Part 16: Chapter XV: In Which the RNG Falls in Love with Rabbi Raccoon
Chapter XV: In Which the RNG Falls in Love with Rabbi RaccoonChallenge: All Weretiger, all the time
Welcome back! Last time we killed that dickweed Palet so Nina could help Ken get a passport. But on the way back to Wyndia, our party gets distracted by faeries.
And they see this message a lot. It's VERY important to raise culture all the way to 7 before doing any gamebreaking in C-Bo. It helps things go faster.
Also, once you get Momo back, the first thing you should to is bring her to Dauna Mine, to the area where we fought Dragon Zombie.
Go around, enter this room behind his platform, blow the wall out and...
Get the best coupon book of all time. It reduces prices of EVERYTHING in ANY shop by 20% as long as they're equipped by someone in the shopping party. There is no reason to not get these.
But back on track, we need a passport, don't we?
: Well now... We made it to Wyndia... Rei, you come with me to the castle
: Huh!? What do you mean, princess!?: I think I told you before... Everyone thinks Ken kidnapped me from the castle before... So... It's probably better if you come along with me, Rei, because no one knows your face, right?
: We'll get the king's permission... Just wait for us out here, OK, Ken?
: Shall we go?And thus begins the one and only time in the game you can get into battles without Ken. You can re-enter the catacombs and fight older enemies there. Nothing major, just worth pointing out.
The store on the left of that row is the only place to get a Midas Stone. It can be bought anytime you have access to Wyndia, even as a kid. It costs 3000 Zenny (unless you have Coupons) has a weight of 10, and multiplies the Zenny gained after battle by 1.5. If you're bringing along Garr or Peco, use it. They'll never be speed demons anyway, and pretty soon agility will be a non-issue.
And these are the kids we played Hide and Seek with waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day. Apparently they were extras in Grease.
They wanna play Hide and Seek again, using the whole world this time. Now, I know where they're going, but I'm gonna let you figure it out. The places they go are places we've already seen in this LP, so I'm gonna give you the clues they give, and you guys are gonna try and figure it out.
Bais: Somewhere in the northwest where there's plenty of strong men
Lang: I'll be somewhere close...
Wynn: I'll go to that place that smells like oil!
Lee: The place that connects this world with that world...
Yeah. I was a theater major in college and Lee comes off as a little too dramatic even for me.
Anyway, once you find them all, they offer their services as Masters. They barely affect stats, but their real perk is that they teach new Formations (except for Lang, who gives you a useless item). Of the formations, only the ones given by Bais and Lee are worth using. Naturally, we'll be getting them.
Me too lady. Me too.
King: .........And what of the plant?
: Well.........King: Hmmm... So, you believe the enhanced crops are dangerous, then... Perhaps we'll have to shut the plant down... Thank you, Nina. Excellent job!
: I didn't do it by myself... I was only able to complete my mission with the help of Rei...King: Rise, Master Rei... Thank you for your assistance If what I heard is correct, you wish to travel to the eastern lands, yes? We will have a passport prepared... In the meantime, please enjoy our hospitality!
: Master Rei, this way please... I'll give you a tour of the castle.And we are once again given control.
The King says he's pleased over how much good she's doing, but that she needs to take some time to stay home and take care of her mother, which is in direct conflict with what she wants to do.
Is that a thing? The only parts of history that interested me were ancient Greece, Rome, the Vikings, and World War II, so I don't know much about the age of monarchs. Was that a thing to have the princess take care of the queen? Isn't that what maids and shit are for?
Another winged guy. Generally, most of the NPCs here welcome her back, compliment her on how much work she's doing, or joke about how the guards will be out of a job by the time she's done. They're not particularly interesting.
Sheila: Nina... You've come back
: Yes... ... ... I'm homeSheila: I've heard about how well you've done... It pleases me greatly But... You belong to Wyndia... And you belong to me...
: Mother...Sheila: I'm saying this for your own good. I won't tolerate any more foolish, rash behavior... Understand?
God I hate Sheila. She reminds me of my family. She wants Nina to be who she expects her to be, not who Nina wants to be. It's the core of Nina's character arc and her being torn between duty and being Nina is seen all through the game. It's a stark contrast to Nina at the beginning ("As a member of the royal family, it's my job to help people in trouble")
Another interesting theme in the story that'll be relevant later. Fans of the series will notice that the world is MUCH smaller than it has been in the past. We've already seen ~75% of it.
