light the flames. When you want to switch colors, you need to return the torch to its original resting place. Solution: The two statues at the end of the hall have a red and blue gem inset in them--this corresponds to the color of the flame that their torches need to be lit with. Once lit with the correct flame, they will show you which braziers need to be lit with their color. Note that there will be two braziers with no fire in them at all. Proceed into the next room. A tablet there says: "You who seek to discover the true form of the world. The world is divided into four sources, and that form remains still. Put the right thing in the right place. The world will show its true form." Get used to this area. You're going to be spending quite a lot of time here. In fact, this is probably the most important place in the game. Pick up the Amazing Tablet(Yellow) by the large tablet. Take it into the Yellow Room, where you'll find another tablet fragment. Investigate the pedestals to find out where the two fragments you've found fit. Once you find where they fit, Keefa will suggest you head home for a bit. But before you do, head to the large central room, where you can pick up the Amazing map. As you leave, it's already daytime. Keefa says he's heading to castle to look for more fragments. He tells you to come see him if you find something. When you arrive at home, you'll find out that Bolkano is back from his trip, and his new route paid off, as he got lots of fish. Talk to the sailors, and they'll tell you he found something weird caught in the nets too. Go talk to Bolkano, and he'll greet you, and talk about how his last catch this big was around the time you were born. He then starts to drawl off about how surprised he was that you were born after only 6 months gestation. You ask him about what he found, and it's a Yellow Tablet. He asks you to bring it to the castle and show the king. Bring the tablet to Keefa. He's very surprised, and says it had to be fate that you found it since it's such a coincidence. Go back to the ruins, and you'll find out that Maribel has been shadowing you. Maribel asks to come with you; if you say no she threatens to blackmail you by telling the King that you're hanging out where you're not supposed to go. Maribel joins you. Head down into the Mysterious Palace and complete the first tablet. A strange light erupts from the tablet, and engulfs your party..... Chapter 2: A New World -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Wood Paluna: Clothes, 12G Colorstone Mine: Medical Herb, Power Seed, 40G East Tower: 20G, Medical Herb, Bronze Knife, Mysterious Tablet(Red), Leather Shield, 5G 80G, Defense Seed Wood Paluna, first world: Speed Seed, Medical herb, Leather Hat, Antidote Herb 25G Colorstone Mine, first world: Antidote Herb, 13G, Amazing Acorn, Mysterious Tablet (Red) KEY ITEMS: Green Jewel Wooden Doll TASKS: 1. Defeat the Slimes attacking Maribel 2. Meet Matilda and be escorted to the village of Wood Paluna 3. Meet Patrick and learn about his father 4. Travel to the Colorstone mine and solve the puzzles there 5. Bring a green Colorstone back to Patrick 6. Invade the East Tower with Hank 7. Defeat the boss of the tower 8. Return to the clearing you came to this world in 9. Return to your house, then find Keefa in Grand Estard 10. Go to the cave in Fishbell and find the hidden ship 11. Sail to the new island and investigate it 12. Get the Tablet Fragment out of the Colorstone Mine 13. Return to Grand Estard Castle and get the old man into the dungeon 14. Retrieve the Tablet Fragment out of the Castle basement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You wake up outside, in a small clearing in the woods. Keefa gets up and checks on you and Maribel to see if you're OK. Maribel wants to know what happened. Keefa says that obviously something happened in the temple, but he doesn't know what. He looks around, and says "I've never seen this place before. Did the island have a place like this?" Maribel tells him that you're here, so it must. She wonders why the sky is so dark. She heads off home, saying "Thanks for entertaining me. It was real boring." She leaves. Keefa suggests you head home too. As you leave the clearing, you hear Maribel scream. Keefa runs off to see what the problem is. Follow him. Maribel is being confronted by three Slimes. They attack! Fight: Three Slimes ------------------- Once the slimes are defeated, Maribel goes into a frenzy, and says "Why are monsters here!" Keefa on the other hand gets excited at having seen real live monsters. Maribel tells you that this is all your fault, for forcibly bringing her with you (Selective memory!) and tells you to take her home safely. In the next area, you'll find a female warrior by some graves. She notices you and asks who you are. Keefa apologizes and introduces himself as the prince of Grand Estard. The girl is surprised at the name Grand Estard. Keefa introduces you and Maribel. She introduces herself as Matilda. Maribel asks why she's weeding out here in such a dark place. Matilda says she's bringing the plants she has to the grave. Maribel says "But they're just weeds!" Matilda says that flowers can't grow here, so they are the best she can do. Maribel offers some flower seeds she picked up in the forest near Grand Estard. Matilda asks for some, and Maribel gives them all to her. Matilda goes and plants them by the grave. Matilda asks where you're going. Keefa says you're going home, and Matilda tells you that you probably won't be able to go home. Keefa is confused. Matilda says that there is a village up ahead where you can rest if you want. As thanks, she joins you to accompany you to the village. As soon as you enter the town, you'll find that Matilda has disappeared. Maribel and Keefa wonder where she went--Keefa suggests that maybe she went home. Something definitely screwy is going on here--the townspeople are in the process of destroying their town. An old man will tell you that the village had been raided by monsters, who took away all the women of the village. They told the remaining men that if they didn't destroy the town, that they would kill the women. One man will tell you the legend of the Town Hero, Paluna. He says 20 years ago monsters attacked town. Everyone decided to attack monster together. Led by a single young man who went out first to scout ahead and give courage to the townspeople, who would come and help after the attack begun. The townspeople chickened out, and the man died. His name was Paluna, so they named town after him. On the edge of town, you'll find a small house that has not been destroyed. Enter, and a young boy says "Who's there!" Upon seeing that you are human, he will bring you inside and shut the door. He says he was afraid that the monsters had found his house, and introduces himself as Patrick. He asks if you saw Matilda. if you say yes, he is glad--she protects the village from monsters, but he hadn't seen her for a while and was worried. The man on the bed then cries out. Patrick goes over to see if he's OK. It turns out the man is his father. Talk to Patrick. He says that his father is a warrior--he went to the East Tower to try to save the women of the town, and got hurt badly in the process. Furthermore, the doctor of the town said that a Green Gem would be necessary to cure him. They are in the southeast mine, but is the mine is currently teeming with monsters so nobody can go close. He wants Matilda to try to get it for him, and asks you to ask Matilda for him if you see her. Head to the mine. Make sure you buy weapons and armor first! In the mine, you'll find Matilda. Maribel asks what she's doing here. Matilda says that she sensed that monsters were here, and came to check it out. Keefa tells Matilda about Patrick. Matilda says that you can definitely mine green Color Stones here, but doesn't know if any are left. She starts to leave. Maribel asks if she's going to ignore Patrick's request. Matilda says that it may seem harsh, but she can't focus just on that one boy. Keefa says she really is cold, and suggests you look for the Color Stone yourself. Take it easy in the mine. Go forward in short steps--don't try to take it all at once. You can do the entire mine in one fell swoop--I managed to do it once--but Kiss Beasts show up on the bottom floor, and they can outclass your party if you proceed too quickly. Once your hero hits level 3 he'll learn Hoimi, which will make your survival a lot easier. When Maribel hits level 3, she'll learn Mera, which she can put to good use against the Kiss Beasts. A few levels into the mine, you'll find some gem puzzles. Gems block your way; but if you push two gems of the same color together, they shatter. First puzzle: This puzzle is so easy it's almost not a puzzle. Just ignore the red gems. Second puzzle: (R= red gem, Y=Yellow Gem, B=Blue Gem) --------------- RY RY R R > B B B R < --------------- First push the far-right Blue stone into the Middle Blue stone. Then push the lower Red stone west against the south wall until it breaks. Push the two Yellows together, then finally push the reds together to access the down staircase. Third Puzzle: ___________________ | ______ ______ | |B| |Y| | | ___| |_ _| |_ | | BR |____| R |_____| | YR ____ RB _____B ___BR_| |_R_| | | | | | | | | |B|______|Y|______| | |___________________| The first thing you need to do is push the far-right Blue Gem into the central Blue Gem. Then push the central Red Gem (formerly next to the center blue) as far left as possible until it breaks. Move one of the central Reds left or right (it doesn't matter which) then go around through the outside and push the Yellow Gem you have freed into the center of the middle room. Push that Yellow Gem as far left as possible, and your path is opened. On the bottom level, you'll find the Green Color Stone. But it's huge, and you don't know how to bring it back. Matilda then comes in--she was worried that you might have gotten whacked by monsters. She offers to help, and finds a weak point on the gem's surface. She hits it and breaks off a shard for you. She gives you the Green Gem. She then leaves. As she leaves, she stops and then gives you a Wooden Doll. She says her older brother gave it to her when she was a little girl, but it doesn't suit her any more, so she thought it would be good with you. Bring the Green Gem back to Patrick. He uses it on his father, and says he hopes it heals him faster. Patrick tells you that Matilda saved his father's life. Patrick went to the monsters' tower as he was worried about his father. He found Hank on the ground wounded, with Matilda next to him; she fought off the monsters to save him. Patrick says you must be tired, and pays your way for a night in the inn. In the inn, Keefa falls fast asleep. Maribel can't. She misses her father and mother, and asks if you'll be lonely if you can never return home to Fishbell. She then takes it back, saying "I'm just kidding, I don't really miss them" and goes to sleep. You'll see a flashback with Paluna leaving to fight the monsters. His little sister comes up and tells him that it's too dangerous to fight them alone, and that he should go with the others. Paluna says that he wants to, but if everyone leaves at once, it leaves the town in danger. He says he'll go to stop the monster from moving, then everyone will get ready and attack. Before he leaves, he gives his sister a doll. He says it's not very good, but he did his best to make it. "Be good, Matilda" he says as he leaves. Go check on Patrick. You'll find that Hank is all better. Talk to Hank, and he says he heard from Patrick what you did for him. He thanks you for your efforts to help a total stranger. Patrick tells him that Matilda also helped by carrying him back to the village. Hank says "Then I'll have to thank her as well if I see her." Hank asks you why you came to the village, and Maribel explains. Hank doesn't know what to do, but suggests that if you can defeat the evil power influencing the area, maybe you can open a route home. In thanks, he decides to go monster hunting. He asks if you will come with him, and promises to protect you. Agree, and he will join you. He tells you that you should head to the East Tower. The entrance to the Tower is guarded by a Golem. It recognizes Hank as the man who his boss beat up earlier, and berates him for being stupid enough to come back and get killed. It attacks. BOSS: Golem ----------- The only thing the Golem does is attack, but he hits hard for this stage of the game. In addition, since you don't have a lot of techniques on hand, there's not a whole lot you can do in terms of strategy here. Your best bet is to have Maribel cast Rukani on the Golem to reduce his defense while the rest of the party beats on him. Use your Hero's Hoimi spell to heal your party if their HP gets too low. A few Medical Herbs on other party members as insurance can't hurt either. It shouldn't be too tough a fight, as Hank will help heal you. Once you beat the Golem, it will drop a Green Tablet. Hank warns you that the Golem was merely a low-level guard. If your MP levels are low, you might want to consider going back to town to refill them, as there's a more difficult boss battle coming up soon. Otherwise, continue into the tower. In the heart of the tower, you'll find another monster; he calls you cowards for attacking the tower when the boss wasn't there. He says he'll take care of you himself even without his boss' help, and attacks. BOSS: Chokkinger ---------------- The Chokkinger is not very tough in terms of his attacks; all he does is attack, defend, occasionally cast Hoimi to heal himself, and cast Mera when his life starts getting low. However, his defense is quite strong, and it is difficult to penetrate, so it becomes somewhat of a battle of attrition. However, if you use Maribel's Rukani on him, his defense will be lowered to a level where you'll be able to inflict a tolerable amount of damage. Eventually the spell's duration will end and Maribel will run out of MP, but it helps nonetheless. At this point, all you can do is cross your fingers and hope that Hank casts Rukani himself. Or, if you have Maribel use Payback, when he starts casting Mera you can throw it right back at him for free. He's not very hard overall. The Chokkinger will drop a Defense seed after you win, and swears, saying that his boss would be able to get you easily. As he's dying, he sees his boss coming in from behind you. Matilda enters, and the Chokkinger asks her to finish you off for him. Matilda turns around and kills him. Matilda tells you that she indeed is the source of the terror of the town and the mistress of the tower. She says that she was told by her master to take the children from the town. She shows her true form, and says that she's not entirely a monster, and her memories from when she was a human have come back to her, thanks to Hank's son. Hank tells her to shut up and that he is going to kill her. Matilda says that Hank's son came after him, just like she did for her brother many years ago. Hank realizes that she is the sister of Paluna. Matilda says she was captured by the monsters then and one thing led to another--she ended up joining them. Hank thanks Matilda for saving him and says that he does not wish to kill her; if she returns the women and returns the island to its original state he will not harm her. Matilda tells Hank that the girls have been sealed with her life, so unless she dies, they cannot be freed. Hank says that he will have to kill her then, and Matilda says "I understand." BOSS: Matilda ------------- Since Matilda does nothing but defend, it's hard not to defeat her. You can kill her for the experience if you wish, or run away. If you run away, Hank asks why you stopped fighting. He hits Matilda hard and knocks her across the room. Maribel tells you to do something. Hank starts walking across the room. If you let him get to Matilda, he will kill her. If you get in his way, he'll ask if you are trying to stop him. Hank tells you he doesn't want to kill Matilda, but if he doesn't and the women never return, his village will die, so he has no choice. Maribel tries to stop him. Matilda thanks Maribel and tells her she has a kind heart. Matilda tells you to visit the forest you first met her in again. She thanks Maribel for the flower seeds, then kills herself. The skies clear, but Hank still feels bad for Matilda's death. He suggests you return to town. Do so. You'll find all the women have returned. Go talk to Patrick. Hank apologizes for worrying him, and says that the town will no longer have to fear the monsters. Patrick asks if Hank found Matilda--Hank says he did and thanked her as promised. Patrick goes off to look for her. Inside, Hank tells you he doesn't feel very good, as he would have liked for Matilda to experience the peace of the town. Hank tells you to visit the forest and see if you can find a clue to find your way back to your own country, and that he hopes you can return. On your way out, you'll find Patrick by the grave, with the now-sprouted flowers. You have the option to give him the Wooden Doll if you would like. (There's no other use for it, so you might as well) Where you entered, you will find a strange light. Step into it, and you will find yourself back at the Mysterious Palace. Keefa wonders if what you saw was all just a dream. Maribel berates him, and says "of course it wasn't a dream!" Keefa heads home, and Maribel suggests you do too. Go back to Fishbell. Maribel heads to her house. Head to your house, and you'll learn that while you were out, a new island was discovered. (and it's right near your own, at that!) Amitt and your father are currently at the castle discussing it. Head there, and you'll find the castle locked tight as an important meeting is going on there. Head to the old man's place, and you'll find Keefa there. He'll tell you the old man has also been called to the castle. He's not happy about being left out, and tells you "it's finally time to use it!" He says he's going to Fishbell to get ready, and asks you to come. He tells you "you probably know, but I'll be waiting for you in the cave." Head to the cave in Fishbell. You'll find that Maribel is there as well--she figured out what you're doing. Move the big stone slab to uncover the staircase beneath. Enter and you'll find a hidden bay with a boat that you and Keefa have been working on repairing for the past few years. You all get on board and set sail for the new island. Sail to the island to the northwest of Estard. Enter the town there, and you'll find--Wood Paluna! The people there deny that the island has just turned up out of nowhere and insist it's always been there. Inside a house you'll find a Green tablet fragment like the ones you've seen before. The old lady nearby tells you her husband found it. She'll let you take it, so long as you get permission from her husband. Talk to him, and he'll let you take it, and tells you he found it in the nearby Color Stone mine, and suggests you check it out as well. Inside another house you'll hear a story from a woman that says that the viewing tower in the center of town is called Hank's tower, and is named after the hero who saved the village ages ago. Other hints in the town will suggest that the events that transpired earlier took place years and years ago. Head to the Colorstone mine. Talk to the foreman, and he will let you inside, so long as you don't disturb the workers. The mine is devoid of monsters except for the next-to-last-level, and even then they rarely show up. At the very bottom, head through the north passage to find a Red Tablet. Once you find it, Keefa suggests you head back to the castle. In the castle, you can get inside with Keefa's word to the guards. You'll learn that the old man who translated the book for you angrily stormed out of the meeting, and is trying to get into the dungeon. The guard will not let him pass though. The old man tells you that he wants to meet his friend who resides beneath. Talk to the guard and Keefa will persuade him to open the door. Below, you'll find the old man talking with an old sailor. The old man is trying to get the sailor to give him something. Talk to the old man, and he will ask if you know anything about the new island appearing. Keefa explains what happened to the old man. The old man tells you that if you are telling the truth, then there is something that you will be needing being kept away in the castle. The old man tells you to get on the raft and find it, then bring it to him. Via the raft, go to the rear of the castle and enter the door. Below the castle, push the bookcase out of the way to reveal a hidden door. Behind the door you will find a Red Tablet fragment. Bring it to the old man, and he will tell you that he found it when he was your age, and that Burns' father took it from him and locked it up below the castle. The old man tells you that with it, you should be able to unlock another island. Bring the tablet to the Mysterious Palace and use it to complete the northwest Red Tablet. Once again, you will be sucked into another world. Chapter 3: Sacrifice to the Fire God -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY ITEMS Engou: Antidote Herb x 2, Life Acorn, Clothes, 6G, Pointy Hat, 10G Volcano: Power Seed, Defense Seed, Medical herb, Holy Knife, 110G, Antidote Herb Engou, present-day: Magic Holy Water, Antidote Herb, 7G, Piece of Cloth Suteteko Pants Volcano, present-day: Mysterious Tablet (Green), 80G, Medical Herb, 350G, 60G Antidote Herb KEY ITEMS: Amazing Holy Water Amazing Holy Water Bottle Round Button TASKS 1. Go to Engou and learn about the Festival. 2. Sleep at the inn and hear the fortune teller's premonition 3. Wait until evening at the Inn and attend the Festival 4. Go to the bottom of the Volcano and defeat the Fire Giant 5. Get the Holy Water from Hondara 6. Use the Holy Water to extinguish the Black Fire 7. Visit the Volcano Island in the first world -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You'll find yourself transported to another, different world. Head southeast, until you reach the village of Engou. Engou is a small village with little in it. The townspeople worship the Fire God, who is said to live in the volcano to the northwest. The four pillars of fire by the town are offerings to him. You'll find a fortune teller, Pamila, here, who is famous for both her accuracy and her special medicine, though she will have nothing to do with you, too ensconced within her own reading. Go to the Elder's house. There you'll learn that the town is about to get ready for an annual ceremony where the townspeople thank the Fire God by returning his gift of fire to them. Talk to the Mayor, and an earthquake will start. If you suggest to him that the volcano is about to erupt, he laughs, saying that his village has done nothing to anger the Fire God. He explains that every year the earthquakes get fierce right before the ceremony. He asks you to stay yourselves to witness the ceremony, and suggests you stay in the inn--he would like to house you himself, but all of his beds are full. Rest at the inn. The next day you'll find Pamila causing a panic among the townspeople--she foresaw that the volcano would explode as soon as the Fire- Giving Ceremony ends. She warns that the Ceremony must not take place. An earthquake occurs, and while Pamila says it's because of a volatile volcano, the townspeople just think it's a sign that it's time for the Ceremony. Pamila says "don't you believe me!?" When you respond, she'll say "I'm not asking you!" At this point the Mayor comes out and asks what the fuss is about. After hearing what Pamila said, he invites her in to discuss the matter privately. The townspeople return to their daily business. Go upstairs, and Pamila suggests that he think of a way to avert the catastrophe. The mayor says that he can't stop the ceremony, as the townspeople will fear that the Fire God might get angry. He then announces to the townspeople that the ceremony will be held tonight. Pamila starts to leave, and is begins to suggest you leave the village, then changes her mind and asks you to come to her shop. At Pamila's shop you'll introduce yourselves. Pamila asks you to help save the village--as outsiders, you can act independently of the village. She'll ask you to come speak to her in the evening if you agree to. If you don't agree, you can offer to help again once the festival starts. (I don't think the ceremony will happen until you agree to help) At the festival, talk to Pamila, and she will say that something is happening inside the mountain, but it is shut off from the public except during the ceremony. She suggests that you investigate when the ceremony starts. Until then, she tells you to enjoy the party, but not to get wasted so that you lose your edge. Go to the northwest brazier and you'll find the mayor with a torch. He has the fire tender give you torches as well. The mayor says that the ceremony will begin and asks if you're ready. Tell him when you are. He starts the ceremony by saying a quick prayer to the Fire God, asking for his protection in the upcoming year, then everyone heads off to the volcano. At the volcano, people are lined up to throw their fire into the volcano. The man at the bottom asks you to line up, but ignore him and head to the top of the volcano. Talk to the guy in front, and he won't let you cut in line. The mayor comes out, however, and gives you the honor of being first in line, being travelers who came a long way and all. The man in front is none too pleased, but agrees to give up his place. The Mayor leads you to the mouth of the volcano. He tosses his torch in, and says that this way the flame that the Fire God lent to the people is returned. Throw your own torches in, and the Mayor will thank you and tell you that you can return to the town if you want. However, you should proceed to the other side of the volcano, where you'll find Pamila. She asks you to hurry into the depths of the volcano to find out what's happening, but warns you that there are strong monsters inside. If you get hurt, she asks you to come back if you get hurt, but not to forget that you're on the clock. When you get far enough into the volcano, you'll actually have to jump down into the lava (or what appears to be lava) to reach the lower level. You'll find a healing circle towards the very end, which you should stop off in to heal your wounds before proceeding. (If you feel that you're not strong enough at this point, this room is also an excellent place to build experience, as you can heal yourself to full after every fight) At the bottom of the volcano, you'll find a strange giant laughing in front of a strange machine, berating humans for worshipping a nonexistent god. The machine absorbs the torches the villagers drop, and when enough have been dropped, the black flame the machine generates will cause the volcano to erupt. Thinking that they have angered the Fire God, the people will then fall into depression and misery. Of course, you'll try to stop it yourself. BOSS: Flame Giant ----------------- The Flame Giant can do several things; attack, use Power Charge, breathe Fire Breath, or use a powerful attack that hits your whole party. If your characters are in good health, the only one to watch out for is the Power Charge; if you see him charging his power, he will do significant damage the next round, so counter it by having your characters Defend the following round. Use your Hero's Skara spell and Maribel's Rukani spell to increase your defense while decreasing the Giant's. Keefa's Flame Slash and Maribel's Mera spell are of little use, not surprisingly--the Giant is resistant to Fire attacks. Instead, if you decide to go on the offensive with them, use their normal attacks. The Flame giant will drop a Blue Mysterious Tablet upon his death. However, even though both he and the machine are destroyed, the Black Flame is untouched, and floats up to the top of the volcano. Head back to the mouth of the volcano, and you'll find the townspeople staring at the Black Flame. Explain to Pamila what happened, and she says that you'll need to do something about the flame, as there's no telling what it will do. The Mayor asks if she knows how to deal with it--she says she doesn't. She does a quick divination, and sees a dirty room and an unsavory-looking man holding a jar with a strange fluid in it. Then she sees you (the Hero) in the same room. She says that the fluid in the jar must have the power to quench the Flame. She asks if you know who the man is. (It's Hondara, if you haven't figured it out already) Head back to the portal that took you to the Engou area, and you can return to your time. Leave the Palace and go find Hondara in Grand Estard. He's in his house, and offers you some Amazing Holy Water in exchange for information about what Bolcano and Amitt were called to the castle about. Affirm his suspicions that it was about the new island. Hondara gives you the Amazing Holy Water while he starts to think of another get-rich-quick scheme and asks you to leave. Return to the volcano in Engou. Stand between Pamila and the Mayor and use the Amazing Holy Water. After sprinkling it on the flame, it goes out. Pamila breathes a sigh of relief and says that there is no more danger of her prophecy coming true any more. The mayor declares you the heroes of the town, and you return. You'll see a message saying that everyone partied hearty for the rest of the night and you stuffed yourselves silly. You'll wake up in the inn and the innkeeper wishes you a good journey. Go talk to Pamila, and she will give you a Blue Tablet Fragment as thanks for your help. She then tells you to come back if you ever need her help again. You're done in Engou for now, so head home. When you reach the Palace, Keefa suggests you head back to Grand Estard castle to see if you can learn whether or not another island appeared upon rescuing Engou. Do so. There you'll learn that the King wants to hear from you directly about the islands. Talk to him, and he will tell you that the old man told him that you are on a journey to try to return lost islands to the world. He doesn't believe entirely that you can, and that he sent out a scout team to look for new islands. At that moment, the scout team returns, and reports a new volcanic continent to the northwest. He leaves, and the King realizes that the old man spoke the truth. He apologizes for doubting him during the earlier meeting. Then the King thanks Keefa for his work in uncovering the mystery--but forbids him from going on any further adventures at the same time! The old man, shocked, says "You're breaking your promise!" but the king ignores him, and tells Keefa that he needs to take responsibility and not put himself in any danger, as he is to be the future king of Estard. Amitt seconds the notion with Maribel, forbidding her to go on any more adventures. Bolcano applauds your courage, but says "A man knows when to bow out" and tells you to come home with him. Back at home he will tell you that he will not force you to stop your journey, but is not too happy about you putting yourself in danger like that. He asks if you want to continue your journey. Regardless of your decision, he will tell you to go to bed for the time being. When you leave home the next morning, you'll find Maribel waiting for you. She'll tell you that she stayed up all night doing it, but finally managed to convince her father to let her continue on the journey. She asks if you were intending to continue on your own, then tells you that she won't let you hog all the fun. She joins your party again. She suggests you go check out the new island, and that you continue on without Keefa. However, Maribel and you alone will not be able to move the stone slab in the cave to get to the ship. Leave the cave, and you'll find Keefa outside. Maribel asks why he's not at the castle, and Keefa laughs and says that he snuck out past the guards again. He goes on to say that during his compulsory lecture the night before, he said that he was going to continue to sneak out of the castle until his father accepted it. He joins your party. Move the slab, board the ship, and head toward the new island. Not surprisingly, you'll discover that it's Engou's island that appeared. Engou in the present is much like in the past, except that now it has public hot springs at the bottom of the well in the center of town. In Pamila's shop, you'll find Pamila and her assistant Ilma. Or at least another Pamila. If you question her about her name, she'll tell you that it's a special name given to everyone in her family that has fortune telling power. This Pamila, however, can't make special medicine like the first Pamila could. You can have your fortune told, but Pamila won't be able to see anything. She'll tell you that you are special and don't have a predetermined future, so she can't foretell it. Of course, that doesn't stop her for charging you for her "services." However, she's not totally useless--there's a boy in town who's lost his Round Button. Talk to Pamila and she can scry the location. She'll tell you to look by the sign to the Inn. There you can find the Button. Return it to the child, and he'll give you a Small Medal in exchange. You can go to the volcano too; it is open to the public. There's nothing of critical importance there for the moment, but there's a portal inside that will send you directly to the Fire Shrine in the Mysterious Palace. You might want to head into the lower levels of the volcano too--there is a Green Tablet Fragment that you will eventually need. When you're ready, return to the Mysterious Palace and complete the northwest Blue Tablet--it will take you to your next destination. Chapter 4: The Grey Rain -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Direluck: Leather Hat, 7G, 10G, Medical herb, 5G KEY ITEMS: Angel Tears TASKS 1. Talk to the old man and get the Angel's Tears 2. Rest in the inn and learn the story of the town's demise from the statues 3. Read Joseph's diary to learn the location of the Secret Base 4. Go to the Secret Base and use the Angel Tears on the town 5. Talk to Joseph and bring him to the old man 6. Visit the new island in the first world -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You'll find yourself on a very small island. Head to the nearby village, Direluck. "Direluck" about sums up the people of the village; they've all been turned to stone. If you examine them, you'll discover that they've been petrified for quite some time; the statues are all heavily weathered and starting to crumble. There is, however, one live old man at the rear of the village by the well. He's very surprised to see travelers, and asks what you're doing. Keefa explains your quest to him. The old man is shocked to hear the extent of your quest, but asks you to forget about restoring this island, as it is too late to save the people of the village, with no way to bring them back any more. He tells you to continue on your journey. As you leave, the old man will stop you and give you some Angel Tears. He says that they will restore any petrified human to their normal selves. He tells you that he was able to find the Tears too late; by the time he managed to get them, all of the statues had weathered to the point where the Tears would be useless. He goes on about how the townspeople must hate him, and starts to talk about the night, but stops in mid sentence, and tells you that if you are going to rest in the inn, not to go outside, because nighttime in the already-darkened area is impossible to see in, and very dangerous. Head to the inn, and rest. You'll be woken up in the middle of the night by a sad voice. Go outside--notice that the statues are now glowing. Examine them and the light will become stronger, and will grow and show you a vision for each person. Farmer: The Farmer is thinking about the upcoming Rain Ritual to try to call down rain. Direluck is in a very dry area, and he worries about his future if it doesn't rain and his crops don't grow. A young boy, Yosef, runs by and knocks him over. He stops and apologizes before running off. The farmer smiles and says "With energetic children like that, this town surely will have a bright future." Woman by front: A warrior walks by her. She asks if he's going out to buy things from another village. The warrior, Cleman, says that he is going to buy food and as much water as he can to bring back to the village and try to sustain it until it rains. While the woman worries that the Rain Ritual won't work, Cleman is confident that rain will fall this year. He leaves, and the woman asks him to be careful. Priest: The Priest is in his church. A young woman, Millie, comes in and prays that Cleman will be safe on his journey. Then a young man comes in and prays that he can one day marry Millie--but since Cleman stands in his way, he prays that Cleman doesn't return to the village. Little Girl: Yosef scribbles something on the wall. The girl, Lena, comes up and chastises him for writing graffiti. Yosef tells her not to be so loud, and explains that he's just writing it to mark the location. Yosef says that "I've found something better than that secret base I found before!" He asks her to come over during the Rain Ritual--if she's late, he'll head to the base and wait for her there. Lena agrees. Middle-aged Woman: The woman is searching for Yosef (she is his mother). Lena comes up and asks her if she's seen him anywhere, and she explains that she's looking for him herself. She's upset because she told him to stay at home and help during the Rain Ritual. Lena has an idea, and Yosef's mother asks if she might know where he might be. Lena plays dumb, and Yosef's mother asks her to tell him to come home if she sees him. Lena agrees, and leaves. Old Woman: The old woman is praying to the rock to let rain fall. The priest comes up and thanks her for her prayers, then asks why she's not praying to the Water God statue. The old woman says that the statue is just something made by human hands, but the rock has been here since long before any people were. The priest wonders what the rock is doing there, and the woman laughs, saying "The rock isn't here by us, we're here by the rock" (tough to translate) The priest agrees, and says that he still has much to learn, thinking about it from a human's point of view. Young man: The man is looking at the Water God statue, and gets the sense that it is smiling. He thinks "The Rain Ritual is going to work this year." He also gets glad that Cleman is going to be out of town, because it gives him a chance to move in on his girlfriend, Millie. He chuckles and looks forward to the Ritual. Young Woman: The young woman, Millie, is waiting for Cleman inside her house. Cleman comes in and apologizes for his tardiness. Millie asks him if he really intends to leave town. Cleman says he is, and Millie objects, saying that monsters are common outside of town, and she worries what might happen to him. Cleman insists that that makes it all the more important that he be the one to go--if someone has to go out and go shopping for the village, it should be him, since he has a better chance against the monsters than anyone else. Cleman tells Millie that he wants to announce their engagement to the rest of the town as soon as he gets back. Millie agrees, and Cleman says with that out of the way, he can go to town without worry. He (hugs? kisses?) Millie, then leaves. Bartender: The Bartender is preparing drinks while Keene talks with Yosef. (his son) Yosef asks Keene if he knows what was on the site of the town before it was Direluck. Keene doesn't know, and asks the bartender if he does. The bartender says that this area was once a battlefield, and that an old town was destroyed. The ancestors of the current residents got together after the war and rebuilt it as Direluck. He explains that's the reason why old artifacts are occasionally dug up in the area. Keen asks why Yosef wants to know. Yosef says "I just did." Yosef leaves, and Keene tells him not to dally during the Rain Ritual. Keene: The bartender kicks Keene out of the bar, saying that he's going to go to the Rain Ritual. Keene leaves, and outside skeptically watches the townspeople perform the ritual in the center of town. He starts to go home, and on the way it starts to rain! At first Keene is thrilled, but then notices how unusually polluted the rain is. The rain starts to turn him to stone! He runs back to his house, but doesn't make it inside before he is fully petrified. Once you examine Keene's statue, it will shatter into smithereens. You can then enter his house. There you can read Yosef's notebook. He recorded the location of a secret base that he found--the entrance is below a tree near where he scribbled on the wall. You can examine the area now, and discover a hollow point, but it will be too dark to find the handle to the entrance. Head to the top of the cliff and talk to the old man. He explains that since rain is so scarce in the area, every year the townspeople perform the Rain Ritual. He will explain that he is Cleman, and 50 years ago went out to buy supplies during the Ritual. On his way back, he saw a strange purple cloud over the town, which rained a disgusting gray rain. He arrived in town as soon as it stopped and discovered the petrified townspeople. He says that the townspeople must have wanted to return to their normal selves, and must hold a grudge against him for not being able to grant their wish. He explains that he just wants to sit in town and wait to join them. Go to sleep, and the next day you will be able to find the entrance to the secret base Yosef was talking about. It will lead to a tunnel that comes out on top of the rock in the middle of town. Go to the top of the rock and sprinkle the Angel Tears over the town. The townspeople won't go back to normal, but the one person who was petrified in an area not exposed to the elements--Yosef--will be returned to normal. He comes out of the secret base he had been in, and stumbles around a bit, confused. Talk to him, and he will ask you who you are and what happened. If you tell him what happened, he won't believe you. He joins your party and asks you to help him look for the townspeople. Go talk to Cleman. He will note that the area became light after you used the Tears, then will notice Yosef. He asks Yosef where he's been all this time. Yosef explains that he's been in the underground secret base. The old man realizes that he had been guarded from the wind from within the base, and thanks you for discovering that the town is NOT dead after all. The old man is very happy, and decides to celebrate. You'll see some messages that talk about how Yosef eventually accepted the reality of what happened to the town, and how the old man got his zeal for life back. The next day Cleman tells you that he and Yosef are going to start a journey to warn people of the Gray Rain, and perhaps search for a way to reverse the curse on the weathered statues. Return to the present. Yet another island will have appeared. Head to it, and you'll discover that Direluck is no more. Instead, just the standing stone is there, with an old man. The old man says that he came to the area hearing of the stone, and wants to live there, but there is no town. Therefore he wants to build a town there himself. He asks you to tell people about the area in case you discover anyone who is thinking of moving on your journeys. If you can get enough people to come, then perhaps you can build a town there. The old man introduces himself as Sim and asks you to consider his request. This area will become your player-made town. The town will change depending on who you move into the area. At the moment, there aren't too many places where potential immigrants will spawn, but as you complete new areas of the game, more places for immigrants will pop up as well. Note that until you hit disk 2, you'll only be able to raise your population to 27. For more information on the immigrant town, check out part 1 of this FAQ/walkthrough. You'll find a Green Tablet lying on the ground near the standing stone. Be sure to pick it up! It will allow you to complete the northwest green tablet. Chapter 5: The Ancient Curse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Orphie: Horse Dung, Sharpened Bone, 5G x 2, Small Medal, Antidote Herb, Protection Seed, Medical Herb, Acorn of Life, Hairband, Bronze Sword Mountain Cave: 20G, Mysterious Tablet (Blue) x 2, Power Seed Orphie, Present: Clothes, Medical Herb, 5G, Protection Seed, 30g, Green Tablet Mountain Cave, Present: Stone fangs, 120G, Small Medal, Rabbit-ear band TASKS: 1. Explore the town filled with animals 2. Talk to the lumberjack near Fishbell 3. Bring the lumberjack to the animal town and have him translate. 