A Tale of Two Scripts: Let's play FF3 US & FF6 RPGOne!

Very similar in concept, yes. Much like machines and Machina in FFX, Magic/Majick in FF6 are functionally identical, but have different perceptions and understandings about them. Also similar to the FFX dichotomy, Magic has a history of being largely feared and misunderstood in FF6's world while Majick is embraced by the Empire and used as a tool of war.

I always kinda wondered why everyone in the game took the use of magitek knights and armor in stride, but totally freaked out over Terra. I never knew there was originally supposed to be a distinction between types of magic in the game, but it does make a lot of sense.

The way I always looked at it is that the difference between Magitek weapons and magic is the difference between seeing a tank fire a shell and seeing a teenage girl fire a shell from out of thin air. It made sense to me that people would be much more surprised by the latter.

Or, more accurately, seeing someone toss fire from a flamethrower and seeing someone else toss fire from their fingertips. Even if you don't know how either one works, the former can be easily explained through "It's science!" and is of the dominion of man, harnessed through technology and rational. The latter can't be explained, it comes from forces beyond your control, and therefore it's mysterious, frightening, and forbidden.

I was going to say something about magitek knights, but I realized that though Kefka and Celes have the same abilities as Terra people could also see their gifts as a product of technological advancement. Also, I believe they are well known to be the only two magitek knights in existence right? I mean several Imperial enemies use magic (like templars), but are they not the only two characters ever specifically referred to as magitek knights?

That would mean that Terra's naturally occurring abilities would be an unknown commodity and would thus be reasonably upsetting to the populace at large.

Which is why Biggs/Wedge refer to her as a witch in Woolsey's translation.

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS



THERE'S A PILLOW ON THAT BED

For twelve years I've seen it as an imprint of a guy going \o/ while he sleeps. I'm freaking out over here.

Lordy, the things you notice when you're doing an LP.

...What?

Of course there's a pillow on the bed. That's where the pillow goes.

Alright, I've got tonight's update written up and it's massive - seven posts, almost one hundred images, and over 4600 words. That makes it significantly longer than my senior thesis. Do you guys want to read all that in one update, or should we be splitting up the game into smaller chunks even if that means we won't necessarily hit the next big point in the story in each update and the LP will be running for longer?

But... the people get up after sleeping and there's a little dimple where their head was and dimples where my arms would go if I was the one sleeping there and... and... and... some of us don't look that closely at bed sprites, ok?

I would vote for whichever is easier on you. I mean if making the lp longer is easier to manage than assembling one massive update then go for it. Honestly, I'm just dying to read it regardless of what format it comes in.

Agreed.

I tend to think that smaller updates help keep people interested (witness Brickroad's current LP where it has devolved to the point of people making new Percy images), but I'm in no rush, so waiting for a big update is perfectly fine by me. Do whatever works best for you!

Besides! Having your LP go off into a ditch and winding up with Percy photoshops is practically a badge of honor around here.

Thanks for the votes, guys. I might start breaking up some of the longer segments I have planned if I come up with a good rule of thumb (like only visiting two towns per update, or some such), but thinking about it my main concern is being able to update regularly. If I can do giganto-updates like tonight's in one week, I might as well go for it; not like I have a job or dependents to distract me. Besides, at the current rate this LP will take at least another five months.

Speaking of being regular, actual update to follow in a couple minutes.

Agreed agreed. If you can't get out big updates at a solid pace smaller ones seem like they would keep the thread fresh in people's minds, keep the flow going with new events to talk about, and reduce the amount of information carryover lost between updates (even if it is a game most of us know like the back of our hands). But then again I'm not really helping the derails in the FF4 thread so I don't know if my opinion counts. >.>

It was a long walk through the desert, but here we are back at Figaro Castle, ready to head west under the mountains.


Oh yeah, Sabin used to live here. The castle is mostly the same as before, but we can pick up a Drill and a Flash at the castle Tool crib. The Drill does good unblockable, defense-ignoring damage to a single target while the Flash does fairly low non-elemental spell damage to all enemies, totaling about as much (or even a little more than) the Autocrossbow at this point in the game. Flash also inflicts Blind, but as already discussed that’s no use in this version of the game.

Anyway, while the rest of the party takes a nap in the Castle barracks, the game shows us what Sabin’s getting up to.

Sabin [sits in the throne]: And yet it’s all different... Mom and Dad are gone... Everyone’s gone... Since that day...

[The scene changes to Sabin running out of the royal bedroom.]
Sabin: Nooo...! Y...you’re wrong! This can’t be...
SOLDIER: Matron... ...The King... he’s...
[EDGAR chases SABIN up the castle stairs.]
Edgar: ...Sabin... ...Sabin!!!!!

[EDGAR exits the main tower and approaches SABIN.]
Sabin: B...brother... Waa, ahhh, ahhh...
Edgar: So... They went and told you...
MATRON: Edgar! Here you are... Your father... He just uttered his last wish that Figaro be divided between you...
Sabin: This is NONSENSE!! Everyone’s saying that the Empire poisoned Dad... And the only thing on your minds is “Who’s going to be the next king?!” You’re all pathetic! No one cared when Mom passed away, either...
MATRON: That’s not...
Sabin: You were as bad as any of ‘em!
Edgar: Sabin...
Sabin: Empire of murderers... They won’t get away with this! [SABIN runs towards the throne room, EDGAR following.]
Edgar: Matron... Please leave us...

Sabin: You said you were sick of it too, right?!
Edgar: ...freedom... What’ll happen to this realm if we both leave? And what would Dad say...? Sabin, let’s settle this with a toss of a coin. If it’s heads, you win. We’ll choose whichever path we want, without any regrets. Okay? This is for Dad!

[EDGAR emerges from behind the curtain on the right.]
Edgar: It’s been... 10 years. The little shrimp’s grown into a whopping lobster!
Sabin: And you’re a king crab!
Edgar [sits in the other throne]: Sabin... I often wonder if he’d be proud of me...
Sabin: Don’t you ever doubt that!
Edgar: 10 years...
Sabin: Where has the time gone...?

Edgar [walks down the steps and raises his hand]: Here’s to Dad...
Sabin [joins EDGAR]: ...to Mom... and to Figaro.
[Fade out. The entire PARTY awakes in the barracks.]

This scene is one big reason for my love of Edgar. If the twins are 27 now and this happened ten years ago, they were 17 when their father was assassinated and they co-inherited the throne. I hadn’t even gotten my driver’s license at the age Edgar was forced into command of a kingdom. He assumed full responsibility, while using a trick coin to let Sabin ran off to cry in the mountains. For the next ten years he maintained an alliance with his father’s presumed killers for the freedom of his people while learning combat engineering and helping to organize a resistance movement, the fate of his kingdom resting squarely on his soldiers.

