Part 22: How to Fail at Dramatic Buildup

Entry 20: How to Fail at Dramatic Buildup



There's no option to sit on the throne, unfortunately. No Queen of Thieves Agnès today.

Before moving on with the plot, it's time for a gameplay break. Agnès finishes Monk lvl 3 and switches to Thief, putting those thief gloves to use. As mentioned earlier in the thread, every time I receive a new job I'll assign it to one character to make sure every job is shown off a little.



To inaugurate the first real grinding session, here's a look at a helpful feature: fast-forwarding.

The speed of battle is shown in the lower right corner. This'll make everyone's actions -- enemies included -- go by extremely quickly. Bad for taking screenshots, great for mindless grinding, especially combined with autobattle.



Alternatively, you can pause battle. Take time to fully appreciate the giant sand worm.



By the time grinding's over, the upgraded Item and Compound shops in Norende have yielded free new items.

Just what sort of contraband are those Norende merchants dealing in?



Please ask your doctor before trying the Remedy solution at home.

Finally, the party heads back to Ancheim and visits the armory.









That Iron Bangle is perfect for Tiz. Now properly outfitted and upgraded, the party is ready to pay a visit to Profiteur. Agnès in particular is ready to give him a taste of his own thieving medicine.

Profiteur is in a meeting when the party kicks the door in.



And zis is not my responsibility, eh? You failed to protect your investments. You. We had a contract, my friend. Ze provisions for loss and damages were clearly written in ze fine print.

Even so, I can't be made to pay for the damages when I've just had all my possessions stolen! I'll be out on the streets!

Zis is not my concern. You will pay. Or, if you prefer, I can be asking your wife for zis money? Your daughter, hmm?



Wait, please! Leave my family out of this!



Just in time for the vigilante cavalry.





Ah ha hah! I fear zis joke is not funny. I have business with zis gentleman. We have no time for baseless accusations.

Then what of accusations with concrete proof?



Oh? And just what is zat, eh?

A little souvenir snatched from the lair of the thieves prowling the oasis of late. It bears your signature, chairman. As well as your orders to attack any citizens approaching the oasis.



Ahh, zis day. No luck at all. I suppose zis is ze result of trusting zat useless urchin to perform a simple task...

Then you don't deny it? Release the city's wells to the public, then. Immediately!

I beg your pardon!? Just who are you to be issuing ze orders, girl? As I told you before, zis is a business! If you are too poor, zis is your problem. Stupid enough to be tricked? Your problem! Don't like it? Go earn some money, eh!?

Money, money, money! These are human lives! Ugh, this is useless. I'm shutting you down right now!

Eh hah hah! We will be seeing about zat. Ciggma Khint! I have work for you!



You! From the thieves den! You'd help this crook!?

Provided his pockets are heavier than yours, yes. I care nothing past that.

Darn, should've done more pg grinding.

Erutus Profiteur, Merchant of Death... Do we have an agreement?

But of course. And I'm feeling generous today. Kill zem all, and I'll throw in a bonus!

Contract established. You'll have your money's worth.



They may be deadly and evil, but they're still cute when they pose.

Anyway, looks like we get another shot at that spell fencer asterisk.



Agnès starts off the battle by stealing whatever isn't tied down.



The major finds are a piece of armor from Khint and a weapon from Profiteur.



Khint is about the same as the last battle, but Profiteur is surprisingly difficult. His abilities all involve money: Pay to Play raises critical hit rate, while his Takeover hits for exactly 300 hp, even if the target is Defaulting. If he does it to any of the party twice in a row, they'll die, so keeping on top with healing takes priority.

After taking one of them down to half health, the combat pauses for a scene.





Any further, and I'll be placing my life on the line. That bears a surcharge of 51.2 billion pg.

Zat's not a surcharge, it's a national budget! You're mad!

Then this is farewell. Best of luck.

Zis...Zis is fraud! I'll see you reported for zis!



The spell fencer asterisk and its owner escape once again, casually as before. Khint must've taken running away lessons from Heinkel.



Without Khint's extra damage to worry about, Profiteur goes down shortly after.



Our reward is... Economics 101 in convenient magic stone form? Plus fashionable new outfits. Perfect for Ringabel.





The items Agnès stole. Mythril gear, better than what's available in Ancheim's stores.



At this point it's a race to the bottom to see which bad guy is the most cartoonishly evil. Don't worry, we've still got a long way down.



Tiz nods in agreement.

I'm just glad we managed to root out the ones causing Ancheim's people such suffering.