4. Free the child chained to the wall 5. Go to the mountain tomb and defeat Death Amigo 6. Visit the new island in the present and participate in the ceremony 7. Receive the Blue Tablet from Death Amigo in the present -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next town you run into, Orphie, is a strange town--it is filled with animals. Animals even tend the shops and will sell you things. There are some humans here, but none of them say anything. Explore the town. In one barn, you will find a young child chained to the wall by his neck. Here Keefa will decide to try to start a conversation with the cow in the barn. He says "I bet you know what happened here!" but of course, the cow is a cow and doesn't say anything. Keefa mentions that there is a man somewhere that can speak with animals that might be able to help. The man in question is a lumberjack who lives in a house near Fishbell, on the southwest corner of the island. When you find him, he is advising a cat about its love life. He doesn't have any interest in your story, but the cat convinces him to come with you. The lumberjack will join your party as an NPC. He'll participate in combat to a limited extent, but many rounds will do nothing. Fortunately he has an unlimited supply of Medical Herbs, which he will use on your party during combat. Bring the lumberjack to the town. He will try to speak with the animals, but will not be able to understand what they are saying. However, when you try to talk to the humans in the town, the lumberjack will discover that they in fact are animals who were turned into humans by some curse. Talk to all the human/animals, and the lumberjack will piece together the story behind the town. Apparently, many years ago the town was guarded by white wolves. There was a monster that was terrorizing the town, and the white wolves managed to use their special powers to fight the monster, but all were killed except for one. She managed to imprison the monster in a sarcophagus in a cave on the mountain. Recently, someone or something opened the sarcophagus in the cave and released the monster. In revenge, it cast the curse on the town, changing all the people into animals, and all the animals into people. When you find the child chained to the wall, the lumberjack will free him using his knife. Without saying a word, the boy runs out of the shack. Leave town and head north to the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, you will find a wolf. Follow the wolf to a chamber in the mountainside. As soon as you go up the stairs, the child you freed will kick you out of the way and examine the wolf, who is wounded. The lumberjack warns you that the monster is nearby. Sure enough, the monster appears, and demands to know where the white wolf cub is. He says that he had fought the white wolf cub earlier and wounded it, and thinks you and the brown wolf are protecting it. He attacks you. BOSS: Death Amigo ------------------ The cave you're fighting in has an anti-magic aura, so you can't use any spells during the fight. That means no Hoimi, so make sure that all of your characters have a good supply of Medical Herbs before going into the fight. The Death Amigo won't use magic either, but packs a pretty hefty punch with his physical attacks. He can attack twice in one round, and also occasionally will use a Kamaitachi to deal extra damage. To add insult to injury, he also will use Blinding Light to make it harder for your party to hit him. You can use this against him though--have Maribel use her Payback technique, and you'll end up blinding Death Amigo, which is useful, since all his attacks are physical rather than magical. The Lumberjack will help out with his unlimited supply of Medical Herbs, but it's good not to rely on it too much, as he won't always use them. Once you defeat Death Amigo, he starts to lay down some smack talk and threatens to turn you into animals. The child then leaps on him and bites him. His bite paralyzes Death Amigo, and Death Amigo realizes that the child is in fact the White Wolf, as only they have the power to paralyze him like that. Before he is imprisoned, Death Amigo curses the child to stay in his human form forever. After Death Amigo is imprisoned, the Lumberjack talks with the brown wolf. He tells you that the child's mother is the Legendary white wolf that defeated Death Amigo the first time. She died in childbirth, and the brown wolf adopted her cub. The child then tells you his name--Gabo. Unfortunately, that's pretty much the only word he can speak. Return to town to find the curse has been lifted. You will learn that the elder had kept Gabo as a pet, thinking he was a dog. You'll also learn that it is impossible to open the sealed cave from the inside, so that someone must have deliberately freed Death Amigo. The Lumberjack will decide to adopt Gabo and his mother. Head back to the present time. However, once you enter the temple, Gabo will decide to stay with you to search for whomever opened the cave and stop him/her/it. The Lumberjack leaves your party with Gabo's adopted mother, and Gabo joins your party. Head to Orphie in the present time. You'll find that just like the past, everyone here is an animal. However, upon further investigation, you'll learn it's just that there's a festival going on celebrating the animals saving the town in the past, where everyone gets into animal suits. Once you get animal suits of your own from the elder, (pig suits, in this case) people will talk to you. You'll get to play a game at the festival where there are six people dressed as animals in front of you. Three are men, three are women, and you have to guess which three are women. I don't think you can actually lose this contest--if you guess wrong they will give you another chance. (Though I'm not sure, mistakes may be limited--I guessed wrong first try, then lucked out and got the other three all right in a row) When you find all three women, you will get the Monster Dictionary. You can use it on the overworld to see pictures and data of the monsters you've fought. (how many you've beaten, what they've dropped, how much EXP and gold you've gotten from that type) You can press the circle button while using the book to animate the monster sprite too. Head north to the mountain and go into the Sealed Cave. You'll find it open again. When you go to the coffin, a voice will threaten you and warn you to stay away. Ignore it and open the coffin, and out pops Death Amigo. Only after several hundreds of years, he's turned into a human, and has lost the bad attitude he had before. In fact, he's extremely polite, and apologizes profusely to Gabo for cursing him. He offers to use his magic to turn Gabo back into a wolf. Maribel tells him it's OK, but Death Amigo insists and casts the spell on Gabo. However, after many years his magic has gotten very rusty, and the spell makes Gabo even MORE human, and grants him the ability to speak. Gabo is very happy that he can communicate with you now and thanks Death Amigo, telling him that he's happy with his human form. Death Amigo then gives you a Blue Mysterious Tablet fragment that he had in the bottom of his coffin, and asks you to come back and visit whenever you want. Head back to the Mysterious Palace when you're ready, and complete the Northeast Blue Tablet to travel to the next location. Chapter 6: Assault of the Mechanical Soldiers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY ITEMS: Forish: Small Medal, 3G, 10G, Leather Armor, Mysterious Tablet (red), Power Seed, Medical Herb, 15G Forod Castle: Leather Shield, Scale Armor, Defense Seed, Power Seed, Small Medal Zebott's House: Shell Hat, Sharpened Bone, Bronze Knife, 2G Soldier Hideout: Power seed (in man-eating box), 250G, Power Seed, Iron Shield, Mysterious Tablet (red), 100G Forish, Present: Net Tights, 3G, Small Medal, Scale Armor Forod, Present: Royal Clothes, 2G, Mysterious Tablet (green), Medical Herb, 5G, Small Medal Zebott's House, Present: Hairband, Mysterious Tablet (red), Small Medal Soldier Hideout, Present: Power Seed, Small Medal, Iron Claw KEY ITEMS: Mechanical Parts TASKS 1. Visit Forish and learn about the mechanical soldiers 2. Go to Forod Castle and defeat the guard to become a mercenary 3. Talk to the king, then go to the briefing room to discuss the situation 4. Talk to Zebott in the house to the west 5. Report to Trad, then take watch on the tower, then speak to the wounded man 6. Take Trad to Zebott's house 7. Return to the castle and fight off the mechanical soldiers 8. Assess the situation in the castle, then rest 9. Invade the Mechanical Soldier's hideout, defeat the Machine Master and the Death Machine. 10. Visit Forish and Forod, and receive your reward from the king and Heinz 11. Visit Forish in the present and meet Alman 12. Visit Forod in the present and talk to the king, then go to Zebott's house 13. Return to the castle and talk to the king, then talk to Alman in the dungeon 14. Talk to Alman's granddaughter, then dig under the barrel near the lake 15. Repair Elly at Forod castle 16. Receive a Red Tablet from Alman's granddaughter -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first town you will run across in this area is the town of Forish. There's nothing essential here, but you will learn the general situation of the area. Forish and the castle Forod have been under attack by an army of mechanical soldiers that have been extremely difficult to defeat. The people of Forish are essentially holed up in a makeshift fortress in fear of the attacks. You can meet a the captain of the guard from the castle, Trad, who is checking up on the situation of the town. Head to Forod castle. Here you can talk to a soldier, Heinz, and volunteer to be mercenaries to protect the castle and town against the mechanical soldiers. Before they will allow you to become a mercenary though, the castle soldiers will test you in battle to decide whether or not you're worthy. You will have to fight a Forod Soldier. MINI-BOSS: Forod Soldier ------------------------ The Forod Soldier does a fair amount of damage, but Gabo's Howl works on him almost every time. You can go through the battle untouched if you have Gabo howl every round. You might want to bring along some medical herbs just in case. Overall he shouldn't be too difficult to beat. Once you pass the test, you are told to talk to the king. The king tells you he is in desperate need of help in defending the country from the mechanical soldiers. He asks you for your assistance in defending the country; you should agree. At this point, Trad comes back and reports on the situation in Forish. The king points you out as new mercenaries, and Trad asks you to come to a briefing to discuss the current state of affairs in the country. Go to the briefing. At the briefing, Trad opens the floor to any suggestions on how to deal with the mechanical soldier menace. Talk to the soldiers and get their ideas. One of them suggests talking to Zebott, a scholar/hermit who researches mechanics. Trad doesn't like the idea, and thinks that Zebott won't be able to help. He eventually gives in though, and asks you to go talk to Zebott to try and enlist his help. Go to the small house to the west of the castle. Inside you will find Zebott. Talk to him and ask him to help, but he refuses. He says he actually feels bad for the mechanical soldiers, and doesn't care what happens to the castle or the town. He won't give in no matter what you say, so return to the castle and report. Trad is not surprised that Zebott wouldn't help when you return to the castle. He thanks you for going and tells you to go take watch on the tower for the time being. As soon as you reach the tower, a wounded man limps into the castle. The guards go up to help him, and he says that Forish has fallen to the mechanical soldier attacks, and that they are approaching the castle to siege it as well. Trad says that maybe he can talk Zebott into helping you, and joins your party. Head back to Zebott's house. Trad tries to convince Zebott to help you, but he refuses again, saying that "everyone dies eventually." Trad tells you enlisting Zebott's help is hopeless, and suggest you head back to the castle. As you're leaving, a mechanical soldier approaches the house. However, it is broken from a previous attack. Zebott comes outside and is intrigued by the soldier. He asks Trad to help him bring it inside, so he can study it. Head back to the castle while Zebott and Trad are examining the mechanical soldier. You will arrive to find that the castle is under attack by the mechanical soldiers. You can take out a few of the wandering soldiers outside if you want, but you should talk to the guards by the entrance--they suggest you try to fortify your defenses so as not to allow the Mechanical Soldiers inside. While guarding the door, you will have to defeat three Mechanical soldiers. However, as soon as you beat them, more come. It looks hopeless, but Zebott and Trad arrive, and all the soldiers attacking the castle start to go nuts, attacking each other, falling over, etc, effectively ending the assault. Zebott explains that upon researching the soldier he found (who he has named Elly) he found that all the soldiers were being controlled by remote via sound waves. He altered Elly so that she gives off a similar sound, so by using her, he can send commands to the Mechanical soldiers and fry their circuitry. Talk to Trad, and he will suggest you make a counterstrike against the Soldiers' hideout tomorrow--until then you should rest. At this point, you'll have to play messenger between Heinz and Trad several times carrying menial messages/status reports assessing the status inside the castle. Once that's done and you've rested up, you'll have the plan underway--you'll use Elly to confuse the mechanical soldiers guarding the hideout, then kill their boss. Go to the hideout, which is in a valley east of Forish. Elly will give off her wave signals, frying the Mechanical Soldiers' circuitry so you can get inside. The Soldiers' hideout is pretty straightforward. Just proceed to the bottom of the area via the elevators until you reach the Machine master at the very bottom. He will be very shocked to see you got past the guards, and sics several Mechanical Soldiers on you. BOSS: Machine Master -------------------- The Machine Master's physical attack is very powerful, so use Manusa on him to reduce the his chances of hitting you. He will also summon Mechanical Soldiers to attack you. Don't kill them off first, because he will just summon more. Instead, use Gabo to distract them with his Howl, while you, Keefa, and Maribel concentrate on the Machine Master. If he has it, use Keefa's War Cry charge to increase his attack power. Once the Machine Master is dead, picking off his Mechanical Soldiers is pretty easy. Before dying, the Machine master says "To hell with the Demonlord's orders--I'm going to kill all humans!" He summons a gigantic Mechanical soldier to kill you and then all the humans on the continent. It attacks you. BOSS: Death Machine ------------------- The Death Machine has plenty of nasty techniques to inflict a world of hurt on you. A good plan is to put each character in a specific role: have your Hero focus on raising your characters' defense power, or casting healing if necessary. Keefa should be your primary damage dealer--have him use War Cry Charge/Flame Slash. Have Gabo concentrate on stunning the Death Machine with Howls, and Maribel should be used primarily for healing and reducing the Death Machine's defense rating with Rukani. (Unfortunately, I've found Manusa to be ineffective against the Death Machine) Once the Death Machine is in pieces, Trad decides to "come help" and sees that you've already taken care of everything. He thanks you and tells you to go get some rest. Go to Forish. The survivors have come out of hiding now that the Mechanical Soldier threat is gone. Zebott stops by with Elly, and when a girl sees the robot, she gets very upset and attacks it. Zebott berates her, and says that the only reason that she's safe is because of Elly. Nobody else believes that Elly is not evil or helped you, and Zebott leaves in disgust. Go to the castle, and talk to the King with Trad and Zebott. He asks how he can reward you. Trad declines any special reward, and tells the king to give it to Zebott and the mercenaries that helped defend the castle. Zebott says he doesn't want anything either and leaves. The King gives you a Poison Moth Knife as reward. As you leave, you will hear the princess talking to Zebott. It turns out that Zebott was very close with the princess' older sister, Elly, but she died in an accident when she went hunting with Trad--this is the reason that Zebott has refused to speak with Trad for so long and holed himself up in a little hut. Zebott named the mechanical soldier Elly after the dead princess, because this way she will never die, as machines have no life to begin with. Before you head out back to the present, talk to Heinz. He will give you a monetary reward as your pay as mercenaries. Go examine the new continent that has appeared in the present-day. The Mechanical Soldier base is now abandoned, and a strange fortune teller has taken up residence there. She will help you all through disk 1, and will tell you the locations of any Tablet fragments that you are missing should you find yourself unable to proceed. In Forish, you'll meet an old swordsman named Alman. You'll learn that he trained the King in his day. In Forod Castle, you'll see mechanical devices all over the place. The big thing they are trying to accomplish there is completion of a mechanical human. You can watch the researchers fail trial runs if you want. When you talk to the king, a soldier comes running in, and reports that he has found an ancient mechanical human in the "forbidden lands" to the West. Alman comes in and forbids the king from investigating. The king ignores Alman and goes anyway. Alman will ask you to chase after the king and try to stop him. Head to Zebott's place. Zebott is long dead, but his skeleton is still there, lying on his bed. Elly is there too, but doesn't realize Zebott is dead and is trying to nurse him back to health with soup. As you witness her trying to feed the corpse soup, the King arrives and pushes you away, and orders the soldiers to take Elly to the castle. She doesn't want to go, but the soldiers take her anyway. The king gives deference to Zebott's remains, asking to borrow his knowledge to help him make a mechanical human to make the peoples' lives easier. Back at the castle, the researchers are starting to disassemble Elly to find out what makes her tick. Alman pleads with the king to return her. The King realizes that Alman must be hiding something from him and throws him in the dungeon, saying that he'll speak with him in more detail later. Go to the dungeon and talk to Alman. He'll explain that he is a descendant of Zebott's family, and knows all about him. He wants Elly to return home, saying that she will not be happy without her master. (or what's left of him) He tells you that his granddaughter in Forish has some mechanical parts that he can use to repair her. Head to Forish and talk to Alman's granddaughter. She tells you to dig under the barrel near the pond. (The barrel in question is on the "island" between the wall of the building and the stream) Search under where the barrel was, and you'll get the parts. Bring the parts to Alman and he'll leave with you. The guard (who didn't want Alman imprisoned in the first place--he is very respected in the castle) switches clothes with Alman so that he won't be noticed in the palace. Take Alman to lab, and the researcher there asks you to guard Elly while he goes and gets lunch. Alman repairs Elly, and she wakes up. However, she mistakes Alman for Zebott, and tells him that he is too sick to be walking around, and should go home. She picks Alman up and tries to take him home. The king and some soldiers see the robot carrying Alman away, and the soldiers start to attack her. At this point, the king has a change of heart and realizes that Elly should not be disturbed, and agrees to let her go home. You bring Elly back to her house and she returns to her normal routine of trying to nurse Zebott's corpse back to health. The King leaves, but says that even without Elly, he won't stop trying to make a mechanical human. Alman thanks you and goes home. He asks you to stop by before you leave the country. Stop by Alman's house--his granddaughter will give you a Red Tablet, which you will need to complete the Southeast Red Tablet and go to your next location. Chapter 7: The Grey Rain strikes again -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: Greenflake: Traveler's clothes, 25g, Flashy clothes, Wooden hat, 3G, Rabbit-ear band, Small Medal North Cave: Mysterious Tablet (green) x 2, 50G, Small Medal Greenflake ruins, present: Mysterious Tablet (green) KEY ITEMS: Pamila's Special Medicine TASKS 1. Defeat the Amefurashi on the balcony 2. Use Angel Tears on the town 3. Investigate the Herb Garden 4. Visit Iwan, then Linda, then Pepe's father 5. Go to Engou and receive medicine from Pamira 6. Use medicine to cure Pepe 7. Attend party and look for Pepe, then talk to Boruck, then find Pepe again 8. Go to the north cave, defeat the Cave Demon, and get tablet fragments 9. Visit the ruins of Greenflake in the present 10. Visit the new town east of Greenflake ruins -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head to the Mysterious Palace and complete the next Tablet to go to the next island. Head to the town nearby. Upon entry into the town, Greenflake, you will see that you have found yet another town that has succumbed to the Grey Rain, and everyone has turned to stone. However, unlike Direluck, the statues have not yet degraded. Search the town, and you will find a monster on top of the balcony. Surprised to see you, it attacks. BOSS: Rainbringer ----------------- Yet another boss that relies almost exclusively on physical attacks, Rainbringer is not very tough. Drop his defense with Rukani, raise yours with Skara, and he shouldn't be too tough to defeat. If you're lucky you may be able to stun him with a Howl or two as well. As the Rainbringer dies, he laughs and tells you his death alone will not cure the townspeople. Indeed, they don't return to their normal selves even after Rainbringer dies. However, if you use the Angel Tears that the old man at Direluck gave you on the balcony, you can spread them over the town and cure the townspeople. Head downstairs. You'll see a young man, Iwan, look out the window and get very angry; he thinks he sees the gardener's son, Pepe, trying to fool around with his fiancee, Linda. He runs out. Go outside to the garden. You'll find Pepe on top of Linda--and unconscious. Linda says that Pepe threw her to the ground and shielded her with his body to protect her from the rain. He got hit directly and continually, so he was affected by the rain worse than the others--while he has returned to normal, his body is stiff as a board. You help Iwan bring Pepe's body into his house. Inside, you'll explain to Boruck, Iwan's father, that everybody had been turned to stone by the gray rain. Boruck notes that an old man and a young boy had stopped by the village earlier to warn them about the rain. He is upset that only Pepe fell victim to the rain's effects. At this point Iwan asks Linda what she was doing in the garden in the first place, but Linda won't tell him. She is very upset at Pepe's plight. Iwan heads off to the mansion to think of a way to cure Pepe and make Linda feel better. Head to the mansion, inside, you'll find the maid, Kaya, making some moves on Iwan. She tries to convince him that Linda liked Pepe and was philandering with him. Iwan rejects Kaya's advances and refuses to believe her. Go find Linda, and you will see that a man is trying to give her some money that he owed her parents. (Linda is not very well-off financially; there are rumors about the town that Pepe wouldn't hook up with her because he wouldn't be able to help her with a gardener's salary) Linda doesn't want to take it though. Once you've visited both Linda and Iwan, talk to Pepe's father. He will talk about a special medicine that would cure anything, made by Pamila in Engou, which is over the mountains to the East. Well, being Sealed off from the rest of the world, there IS no Engou east of Greenflake. You'll have to go back to the Mysterious Palace and go to Engou via the northwest Red Tablet. Once there, talk to Pamila and get Pamila's Special Medicine. (Pamila is in the Elder's house-- she will go back to her shop, and give it to you there) Bring it back to Greenflake. The medicine revives Pepe. He wakes up and thanks you. Iwan is happy and decides to throw a party to celebrate Pepe's return to health. However, when the party actually starts, Pepe skips out of it early. Go search the town; in the northwest corner, Pepe is talking to Kaya. Kaya is trying to get Pepe to elope with Linda so she can have Iwan. Pepe refuses though. Return to the party and talk to Boruck. As soon as you do, it starts to rain. All the townspeople panic, thinking it's the Grey Rain again, and run into their houses. (However, it's just garden variety rain) Go back to the northwest corner of town--this time you'll find Linda trying to convince Pepe to elope with her. He refuses, and she calls him a weakling and a coward. He leaves. Go to the entrance of town, and you will find that Pepe is leaving town. Keefa tries to talk him out of leaving, but fails--Pepe leaves to seek his fortune. The next day you'll get some clues about the whereabouts of the nearest tablet-- a merchant in the town has gone to the North Cave to find a piece. Head there yourself. The cave is pretty much empty except for two Green Tablet fragments. However, before you can get both, you'll enter a room with a monster that has been eating people who were lured into the cave because of rumors of great treasure there. He laughs at you, saying it was just a ruse to get meals, and attacks. BOSS: Cave Demon, 2 Dancing Gems -------------------------------- The Cave Demon is decidedly the tougher of the opponents you'll be facing here; in addition to a double attack, he can cast Gira and Begirama to damage your whole party, or blind you with his Blinding Light. The Gems are primarily forms of annoyance, casting Rukanan to lower your defense, using Amazing Dance to drain your MP, etc. You should focus your efforts on the Demon and get him out of the way. Have your Hero cast Behoimi on your party members to heal them, while Keefa deals most of the attacks. Maribel can cast Manusa and Rukani on the Demon to lower his defenses. Gabo can sometimes distract the Gems with his Howls, but another alternative is to have him as a backup healer. Once the Demon is dead, focus your efforts on taking the Gems down. Once you've got the two Tablets, head back to your world. You'll find that Greenflake is no longer a town, but ruins. However, you can get a Green tablet on its site. Head further east, and you will find a prosperous Herb town called Memorial Leaf. It was founded by Pepe after he left Greenflake. With the Green tablet, you can complete the Southwest Green Tablet to travel to the next area. Chapter 8: Keefa's Decision -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY ITEMS: Gypsy camp: 25G, Small Medal, Leather Hat, 5G, Defense Seed Mountain camp: Speed Seed Altar Cave: Fur Cape, 5G, 15G, 20G, Medical Herb, Wisdom Seed, 3G, Amazing Acorn, Prayer ring, Mysterious Tablet (Yellow), 15G, Defense Seed, 2 Small Medals, Poison Moth Knife Archaeological dig, present: Mysterious Tablet (blue), Small Medal KEY ITEMS: Bell of the Earth Keefa's Letter TASKS: 1. Investigate the gypsy camp and witness the ceremony 2. Talk to Lyra and bring her a drink 3. Witness monster attack, and head to the altar 4. Rest at the Mountain Camp 5. Accompany John into the cave 6. Empty the lake to go to the Altar 7. Get the Sacred Artifacts and perform the unsealing ceremony 8. Return to the present and visit the Archaeological dig to get a tablet fragment -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head to the west from where you enter the next world. You'll find a small camp of nomads, the people of Yuvarl. You enter in the middle of a ceremony going on in the Chief's tent--it is a ceremony to dub the next Dancer of the town. The Dancer is an important role among the Yuvarl that is passed down from generation to generation. Talk to everyone; the ceremony will end, and the chief will come out with a girl named Lyla. He announces that she has been dubbed as the next dancer. A celebration starts and your party splits up. Talk to the people in the area. You will learn that the Yuvarl are on a quest to revive God. In order to revive God, a special ceremony must be performed first; one that requires a Dancer and a Tura player. Lyla is the Dancer, and her fiancee, Jan, is the Tura player. The Yuvarl are currently on a quest to find the Holy Altar, where the ceremony must be performed. Talk to Keefa and Lyla. Keefa asks you to get Lyla a drink. Go talk to the man giving out drinks and get one for her. Bring it to her, and she thanks you. Keefa is talking to her about his home country, and how the prince there doesn't want to be king. Lyla says she'd probably get along well with the prince, since she tried to run away from her destiny once too. At this point Jan comes in the tent and gets angry to see you talking to Lyla. He calls you out, but Lyla insists that you just brought her a drink. After hearing what really happened, Jan apologizes. Go to sleep. Before the morning breaks, you'll find that a monster is attacking the camp. Keefa drives it off, but Darts, the town guard, got injured and will be out of action for a few days. Lyla insists on staying behind to make sure he's all right, and Keefa volunteers to stay behind and protect them. Jan wants to stay behind too, but as his music is what keeps the monsters at bay when the Yuvarl are traveling, he is needed. The next day, follow the Yuvarl caravan and head toward the Altar. In the mountains to the west, you will find where the Yuvarl have set up camp. There, you'll learn that in order to revive God, you'll need two items which are in a cave. The nomads are worried about getting the items. Sleep in the camp and proceed ahead the next day. The third nomad camp is by a large lake. You'll learn that the person translating the ancient Yuvarl documents was mistaken, and that the two items are actually in the temple by the altar itself, not in a cave. However, the altar and temple are currently at the bottom of a lake. In order to get to the temple, you'll need to empty the lake, which can only be done by ringing a special bell that only the Yuvarl can ring in a cave nearby. You will need to enter the cave, and Jan will come with you to use the Bell. The cave is fairly straightforward, with only a few minor obstacles. For each, there is a tablet with hints on it. Tablet 1: "The Brave one will be led by the Flame of God" (Follow the fire to get out of the room) Tablet 2: "To the East is the Flame of Courage. To the West is the Flame of Knowledge." (Apparently this only denotes the two hidden passages leading to treasure chests) Tablet 3: "Lack of Greed will lead you to God's Road" (Exit the room via the passages without treasure chests near them) At the bottom of the cave, Jan will offer the bell to lower the water level. You can then go out an exit which will take you to the Altar. At the foot of the Altar is a door you can enter, where the Pure Robe and the Earth Tura are kept. The Earth Tura must be played by the Tura Player, and the Pure Robe must be worn by the Dancer during the ceremony. As you enter, Keefa and Lyla arrive. Keefa apologizes for being late; he says that Lyla twisted her ankle on the way and he had to carry her. Jan gets really upset, saying that with a twisted ankle, she won't be able to dance. Lyla gets angry at him and says that she'll be fine. When you leave the room containing the Robe and the Tura, the Chief says that it's not the right time to release the seal and revive God; the ancient texts say that it will only work when the Earth Tura glows gold, which it is not. Jan ignores the Chief and performs the ceremony anyway--it doesn't work. After the ceremony, Jan says that he was deliberately trying to perform the ceremony early for his own sake. There is a rule in the Yuvarl tribe that before God is revived, the Dancer cannot marry a man with a special type of birthmark, which Jan has. Jan says that if God were revived, he would be able to ignore the rule and marry Lyla. He apologizes for his actions and runs off. Lyla tries to chase him, but the Chief stops her. Since the time wasn't right, you now need to go back and fill the lake. Darts comes with you this time to take care of the bell. Return to the first camp. As you sleep, Keefa gives a little talk to you about how he thinks you're destined to be great--however, he wants there to be something special that only he can do as well. When you wake up, you'll find Keefa is fighting Darts for the right to become the protector of the Yuvarl. Keefa wins, and the Chief welcomes him into the tribe as the new protector. Keefa tells you he's decided to stay behind in this time, and offers to escort you to the Traveler's Gate. When you arrive, he pushes you in and stays behind. When you return to your time, you'll find a bag with a letter from Keefa and his equipment. He apologizes for his selfish decision in the letter, and wishes you well. Bring the news of Keefa's decision to the King. The King is extremely upset, especially since he was about to officially sanction Keefa's journey. He gives you a Blue Tablet, and asks you to leave him alone for the time being. The new area you'll find back in the present day has an archaeological dig in it. If you pay money to enter, you'll be able to see what looks like a huge dinosaur skull. Here you'll be able to get a Blue Tablet to take you to the next area, the Southwest Blue tablet. MINI-SPOILER: In case you're wondering, Keefa is not going to rejoin your party. Nor is there any way to get him back, so please don't ask. :) Chapter 9: The Retaking of Darma -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Traveler's Inn: Speed Seed, 3G Darma: 50g, Power Seed Drifter's Town: Sharpened Bone, Horse Dung x 2, Medical Herb x 2, Antidote Herb x 2, Small Medal x 2, World Tree Leaf, 20G, 30G, 3G, 5G Valley Village: Medical Herb, Antidote Herb, Leather Armor, Pointed Hat, Small Medal Darma Tunnels: Kusari-Gama, Defense Seed x 2, Horse Dung x 4, Amazing Acorn, Iron Shield, World Tree Leaf x 2, 50G, Small Medal, 15G, Antidote Herb, Medical Herb, Power Seed, Chiton Shield, Speed Seed, 350G, 200G Arena: Medical Herb x 2, Antidote Herb, 50G, Scale Armor Darma, Present Day: Silk Robe, Small Medal, Yellow Tablet, 5G Traveler's Inn, Present Day: Iron Mask, Defense Seed, Magic Holy Water, 3G Bandit Hideout: Clothes, Horse Dung, Small Medal, Iron Shield, Iron Spear Mezare: Pirate Clothes, Small Medal, Life Stone, Holy Water, Hoimi Slime Spirit, Medical Herb, Mysterious Tablet (Yellow), 6G, 7G KEY ITEMS: Darma Key Bandit Key TASKS: 1. Visit the Traveler's Inn 2. Talk to the Priest at Darma Shinden and try to change jobs 3. Meet Kashim and Fural 4. Fight Suifu and his thugs 5. Accompany Fural into the Darma Tunnels 6. Talk to Zajis and Kashim in the bar 7. Meet Kashim and Neris in the Darma Tunnels, and travel to Valley Village 8. Find and release the High Priestess, and defeat Inopp and Gonz 9. Get the Darma Key and defeat the Man-eater 10. Enter and win the tournament at the arena 11. Defeat the Evil Priest 12. Learn about the bandits in Present-day Darma and defeat them in the Pass 13. Follow the bandits to their hideout and learn the password 14. Use the password to enter the hideout and defeat the bandit boss -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first place you will arrive in in the next area is a small inn--this is the Last Inn before Darma Shinden. Darma, of course, is the traditional place in the Dragon Quest games where you go to change your characters' jobs. There are quite a few people here getting ready to go to Darma to change their jobs. One fighter in pink armor leaves as you arrive, hoping to change jobs to a Hero. The people that run the inn and bar here are friendly, but are somewhat upset that nobody who goes to Darma to change jobs stops at the inn on the way back--they wonder if something is wrong with the inn. Other than that, there's not too much going on here. Probably the biggest attraction here is the Casino down the well. You might want to stay here for a while and build up your Coin reserves, or play the Lucky Panel game in hopes of getting better equipment than you have now/making money. Whenever you're ready, head north and west to go to Darma. Inside Darma, go talk to the priest at the central altar. He will ask you what job you would like to change to. Pick whoever you'd like to change jobs to and what job you'd like. After you choose which job you want to change into, the priest tells you that in order to change jobs, you need to bathe in the pool of holy water behind him to purify yourselves. Enter the pool, and you will discover that instead of purifying yourselves, the water robs you of all your spells and abilities. The priest laughs, and you are dropped into the Nameless Town. As you come to your senses, you will find yourself in a run-down slum, full of downcast people who have similarly been tricked by the High Priest into bathing in the holy water, and have had all their skills and spells stolen. The slum is a lawless place, where might makes right. The strongest man in town, Suifu, is de facto leader of the town--he achieved this status by beating up the previous "leader" of the town. He enforces one rule of the town--"No touching the Soulshatterer"--and anything else goes. You can see this practice in action near the entrance of the town, where you'll find a warrior mugging a priest. He'll tell you to go away, and if you say no, you can beat him up. You'll end up fighting a Devil Armor. He's not easy with abilities or spells, so about the only thing you can do is attack and use Medical Herbs to heal yourself. Other than this little incident, the town is fairly peaceful at the moment. It's certainly not a happy place though; just about everyone you talk to laments how they're trapped here. The only way out is through a cave nearby, which is guarded by monsters--and since everyone is without their powers, nobody is in any condition to stand up to them. There are various shops here where you can buy some fairly good equipment to help you survive without your powers. A "don't-miss" store is the item shop--here you can buy a Thief Key, which will allow you to open those locked chests you find in town. Be sure to buy one. In a secluded corner of town, you'll find two men, Kashim and Fural, talking about a deal. Kashim is a guardian of the High Priestess of Darma, and Fural is trying to get "into the group" and become a soldier of the High Priestess as well. He had just completed a job for Kashim and retrieved some special medicine for him. Kashim tells Fural he will let him join after he completes one more job. Fural is upset that he's not getting accepted immediately, but agrees. At this point, a group of monsters come to the town. They tell all the townspeople that anyone who destroys five people's souls with the Soulshatterer Sword will be given their powers back. Suifu comes out and tells the monsters to get lost, and that nobody will be taking them up on their offer. The monsters leave. Suifu notices you as newcomers and welcomes you to the town--then gives you a proper welcome by beating you up. You'll have to fight him and two of his flunkies, but don't waste your items trying to beat him, because you can't win this fight. Just take the fall. You'll wake up in a woman's house. She comes in and greets you as you wake, and introduces herself as Neris. Neris herself is rather sickly, but is taken care of by her younger brother, Zaji. Kashim