: This is the basement of the castle... The kitchen is that way... And the dungeon's that way... Speaking of the dungeon... Ken was put in there once, when he was little.
: Honey!? Did you follow us again? Honey followed me here once before... She tried running away from me... And we ended up falling off a balcony!: Well, I guess even she's got things she's afraid of, right? Like balconies, maybe?: Maybe... I'll grab her this time to make sure she doesn't go off somewhere again.
With Rei in the party, we can finally get that treasure chest in the dungeon. It contains a Laurel, a slight upgrade to the Gold Hairpin that can be equipped by Nina, Momo, and Peco (which seems weird to me but it's a plant so I can live with it).
McNeil is being interrogated and blames all his wrongdoing on Mikba, Balio, and Sunder.
There's really nothing else new here, so let's just get our passport and vamoose.
King: My apologies for the delay, Master Rei. Now that that's been taken care of, please, relax and enjoy yourself.
: Father, have you forgotten? Master Rei is on pressing business and has no time. It would be wrong of us to keep him from his business. I will escort Rei to the gate.: Thank you, uh, Your Tall, uh, Highness... I'll be taking off... uh, taking my leave of you now...King: Very well then... Have a safe journey, Master Rei!
: What's the hurry? I never pass up a free meal!: You'd better hurry Before everyone finds out about Ken and the others! I don't think I can go with you this time, but please tell Ken that... I know he's not a bad dragon, OK?Nina is pretty great here. She's got some cool moments all through the game, but this whole section here is probably my favorite.
Sheila: Rei...or whoever you are... You're one of that villain Ken's friends, are you not!?
The King puts on his angry eyebrows (no seriously. compare it to his sprite earlier)
Guard: There can be no doubt! I saw him talking with the same people who were here all those years ago!
: Father, I can explain! I'm sorry I didn't tell you everything right away... But Ken isn't a bad person!Sheila: You are being tricked...Lied to! By these con men! These hoodlums!
: Ken is not a hoodlum or a con man! He's a strong, noble man with a purpose...Sheila: You know nothing! I don't know or care what they are! They are not people you should be calling friends!
Great, great line right here. Or maybe I'm biased because I really identify with Nina's arc.
: Hey, take it easy... All baby birds leave the nest someday... Am I wrong?Sheila: How... dare you!?
: Look... I'm just like you said...a crook, a thief... But Ken is different. Ken is the kind of guy who can... No, will change the world. I'm not surprised that you're worried about him...
: Time to leave...!
And in a rare display of RPG guard competence, we quickly find ourselves with only one way to escape.
: What's she gonna do? Jump off the balcony again!?: It was OK then, and we're underground now. Come on, let's go after her!
A Neat Thing here is that pretty much everyone in the castle is on Nina's side in this whole thing. NPCs even mention how the King is all right with it later on, it's all Sheila whose being a colossal bitch.
: It looks that way, but... Something tells me we'll find a way out.
Soldier: Wh whoa! What the heck is this!?
: It... it's not anything dangerous... Don't be alarmed... Rei, hurry! Open this door!
: .........She disappeared! Are we supposed to get away with this contraption?
: Nina! I think we can make it... Uh-oh!: Mother, I'm sorry... But I have to...Sheila: Don't talk to me like that, young lady! You are the princess and heir to the throne. Do you think you can just disobey your duty and your family like this?
: I love you, mother. I understand how important I am and that I'm a princess...
: But I'm not just a princess! I'm also Nina! And I have to do what I think is right!
Soldier: Huhhhhhhhh?
: Wh...where are we?: Hey, Honey... What the heck have you done?: Let's get out of here and take a look around...
: No time to waste, then... We'd better catch up with Ken and the others!Yep. Those little platform things? They're teleporters. There's one in the castle, under Durandal's hut, under Emitai's house, and another in the Yraal Region (that's basically useless since it takes less time to walk). There's a few more we haven't discovered yet. It does make travel easier sometimes, but due to the lack of random battles on the overworld, it's more of a plot device than anything. Still pretty cool though, and it allows you to bypass Mount Levett when you wanna visit Emitai.
: And so that's what happened: Well...I guess that means we can't be counting on any help from the King of Wyndia anytime soon...: I'm sorry... I don't know what I was thinking...As far as I'm concerned, Nina did the right thing. The only thing that could be considered wrong is pissing off her mom.