That’s a pretty big load for someone orphaned at seventeen, and God damn do I respect him for carrying it. I can understand why Sabin did what he did, and in the end the skills he gained in doing so will prove vital to saving the world, but there’s just no nice way to say it: in its greatest time of need, Sabin selfishly abandoned Figaro because he just couldn’t take it, forcing his own brother to do all that stuff I said above on his own. His was a response of fear, grief, and anger, and while that might make for a romantic story it doesn’t make for a respectable person. Notice that ten years later he’s not even the one worried about whether their father would be proud of him.

But enough dumping on Sabin. We have places to go, chatter to hear, and freakish friends turned into crazed animalistic monsters to see.
“Who’d have thought a person could fly over a mountain range?”
“Wanna get past the mountains? This castle can’t fly, but it can submerge! Find the person in charge of the Engine Room!”
MATRON: Sabin... Every bit an adult, now... I remember that time so vividly. I was so angry... I learned something important on that day...

>Go to Kohlingen
[The OLD MAN flips the switch behind him.]
“Urgggh! Next stop, Kohlingen! Watch your step!”

The castle sinks in a cloud of sand and dust, the camera pans over the mountains to another desert, and...

the castle emerges in another cloud of dust, with a town just in view at the northern edge of the map. We check it out, discovering the picturesque town of
.

Well, picturesque except for the occasional stumps, torn up ground, and half-burned shell of a house.

Not surprisingly, this florescent visitor is the talk of much of the town.
“That shining creature! So frightening to us all! But I found it... beautiful!”
“Was it really a ghost? It stopped right in front of me. I could see it had gentle eyes...”
“Everyone was scared when the glowing creature stopped here. It left to the south, toward Jidoor.”
Ok, looks like the next stop on the Find Terra Express is Jidoor, but we’ve got a few other things to check out here first.

In the cafe/inn we find a familiar face (that isn’t a generic townsperson sprite):

“Some pretty bad sorts come in here. That guy’s an assasin!”
Shadow: We meet again... Leave me alone...
Oddly enough, as much as Shadow’s strictly mercenary nature is played up in this game, this is the only time the player can pay him to join the party. Doing so doesn’t require just his 3000 GP fee, though; you need to travel from Narshe to Kohlingen with a three person party (not hard) while Shadow will only stay in your group through the next two towns at maximum and probably ditch you before then. This of course leaves you short-handed unless you walk back to Narshe and make a fully party (much harder). Shadow’s awesome, yes, but not that awesome.

Of course, there’s also people saying plenty of stuff that’s probably not relevant at all to anything we may or may not have to do in the future.
“Best stay away from the house on the eastern edge of town. The old coot there spends his days mixing curious herbs. I heard he keeps ghosts under his house!” (But cross the bridge across from this guy and you can go in the back door of the old coot’s house, netting you a free Green Beret, a helmet with good defenses that boosts your max HP.)
“My dream is to see an opera at the opera house south of Jidoor. I’d wear a sequined dress... And bring a handsome escort...!”
“My brother’s a bit... touched. Lives alone to the north, and dreams of building a colosseum!”
“A girl named Rachel used to live in that house. Now it’s deserted.”

Wait, what? Locke knows Rachel? She’s here? But the other old lady said her house is abandoned. This bears investigation!


Upon entering the abandoned house, Locke comes over all melancholy and flashback-y.
Locke: Soon, you’ll... [He stops and raises a hand to his face.] You’re not going to believe what awaits us up here! Come on, it’s worth a fortune! [He is crossing the bridge when the screens starts to shake.]
RACHEL: Locke! Look out! [She runs forward and pushes Locke to the... is that an island in empty space?]

Locke: RACHEL!!

RACHEL [She climbs out of bed]: ... ... ...? I... I can’t remember anything...
[Cut to an exterior shot of RACHEL’s house. LOCKE is forcefully thrown out the door, followed by a MAN.]

Locke: Wait a minute! She said “Yes!” We were gonna...
RACHEL [She exits the house and stands next to her DAD]: Go! I don’t know who you are, but ever since you came here my parents have been upset!
[RACHEL and her DAD return to the house. A GENERIC RUFFIAN walks up to LOCKE.]
RUFFIAN: You’d best leave Rachel alone. She’s going to have to make a new start of it. Locke... Your being here doesn’t help.
[LOCKE quickly leaves town. Fade back to present.]

“Her memory returned just before she passed away. The last thing she uttered was... my name... I should never have left her side. I... I failed her...”

Heavy stuff. But... that old woman implied that Rachel was still here somewhere. The only place we haven’t checked out at this point is the front door of the old coot’s house. There’s not much in the main room, but downstairs...

COOT: Uh? Oh, that?! Worry not! Your treasure’s quite safe! Uwa, ha, ha! [The PARTY approaches RACHEL.] I used some herbs to put her into suspended animation. She won’t age a day! Uwaa, ha! That’s what you wanted, right? Had to use my herbs, I did!
[LOCKE has another flashback.]

[The COOT enters and walks to RACHEL’s other side.]
Locke: You mean those herbs have actually saved her?
COOT: Of course! The love of your life will sleep here like this forever. Kwa, ha, ha!
Locke: What if there were some way to... call her back?
COOT: If you could call her back... ...she’d come back! Wah, ha, ha! I’m sure you’ll find something that’ll bring her around! Kuha, ha, ha!!
[The scene returns to the present. LOCKE stands by RACHEL’s side with the others looking on.]
Locke: I... failed her...
[LOCKE marches back upstairs, the others following. CELES comes back downstairs alone.]

Celes: Locke...
No, the game doesn’t actually refer to the old man as COOT, but it should. His dialogue lacks any attribution. Same with the RUFFIAN above.

This is not a scene I could really understand when I first saw it as a kid. I got the more overt parts of it, but I didn’t have the life experience to contextualize it all, connect the dots. Then the first time I played the game after hearing about White Knight complexes it all clicked into place and my image of Locke changed from a happy-go-lucky thief (because I didn’t really picture a TREASURE HUNTER! as anything else back then) to a tragic hero whose actions are guided by an obsession with his unliving girlfriend. He lacks the closure that her death would provide, but is powerless to return her to life; tormented by this, he is forced to rescue Rachel by proxy, spiriting witches away from the Empires’ clutches and busting beautiful young Imperial traitors out of their cells.

I never thought to try it until now, but now I’m curious what would happen if you held off on this visit until you could bring Terra here.

Man, these two posts have been full of all sorts of depressing stuff and armchair psycho analysis. Didn’t someone say there’s a crazy guy up north building a colosseum? Let’s check that out.

Also, is it just me, or is Rachel wearing a gas mask or something?