enters Neris' house and gives her the World Tree Sap that Fural got for him--he got the medicine to help her out. He leaves after giving her the medicine. As you leave, you'll find Kashim talking with Fural outside to give him his next job--to rescue the High Priestess from the monsters that are holding her captive. Fural will ask you to come with him to help. Agree, and he will give you the Miracle Stone. This extremely useful item can be used in battle an unlimited number of times, and will heal one character's wounds roughly to the equivalent of a Hoimi spell. Making judicious use of the Miracle Stone will allow you to fight monsters in your "powerless" state without having to bring several hundred Medical Herbs with you. Head west to the mountain cave. Proceed up a few levels to where the two monster guardians of the cave, Inopp and Gonz, hang out. Fural stops you before you walk straight into their path, and plans to create a diversion. Unfortunately what he doesn't tell you is that his plan is to use YOU as a decoy; Fural creates his diversion and gets away while Inopp and Gonz are busy killing you. Inopp and Gonz are far too powerful for you to kill in your weakened state; they will kill you and you'll wake up back in Neris' house. Maribel is very angry at having been used, and swears to get back at Fural. Meanwhile, Zaji is not happy with the state of affairs between Neris and Kashim. He talks to Neris and gets angry at her flirting with him in order to get him to do things for her. Neris' response is less than cooperative, and Zaji goes off to the bar to have a word with Kashim himself. Follow him there, and you will find Zaji accusing Kashim of playing around with Neris. He warns Kashim to stay away from her. Kashim insists that he's not just playing around with her, but Zaji doesn't listen. Zaji tells Kashim that he can protect Neris by himself, and doesn't need any help. As you leave the bar, you hear someone scream. Apparently, the pink-armored fighter that you met at the Inn decided to take the monsters up on their offer, and used the Soulshatter sword to destroy someone else's soul--he tries rationalize his action in that he's not actually killing the people. Suifu comes out of his house, and upon seeing that the one rule of the town has been broken, prepares to kill the fighter. The fighter runs away, and you hear more screams in the direction that he ran. Follow him, and you'll see the trail of soulless bodies he left behind. You'll find him in combat with Suifu and Kashim, who heavily wound the warrior. Defeated, the fighter gets angry, since he only needed to shatter one more soul before the monsters gave him his powers back. In his last breath, he charges at Neris. Zaji blocks her and takes the blow of the Soulshatterer. The monsters appear and tell the fighter that Zaji's soul is not completely destroyed, as the sword needs to pierce deep into the body in order to do its work. They're pleased by his efforts though, and agree to give him his powers back anyway. They teleport him and the bodies away. Neris is very upset at seeing her brother disappear, and asks for your help. Kashim wants to help as well, and decides to go save Zaji and the High Priestess. He goes off with Neris, and tells you to meet up with him where Inopp and Gonz attacked you before. Leave the Drifter Town and reenter the cave that leads to Darma. You'll find, however, that Inopp and Gonz are no longer guarding the path. Rendezvous with Neris and Kashim right beyond where they were, and head into the Valley Village. The Valley Village is really just a large cliff on the side of the mountain. It's here that all the true priests of Darma are being held captive by the false priest who took over the Shinden. The priests are not specifically incarcerated, and can do whatever they like in the village, but are prevented by leaving by the zombified people who had their souls destroyed by the Soulshatterer. This is also where all the people with broken souls get dropped off by the monsters after they get teleported away. You'll find the most recently "destroyed" being taken care of by the priests in their makeshift clinic. Here you'll run into Fural. He tells Kashim that he found the High Priestess, but was unable to rescue her. He was, however, able to confirm that she is physically unharmed. All of you enter the small house on the hill, which is where the Head Priest and right-hand-man of the High Priestess is. Together, you formulate a plan to enter into the Darma Prison and attempt to free the High Priestess, and take back Darma from the imposters that currently control it. Kashim and Fural will take care of the guards, and join your party to enter the North Cave. A soul-shattered zombie threatens to call the monsters, but doesn't stop you as you enter. Here the path splits into two. The right path leads to Darma itself, but the door is locked. The left path leads into Darma Prison. Head there, and continue through the prison. It's fairly straightforward, but will take a while to get through. At the very end, you will find the High Priestess, Foz, who is imprisoned within a magical barrier. You'll see that in fact she is only a child. Your next task is to free Foz. In order to free her, you have to cut off the power being fed to the magical barrier. In order to do so, you need to climb up above the area where Foz is imprisoned, and push blocks off the catwalk onto the magical generators. The catwalk looks roughly like this (forgive the lousy ASCII artwork): _________________ | __ ___ __ | | | | | | | | | | |__| |___| |_X| | ] __ ___ __ [ | | | | | | | | | |X_| |___| |__| | |_ ________ __| The two "X" marks indicate the areas directly above the magic generators. You need to drop the blocks here in order to successfully remove the magic barrier trapping Foz. If you accidentally drop the blocks in the wrong places, you can leave the area and return; the blocks will have returned to their original positions. Once the barrier has been lowered, Foz will be freed. You will be introduced to Foz, who will thank you for helping her. However, just as you are getting acquainted, Inopp and Gonz come along and attack you. However, now that Foz is freed, she uses her magic to reduce their power to normal levels; formerly, their powers had greatly increased from absorbing the power of the souls that had been shattered in the Drifter town. BOSS: Inopp & Gonz ------------------ Because your characters are still powerless, there isn't a heck of a lot you can do in terms of strategy to win this battle. The best thing to do is give your character with the weakest attack (mops likely, this will be Maribel) and have them use the Miracle Stone every turn to heal injured party members. I'd also suggest getting rid of Inopp first, since his weapon attack is strong. This battle is slightly easier in the sense that Kashim and Fural will also participate and help fight. Their attacks are anything but reliable, but they will serve as helpful dummy targets. Like most NPCs that join your party, they have infinite HP, so they cannot be killed. Once Inopp and Gonz are dead, Foz joins you. Head back to the Valley village. All the priests are psyched to see Foz back, and she takes them off to make a plan to take back Darma. When you enter the Head Priest's house, you'll find he's not there, but Zaji and Neris are. Kashim asks how she is, and Neris says that she's fine. Zaji is silent. Neris is missing the hairband that Kashim gave her, but doesn't know where she lost it. The High Priestess gives you the Darma Key so that you can enter Darma through the underground tunnels. She tells you there's a room in Darma where the life force of all the tricked people is stored, and there you can get your powers back. Despite the unusual demeanor of Zaji and Neris, Kashim decides to take them with you. Go to the door to the Darma tunnels. Neris asks to borrow the key that the Priestess gave you. If you say yes, Kashim will stop you and demand to know who she is. If you say no, Neris will laugh and say "Guess I can't mimic her personality, just her form" and shows her true form as a monster. Kashim demands to know where Neris and the Head Priest are. The monster tells him that Neris is alive, but that he ate the Head Priest. The monster gives Zaji the Soulshatterer and tells him to steal Kashim's soul with it. Still in his zombie state, Zaji complies and attacks Zaji. Meanwhile, the Man-eater attacks you. BOSS: Man-eater -------------- Without your powers, this is again a pretty tough fight. The Man-eater can cast some pretty hefty magic, so it's a good idea to have some Medical Herbs on your characters other than your dedicated Healer. Otherwise, there's not a heck of a lot that you can do other than keep your HP as high as possible. Even after the Man-eater dies, Zaji continues to attack Kashim. In the altercation, Kashim manages to steal the Soulshatterer from Zaji. He throws the sword at him, hoping it contained his soul and could restore it. Surprisingly enough, it works, and the Soulshatterer vanishes. (though for a minute it seems as if Zaji was killed) Zaji says that he initially was being controlled by the Man-eater, but even after the Man-eater died, the sword increased his hatred for Kashim to uncontrollable levels, and he couldn't stop fighting. Now that Zaji is restored, your next task is to find and rescue Neris. Continue through the underground passages into Darma. Eventually you will find a room with a huge glowing ball of light. Stand on the altar below it, and you will finally get your powers back. Continue through the passages until you reach the basement of Darma. Here you'll find that the monsters have erected a gigantic arena. It is here that the people who shattered souls for the monsters back in the Drifter town are brought. Their powers are restored, and they are pitted against each other in a tournament. Whoever comes out of the tournament as the victor will be allowed to leave Darma. The rules of the tournament are that you have to enter in teams of four. If you make it to the final round, you'll have to fight the monsters' champion, and only then will you be allowed to leave. If you can't agree to work with the other fighters, then you are allowed to bring three monsters with you to complete your team. As none of the people here want to work together, this means that everyone uses monsters on their team. However, the champion is Neris herself, who wields the Soulshatterer! Talk to the right people here, and you'll also learn the true reason behind the conquering of Darma; the monsters are stealing peoples' powers in order to give to the Demonlord, who has been greatly weakened in his battle with God. The arena is just a diversion to amuse the monsters. Go into the back room of the arena. You'll find Neris with the Soulshatterer. Zaji tries to get it from her, but she refuses to give it to him, and threatens to destroy his soul if he keeps bothering her. After leaving Neris' room, Kashim and Zaji decide to enter the tournament to try to restore Neris to sanity. Zaji says he doesn't want Kashim's help, and goes by himself. Talk to Zaji, and he will offer to team up with you to enter the tournament. Whenever you're ready you'll enter the tournament. TOURNAMENT: Battle 1: Nepalo and 3 Dragon Slimes ------------------------------------ This battle is a cinch. If you have trouble here, you might want to rethink your strategy or buy new equipment, because you probably won't be able to win the upcoming battles. Battle 2: Garcia and 3 Thunder Rats ----------------------------------- This battle isn't all that tough either, though it's significantly tougher than defeating Nepalo. Have your hero attack Garcia, and have Gabo continually stun the Thunder Rats with his Howl. Maribel should be used as support, and can use the Miracle Stone to heal. Try not to use any MP if you can. Battle 3: Thompson and 3 Mud Hands ---------------------------------- This battle is actually easier than defeating Garcia; the Mud Hands are so weak you can just ignore them. Focus all your efforts on killing Thompson quickly, and you should have no problems taking out the Mud Hands and healing your party up to full with the Miracle Stone before the next bout. Battle 4: Naputo and 3 Buchuchunpas ----------------------------------- Of all the preliminary Tournament battles, this one is the toughest. Naputo's Martial Artist techniques are nothing to sneeze at, and can dish out some heavy damage. You may need to use a little MP here in order to win. Try to put the Buchuchunpas to sleep with Rariho, so you can concentrate on Naputo--if you leave him for last, you'll either die or be heavily wounded for the upcoming battles. Be ready to cast healing spells if it's necessary. Battle 5: Don Jose and 3 Straw Mouths ------------------------------------- This battle is actually not very hard. Don Jose is nowhere near as threatening as Naputo, although the Straw Mouths can be irritating. Cast Manusa on them and they won't pose nearly as much as a threat. You can try to put them to sleep or Howl at them if you want, but I've found them to work a lot less. Final Battle: Neris and 3 Slime Knights --------------------------------------- This battle is VERY tough for this stage of the game. When I first got here, Neris had me taking a dirt nap so fast I thought it was a "story" battle that you were supposed to lose. Neris hits very hard and is very fast so she usually strikes first. She also can use several spells and techniques that are a bit too powerful for this stage of the game, though she doesn't always use them. Overall, this battle relies a lot more on luck than most have up until now. Neris often uses a double attack, and if she consistently uses her Hyadalko/Mahyado-Slice combo over and over again, it doesn't really matter what you do--you're probably going to die. If your party is weak, this is one of those battles where you might be better off letting one of your party members die, and focusing all your healing efforts on one heavy-hitter, rather than trying to keep the entire party healthy. Once you win, you disarm Neris, and Zaji slashes her with the Soulshatterer, as the sword seems to have the opposite effect on those whose souls are already destroyed. As you have won the tournament, you get the right to leave the palace, and in fact are forced to do so. The monsters leave Neris behind, and while Zaji wants to stay behind to help her, won't let him. As you are taken away, Zaji calls to Kashim and asks him to help his sister; Kashim agrees. Right at the entrance to the main temple, Zaji darts away back to the arena. The monsters chase after him. If you follow them, you'll see that Kashim and Zaji have started a revolt, and all the imprisoned warriors are fighting against their captors. They will tell you to go take care of the imposter High Priest if you try to help. Continue onwards, Foz will join you to fight the false Priest. As you enter the main area of Darma, you will find a Martial Artist arguing with the false priest. He demands to know why he isn't allowed to leave Darma, even though he won one of the tournaments in the arena. The false High Priest tells him that he will let him leave, but not alive. He casts a spell and fries the fighter. Go up to the imposter and attack him! Boss: Antoria ------------- Antoria is a real bruiser, and can dish out some heavy damage with his physical attacks. Most status effect spells don't work well on him--however, you can succeed in casting Manusa on him, and if you do, he will become significantly easier. However, even blinded he can throw an energy blast that can do over 80 points of damage, so keep your HP as high as possible. Once Antoria is dead, you'll read messages about how you were able to reclaim Darma. The next day, you'll find Kashim offering Fural a position among the Darma elite as promised, but Fural decides to decline his offer after all. With the job changing function of the Shinden restored, Zaji becomes a Warrior to protect Neris. He informs Neris of his decision, and Neris responds by saying that she is OK on her own and doesn't need his help. Zaji says nothing and decides to go buy a sword. As you leave, you'll see that he has really decided to go on a journey by himself. Head back to Darma in the present day. But before you do, make sure to Foz and change your jobs! What jobs you take will be the most important factor in how you do in your upcoming battles throughout the rest of the game. (For more information on each of the jobs, see part 1 of this guide) Not much is happening in Darma, other than people changing jobs, and providing a plethora of information about jobs and job changing for you. There is word of a strange band of bandits that is plaguing the area. They have an odd habit of burying their victims in the ground up to their shoulders. In fact, there have been stories of the bandits NOT robbing people, just burying them. There is also someone talking about a man that gives people Magic Carpets in Mezare, a town to the east of Darma. Head South to the mountain pass. There you'll find a priest sprawled out on the ground. Talk to him, and he won't respond. But once you walk past him, he'll call out: "HEY!! Were you just going to leave me here!? What cold-hearted bastards you are!" He goes on to lecture you and say that if he REALLY was hurt so much that he couldn't respond, he could have died. As it turns out, he's really just one of the bandits who laid a trap. He calls his buddies, and they attack you. Fight: Bandit Soldier, Bandit Mage, Bandit, and Eteponge -------------------------------------------------------- This can actually be a tough fight if the bandits get some lucky strikes in first. The Bandit Soldier and the Bandit Mage are the heaviest hitters, so try to take them out first. Once they're out of the picture, the fight becomes relatively easy. If you get lucky, sometimes Manusa will work on the bandits. If you find yourself severely outclassed, you might want to try raising a job level or two and trying out your new techniques. If you win they flee. Chase after them to their hideout. The guard won't let the trailing bandit into the hideout until he answers the question "Which way is Darma?" The bandit angrily says "Go to hell!" and the guard lets him in. Go up the guard and try to bluff your way in. He asks you the password, saying that you'll know it if you're really one of the bandits. He asks: "Which way is Darma?" You get the following choices: "North, of course." "How the hell should I know?" "Go to hell!" Tell the guard "Go to hell!" and he'll let you in. None of the bandits seem to recognize you, so go into the furthest room and talk to the little guy in the middle. He asks if you are looking for the boss, and you learn that HE is the boss. He says "You came to drive off the bandits right? Well then fight me!" BOSS: Bandit Boss ----------------- The Bandit Boss is a total wuss. When/if he casts Iora, he can dish out a fair amount of damage, but he only has enough MP to cast it once. You can just let the AI handle him and you'll win. Once you beat him, he asks you to wait a second and listen to him. First, he gives you a Yellow Tablet. He says it's passed up from the stronger to the stronger--when the person carrying it meets someone stronger than him, he gives them the tablet. Second, he says that he thinks the Demonlord isn't completely dead, and that you'll need the Tablet to stop him. (Whereas it's not said openly yet in the game, you can piece together bits and pieces from various books in bookcases and things that NPCs say that there is a legend that God fought the Demonlord in ages past, and neither survived the battle.) You can go East to Mezare if you want and start the quest for the Magic Carpet. You won't actually be able to finish this quest until the end of Chapter 13 of this walkthrough, so I'm covering the entire quest in that chapter. However, you are going to need to stop off at Mezare before you can get the Carpet regardless, since there is a tablet fragment in the bottom of the well there that you will need at the end of Chapter 12. Therefore, you might just want to stop off there and retrieve it. When you're ready, head back to the Mysterious Palace, and complete your next tablet, the Yellow Tablet in the center of the room. Chapter 9: The People of the Desert -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Desert Palace: Silk Robe Desert People's Village: Small Medal, Defense Seed, 7G, Antidote Herb, Medical Herb, Leather Whip, Yellow Tablet Earth Spirit Statue: Power Seed, Defense Seed, Speed Ring, Small Medal, 350G, Silver Breastplate Archaeological Dig: Small Medal, Mysterious Tablet (Yellow) Desert Isle House: Beauty Plant, Silk Robe Desert People's Village, Present: Medical Herb, Dancer Clothes, Small Medal, Mysterious Tablet (Yellow), 15G, Horse Dung, Life Acorn, Amitt Cracker, Amazing Acorn KEY ITEMS: Charm of the Desert Ancient Fossil Bone of Tyranos Black Key Warehouse Key Money and a Letter TASKS: 1. Explore the ruins of the Desert Palace and meet Hadeet 2. Go to the Village of the Desert people and talk to the Chief 3. Sleep in the Chief's house, then learn the story of the palace 4. Return to the castle and fight the Bone Rider, then join with Hadeet 5. Return to the Village and report to the Chief 6. Use the Desert Charm to get info from the villagers about Tyranos 7. Return to the present and show the Charm to the Archaeologist 8. Bring the Archaeologist to the Palace and get the Fossil 9. Show the Fossil to the Chief 10. Throw the Fossil in the Nyra river 11. Ride Tyranos to the Earth Spirit Statue and solve the first-floor puzzle 12. Talk to the queen to get the Black Key, and climb to the top of the statue 13. Defeat Set 14. Return to the present day Desert Palace -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After completing the next tablet, you'll find yourself on the edge of a large desert. Head to the nearby castle and explore it. The castle is totally deserted. It's in a state of ruin, and corpses (well, skulls) lie all about the area. If you explore the room of records, you will find a book about the Legendary Hero Melvin, who fought the Demonlord alongside of God. Also, there is a tablet that states the philosophy of the people of the desert. "Be strong, and live long. Death will come and your spirit will depart your body, and you will be reborn." (paraphrased) This is important, so remember it. Lower in the castle, you'll be discovered by a man, who tells you that you do not belong in the castle, and asks you to leave. He says that the castle is nothing but a graveyard now; the Queen abandoned it and monsters attacked and destroyed it. He introduces himself as Hadeet, and tells you that if you tell the people of the village to the east that he sent you, they will let you in. Head to the village. As you enter, a wounded man limps out, swearing that he will save the queen. The guard insists that in his condition, the man will only die, but he insists that he can't just sit by idly. Talk to the guard, and he will let you in upon hearing that Hadeet sent you. Head to the large house in the back end of town. Talk to the Chief, Zarashtro, there, who will welcome you in and let you sleep in his son's room overnight. (His son is not in the town at the moment) The next morning, speak to the Chief, and he will tell you the story of the Palace. Originally, the People of the Desert were building a large statue as a monument to the Spirit of the Earth, the protector of the desert. The statue, when completed, would ward monsters away from the desert. However, the statue caught the attention of the monsters nearby. They attacked it, and forced the people who were building it to convert it into a statue of the Demonlord. In addition, they told the people of the desert that they would need to sacrifice a girl to them every year. Rather than sending sacrifices, the Queen went in their stead, and hasn't returned. After she left, the darkness you have seen in some of the other sealed islands engulfed the desert. The Chief tells you that you should leave the desert, as the problem is not something that just a few people can solve. He tells you not to go to the palace under any circumstances, because it is a deathtrap. Of course, this is one of those times you should completely ignore what the NPCs tell you to do--go to the palace. Inside, you'll find a monster that was responsible for the destruction of the palace. As you meet him, Hadeet arrives, and angrily attacks the monster. You'll have to fight a Bone Rider, which should be no problem to defeat at this point. The defeated Bone Rider pulls out a pendant, and says that it was given to him by the Queen as a sign of her approval of him. Because he carries the pendant, you have to do what he says by order of the Queen. Hadeet kills him anyway and takes the pendant. He then scolds you for ignoring his orders not to hang around the castle, and says he will bring you back to the village. However, as you try to leave, there is a sandstorm outside; it is too strong for you to attempt to leave. In the meantime, Hadeet asks you to help him make graves for all the dead people in the palace. You agree. You help Hadeet make graves. You, Hadeet, and Gabo gather up the corpses, while Maribel digs the graves. Maribel starts to bitch about having to dig holes. Hadeet tells her that if she wants to carry the corpses instead, she's welcome to. Maribel declines his offer and continues to dig graves. Eventually, you finish burying all the dead people in the palace. Hadeet tells you that the Queen is evil after you're done; the castle was destroyed because the queen insisted on making the statue, and her sacrificing herself to the monsters was far too coincidental. Her giving the pendant to the Bone Rider is even more evidence that the queen is corrupt. The next day, you head out to the village. You go with Hadeet to the Chief (his father) and Hadeet presents the pendant to his father as proof that the Queen was corrupt. The Chief is surprised to find the pendant, but takes it and affirms that it is genuine. However, while he examines it, he finds a piece of paper wedged behind the gem in the pendant. He pulls it out and opens it--it is a letter from the Queen. The letter is addressed to the townspeople, and in it the Queen says that the Demonlord statue is completed, and is the source of the darkness engulfing the city. She says that the men that were being forced to build the statue are currently safe, but doesn't know how long it will be before the monsters decide to kill them. She gave the pendant to a monster she knew patrolled the palace, in hope that it might reach the village. Hadeet realizes the Queen was not corrupt, and tells his father that he will leave the village again to try to find the ancient dragon in the Nyra river. Talk to the Chief, and he will give you the Desert Charm. The Desert Charm is proof that you are an ally of the Desert People, and if you show them the charm, the will do their utmost to help you. He says that the Hadeet is looking for the legendary dragon Tyranos, in hope that it will help free the villagers. Talk to the townspeople, and show them the Charm. They will tell you about Tyranos--he is a legendary dragon that lives in the Nyra river. His distinguishing feature is a long golden horn in the center of his head. Talk to the Priest, and he will foretell that you are the only ones who have access to the place that has what the Desert People are looking for. The old man guarding the Food Storage area will also let you enter if you show him the charm. You'll find that the girls from the castle are hiding out there in large sacks in case the monsters decide to attack the village and look for them. Go back to the archaeological dig in your time. The Archaeologist is totally puzzled by the large skull that he found, and cannot figure out what type of animal it is. He wishes he could go back to when the bones were alive to figure out what it was. Ask him about the skull, and he will tell you that when he uncovered it, he found fossilized aquatic plants and fish nearby, so the animal must have lived nearby. In addition, judging by the types of fish that were near the skull, it must have lived in a river rather than the ocean. Tell him about your trip into the past and ask to borrow the skull he found. He doesn't believe you, but when you show him the Desert Charm, he has trouble explaining it otherwise; it is obviously of ancient construction, but is in brand new condition. He agrees to lend you the fossil, so long as you take him into the past to prove your story. Head back to the desert in the past and go to the palace. After seeing the palace, the archaeologist nearly wets himself with the find, and starts studying every single thing he can see. He tells you to keep the fossil, as it is a small price for what you have been able to show him. He stays at the palace to study it. Go back to the Desert Peoples' village with the fossil. Back in town, you will learn that the Chief is dying and is in a coma. Talk to him and his wife. Hadeet returns from his search as you leave--follow him back upstairs. The Chief wakes up and tells Hadeet that he's going to die soon. Hadeet tells him that he can't die yet, as he has yet to find Tyranos. The Chief notices the fossil you are carrying, and asks you to show it to him. Do so, and the Chief will say that it's too late anyway, as what you have is Tyranos' skull; he is already dead. He asks you to put the skull to rest in the Nyra along with him when he dies. Leave the room. As you are about to return to the first floor, Hadeet comes in and tells you that his father has died. He announces the Chief's death to the townspeople, and says his funeral will take place the following day. At Zarashtro's funeral, his casket is placed in the Nyra, and floats away. Hadeet says that he will be willing to take over his father's job, and everyone cheers for the new Chief of the Desert People. Hadeet asks you to put Tyranos' skull in the Nyra. Do so. (Use the skull while facing the river) The skull will sink into the river, and Tyranos comes to life. Upon seeing Tyranos, Hadeet tells the people of the town that he cannot accept the job of Chief just yet, as he needs to go and rescue the queen first. He gets on the back of Tyranos, and asks you to come as well. Mount Tyranos and he will take you to the Demonlord statue. Outside the statue, you will find a woman collapsed outside. She tells Hadeet that the monsters are planning to kill the queen. The monsters have been trying to get virgins to pray to the Demonlord statue, as when they do the Demonlord will become more powerful. The Queen refused to pray, and thus the monsters plan to kill her. At this point, some monsters come for the woman. You'll have to fight two Pigmon Evils, but they shouldn't be too much trouble for you at this point. Inside the Statue, you'll find that your way is closed. A tablet says that in order to proceed, you need to prove your friendship with the Desert People. Then, you need to indicate the Desert People's philosophy using the Animal statues. SOLUTION: The first thing you need to do is use the Desert Charm on tablet to prove your friendship to the Desert People. You need to use the Animal statues in the correct order, which corresponds to the Desert People's philosophy that you found in the palace. The specific order you need to use is Lion, (Be Strong) Turtle, (Live Long) Bird, (Soul flying away and departing body) and Snake. (shedding skin and starting new life) Once the stairs to the next floor are open, climb them. You'll overhear a few monsters getting excited about all the added power the Demonlord statue is giving them. Go up the stairs, then down a second set of stairs to access the switch that will lower the spikes and allow you to continue. On the next floor, you'll find the Queen talking with Hadeet. The Queen is dejected and says that her sacrifice was totally useless if everyone in the castle was killed. She asks Hadeet to kill her. Hadeet tells her that there are still people alive in the statue, and that he believes in her. He goes to destroy the statue. Talk to the Queen. She tells you that the demon Set controls the statue. If you take the Darkness Rubies out of the statue's head, then the curse of the desert will be lifted, and the desert will return to normal. She then gives you the Black Key. The route to the next floor is riddled with hidden pits that will drop you down to the second floor if you fall in them. The only 100% safe route to the exit is over the damage floor. On the next floor, you'll find a monster trying to force some girls to pray to the Demonlord statue. The girls try and stall. Sneak up on the monster and kill it. (it is a very easy fight) Then proceed up to the top of the statue. On the head of the statue, you will find Set is beating the stuffing out of Hadeet. Go and try to help him, attacking Set yourself. BOSS: Set --------- Set's main characteristic is an extremely powerful physical attack. He relies entirely on direct physical attacks, so your best bet is to boost your defense rating as high as you can with spells like Skara. Set uses a Slaughter attack, which will do over 80 points of damage if it hits you. Fortunately, he hits himself with this attack almost as much as he hits you. This is a fight that is best approached defensively. If your characters are low on HP, think of having everyone using some sort of healing or assist ability or spell, even if it means going a round without dealing any damage to Set. Once Set dies, Fedel comes out to the head, and asks you to help her remove the rubies from the eyes of the statue. Once you pull the rubies out of their sockets, the statue starts to fall apart. In the chaos, you all float downriver. When you get ashore, you will find that Hadeet is dead; the wounds given to him by Set were too much for him to handle. However, Fedel uses her magic to bring him back to life. Return to the Desert People's village. The people there are planning to rebuild both the castle and the Earth Spirit statue. Hadeet will give you permission to take the treasure in the storage area, so before you leave town, stop off there to collect your reward. (which includes a Tablet fragment) Once you are done in the village stop off at the castle before heading back to your time. Here you will find the archaeologist, who will tell you that he plans to stay in this time period. He says that he has learned more here in several hours than he did in his entire life up until that point. He gives you some money and a letter, and asks you to take them to the man that guards the archaeological dig. Go back to your time, and give the letter and pay to the dig guard. Once you give it to him, he will give you permission to investigate the excavation more closely; you can climb down and retrieve the items that are there. Also, you can now go to the Desert Palace in your time. When you do, a man at the entrance is shocked to see you, saying that "the time of the legend has come" and goes to get the queen. The Queen's aide comes out, and addresses you as saviors of the desert. She calls the Queen, who comes and greets you. (though not directly--the queen speaks directly to nobody but her aide) She tells you that Hadeet foretold that you would arrive in the future (as the archaeologist told him where you were from) and the people of the desert have been waiting for generations for your return. You are welcomed as heroes by everyone in the castle, and they throw a huge feast in your honor. The next morning, shake off your hangover and head back to the Mysterious Palace to complete the next tablet, the Yellow tablet in the southwest corner of the room. Chapter 10: The Craze of Crage -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Crage: Leather Hat, Small Medal, Clothes, 3G Crage, Present day: Traveler's clothes, Small Medal x 2, 13G, Amitt Bun, Intelligence Seed, Intelligence Glasses, Mysterious Tablet (Red), 5G, Silk Hat, Fur Hood KEY ITEMS: Elf's Jug Morning Dew of the Holy Tree Blessings Staff World Tree Sap TASKS: 1. Visit the town of Crage and talk to the elder 2. Go the World Tree and find the sleeping girl 3. Return to town and find the plotting townspeople 3. Go back to the World Tree and defeat the Suspicious Man 4. Get the Dew with the pot in the girl's house and give it to the girl 5. Take the Dew to the town and give it to the townspeople 6. Try to pour dew into the well, then talk to the Elder 7. Talk to the girl and enter the roots of the World Tree 8. Defeat the Wolf Devil 9. Get the Blessings Staff from the girl 10. Visit Crage and the World tree in the present day -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soon after entering the next world, you'll arrive at a small traveler's inn. There's nothing of great importance there, but the people tell you that the people of Crage to the west are acting very strange, and warn you not to go there. Go there anyway. When you're there, you will indeed find that the townspeople are acting very strangely; every person in town believes that they are the Demonlord. Of course, every person in town claiming to be the Demonlord causes a fair deal of conflict in town, and there are several quarrels between people each claiming to be the REAL Demonlord. A man in a black cloak suggests to one group of people arguing that they should prove they're the true Demonlord by cutting down the Holy Tree north of town. They don't want to, because supposedly those who meddle with the tree will be cursed. When you enter the Elder's house, you'll find that he is very sick, but is not infected with the same insanity that possesses the other villagers. Since he cannot move, he asks you a favor-- he wants you to tell the girl that lives by the Holy Tree what the situation in Crage is like, and warn her not to come near. Head to the Holy Tree. There's a hut nearby, where you'll find the girl that the Elder was talking about. However, she is sleeping heavily and will not wake up. Gabo makes a snide comment about how the girl sleeps more than Maribel, and faces Maribel's wrath. In any case, head back to town to tell the Elder about the girl's condition. As you arrive in town, you'll find the townspeople have decided to go to cut down the Holy Tree after all, ignoring the curse they might suffer. They leave and head north. Follow them to the tree, and you'll find them in the process of trying to cutting it down. The girl that was sleeping comes out of her hut and tells the townspeople to stop. The man in the black robe tells her she shouldn't resist the Demonlord, and knocks her over. Talk to the townspeople and when they ask if you are going to try to stop them from cutting down the tree, say yes. They say they won't let you interfere, and try to cast Begiragon, Merazon, and Ionazun on you respectively. Of course, none of them have that kind of power, and the spells fail. The man in the black cloak attacks you for interfering in his plan. Fight: Suspicious Man --------------------- The Suspicious Man is fast and does lots of damage, but only attacks using physical attacks. Cast Manusa on him and all of a sudden he'll have a lot of trouble hitting you. Rukani and Gabo's Howl will work too, so after a round or two of stat-reducing spells, he'll be in no condition to stand up to you. After you defeat the Suspicious Man, he runs away. All three of the "Demonlords" threaten you, and run away. With the threat to the tree gone, carry the girl into her hut. She asks if you if the tree is OK, and after hearing that it is all right for the time being, tells you that the water table in the area has become polluted, and has been weakening both her and the forest. The girl goes on to explain that the Holy Tree has the capacity to purify the water table, so she is surprised that the people of Crage would try to cut it down. She speculates that their water supply was polluted by the Demonlord's curse, which is what is causing them to go insane. She asks you to stay in her hut over the evening. In the early morning, the girl asks you to collect some dew from the Holy Tree using the pot in her house. Go outside and use the pot under the dripping dew. Once the pot is full, bring it to the girl, and use it on her. The water works extremely well, and restores her to health. She tells you to bring the dew to the townspeople, and get them to drink it--it should cure their madness. In addition, you could use the dew on the polluted water supply to reverse the curse. However, even if you try to give the dew to the townspeople, they will refuse to drink it. They are all happy drinking out of the town well. The only person who will agree to drink the dew is the elder. It works very well, and fully restores him to health. After explaining the situation to him, he tells you to take the Holy Tree's dew and pour it into the well, as it is the sole source of water for the village. With the restorative power of the Holy Tree, it should purify the water source so that the townspeople will regain their sanity. Bring the jug to the center of town and use it on the well. Just as you're about to pour it in, the Suspicious Man knocks you out of the way. He tells the townspeople that you were trying to poison the water supply, and sets up a 24-hour guard to make sure that you don't go near the well. Confer with the town elder again. Since pouring the water into the well will be nigh impossible, he suggests you go straight to the source and pour the dew directly into the water table. Go talk to the girl at the Holy Tree, and she will take you to a hole near its roots. She says that if you travel through the roots of the tree, it will lead you to the water table, but warns you that the monsters that poisoned it in the first place are probably still down there. The roots of the Holy Tree are like a maze, but are easy enough to navigate. It's easy to miss, but where the "skin" of the roots are shredded, you can jump off and drop down onto a lower root. In case you get stuck, keep an eye out for "shredded" patches like this and use them to jump on new roots to take you further along. Eventually you will reach a small cave, where you will find a Well Demon that is poisoning the source of the townspeople's water. Go up to him, and he will figure out what you are trying to do and attack. He is an easy kill overall. Once he's dead, use the Elf's Jug on the well to purify it. With the groundwater purified, the curse is lifted and the townspeople come to their senses. However, the Suspicious Man doubles over in great pain. Climb up the ladder, and he will show his true form and attack you the moment you get out of the well. BOSS: Wolf Devil ---------------- The Wolf Devil's prime, especially when he dishes out a Bakuretsuken, which randomly attacks members in your party several times. He'll also cast Bikilt on himself to raise his physical damage even more. For this reason, it's especially important to boost your characters' defense as high as possible, especially Gabo, as the best armor he can equip at this point is rather weak. Cast Rukani on the Devil, healing when necessary. A good strategy is to have one character focus on healing, one on support, and one on attack. I used Gabo as my attack character, since the Hero can use Skara to raise defense, while using Maribel as a healer. Other than that, your strategy will probably vary depending on which jobs you're in. Once the Wolf Devil dies, the elder thanks you and he asks you to stay the night at his house. The next day, he gives you a message the next day that the girl that lives by the Holy Tree wants to see you. Visit her, and she will tell you that the Holy Tree is in actuality a sapling of the World Tree, which will become fully grown within a few hundred years. She herself is a forest spirit that is destined to guard the tree. She'll tell you that it was she that started the rumor of the curse--mistrustful of humans, she was afraid they would hurt the tree, but decides to give them more slack now. She will then give you a Staff of Blessings. It will probably be too weak for you to use as a weapon at the moment, but don't sell it! When used in battle as an item, it has the same effect as a Behoimi spell. Free healing is always a plus. Before you head back to your time period, be sure to talk to the farmer in Crage. He will give you a Red Tablet that he found. In present-day Crage, the World Tree is now fully grown. There is a shop where you can buy its sap for 1000 gold. You'll have to wait in line for it, and can only buy one at a time--if you try to wait in line after already buying some, the shopkeeper will sell the last one to the person ahead of you in line. World Tree Sap is a useful item--it will cure your entire party to maximum. Other than that, there's nothing too terribly important in Crage at the moment. Lots more wells were built (the townspeople got paranoid after the first poisoning) and you can visit the vacation home of Brugio, the richest man in the world. He's not in his house (in fact he's almost never there--none of the people working in the house have ever seen him) but you can do a job for one of the maids there. She'll ask you to clean out the pantry--pick up all the bottles and smash them, and when you talk to her again, she'll pay you 50 gold for the service. Once you're done at Crage, head north to the fully grown World Tree. You'll learn there that the Forest Spirit that protected the World Tree as it grew up is now a bluebird that lives in its branches. (though this information is inferred) You can also pick up tablet fragment lying on the ground near the tree itself. When you're ready, head back to the Mysterious Palace to complete the next Tablet. This time, the tablet you'll want to complete is the central Red Tablet. Chapter 12: A Stitch in Time -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Retrude: Medical Herb x 3, Traveler's Clothes, 15G, Small Medal, 10G, Turban, Holy Water, Life Stone, Silk Hat, Amazing Acorn, Pointed Hat Retrude Bridge: 6G, Shell Hat, Leather Hat Baroque's Study: Intelligence Seed Time Nexus: Small Medal, Speed Ring, 350G, Magic Holy Water Greenflake: 500G, Silk Robe, Net Tights, Small Medal, Clothes, 3G Memorial Leaf: Speed Seed, Small Medal, Silver Hairband, Defense Seed, Power Seed, 15G Retrude Bridge, Present: Small Medal, Beauty Plant Retrude, Present: Kimera Wing, Beauty Plant, Gaudy Clothes, 5G, Pointed Hat, Holy Water, Mysterious Tablet (Green), Medical Herb x 2 Baroque Tower: Bow Tie, Defense Seed, Silk Tuxedo, Small Medal, Mysterious Tablet (Yellow), Mysterious Tablet (Green), Intelligence Seed Desert Palace, Past: Gold Bracelet, Small Medal, Mysterious Tablet(Red), 210G KEY ITEMS: Clock Tower Key Amelia's Letter Small Purple Bottle Ruby of Darkness TASKS: 1. Go to the village of Retrude and the North Bridge to learn about the ceremony 2. Rest in the Inn and return to the North Bridge 3. Go to Baroque's study and get the Clock Key. 4. Stop the Clock. 