: You shouldn't worry about it... More importantly, we should get to the bridge before the King's men do...And we're free. There's no fuss at the checkpoint this time, we pass right on through. And this is where I grinded up the faerie village a bit while waiting for you guys to vote.
YES GARR I FUCKING REMEMBER YOU TRIED TO KILL ME STOP TALKING ABOUT IT
Peco makes a good emergency healer when you need it.
And here's Rei's ability list. He's only got two more spells to learn. And he's the titular Pikachu-Blanka (blatantly stolen from the old Dragon Quarter thread)
And at culture level 7, let the gamebreaking begin. Now, every 5 battles or so, there WILL be progress. Before it takes much longer. Switch your Scholar over to researching jobs instead of culture.
Also, Ken learns Vitalize, allowing him to heal the whole party for 20 AP. That's almost a third of his max AP. Let's fix that low AP soon, ok? Please guys?
The first job we open is the Merchant. There's 6 kinds altogether. After choosing an option here, you can choose either Speed or Ability, which alters the items. For now, we start with Weapon ---> Ability
All merchants in C-Bo start with 1 item and fill out their list the more battles you get in. You want a faerie with a longer dark blue bar for this, and put 2 more in if you can spare them. You'll get stuff incredibly fast.
Gift is one of the "dump" jobs for faeries who have crummy stats everywhere else. Basically, you set a faerie to work in a gift shop, and after a certain amount of battles, talk to them for a prize. The prizes get better the more battles you go through. Generally not worth it, as there's better ways to get the high end stuff.
HOWEVER. There is a pretty great sperg to this. After 7 battles, the faerie gives you a Fish Head (the intelligence boosting item). If you make all non-hunting faeries into gift shop people and fill up all the rooms, you can potentially get up to 24 Fish Heads every 7 battles. This means you can put Nina under Fahl with no worries of her intelligence and up her defense if you so choose. I will not be taking advantage of this though.
Antiques is another "dump" job. Throughout the game, you find items with a description of "appears valuable". Normally, they sell for 5 Zenny in most shops, but in the Antiques store they sell for much much more. There's no reason to always have one, just switch someone over to it when you need it.
Explorer is the best. You can choose to send a faerie to a Nearby, Daytrip, or Distant location to hunt for items. Distant has the best items, and it's the only way to get certain items. Make sure you have a faerie with a maxed out red bar to lower the chance of this happening:
Yeah. They can die.
But you can also get stuff like this:
An Antique that sells for 8000 Zenny. It has no other purpose. Since whether or not a journey is successful is determined when you enter the village and the item you get is determined when you talk to the faerie, this leaves it VERY open to savescumming. I didn't do it, but I DO get incredibly lucky.
The Ourboros is Nina's ultimate weapon, and also increases intelligence. The Tiger's Cap can be used by everyone and is a great helmet in addition to increasing attack, the Protectors are a shield that ups status resistance by 2 (combine with a Light Bangle and you're completely immune to statuses), and the Katzablager is a good weapon for Rei.
Music opens up the games music player, useless in the internet age. Casino opens up games where you can win prizes (namely, a Mastermind like game where if you guess right the first time, you get a damn great prize, if you use savestates to abuse it). It's also got a secret.
With three faeries in the Casino, you can rename your party members and faeries if you so choose. Or if you simply must re-name Rei "Kitty"
The Copy shop copies items for you. Ivory Dice, Wisdom Fruits, the elemental rings and the Ivory Charm are the best way to abuse it. Put faeries with high intelligence in here. And remember, ALL C-Bo results are determined WHEN YOU ENTER. So if the copy fails, re-load a save, especially if the copier loses the item (which happens sometimes so be careful)
THIS. The single most broken item in the game. It's the rarest item from a Distant exploration, and somehow I got 4 in less than an hour. It gives +2 status, psionic and ALL ELEMENTAL RESISTANCE in addition to restoring 1 HP per battle round and as you walk around. Giving anyone 2 makes them completely immune to statuses and elements. Incredibly absurd.
And with learning Barrier, the game is officially won. Anyone doing this could take on the final boss now and win. Barrier increases magic resistance by a shitload, making (incredibly rare) non-elemental magic do almost nothing. And if you're not using element absorbing equipment, it'll put a huge dent in that damage too. Ken learns it naturally too. They toned it back in Breath of Fire IV (wisely) so that it only lasts three turns.