The enemies on our way to the old man aren’t much, but we level up on them and pick up a couple new abilities anyway. I’ve never used the Imp spell much myself; it turns characters and enemies into imps, little green dudes who look mysteriously like the Japanese kappa, negating all their equipment bonuses (unless they have imp equipment on) and limiting them to only using the Fight, Item, and Imp spell commands. This can completely hobble some enemies who are susceptible to Imp, but beware! Some enemies, when Imped, automatically deal critical damage with all attacks. The other use of the Imp spell is to take someone out of this status – this will probably be your main use of the spell.

If you look closely, maybe kind of squint, at the minimap in the third image, you can see the continent in the top left looks kind of like a bird with the red dot indicating our position at the eye. I think this is an homage to the bird continent in the original FF.


“My colosseum will be a monument to war! If I can ever get the help I need to finish it, that is!”
I wish I could argue with this guy’s idea, but considering we learned Imp and Fire Dance on the way here saying fighting doesn’t improve people would ring a bit hollow. Speaking of Fire Dance...

While I’ve never preferred the Sabin-shaped fireballs of Fire Dance to the minimalist GIANT FREAKING LASER BEAM of AuraBolt and it has only about two thirds the power, the fact that Fire Dance hits all enemies makes it plenty effective at ending random encounters quickly. AuraBolt will still be our go-to attack for bosses for quite a while, though. One other thing to keep in mind: Fire Dance’s fire-ness is more likely to come up when you’re considering enemy weaknesses/resistances than AuraBolt’s pearl element.

The random encounters on this continent aren’t much to talk about. Two things to watch out for: the Vultures being burned above can halve your HP with Shimsham if they’re alone, which can be a lot of HP but isn’t really a threat. The other thing is Iron Fist, who use the Stone attack.

It hits hard enough, but it does octuple damage if you’re the same level as the enemy. Iron Fists are level 15, which just happens to be when Sabin learns Fire Dance; our monk gets OHKOed twice by Stone before I stop reviving him and just make a break for the next town.


Alright, first things first. Chatter about classism!
“Once in a while one of the idiots from Zozo’ll wander down here, lookin’ for an easy mark. Watch your wallet!”
“The poor people have all left here for the mountains to the north. There they’ve built a town.”
“Bunch o’ liars up in Zozo! Never can trust ‘em.”
“This region is very class-conscious. In the south part of town live the middle classes. The rich folks live to the north.”
“This is Jidoor, the western most town on the world map!” Actually, Zozo is just a bit further west than Jidoor is. Jidoorites don’t really consider Zozo a real town.

About the opera house again:
“I wanna be an opera singer when I grow up! Opera house? It’s far to the south.”
“Maria, the opera singer, is gorgeous!”


Inside the Auction House (which won’t actually sell to us right now):
“Today’s auction is over.”
“First time I’ve been here... This ain’t the kinda place a poor person usually comes!”
“Hey... you’re not from around here! You look... ah... dorky!”
“You can get some priceless things at this auction. Whether you can appreciate them or not, who knows!”
“Ho, ho, ho... There’s nothing I can’t buy!”
“You like art? No?! Philistines!”
“I need something that will bring back wayward spirits. I heard only in the Imperial capital of Vector does such a thing exist.”
“Papa! Let’s buy lot’s of stuff today, too!”
“Oh, how could I refuse those cute little eyes?! Ho, ho, ho...”

And, of course, all the lines relevant to our main quest:
“A girl wrapped in fire sped off to the north, into the mountains.”
Uh, yeah. These Jidoor guys are helpful. Anyway, mountains... north... I’ve got a feeling we need to go to Zozo now. I hop on a chocobo at the local stable and take off.

Wait, is that... weather!? Zozo’s always been one of my favorite places in Final Fantasy for two reasons: the rain and the Slam Shuffle. They make for a far more atmospheric town than almost anywhere else in the game.



The random battles, corpses strewn about, and maze-like nature of the architecture certainly add to the atmosphere too. Zozo is actually a dungeon disguised as just another town on the map, with treasure, random battles, puzzles, confusing layout, a special gimmick not used anywhere else, and even a boss.

Zozo, in my mind, also marks the point where random battles start to get interesting in the game. If they’re alone SlamDancers are happy to bust out Ice2 and other second-tier magic to mess you up (remember how Kefka could only use basic magic?), the Harvesters will attempt to steal your GP and run in addition to using Potions on injured monsters, and the HadesGigas pictured above is probably the first random encounter that will make you think “This could have been a boss earlier in the game.” It’s got a ton of HP, hits like a speeding chocobo, and on death has a one in three chance to cast Magnitude 8, a Quake-esque spell that will hit the entire party for high damage.

The secret to beating him safely? Cast Imp on him. Without magic, he has no way to counter death and you’re free to AuraBolt and Drill him into a purple haze.

Not everyone here is trying to kill us though, so let’s wander around and see what people have to say. First, generic chatter and lies:
“Great people, here!”
“This is place is dangerous! And don’t you dare think about jumping between buildings!”
“Phew...! How long we gonna have ta do this!?”
“Get in line!”
“Great people, here!” (Yes, two different people say it. To be fair, the first one was one of the bodies laying face down in the rain outside, so that one talking might have been a mistake. Also, something tells me some of these fellows spoke with a Kansai dialect in the original Japanese.)

Second, inexplicable talk about the time:
“Clock’s second hand’s pointin’ at 30.”
“It’s now 2:00.”
“It’s already 12:00.”
“10:00! Time to go home!”
“You can trust me! It’s 8:00.”
“Time? It’s 4:00.”
“The second hand of my watch is pointing at four.”
“The seconds? They’re divisible by 20!”

Finally, aid in finding Terra:
“Girl? Haven’t seen any girls here. Might wanna check the top of this building.”

So, obviously the most important thing here is figuring out why all these guys are obsessed with the time. The key to it all is this puzzle in Zozo’s “Inn”:

You then have to put in a minute and a second. The trick is, of course, that everyone in Zozo is a liar, so you can’t believe anything told to you about the time. With that, we can rule out every choice of hour but 6, and 20, 30, and 40 from the seconds. There’s probably supposed to be more hints in town, but screw it – I’ve known the time in Zozo by heart for over a decade. We put in 6:10:50 and voila:

The wall slides back and upstairs we find a CHAIN SAW!

CHAIN SAW!

CHAIN SAW!
The Chain Saw is Edgar’s tool with the highest attack power and will still be in regular use at the end of the game. Usually he just spins in circles with it for massive damage to one enemy, but roughly one time in four he’ll don his hockey mask and thrust the Saw straight into the enemy for an instant kill. Unlike Death and most other instant death attacks, this will work on undead enemies; it still doesn’t work on enemies immune to instant death though, which means the Drill is arguably better for reliable damage against bosses despite its lower power.

Elsewhere in Zozo, we find something new for Locke:

“Capture” is, of course, the mid-90’s Nintendo euphemism for the Mug command. With this equipped, Locke can deal damage and add to our inventory at the same time, making his usefulness practically skyrocket. Mug is, as with many things in this game, bugged: the theft replaces special properties of his weapon like chances at instant death. Not hugely worried about that, though. (The bug doesn’t affect weapons with a chance to cast a spell during an attack.)