5. Examine the picture in Cleeney's basement and enter the Time Nexus 6. Defeat the Time Master and destroy the Hourglass 7. Rest overnight in the inn and go to the bridge-opening ceremony 8. Visit Baroque's study and Cleeney's clinic 9. Head north to Greenflake and learn about Iwan's family 10. Go to Memorial Leaf, meet Pepe, and visit the convent on the hill 11. Tell Pepe about Linda's grave, and escort him there. 12. Return to Greenflake and witness Kopan's poisoning 13. Meet Kaya in her house and pick up the Purple Bottle she drops 14. Give the Purple Bottle to Cherry, then go talk to Polta 15. Talk to Casadorl and agree to eat dinner with him 16. Learn of Linda and Iwan from Epe 17. Climb Baroque's tower and take the treasure in the top 18. Return to the Desert Palace in the past and get the Darkness Ruby -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the next area, head to the village of Retrude. Retrude is a city that is famous for its clock tower built by Baroque, a renowned architect. There are also several other structures built by Baroque here, (they are all very gaudy) and a statue he designed as well. You'll actually see a man investigating the statue if you take a look at it--he accidentally breaks the arm off of it and runs away. People in the town are also talking about a bridge that Baroque has designed to the north. It was just finished and will soon be opened. You'll also learn about the town doctor, Cleeney, who is Baroque's brother. You can find him treating the innkeeper's helper, Amy, who fell down the stairs in the morning and twisted her ankle. There's a strange picture in his basement as well that gives you a funny feeling if you look at it. Head north to Baroque's bridge. There you'll find a guard preventing anyone from crossing. He says the ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the bridge will be tomorrow, and that you can cross the bridge then. You'll have to return to town and rest in the inn to wait for the next day. When you check out of the inn, you'll find Amy is up and about, and running around on the upper floor. She starts to come down the stairs, but trips and falls. You catch her, and she apologizes. Head back to the bridge guard. He berates you for thinking the ribbon-cutting ceremony is today, and tells you that it's actually taking place tomorrow. So head back to the inn and rest again. When you wake up again in the morning, Amy will come and fall down the stairs again, and you'll catch her again. You can also notice outside that the statue that was formerly broken is whole again, and the man who broke it before will break it again. Go talk to the soldier guarding the bridge, who will tell you yet again that the ribbon-cutting ceremony is tomorrow. You'll tell him "You said that yesterday!" and he'll ask if you're trying to tell him that the same day is repeating itself. When you say that you are, he blows you off, saying that you're talking crazy like Baroque is. Head east to Baroque's lab. Tell Baroque about how you think the same day is repeating over and over again. Baroque says that he feels the same way, and gives you the key to the clock tower. He tells you that clocks are designed to conquer time, and since he's such a genius, the clock he made might have special powers. He thinks that it might be broken, and that is causing time to repeat. Baroque asks you to investigate the clock tower for him, as he is busy getting ready for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. With the key, you can enter the control room of the clock tower. Pull the lever there to stop the clock. It not only stops the clock, but stops time entirely! Leave the clock tower when time is stopped, and you'll find everyone frozen in place. Head over to Cleeney's house, and you'll find him in the basement with a letter in his hand. You can read it--it's from someone named Amelia, who is asking Cleeney to take care of her daughter after she dies. You'll also notice a strange aura coming from the picture on the wall. Examine the picture, and you'll be sucked into the Time Nexus. Make sure to explore the Time Nexus thoroughly while you're there--once you complete it, you can never return. Since there's a Small medal there, you won't want to miss it. (Note--there are 10 more Medals in the game above the level needed to get the top Medal item, so if you played past this point and missed this medal, don't worry) If you get wounded in the Time Nexus and want to rest at an inn/resurrect dead characters, you can return back to Retrude and start time again by pulling the lever in the clock tower once more. In order to enter the Time Nexus, time will need to be stopped, so if you take a breather, you'll need to stop time again before you can come back. Further into the Nexus, you'll find a maze of teleporters. This maze is actually a lot less complicated than it first appears. There are only a couple of places where you can go the "wrong" direction, and for the most part it's fairly straightforward. The encounter rate here is pretty low as well, so the odds of your dying trying to find your way out are very very slim. Once you're in the center of the Nexus, past the teleporter maze, you'll find a plaque which states: "Rather than going towards the end, head toward the beginning." This is a hint on how to open the gate to the next area. The room you are in is actually shaped like a very large clock. If you move to the 12 o'clock position of the room, then travel counterclockwise along the path back to where you started, the portal will appear next to you. Through that portal, you will find the Time Master. He controls the Hourglass of Time, and synchronized the clock tower with the hourglass, so that every time the clock hit 12:00 midnight, the hourglass would flip over and time would repeat itself. When he notices you, he is very shocked to see that you aren't affected by the time flux like everyone else, and attacks you. BOSS: Time Master & 2 Makimaki ------------------------------ You need to keep two things in mind for this fight; first, you need to keep from dying (obviously) from the Time Master's spells and Makimaki's attacks. Second, you need to keep the Makimaki from using their Sands of Time; when they do, time will be reset back to the beginning of the fight. (which can be a good thing if one of your characters gets killed, but is still a pain) The best thing to do is kill the Makimaki first, then concentrate on the Time Master. You should focus on disabling the Makimaki, then killing them. If you're lucky, you can put them to sleep with Rariho, but they are weakest to stun attacks like Gabo's Howl or the Martial Artist's Battle Cry attacks. Battle Cry is best because it will affect everyone you are facing, even the Time Master. The Time Master's spells are pretty nasty, so you should wear armor that increases your magic resistance if you can. Having Gabo wear a Magical Robe is an absolute must--it's the only item he can equip at this point that will increase his magic resistance, and since the best armor he can equip at this point is already pretty rotten (and he's pretty stupid, which makes magic defense even worse), you'll find it hard to keep him alive without it. The Time Master drops a Yellow Tablet once you defeat him. As he dies, he laughs at you and says "Killing me will not end the time loop, so long as this hourglass is all right!" He then stops in his tracks, says "Oh crap, I shouldn't have told them that!" and dies. Break the hourglass, and you'll get some Sands of Time of your own. This is probably the biggest cheeseball item in the game; use it in battle, and time will revert back to the beginning of the fight. What's more, you can never use it up, so you can retry fights again and again so long as the person carrying the Sands isn't incapacitated. Now that time is back to normal, rest in the inn. At the beginning of the next day, it looks like a repeat of time again as Amy almost falls down the stairs, but she catches herself, showing that this is indeed a new day. Head to the bridge, and you will find the ribbon cutting ceremony about to begin. Talk to the people in the crowd and they will move out of your way so you can get to the front. The aide who is going to present the opening of the bridge wants a few words from Baroque, but he's nowhere to be found. Head to the dock nearby, and you'll find Cleeney and Baroque talking. You'll overhear from their discussion that Baroque is Amy's father, but doesn't want her to know. Cleeney, on the other hand, is trying to get him to tell her. Baroque refuses however, and goes off to open the bridge. Head to Baroque's study. As you arrive, you'll find his assistant quitting. Talk to Baroque; without an assistant, he has nobody to get and prepare food for him, so he doesn't know what to do about it. He decides that he's going to go crash at Cleeney's house for a while. Return and tell Cleeney of his brother's plans. At first Cleeney doesn't like the idea of Baroque freeloading, but then realizes he can use the opportunity to his advantage. He says that he will try to arrange for Baroque to run into Amy more often while he is a guest, in the hope that eventually he will tell her that he is her father. Now Retrude's quest is basically finished. However, you can head north across the bridge to Greenflake. However, you will arrive in a significantly different time period--30 years after you came before and rescued the townspeople from their petrified state. Iwan and Linda are married and have children. However, you learn that Iwan has become lazy and irresponsible over the years. He's deep in debt, and had to sell his mansion and move into a smaller home, and he now works under Pepe's younger brother Polta in the Herb Garden. His former maid, Kaya, is now the lady of the manor. She is married to the richest man in town, Casadorl, who is currently very ill and is confined to his room. You'll find Iwan and his son Epe working in the Herb Garden. Iwan gets tired of the job and decides to call it quits for the day. Epe tries to stop his father and get him to finish his work, but fails. Go follow Iwan, and you will find him talking to Kaya, who is helping him pay his debts. You'll interrupt them in the middle of their conversation, where you'll find Iwan telling Kaya that he knows the reason his family fell into ruin was all his fault. You'll also learn that despite being married to the richest man in town, Kaya is not very happy with her life either. Iwan sees that Kaya is carrying a little bottle that he gave her as a child. Its strap is worn, and he offers to replace it, but Kaya refuses to change it from its original state. At this point, you'll learn from their conversation that Linda has abandoned her family and left town. Head east, and you'll find Memorial Leaf in the past. As you enter, a little girl, Linda, and her pet Slime, Vicky, leaving, while her father tries to stop her. Vicky collides into you. Linda's father tells her to apologizes, but she doesn't want to, saying it's the slime's fault. Her father apologizes to you, and asks if you remember him. He stops, and then says "you can't be the same, the people that helped me did so 30 years ago, and would have aged." It turns out that the man is Pepe. Talking to the people in the town, you'll learn that Linda is not Pepe's real daughter; her parents died, and Pepe took her in. He doesn't have any trouble raising her though, as Pepe is now very wealthy; the Herbs he grows are much more effective than standard Medical Herbs and there's a worldwide demand for them. Go to the convent up on the mountain behind Memorial Leaf. There you'll find out that Linda ran away there to become a nun, and is called "Sister Besia" there. Recently, Linda/Besia became very sick and died. The nuns want to inform her family, but don't know where or who they are. Tell Pepe of Linda's death, and he will ask you to bring him to her grave. On the way, he asks you to stop at the run-down hut to prepare himself. Once you arrive at the convent, all the nuns try to convince Pepe that there is no grave of anyone named Linda here. Pepe ignores them and goes to search by himself. Once he finds the grave, he says "oh, it's probably just another Linda." A nun comes up and tells him that the person buried is THE Linda, and they tried to get Pepe to leave to protect him. Pepe apologizes to Linda for not eloping with her when she asked. Go back to Greenflake to tell Linda's family of her death. You won't get a chance to, however, as another incident occurs as soon as you arrive. Kaya's dog, Kopan, suddenly keels over in the middle of the garden. Polta brings the dog to his house and gives him an antidote. He tells you that somebody poisoned the dog. The maid, Cherry, was the one who fed him, but was as equally surprised as you to see the dog suddenly fall over. She says the food that she fed the dog was initially intended for Kaya's husband, Casadorl. He didn't want it, however, so Cherry fed it to Kopan rather than let it go to waste. Cherry has an idea and goes back to the manor. Follow Cherry back to the manor. She accuses Kaya of poisoning the food that she gave Kopan. Kaya brushes off her accusation as being ridiculous, and tells her not to say something like that again. You'll learn that whereas Cherry prepares much of the food in the house, Kaya likes to add Casadorl's favorite special seasoning herself, and bring the food to him. Cherry suspects that when Kaya adds the family's secret seasoning, she also poisons the food at the same time. Leave the manor, and reenter it. (You may have to talk to some townspeople first) As you enter, you'll bump into Kaya. She drops a purple bottle without realizing it and continues on. Pick it up and bring it to Cherry. Cherry will ask to examine the bottle herself--use it in front of her to give it to her. She goes and shows it to Polta, being the resident herbal expert. Polta examines the powder in the bottle and says that it is poison, which while not lethal in small doses, could build up in someone's system and eventually kill them. Cherry realizes that the powder is what made Casadorl sick. She runs out of Polta's house. Chase after Cherry and reenter the manor. Casadorl is sitting at the dining room table, happy to eat his wife's home cooking. He invites you to share the meal with him. Agree, and sit at the table. Kaya tries to stop you from eating the food. Cherry tells Casadorl not to eat the food, as Kaya poisoned it. She offers the bottle as proof. Kaya says the bottle only contains the family's secret seasoning, and not poison. Casadorl tells her to prove it by eating the contents of the bottle. She goes over to the table to do so. At this point Iwan comes in and tells her to stop. He confesses that it was he that wanted Kaya to make Casadorl sick. Afterwards, he and Kaya leave the house. Go talk to Epe, who is in Iwan's house. You'll see a flashback where he asks his mother to abandon Iwan and leave town with him. Epe will show you a letter from his father; it says that he and Kaya will be leaving the town for good. Return back to your time and visit Retrude. You'll find another one of Brugio's vacation homes here, but again, he is never there. In addition, you will find that Retrude has become the Ranking center of the world. You can record your Strength, Intelligence, and Style in the main registration counter, and view your ranking compared to everyone else on the three large billboards in the center of town. (For more information on the Ranking system, read part 1 of this guide) You'll also learn a little bit about Baroque and Amy; Baroque eventually told Amy that he is her father, and she became a great architect like him. After Baroque died, Amy built the Baroque tower that he designed on the site of his old studio. In the top level of his tower, she put all his treasures, and they remain there to this day. When you're done in Retrude, head East to the Baroque Tower. The guard in front will tell you to be careful inside as there are traps and monsters in the tower. On each level of the tower, there's a puzzle or trap you'll have to get by in order to proceed onward. They're actually fairly easy, but here's a quick description of how to get by each: Level 1: Push the statues onto the purple strips to open the way to the next level. Level 2: Very straightforward. The only trick here is that the pillars here will attack you, and you'll have to fight two fights vs. two Entashismans. They're rather easy though--if you defeated the Time Master they should be no problem Level 3: The dragon heads will breathe fire if they don't have the eye gem set into their heads. You can pull the eye out from either side of the head, so with some judicious removing and placing, you can use the gem to turn off each dragon head and avoid the fire on your way to the next level. Level 4: The level is spinning, but that's it. If you have trouble getting past it, take a nice, long break. :) Level through the hole: Just step on all four switches. On the final level, you can take the treasures from the treasure chests. There's a message from Baroque on a tablet, however. He says that he was embarrassed to show his true treasures to the world--paintings of his daughter Amy and his brother Cleeney--and asks on the tablet for you to leave them where they are. There you can find the final piece of the tablet you'll need to head to the next area. At this point, you can also head back to the Desert Palace in the past, and you'll discover that Fedel has made quite a lot of headway on repairing it. She will give you the Darkness Ruby for safekeeping, and will also allow you access to the treasure room in the basement--you can get there via the hidden stairwell by the statue in the corridor behind the queen's bedroom. Your next tablet to complete will be the southeastern Yellow Tablet. Head to the Mysterious Palace, and complete it to travel to the next world. Chapter 13: The Great Flood -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: Items: Abon Village: 20G, Medical Herb, Small Medal x2, Full Moon Herb, Pirate Clothes, Berserker Spirit Fuzu Village: Antidote Herb, Leather Hat, Small Medal, Acorn of Life Harmelia: 30G, Iron Spear, Power Seed, Mysterious Tablet(Green), Mermaid Moon Ancient Tower: Amazing Acorn, 5G, Spotted Spider Thread, Horse Dung Sunken City: Rotting Corpse Spirit, Small Medal x 2, Full Moon Herb, Wave Sword, Leaf of the World Tree Harmelia, Present Day: Intelligence Seed Ancient Tower, present day: Mysterious Tablet(Red), 50G, Horse Dung, Small Medal Slime Spirit Sunken City, Present: Amazing Acorn, Mysterious Tablet(Red) Small Medal x 2, Power Ruby, Amitt Bun Hero Shrine: Life Seed, Mysterious Tablet(Green), Brugio's Manor: Bow Tie, Magic Key, Small Medal, Silk Hat, Mysterious Tablet(Gold), Turtle Shell, 120G Earth Spirit Statue: Mysterious Tablet(Blue) KEY ITEMS: Mermaid Moon Magic Carpet TASKS 1. Visit Abon Village and stay the night at the Elder's House 2. Go through the tunnel to the town of Fuzu 3. Rest in the inn, then head northeast to Harmelia 4. Listen to the old man playing music, then rest in the inn 5. Travel through the portal in the center of town 6. Climb the Ancient Tower, free the townspeople, and confront the musician 7. Investigate the flooded towns, then enter the Sunken City 8. Examine the center pillar to open a secret passage to the inner City 9. Defeat Glacos 10. Get Harmelia's treasure, then return to the present 11. Talk to Asmof and get quest to rid the tower of monsters 12. Defeat the King Slime and learn of the Slimes' plight 13. Defeat the Gigamutant 14. Visit the underwater Palace and defeat Glacos the 5th 15. Go to Mezare and meet Nicora in the bar 16. Agree to search for the Hero and follow Nicora into his vault 17. Get the Magic Carpet and try using it outside the town 18. Return the Magic Carpet to Nicora, then talk to his maid 19. Check up on Nicora and report his condition to the maid 20. Show the Mermaid Moon to the maid 21. Use the Magic Carpet to investigate the Hero Shrine, the Medal King's Castle, Brugio's Manor, and the Earth Spirit Statue -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your first stop in the next village is the small podunk village of Abon. There, nothing of any notable interest is going on. The main thing that the townspeople are talking about is an old traveling musician who recently stopped by and played for everyone. Apparently he was very good. This area is a dead end for now; the only way through the mountains to the south is through an underground passageway that is currently blocked. Talk to the Elder and she will let you stay in her house overnight before you continue on the next day. Stay overnight, and the next day Maribel will wake you up, and tell you that something strange is going on. Exit the Elder's house, and you'll find that all the townspeople have vacated the village! Every single last person is gone. However, the passageway under the mountains is now open, so head through it. On the other side of the mountains, there is a small church where you can save your game if you'd like. Further south, you will arrive at the fishing town of Fuzu. The people of Fuzu make their living creating nets and fishing, but are having difficulty lately, because the number of water monsters has been greatly increasing, to the point that going out on a boat is very dangerous. Also, you'll learn that the wandering musician who visited Abon also stopped by here as well, before moving on to the town of Harmelia to the northeast. Before you head to Harmelia, stop and rest at the inn here. When you wake up, you'll find that there was a repeat of the phenomenon at Abon, and that all the townspeople have mysteriously disappeared here as well. Head northeast through the mountains to the town of Harmelia. When you arrive in Harmelia, you will finally find the wandering musician. You'll arrive right in the middle of his song, with him playing a strange instrument in the center square of town. Once he finishes, all the townspeople cheer and ask for an encore. The old man thanks them for their applause, and then apologizes, saying that he's in a hurry and must continue onward so cannot do an encore. He leaves. Investigate the town now. Note the raft at the north edge of town; you can use this to travel along the river under some of the buildings. Under the westernmost building is the Harmelia treasure room, although the guards will not let you access it. You'll also hear some people talking about Majin Glacos, who sunk an island nearby in the past. Once you're finished your business in town, head to the inn. In the middle of the night, you'll be woken up by mysterious music coming outside. Go to the source of the music, and you'll find the old musician playing the music, and all the townspeople in a strange trance. As you came in in the middle of his song, you are not completely affected by the music's spell. The townspeople, however, are not so fortunate, and follow willingly as the musician herds them into a strange portal he created. Once all the townspeople have been transported, the musician enters the portal himself. Follow him inside. You'll find that you've been transported onto the ground floor of a strange tower. Head upstairs. (Note: If you're having trouble finding a way to the chest on the first floor, you can reach it by traveling around the outer "lip" of the building, and not get sent outside) On the third level of the tower, you'll find all the townspeople being held prisoner. Pull the lever outside the door to free them. Inside, you'll find that all the townspeople that were kidnapped are safe, and have sort of formed a makeshift "town" on the level for the time being. The people there are all angry at the old musician, thinking that he's in league with the Demonlord. Some townspeople are getting ready to leave the tower now that you freed them. Rest and get whatever you need here before heading further. To make it to the next level, talk to the child standing near the door upstairs--he will crawl through the hole in the wall to open the gate for you. You'll find the musician at the top of the tower--he is muttering "It's about time now" to himself as you arrive. Talk to him, and he will apologize for trapping you all, but explains that it was absolutely necessary, as time was short. Before you can ask what he means, the musician says "Look and see for yourself what I mean" and points outside. Just at this point, there is a large earthquake, and the sea starts to overflow, completely swallowing the entire continent. The musician explains that in addition to his musical powers, he is also a fortune teller; he foresaw the disaster that would befall the continent. As the tower in the mountains is the highest part of the continent, it was the safest place for him to evacuate the townspeople to. At this point, some of the formerly trapped townspeople come up to the top of the tower. One of them accuses the musician of being the one to raise the sea level, but the scholar tells him that this flood is of Majin Glacos' doing. The soldier is worried, saying that some people left the tower before the flood. The musician is shocked to hear that the door to the lower levels was unlocked, and is very unhappy about it. As you leave the tower, the old man asks you to defeat the monsters causing the flood; he would do it himself, but lacks the power to fight them. He also tells a quick story about how he became a "musician for justice," and in the story he indirectly reveals that he is Jan of the Yuvarl tribe. He the gives you a Green Tablet. Use the raft to travel to the flooded towns. The people who left the tower are all safe, and managed to get on boats or reach high ground when the flood occurred. A man in Fuzu will tell you that the sunken city in which Glacos resides is located to the west, but is deep underwater, so nobody can reach it. Head there, and when you are directly above the sunken city, the birthmark on the Hero's left arm glows suddenly and a whirlpool opens, which will take you inside the city. The sunken city is uninhabited by humans, but many of their spirits still haunt the area, and you can talk to them. They will tell you about the fall of the city and how Glacos sunk it into the ocean. One man's ghost will tell you to examine the center pillar in the entry courtyard of the palace. Push it, and you'll find a secret passage. You'll also find a potter's ghost, who will tell you about his special pots, which are specially aerodynamic and can be thrown further than normal pots. Further into the palace, you'll find several minor puzzles that you'll need to complete before you can proceed. Use the switches to raise platforms and gain access to the lever that will lower the water level. There's one area with a lot of the special long-range pots; as some of the switches to raise platforms are inaccessible, you'll need to throw pots at them to activate them. In addition, once you lower the water level, you'll need to throw pots at the same switches again; once raised, the platforms will block your way to the staircase down, and you'll need to hit the switches again to lower the platforms and clear a way to the next level. After that, you'll have another puzzle in which you'll need to lower the water level in order to raise the platforms. Once all the necessary platforms are back up, you'll need to raise the water level again in order to cross using the floating boards. When you finally reach the bottom of the palace, you'll find Glacos. (and get a very large sense of deja vu if you've played DQVI) Glacos is enjoying himself by toying with the spirits of the dead people in the sunken area, who are completely under his power. To demonstrate, he summons some spirits of dead people, turns them into monsters, and forces them to attack you. You'll have to fight three Sea-floor Spirits, but they are very easy to beat and shouldn't pose too much trouble. After you defeat them, Glacos continues to force spirits on you; you don't want to attack, because you don't want to hurt the spirits. Just as you're about to go into battle again, the musician arrives and plays a magic song that breaks the curse on the spirits and frees them. Then he heals you. Glacos is not pleased at having his toys taken from him, and decides to take out his aggressions on you. BOSS: Glacos ------------ Glacos does a ton of damage with multiple attacks per round, with several nasty techniques that do damage to your entire party. For this reason, it is generally a good idea to fight this battle defensively. A shepherd (or someone with shepherd techniques) is very useful in this fight. Shepherds can cast Kiari to cure characters poisoned by Glacos' Deadly Poison Fog, and can use Wool Guard to defend themselves against his ice breath. If you can waste one of her turns, Maribel's Payback is a great technique, to throw Glacos' own techniques back at him. I had Gabo use his Flame Claw on Glacos, and my hero (who had both Fighter and Martial artist techniques) used the War Cry Charge/Seikenzuki combo. You should dedicate at least one character to healing; the musician will help some in that respect, but be prepared to lose a lot of HP. There may be some rounds you won't be able to get attacks in at all, because everyone is healing. After all, dead characters won't do you a heck of a lot of good. As Glacos breathes his final breath, he threatens to take you with him by collapsing and flooding the underwater palace, drowning you. Talk to the musician, and he'll create another portal for you all to escape. You'll return to the tower, and as you arrive, you will see the waters receding with Glacos' death. The old musician is very tired and tells you to go ahead without him, and he will rest in the tower. The tower is empty of other people, and you'll learn from a soldier that everyone went home. Just as you're leaving, the musician will toss you a gift as a memento--a Prayer Ring. Go back to Harmelia--you will now be allowed to take the treasure in the underground storeroom there. One of the chests contains the Mermaid Moon, a critical item you will need to complete the game, so be sure to stop there. Once you've got the treasure from Harmelia, return to the present, and visit Harmelia there. As you arrive in Harmelia, you'll find Azmof and Beck fishing in the stream that goes through town. You may recognize Azmof as the person on the top of the Intelligence scale in Retrude--he is a scholar and is renowned as the world's smartest man. Beck is his assistant. Beck tries to pull up a fish, but instead pulls out a tablet fragment. He tries again, and successfully pulls up a fish. Azmof notes that the fish in the stream is the same kind that lives in the nearby ocean--it is living proof that the town was once underwater. Talk to him, and he will agree to give you the tablet in exchange for you doing a job for him. He will give you the details in his house. When you go to his house, he tells you that he wants to investigate the tower to the north for his research, but monsters live there, and he asks you to defeat them. Head to the tower. You won't be able to make it to the top of the tower (the door to the top floor is locked) so head to the basement. There you'll find a King Slime. He's tougher to kill then your average King Slime, but shouldn't be much of a problem for a party capable of taking down Glacos. When you defeat him, you'll get a Monster Habitat Plan. The King slime will split into a bunch of smaller slimes. The little slimes are pleased by your power, and are happy to hear that you are going to get rid of the monsters in the tower--the tower was originally theirs, until the monster came in and kicked them out. One of the slimes, Slatchi (the only one that can speak Human language fluently) joins you to help guide you to the top of the tower. Slatchi will be able to fit through the hole in the wall to unlock the door to the top floor. When you arrive at the top of the tower, however, there's no monster. Slatchi starts to taunt and badmouth the monster, until he sees it coming--then he hides behind you, saying "I'll leave this to you." BOSS: Gigamutant ---------------- The Giga Mutant can do some heavy damage with its physical attacks, and its Freezing Breath is powerful too, but it won't require too much effort to kill providing you don't let your HP dip too low. I used Far Howl a lot with Gabo, and fighting techniques with my hero, while Maribel focused on healing. Strategies will differ depending on your current job, but the Gigamutant isn't nearly as hard as Glacos, so it shouldn't give you too much trouble. Once you win, Slachi announces that the tower once again belongs to the Slimes and goes to tell his buddies. Go back to town and Azmof goes straight to the tower without thanking you or giving you anything. Go chase after the ingrate. Once you get there, Azmof calls you a liar as he's being chased out by a King Slime. Of course, the King Slime is Slachi, who asks if Azmof is a friend of yours. Once you admit you know him, Slachi apologizes, and asks what they're doing in the tower. Beck starts mouthing off to the slime, and Azmof shuts him up. Azmof tells the slimes he's just here to study, and goes up to the level where the makeshift town was. Follow him there, and he'll finally remember to give you the Tablet fragment. Now head to the Underwater Palace in the present. It's become a monster town now, though none of the monsters are particularly aggressive toward you. They are protected/ruled by Glacos the 5th, who promises to keep them safe from humans. Head to the bottom of the palace, and you'll find Glacos the 5th on his throne. He hates and fears humans because of what happened to Glacos the 1st at the hands of humans. (i.e. when you killed him) Being humans, he's not exactly happy to see you, and attacks. BOSS: Glacos the 5th -------------------- Glacos the 5th is essentially identical to his great-great-grandfather, except he has more HP. His attacks and patterns are all the same as Glacos' were, so if you use the same strategy you used to defeat Glacos, you should be able to defeat Glacos the 5th as well. Once Glacos the 5th is defeated, he begs for his life, and when you agree to spare him, he will give you an Mysterious Tablet?, a tablet fragment without a specific color. This will be an essential item to completing the game, but you will not need it until much later on. Now head to Mezare to do the Magic Carpet quest. You'll hear from the townspeople that Nicora, the man with the Carpet, will give the carpet to anyone who can use it. Go to his house, and his maid will tell you that he's at the bar getting some wine. When you go to the bar, you'll overhear an interesting conversation about the Legendary Hero. One man is talking to Nicora, suggesting that the reason that the Legendary Hero is not around is because the world is at peace. Nicora responds that God sealed the hero away to come back and defeat the Demonlord later should he take over the world. The man doesn't buy the story, however. Talk to Nicora, and he will ask you for a favor, seeing that you're adventurers. Agree and follow him into the woods to his vault. Nicora tells you that right before God was killed by the Demonlord, he sealed away the Legendary Hero so that he could save the world in the future should the Demonlord conquer it. Even though the Demonlord apparently sustained mortal wounds himself in the battle with God, Nicora wants to revive the Legendary Hero. He asks you to look for the Legendary Hero, and offers to give you the Magic Carpet if you agree to. At this point his maid comes in and tries to stop him--Nicora tells her that you have agreed to help. His wife says that you won't be able to succeed, and Nicora tells her that he's going to do it anyway. He gives you the Magic Carpet and tells you to try it out. Leave the town and use it. You'll sit on the carpet, but it doesn't fly. Maribel gets angry at having been deceived, and tells you to sell the carpet rather than return it. Ignore her, though--take it to Nicora, and he will take it back, depressed that it didn't "choose" you. He takes it back to the vault. His maid asks you not to get angry at him, and see if he's OK. Go to the vault, and Nicora says he wants to search for the Hero himself, but he promised his father that he would not leave the town. Go back to Nicora's maid and report his condition. The maid tells you that you are a lot kinder than other travelers were--most got very angry at Nicora after trying out the carpet and failing. She will tell you that in reality, Nicora gave you a fake carpet--at his father's request, she hid the real one and replaced it with a fake. She tells you that she will give you the real carpet if you prove yourselves as worthy adventurers by bringing her the Mermaid's Moon. You can then show her your items to see if you have it. For a laugh, give her some horse dung and watch her reaction. Giving her something really simple like a Medical Herb also elicits a rather humorous reaction as well. Once you show her the real Mermaid Moon, she agrees to give you the carpet, and asks you to meet her behind the church. There, you'll find her searching for the secret set of stairs leading to the hidden storeroom with the carpet--she forgot its location. Search smack behind the middle of the church, about one or two full steps away from the wall, and you'll uncover the secret passage. Go in and get the Magic Carpet, and as you leave, Nicora discovers you. His maid tells him the full story about how his father kept the carpet hidden to keep him from leaving the town behind. She tells Nicora that as you have found the Mermaid Moon, you are worthy adventurers and should have the carpet. Now that you have the magic carpet, there are a lot of new places you can go to, including Brugio's Manor, the Medal King's Palace, and the Hero Shrine. In the Hero Shrine, you'll learn that the Hero, Melvin, is imprisoned in a jewel that will give off heat when it is time for him to be freed by the Legendary Heroes. The next step in the game is actually somewhat nebulous. At this point, you can collect enough Tablet Fragments to go to either Lumen (Northeast red) or Provina. (Northeast Green) It may even be possible to go through the various quests to get Melvin to join your party as well, but I didn't try--it isn't necessary to find him until later, and I didn't try to find him until it was necessary. Jump ahead to the end of Chapter 15 if you'd like to try. When you're ready, head to Lumen or Provina. Both areas are about the same in terms of monster toughness, so it doesn't really matter which one you pick. Chapter 14: The Perils of Lumen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Lumen: Medical Herb, Pointed Hat, Hairband, Iron Mask, Iron Axe, Small Medal, Defense Seed Darkness Tower: Small Medal, Magic Holy Water, Sword of Dozing Cliff by Lumen: Mysterious Tablet (Yellow) Lumen ruins, Present Day: Small Medal Underground Tunnels: 630G, Steel Sword, Armor of Hell Lumen, Present Day: Silk Tuxedo, Leather Dress, Bronze Sword, 550G, Net Tights, Holy Water, Traveler's Clothes Darkness Tower, Present Day: Small medal, Lips' Spirit, 280G, Mysterious Tablet? KEY ITEMS: Darkness Tower Key TASKS: 1. Enter Lumen and defeat the Baby Goyles 2. Visit the church and West tower, then enter the central mansion 3. Defeat Borunga and retrieve the Tower Key in his room 4. Climb the tower and defeat the Dragon of Darkness 5. Investigate the Lumen Ruins in the present, and visit the Monster Park 6. Return to Lumen in the Past and defeat the Hellbaum Roots in the town 7. Enter the cave under the town via the well and defeat Hellbaum 8. Return to Lumen in the present and re-investigate ruins 9. Return to Lumen in the past and talk to Seable. 