And just look at these papers! It's proof of one crime after the next!

I can only pray this will make life here a bit less difficult...

All three characters pictured here are pretty naive, but at least they've got the power to punch justice into wherever they go.





Approach the door at the Grand Mill Works' rear at precisely 0030 hours. Knock five times, at two second intervals. Ensure you are not followed.

No signature this time. A memo of Profiteur's, perhaps?

Whatever it is, it stinks. The merchantry might not be the only snakes involved in this scheme.

It bears checking. Let's have a look for ourselves at the mill tonight.

The party steps out of the now abandoned merchantry building, into the desert, and waits.



Just after midnight, they reenter the city. Most people are asleep, and the city is quiet but for the constant ticking of machinery.



Although Profiteur was stopped, the city is still not well.

Ugh, I'm too exhausted to do anything...

Without the wind, the city's inner workings still function by human power.



Khamer probably wouldn't speak with us until we brought the wind back, anyway.



And Khamer's not the only one waiting for us.



A better view of the clock behind this guy. A man kneeling on the ground gazing up at the moon, and a woman with the moon... a reference to the story of Selene and Endymion, maybe.

Sailor Moon. Ancheim has a giant Sailor Moon clock.



Back to the task at hand: the game hasn't directly stated it, but this is the back door to the Grand Mill Works. This guard's still blocking the door night and day, and until he leaves, we can't check out what's inside. There's no trick here -- for now all we can do is ignore the side quest's buildup and continue the main quest.

It's unintuitive and a surefire way to lose steam on what was shaping up to be an decent bit of intrigue.



This guy next to the merchantry building's still merrily chatting away about gameplay. Guess he didn't notice the giant fight from inside earlier today. Or didn't care.

With zero success at pursuing the notepaper's hint, the party gets some sleep, preparing to head to the Temple of Wind the next day.



Before leaving town, let's talk with the Adventurer. He's got a couple new menu options now that Norende's getting built up. As mentioned way earlier, he sells whatever you've unlocked in the minigame.







Nothing too exciting yet, gameplay-wise, but the namahage mentioned in the carving knife entry is a real thing in Japan. In short: men dress in costumes during the event and scare little kids into being good.

There are several similar events around the world. "Obey your parents or the demon will carry you off to hell and eat you!" is internationally considered decent incentive to behave, I guess.



These've been around since near the start of the game, so here's their late entry. Baffling, as it seems more like it'd teleport the user to the site they least want to be in any dungeon worth its salt. "Oh god, I was trying to leave the giant spider den, why did it bring me back?"



It is a holy place that has been a center of worship for millenia.

To each crystal is wed a vestal, who spends her lifetime in steady prayer.

Vestalings--girls chosen as successors to the vestals--go to live in the temples. They leave its premises only very rarely. And so, to a vestal, the temple is also a home.

A flower garden, with no boys allowed.

Be quiet, Ringabel.

So you were inside the temple ever since you became a vestaling?

It was quite rare to leave, save for a few public rites each year.

Does that mean you were all alone? Wasn't that hard?

I was not alone, no. The mother vestal--my predecessor--raised me to serve in her place. And there were the acolytes. They would go into town and purchase all we needed.

But you left for this journey. I guess that's proof it's important.

No. Even so, I had never intended to leave the temple.

Never intended any of this...

Hopefully the temple won't be in too bad of a shape. Maybe they'll be rebuilding. Maybe we'll find other survivors.



The temple is south of Ancheim.



The interior has seen better days.





Not a good sign.

Inside the temple? How?

What happened to this place, Agnès?



The Crystal of Wind was swallowed up in darkness.

Darkness...

Yes, at the chasm in Caldisla... It opened at the same time the crystal lost its light. And the dark that consumed it continues to breed more darkness still.

I expect that font of shadows is to blame for drawing these creatures here.

Not good...

Yet we've no choice. Keep vigilant as we proceed. A moment's distraction could prove fatal.



No problem. Looks like our destination isn't too far ahead. Just grab a treasure from a side passage...



Appropriate. Sneak through this room and...




Get blocked by waist-high rubble. Guess we'll have to go the long way around and properly dungeon.


Next: Crystals! Giant shining crystals! Life-giving crystals! Has it been mentioned this game isn't Final Fantasy?

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Event Viewer
Main Scenario:
The Temple of Wind

Sub-Scenario:
Profiteur, Merchant of Death
Corruption atop Corruption

Party Chat:
What's This Temple?