Postulate one: People in Zozo are liars.
Postulate two: Someone in Zozo told me not to jump between buildings.
Therefore:

Jumping between buildings must be a good idea.


When the fancy rugs start appearing, we know we’re going the right way.


Dadaluma can be pretty difficult because he punishes players who don’t use their special commands. In addition to his regular attacks, every fourth time the Fight command is used on him he’ll Throw knives at two party members for massive damage; if you use magic on him twice he’ll Throw a knife then use the Jump command to gain some temporary invulnerability. Additionally, he can draw the battle out something fierce by summoning a pair of Iron Fists every thirty seconds and, after he’s taken around 1300 damage, he uses three Tonics or Potions to restore as little as 150 HP (three Tonics) or as much as 750 HP (three Potions) followed by casting Safe on himself to reduce physical damage.

Of course, we just Mug him for a Jewel Ring (a relic that prevents Petrify and Blind) then curbstomp him with AuraBolts and Flashes, neither of which trigger his counters or care about Safe - though since most Tools ignore defense, Safe shouldn't have an effect on Drill or Chain Saw either. He manages to summon one pair of Iron Fists, but is finished off immediately afterward. We proceed up the steps behind him to find a long room carpeted with the same fancy pattern as the rug above.


“Terra?”
[The PARTY spreads out around Terra’s bed.]
“Terra?”

RAMUH: This girl is your friend?
[LOCKE approaches RAMUH]
“Is Terra all right?”
RAMUH: You call her Terra... ...Terra?? How odd...


[TERRA finally collapses in the northern end of the room.]
RAMUH: She is undamaged. But I fear she can’t understand you. As for me, I am Ramuh. The Esper, Ramuh.
“ESPER!?”
“But don’t Espers live in another world?”
RAMUH: That doesn’t mean we don’t live here, too. Espers take a variety of forms. Sometimes we live here, taking the shape of humans. You have nothing to fear from us.
“Why do you hide the fact that you’re Espers?”
RAMUH: Humans and Espers can’t survive together.
Locke: But my grandma told me that Espers and people once lived side by side! Was that just a fairy tale?
RAMUH: No, that was no fairy tale. That was true. We started out as friends. Then along came the War of the Magi...
“War of the Magi...”
RAMUH: It took place...long ago. Espers fought with humans who were infused with magical power extracted from Espers... Fearing our magical powers would once again become a target, we fashioned a new realm, and moved there.

Thus began a hunt for Espers. Only in this way could Emperor Gestahl create his invincible army.

RAMUH:...drained of their powers... I fled here to avoid a similar fate.

[LOCKE apparently drags TERRA across the room by her hair and dumps her back in bed like she’s a dead fish.]

RAMUH: I sensed that Terra was in trouble. My magic... summoned her here.
“Terra’s... an Esper?”
RAMUH: No, she’s actually quite different.
“Terra looks like she’s in pain.”
RAMUH: Her very existence strikes fear into her own heart.
“How can we help her?”
RAMUH: When she accepts this aspect of herself, I think she’ll be all right.
“We have to do something!”
RAMUH: Then free those of my kind imprisoned in Gestahl’s Magitek Research Facility. One of them can surely help her.
“If we find the Magitek Research Facility, you’re sure we’ll find your people?”
Celes: Magitek Research Facility... Your people are...
RAMUH: Like a coward, I escaped leaving the others there. It’ll be the end of them...
“What do you mean?”
RAMUH: Gestahl’s methods are incorrect. You can’t drain a live Esper of all its power. It is only when we are reduced to Magicite that our abilities can be transferred in total...
“Pardon?!”
God, this conversation needs a save point or something. Go get yourself a snack, you deserve it for reading this far. I’ll be here when you get back.
RAMUH: When we transform into Magicite, our power can be relocated.
“Magicite...?!”
RAMUH: That’s what’s left of us when we... pass away.

[The stones float to the floor.]
RAMUH: These are my comrades who fell while escaping the Empire. And I will give you my power, as well...

“Magicite...?”
“He traded his power, so that others might live...”
“Terra...wait for us. We’ll be back!”


So, we’ve found Terra, and Ramuh promised that him turning into a rock would help us power up somehow. All we really know is that we need to get to the southern continent to break the other Espers out of jail. About the only lead we have is that people in Jidoor and Kohlingen were both talking about the Opera House in the south, so let’s check it out.


“The Opera House’s closed.”

Dammit. People in Jidoor are still saying the same thing as before. Kohlingen too. Hrm....

...I bet I was supposed to pick up the Magicite in Zozo and take it with me.

*one long walk back to Zozo and up to Terra later*

RAMUH: We few can help save many. The War of the Magi must not be repeated...


Eugh, they’re all... slick, like they’re exuding oil or something. Oh well, drop them in the party’s extradimensional luggage and off we go, I guess. The GBA version of the game, as I recall, simply disables the exit until you pick up the Magicite.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucas This scene is one big reason for my love of Edgar. If the twins are 27 now and this happened ten years ago, they were 17 when their father was assassinated and they co-inherited the throne. I hadn’t even gotten my driver’s license at the age Edgar was forced into command of a kingdom. He assumed full responsibility, while using a trick coin to let Sabin ran off to cry in the mountains. For the next ten years he maintained an alliance with his father’s presumed killers for the freedom of his people while learning combat engineering and helping to organize a resistance movement, the fate of his kingdom resting squarely on his soldiers. That’s a pretty big load for someone orphaned at seventeen, and God damn do I respect him for carrying it.

YES! Also, after the end of the world Edgar adopts the Gerad persona and befriends a group of thieves so that he can return to his kingdom, once more living up to his responsibilities and carrying out his duties even in the face of tremendous hardship.

On our way out, we run into Cyan and Gau. Great job guarding Narshe there, guys.


Edgar: Let’s talk on the way!
[The PARTY proceeds to walk to the edge of town together.]

Not pictured: Gau jumping right down the side of the building.
Celes: I don’t remember because I was asleep when they... augmented me. But I’ve heard rumors to that effect.

Edgar: We’d best split into 2 groups. We still need to beef up our defenses in Narshe.
Cyan: Indeed.

Sabin: But alone...?
Locke: Don’t worry, I’ll go with her.
Celes: Locke!
Cyan: You need a hand?

Party selection time again! I go with the same party I brought here. Locke and Celes are required this time, while the twins are included because they’re better equipped for the next area. For whatever reason, the enemies in the next area are really easy to take out with magic and hard to kill with physicals; Gau’s power is still kind of lacking since we can’t go back to the Veldt for more Rages yet and Cyan’s lacking in magical offense in general, but both the twins have some good magic attacks at the ready.