10. Learn of plot to kill Chibi and inform Seable of it 11. Evacuate Chibi to the eastern mountains 12. Return to town and save Seable from the Hell Worms -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The entrance to the town of Lumen is quite close to the time-gate in this world. There is a small mountain/hill you can climb on the way, but there is nothing of much interest there, save for a huge hole and a Yellow tablet. Head further west to the town of Lumen itself. As soon as you enter Lumen, you will find the town being guarded by two Baby Goyles. They will attack you, so kill them and enter the town. Lumen is a very unlucky town, that has been plagued by disasters. Just recently, there was an evil tree, the Hellbaum, which was attacking the town from the hill by bombarding it with long-range attacks. The Hellbaum threat is gone now--disabled by the monsters that have now taken over the village. The monsters base themselves out of the tower to the west, where the Dragon of Darkness resides. It is the Dragon of Darkness that has caused the veil of shadow over the town. The monsters that directly control the town are controlled by a monster named Borunga, who has taken up residence in the large house in the center of town. Walk around and talk to everyone. In the well in the northwest corner of town, you'll find a makeshift church where some townspeople are hiding out. After you visit the church, the Bomb Rock that was guarding the central house will have gone inside. You can then enter the house and find Borunga. He will attack you when you talk to him. BOSS: Borunga ------------- Borunga's not a boss that you'll really need to worry about. He packs a heavy punch, but has no magical attacks, or any attacks that can affect more than one target at a time. It shouldn't be too tough to defeat him if you made it this far. Once you kill Borunga, all the monsters in the room flee. Check out the chest of drawers in Borunga's room, and you'll get the Darkness Tower Key, which will allow you to enter the Darkness Tower. And you'll want to, because as soon as you leave the house, the monsters who fled will sic the Dragon of Darkness on the town--you'll hear it roaring from on top of the tower. Go climb the Tower to stop the monsters from unleashing the Darkness Dragon on Lumen. There are no real traps or puzzles per se in the tower, so it shouldn't be too hard to reach the top. (providing you don't accidentally get killed by the monsters inside) Once you reach the top, you'll see that the reason that the Dragon is so royally PO'd is that the monsters are trying to control it, and are obviously failing miserably--the Dragon is too powerful for them to handle. And, not surprisingly, the angry dragon decides to take out its aggressions on you. BOSS: Dragon of Darkness ------------------------ The Dragon of Darkness is no pushover. In addition to powerful physical attacks, it breathes both Fierce Flames and Ice Breath. It's unlikely that you'll be able to cast Fubarha at this point, but if you can, by all means use it, as it will make the Dragon's breath weapons a lot less effective. Lowering the Dragon's defense with Rukani, then hitting it with a Power Charge/Dragon Slash combo is a great way to take him down quickly. Once the Dragon is dead, the town is saved. Head back and receive the adoration of the townspeople. You'll find that Seable, the man who lived in the house that Borunga took over, has moved back in. However, the Bomb Rock that was guarding the house is still there. Seable will tell you that he named it Rocky and is going to keep it as a pet. Head back to the Present day. You'll notice that in the Lumen area, there are two towns now. Go to the north one, and the man there will ask you if you're a traveling warrior, and if you've fought monsters. Tell him yes, and he will give you the Monster Food, which will allow you to attract monsters. Monsters you've attracted you can send to the man to create a Monster Park. Before he can create a Monster Park though, he needs Monster Habitat Plans to build areas where they can live in. At this point you should only have one, (the one you got from the Slimes in the tower north of Harmelia) but you will find more throughout the progress of your adventure. Don't worry if you get monsters that don't have a place to live yet--as soon as the appropriate habitat is built, they will move there. Head to Lumen. When you arrive there, you'll find that, it's been totally destroyed. Gabo and Maribel are shocked, and ask you to return to the Lumen in the past to find out what happened, as you should have saved the town. So do so. Back at Lumen in the past, you'll find that the townspeople are being attacked by the roots of Hellbaum--formerly thought to be dead, now attacking the town from a distance. Kill all the roots--there are a lot of them, but you can rest in the inn for free, so healing shouldn't be a problem. Enter Seable's house, and you'll find him being attacked by Hellbaum roots. He suggests you flee upstairs, but the roots break up through the second floor as well. Rocky leaps to his master's defense, and self-destructs to destroy the Hellbaum roots. Kill any remaining roots, then head to the well to go underground and find the source of the roots. You can go through the hole in the wall at the bottom of the well. It leads to a series of underground caves. Follow the fleeing root, and you will find the Hellbaum itself. BOSS: HellBaum + 2 Hellbaum roots --------------------------------- Kill the Hellbaum roots first in this battle. The Hellbaum's double attack is bad enough, and the additional damage done by the Roots can prove lethal if you don't dispatch them quickly. Make sure that all your characters bring healing items, because the Hellbaum will nullify your spellcasting with Mahoton. Fire spells like Merami work well, so use them while you can before the Hellbaum puts a damper on your magic. Even while under the influence of Mahoton, you can still continue to cast Merami by using Flame Claws during battle. If you can kill one or both of the Roots before somebody in your party dies, you'll probably do all right in this battle. Once the Hellbaum is dead, it drops a Green Tablet. Return to town, and the people are happy to be finally freed from Hellbaum's reign of terror, though the people whose friends and family got killed in the attack are less than enthused. Seable has found a new pet--a bug that was clinging to Hellbaum's root, trying to bite it. He names it Chibi. With Lumen saved once again, return to the Present-day Lumen again. You'll find that it's STILL destroyed and in ruins. Time to schlep back to Lumen in the past yet again. When you return to Lumen, you'll find it--rather peaceful, actually. There's no Great Threat to be driven off, nor any evidence of what could have possibly destroyed the town. The only point of contention in the town is that many of the townspeople are afraid of Chibi, who grew very large and monster-like. Go talk to Seable, and some of the townspeople come in and tell him to get rid of Chibi. Seable refuses, and tells them that Chibi is smart, kind, and docile, and would never harm the town. One guy gets pissed off, and hits Seable. Chibi goes ballistic and rushes to his master's defense. This scares the townspeople out of their wits, who flee the house. Seable thanks Chibi for trying to protect him, but warns him that his method may have only worsened the situation. Talk to the people in town huddled in a group outside of Seable's house. They ask you to kill Chibi, saying he is too dangerous to be in the town. If you agree to kill Chibi, the townsperson who asks you gives you four chances to back out. This should be a fairly good indication to you that killing Chibi is a Bad Idea, (and it is) but if you insist, the townsperson will suggest that you take Chibi out when Seable is sleeping. You'll then need to wait until nighttime, and then go into Seable's house and kill Chibi. If you refuse to kill Chibi, the townspeople decide that they'll have to find out a way to kill him on their own. Go tell Seable of their plan, and he decides that it is far too dangerous for Chibi to keep him in the town. He will ask you help bring Chibi to the nearby mountains late at night while everyone is asleep so as not to draw attention. When nighttime comes, leave town and go to the mountain nearby to the east. Seable isn't pleased with what he has to do, but leaves Chibi behind. Return to Lumen. When you arrive back in town, you hear a woman scream. The town is being invaded by Hellworms. Defeat enough of them (you can't kill them) and Maribel suggests you retreat to Seable's house. Inside Seable's house, you'll just find that the Hellworms have made it inside and are attacking Seable. Save him by killing the Hellworm attacking him. That doesn't help though, and more come. Flee the house, and you'll find a horde of Hellworms outside waiting for you. At this point Chibi appears to save the day--he kills one of the Hellworms, then fends off the invasion by scaring the rest of them off. The town is saved, but Chibi dies from his injuries shortly afterwards though. If you killed Chibi, the invasion of the town still happens, but no cavalry comes this time. You'll have to hide in the well until the invasion is over, and when you finally come above ground, you'll find the town in ruins without a single survivor. Providing that you let Chibi live, all the townspeople are repentant for what they did to Chibi, and all are grateful to him. Seable asks you to visit Chibi's grave, and wonders what it is about him that allows him to make friends with monsters so easily. Return to present-day Lumen. If Chibi saved the town, you'll finally find that it is no longer in ruins. In fact, Chibi's formerly crude grave has become quite fancy, and he is known as the town's hero in legend. The legend is a bit distorted though--the fact that he was a giant insect seems to have been lost over the ages, and you have gone down in history as being Chibi's little sidekicks. With Lumen finally saved, you can head to your next destination. Complete the northeast Green Tablet, and you're off! Chapter 15: The Revival of the Legendary Hero -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Provina: Magic Holy Water, Steel Sword, Small Medal, 37G, Flower Kingfisher Spirit, 530G, Leather Armor, Holy Water, Acorn of Life, Full Moon Herb Provina, Present: Clothes, 340G, Iron Mask, Small Medal x 2, Suteteko Pants, Lips' Spirit, Mysterious Tablet(Yellow) Tallest Tower in the World: Gale Bandana, 370G, Small Medal KEY ITEMS: Picture of the Goddess Top Half of Goddess Statue Bottom Half of Goddess Statue Hot Stone TASKS: 1. Talk to the man hiding at the bridge 2. Enter Provina and learn of its problem with Ruglars 3. Climb to the top of the mountain and visit the Church 4. Chase Roswell to the bridge 5. Return to Provina and go back to the church 6. Get the box for the priest in the basement of the church 7. Get the Priest's Key and the Goddess Picture 8. Get the halves of the Goddess Statue and douse them in the spring 9. Defeat the Dragon Soldier 10. Help the old man in Present-day Provina up the mountain 11. Go to Grand Estard and learn that Hondara sold the Hot Stone to Brugio 12. Search Brugio's villas in Crage and Retrude for him 13. Find Brugio at his estate and tell him about the Stone 14. Bring Brugio to the top of the World's Tallest Tower 15. Use the Hot Stone to revive Melvin -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On your way to the nearby town, you will need to cross over a bridge. On it, you will find a man cowering in terror. He says that something terrible has happened to his town. Continue onward and investigate the source of this problem. As soon as you enter the town, named Provina, the guard at the entrance accosts you and asks if you're from Ruglars. Maribel asks what Ruglars is, and the guard says that it's a country to the south that has been trying to invade the town. When Maribel asks why Ruglars would invade such a small town, the guard avoids the question, and tells you to leave town as soon as your business is complete. Investigate the town. Upon talking to the various townspeople, you will learn that Ruglars wants Provina's Golden Goddess Statue. This statue is kept in the church on the mountain overlooking Provina--it is said to posses magical power that keeps the monsters outside the town at bay. Ruglars recently sent Provina an ultimatum, stating that if they did not hand over the statue, Ruglars' army would invade the town and take it by force. To go to the top of the mountain and see the statue, you'll need to go via a cave tunnel at the north end of town. Do so, and there, you'll learn that the statue is not indigenous to the town, nor is the priest; years ago, the priest washed ashore with the statue near the town. His memory was completely lost, so he took up residence in the town and used the statue to keep the monsters away. Inside the church you will find the Mayor Ordo and his son Roswell arguing about what to do about the ultimatum from Ruglars. Ordo wants to negotiate with the King of Ruglars, but Roswell insists that they will not listen to reason. At this point, a townsperson comes into the church and announces that Ruglars' army is advancing on the town. Roswell grabs the statue and runs out to meet the oncoming army. The priest asks you to chase him down and make sure that he is all right. Go to the bridge and you will find Roswell confronting the army. Rather than give them the statue, he decides to destroy it, saying that as long as it exists, it will merely cause another war. The soldiers merely laugh, saying that now the statue is destroyed, they can perform their "true task." They reveal themselves to be monsters, and they take off to invade the town. Return to town, and you will find it under attack by the monsters, who are stealing the souls of the townspeople. Roswell gets his leg injured in battle, and tells you to protect the priest. On the path up the mountain, you'll find Ordo taking a drink. Maribel tells him what's happening, and Ordo, shocked, runs to town to do what he can. Talk to the priest, and he runs outside to see the silhouette of the burning village below. The vision of the burning village jogs his memory, and he says that he vaguely remembers that the previous town he was at was burnt to the ground by monsters as well. At this point, Roswell arrives to evacuate the priest. Before leaving, they head to the basement of the church to get the priest's belongings. Roswell heads down to get a small box for the priest, and the priest asks you to assist him, as there is another larger box he needs that cannot be moved by one person. In the basement, you won't see a large box anywhere. While you are searching, the priest locks you inside, and tells you that he can no longer run. Hours later, you manage to break out of the basement. The church is in ruins and the priest is gone. Head to town, and you will discover that every one of the townspeople had their souls stolen. Roswell walks away, dropping the box he had picked up for the priest. It has the Priest's Key and the Picture of the Goddess in it. Show Roswell the picture--it's a picture of the injured goddess trying to heal herself in a spring. Roswell remembers that the priest used to put some holy water on the statue every day, and wonders if there is some sort of connection. Head to the bridge and pick up the Top and Bottom Halves of the Statue. Bring them to the spring behind Provina's church to toss them in. Before you try to fix them, however, a monster appears to stop you. BOSS: Dragon Soldier -------------------- All you really need to do in this fight is survive--after a few rounds, the battle ends prematurely as Roswell enters the spring. You give him the statue and he throws it in the spring. The statue gets revived and saps the Dragon Soldier's power. You'll have to fight him again, but he is much easier to kill. In fact, he's a total pushover. You should have no trouble with him whatsoever at this point. As the Dragon Soldier dies, he destroys the statue. Roswell is glad you were able to avenge the town, but is sad that it was demolished. However, at that moment, you hear a strange sound, and witness as the stolen souls of the townspeople are released with the Dragon Soldier's death. Return to the town, and all of the townspeople have their souls back. (not perfectly, though--one person had his soul swapped with his cow's) Leave the town and head back to the portal home. Roswell will stop you as you leave the bridge to bid you farewell. He says that because of your perfect timing, you must have been sent by God to save the village. Head to Provina in the present day. There's not much happening here--several things with cows, (the guy who turned into a cow had kids who can speak with cows, and a boy is trying to milk a bull) but not much else. Head to the church, and you'll find an old man trying to climb the mountain. Help him up, and when you reach the top, it turns out that he's the priest of the town. You'll also learn that after you left, Ordo and Roswell became priests to replace the one who sacrificed his life for the town. Now it's time to release the Legendary Hero from his entrapment. You might be able to free him earlier on in the game than here, but at this point, freeing him is absolutely necessary as you will not be able to proceed without him. If you remember what the Guardian of the Hero Shrine near Mezare said, he mentioned that the Legendary Hero was trapped in a gem that will give off heat when it is time for the Heroes to release him. If you talk to your party while in the Hero Shrine, they will give you clues as to the gem's whereabouts--it is the Hot Stone, discovered by Hondara way back at the beginning of the game. Head back to Grand Estard to get the Hot Stone from him. When you arrive at Grand Estard, you will learn that Brugio came to the town and bought a stone from Hondara. Talk to Hondara, and he will confirm that the stone that he sold was the Hot Stone. Now you have to find the ever-elusive Brugio. You'll pick up rumors in Grand Estard that Brugio is heading to his vacation homes, so head to his vacation homes in Crage and Retrude to try to find him. He won't be in either, however. Talk to all of his employees in each home, and you will learn that he has returned to his manor to stash his treasure. Head there and you can finally meet him. You'll explain to him that you need the stone to revive the Legendary Hero. Brugio is intrigued by your story, but refuses to give up the Hot Stone--after searching for years for a worthy treasure, and finally discovering it, he does not want to let his prize go so easily. Furthermore, he has no way of knowing that the story you are telling is true and that you are not just trying to trick him. You will not be able to convince him, so leave. On the way out he calls out to you to stop you. He comes up to you and say that he's changed his mind about giving you the stone. Your story about the Legendary Hero has excited him--he wants to see the Hero for himself, and joins your party. Head to the World's Tallest Tower; it is west of the Medal King Castle. Formerly locked, the Hot Stone will give off a burst of light as you approach, and the tower's doors will open. The tower itself is, as its name says, rather tall. It takes a while to climb, and the maze-like levels don't make it any easier. However, the monsters there are nothing to lose sleep over, so it shouldn't be too hard to make it to the top. Once you arrive, Brugio hands over the Hot Stone for you to use. Walk to the highest point in the tower and hold the stone to the sky. An old man appears, and asks you what happened at the battle between God and the Demonlord. He was sealed in the Hot Stone during the battle, and the hundreds of years that have passed since have seemed to be but an instant to him. You will explain what you learned so far; that the Demonlord did indeed kill God, but died himself in the battle, and thus peace came to the world. Melvin is a bit concerned about the state of the world; he is not convinced that the Demonlord died so easily, and wonders why the world is not in a state of chaos if he indeed did win the battle. He joins you. Be sure to pick up the Tablet Fragment that materialized with him before you leave the tower! Brugio is a bit disappointed at the arrival of the hero--he was expecting a dashing young man or gorgeous young heroine--but is happy enough to have witnessed such a monumental event. Once you reach the bottom of the tower, Brugio takes a hike, and goes off to search for a new fantastic treasure for his collection. Go back to Mezare to tell Nicora of your success in reviving the Legendary Hero. However, you will discover upon your arrival that he already knows of the Hero's revival! Apparently it was a misunderstanding though--Nicora mistook a wandering warrior that came to Mezare for the Legendary Hero. The warrior pulls you aside and explains the story--not wanting to disappoint him, the warrior played along, but got more than he bargained for as the entire town hailed his arrival as a hero. He pleads with you to play along with the farce, saying that if he is revealed to NOT be the Legendary Hero, the entire town will reject him as a scammer. Agree, and the "fake hero" thanks you, telling you that he will depart the town soon, leaving the townspeople none the wiser. Before you complete your next Tablet, (the Southeast Red tablet) you should head to Darma ASAP and get Melvin into a job. He will be trailing far behind the rest of the party in terms of abilities, so you will need to get his skills up as fast as you can. If you have extra money lying around (which is unlikely, but possible) you might want to outfit him with some better equipment as well. Chapter 16: Aira, Heir to the Dancer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Mardillas: 5G, Magic Shield, Amazing Acorn, Bow Tie, Pointed Hat, Magic Holy Water, 13G, 310G, Dodge Clothes, 250G, Amazing Acorn Great Temple: Amazing Acorn, Magic Holy Water Cave: Medical Herb Yuvarl Camp: Acorn of Life x 2, Meaty Bone, Small Medal, 60G, Mardillas, Present day: Small medal x 2, Party Dress, Defense Seed Great Temple, Present Day: Small Medal, Mysterious Tablet(Green) KEY ITEMS: Sparkling Holy Water Queen Mother's Letter Starry Sky Crystal High Priest's Letter Tura of the Earth TASKS: 1. Investigate Ruglars Castle and Mardillas 2. Bluff your way past the guards into the castle 3. (Optional) Retrieve the Sparkling Holy Water 4. Get the letter from the former Queen 5. Deliver the letter to the High Priest 6. Climb the mountain to get the Starry Sky Crystal, bypassing the waterfall 7. Bring the Crystal to the High Priest and get the Priest's Letter 8. Go to Mardillas and help Dino 9. Talk to the King and explore the Magic Research Facility in Town 10. Return to the High Palace to check up on the High Priest 11. Go to Mardillas and defeat Medirra's Emissary 12. Enter the Magic Research Facility, then chase after the King 13. Defeat Zepple 14. Go to Fishbell and check up on Maribel's father 15. Talk to Bolcano and learn about the Yuvarl caravan 16. Head to the Yuvarl Caravan and learn about the ceremony 17. Follow Aira to the West Cape 18. Return the camp and join Aira 19. Talk to Greta about the Earth Tura 20. (Optional) Complete Azmof's quest to find his hat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you complete the next Tablet, you'll discover that you're in the country of Ruglars, the great military power you learned about in Provina. However, visit their castle, and you'll see that they're not so tough any more...the castle is in ruins. Over ten years ago Ruglars invaded and conquered the neighboring country of Mardillas. However, after years of servitude, the magician army of Mardillas struck back and gave Ruglars a thorough butt-whupping. And while they blew up the castle and sent the country's finest swordsmen running home with their tails between their legs, they hardly killed anybody--they even left the king alive. The only person of any stature that they did not let live was the soldier captain and general of the Ruglars army. There's not much going on in Ruglars besides a dejecting king and a bunch of soldiers licking their wounds, so head to Mardillas and find out what's going on there. There, you'll find a rather large town bustling with activity. There's a lot of magic-related stuff going on--a magical research facility (that you cannot enter) and plenty of mages of all ages; even a little girl, Mikuwa, is trying to learn her first spells. Not everything is well and good, however--talk to the priest, Dino, who is a childhood friend of the king--he will tell you that the king is acting strangely, trying to build up the country's power even after having defeated Ruglars and there's nobody left to fight. In addition, he has erected a blockade separating Mardillas from the Great Temple to the south, and is looking for powerful Magic Users to join his army. Head to Mardillas castle. The guard won't let you inside, and asks if you're a messenger from Medirra. Tell him yes--he is suspicious of you, and asks you to wait in the foyer while he consults with the king to make sure you are who you claim to be. Rather than wait, investigate the areas of the castle that you can now enter. You can meet the king's parents, who will ask you to deliver a letter to the High Priest at the Great Temple. Agree, and they will give you authorization to pass through the checkpoint between Mardillas and the Temple. At another area in the castle, you will find a locked treasure chest. There's a man standing next to it sent to get the contents by his master. However, he has forgotten how to open it, although he remembers the clue to the mechanism: "Through the Statue, Cross the T." Solution: ____ 3 ____ | | | | 1 $ 2 #| | |____ 4 ____| (#=statue, $=chest) You need to enter via the entrance near the statue, then create a "T" in the way in which you enter and exit the room that holds the chest. Starting at the "1," you need to enter/exit doors in numerical order according to the chart above, and the chest will open. The chest contains Beautifully Sparkling Holy Water. Give it to the man and he will thank you, and tell you that he is an apprentice to the staff maker of the Fire Tower in the castle. He asks you to visit him later, and he will reward you. Once you've completed these tasks, return to where the guard first let you in. He has discovered that you are not Medirra's messenger and will kick you out of the castle for trying to bluff your way in. However, now that you have the Queen Mother's Letter, you can bring it to the checkpoint and get past it to go to the Great Temple. You should do so now. When you arrive at the temple, give the letter the Queen Mother gave you to the High Priest. He will read the letter--it concerns the activities of the King. He will tell you that he is researching a special magic that will help prevent tragedy in the country, and asks you to find a reagent necessary to the spell that he needs. The name of the reagent is the "Starry Sky Crystal," which is located in the cave to the northwest. Head to the cave. The pathway up the mountain is not a complicated one, and there is no treasure there (aside from a mere Medical Herb in the house halfway up the mountain) so you don't need to waste your time searching every cranny for anything special. Enter the house by the pool, and you'll find a dwarf and his wife living there. The dwarf asks what you're doing this far up the mountain, and you explain about how you are searching for the Starry Sky Crystal. The dwarf tells you that you can get the Crystal at the top of the mountain, but at the moment you won't be able to proceed because the waterfall would wash you away should you try to walk through it. He says that in the wee hours of the morning, the waterfall stops flowing for a very short period of time, during which you will able to proceed. The dwarf's wife will tell you that since you can only get the Crystals when the stars reflect off of the pool at the top of the mountain, your window of time to make it to the top of the mountain is short; you need to make it to the top by the time the sun rises. You'll be able to stay at the dwarf's house until it's time for the waterfall to stop flowing--he will wake you up when it's time. Rest, and you'll make it under the waterfall just in time before it starts again. Continue on to the top of the mountain to get the crystal. Be careful not to take the passageway that drops you off on the other side of the waterfall before getting it; if you do, you'll be stuck and will have to spend another night in the dwarf's house to pass under the waterfall again. Once you get the Crystal, speak to the dwarf again, and he will tell you that in truth his house was an inn, but as you were working for the High Priest he merely asks for you to pay for how many nights you stayed-- it's optional. It's a petty sum, so don't be stingy and pay him. :) When you bring the Crystal back to the High Priest, he will tell you that he's been hearing bad rumors about the King of Mardillas--specifically, that he has been trying to revive the Ultimate Magic that once laid waste to an entire continent. He tried to persuade the King not to pursue such dangerous research, but the King would not listen to him and built the roadblock to keep the Priest out of his hair. He will give you a letter, and tells you that if you show this letter to the castle guards that they will let you inside. He asks you to stall the king and slow his research of the Ultimate Magic while he works on developing a spell to counter it. When you return to Mardillas, you will find that Mikuwa has finally learned to cast Mera...but has not mastered it, and goes out of control, pelting fireballs all over the place. One accidentally strikes a cloaked man who was walking nearby. Mikuwa apologizes, and the cloaked man asks if she wants to become a Magic User. Mikuwa says yes, and the man says "Then I'll demonstrate for you" and casts Merazoma at her. Dino jumps in the way of the blast and takes it in the chest, as the cloaked man walks off. While he is hurt severely, he is still all right--check his wounds, and you will carry him to the church, where the nun there will heal him. Dino is very concerned, and wonders if the man that tried to kill Mikuwa was someone associated with Zeppel. (the king) At this point, Dino will tell you about his connection with Zepple, and you'll see a flashback to the past when they were all 8. He, Zepple, and their friend Lucia are playing near the castle when a wounded soldier limps in and reports that Ruglars is attacking before he collapses and dies. Another soldier approaches the children and asks Zepple what he's doing outside. Zepple responds that he is merely playing, and the soldier starts to take the three children into the castle where they will be safe. He's too late, however; a team of soldiers from Ruglars approaches and surrounds the soldier, Zepple, Dino, and Lucia. The head soldier, who also happens to be the captain of the guard, orders the other soldiers to capture the prince. The Mardillas soldier tries to defend the children, but the Soldier Captain attacks him and hits him with a stunning blow, sending him flying back. The unfortunate soldier bumps into Lucia as he is being knocked back, and they both plummet off the edge of the cliff to their deaths. Zepple is enraged and tries to kill the Soldier Captain, but he is only a child and no match for him--the Captain beats Zepple to a pulp, telling him that Mardillas is weak because they rely on magic rather than on swordsmanship like Ruglars. Dino explains that for the next 10 years, Mardillas was subservient to Ruglars, until Zepple ascended to the throne and built up the strength of the Mage army until they were powerful enough to wipe the Ruglars army off the map. Dino tells you that the King is seeking the Ultimate Magic to make sure that Mardillas is never conquered again. Head to the castle. The guards let you in upon seeing your letter, as they honor the High Priest's wishes as much as they would the King's. The man in the dark robe who tried to kill Mikuwa (who is the real messenger of Medirra) is giving something to the king. As soon as he sees you, he leaves. Talk to the king, and he will insist that he's not researching the Ultimate Magic. Talking to him is useless, so go back to town and enter the Magic Research Facility--the letter from the High Priest will get you past the guards there as well. You won't be able to find any evidence of any subversive research going on, so leave. As you exit, a messenger from the Great Temple comes and asks you to return--the High Priest has finished developing his spell. However, when you arrive back in the Great Palace, you will witness the High Priest adding the final ingredient, and the spell failing. Disappointed, the High Priests asks you to go back and spy on the king while he tries again. As soon as you enter Mardillas, you will be greeted by Medirra's emissary, who tells you that the King is about to complete the preparations for the Ultimate Magic. If he casts it, it will give him great power--by turning him into the God of Destruction, who will eventually destroy the entire continent before consuming himself. You ask the emissary why he's telling you all this and he responds "I might as well, seeing as how you're going to die right here." As you go back, Medirra's emissary comes and says that the King is about to complete the Ultimate Magic. When he casts it, it will turn him into the God of Destruction, who will destroy the entire continent, and eventually himself. He says "Why am I telling you this? Because you're going to die right here." He attacks. BOSS: Medirra's Emissary ------------------------ It's almost not worth mentioning anything about Medirra's Emissary, as he's not particularly difficult to kill. He has a slew of HP, but shouldn't pack enough punch to do you in. Winning this battle shouldn't require a whole lot of effort on your part. Talk to the guard by the door to the Magic Research Facility. He overheard what the emissary told you and will let you in, telling you that the king just entered the Facility himself just now. When you enter, you'll find Dino trying to fight his way past the researchers blocking his way to the lower level. Eventually he forces his way in--follow him. In the basement of the Research Facility, you arrive just as Zepple is casting his spell. Dino tries to kill him, apologizing for having to resort to such measures, but the spell he casts merely bounces right back. Zepple says that without power he can't protect anyone, and thus the Ultimate Magic is necessary. He casts the spell, Manastis, then runs out of the room. Chase after him to the castle. At the bridge, you'll find him calling out to Lucia that he won't let anyone hurt her again. He then loses consciousness as his body transforms and attacks you. You can't beat Zepple, so don't try--just let him kill you. After he smacks you down, he runs into the castle. The High Priest comes by and resurrects you, and explains that he has completed his spell. Go with him into the castle. The High Priest casts his spell, Majastis, on the king, and while it weakens him, doesn't kill him. You need to finish the job yourselves. BOSS: Zepple ------------ Zepple can be pretty tough, as he uses a very powerful attack/Merazoma combo. You'll want at least one person dedicated to healing. I had Melvin use Nio's Stand, with Maribel casting Behoma (though anyone with Behoma would work if your Maribel doesn't have it) on him every round, while my Hero and Gabo focused on the damage-dealing. After you defeat the King, the power of his spell is broken, and both he and Dino are incapacitated by the strain their respective spells had on their bodies. Dino comes in and thanks you for saving the King, and takes both men away for healing. The next day the High Priest heads back to his temple, and asks you stop by later. Come back after completing a couple of quests, and he will have perfected his Majastis spell and will teach it to you. After learning Majastis, you will later be able to learn its "big-brother" spell, Gigajastis. Also, before you head back to the present, talk to the staff maker, who will provide you with a Lightning Staff in thanks for opening the chest for him. When you arrive in the present time, you start to head back to your village, and someone from Fishbell comes up to tell Maribel that her father is very sick. Head to Maribel's house--you will find that her father is no longer in danger of dying, but the priest tells you that his worrying about Maribel will only cause him more stress and will make things worse. He orders her to stay with her father while he is still sick. Maribel consents, and leaves your party. She won't be back for quite some time, so you'll need to adapt your combat strategy to compensate for her loss. Head to your house and talk to Bolkano, who will mention seeing a strange nomadic tribe to the northwest while out fishing. Head to the area where you first met the Yuvarl, and you will find them there again, having the same ceremony they were before--only this time, someone called Aira is doing the dance, rather than Lyla. Rather than complete the ceremony though, Aira decides she doesn't want to finish it and skips out mid-way. She leaves town. Follow Aira to the West Cape. you'll find her at a gravesite. She leaves, saying that she has no intention of becoming the next in line to inherit the Dancer position. Head back to camp, and you'll find her talking to the elder--she says that she is going to seek someone who can play the Earth Tura. The Elder objects, but Aira says she'll be all right since she'll be with you. She doesn't give you a chance to dissent, and forces her way into your party. The Elder will give her the Earth Tura. Before departing, Aira takes you back to the grave. She explains that the grave is of one of her ancestors, and his sword is there; she wants to bring it along. She talks a bit about her ancestor, and from her description, you will learn that the grave is Keefa's. You take a rest on the beach before departing. When you do leave, Aira gives you a green Tablet Fragment. Head to Mardillas. After the fiasco of the King-Turned-Rampaging-God, people stopped using magic there, and turned to music instead. A lot of people are talking about an exceptional Tura player named Johan. He is supposedly very good, but doesn't put a lot of work into practicing his musical abilities, and rather focuses his efforts into trying to be a player of another sort. Head to the castle and talk to the princess, Greta, who is the head of the country. Tell her about your search for the Legendary Musician, and she gets excited (this being the Country of Music and all) and says that she will open a musician's tournament where the contestants have to play the Earth Tura. Since only the Legendary Musician should be able to play it well, it will be a good way to find out who it is. To attract musicians from across the globe, she posts a very large reward to the winner as bait. Greta tells you that it will take a while for contestants to gather, and asks you to come back later. The contest will not be held for quite some time (read: Disk 2) so you won't need to come back for a while. You'll also want to head to the Great Temple as well. You'll learn that you'll have to use "Through the Statue, cross the T" to get through the staircase in the courtyard as well. You'll find a new Tablet Fragment waiting for you underground there. Optional: Azmof's quest This is just a mini-quest in the game, and isn't necessary to complete it. I'm not 100% sure at what point you'll be able to perform this quest, but it was at this point in the game that I discovered it, so I'm putting it here. Return to Harmelia and you'll discover that Azmof had his special hat that increases his intelligence stolen. In addition, after losing his hat, he went to Retrude and registered his intelligence in the Ranking, and is now no longer the smartest person in the world. Azmof's assistant is upset--while Azmof is a brilliant man on his own, he wants his mentor to be the smartest. Azmof is very calm about the theft and tells his assistant that he doesn't want people looking for it. Talk to the people around the area, and they will tell you that they saw someone suspicious-looking wearing dirty clothes around Azmof's house. If this isn't enough of a hint for you to figure out who stole it, (and it's not a great one-- at first I thought it was Hondara but it's not) head to Retrude