The Hidden Dagger is the only blade Nina can equip and has a low chance of instantly killing the enemy. If you're attacking physically with her, I guess it's worth a shot.
And yes, Soul Gems are now buyable in C-Bo. Because we haven't broken the game enough yet.
Bell Collars increase the rate of random battles while Holy Mantles lower it.
The Angling Rod is one of the best rods.
And to top it off, we get a Spirit Ring, which halves AP usage from all abilities, except for Dragon transformations. At this point, it's just the icing on the cake.
And with that, we're done, so let's track down the best NPC in the game, in the Rhapala Inn:
TESTIFY!
While we're here, we check in on Shadis. She apparently had a baby and named it Sheyd.
Oh right. We've got a plot to play through, don't we?
Watchman: Are you going to the Tower, Guardian Garr?
: Yes... The time has come to return to God what God has given me...Watchman: Dust to dust... Guardian! Do you mean...?
Watchman: We thank you... Thank you for your protection all these many years... Rest well, Guardian Garr...Go with God!
: After the war... After defeating the Brood, their mission complete, the Guardians. Offered up to God their victory here.
And God appeared before the prostrate Guardians, to reward each and every one of them for their sacrifices and victory over evil...
: When our mission has been completed... We are allowed to meet our God... After meeting with God, most Guardians return their power to God and fall into a deep sleep...
: The Sleep of Stone. Deprived of the power granted to him by God, a Guardian's body turns to stone... Before I enter the Sleep of Stone I swear, Ken, that I will take you to meet God... And together... We will learn the truth about God's intentions!
Deis?
: Are you OK? What happened with God?: .........God is... No, before that... Before we meet with God, we have to find someone...His name is Gaist... Like me, he is a... Guardian.: Another Guardian? What for?
Back at Urkan Tapa, we meet with Sudama again
: .........Sudama: ...Garr? What is it? Your mission is over
: Venerable Patriarch, God did not appear in the Tower...Sudama: That's because you still have doubt in your heart! You must free yourself from your doubts! Unless you wish to become like Gaist...
: Oh Venerable One... Do you know where Gaist is? Please tell me, Oh Patriarch... I must meet with Gaist before I can be free of my doubts!Sudama: Beyond the cave by the sea to the west... I've heard there lives a Guardian who has given up fighting... But Garr... You cannot allow yourself to become like Gaist... Keep your faith! Do not doubt the wisdom of God!
@RabbiRaccoon
The southern coast of the Urkan Region takes us back into the Rhapala Region into a small filler dungeon that I can't fucking stand. Crappy gimmick.
The gimmick here is beating the tide. Every few battles, the tide will change.
Bomb Seeds are the biggest pain in the ass here. High defense, they only defend until they're weak. At that point they use Sacrifice which lowers you whole parties HP to 1 in exchange for killing it. Irritating as shit. Weretiger OHKOs them though, so thanks guys!
The Spikers aren't anything notable. They have a high counterattack rate, Venom Breath, and Giant Growth (physical attack versus the whole party at half power).
Sleepys like to confuse your party then cast Snooze, sleeping while your party attacks each other. Might have been a threat if confusion meant you attack allies only, but it's still a neat gimmick.
Every few battles, you'll get this message. The tide's changed.
There's also a raft we can take to the entrance.
And this is the only treasure of note. It rounds out our elemental ring set.
The Barb Bulb is interesting for a few reasons. It ups it's attack power the first round with a skill called Steroids (which we can't learn), and defends every round after that, letting it's high counterattack rate do the work.
However, it's item drop is special. In some versions, it's Ginseng, which has the same effect as Steroids, and in others it's the Vodka Shot, which has the exact same effect. These items don't exist together in any version, and no one seems to know why they switched it. It's never consistent between versions.
Take the raft south here.
Get this, and head back. The Deadly Blade is a strong weapon for Ken that also ups his critical rate by 8% (I believe)
And grab this on your way out.
This is Cliff. And that last guy may or may not be Loki. I forgot to get a picture, but the town is literally a straight path with holes in the walls serving as houses.
But the last house is our destination for the day.
: .........Guardian Gaist...Gaist: ...Garr?
Gaist: A progeny of the Brood? .........Is that him!?
: At God's command, we killed the Brood... I want to know if that was a mistake, and he's the key to that mystery...Gaist: Are you still talking that nonsense? If you doubt the word of God... You should just run away... Run away like I did... What were you thinking, anyway? Bringing him here like this!? You want to help him avenge the Brood? He's only one little boy! What do you think he can do all alone?
