The Let's Play Archive

Bravely Default

by Greyarc

Part 10: D's Journal: Overview

D's Journal: Overview

Today we're taking a break from the regular game to look into D's Journal. The journal is essentially this game's encyclopedia, though with more flavor than usual and an actual tie to the plot.

This will be in two parts due to Enigmatic Writings.



The journal is accessible via the side menu, below Norende.



Starting from the top: I'm not covering Help and Job Descriptions will be included on Job pages. As mentioned at the start, Event Viewer carried over with New Game+, so it's full of spoilers. No peeking.

The item, enemy, character, location, and term pages shown so far have come from D's Journal. Everything not yet covered but currently in D's Journal will be shown below.


People:

D's Journal: Ringabel posted:



pg.2: A man of unknown age, currently experiencing amnesia. Clearly a man of high morals. Taciturn and reflective, I believe I am a gentleman well-liked by all.
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Likes: Spicy things, juicy things
Dislikes: Sweet things

pg.3: Who am I? I've been asking around town the past few days, but I am met by blank stares or laughter. Women simply turn tail with furrowed brow. Why am I here? At night I visit this cottage. I feel a sense of nostalgia here. I wonder about that gaunt man, and the girl glaring at him with daggers in her eyes...

pg.4: Agnès is the wind vestal. I never heard that from anyone. I seem to have known it for a long time. I've seen her around town in the company of Tiz the past few days. According to this journal, they are about to set off on an epic journey to close the Great Chasm. Once they reach the black mage's keep, they are sure to run into that girl. I must see her...

D's Journal: Tiz Arrior posted:



pg.2: A nineteen-year-old boy from Norende. A simple and honest soul, he has a gentle and amiable demeanor that makes him well-liked. He acts as a mediator between friends, and often ends up with a lot on his plate (for which I am partially responsible).
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Likes: Hot home cooking, seafood
Dislikes: Guady baubles, crowds

pg.3: Hearing that the Eternian Sky Knights planned to attack the town unless they handed over the vestal, Agnès secretly decided to give herself up to save the people. Tiz sensed Agnès's resolve, and offered to accompany her as a guide. He managed to keep her safe, and defeated the monk and white mage!

pg.4: I asked to accompany the Wind Vestal to the ruins of Centro Keep to the north of town, where they intended to confront the black mage Ominas Crowe. When I revealed that their names and purpose were written in my journal, and told them I wished to meet the girl there, the vestal grew suspicious. She would have left me behind if Tiz had not intervened.

D's Journal: Agnès Oblige posted:



pg.2: A twenty-year-old girl from Ancheim. As a vestal, she has devoted her life to the crystals. She escaped the Temple of Wind after it was overrun by dark forces, and came to investigate the Great Chasm. She has absolutely no sense of direction.
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Likes: Sweet treats
Dislikes: Meat, crowds, being lost

pg.3: I asked to accompany Agnès, who was heading to the ruins of Centro Keep to take on arsonist and black mage Ominas Crowe. She grew wary when I spoke of knowing her mission to close the chasm. Her suspicions only increased when I said I wished to meet the girl serving under the black mage. She glared at me as if I had just confessed to some heinous crime...

D's Journal: Airy posted:



pg.2: A female of unknown age. This self-proclaimed cryst-fairy seems to know much about the crystals and the path the vestal should take. With regard to anything else, however, she tends to act like a precocious, fussy crybaby.
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Likes: Crystals, Agnès
Dislikes: Children, Ringabel


Bosses

D's Journal: Barras posted:



D's Journal: Holly posted:




Terms:

D's Journal: Crystals posted:



pg.2: Crystals (Entry 2): There are four crystals in all: fire, water, wind, and earth, each of which continues to grow through the accumulation of energy bestowed by the vestals' prayers. For each of the natural forces they represent, they bring about balance and vitality, and enable all life on Luxendarc to live in peace.

pg.3: Crystals (Entry 3): The moment the Great Chasm appeared in the Norende region of Caldisla, the Wind Crystal was shrouded in darkness and the wind ceased to blow. The other crystals also lost their power, causing the seas to turn putrid, volcanos to erupt with unrelenting fury, and the earth to quake and change its very shape.

D's Journal: The Crystal Orthodoxy posted:

The Crystal Orthodoxy: The Orthodoxy was born of the desire to reform Crystalism, the worship of Luxendarc's four crystals. It was 2,400 years ago that crystal temples across the world, along with their vestals and acolytes, were brought under the Orthodoxy's central control, creating a world religion that would change the course of history.

pg.2: Crystalist Teachings: "Dauntless seeker, offer your prayers unto the crystals. So, too, shall the vestal, in accordance with the teachings."
"Their resplendent light shall cleave a path through darkest night, and banish fear from every shadow."

pg.3: The Orthodoxy's Decline: Though it was once a dominant world religion wielding power surpassing that of even the greatest kings, over time the Crystal Orthodoxy became ever less relevant in the face of cultural and scientific advances. And with the establishment of the Duchy of Eternia fifteen years ago under the banner of Anticrystalism, the Orthodoxy became even more irrelevant, and indeed, even forgotten among the people of most lands, save the few still friendly to the religion.

D's Journal: Vestals posted:

Vestals (Entry 1): Those who bear the name Oblige serve the crystals, offering prayers and recounting their blessings to the faithful. Said to be brides to the crystals, they dedicate their lives to them. The Orthodoxy seeks out candidates at a young age, and those seen as having the requisite qualities are brought to the temple to be raised as vestalings.

pg.2: Vestals (Entry 2): The current vestals initially entered their respective temples as vestalings. Upon the death of a vestal, a new vestal is selected from among them. Each temple also has dozens of acolytes who care for the daily needs of the vestals and together offer their prayers to the crystals.

D's Journal: Duchy of Eternia posted:

Duchy of Eternia: Founded fifteen years ago on the continent of Eternia, west of Caldisla, this new land has placed the crystal there under secular rather than religious control. Under the banner of Anticrystalism, the duchy has used its advanced science and military might in many ways to pressure the lands that still espouse Crystalism.

D's Journal: Anticrystalism posted:

Anticrystalism: Advocated by the Duchy of Eternia, this philosophy holds that humankind should actively utilize the crystals, rather than relegating them to useless objects of worship or treating them as religious and doctrinal crutches upon which society is dependent. It brands the Crystal Orthodoxy as a heretic faith, and the vestals its minions. Some adherents even suspect the Great Chasm was the vestals' doing.

D's Journal: Airships posted:

Skystones: This special kind of stone, first discovered under the Orthodoxy's head temple some 700 years ago, is so named for its unique ability to make objects float in the air when it is placed in a mystic enclosure and heated to a certain temperature.

pg.2: History of Airships: The first airships were lifted into the air by creating a mystic enclosure within the vessel, and then fueling a fire therein. Propulsion was by means of wind power, the same as their more primitive seafaring brethren, but the invention of the internal combustion engine allowed for faster, steadier cruising speeds.
Later, airships came to fly even higher when new technology enabled increased temperatures to be applied to the skystone.

pg.3: Airship Design: Airships are designed to enable dockage in an airborne state or by floating in suitably expansive waters, such as the sea or a large lake. Since they are built much like traditional seafaring vessels, they can navigate ocean waters even without a skystone.

pg.4: Types of Airships: The Duchy of Eternia currently maintains a monopoly on all airships and the skystones required to power them. The existence of as many as ten has been confirmed, including one for each member of the Council of Six and the Eschalot, the airship of the First Division's captain, newly built in Ancheim.

D's Journal: D's Journal posted:


Cont: its cover, and it contains many prophecy-like writings.