and check out the rankings to see who beat out Azmof in the intelligence ranking. Azmof is #2, and "Eteponge" is #1. If you remember way back to when you encountered the bandits outside Darma, Eteponge is the really stupid one that looks like a zombie. Guess who stole the hat? Go talk to Eteponge. He's MUCH more coherent than he was before, and surprise, surprise--he's wearing Azmof's hat. He denies stealing it at first, but the bandit boss harasses a confession out of him. The bandit boss berates Eteponge, saying that "stealing for personal purposes is not allowed." Eteponge gives back the Knowledge Hat, and removes his Ranking from the charts. Take it back to Azmof, and he will tell you to keep it. Defense-wise, it's not that great a piece of equipment, but will boost your intelligence up 20 points, which is useful when you're trying to win the Intelligence Ranking Contest. Your next tablet is the final Green Tablet, in the southeast corner of the Green Room of the Mysterious Palace. Head there and complete it to travel to your next destination. Chapter 17: The Valley of the Wind -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Valley of the Holy Wind: Small Medal, 210G, Pot Lid, 20G, Boomerang, Meaty Bone, 3G, Monster Habitat Plan, Small Medal, Lightning Staff, Magic Holy Water, World Tree Leaf Wind Palace: Small Medal, Acorn of Life, 350G, Kimera Spirit, Defense Seed Valley of the Holy Wind, present: 540G, 320G, Silver Tray, Gaudy clothes, 10G, Acorn of Life Wind Palace, Present: Small Medal x 2, Acorn of Life, Mysterious Tablet (Blue), Meaty Bone, Sap of the World Tree, Mysterious Tablet (Yellow) Coral Cave: Monster Habitat Plan, Mysterious Tablet? KEY ITEMS: God Stone Pure Robe TASKS: 1. Learn of the Valley's troubles and agree to get the God Stone 2. Defeat the Darkness Demon guarding the entrance to the Wind Palace 3. Retrieve the God Stone from the Wind Palace and bring it to the Elder 4. Take Philia to the Wind Palace and set the God Stone in its stand 5. Rotate the walls to create a wind tunnel to dispose of the black mist 6. Defeat the Hell Clouder 7. Return to the present and visit the Valley and Wind Palace 8. Bring the God Stone to God's Shrine and traverse the Coral Cave 9. Use the God Stone on God's Crest to travel to the Palace of God's Soldiers 10. Get the Pure Robe from the Dancer in the Palace of God's Soldiers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The town you'll need to go to upon entering this area is to the north in a river valley. Head there, and you will find the Valley of the Holy Wind, the home of the Rifa, a tribe of winged people. The people there are able to fly using the propulsion of the wind, which flows constantly through the Valley from the Wind Shrine to the north. However, the Rifa are currently uneasy, as they have been driven from the Wind Temple by monsters that have taken up residence there. What's worse, the God Stone which provides the Rifa with the wind they need to fly remains in the Wind Temple, and the Wind in the valley is weakening. Enter the Elder's house, and you will find the Elder of the tribe arguing with his mother. The Elder insists that the God Stone must be retrieved from the Wind Shrine, as it is what gives the valley the endless wind it enjoys. His mother argues that the unnaturally occurring endless wind is unnecessary, and that in the past the Rifa flew on Nature's wind alone. The Elder says that with the wind in its current state, something needs to be done, and his mother tells him he can do what he pleases but if he goes to the palace he may not live. Talk to the elder, and he will tell you that the Rifa originally were based out of the Wind Temple, but a dark cloud descended upon it and monsters invaded--they then all fled to the village carved in the wall of the Valley. He says that the townspeople have attempted to retrieve the God Stone from the Temple, but couldn't even get close with the monsters there--the Rifa have very light frames and bone structures to allow them to fly, and lack the physique to fight the monsters. This is of course where you come in--as hardy humans, you have what it takes to get the stone back. The elder asks you to do so. Agree. Cross the river to leave town. On the way out, you'll encounter Philia, the Elder's daughter, and two other children. The children are going to fly off to pick flowers and ask Philia to come, but she cannot, as she has no wings to fly. The children don't see how she could be the daughter of the Elder, and Philia explains that she's not Rifa and is adopted. Upon realizing that Philia is not just wingless, but not a Rifa at all, the other children start to tease her. Come to her aid, and the children flee, saying "They're not Rifa either! They must be Philia's friends!" If you chase after them, they'll explain that they're not trying to be hurtful, but just feel the urge to make fun of Philia when they see she's not like them. Once you've crossed the river and left the Valley, you can head up north to the Temple. There's a scout station near the Temple where some Rifa are watching the state of the palace, looking for an opening to sneak in and take the stone. When you talk to the people there, one man will tell you that you won't be able to proceed far into the Temple, as there is a door there that only those with Rifa blood can open. A woman nearby corrects him, saying that since the God Stone is not located beyond the door, you can still retrieve it. You can't go straight to the Palace, but have to enter from below in a series of caves. The first part is straightforward, but then you will enter a pitch black room with a monster statue in it. If you make a false step, you will fall into a pit and have to return back to an earlier area of the dungeon. If you examine the statue, you will be able to pivot its position. This puzzle is not particularly difficult; the trick is to pivot the statue, then walk in the exact opposite direction to the one that the statue faces until you reach another monster statue. Repeat the process until you eventually find your way into the next room. Waiting for you in the next room is a Darkness Demon. In order to get proceed further, you'll have to kill it. BOSS: Darkness Demon -------------------- If you were dumb like me and picked jobs so that Maribel was the only character with Priest spells, this fight can be tough. The Demon casts Bagicross, so it's important that you go into battle with magic-resistance items equipped. Make sure that you have at least one character devoted to healing; two if nobody has the Behoma spell. One strategy that worked for me was to have Melvin use the Wave Sword to create a Mahokanta barrier, then had him use Nio's Stand. When the Majin cast Bagicross, they were all reflected (though they did no damage to the Demon) and I had two characters heal Melvin, while the fourth attacked. It took a while, but worked. Note that if you use this strategy, all healing you do of Melvin will have to be through the use of items or skills, as his Mahokanta will reflect any healing magic you try to cast on him. Once the Darkness Majin Demon dies, the door opens, but the cloud of darkness engulfing the shrine doesn't go away. Go into the palace and retrieve the God Stone. The path to the stone itself is somewhat convoluted and drawn-out due to the blockaded central room with the rotating walls, but once you reach the Stone the way out is not as rough. Bring the God Stone to the Elder. You'll find that the Elder isn't home, but his mother is there talking to Philia--she tells her that if the wind stops the Rifa will die, but she will be able to survive. Philia is confident that the God Stone will return and bring the wind back to full health, but the Elder's mother tells her that it's not the Stone that protects the valley's wind. At this point the Elder returns home and sees you have the stone. Give it to him, and he throws a big party for you. The next day, shake off your hangover and go to the Elder's house. He's frantic, as the God Stone is gone. You learn that his mother took it, and gave it to Philia, telling her to throw it in the river. The Elder rushes out to stop her, and his mother berates him for not trusting Philia more--knowing how important the stone is to her father she would never toss it in the river. Go across the bridge, and the wind will suddenly stop. Everyone in the valley falls over, paralyzed. Talk to the Elder, and he will tell you that he thinks the wind stopped because you took the God Stone from the palace. His mother calls him an idiot, and tells you to go get Philia. When you find Philia, you'll see she's fallen off a cliff. Go to help her, but she lets go before you can reach her. However, before she hits the ground, the God Stone slows her descent and saves her. Take her to the Elder's mother, and she will explain that the wind has stopped because the Black Cloud has engulfed the Spirit Statue at the Wind Temple. In order to start the wind again and save the Rifa, you'll have to go to the palace and disperse the cloud. Of course, you're in a bind, since you cannot reach the statue without going past the door that only the Rifa can open. The Elder's mother tells you to take Philia with you and have her open the door--Rifa protests, saying that she isn't Rifa herself so she can't help. Her grandmother responds by saying that she really IS the Elder's biological daughter--she was just born without wings, and to save face her father claimed that she was adopted. Philia will join your party. Take her to the palace, and she will be able to open the door beyond the God Stone's stand. Beyond the door, you can reach the statue and the mist surrounding it. However, by yourselves you will be unable to disperse it. To get rid of it, first, you need to put the God Stone back where you found it. Then, you have to create a "wind tunnel" directly from the Stone room and the exit to the statue--by creating a straight passage you can use the wind generated by the Stone to blow the mist away. Of course, the central room is not in the correct position for such a passage, so you'll need to create one yourself by rotating the sections of wall using the purple rotation switches on the ground. It's not too difficult, but below is diagram of what the room should look like and the exact positions of the rotation switches will be when the passageway is complete: Stone __________ ____ | _______| | | | *| _______| | | | | * | | *| |______ | | |______ |* | | * | | | |_________| |___| Statue (asterisks indicate rotation switches) Once the wind tunnel is complete, the wind flows from the Stone room to the Statue, and blows the dark cloud away. Philia heads to retrieve the God Stone and asks you to make sure the Statue is all right. Exit via the door to the Statue. (it's safe to "break" the tunnel, now that the cloud is gone) You'll find a monster there who is very amused with your performance and congratulates you on your sharpness. He tells you that in order to restore the wind you will have to defeat him, as it is he who is causing the wind to stop. BOSS: Hell Clouder ------------------ This is one of the toughest bosses in the game. It may be partially because I didn't have Maribel and her skills, but I took more dirt naps courtesy of the Hell Clouder than any other boss or monster in the game. The primary reason that the Hell Clouder is so hard to kill is that he summons Baby Clouds to help him. Not only are the Baby clouds tough to kill for underlings (they have ~300 HP each) but they will constantly cast Rariho on your party, and while your characters are snoozing the Hell Clouder will open up a big ol' can of whoopass on you. The strategy I found that works the best is to use Mahoton or Magic- Sealing Song on the Baby Clouds. Without their magic, they're relatively harmless. Ignore them once they're magicless (if you kill them the Hell Clouder will just summon more) and focus all your attention on the Clouder. I've found Fire techniques and Io spells to work quite well on him. (the downside with Io spells is that they'll take out the Baby Clouds as well) Boosting up your defense with Battle Song or Skult is helpful too; even if the Baby Clouds are out of commission he still packs a nasty punch. If Aira is level 23 or higher, her Song of the Spirits will make things easier in case someone dies. The Clouder is completely immune to any attacks that do Bagi Damage, which unfortunately means some of the nicer techniques (Vacuum Slash, Kamaitachi, Hurricane, etc.) are not options. When the Hell Cloud dies, the darkness is lifted, and the wind starts to flow again. Go pick up Philia and leave. On the way back, go to the scout post if you want; a scout comes back to say the temple is clean. Go to the valley, and the Elder's mother thanks you for saving the village, and apologizes to Philia for holding out on telling her the truth for so long. Philia says that she's not upset at all, and is happy to know that she's her father's biological child. She asks what to do with the God Stone. Her grandmother says it's just an ordinary rock, so she can just toss it. You tell her how the stone saved Philia when she fell off the cliff. Surprised by your story, the elder's mother performs a little experiment and discovers that Philia can fly so long as she holds the Stone. Philia decides she doesn't want it though and gives it to you to remember her by. The Valley of the Holy Wind is saved now, so you can head back to the present time and visit it there. There's nothing of any particular interest happening there though--over the years, the Rifa have lost their wings and ability to fly. You won't be able to visit the elder's house, as a townsperson will block your entry. Other than that, the only thing going on here are some children playing with boomerangs. Head to the temple. Here you'll learn that the Spirit statue has been named Philia, and the legend of how she saved the Rifa. The only other piece of vital information here comes from a researcher who will tell you about several temples that fell from the sky ages ago, the nearest located to the east. Also, be sure to pick up the two Tablet Fragments here, as they will allow you passage to the next area. Before you head back to the Mysterious Palace though, head East to find the fallen temple the woman at the Wind Temple was telling you about--it's located east of Forish by the lake. There you'll find a man who is waiting for the people who hold the God Stone to arrive. Show the Stone to him, and he'll open the door to the north, allowing you access to the pond. Climb over the large lily pads to the flower--it will take you to the Coral Cave underwater. The God Stone will create an air pocket around you that will allow you to breathe. The only thing of particular note here is a monster in the second part of the cave that will ask you if you know the whereabouts of the King of the Sea. If you tell him you do, he will ask you to plead with the King on his behalf to change him back to the normal sea creature he used to be. If you do this for him, he will reward you. You won't be able to find the King of the Sea for quite some time though, so don't break your backs looking for him at the moment. At the very end of the cave, you'll find a large crest. Raise the God Stone to the sky here, and a platform will appear to take you to the palace that floats in the sky. You'll find yourself in the Palace of God's Soldiers. God's Soldiers were warriors that fought for God in his battle against the Demonlord years ago- -the temple was built as a place for them to stay. Obviously all of God's Soldiers are long dead, and the people here are their descendants, waiting for the arrival of the Legendary Hero. You will learn that originally there were five Palaces in total in the sky, but the other four fell to Earth. Also, make sure to speak to the Dancer here--she will give you the Pure Robe, which is necessary in the ritual dance to revive God. You can use the platform that you rode up here to travel through the air to other sections of the Palace. At one section, you'll find the Revival Dais, where you can finally place some of those Mysterious Tablets? that you've found. Once you're done here, head back to the Mysterious Palace to complete the final Yellow tablet in the northeast corner of the room. Chapter 18: The Gentle Monster -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Lebressack: Small Medal, Amazing Acorn Demon Mountain: Power Seed, Monster Habitat Plan, Small Medal, Meaty Bone, 650G Lebressack, Present: Meaty Bone, Mysterious Tablet (Blue), Rabbit-ear band, 5 Small Medals, Defense Seed KEY ITEMS: Ancient Monument TASKS: 1. Go to Lebressack and learn the situation 2. Rescue the missing villager on the endless road 3. Speak to all the townspeople, then go to the church and talk to the monster 4. Talk to the Mayor and refuse to help kill the monster 5. Escape from prison and try to rescue the monster 6. Climb Demon Mountain and defeat Botoku at its peak 7. Return to Lebressack to save the monster 8. In the present, help Rif find the truth about the history of Lebressack -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next major town, Lebressack, is engulfed in a deep mist. As soon as you enter the town, a man will ask you to help find his missing brother, who attempted to go through the mountain pass to the south. Everyone else in the town is in a frenzy--a monster has taken residence in the church, and apparently killed several townspeople already. Head to the south to the mountain pass. The fog there is cursed, and anyone who tries to pass through it will find themselves back where they started. You'll find the missing villager here as well--he is running in circles trying to proceed through the cursed fog. Just as you arrive, you are ambushed by monsters who come to eat you. One of them hesitates, saying that "if we eat them we'll anger the priest." The second monster says that if they eat your bones as well there will be no evidence so there's no problem. They attack. You'll need to fight a battle with two Forest Guards. Well, at least the game SAYS they're Forest Guards, but they're far hardier than any other Forest Guards you'll encounter in the game. Still, they're nothing more than low-level monsters, and should go down easily. Once the Forest Guards are out of commission, the lost villager becomes elated upon seeing your strength, and says that you might be able to defeat the monster. He heads back to town. Follow him, and go to the Mayor's house. There you'll find the villager recanting his story to the Mayor. The elder is excited to hear what the villager has to tell, and asks where you are. The villager you saved stalls a bit, and the other man in the room asks him "You DID bring them to the town, right?" At this point the villager will see you and ask you to come in. After explaining what happened to the Mayor, he asks you to help the town defeat the monster that has taken up residence in the church. He asks you to gather information from the villagers. Talk to the villagers, and you will hear the full story. Originally, when the town was first engulfed in fog, the townspeople were able to pinpoint the source of the mist as coming from the nearby Demon Mountain. Being the most able people in the village, the priest, the strongest man in the village, the village woodcutter and his wife all went to the mountain to defeat the monsters and get rid of the fog. None of them returned--instead, the monster now wearing the slain priest's clothes came to town and shut himself in the church. The townspeople are convinced that he is planning some evil plan, as either a scout to plan a monster invasion or to kill the townspeople himself. Head to the graveyard and you'll find the son of the woodcutter at his parents' graves swearing revenge. The monster comes outside, but won't touch the boy. The child tells the monster he will kill it eventually, then runs away. Follow him, and he will introduce himself as Lucas. Lucas says that the Goddess Statue in his house will protect him, even though his parents are dead. Return to the church and enter the back door and talk to the monster. It won't attack you, but will merely look at you with a sad look on its face. Go to the mayor's house. There the townspeople are having a meeting to discuss how to deal with the monster. The Mayor explains that as you were able to kill the monsters that were on the mountain pass, you will be able to help lead the villagers in killing the monster. At this point, Lucas pulls you aside and asks to talk to you in private. He starts to say how he thinks the monster might not be so bad, but then says "never mind" and leaves. Talk to the Mayor, and he says you should attack the monster before it has a chance to do anything. Someone proposes burning down the church while the monster sleeps. Another objects, saying that the fire could spread and get out of control. Eventually they decide to form an old-fashioned angry mob to take out the monster. They plan to meet in front of the church to attack. Talk to the mayor and he will ask for your help. (and won't take no for an answer) He will tell you to get ready and then and talk to him again. When you tell him you're ready, he'll say "Let's go kill the monster!" At this point you have two paths you can take--you can either agree to kill the monster, or you can refuse. If you refuse, the mayor will ask if you're serious. If you say you are, he'll have the townspeople throw you into a makeshift prison. If you agree, you'll have to rest upstairs until it's time for the assault. IF YOU DECIDED TO KILL THE MONSTER: Head to the church and talk to the monster. After scoping him out, the townspeople will start to attack. The monster on the other hand just sits there and takes it, refusing to defend itself. Lucas will then pull you aside behind the church and plead with you to stop the villagers, telling you that he thinks the monster is not bad. Talk to the mayor to try to convince him not to kill the monster. He will get angry at you and have the townspeople beat YOU up and toss you onto Demon Mountain. IF YOU REFUSED TO KILL THE MONSTER: Tell the girl at the door to your prison you won't be bad more, and she will let you out. Lucas comes running up, saying that the townspeople are going to kill the monster and asks you to help. Talk to him and he will join you. Go to the church and you will find the townspeople beating the snot out of the monster, who doesn't even lift a finger to defend itself. Severely weakened, the monster tries to beg for its life. Talk to the mayor--having seen that you escaped from your prison, he catches you and dumps you all onto Demon Mountain. Now that you're stuck on Demon Mountain, you'll need to find a way out through the forest, as the normal exit is blockaded. You'll need to climb over the mountain before you can escape. At the top of the mountain, you will find a bunch of monsters generating the fog that is engulfing the mountain. You'll find that the Priest of Lebressack is there as well! Talk to him, and you'll learn that in fact he is really a monster. What happened was that when the priest and his party climbed the mountain, everyone but the priest was killed and only he made it to the top where the boss monsters were hanging out. Obviously in no position to defeat the monsters, he struck a bargain with them. He got them to promise not to attack the town for as long as he lived, and in exchange, he swapped bodies with the lead monster. Therefore the monster in town is really the priest. And, once the townspeople kill the priest, the monsters are free to burn the town to the ground. In fact, the monsters are making such preparations right now. Obviously your party won't sit for this, so you attack the lead monster. BOSS: Botoku ------------ Botoku is a wuss. The only thing he can do to hurt you is physically attack. Get your defense high enough through Skara/Skult/War Song and he's powerless. He can seal your magic with Mahoton and use Deadly Poison, effectively preventing you from any curing outside of Antidote Herbs, but the damage the poison does per round is negligible, especially if you use the Staff of Blessings for healing. You can even cast Rukani on him and it works. Once Botoku is dead, the other monsters flee and the fog dissipates. Head back to town. They townspeople have hung up the priest/monster and are about to burn him at the stake. Lucas tries to stop them. At that point the priest takes his true form and collapses. Take him to the church--Lucas goes and gets the Goddess Statue, bringing it in hopes that it will save the priest. Go to Mayor's house, and explain to the mayor what happened. He asks you to go see Lucas and see how he's doing. As you arrive, the priest limps out of the house and asks you to take him to the town exit. He says that if the townspeople see him they will remember what they did and feel awful, so he wants to leave the town as his presence will only cause feelings of guilt amongst the townspeople. As you reach the edge of town, Lucas runs up to see where you're taking the Priest. The priest explains that he's leaving town and asks Lucas to thank the townspeople for him. Lucas is bewildered as to why the priest would be thanking them, and tries to convince the priest not to leave. He asks your opinion. Regardless of what you say, the priest says his decision is final. Lucas gives the priest the statue to protect him. The priest thanks Lucas and leaves. At this point the mayor runs up and asks what happened. Lucas explains, and mayor asks you if he's telling the truth. He is shocked, especially when he hears that the priest wasn't angry and didn't blame the townspeople for what they did. He says he can't take all that's happened and asks you to stay at his house. The next day, talk to the mayor, and he will tell you that the town is going to build a monument to the priest. He says "If you ever meet the priest in your travels, be sure to thank him for us, and tell him we hope he will return." With the seal on Lebressack broken, return to your time and visit the town in the present day. As soon as you enter the town, you'll find a bunch of children picking on a boy named Rif--they are calling him a liar. The children depart as you enter. Investigate the town, and you'll learn that there was a bit of revisionist history regarding the incident with the priest; the "new version" has you made out to be the ones that attacked the priest, and not the townspeople. In fact, history has recorded that the townspeople saved the priest from you, instead of vice versa. You've been made out to be the villains, taking the blame from the townspeople. Go talk to Rif--he lives in Lucas' former house. He pleads with you, saying that he's not a liar. You'll learn that in his family, the true story of what happened with the priest was passed down from generation to generation. As everyone else knows the "revised" story, they all accuse him of being a liar. Rif himself wonders if perhaps he is the one who's mistaken. He thanks you for listening to him with an open mind, and asks you to stop by again. Investigate the monument to the priest, and you'll find the "new" story written there on a plaque. However, it looks like a section of the story has been chipped away, and a new stone put in its place--as if the truth was originally written there and someone replaced it. Tell the mayor of your discovery, but he won't believe you. Talk to everyone, and then talk to the child guarding the warehouse. He will let you into the warehouse, providing you agree to be the head child Zazam's lackeys. Inside, Zazam is digging something up he found when trying to bury some of the "club's" treasure. He asks you to help. Do so, and you'll get an Ancient Monument. Read the Monument--it's the part of the plaque that was cut off the statue. The girl reads it, and says that the story written on it is the same the same as what Rif was saying. They go out to tell the truth to the townspeople. Show the monument to the mayor, and he destroys it--he doesn't want the townspeople to know the truth. However, Rif's father hopes that in the future the children will change the story, since they know the truth. However, the future is unsure; if you talk to the children, they are confused, as their parents slapped them around for lying. Talk to Zazam, and Rif will come in; Zazam called him. He asks what Zazam wants him for. Zazam explains that he knows that Rif's not lying, but the adults won't believe him. Apologizes to Rif, asks to play together. It's time to complete your final Tablet now--the Southeast Blue one. Complete it, and proceed to your final quest before the entire world is unsealed. Chapter 19: Sharkeye, Pirate Legend -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Coastarl: Pirate Clothes, Small Medal, Captain's Hat, Mysterious Tablet? Hobbit Cave: Small medal, World Tree Sap, Monster Habitat Plan, Viking Helmet, Power Seed Lighthouse tower: Small Medal, Magic Holy Water, Hell Armor, Stylish Bandana Life Acorn Hobbit Village: Sound of the Sea Staff, Evil Turtle Spirit, Mysterious Tablet?, Meaty Bone Coastarl, Present: Small Medal, Amitt Cracker Hobbit Cave and village, present: 30G, Meaty Bone, 120g, Small Medal, Amitt Bun, 50G, Power Seed, Pink Pearl, 16G, Horse Dung, Amazing Acorn, Stylish Suit Lighthouse Tower, Present:, Medical Herb x 2, Antidote Herb, World Tree Sap, Life Acorn, Small Medal, Magic Holy Water, Amazing Acorn KEY ITEMS: Glowmoss Rainbow Drops Letter from King Coastarl Holy Fire Special Membership Card TASKS: 1. Talk to the townspeople, king, and innkeeper 2. Get permission from the King to stay at the inn 3. Learn of Sharkeye's past from the Bard 4. Defeat Gamadeus and retrieve the Glowmoss 5. Set the trap for the monster using the Glowmoss 6. Fill Hondara's jar with Rainbow Drops from the pool at Grand Estard 7. Use the Rainbow Drops on the Black Flame and defeat Barikunaja 8. Get the Holy Fire from Engou and use it to light the Lighthouse Beacon 9. Return to Coastarl and learn about Anniess 10. Go to Coastarl in the present day and learn about the Mysterious Tablet 11. Find the Armorer on top of the Lighthouse Tower and learn about the Priest 12. Talk to the Priest and search under his altar -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon your entry into the next area, you'll find a castle to the north nearby. The castle is the central hub of the country of Coastarl, but has been like a prison recently--since monsters overran the island, it's one of the only safe havens from them. Talk to the townspeople and you'll learn some of the history behind the place. Previously, the King signed a contract with the world's strongest pirate, Marl de Dragonne--or Sharkeye as he's more commonly known--to protect the country. In actuality, Sharkeye and the King were best friends, and Sharkeye was happy to protect his friend's country. However, their alliance drew the attention of the monsters, who unrelentingly assaulted the country--with all the monsters he's killed, Sharkeye is not a popular figure among the monsters. In order to save the country, Sharkeye acted as a decoy, drawing the monsters away from Coastarl by sailing away. He never returned. You'll notice that you can't enter any of the houses--they're all locked. You'll learn that the people of Coastarl have hidden themselves because tonight is going to be a full moon. Speak to the innkeeper, and she'll tell you that you need the king's permission to stay tonight. Go to the palace and speak to the King's minister, who will tell you that you may not stay at the castle town overnight. The King however overrules him, saying that if you managed to make it to Coastarl, you must have crossed the Dark Sea and therefore must be pretty tough. The Minister opposes the King, saying that "if they see--that--tonight, our country's name will be soiled." The King brushes the comment off, saying that the country can't get much worse anyway. Head to the inn and rest--the Innkeeper will warn you not to go out at night, as it's dangerous. In the middle of the night, you'll be awoken by a scream. Go outside, and you'll find a monster in the middle of town. It's actually the newborn daughter of the armorer who underwent a transformation. Her mother tries to talk to her, but the monster doesn't listen and runs away. Speak to the Minister, and he'll tell you that five years ago, the Demonlord put a curse on the town--any children born there would turn into monsters on the first full moon after their birth, then disappear in the darkness. Your pathway upstairs will also be opened now, so you can head to the upper levels of the castle. You'll find Anniess, Sharkeye's wife, whom he left behind went he went on his kamikaze mission. She is currently very ill, and is asleep. You'll wake her up, but her maid will put her back in bed. Head to the balcony, and talk to the bard there. He'll tell you the story of Sharkeye's past, and you'll be treated to several flashbacks. The first is set to Sharkeye's (extremely large) ship, where a pirate is escorting the Minister of Coastarl on board. He speaks with Sharkeye about the King's proposition to join with him, and Sharkeye agrees, changing the ship's course to Coastarl. Meanwhile the Bard is on deck playing music and watching the whole conversation. Anniess comes outside, and compliments his song. There is a brief exchange between the two, and you'll learn that Anniess was a queen who left her country in order to marry Sharkeye--she loves him because he protects the sea. The next flashback is a few years in the future. Sharkeye's exploits repelling monsters from Coastarl has caught the attention of the Demonlord's eye, who is attacking the castle full force. The King talks with a guard about how Sharkeye plans to have a one-on-one showdown with the Demonlord the following day. The guard is shocked at Sharkeye's decision, especially since Anniess is pregnant. The King says that he wouldn't be able to talk Sharkeye out of it anyway. At this point Sharkeye comes in, and says "That's right, you couldn't." The King tries to talk him out of it, but fails. The final flashback is an exchange between Sharkeye and Anniess at a party for his departure--Sharkeye tells Anniess she should stay behind in case something happens to him. Despite this morbid statement, he still promises her that he will come back in one piece. The flashbacks end--head back to the Inn. The next morning, you're woken up by a soldier, who tells you that the King wants to see you. Speak to him, and he will tell you that one of his scholars has found a possibly way to halt the curse. He believes the curse is tied closely to the Great Lighthouse to the north. However, being wrapped in darkness as it is, there is no way to follow the monster-babies once they go inside. However, in the Hobbit town, located underground to the east, their light is provided by a special moss, called Glowmoss. The scholar suggests that you get some glowmoss to put on the babies' feet, and follow their tracks when they return to town. The King asks you to get the moss--he'd go himself, but the Hobbits are not very fond of him. Head to the Hobbit Cave and make your way down through the passages to the town itself. As soon as you reach the Hobbit Village, the hobbits scream "Humans!" and run away. They all refuse to let you in their homes. The Elder is the only one who will let you in. He will tell you the Hobbits don't like humans in general--they hold a grudge against them. The Hobbit princess, Shukrina, married the King of Coastarl, but died of an illness later, and the hobbits blame the humans for it. The Elder will give you the location of the glowmoss, however--it grows further into the cave, but a large monster that likes to eat it hangs out down there too and will not let anyone get close. Go to the bottom of the cave and you'll find Gamadeus and his flunkies feasting on the Glowmoss. Upon noticing you, they decide they'd rather have you as a snack and attack. BOSS: Gamadeus + Seahorse Knight + Sea Dragon --------------------------------------------- All three enemies use nasty breath weapons. The Seahorses go down fairly easily, so you should take them out first. Hit Gamadeus with Deadly Poison, and try to put him to sleep if you can. Wool Guard, Fubarha, and Fair Wind are all useful techniques to use. Having a method of curing poison is useful too, because Gamadeus has a deadly poison attack of his own. Once you get the glowmoss and return to the hobbit town, they'll have changed their tune a bit, and trust you a little. You'll also learn that the moss you retrieved was grown by Shukrina herself. Once your business here is done, return to Coastarl. When you come back to the castle town, the daughter of the armorer is back. Use the moss on the ground by the monster, and it will run away right through it. The armorer starts to follow his daughter's tracks, but the king stops him. You rest before starting out the next morning. Then, the king tells you that the tower you're going to is surrounded in Black Flame, and you will need Rainbow Drops to get rid of it. He'll say that the Scholar knows more. If you've already gotten the Drops (you may have had them for quite a while) you can skip this next part and go straight to the tower. The scholar will tell you that in order to get the Rainbow drops, you need to get it from the Rainbow Lake on a deserted island. He asks if you've seen it. If you say yes, you'll respond that your home country has it. You've probably seen it already--the Rainbow Lake is under the Forbidden Land on Estard, a screen away from where the Water Portal drops you off. Go back there and use the now empty bottle that Hondara gave you way back when you were doing Engou's quest, and you will get the Drops. Head to the tower. It's pitch black, so follow the footprints carefully. If you see moving footprints, that's a sure sign that they're on a moving platform, so watch your step at those areas! When you reach the top of the tower, use the Rainbow Drops on the fire. A portal will open and you'll get sucked into it. Go through the door and a monster is waiting. He's pissed off you took so long--he was hoping someone with guts would come fight him, so he could kill them slowly- -but he's tired of waiting, so he will kill you quickly. BOSS: BARIKUNAJA ---------------- This boss is easy when you discover his weakness--Deadly Poison Cloud. It works on him, and will knock off over 200 of his HP a round. Since he won't cure it, theoretically you could just hit him with it once and then heal yourselves for the rest of the battle until he dies. He can do critical hits for 200+ damage, but he should only survive about five rounds or so if you poison him at the beginning. Finish him Barikunaja off, and he'll give you an Mysterious Tablet?. He dies, but laughs and says that Sharkeye's boat is still frozen. The monsters turn back into children and you teleport back to the tower. Go talk to King, and he says Anniess has disappeared. She left a note telling you not to worry, but he still is. Now that the Dark Fire is gone, he asks you to get Holy Fire from Engou. He gives you a letter to take to Engou describing the situation. Take the letter to Engou (either will do--I took it to present- day Engou but both work) and talk to the mayor. He'll give you permission to take some of the Holy Fire. Talk to the keeper of the flame (in Elder's house) and he will fill your bottle with Holy Fire. Take it back to Coastarl. Take the Fire to the top of the tower and light it. As soon as you do, the monsters all flee the area. Soldiers come up to the top of the tower to see what's up, and upon seeing the lighthouse re-lit with the everlasting flame of the Holy Fire, one soldier takes a piece of it to get some flame to light the castle lighthouse. He gives the fire to you and you walk up to king who hails you as heroes. As a reward, he gives you Suiryu's Sword. The old man who was hanging around Anniess' room comes out of the castle, and says he's the King of the Ocean Floor. He says that Anniess is currently in the sea. A nearby warrior thinks she threw herself into the ocean. The old man berates him, and says that he turned Anniess into an immortal mermaid so she can live long to see her husband again, who is frozen in ice. The King of the Ocean Floor goes on to say that Anniess won't be able to become a human again, but can protect Sharkeye when he awakens. The Minister asks what will happen to her in-utero child. The old man says that Sharkeye benefited from protection of the Spirits, and as his son, the fetus also had protection, and was probably taken off to some place & time to be protected, put in another woman's womb, and born elsewhere. Light the castle lighthouse. With the eternal flame restored, the entire town throws a big party. The next day, you'll learn that the Bard you talked to earlier was actually a ghost. The king suggests that you stop by the hobbits before you leave. There, the Hobbit Elder will let you take the treasures in the town. With the curse broken and the lighthouse burning again, the seal on Coastarl is broken, and it appears in the present, finally completing the restoration of the world! Head to Coastarl and see what happened since you were there in the past. Coastarl is a very different place in the present. The King got up and left the castle, and took up residence with the Hobbits. The former castle town is now a traveler's town, and the castle itself has been converted into a Casino. And quite a nice casino as well---you can buy a Monster Habitat Plan and Amazing Tablet? at the concessions desk, and the third floor Lucky Panel game has some fantastic prizes, including Monster Spirits! You'll also learn about a Frozen Ship in a cave south of the desert at the casino, though by this point you'll probably have already found it during your travels. There is also a Dancer on the balcony that you need a special membership card for. Head to the Hobbit Cave. You'll learn there from a man that for some reason, the ice that sealed off Sharkeye's ship has not yet been melted, which is odd, since the Demonlord should have died as a result of his wounds in the battle with God. Talk to King there, and he will give you a Special Membership Card that the Dancer in the Casino required. Bring it to her and she will ask if you want her to Puff Puff you. Say yes, and she'll tell you close your eyes. You do, and she blows a horn. She'll say that it raises your luck. I don't know if