Part 23: Where the Wind Sleeps, Corrupted

Entry 21: Where the Wind Sleeps, Corrupted

The party's tiny potato bodies lack the ability to climb over waist-high rubble, so they begin the search for a clear route to the other side of the room.

It's going to be a hike, so they start chatting.



Life in the temple? The acolytes and I offered our prayers to the crystal every day without fail.

Oof, no days off?

The sole purpose for the vestal and acolytes' existence is to see those prayers go on unbroken.

I see...

Each day, we would awaken with the sun and perform morning prayers.

Ack, I couldn't drag myself out of bed that early.

That's just about bedtime for me.

Sure, because you're out philandering all night.

So if you wake up at dawn, when do you go to sleep?

Our days ended with the sun's setting.

That all sounds very disciplined. Harsh, even.

Perhaps. But I cherished it. Even now, I long to return to that life dearly...

Strange that Tiz, shepherd from a farming village, would be unused to Agnès's sunrise/sunset schedule.



To the right of the rubble is a hallway with a door leading to where we want to go, but it can't be opened. Too bad.



Strange animated statues lurk in the temple. They're mostly harmless, but take effort to whittle down due to their high defenses.



This doesn't bode well for any possible survivors in the temple.



Agnès steals this. Could the electrical charge be part of whatever's animating the statue? Do dark forces work with electronics?





Unsurprisingly, there are also wind spirits here. The darkness likely made them hostile as well.



The temple has a central garden. Even in ruins, it looks peaceful.



Entering the room to the south prompts the party to look around.



The Crystalist Scriptures.



"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."

The scriptures have been passed down through more than two millenia, since the founding of the Orthodoxy. The excerpt I gave is among their most important passages.



It's that famous, then?



It looks as if someone tried to carry them away from here.

The acolytes. They were women of exceptional faith. I expect they came here desperate to protect these writings.

This stain, upon the floor... I'm afraid it's blood.



They were close to the entrance, too. Everything must've happened pretty fast.

The passage leading north to the right of that room is blocked by the rubble visible in the earlier screenshot. A stairway down to the basement provides a detour.



The basement is a wreck, but it's filled with treasures, including this new item.



Yum yu...ergh. This is an unexpected downside to being a Final Fantasy magic-user.



Complete basement, all about navigating past debris. Back up to the ground floor.



Past the first pile of rubble, there's yet another blocking the way onward. While searching for the next detour, the party looks into a side room.



It's like a storm swept through in the middle of supper. What are these scraps of cloth?



Hm?

...Oh, I'm so sorry.

They belonged to the acolytes who lived here. They were tasked with looking after me.

...I owe them all so much.



......

Sometimes Tiz's obliviousness kicks in at terrible times.

Although another explanation is the scenes may be out of order: the scriptures scene is placed after the habits scene in the Event Viewer, meaning the party wouldn't have seen the bloodstains yet. In-game, however, the locations of the scenes have them clearly accessible in the order shown in the LP. Could be something got switched around late in development.

The party heads upstairs.



This floor has the last enemy of the temple, these lovely fellows.



Weapons? Made by the temple residents or from long ago or by the darkness? It'd make sense if they were ancient, long-buried temple guardians.





A hidden treasure and its contents. It's nice to see explanations behind some of the standard Final Fantasy items, even if they're not from an actual Final Fantasy.



The second floor is open to the garden below. The left half of the temple is either inaccessible or has a high enough ceiling to have no second floor.



At the north side of the floor is a curmudgeonly but not hostile owl-man. Odd place for a demihuman straight out of Chrono Cross to hang out. Didn't even know they existed in this game.



Here's the treasure to the left of owl-man. Tiz grabs it to better his magical destruction.



Complete map. Let's see if the way is clear downstairs.



As hoped, we emerge on the other side of the rubble. The party runs towards the crystal chamber, but along the way, pauses at the sight of a wrecked room.



Yet swallowed up in silence. And in that stillness... grief. This place is steeped in sadness.

Every once in a while Ringabel sounds downright serious. It always comes as a bit of a shock.



And now, all of them gone... It's Norende, all over again.



They sacrificed themselves that I might protect the crystal.

I'll not betray them. I swear it. No matter what happens...

Surely you can allow yourself to grieve!

I pray for them. That they may know peace... But for now, I must press onward.



Agnès is a good, if subtle, example of a female hero who shows weakness but is not weak. She has faults and asks Tiz for help, but it's clear she's self-driven. Her character - all four of the main characters, really -- are the best part of this game.



Further down the hall, there's a sparkling lever opposite the locked door from earlier. Is there any better way to get a game player's attention than sparkles? Aside from a treasure chest?



Pulling the lever opens the door, allowing quick access back to the temple entrance.



The last dungeon treasure is an upgrade for Agnès.




The complete ground floor. Guess that means all that's left is...



Airy's the most excited she's been all trip. Now we can revive the wind, and--



Hm.



Even hearing the stories, I'd never expected...



What now? Do we just...



If she insists. Nothing's immediately attacking us, at least.



I've watched over the crystal all my life, but this... I've never seen this.

We need to release it from the darkness. Agnès! You know what to do, don't you?

The mother vestal, my predecessor, showed me as a child. A rite to cleanse the crystal of any evil to befall it.

I'm to sharpen my focus to a single point and align my breathing to the thrum of the crystal's natural rhythm. Every vestal to come before me has poured her prayers into the crystal. The time has come to draw upon that store of will and awaken it.

You do your office proud. Now for the final step.

The vestal garb.



The mother vestal's was stored in the reliquary.

Lead the way. Once we have that, we can begin the Rite of Awakening.



The reliquary is the last wrecked room the party was in, the one shaped like a witch's hat on the map.



Agnès scrounges around the floor before pulling something up.



Yes, this is it. ...But the dark has beaten us here.



Oh, look at it, it's in tatters! And it must have been such a beautiful piece...

It may not serve its function in this state. ...Yet no other set remains to us.

What now, then? We can't perform the rite without it.



Thanks, game.

Stop talking, Ringabel.

Hmm... If this garb is destroyed, can we make a new one?

A set of holy vestments used in some miraculous ritual? Sure, Tiz, let me ask my tailor.

No, he's right! That's it!

We must speak with the old sage of the Yulyana Woods. He has seen to the creation of the vestal's garbs and other ceremonial tools for generations. There's no finer craftsman.

I met him only once, as a small child, together with the mother vestal. More than a decade has passed. I cannot say whether he is still there, or even alive, but...

But if he can make us a new set of vestments, why are we still standing around talking?



I recall the forest being uncommonly dense. Also, there was a lake...

If it's large enough to float a ship, I'll land us there. Now, what of the ladies of Yulyana? Are there many ladies?

Ignore him. Can we be certain this lake hasn't rotted through like the oceans? That's not how I fancy ending my life.

Well, what does Ringabel's journal have to say on the matter?



"The hidden heart of an ancient wood northeast of Ancheim."

Given the book's owner, I half expected some note about the lack of women there.

The Enigmatic Writings do have a distinct lack of Ringabel's romantic talk.

Women or no, that's our next destination.

Indeed, but since we're going, let's hope for ladies.



With that reaction, we're done for the day.


Next: Visiting places old and new.

--

Event Viewer
Main Scenario:
A Prayer of Mourning
The Crystal Altar
A Crystal Consumed
In Search of Vestments

Sub-Scenario:
Scattered Scriptures
Tattered Habits

Party Chat:
Vestals and Acolytes