Well, Edgar has Flash and his winning smile, at least.


“If you wish to change group members, head for Narshe.”
Celes: So... how we gonna get there? The Empire’s on the continent to the south. No boats go there...
Locke: The people of Jidoor, a town to the south, can probably help us.
Celes: Locke.
Locke: Yes?
Celes: Why are you coming with me?
Locke: Well... There’re bound to be treasures there. And besides, I’ve always wanted an inside look at the Empire!

And fade out. We’ll pick this up in Jidoor next week.

I always thought the people lying face down in Zozo were passed out drunks, which is why one of them muttered "Great people here!"

I always used to wonder if Iron Fist was an intentional reference to the Marvel character.

Every time Edgar comes up people are just like "Oh, Edgar's just some preening playboy, probably abusing his power as king to get in the skirts of all of Figaro" but the dude works. Hell, even this quest is part of his job as king. He doesn't take a very active role against the Empire until Kefka tries to burn down his castle, at which point he goes "Alright, these guys need to be taken down. Naw, I don't need to raise some big expensive army that'll tax my country's resources, I'll just assemble a band of plucky adventurers. Take care of things for a couple weeks, would you Chancellor? I'm off! FOR FIGAROOOOOOO!"

The only other party member we've met so far that actually has a job is Shadow, and he's off working right now rather than helping us. Not that I'd rather Terra and Celes were still working for the Empire, or that I like the circumstances through which Cyan recently became unemployed, but still. They don't have regular jobs right now.

Part XI - Final Fantasy VI Gaiden!

Now Square-Enix is pulling out the big guns to keep me away! Not satisfied with DQ6 and Xenogears, they've put Vagrant Story up on PSN as well! But I tore myself away from the adventures of Ashley Riot, Reject Gimp Model and Lamp Post Wielder Extraordinaire, so I could do this update for you. I hope you appreciate my sacrifice here.



♪♪ Edgar and Matias ♪♪

So yeah, as hinted by NPCs before, Figaro Castle has re-emerged from the sea of sand.

(Today's update will feature the Brown Marble background, because you shouldn't take side story scenes for granite.)



Noooo! Come back, my precious musclehead!



Edgar "You have a family to take care of. I think I should pay."

Fun Fact: Edgar and Matias get a discount at Figaro Castle's shops! Also, even if Darkness status does nothing, the Flash (or Sun Beam, if you prefer) still has a higher base damage value than the Auto Bowgun, so it's still a good buy.



Sounds like a plan. To the nap room!



♪♪ Coin Song ♪♪

*Throne SIT!*
Matias "But... Then again... It's all so different, ever since father died... Everything changed... On that day..."

Uh oh, I smell flashback...



Fun Fact: If you thought translating the context-sensitive Japanese language into English was hard, translating sentence fragments of Japanese into English is even harder!

*Scene swap powers, go! To the bedroom of Edgar!*
"N......No...
...It can't be......
...You...you lie!"
*Matias runs away like a bitch!*
*Soldier-type walks in*
"Matron...... ......
... The king...... ......He's..."
*Scene swap again! Now we're on some stairs!*
*Matias is still running, and Edgar's after him!*
......Matias......
......Matias......!!"

I think this isn't exactly the happiest day of Matias and Edgar's lives.



*Here comes Edgar!*
Matias "Big brother...... Waaaaah......!"
Edgar "Ah. So they went and told you...... Father is......"
*Out walks the Matron!*
Matron "Sir Edgar. What are you doing out here?"
*Matron walks closer*
Matron "Just now, your father...... He declared that Figaro is to be divided between you two......"
*Matias is MAD!*
Matias "You fools! Everybody... They all say the Empire poisoned father!"
Matias "All you care about is who's going to ascend to the throne... Well, I don't want any part of that..."
*Matias kneels before ZodEdgar*
Matias "When mother died giving birth to me, nobody cried then, either..."
Matron "That isn't..."
*Matias turns on the Matron!*
Matias "You were just like the rest of them!"
Edgar "Matias..."
Matias "Empire of killers, more like... I won't let them go on like this...!"
*Matias faces Edgar, but Edgar just looks down*
*Matias shoves the Matron aside and runs back into the castle!*
*Edgar approaches the Matron*
Edgar "Matron... We need some time alone."
*Edgar follows Matias*

Wow, this is turning into a soap opera. With soap! Also, small note: the "Matron" is actually explicitly referred to as a priestess in the Japanese script. I'm not sure why I changed it to Matron like Woolsey did. Probably because it seemed really weird that Edgar and Matias were being looked after by a priestess in a world that has no other apparent religious figures.



Matias "Big brother, didn't you say that you weren't interested in the throne, either?"
Edgar "Freedom..."
*Edgar ponders*
Edgar "But... If we both leave, who will rule this country and its people? Father wouldn't want that..."
*Edgar walks up to Matias*
Edgar "Matias, let's decide using this coin father gave us."
*Matias blinks twice*
Edgar "If it turns up tails, you win. If it's heads, I win. Pick a head. We both have a fair chance of winning. Okay?"
*Matias agrees, and Edgar gets ready for some epic coin flipping*
Edgar "Okay... Ha!"



Well that's just great. Isn't it nice to know that the fate of an entire kingdom once rested on a coin flip? Also, that's not just some strange wording there about "pick a head", that's how it was phrased in the Japanese script, and it sounds just as odd in Japanese as it does in English. I'm sure we'll find out why the odd wording later.



*Matias is shocked as Edgar totally walks out from behind the curtains on the right!*
Edgar "Ten years... You've grown up to be quite a bear."
Matias "And you've become quite the king, yourself."
*Edgar takes the other throne*
Edgar "Matias...... I often wonder, would father be proud of the king I've become?"
*Matias glances sidelong at his brother*
Matias "I have no doubt, father's cheering you on from the spirit world."
*Edgar glances sidelong at his brother*
Edgar "Ten years... Such a long time."
Matias "Very long."
*Both brothers look down in thought*
*Edgar walks over to his brother's side, who looks up at him*
Edgar "Well, here we are, two brothers lost and confused even as adults."
*Edgar walks down and raises his arm*
Edgar "A toast... To father."
*Matias does the same*
Matias "...To mother. And... to Figaro."



Aww, how sweet. This whole sub-plot is one of the most interesting ones in FF6, no doubt about it. It actually has ties to Remus and Romulus of Roman legend. In said legend, Romulus and Remus are initially united in a quest to found their own kingdom, but a dispute leads to them parting ways. Fortunatley the FF6 version of the tale turns out much happier, since the Remus equivalent in FF6's story doesn't get offed in the ensuing sibling rivalry.

Also a fun tie-in: Edgar and Matias' full names are Edgar Roni Figaro and Matias Rene Figaro. Xenogears would later feature an even closer duo to the Romulus and Remus story called Roni and Rene Fatima. And said duo also end up founding a desert kingdom which also features a sand-cruising base of operations as a primary feature.