this actually does anything, or if it's just a gag. I've heard rumors that hearing the horn boosts your chances at winning at the games in the casino, but I don't know if this is actually true. I tried to test the theory by playing the slots right after speaking to her--once I won REALLY big (got three 7s, then three 7s twice more during the bonus games) but the other times I didn't seem to win any more than usual. You'll also hear from a man on the third floor of the casino about somebody who won a tablet fragment in the games here. Talk to the people in the casino, and you can track him to down to the passage underground the Casino. When you find him, he'll tell you that he sold the fragment to the Armorer. The armorer is gone, though--you can speak to his wife, and she'll tell you that he left to try to climb the Lighthouse Tower a month ago. Head to the top of the tower, and you'll find the armorer, collapsed and exhausted, but alive. (He'll only tell you about the tablet if you've heard about it from his wife, so trying to skip the early steps in tracking the tablet down won't work.) He'll tell you that he gave the tablet to the priest. The priest is in the basement of the casino, so head there. Talk to him, but he'll play dumb about the tablet and leaves. Follow him back to his church and keep nagging him, but he will continue to play dumb. Speak to one of the nuns nearby, and she will note that the priest is constantly looking under the altar. Search under the altar yourself, and lo and behold, you'll find the Mysterious Tablet? that you've been looking for. This tablet is the final one to use in the Revival Dais, so head to the Palace in the Sky. Chapter 20: God and the Demonlord Duke it Out -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Cave below archaeological dig: Small Medal KEY ITEMS: (none) TASKS: 1. Complete the Revival Dais' tablet 2. Go through the Coral Cave and use the God Stone at God's Crest 3. Return to the present and get the Flying God Stone from the Priestess 4. Get the Mysterious Tablet? from the shrine north of Harmelia 5. Return to Fishbell and learn about the state of the archaeological dig 6. Complete the tablet at the bottom of the archaeological dig 7. Kill the Demonlord 8. Put Disk 2 in your Playstation -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a quick chapter, but an important one nonetheless. Head to the Palace in the Sky and complete the Revival Dais. You'll be teleported to the past, right after the showdown between God and the Demonlord--both are now dead. Head to God's Shrine, and at the top floor, you'll find the God Soldier Captain, who will recognize Melvin. He will tell you to go to God's Crest via the Coral Cave. Go through the Coral Cave like you did before, and raise the God Stone on God's Crest again. This time, all four of the fallen Temples raise out of the ground. Return to the present, and all the temples will by flying at the Temple in the Sky. Talk to the High Priestess there, and she will summon a huge God Stone for you. This God Stone is hollow, and will allow you to ride in it. You can use this as a vehicle, and even fly over mountains with it. Use the God Stone to fly north of Harmelia to a small shrine. There, a man in robes is waiting for you. He gives you an Mysterious Tablet? and says that it needs to be placed in a temple buried deep underground. If you complete the tablet there, it will take you back to the time when God died. Return to Fishbell. When you arrive, there is a soldier in your house who is looking for you, and asks you to go to the castle. There, King Burns will inform you that he says that they discovered a large series of caverns under the archaeological dig. These caverns were teeming with monsters, and as they are now connected to the surface, pose a real threat. The King asks you to take care of them before they spill out over the whole world. Find the cave in the archaeological dig. You'll find lots of dead workers inside the hole. Fight your way to the bottom, where you'll find an evil-looking tablet in evil-looking place. Complete it with your remaining Mysterious Tablets? and you'll be teleported into the past. The next thing you will see is God's showdown with the Demonlord. Melvin is behind God, and asks why he went to fight the Demonlord without him. The Demonlord laughs and calls God a fool for relying on humans to do his dirty work, and attacks Melvin. The attack hurts Melvin, but he grins and says he won't go down so easily. He is prepared to attack the Demonlord, but God seals him in the Hot Stone. Before losing consciousness, Melvin protests loudly, asking God why he won't let him fight, and if he intends to die. The Hot Stone flies off. The Demonlord tells God that he is finished and does not stand a chance of winning the battle with his wounded body. He attacks, and God fires off a last desperate energy bolt at the Demonlord. The attack gravely injures the Demonlord, who angrily attacks and kills God. The Demonlord emerges victorious, but lost a whole lot of power in the battle. He limps off to his palace, wounded. You teleport into the Demonlord's palace. Climb up to his throne room--the route is a little convoluted but not too hard--and talk to him. He gives you a chance to run away. Talk to him again and attack. BOSS: Orgo Demirra Orgo Demirra's first form is really easy to beat. I had someone using a Sage Stone every round and he couldn't even touch me. Sometimes he would cast Merazoma, which hurts (well over 100 damage) and when he starts getting really hurt, he'll cast Ionazun. But other than that, he shouldn't pose too much trouble as most of his attacks don't do much damage. If you have a high HP character with Nio's Stand, you could use that and then heal him/her with Behoma every round if you wanted too, though this can be a dangerous tactic. Once you defeat his first form, Orgo Demirra will transform into a more powerful one. BOSS: Orgo Demirra This form of Orgo Demirra is significantly tougher than his first. He has a bunch of heavy damage dealing techniques--Fierce Flames, Ice Breath, Vacuum Wave, etc. Very few of his attacks are directly physical or magical, so boosting defense and magic defense is a waste, especially since he will just negate their effects with his Freezing Wave. The only defense spell worth keeping up is Fubarha. What I did is have two characters attack, and two characters support, healing with the Sage Stone and Blessing Staff, or using special support skills if they had the time. There were a couple of times also I had to do "timeout" rounds where nobody attacked and everyone healed. But overall he's not an enemy to lose sleep over. If you have a high-level Sage (Fubarha, Summon) or Magic Fighter (Bikilt) he should be a cinch. The Demonlord curses you for cheapshotting him in his wounded state, and tells you that "you can't touch my soul" as he dies. As you leave you see a message about getting "God's blessing" and a final island is unsealed and rises out of the ocean. END OF DISK 1 Chapter 21: God, the Tyrant -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Crystal Palace:, Life Seed, Small Medal, Silk Teddie KEY ITEMS: Anchovy Sandwich TASKS: 1. Return to Fishbell, then have an audience with King Burns 2. Go to Mardillas and learn the tournament is about to start 3. Watch (listen?) the tournament at the Great Temple. 4. Rest in the Tent by the Sunken temple 5. Lower the water level and perform the God-reviving ceremony 6. Enjoy the party in your honor at Fishbell and talk to the King 7. Deliver the Anchovy Sandwich to Bolcano and help below deck 8. Find God's Messengers and meet with them in Grand Estard Castle 9. Fly to the Crystal Palace via the God Stone 10. Have an audience with God 11. Return to Fishbell and have Maribel join you 12. Go to the Mysterious Palace and receive Melvin's message 13. Speak to the King of Coastarl and get permission to enter the Lighthouse 14. Retrieve the Holy Flame from the Lighthouse 15. Enter the Traveler's door -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Demonlord is dead. Back at the Sky Palace, the priestess tells you that you may have defeated the Demonlord and revived the world that he had sealed off, but that not everything is done. You still need to revive God. She says that the altar where you need to revive God is underwater, and that she will return you to the surface. You teleport into the Forbidden Land. Gabo wants something to eat since he got hungry fighting the Demonlord. Aira wants to go find the legendary Tura player. Go to Fishbell anyway. At this point, Maribel's dad is fully healed, but Maribel decides she doesn't want to leave the house. You'll also hear that the king wants to see you. Go to see him--he's eating, but finishes as you arrive. Sit in your chairs, and the King says that he knows you've done something really big since everything seems even more peaceful than before. He asks if your journey is over. After hearing about your plans to revive God, he tells you to go to Mardillas to find a musician. (surprise surprise) As you arrive at Mardillas, you'll discover that the tournament Greta wanted to hold is about to start. Greta says that it is being held at the Great Palace. She goes there, and asks you to come with her. Go there, and at your word, the tournament starts. You give the Earth Tura to the soldier. First contestant, Petra: Very bad; he can't play the Tura at all. People scream at him to get off the stage. Second, Decarpo: Also really bad. The spectators start getting sarcastic. Third, Yohan: The minute he gets on stage, everyone starts cheering. Greta asks if he's that good. The Prime Minister tells her he's the best in Mardillas. He plays, and is better than the first two contestants, but still sucks. Greta is a bit upset that this is the best that the #1 musician in Mardillas can produce. Fourth, Rurusugoi: Once again, the crowd gets nasty as this contestant's attempts fail miserably. Fifth, Yuril: At this point, the contestants' performances start getting really bad.... You see a message that says that nobody was able to successfully play the Earth Tura. At the end of the tournament, Greta starts berating the crowd--she doesn't know who to proclaim as the winner. The Prime minister points out that only a special person could play the Earth Tura. Greta says it's just a piece of garbage and orders the soldier to destroy it. The Minister gets upset. At this point, an old man comes up. He asks to give the contestant another shot. He goes over and tells Yohan that he should be able to play it--you'll see that the old man is actually Yohan's master. Greta tells the old man if Yohan can't play it, she'll have his (the old man's) head. Yohan is upset, and his master tells him to be calm down before trying to play. Yohan manages to do so, and plays the Earth Tura well. It turns out that Yohan was Legendary Musician after all. Next day, the Princess tells Yohan to help revive god, and asks what he wants as a reward. Yohan says he personally wants "a hot chick, some good booze, and great food" but asks her to take care of his master instead. Yohan joins the party. Before you leave, he'll ask you to go see his master. Do so, and he apologizes for his behavior at the competition. Master tells him to go and learn lots of songs and play seriously as punishment. Go to the Sunken Temple. The guy at the entrance sees that you've found the Legendary Musician, and takes you to the elder of the Yuvarl tribe. The Elder says Yohan isn't what he imagined, and doubts his authenticity. Yohan replies that if he doesn't believe him, then he can just leave. The elder renegs on his statement, and Yohan suggests that you rest in the tent before lowering the water level. Next day, the Elder gives Aira the Earth Bell. Go through the passageway as you did before, and lower the water level. Once the water level is down, talk to the Elder. He starts to give Aira a Pure Robe, but then sees you've already got one. Very surprised. He also says that in the past they misread the ancient text--the interpretation of the "gold glowing Tura" should have been read as "when the sun sets to the point that the glint off the Tura is gold." You wait until the right time, then do the dance again. Just as before, nothing happens, or so it seems for a moment. But then the crystal on the altar glows and explodes, knocking everyone around. God is revived. Melvin approaches God and asks if he remembers him. God does, and tells Melvin that his job is over and that everyone can return to their homes and live in peace. The Elder says that their job is finished and asks you to take care of Aira. Aira asks what he's talking about--she now has a place of her own to return to--Grand Estard. The Elder teleports you to the Mysterious Temple. Yohan wakes up, leaves, and says that he's going home--Melvin wonders how he's going to get there. Melvin then suggests you return to Fishbell and visit your parents. As he broadcast the message all across the entire world, your parents know how you were instrumental in God's revival, and throw a festival in your honor. Talk to everyone, and once you talk to the cook in the ship and leave, the festival starts. Talk to everyone and enjoy the festival for a bit, then talk to the old man guarding the town entrance. Yohan will enter to deliver a message that the King wants to see you. Head to the castle and talk to King Burns. He congratulates you on your efforts, thanks you for reviving the islands, defeating the Demonlord, and reviving God. He asks what you will do now--if you want to follow in your father's footsteps and become a fisherman or not. Then he asks Gabo what he's going to do. Gabo says he's going to go hang with the lumberjack and his mother for a while. Melvin says he's going to return to God and help protect the world. King suggests that he help build God's Palace. Aira doesn't know what she is going to do next, and the King asks if she'd like to stay at castle as a guard or tutor to Lisa. She agrees. The King starts another party within Grand Estard. You'll then see parties from all over the world, hear they continued for days. Months pass. Your mother wakes you up, and reminds you that you promised to help your father. Head to the docks, and as you leave, she'll gives you an Anchovy Sandwich to take to him. Give Bolcano his sandwich, and like before, he tells you to help below deck. However, the Cook doesn't need your help, and tells you to go above deck. Before you cast off, a sailor comes up and asks you to come to shore-- people claiming to be Messengers of God just arrived via rowboat. Bolcano casts off, and asks you to see them in your place. Maribel goes off to see what's happening. You'll learn from the townspeople that they went to Grand Estard, but were very rude and condescending to the villagers. Follow God's Messengers to the castle, and speak to the Prime Minister there. He has a message from the king, asking to fetch you. Sit in the chair by the King, and he asks you and Aira to come him to the Crystal Palace, God's new temple, to have an audience with God. Nebira, the head Messenger, leaves--he says there's not enough room for all of you in the boat, so you'll need to arrange your own transportation to get to the Palace. The King suggests that you go via the God Stone. Aira laughs and says that the king has been nagging her to ride it for a very long time--Burns tells her to be quiet, and takes you to the top of the castle. You summon the God Stone and get in. Gabo runs up and jumps in as well. At the Crystal Palace, Nebira takes you inside. He asks the King what he thinks of the palace. The King is quite simply taken aback by the Palace's splendor. Then he asks what you think, before taking Burns alone upstairs. The soldiers tell you to look around, and rest if you want, as the audience with God may take some time. Wander around, and you'll find that representatives of towns and countries from all over the world were called to the audience. Head to the stairs to the upper levels. Melvin appears and greets you. He says that God has not yet come, but that he has been summoned to deal with someone causing trouble outside the palace. He tells two guards to come with him to help quell the ruckus, and asks you to guard the upper levels in his stead. Go upstairs, and the guard posted there won't let you past. Another guard asks who you are, and upon learning that you were the people directly responsible for reviving God, allows you into the audience chamber. Talk to everyone in the chamber, and God will appear. Nicora takes the fake hero, Ruglay, up to God--Ruglay gets very nervous, but God doesn't break his cover and reveal that he's truly not the Legendary Hero. God then makes a proclamation--he commands the people of the world not to fight and throw away their weapons, and even forbids them from killing monsters. He'll also take the Dark Ruby from you to rid you of the evil artifact. Before disappearing, he tells all the people present that he is the ultimate power and the only God, and orders them not to worship any other gods besides himself. Leave the palace. Outside, you'll discover that the man causing trouble was Hondara--he's trying to get inside, but Melvin won't let him in. Hondara pleads to you to get him inside, saying "Isn't God coming?" Once he learns that God left, Hondara decides to leave--he had some scheme in mind he was hoping God would assist him with. After Hondara leaves, Melvin tells you he was a bit disturbed by how overbearing God was, but decides to stay at the Palace. At this point, Nebira emerges from the Palace to tell Melvin that God has returned, and wants to speak with him personally. Melvin bids you farewell as he leaves to speak with God, and you leave. After you leave, you see what's happening at the palace. The Messengers of God are trying to capture Melvin, who they have cornered on the outer perimeter of the Crystal Palace. Melvin is very upset, and says "I can't believe this--this is ridiculous!" He jumps off the palace to escape the guards. Nebira comes out on the ledge and orders the guards to catch him, as he has rebelled against God. As Melvin runs away, Nebira laughs, saying that "God controls the world. You cannot escape." Meanwhile, as you travel with the God Stone back to Estard, a storm hits and there's a huge earthquake. You crash-land at the castle. Everyone is all right, except for the king, who was hurt badly in the crash and is unconscious. The Prime Minister has the king taken off to have his injuries attended to. Leave the area. As you exit, some frantic soldiers run up to report that there are monsters outside of town! Return to Fishbell. A woman comes running up, and tells you that something happened to Bolcano while you were gone. Go to the docks, and you will learn that when the storm hit, Bolcano was thrown from the ship, and they were unable to find him. Maribel looks out over the waves and notes that the sky and waters are darkened, exactly like those from the sealed islands you had traveled to-- it's almost as if Estard has been sealed like all the other islands you freed. Since the Demonlord is dead, she is very confused, and wonders if something else could have done it. She joins your party and suggests you head to the Mysterious Palace to find an escape route off the island. As you reach the palace, you hear someone calling you from the statue in the courtyard of the Mysterious Palace. Head to the statue, and you'll hear Melvin's voice--he asks if it's you talking to the statue. He is using the telepathic powers God gave him to transmit his voice to the statue. He says that he has something to tell you--God wiped several areas off the face of the earth, saying they were evil. Estard was one of the areas included. Melvin opposed God's decision and was branded a rebel. He is currently hiding out in Coastarl, where he has investigated into the matter. During his investigations, he learned about the Elemental Spirits, which are divine entities similar to God--they might know what his intentions are. He doesn't know where they are, but bets they're located in the areas God sealed off. He breaks off the conversation suddenly then, as someone is coming. Enter the Palace and check out the Tablets and Traveler's Doors. Both are sealed off and useless. After you examine the Traveler's Doors, you hear Melvin's voice again, and he asks if the portals are sealed and you're trapped on the island. Once hearing you are, Melvin explains that he thinks the Traveler Doors take you to the Elementals, as they each lead to an elemental "source"--the volcano of Engou (fire), the Great Desert, (earth) the Wind Palace. (Air) and the Rainbow Lake (water) Maribel notices that the fire on above the shrines containing the Doors is out. Melvin says he will try to get some of Engou's Holy Fire from the island and send it to you. You will now be controlling Melvin. Since the Holy Fire in town's lighthouse somehow went out, you'll need to go to lighthouse tower to the north in order to get any Holy Fire. However, the guards at the entrance will not let you in--they say that you need the King's permission to enter. Head to the Hobbit Village and talk to the king of Coastarl. He is muttering about how he doesn't like the message that God was sending, and asks what you want. Realizing you may be one of God's Messengers, he gets ancy and asks if you're one of God's soldiers. (I said no) He will give you permission to get God's fire. With the King's permission, climb to the top of the lighthouse and get some Holy Fire. Melvin manages to send the fire to you and lights the torch outside the miniature Fire shrine. Go outside to double-check, and you'll discover that the teleporter now works. Go through it and head to Engou. Chapter 22: The Fire Spirit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Lower Volcanic Caves: Magma Staff, Small Medal, Power Seed, World Tree Sap Sharkeye's Ship: Captain Hat, Pirate Clothes x2, Amitt Cracker, Small Medal, Monster Habitat Plan, 20G, Power Seed KEY ITEMS: Burning Water Inferno Key Fire Amulet TASKS: 1. Investigate Engou and get Pamila to join your party 2. Head to the lower caves in the Volcano 3. Use the Burning Water to restore the Fire God 4. Defeat the Fire Spirit 5. Return to Fishbell and use the boat to travel to the warship 6. Meet Sharkeye and unseal the Earth and Wind Shrines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you teleport to the volcano, you'll discover that this island too has been sealed off from the rest of the world. What's more, the volcano has been greatly weakened, and its magma has cooled and hardened. Leave the volcano and go to Engou to check up on its residents. In Engou, the people are very disoriented, and don't have a clue what has happened to the island. When you speak to one man, some monsters attack him. Kill them, and then report the invasion to the Mayor. Inside the Mayor's house, he and Pamila are trying to make heads or tails of the situation. After hearing that the town was just attacked, Pamila is shocked and disturbed, as the Fire God should have protected the town from monster attacks. You go on to explain about the lava-less volcano, and Pamila asks you to take her there to investigate first-hand. She joins your party. Before you leave town, Pamila asks you to take her to her house first. When you do, she'll instruct her aide, Ilma, to look for "it." Bring Pamila to the mouth of the volcano. Upon inspecting the state of the volcano, she suggests that something might have happened to the Fire God to cause the lava to cool. Talk to the warrior guarding the entrance to the volcano cave, and when he hears about the monsters entering the town and your investigation, he will let you by. Once you reach the bottom of the volcano, you will find the entrance to the Lower Volcanic Caves. Pamila warns you before you enter, as she senses a strong power from within. Enter the Lower Volcanic Caves and continue downward toward the core of the Volcano. If you're lucky, you can run into Gold Slimes here, who will significantly increase the size of your coffers when you defeat them. Be careful of the flames that shoot out of the holes in the ground though--only walk forward at safe times. Not even Toramana will protect you if you walk through one of the flame geysers. At very bottom of the caverns is a door that won't budge. Stuck, Pamila says that it's time to use "it." She casts a spell to commune with Ilma, and asks her to bring "it." While you wait, she will tell you the story of the Fire God: he is thought to be a part of a larger god. Some think that when God fought the Demonlord, he split off four pieces of himself before dying, who became the four Elemental Gods that control the elements. As the Volcano near Engou is the spot on the earth where Fire energy is the most concentrated, the Fire God took up residence there. Ilma arrives with her warrior escort about this time. She delivers a bottle of Burning Water and the Inferno Key to Pamila before returning to town. The Inferno Key will open the door in front of you, so use it to enter. Inside you'll find a large lava pit. Examine it and you'll hear a weak voice calling "who's there?" Pamila will realize the voice is that of the Fire God. The Fire God can't come out--he is too weak, and the lava is not hot enough. Pamila will tell you that you need to use the Burning Water to make the lava burn hotter. Throw the Burning Water into the lava pit. It gets REALLY hot, the Fire God says that his strength has returned, and appears before you. Pamila asks "are you the Fire God?" He responds that he is not a god, but is the Fire Spirit. Pamila asks him to help save the island, but the Fire Spirit refuses, saying that he refuses to take orders from a human. Gabo gets pissed off and chews out the Fire Spirit for refusing to help you after you saved his life. Pleased by Gabo's energy, the Fire Spirit says that he likes strong people and would like to test you to see if you are worthy of his help. You'll have to fight him to get his aid. Boss: Fire Spirit ----------------- The Fire Elemental has a LOT of HP, so no matter what strategy you use, it will take quite a while to beat him. The secret to winning this fight is Fubarha. All of the Spirit's attacks are Flame-based, so Fubarha will reduce what normally would do 80 damage to the party to 20-30 damage to the party. Just make sure you don't let it wear off. If you don't have anyone in the party that can cast Fubarha, try to equip everyone with armor that increases Flame resistance. You'll still probably want a dedicated healer just to be safe. I find that Seiken-zuki misses a lot, so other techniques like Bakuretsuken or Mahyado Slash are better alternatives. Obviously, fire-based techniques and spells are next to useless against the Fire Spirit. Upon his defeat, the Fire Spirit is surprised at your strength, and agrees to help you. He attempts to use his power to unseal the continent, but fails. He tells you that he will need the help of the other three Spirits in order to counteract the spell that sealed off the islands. Pamila asks where the other Spirits are, and the Fire Spirit tells her that they're all currently in a state of slumber. He goes to the Mysterious Palace to wait for them, and drops the Flame Amulet as he leaves. Head back to Engou and drop Pamila off, then return to Fishbell. Back at Fishbell, you'll find a girl near the entrance who says something about a cursed boat appearing on the shoreline. Walk to the beach, and you'll find all the townspeople looking out over the water; there is a huge warship on the horizon. Talk to Amitt--he is thinking of sailing out to the ship to see what the deal is. Then talk to your mother, and she will ask you to go with him on the chance that the warship found and rescued Bolcano. Relay her message to Amitt, and he will let you on board his ship--he wants you aboard anyway to defend the vessel in case the warship is hostile. He will go below deck; to launch the ship, follow him and speak to him there. Amitt's ship follows the lights on the water to the warship. You throw up a rope ladder on the warship and start to board. Thinking that monsters are boarding the ship, a sailor on board the warship runs up and cuts the ladder. Kadel, the first made of the warship, comes over and looks over the railing to see you floating in the water below. He calls the sailor an idiot and orders him to throw you a life preserver while he goes to call Sharkeye--this is none other than Sharkeye's ship, newly released after being frozen in ice for centuries. While the scenes change, you'll see another flashback to when Sharkeye was on his kamikaze trip to attack the Demonlord. A mate orders all noncombatants below deck as the warrior pirates and Coastarl soldiers brace themselves for battle. Sharkeye goes to consult with Kadel to see how it's faring, and Kadel reports that there are lots of monsters on the horizon, but is not worried, as Sharkeye has the blessing of the Water Goddess as signified by his Water Crest birthmark. Sharkeye says that his birthmark represents only part of the Crest, so he can't utilize the Goddess' full power, but will do his best. Kadel tells Sharkeye that he has an obligation to return alive for his unborn son's sake. Sharkeye tells Kadel that he had a dream of what his full-grown son would be like, and hopes that his son will be able to help Kadel in the future. The monsters approach, and Kadel orders the cannons to fire... Maribel wakes you up. She's really angry at being dropped into the ocean. A sailor comes and tells you that the captain wants to see you. He takes you to Sharkeye, who apologizes for his mate's rashness, and tells you that Amitt explained the situation to him. He has trouble believing that his ship has been frozen in ice for hundreds of years, but accepts the situation. He then asks if the rumors he's heard of you saving all sorts of countries is true. Upon hearing that you did help many countries, including Coastarl, Sharkeye asks you to show him the Suiryu Sword, which he assumes you must have picked up when in Coastarl. Show it to him, and Sharkeye takes you outside to speak to you alone. Outside, Sharkeye confers to you that he's not sure what to do now. He asks you to show him the Suiryu sword again, and when you pull it out, he looks at your arm and notices your birthmark. He realizes that it's a piece of the Water Crest. The crests on each of your arms react, and jump off your arms and meld together to light the other two Shrines. You hear a voice that tells you that you and Sharkeye are the last remnants of God. The voice informs you of the other two shrines being lit, and says that you will now be able to revive the other two Spirits. The voice then identifies herself as the Water Spirit, who has been protecting you all along. She tells you that once all the Spirits are awakened, you should take the Suiryu Sword to the Rainbow Lake and pray, "Water gives birth to life, Earth raises life, wind carries life, fire brings glory to life and returns it to water." She says that when the power of all the four Elements are aligned, she should be able to free the sealed islands from the world of darkness. She tells you to go and revive the other spirits while she waits. As the voice of the Spirit dies, Sharkeye realizes that his birthmark is gone and that you are one of his lineage--his power has transferred to you. (In case you haven't figured it out already, the game is suggesting that you are Sharkeye's son, transported from the womb of Anniess to your mother's) He says that the ship will head out tomorrow, following the line of flame that the Fire God created when he was released. The next day, you'll discover that the flames lead to Darma, which was also sealed off by God. You can now change jobs if you need to. When you're ready to return to Fishbell, talk to the helmsman, and he will take you there. From now on, if you'd like to return to Darma, just board Sharkeye's ship and talk to the helmsman to have him ferry you there. Once you're ready, head to either the Earth or the Wind shrine. Chapter 23: The Earth Spirit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Inside the Earth Spirit Statue: Mimic Spirit KEY ITEMS: Royal Key Eye Gem Rouge Gem Heart-Shaped Gem Ear Gem Nose Gem TASKS: 1. Travel to the Desert People's village and speak to the Elder 2. Speak to the Queen to learn about the plight of the castle 3. Return to the Desert People's village and recruit Sayard 4. Speak to the Shaman at the bottom of the Pot 5. Perform the revival ceremony in the desert 6. Rescue Sayard's brothers from the basement of the Palace 7. Retrieve the Feature gems from the inner sanctum of the Earth Spirit Statue 8. Revive the Earth Spirit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you went to the Wind Shrine next, go on to the next chapter and do it first, then come back to this one when you're done. Go to the Desert People's Village. There the people are pretty depressed at having been sealed off from the rest of the world. At first, they don't remember you, but a man by the Elder's house recognizes you as the Savior of the Desert and gets excited. He urges you to see the Elder. Speak to the Elder, and he is very happy to see you. He tells you that after getting sealed off, the Queen prayed to God for help, but instead of getting help, she merely got a mob of monsters sicced on the castle. He asks you to go to the castle to help the Queen. You'll find the castle heavily guarded--nobody is outside, and the guards are preventing anything from getting in or out. He will check you out, then bring you inside the castle. Talk to the queen's assistants--they start to relay your message to the Queen, then inform you that she wants to speak to you directly. They ask everyone else to leave you and the Queen alone. Talk to the queen--she says that she thinks that the Darkness Ruby stored in the basement was causing the problem, and prayed to God for help. She tells you that he answered her prayer, then pauses and asks if you will believe what she is about to say. Tell her you will, and she will say that upon hearing about the Darkness Ruby, God said "So that's where it was!" and sent monsters there to steal it. The Queen asks you if you gave the other Darkness Ruby to God; upon hearing that he now has both, she gets worried, and asks you to awaken the Earth Spirit to save the desert, as it's obvious that God will not be of any help. She tells you that the Shaman in the village knows the spell necessary to awaken him. As you leave, she offers to help you by ordering one of the Elder's sons to assist you in your quest. Head back to the village and talk to the sons of the Elder. None of them want to go with you, and make excuses. The Elder tells you to choose one, as they're all too cowardly to volunteer on their own. As soon as they hear their father's decision, they all start to fake illness. The youngest son, Sayard, who has been "divorced" from the family, offers to join you as his brothers are sick. Go to his hut behind the Elder's house--he tells his cats to take care of the place while he's gone there. He asks your name (as calling you "savior" all the time is somewhat clunky) and joins your party. Climb into the big pot in the middle of town, and talk to the man fishing in the sand in the bottom. He is the Shaman, and will listen to your story. He tells you that he knows where the Spirit is located. Sayard asks the Shaman where the Spirit is and how you can awaken him. The Shaman's response is "The Spirit is everywhere." Sayard gets angry, thinking the old man is trying to deceive him, but the Shaman laughs and says that he never tells a like--the desert IS the Earth Spirit. He asks if you'd like to meet the Spirit in person, and if you tell him yes, he will tell you to follow him, as the pot is too small a place to summon him. The Shaman climbs out of the pot. Outside, he'll tell you that you need to perform a specific ceremony in order for the Spirit to take on a more concrete body. He goes on to say that he knows how to perform the ceremony and will do so outside town. He leaves town--follow him. On the outskirts of town, the Shaman says that to start the ceremony, he must draw the form of the Spirit in pure, unpolluted earth. Follow him to the patch of desert that the portal to the Mysterious Palace is located at. There, he will start the ceremony. He starts to draw a figure in the sand, orally describing and dwelling on each part of the Spirit's body as he draws it. (for example, he talks about how his hands are "large enough to block the Naira" as he draws them) However, he stops the chant and the drawing when he reaches the Spirit's face--in old age, he's forgotten how to draw it. Return to the Elder--he will tell you that there should be some clue regarding the ceremony in the Earth Temple in the Palace basement. Return to the palace, and speak to the Queen. She will give you permission to enter the Temple-- formerly it was blocked off, as the throng of monsters that arrived to steal the Darkness Ruby took up residence there. Enter the basement, and you will discover that Sayard's three brothers have beat you to the punch and gotten the item that you are looking for. They refuse to give it to you, and try to blackmail concessions from you in exchange for it. At that moment though, monsters leap out and ambush them. Sayard's brothers cower in terror, and you step forward to kill the monsters--they're nothing special, just normal monsters with slightly beefed-up stats. (like the Baby Goyles that guarded Lumen) Once you rescue Sayard's brothers, they claim that they could have taken on the monsters themselves. (despite their former pleas for help) When questioned about what they are doing in the Earth Temple, they claim they are searching for something to save the desert, as they don't want the monsters getting their hands on it first. They tell you that they will give you what they found if Sayard promises not to try to succeed their father and become the next Town Elder. Sayard tells them he never wanted to be the Elder in the first place. His brothers are exuberant that they will have one less person to compete with, and give you the Royal Key. When you show the key to the Queen, she will tell you that it is a palace treasure that has been handed down over the generations from Hadeet. It is the key to the inner sanctum of the Earth Spirit Statue. Go to the Statue and speak to the guard by the door--he will let you by. In the next room, you will find several phrases written on the tiles on the floor: "Those eyes can light up any darkness." "The mouth is closed and can only time can open it." "The ears are born from a heart split by twins." "The nose is higher than anyone in the world, yet lower as well." (Sorry if some of these sound clunky, but are tough to translate--for example, to have your "nose high" means "to be proud" in Japanese, but translating it as such would ruin the hint) These are clues to some of the puzzles you'll encounter further below. Skip the next paragraph/section if you don't want to be spoiled: Puzzle 1: Further into the statue, you'll find sarcophagi with open doors. For each sarcophagus you close, the room will get a little bit darker. Close them all and the Eye Gems will appear. Puzzle 2: The Rouge Gem is located behind a gargoyle's face. The gargoyle's mouth can open and let you through to pick it up, but you can't open it on your own. Sit in front of it and wait, and eventually the mouth will open and allow you to get access to the Gem. Puzzle 3: The Nose Gem is located below a series of "unending stairs" under the floor with the Rouge Gem. In order to get it, you first have to climb the stairs, then go down as far as possible to find it. Puzzle 4: On the way to getting the Nose Gem, you'll find the Heart Gem. Down then up to get Heart Gem. Use the Gem to split it in two to form the Earring Gems. Once you have all four Feature gems, bring them to the Shaman. The Shaman uses them to create the face of the Spirit and complete the summoning ritual. The Spirit appears, applauds your courage and knowledge, and asks what you want of him. You explain the situation, and he agrees to help. First, he creates an earthquake that kills all the monsters attacking the town and castle. Then, he says that he is going to go to Darma and wait for all four Spirits to be revived. He gives you the Earth Amulet to use in case you need his assistance in the future. Then he disappears. Sayard prepares to return to town, and thanks you for giving him the opportunity to see the Earth Spirit. The Shaman tries to return as well but the ceremony and summoning drained the energy from him and he can't move, so Sayard carries him back to the village. As he departs, Sayard tells you to visit the queen before leaving the desert. Do so--she pretty much just thanks you and wishes you luck. Return through the portal in the desert to the Mysterious Palace. If you've already revived the Wind Spirit, jump ahead to Chapter 25--otherwise, enter the Wind Shrine in the Palace to teleport to the Temple of Wind. Chapter 24: The Wind Spirit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Elder's House: Silver hairband, 7G Wind Tower: Small Medal, Miracle Sword, 1200G, Defense Seed, Speed Seed Ancestor Village: Speed Seed Small Medal, Wind Hat Wind Maze: Small medal, Speed Ring KEY ITEMS: Sealed Shrine Key Light Ball of the Holy Wind TASKS: 1. Save the man from the Snow Bat 2. Learn of the researchers' plan 3. Hear Sephana's story and offer to help her -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As soon as you get out of the Wind Temple, a Snow Bat flies up and attacks a bystander. Kill it--it's slightly tougher than a normal Snow Bat, but is nowhere near boss-level difficulty. The man you rescued thanks you and wonders what the world's coming to. A nun by the Philia Statue says that if the statue is completed, then the Wind Spirit can be summoned--but she doesn't know what is missing. Enter the room behind the main worship area where all the researchers are. You'll find them all around a table conferring with each other; go into the room and you will find them reading an article written by Philia about how to avert a problem like the one the island is currently suffering from. "Go to the Rock to the south and climb it" is the only thing that they can glean from the article that seems to be of any help. One researcher suggests that the rock mentioned might be the Wind