Oh yes, more new NPC dialogue. Some of it is amusing. For example, the woman who comments on Edgar's love of women of all ages responds to Edgar's presence in the party. Others are more conventional.

Scholar "Someone flew over the western mountain range? Even though we can't take to the sky, this castle can submerge underground. Go talk to the man in charge of the engine room if you want to try it."
Chancellor "Oh, my! Sir Matias? You've grown up..."
Matron "Matias... You've grown up... Even now, I remember. You were so angry when you found out... I hope the life lessons taught to you here have helped you grow up into a fine young man."
Little Girl "King, marry me, marry me!!"

You know, it's still creepy as hell that Edgar has a little girl begging him to marry her who wanders around his bedroom... Anyway, time to sub out Matias for nobody because PLOT! And then, back to Figaro.



Oh hell yes! Let's do some epic sand-cruising!

--> (Go to Corlingen?)
(Stop.)

"Heave, hoooo!"
*Awesome sinking castle travels under MOUNTAINS, baby!*
"We're at Corlingen Village. Watch your step."

Corlingen Area
Monsters: Blood Fang, Vulture, Desert Saucer, Arachran, Dragon Fossil

Man, we came a long freaking way. Pretty messed up strata in this world, too, if a castle can burrow halfway across the continent and only run into sand the whole way. Anyway, that must be Corlingen.



♪♪ Kids Run Through the City Corner ♪♪

It is! And you know what that means... NPC chatterboxes!

Man "The monster of light stopped here in the village not too long ago. I was scared... It flew south towards Jidoor."
Little Girl "An amazingly bright light came here! Everybody was afraid it would fry them, but... I thought it was... beautiful!"
Woman "Was that ball of light really a monster? It stopped right in front of me when it came here... But, I could see it had gentle eyes..."
Woman "It's my dream to one day go to the Opera Theater to the south of Jidoor. If I ever did, I'd go in a fine dress... And, with a handsome escort..."
Old Woman "Hey, is that you, Lock? Have you been to Rachel's house yet?"
Man "Oh... My house... The monster of light came and burned it to the ground as it flew past..."
Old Man "My younger brother is a bit disturbed. He lives up north by himself, and says that he dreams of making a Coliseum."
Old Woman "A girl named Rachel used to live in that house over there. But now, it's been abandoned..."
Man "You'd be wise if you avoided the house on the far eastern edge of the village. The old kook living there is messing with strange concoctions all the time... I've heard that he has ghosts under his house..."
Bartender "This place gets some pretty notorious individuals. For example, they say that man there is a professional killer."
Rogue "You'd be wise to watch your step around that fellow, he's a professional assassin..."

Wow, this place is full of sub-plots! What we've learned so far is that 1.) This is somewhere Tina went, 2.) Tina went towards Jidoor to the south from here, 3.) Lock has a history with someone in this town named Rachel, 4.) Rachel isn't living here any more, 5.) some creepy old cook is hiding bodies in his cellar, and 6.) Shadow's here. Wait, really?



♪♪ Shadow ♪♪

Well I'll be damned.

Shadow "I need to buy some food for my dog... How's 3,000 Gil sound?"
Recruit Shadow's help?
--> Yes
No

Awesome, assassin for hire!



Booooo! Guess I'd better grind out a few bucks and come back. Fortunately, Dragon Fossils are huge cash donors.



Man, all that running around made me tired. Better get a nap in.



What... the... fu...

*Weird farting noises*
*Bird chirps, some dude in a man-bra appears and the cloaked guy faces him*
*Man-bra walks towards cloak-dude, cloak-dude steps away*
Billy "Clyde... My partner... I'm going to...... have to kill myself... Please, come be with me... Clyde..."
*Man-bra vanishes, cloak-dude looks around*

What... was that? No seriously, what WAS that? Staying at the inn resulted in what can only be described as some sort of fever dream! Does this have something to do with our ninja buddy? This calls for SCIENCE! More inn stays!



Whoa, it's an outlined version of the Forest of Illusion! And there's Man-bra and Cloak-dude again!

*The duo hop in joy as they stop for a bit*
Billy "Hyahoo! We did it, Clyde!"
Clyde "1,000,000 Gil, all ours! This is great, the robber's life!"
*Man-bra walks a bit further on*
Billy "It'd be a good idea to change our name soon, though."
Clyde "Our name?"
Billy "Our pair's name. I've thought up one."
Clyde "What is it?"
Billy "It's Shadow. Clever, isn't it?"
Clyde "Train robbers of the century, Shadow......?"

I knew it! It IS due to our ninja buddy! So he used to wear a nifty cloak and go by Clyde, and robbed trains with some dude in a man-bra called Billy! Sounds like a strange mix of Bonnie and Cylde and Billy the Kid. Oh hey, naming allegory!

Clearly this calls for more SCIENCE! To the inn again!



Billy "What's happened to me? ...Th, th... This... is my blood?"
Clyde "It's okay, don't worry."
*Scene fades in to show them on what looks the same riverbank that Matias met Gau on; for some reason, Billy is dressed as a Returner*
Billy "I'm not blind...... I know......"
Clyde "Don't talk! Not until we reach a town."
Billy "I understand now. I've lost too much of my blood... haven't I?"
*Clyde steps back in horror*
Billy "So, go on! Don't worry about my cumbersome carcass."
Clyde "But...!"
Billy "Just let me be caught!"
*Clyde walks up to Billy, looks about, then starts to leave*
Billy "Before you go...... Put me to this knife."
*Clyde looks back at Billy*
Clyde "This thing you ask me......"
Billy "If I'm caught, you know what sort of treatment I'll receive? They'll tear my eyes out. Bring your arm down."
*Clyde walks slowly to Billy*
Billy "Are you trembling? You're like a newborn... You tremble like a little brat. Come on, stop being such a coward, just bring your hand down, and..."
Clyde "I can't do it!"
*Clyde starts to run away*
Billy "Clyde!!!"
*Clyde looks to the left*
Clyde "It won't end..."
*Clyde runs off; chicken noises sound*
Billy "Clyde!! You coward~!"

Holy shit. Shadow's messed up. I don't think we'll be getting any more dreams out of his head any time soon, though, so let's just keep going, shall we? Next up on our tour of Corlingen is Rachel's house!

Oh boy, here comes more flashbacks... I hope they make more sense than Shadow's delusions...