Tower south of the Valley of the Holy Wind. Another researcher says that there's no evidence that would help, but seeing as how there's not much else to go on, suggests they might as well try it. They'd like to tell the Mayor of the Valley about their idea, but none of them can get there as the wilds are now teeming with monsters. Go to the Valley of the Holy Wind to relay the researchers' message. Everyone there is assembled at the Elder's house, hoping for some sort of guidance from her in the current state of emergency. The man who was formerly guarding the entrance to her house calls her. She emerges from her house, and the townspeople are all shocked to see that she has wings! The Elder identifies herself as Sephana, and in regards to the situation, forbids any townspeople from leaving the Valley, as she doesn't want any getting killed by the monsters that inhabit the wilderness. She tells the townspeople that she intends to seek out the source of the problem herself, even if it costs her her life. In regards to her wings, she explains that they just sort of sprouted two months ago. She hopes that they might provide some sort of hint about how to save the Valley. Before leaving, she asks any people that are confident in their fighting ability to meet her inside. Go inside Sephana's house and offer to help her. She wants to go to the Wind Tower, saying that ever since her wings sprouted, she's felt an unnatural urge to go there. After you relay the researchers' message to her, she wants to go even more. Sephana asks if you will accompany her to the tower--when you say yes, she will want to leave immediately. Head to the Wind Tower and climb it. It's fairly high, but there are no major obstacles or puzzles to stumble on on the way up. At the top of the tower, you'll find an altar. Aira wonders what you need to do there, and Gabo investigates the hole in the middle of the altar. For a minute, it seems like a dead end, but then a strong gust blows and someone calls Sephana...it's Philia! Philia tells Sephana to use the wind to fly up, and she will be able to find the Wind Robe, which is what she needs. Philia then greets you, and asks if you remember her. She tells you that during her research after you left the Valley, she discovered where you were from, what you were looking for, and why she was born without wings. Apparently, she was the last of the Rifa to have wings, but she had the ability to give them to another of the Rifa in your time, when they were needed. Grab onto Sephana, and she flies up into the air. You'll find yourself in the village of the Ancestors. Probably the first thing you'll notice is that the village is in a "hyper-gravity" zone, on a tiny cubical planet(?) If you walk off the "edge" of one of its faces, instead of falling off, you'll just walk onto the adjoining face. From talking to the people in the town, you'll learn that this is the ancestral home of those that the Rifa were descended from before they flew down to the earth. You can find the Elder of the town, who is a slob--he's lying down in his room, which is covered in garbage. He says that he's willing to talk, but the room is so dirty he can't think straight. Clean it for him by tossing all the junk on the floor in the garbage. He will introduce himself once the room is clean, and says that he would gladly give you the Wind Robe, but a monster from the Wind Maze stole it generations ago. After causing trouble in the town, the monster returned to the Maze with the Robe, and to prevent him from bothering the townspeople ever again, they sealed him in the Maze so that he could never escape. The Elder gives you the key to the maze and tells you that if you can get the robe back from the monster, you are welcome to have it. Before you leave, he stops you and gives you the Light Ball of the Holy Wind. The Light Ball can be used to transport you between the lower and the upper worlds. Unlock the door and enter the Wind Maze. The physics of the Maze are identical to those of the Ancestral Village, except the shape is more convoluted to confuse you. The key to solving the maze is to remember that you can walk off edges, but not up walls. If you need to walk onto a wall that you're facing, like if you are standing on face 1 on diagram 1 below and want to get to face 3: ___ _______ ___ / /| / _2__/| |\__\ /__/ |____ / /| 3 || ____|1| | | |3/1 /| ---> /__/1|___|/ ---> |\ 3 \ | | | |/___/ | | | / | \___\| | |___2___|/ |_|/ \|____2_| Starting on the 1 in diagram 1 you'd need to walk off the ledge that connects 1 and 2, and you'd end up with a screen sort of like diagram 2. (if you rotated the viewpoint) With side 2 on top, you can walk off the edge to either side 1 or side 3. If you walked off the edge that connects side 2 and side 3, the screen would rotate again to something like the third diagram, and you would be standing on side 3. The other thing that's tricky about the Wind Maze is that it's rather fiendishly designed to have areas you need to get to that simply CAN'T get to normally by walking off edges and finding a way there. To get to these places, you need to fall through small holes at certain parts of the maze--they will drop you off in an area where you can proceed. In the first part of the maze, you need to fall through a hole at the far end of the maze to land on the platform next to the teleporter. In the second part of the maze, you need to fall through two holes in order to make it out. At the end of the maze, you will find a treasure box. However, once you open it, you will discover that it's empty. A monster appears, and says that your presence in the maze must mean that it is now free. It thanks you and asks what it can do for you in return for freeing it. You'll ask for the Robe, but it will refuse to give it to you and attack. BOSS: Nengle ------------ For a boss appearing this late in the game, Nengle is an easy kill. He uses normal attacks, Sword dance, and the occasional Body Bash, but that's about it. Raise your defense with Skult/War Song and he should be a breeze. A long breeze, since he's got a ton of HP--but a breeze nonetheless. After getting the Wind Robe, the statue behind the treasure chest will turn into a teleporter back to town. Enter it and go talk to the elder. He wants to give you something besides the robe, but his room is too messy, (Again! Already!?) and he can't find it. Pick up his garbage again and he'll give you the Wind Hat. Now that you have the Wind Robe, take it to the Temple. Put the robe on the Philia statue ("use" the robe while standing in front of the statue) and a green light shoots out of it, eventually forming the Wind Spirit. The Wind Spirit is very laid-back, and a bit ditzy--she says that she'll help you in exchange for a good-looking guy. However, after you explain the current situation, she realizes that circumstances are more dire than she first thought, and agrees to help you for free. She gives you the Wind Amulet to use in case you need her assistance again. She goes to Darma to wait for the revival of the other Spirits. As you leave the Temple, you notice that Sephana stayed behind and left your party. Backtrack and talk to her. She says she wants to thank you, and although she wants to go with you, she can't abandon the Rifa. She wishes you good luck on your quest. If you haven't revived the Earth Spirit yet, go back to Chapter 23 before proceeding. Otherwise, return to island of Estard via the teleporter in the Wind Temple. Chapter 25: The Final Conflict -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SUMMARY: ITEMS: Dark Palace: Berserker Helm, Small Medal x 3, 1250G, Leaf of the World Tree, Tragedy Shield, Monster Habitat Plan, Tornado Shield, Gaiarla's Armor KEY ITEMS: Final Key Lar's Mirror Broken Tablet TASKS: 1. Board Sharkeye's Ship and revive the Water Spirit 2. Return to Grand Estard Castle to pick up the Flying Rock 3. Fly to the Dark Palace and descend to the bottom 4. Defeat Orgo Demirra 5. Enjoy the ending! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With the Earth, Fire, and Wind spirits revived, return to Sharkeye's Ship. He has the Wind, Earth, and Fire auras ready to use. You raise the Suiryu Sword, and the Elemental Auras form a beam of light that shoots out of the sword and indicates where you should go. Sharkeye takes the ship along the beam's path, and it leads to the Rainbow Lake. The Suiryu Sword drops into the lake, and revives the Water Spirit, who was sleeping beneath it. With the Water Spirit awake, all four of the Elemental Spirits have been revived. They join their powers and break the seal on the islands that had been condemned by God. They return to the rest of the world, and you are free. The Water Spirit gives you the Water Amulet, before she and the other three Spirits fly to the Crystal palace to confront God. At the Crystal Palace, the four Spirits call God, demand to know if it was really him that sealed them into the darkness, and question his authenticity. God appears and tells the four Spirits that as the ultimate creator, only his power is needed to guide the world, and that their presence is unnecessary. God then tries to use his power to seal them off. However, they fight back and blast him with their power. The combined power of the Spirits breaks God's disguise and reveal his true form to be Orgo Demirra. Orgo Demirra laughs, and says that he was just pretending to be God to pass the time and play around with the humans. Having used all their power to break his illusion, the four Spirits are helpless--with them out of the way, Orgo Demirra says that all he needs to do is kill "the Hero and those pesky humans" before he will be unopposed in the world, and nobody will be able to stop him. He swats the Spirits away like flies, and the Crystal Palace raises out of the ground to reveal its true form as the Dark Palace. You and your party, who were at the foot of the Palace when all this happened, are knocked down. Melvin, who was spying on the priests of the Palace, drops down and helps you up, asking if you're all right. He says that he wants to attack the Dark Palace, but the entrance is too high to get to from the ground. The only way you're going to get into the Dark Palace is by flying there with the Flying Rock, so return to Grand Estard to retrieve it. There, the King will ask if revealing God's true form was your doing. At this point, Maribel skips out of the party again to go check on her parents and make sure they're all right--Melvin fills the fourth slot that she leaves. If you return to her house, you can talk to her in her room and swap her out with another party member. From this point on, whenever you want to change your party lineup, just head to Maribel's room and leave whoever you want behind. When you drop someone off in Maribel's room, they keep all of their equipment, but put any other items they're carrying in the bag. You can retrieve them at any time, but while they're not in your active party they won't gain any experience or job levels. When you're ready, you can go to the Crystal palace at any time. Just to clean up some odds and ends though, at this point you can talk to the King of the Sea Floor--the entrance to his palace is near Fishbell. There you can learn the whereabouts of Anniess--she is being held in a safe place by the Water Spirit until Orgo Demirra is killed. If you talk to him again and met the monster in the Coral Cave earlier, you can persuade him to return the monster to its original form--he will ask you to tell it to come to his palace to be changed back. When you do, it will give you an Amazing Tablet? before leaving. In addition, if you talk to the ghosts in the Coral Cave, they will give you an Amazing Tablet? as well. When you're equipped and ready, get in the Flying Rock and fly to the Crystal Palace. You'll find yourself on the roof. Climb down into the Palace and head to the basement, where you'll find a big hole in the floor. Fall through the hole and you will be in the Dark Palace. Early on in the Dark Palace, you will find a big glowing circle. Don't step on it--it will damage you. In addition, you will also find the Final Key and Lar's Mirror here. The Final Key will allow you to open the "prison door" type doors that you've seen at various points of the game, and a Dragon Quest just wouldn't be a Dragon Quest without Lar's Mirror. :) While it doesn't perform any function within the story, if a monster transforms using Moshas, you can use the Mirror on it to return it to its true form. After getting through the Dark Palace, you'll enter the Bio-cave. Here, you have to be careful of the pulsating yellow blobs with purple spikes; if you walk in front of their "mouths" and are too close they will catch you with their "tongues," eat you, and spit you out elsewhere. That's not to say they're useless; there are some places that are inaccessible without being "eaten." In fact, the staircase down to the next level is only accessible by getting eaten by a blob nearby it. The blob you want to get eaten by is on the second level of the biocave, and is facing south, near a chest. The staircase on the second level of the biocave leads to the monster egg chamber. There are a bunch of blobs that you can freely enter and exit, and they have lots of eggs in them. You can break the eggs and kill the monsters within them. In the large blob against the far north wall of the "blob cave," you can uncover the door to the next area by destroying the eggs in the far northeast corner. In the next area, you'll find a room with force fields. What you need to do here is fairly simple, especially if you look ahead at the direction the force fields are traveling. You need to ride the force fields on the right side of the room up to the very top, then up and to the left, and back down onto a ledge. From that ledge, step onto the force field that leads down and along the edge of the ledge the exit is on. Then all you have to do is climb down the rocky face to the exit. The next room is a dead end. Here you need to use the power of your Amulets to proceed. The next area you will enter will depend on which Amulet you use--there are four exits to the area, and each spirit has the power to open the way to one of them. Whatever path you take, they will all end up in the throne room of the Demonlord. If you want to visit all four paths and get the treasures in, you will need to teleport out of the dungeon using Riremitt after collecting the treasures--there is no way back otherwise, and once you enter the Demonlord's throne room, the only way out that doesn't involve winning the game is in body bags. Earth Amulet: The Earth Spirit will guide your way into an Earth Maze. Whereas the entire area seems to be dead-ends, the Earth Spirit will help you by destroying weak sections of wall when you approach them, so to proceed you will need to test various sections of the walls until you can find one that the Spirit can knock over. Wind Amulet: The Wind Spirit will guide you into another anti-gravity maze. The maze has the same basic concept as before--fall through the hole to get to the exit. Fire Amulet: The Fire Spirit will open the way into a lava cave. Other than being rather convoluted in its construction, there's not anything special required to complete it. Water Amulet: The Water Spirit will drop you into a very large pool of shallow water. Basically you just need to wade your way to a staircase, and follow the underground tunnels to the way out. It's not as straightforward as it might seem--in order to get where you're going, you'll need to ascend and descend several staircases. At the end of each of the Elemental caves, you'll see a gathering of energy. Step into the energy and your characters will be healed to max and teleported into Orgo Demirra's throne room. If you don't want to fight him just yet, be sure to teleport out of the dungeon before you step into it. Continue into the throne room to meet Orgo Demirra. He goes on about calling you stupid puppets of God, and how you should worship him instead. He attacks you, saying how he will make you regret your decision to oppose him. BOSS: Orgo Demirra: ------------------- Orgo Demirra's first form is fairly easy to beat. He has some nasty breath attacks, but these can be easily countered with Fubarha. Stampeding Sheep will do quite a lot of damage at this point (about 400 a pop if you succeed and are in your 30s in terms of levels) which is comparable to even some of the toughest techniques like Ultima Sword. A Bikilt/War Cry Charge/Seiken-Zuki combo works well too. Use Hustle Dance to cure your party, using the Sage Stone for good measure will help too. A lot of Orgo Demirra's attacks are physical, so if you up your physical defense with something like War Song your chances will be raised. Try to conserve your MP for the upcoming battle though. Once you deal enough damage, Orgo Demirra will return to his humanoid form, and you'll have to fight him like that. BOSS: Orgo Demirra, second form: -------------------------------- This form of Orgo Demirra has the double attack you've grown to be accustomed to when fighting DQVII bosses. In addition, he'll use a wide variety of attacks, both physical and magical. His nastiest is the flame he throws from his hands, along with a strong Ionazun. In addition, his gaze can put you to sleep, so it helps to have a technique that can awake sleeping characters. If he eliminates your support spells with Freezing Wave, you'll need to cast them again. Since his primary attacks come in the form of magic and flame, casting Magic Barrier and Fubarha, and making sure you have good resistance before entering the fight is very important. If you have more than one character that can heal the entire party without using MP (Hustle Dance, Sage Stone, etc.) that will help quite a good deal. Physical attacks work well on this form of Orgo Demirra; you can keep calling the sheep to trample him. If you have Maribel in the party, you can have her use Payback to return any attacks he uses too; free Ionazuns are always nice. :) Once you beat up Orgo Demirra again, he'll change into a weird mix between his human and monster forms. BOSS: Orgo Demirra, third form: ------------------------------- This form gets really powerful. It has double attacks, and some really vicious physical attacks that deal well over 200 points of damage. Fortunately his HP aren't too high in this form, and with good damaging techniques (Sheep, Seiken- zuki, Ultima Sword, etc) you can take him down in only a few rounds. Most of his attacks are physical, with a few "breath weapon" type attacks, so having high defense and breath resistance is important for this battle. Overall I've found this form to be less troublesome than his second, because he relies a lot less on group attacks. Once you beat this form of Demirra, he starts to weaken, and lose control of his body. In desperation, he undergoes another transformation and uses all his power to try to kill you. Boss: Orgo Demirra, final form. -------------------------------- Make sure you've got Magic Barrier up and all your characters in good health when you start this fight, because Orgo Demirra will cast Madante, and if you get caught in it with even moderate amounts of HP and no defense, it's dirt nap time for you. Actually he will cast Madante throughout the battle, which is cheating (since it's supposed to use up all your MP) but he does it anyway. He'll also occasionally sprout monsters to help him attack. You need to be able to do a fair amount of damage to him quickly, because he will Meditiate, which heals him 500 HP. Fortunately this form of Demirra is very slow. Odds are your entire party will act before the round is over. Pull out all the stops on him, using your most powerful physical techniques. Using Ultima Sword and two characters calling Sheep, I was able to take him down in five rounds with little trouble. Orgo Demirra is astonished that you could have defeated him, and dies. As his world collapses in on itself, you escape via the flying platform you were standing on. Chapter 26: The Grand Finale -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After defeating the Demonlord, you arrive at the Sky Palace. There a soldier greets you. He says he was waiting for you and this time, he asks you inside. Inside the priestess is waiting for you, and she cannot express her happiness enough. She says you were great, that God was irrelevant and you did everything with your own power and guided the people well. She tells you to return to your homes and rest well. Talk to everyone. Some thank you, some wonder if the real God isn't around somewhere, one person suggests that you yourselves are God. When you're ready to leave, a platform comes to take you to the Flying Rock. At this point Melvin leaps off and stays at the Temple. A soldier comes up and says that the God Stone is trying to commune with him. He asks if you understand the reasons he has to leave, and thanks you for everything before you depart. You enter the Flying Stone. First Stop: Darma Here you can talk to the Bandits. They thank you--Eteponge will serve you some of his special Stew. The bandit boss says it was the right decision to give you the tablet, and asks you to drop by the hideout every once in a while. You can find Brugio too; he wants to make the Demonlord's castle one of his estates. Also you can see that the old man who swore he would change jobs to a young girl has actually done so. :P Next Stop: Valley of the Wind You'll see several people with wings, but they're all fake--they're just wearing them for fashion purposes. Sephana's wings, on the other hand disappeared as soon as the Demonlord was defeated. She thinks that they returned to the person who they really belonged to (i.e. Philia) once their job was complete. She thanks you for saving world, and says that there was nothing to fear with Wind Spirit and you working together to protect the world. She asks you to drop by and visit occasionally. Next Stop: Mezare Go talk to Nicora. He says he heard you defeated the Demonlord and thanks you. Ruglay is gone though, and Nicora wonders where he went. At this point Ruglay comes in, wounded. He sees you, pulls you in, and asks you to say that he fought the Demonlord with you, and swears to God that this will be the last lie he tells. Back in the common area, he starts talking about "Wasn't that rough when the Demonlord cast Ionazun at me!?" If you don't play along he glares at you. If you do, he claims that you did all the work. Next Stop: Desert Palace Go talk to the queen, and she will want to speak to you directly again. She thanks you for all your work; not only did you save the desert in the past and the present, but the whole world as well. The Queen says that tales of your heroism will go down in the history of the Desert People forever. She wishes you well on all your future exploits, and says that the people of the desert are your friends and the desert is your home should you ever want to return. A Priest at the palace is trying to get the Shaman to take him in as a disciple. The Shaman says that first he should be the disciple of the nearby cat. The Priest doesn't understand. You'll find Sayard as well--he is getting ready to go on a journey around the world, now that the Demonlord is dead. He tells you that he feels proud to have known you, and says that maybe you'll run into each other somewhere again. Finally, you can meet a scholar here who found remnants of something the original archaeologist you brought to the past left behind for future generations to learn from. Next Stop: Engou At Engou, the Mayor says he was wrong in the way that he was leading the town. He says the he had forgotten about the Fire God and only thought of making town bigger. He vows to start to paying his respects to the Fire God like the town used to do so long ago. In fact, he has just readied another ceremony to thank the Fire God, and asks you to participate. There's another celebration beforehand--everyone is partying, a bard is singing a song honoring you, etc. Talk to Pamila, and she will tell you that she was watching the fight with the Demonlord via crystal ball. Ilma will tell you that she tried her hand at fortune telling herself, and foretold that you would defeat the Demonlord--but asks you to keep it a secret from Pamila. When you're ready, talk to the Mayor, and the offering to the Fire God starts. Your party thanks the Fire spirit and drops your torches into the volcano. Next Stop: Mardillas Yohan has decided to get serious with his playing--he says that he can attract girls better that way. He hits on Aira if she's there; Aira playfully rejects him. Yohan says that she's better with you anyway and tells you to "go for it." Greta thanks you, and says she's proud to call you friend. She says that until she met you she was stuck hanging around old men, and that her life started to get interesting once you showed up. She asks if you're glad to know a cute, smart, princess like her. After that, she asks to see you alone. Go into her room--she starts to say something but backs off, and says that for the time being she won't say anything. She you to come visit her occasionally, and gives you a kiss before you leave. Next Stop: Hobbit Cave The King is back to his old happy self. The Queen is relieved, the Elder Hobbit is getting ready to go to the casino. They say that you will go down as the second great legend of Coastarl, after Sharkeye. Next Stop: Sharkeye's Ship Borongo (the ship's mate that dropped you into the ocean) takes you to Sharkeye as the crew cheers you. Sharkeye congratulates you on your victory, and says that many of the crewmembers want you to be the successor to Sharkeye as the head of the Marl de Dragonne pirates. He asks if you're interested in succeeding him. Regardless of your answer, he says he's heading back toward Fishbell, but needs to stop off because the King of the Sea has business with him. Then he formally presents you to his crew and tells them never to forget your bravery. Next Stop: Grand Estard If your party isn't full already, whoever stayed behind joins your party now. You can either talk to the King or go out into the town and talk to the townspeople. The old man who deciphered the Royal Document will tell you about a special treasure box on a ledge in town--if you put something broken in it, it will go back in time and restore it. You can also find a broken tablet fragment in the well of the town. (I'll let you put two and two together as to what to do) When you're ready, talk to the King--he says you did great. He tells you that if it wasn't for you, the world would still be sealed off for all eternity, or they would all still be worshipping a false god. He calls you the savior of the world, and says that even though the start of your journey was just a tiny little personal adventure, it mushroomed into a worldwide legend. He goes on to say that if Keefa had not gone off with the ring none of this would have ever happened. At first, he thought he had been bringing him up wrong, but is now very proud of his son. He starts a celebration. After seeing images of people celebrating, you'll see message saying that everyone from Fishbell came to the castle to celebrate and how the celebrations reflected those around the world. The next scene moves to your bedroom as you wake up in your house. Your mother comes up and says it's the Annual Amitt Fish day, and that your father already went to the dock. As you leave, your mother gives you two Anchovy Sandwiches-- one for you, and one for your father. Go to the dock. Gabo is there to see you off on your first fishing outing. He tells you to be careful and bring back lots of fish. Bolkano tells you to greet the people in the ship before you cast off. Maribel has snuck aboard yet again, and the cook finds her again. The cook tells Maribel to get off the boat, and Bolcano comes in and asks what the fuss is about. Bolcano tells her she's allowed to come just this once. Maribel is excited. Leave and the boat takes off. Sit back and enjoy the credits and mini-movie in the background! After the credits, you'll see you and Bolkano pull in a net full of fish. Among the fish, you catch something that looks like a stone fragment. It's not a map this time though, but a message. "To my best friend (hero name), I'm traveling with the Yuvarl. How long has it been since we split up...Since you left, there's been no sign of Jan. As the protector of the town, I married Lyla. In case you find this, let my dad know that I'm doing all right. And that I am always with you as your friend. --Keefa" Congratulations! You've beaten DQVII! As with all recent DQ releases though, it's not yet truly over--try to discover and complete the two Bonus Dungeons Enix added to the game! APPENDIX A: TABLET FRAGMENT LOCATIONS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yellow, Northwest: (Wood Paluna) 1) Mysterious Palace: Already set into the Dais 2) Mysterious Palace: Near the entrance 3) Mysterious Palace: Lying on the floor in the Yellow Tablet room 4) Fishbell: Gotten from Bolcano Red, Northwest: (Engou) 1) Tower east of Paluna: Treasure chest, first floor 2) Color Stone Mine, Present: On the ground on the bottom floor 3) Grand Estard Castle: In treasure box under castle--get there using raft Blue, Northwest: (Direluck) 1) Volcano, Past: Get from defeating the Fire Giant 2) Engou, Past: Get from Pamila after saving the town Green, Northwest: (Orphie) 1) Tower east of Paluna: Get from defeating the Golem 2) Wood Paluna, Present: Inside a house 3) Volcano, Present: In a treasure chest 4) Direluck site, Present: On the ground near the stone pillar Blue, Northeast: (Forish/Forod) 1) Prison Mountain, Past: In a treasure chest 2) Prison Mountain, Past: In a treasure chest 3) Prison Mountain, Present: Get from Death Amigo after opening his coffin Red, Southeast: (Greenflake) 1) Forish, Past: In a treasure chest 2) Mechanical Soldier's Hideout, Past: In a treasure chest 3) Zebott's House, Present: In a treasure chest 4) Forish, Present: Get from Alman's granddaughter Green Southwest: (Yuvarl camp) 1) Orphie, Present: In the equipment shop 2) Forod, Present: Inside a chest in the prison 3) Greenflake Cave, Past: In a treasure chest 4) Greenflake Cave, Past: Lying on the floor 5) Greenflake ruins, present: Lying on the ground Blue Southeast: (Darma) 1) Yuvarl Camp, Past: Inside a box 2) Grand Estard Castle: Given to you by the King 3) Archaeological Dig: Inside the Well Yellow Center: (Desert Palace) 1) Direluck: In a pot in the "Secret Base" 2) Memorial Leaf: Inside a chest in the big house 3) Cave by God's Altar: Treasure Chest 4) Bandit Camp: Given to you by the Bandit boss after you defeat him Yellow Southwest: (Crage) 1) Darma, Past: In a treasure chest 2) Desert Village, Past: In a chest in the storage area 3) Desert Village, Present: In a pot Red, Center: (Retrude) 1) Crage, Past: Get from a farmer after defeating the Wolf Devil 2) Crage, Present: In the basement of Brugio's villa 3) The World Tree, Present: Lying on the ground Yellow, Southeast: (Harmelia) 1) Nameless town: In a treasure chest 2) Mezare: In the Well 3) Archaeological Dig: In the base of the dig 4) Time Nexus: Gotten from the Time Master after defeating him 5) Baroque Tower: Treasure Chest Red, Northeast: (Lumen) 1) Desert Palace, Past: In a treasure chest in the basement 2) Harmelia, Present: In a chest below the city (use raft to reach) 3) Mysterious Tower, Present: Get when defeating the Gigamutant Green, Northeast: (Provina) 1) Retrude, present: In the basement of Cleeney's former house 2) Baroque Tower: In a treasure chest 3) Mysterious Tower, Past: Given to you by the Musician 4) Harmelia, Past: In a chest below the city (use raft to reach) Red, Southwest: (Mardillas) 1) Mysterious Tower, Present: In a treasure chest 2) Underwater City, Present: In a treasure chest 3) World's Tallest Tower: Get when freeing Melvin Green, Southeast: (Valley of the Wind) 1) Lumen, Past: Get from defeating Hellbaum 2) Provina: In the church at the top of the mountain 3) House east of Mezare: In a chest 4) Mountain Grave: Aira gives it to you after joining your party 5) Great Temple, Present: In the basement below the island in the courtyard Yellow, Northeast: (Lebressack) 1) Brugio's Manor: Basement 2) Hill West of Lumen (Past): On the ground 3) Provina: In a treasure chest in the cave to the church 4) Wind Temple, Present: By the dais where the God Stone was Blue, Southeast: (Coastarl) 1) Earth Spirit Statue, Present: On the top floor 2) Wind Temple, Present: In a treasure chest 3) Lebressack, Present: In a treasure chest Dais in the Palace in the Sky: 1) Darkness Tower, Present: On the top floor 2) Coastarl, Past: In a treasure chest 3) Hobbit Cave, Past: In a treasure chest Dais in the Archaeological Dig: 1) Coral Cave: In a treasure chest 2) Great Lighthouse, Past: Get after defeating Barikunaja 3) Coastarl, Present: Under the Altar in the church (see Chapter ??) 3) Shrine north of Harmelia: Man inside gives it to you Angel Dais in the Mysterious Temple: 1) Underwater City, Present: Get from Glacos the 5th 2) Grand Estard: In the treasure box on the cliff (see Ending for details) 3) Coral Cave: Get from ghosts (must be Disk 2) 3) Medal King Castle: Get from Medal King after getting 100 Medals "Dragon Quest VII" Dais 1) Coastarl, Present: Buy in the Casino 2) Last Dungeon: Deluge Cave 3) Coral Cave: Monster gives it to you after completing his task 4) Immigrant Town: In a treasure chest after reaching 35+ people 5) Bonus Dungeon 1: Defeat God in under 20 turns APPENDIX B: SMALL MEDAL LOCATIONS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Fishbell: Above the Church 2) Engou, Present: Trade with child for Round Button 3) Orphie: In a chest of drawers in the inn 4) Prison Mountain: In a treasure chest 5) Sim's House: In his well 6) Forish, Past: In a barrel in a house to the southeast 7) Forod, Past: In pot in the northwest area of the castle 8) Mechanical Soldier hideout, Present: in a treasure chest 9) Forish, Present: In a treasure chest in the warehouse under the church steps 10) Forod, Present: In a barrel in a building (Barracks? I took lousy notes :P) 11) Zebott's House, Present: In a barrel 12) Greenflake: Behind the counter of the Item Store 13) Cave northeast of Greenflake, Past: Treasure chest 14) Cave northeast of Greenflake ruins, Present: In a barrel in basement 15) Memorial Leaf: In a pot in the ruined house 16) Yuvarl camp, Past: In a box in Lyra's Tent 17) Cave to God's Altar, past: Treasure box 18) Cave to God's Altar, past: Another treasure chest 19) Archaeological Dig: In the well 20) Darma, Past: In a treasure chest in the basement 21) Nameless Town: In a pot behind the bar counter 22) Nameless Town: In a barrel by the wall (what wall? Bad notes again) 23) Mountain Village: On top of a grave 24) Mountain Village: In the well 25) Foz's Prison: In a treasure chest 26) Foz' Prison: In a pot 27) Mountain tunnel to Darma: In a treasure chest 28) Bandit Hideout: In a pot in the Treasure chamber 29) Darma, Present: In a pot 30) Desert Town, Past: In a pot in a house 31*) Demonlord Statue: In a treasure chest 32) Desert Town, Present: In a barrel 33) Archaeological dig: In a pot in the pit 34) Crage, Past: In the Elder's desk 35) Crage, Present: In a closet in the well 36) Crage, Present: In a closet in the inn 37) Retrude, Past: In a barrel on the roof of the equipment store 38*) Time Nexus: Treasure Chest 39) Greenflake (Retrude version): In the Well 40) Greenflake (Retrude version): In a barrel in the mansion 41) Memorial Leaf (Retrude version): In a chest in the mansion 42) Memorial Leaf (Retrude version): In the cave on the road to the convent 43) Baroque's Bridge, Present: In a barrel 44) Baroque's Bridge, Present: In the well 45) Baroque Tower: In a treasure chest 46) Abon village: In the Elder's desk 47) Abon Village: In a treasure chest under village 48) Fuzu: In a barrel in the bar 49) Underwater city, past: In a pot 50) Underwater city, past: In a chest 51) Underwater city, past: In a chest 52) Harmelia, Present: Lying on the floor in the area with the cat by the river 53) Mysterious Tower, Present: In a pot 54) Underwater City, Present: In a chest 55) Underwater City, Present: In a chest 56) Mezare, Present: In Nicora's treasure room 57) Brugio's Manor: In a treasure chest 58) Lumen, Past: In Seable's House 59) Darkness Tower, Past: In a treasure chest 60) Lumen, present: In the well 61) Darkness Tower, present: In a treasure chest 62) Provina, past: In a barrel 63) Provina, present: In the well 64) Provina, Past: In the church basement 65) World's Tallest Tower: In a treasure chest 66) Mardillas, Past: In a closet in the king's room 67) Great Temple, Past: In a pot 68) Mardillas, Present: In a barrel 69) Mardillas, Present: In the well 70) Great Palace, Present: In a treasure chest below island in courtyard 71) Yuvarl camp, present: In a pot 72) Desert Palace, past: In a treasure chest 73) Valley of the Wind, past: In a barrel 74) Tunnels to the Wind Palace: In a treasure chest 75) Wind Palace: In a barrel 76) Wind Palace: In a treasure chest 77) Wind Palace: In a treasure chest 78) Lebressack, Past: In the elder's house 79) Demon Mountain: In a treasure chest 80-84) Lebressack, present: Find all 5 in one pop by one of the graves 85) Coastarl, Past: In a barrel 86) Hobbit cave, past: In a treasure chest 87) Great Lighthouse, Past: In a closet 88) Coastarl, Present: In a treasure chest 89) Hobbit Cave, present: In a treasure chest 90) Great Lighthouse, Present: Treasure chest 91) House north of Harmelia: By the grave 92) Cave under archaeological dig: In a treasure chest 93) Crystal Palace: In a treasure chest 94) Inner Volcano: In a treasure chest 95) Sharkeye's Ship: In a pot 96) Sharkeye's Ship: Talk to his cat, and it will give it to you 97) Wind Tower: In a treasure chest 98) Anti-gravity village: In a barrel in the inn 99) Wind Maze: In a treasure chest 100) Dark Palace: In a chest 101) Bio-cave: In a chest 102) Last dungeon: On the floor (behind prison gate? Ugh these notes are awful) 103) Last dungeon, Earth area: In a chest 104) Grand Estard: Chest in palace treasury 105) Grand Estard: On the floor in the dungeon 106*) Immigrant Town, Pop. 5~14: In a pot in the tent 107*) Immigrant Town, Pop. 15~19: In a pot 108*) Immigrant Town, Pop. 20~24: In a treasure chest 109) Immigrant Town, Pop. 25~29: In a pot 110) Immigrant Town, Pop. 30~34: In a pot 111) Immigrant Town, Pop. 30~34: In a pot 112) Immigrant Town, Pop. 35+ (Not a special town): In a barrel 113) Immigrant Town, Pop. 35+ (Great Farm): In a pot 114) Immigrant Town, Pop. 35+ (Premium Bazaar): In a pot in item store 115) Immigrant Town, Pop. 35+ (Grand Slum): In a pot 116) Immigrant Town, Pop. 35+ (Grand Slum): In a pot 117) Bonus dungeon #1: In a pot in a house 118) Bonus dungeon #1: In a chest in the cave 119) Bonus dungeon #1: In a barrel in a house 120) Bonus dungeon #2: In a pot ################################################################################ THANKS AND CREDITS ################################################################################ Thanks to the following, without whom this FAQ would not have been possible: * Enix, for continuing to produce great DQ games. Also for bringing out the Official DQ7 guidebooks to fill in those extra tidbits of info I couldn't fill in myself. * Ken Ma, for getting me into DQ :) * Hiryu, for putting up the best darn DQ page in existence. Filled some holes in the Monster Jobs section, as well as providing variables on some equipment and prerequisites for the Town forms. Posts on the message boards provided a good deal of raw data in general. Check out his "Dragon Quest World" site at http://www3.justnet.ne.jp/~sugino/DQ.htm. No, really! Go there! * Hiro, for helping me fill some holes in the Abilities and Spells section. * Boko-kun, for information on what happens if you kill Chibi in Lebressack * Everyone on the DQ7 board at GameFAQs for their info and moral support :) If you contributed information to this FAQ and feel that I've left you out, please let me know. ################################################################################ DISCLAIMERS ################################################################################ It was at the top of the FAQ, but here it is again for good measure: This document is Copyright 2000 by Ian Kelley. This FAQ is for private and personal use only. It was created and is owned by me, Ian Kelley. If you wish to use this FAQ on your non-commercial website, please contact me for permission. Distribution of this FAQ must be done electronically and in an unaltered form. This document may not be used in any way, shape, or form for any sort of commercial or for-profit purposes. This includes but is not limited to publishing in a magazine, in part or in whole, magazine/book/guide writers using it as "source material," etc. You may not make any sorts of updates to this FAQ (such as changing names to fit a domestic release) and distribute it without the author's explicit permission. I am very, very serious about this. FAQ-stealing is a very big problem. Since seeing my Star Ocean: The Second Story walkthrough stolen by Expert Gamer Magazine in their July '99 issue, I am pretty much going on the warpath when it comes to plagiarism--especially now that I have a job and enough money to hire a lawyer. ;) FAQ writing is a labor of love--it's time-consuming and takes a lot of work and dedication to complete. When I, (and I think I speak for most other FAQ writers as well) see somebody else profiting off my work when I intended it to be free, it makes me very angry. Since a domestic release of Dragon Quest VII has yet to be announced, this may be less of an issue, but rest assured if it ever does, I will be keeping a sharp eye out for any unauthorized copying (Expert Gamer, I will be watching you like a hawk) and will take appropriate action should I find any. Have some ethics, people. (Oh, a hint to you Expert Gamer guys: if you're going to use an FAQ based on the Japanese version of a game to write a walkthrough of a domestic game without playing it first, it helps to make sure of ALL the domestic names are the same-- when you use romanizations I fudged or substitute words I left in Japanese with question marks, it makes it blatantly obvious) ################################################################################ Well, that about does it! Send any contributions, comments, questions, etc. to ikelley@sas.upenn.edu