♪♪ Forever Rachel ♪♪

*Lock faces Rachel*
Lock "You'll see soon..."
*Lock checks his temperature?*
Lock "They say that an amazing treasure is hidden in this mountain. We're going to find it!"
*Lock and Rachel walk forward, and the bridge Lock's standing on starts to shake; Lock just blinks*
Rachel "Lock! Lock out!!!"
*Rachel goes all KER-SHOVE on Lock and falls through the breaking bridge!*
*Lock runs up and looks into the crevasse*
Lock "Rachel!!!"
*Lock dives in like he's Superman or something*



*Lock steps back so Rachel can get up*
Rachel "...... ......? I... I can't remember anything..."
*Lock is shocked and walks in front of her*
*Rachel's old man tosses Lock out on his ass*



Lock "Wait! Rachel and I were going to..."
Rachel "Go on! I don't know who you are, but ever since you've arrived, my family has been very upset!"
*Later, Lock is creepily hanging out in front of Rachel's house; a rogue walks up to reason with him*
"You'd better leave Rachel alone. She has to start her life over again. Lock... Your being here is just making it harder for her."
*Lock ponders, agrees, and walks off*



Her memory returned just before she died... The last thing she uttered before she died... was... my... my name... I never should have left her side... I... I failed to protect her..."

Woo, heavy! This part is all kinds of backstory revelation, isn't it? That just leaves one last mystery for the team to solve: the creepy old dude with bodies in the cellar! To the Mystery Machine, gang! (After we rob the clock for an Elixir. Hey, it's not like anyone's gonna miss it!)



♪♪ Unknown ♪♪

Don't you worry. I'm taking good care of your little 'treasure' for you... Keheheh..."

Oh hell, Lock is involved with this necrophiliac?



What the hell, Lock. What the hell.



I had to use my concoctions, I did..."
*Ker-FLASHBACK! To the same room!*
Lock "Rachel..."
*Creepy old man enters and goes to the other side of the bed*
Lock "Did those medicines of yours really work?"
*Kook JUMP! x2*
"Of course, of course. This dear girl of yours will sleep like this forever, saved from the death that would've claimed her otherwise. Keheheh..."
Lock "But, what if we find a way to free her soul...?"
"You think you can call her soul back somehow, hmm? Keheheh... Well, I'm sure if you can find some way to revive her, you'll pull it off. Keheheheh!!"
*Kook JUMP! x3*
*Flashback end*
"I... I failed to protect her..."
*Everyone leaves*
*Celes comes back and looks over Rachel*
Celes "Lock..."

Man, that's just twisted. Also, Woolsey and I both had some trouble with this bit. The old coot is actually making reference to a legendary treasure that can bring souls back to life. This is a sub-plot that both of us consistently failed to notice as we translated.

Oh, and to answer Lucas' inquiry, this scene doesn't have any additional triggers involving Tina. Mostly because Tina isn't so much a love interest as she is someone he was hired out to help. Big difference between Tina and Celes' relationships with Lock, that.



So yeah, this is the cape at Dragon Head. No, I'm not kidding, that's what it's called. The crazy guy who wants to start his own Fight Club lives here.



Nobody is willing to help me build by Coliseum, where the aesthetics of fighting can truly be celebrated. It's just outrageous."

Yeah, he's definitely off his rocker if he thinks the world's peaceful, seeing as the Empire has reportedly crushed every single nation on the southern continent. So we'll just make off with the Brave Ring he's stuck in his pot and head towards Jidoor instead.

♪♪ Kids Run Through the City Corner ♪♪

Jidoor Area
Monsters: Vulture, Motor Drive, Brain Sugar, Paralydia

There we go. And since we're in a new city, you know what that means! More NPC dialogue!

Man "This is the town of Jidoor. We're the westernmost town on maps of the world."
Aristocrat "All of the lower class people were driven out of our town. They've gathered in the mountains up north, and founded their own town..."
Aristocrat "Sometimes, people from Zozo wander down here and loiter around here. They're always looking for a sitting duck. Watch yourself around them."
Woman "I saw an amazingly fast girl cloaked in light fly off into the mountains to the north..."
Aristocrat "The actress Maria from the Opera Theater is very beautiful!"
Aristocrat "The class system here is very strict. Middle-class people live in the southern part of town and the upper class citizens live in the north. See up there? The northernmost house is quite a sight."
Little Girl "I want to become an opera singer when I grow up, too. Where is the Opera Theater? It's far to the south."

Auction House
Usher "Today's auction has already been done."
Rogue "This is my first time here, but I feel like I can bid with the pros. T'hohoho..."
Aristocrat "You don't look like you're from around these parts. You look rather shabby, I'm sorry to say."
Woman "Ohohoho! There is nothing sold here that *I* can't afford!"
Man "Have you come here to buy art? Eh? No? Well, that's a pity."
Aristocrat "Even rich men can't afford an elixir that restores life, since nobody sells one. I've heard that there's one in the Imperial capital, Vector..."
Woman "Some really valuable art pieces get auctioned here. You could get something really nice, but you'll probably just get junk."
Boy "Papa! Let's buy a lot of stuff today!!"
Papa "I just can't say 'no' to him when he presses me... Hoho..."

Rich Dude Owzer's House
Owzer "Did you know that you look a lot like Maria? Eh? Don't you know whom I'm talking about? Maria, the famous actress."

Good... GRIEF there is a lot of chatter in Jidoor. And some of it seems kinda... irrelevant right now? One woman told us that Tina's gone north (presumably to the poor folks' town of Zozo), but a lot of these folks are banging on about the Opera Theater and Maria. Oh whatever, we'll just stock up, grab a Chocobo, and head to Zozo.



♪♪ Slam Shuffle ♪♪

Actually, I lied; I walked. I needed the Gil, since Jidoor's expensive crap cleaned me out. Anyway, this is the perpetually rainy town of Zozo, where the poor all live.



Zozo
Monsters: Vice, Gobbledegook, Hill Gigas, Veil Dancer

There are random battles here. Oh, that's... that's just delightful. Anyway, let's get this show on the road! Oddly enough, there are still NPCs here who won't try to shiv you, too.

Man "It's dangerous here! Be careful... Don't be a fool and jump between the buildings."
Prone Merchant "The people here are so nice and honest."
Rogue "A girl? You might want to check the top floor of this building."
Rogue "My watch is pointing to 30 minutes past the hour."
Rogue "Ah... How much longer do we have to do this?"
Rogue "The people here are so nice and honest."
Rogue "It's 2:00 now."
Rogue "It's after 12:00."
Rogue "10:00...... Time to go home."
Rogue "You can trust me. It's 8:00 now."
Rogue "What time is it? It's 4:00."
Old Man "Wait your turm. Get to the back of the line." {As I'm sure you can guess, the line is never-ending and repeats infinitely.}
Rogue "The second hand of my watch is pointing to the 4."
Rogue "The seconds can be divided by 20."

I think it's safe to assume that everyone here lies. EVERYONE. You literally can't trust them with the time of day. Also, there's a rusted-shut door at the top of the pub, but I'm sure that doesn't matter at all and never will ever.



Behold, the single most obscure treasure chest ever! It took me almost a decade to find out this damn thing exists. You find it by going to the far north, then left behind some buildings. All that trouble for a freaking Potion...



Anyway, as our (non-)helpful NPC buddies told us, the time could be anything! Actually, there's only one time they didn't list, 6:10:50. So we input that, and...



Woo! Edgar loves him his chainsaw, too. It lets him instakill enemies at random while wearing a hockey mask, and does decent damage otherwise if it doesn't trigger Jason Mode.



Yeah, you jump between buildings. This trips up more new players than anything else.



Shadow "Farewell......"

Damn it, Shadow! I want you in my party for this! Load state!



Since quarrelling won't solve anything, I'll let you through without a struggle."



Yeah, he's lying. Dadaluma is actually pretty easy, especially if you can cast Kappa on him. And yes, the Imp spell that turns enemies into Kappas is in fact supposed to be the Kappa spell. Hooray for mythology references that were dropped for the US version?



Now that just looks plain damn silly. Anyway, the fight's not even remotely hard this way, so let's move on.

♪♪ Awakening ♪♪

Hooray for naked pale Tina!

"Tina?"
*The party surrounds the bed on all sides*
"Tina?"
*An unseen voice!*
Ramah "She's frightened, you know."
*SHOCK!*



Whoa, old coot outta nowhere!

Ramah "Are you a friend of this young woman?"
"What's wrong with Tina?"
Ramah "You call her Tina. ...Tina?? ......Why?" {Small translation kerfuffle here; he should be saying "Could it be?". We'll see why later.}
*Tina starts spasming*
*Tina goes into a berserk hopping fit!*
*Lock checks her*
Ramah "Her life is not in danger. She has not utilized her powers much before, and the recent over-use of it has fatigued her. I am Ramah. The Eidolon Ramah."

Oh snap.



♪♪ Eidolons' World ♪♪

*Lock steps towards Ramah*
"I thought that the Eidolons lived in another world?"
Ramah "That doesn't mean that we can't survive in your world. Eidolons take many forms. Some of them have a human form, and can live in this world. You have nothing to fear from the Eidolons."
"Why do you hide the fact that you're Eidolons, then?"
Ramah "Humans and Eidolons fight with one another."
Lock "But, that's not what my grandmother said. She said that Eidolons and humans lived in peace together long ago. ......Was that just a fairy tale?"
Ramah "Haha, that's no fairy tale. It's true. Humans and Eidolons once worked together. That was before the Great War of Magic, though."
"The Great War of Magic......"
Ramah "It happened long ago... The Great War of Magic. Eidolons battled humans who stole magical powers from other Eidolons."



......That world was the Eidolon World."



The hunt for Eidolons began. Ghastra needed the powers of Eidolons to form an invulnerable army."



Dayum. So this is history repeating itself, then? Interesting.



I fled here to avoid suffering the same fate."
*Lock gets Tina back to bed*
Ramah "That's right, relax."
Ramah "I felt Tina's soul flailing, and I summoned her here. She responded the way she did due to the calling of my magic."
"Tina's an Eidolon, too...?"
*Meaningful pause*
Ramah "No, there's something different about her..."
"Tina looks like she's in pain."
Ramah "The mere truth of her existence frightens her to no end. She can't come to grips with it."
"Isn't there some way we can help Tina?"
Ramah "Given enough time, she should recover from the shock and revert to her human form."
"What can we do......?"
Ramah "You may be able to save Tina if you free the Eidolons being held captive at Ghastra's Majick Rsearch Institute."
"If we go to the Majick Research Institute, we can save our friend?"
Celes "Majick Research Institute......? That's......?"
Ramah "Only I managed to escape from the Institute alive. The others will not last long there."
"What are you talking about?"
Ramah "Ghastra's methods are incorrect. You cannot properly extract the powers of Eidolons with brute force alone. An Eidolon's powers can only truly be transferred when our bodies are reduced to Magirock."
"What!?"
Ramah "When we Phantom Beasts turn into Magirock, our powers can be transferred properly."
"Magirock!?"
Ramah "When an Eidolon dies, their spirits become entrapped within their earthly remains, small stones called Magirocks..."
"!?"

This is just a plot explosion! Man, what's gonna happen next?



And I shall grant my powers unto you, as well..."

That does not bode well for the Ramah.



BOOMHEADSHOT!



"Magirock?"
"He gave up his life, just to grant us his power..."

Fun Fact: There's about a dozen bits of dialogue in this scene based on who's in your party! Since most people take Lock, they never see anything but his specific comment. But if you have a party without Lock, you can get unique comments from Gau, Cayene, and even Shadow. Sadly, all of it is just character-quirk-specific variations on the non-attributed dialogue.

Ramah "Our sacrifices can be used to save many other lives...... We're counting on you. The Great War of Magic must not be repeated..."



Aww yeah... FF7 fans will note that "Stray" is in fact named Cait Sith, much like a certain Scottish-accented cat.

Talking to Tina results in "Tina... Wait here. We'll be back to help you.". Also, the Zozo music will start back up if you go into the menu and leave it. But it stops playing as soon as you do this next bit.



Edgar "We can discuss our plan of action on the way back."

Sounds good to me! Anything to get out of Zozo.



*Everyone is walking down; Gau is jumping down, actually*
Matias "Is it true? Celes?"
*Celes pauses, thinking, and shakes her head*
Celes "I was asleep when they infused me with my magic powers, so I can't remember clearly. However, I have heard rumors to that effect."
Cayene "Then, we have to break in. Into the Empire."
Edgar "We'd be wise to separate into two groups. We need to keep our defenses in Narche hardened."
Cayene "Right, sir."
*We're at the entrance, hooray!*
Celes "I will go to the Empire. I know the most inside information about the Empire, anyway."
Matias "But, only one person......?"
Lock "If you're that worried, then I'll go, too."
Celes "Lock!"
Cayene "Mayhap I might be of assistance as well?"

Ah no, no you may not. This is clearly a mission for Celes, Lock, Edgar, and Shadow.



And he hops off to who knows where. Damn you, Shadow! Fine, Celes, Lock, Edgar, and Gau. The classic party, with a twist!



"If you want to change party members, head to Narche..."
*Cayene and Matias walk off, dejected no doubt*
Celes "Okay, then. The Empire is on the southern continent. But ships don't go there any more...... This could be difficult."
Lock "The aristocrats of Jidoor, to the south, may be able to give us some information to work with. Let's try and ask them."
Celes "Lock."
Lock "Hmm?"
Celes "Why do you want to go along with me?"
Lock "Hmm? Well, I have my reasons. I want to get a good look at the Empire myself."

And here we have another instance of Mr. Woolsey and I both missing a reference to the "legendary treasure" supposedly hidden in the Empire. Anyway, that's enough for this time. Next time, we go to the opera!