: I...just want to know the truth... Why did the Brood have to die?Gaist: Bah! You haven't changed, have you? Asking those stupid questions... Anyway...So... What does the high-and-mighty Garr want with me, eh?
: ...We need you to free Deis... So we can meet with God... We need Deis' help...Gaist: Deis, eh...? I suppose I'm the right one to talk to about that... All right... I'll help you. But before I do... I want to have a little chat with our dragon friend here......alone.
Gaist: I'm sure you've heard from Garr... About how we Guardians fought the Brood... We killed countless Brood... Something I feel really bad about now... But... It's all over and done with... Unless you want to dig up all those skeletons of the past... That's what I thought... That's the way the Brood always were... Even though they had such power, they didn't fight back... The world thinks... that it was the Brood that started the war... But they didn't... We hunted them down and killed them. Eventually... I couldn't take it any longer...So I ran away... Garr kept his faith in God and fought to the end, but... I bet somewhere deep in his heart he had his doubts... So you see... It's not that I don't understand what he's feeling... but. I was never as serious as he is... I don't care about God or the truth... It's too much trouble for me to bother with, you know? That's why I want you to think this over...Talk about it with Garr outside there...
Gaist: And if you're really serious... If you really want to do this... Come back here alone, all right? All right... now get on outta here
: What happened? Hmmm...Gaist said that, eh? I think maybe he wants to test you, Ken... As long as I've known him, Gaist doesn't do anything until he's convinced himself it's what has to be done. He probably wants to know how serious you are about this whole business--just how far you mean to take it. What do you think, Ken? Your strength... The blood in your veins... Your desire to know the truth... The truth about God... Is it enough to convince Gaist?
: I must know the truth: Then you have nothing to worry about... Once you've prepared yourself, you should go meet Gaist...
Gaist: Well, then...Have you made up your mind?
: I want the truthGaist: Heh... I thought you'd say that... I had you figured as the serious type... Well, then, shall we begin? Go over there... Stand between the two braziers
Gaist: All right now... This may seem old-fashioned to you... But it's the only thing I know how to do, OK? I need you to fight me, little dragon!
And thus begins our duel with Gaist. He's easy, but he's made even easier by the fact that my Explorer in C-Bo got me a Demonsbane, a 99 power weapon strong against the Devil type.
The first thing you wanna do is kill the torches. They cast Flare on Gaist every round, healing him and increasing damage from his fire spell. This can quickly build up. 2 Icicles should do it. Don't bother using Protect either, Gaist has access to Sanctuary.
This is the damage from the Demonsbane. Awesome. I heart C-Bo.
This is Corona, Gaist's signature skill. Despite what it looks like, it's not a breath attack. The Ring of Fire makes it a non-issue. He also has access to Risky Blow. Just keep healed and you should be fine. Alternatively, transform with the Frost + Force Genes and go to town with Frost Claw.
Gaist: Uhh... so...this is a dragon's true strength! You see...The seal that keeps Deis trapped...couldn't be released... as long as I was alive...so this was the only way... Don't feel bad... I died the day I became a Guardian... Besides, during the war... I killed so many dragons...it seems only fair... that I in turn have my life taken by the Brood
Gaist: Uhhhh... I wonder... Is this power... what God feared...?
Gaist: Or is the real power of the Brood the ability to make allies out of enemies...? It's too bad it had to be this way... I would've liked to go with you... Garr...It's up to you now...
: Gaist understood............With this, Deis should be free. Let's go... Let's go to meet God...
Before leaving, examine Gaist's ashes (however morbid that sounds) for Garr's best weapon. It's gone forever if you don't get it now.
Back at Angel Tower, we go see Deis.
Don't fuck with Deis, man
: You big oaf! You bone-headed Guardian! What did you think you were doing, entombing me in this temple for 500 years! I've half a mind to blast you into orbit! So... I guess the fact that you've released me shows that you're finally willing to listen to what I have to say?
: Well, maybe not completely hopeless...
: What have you done!! What do you think you're doing! You buffoon!! Idiot!!: But...Our God has told us that they are wicked and evil...: And you never thought she might be wrong, you imbecile!? I'll take you to meet your fool God!Gaist: Deis...! Show more respect for our God--or else...
Bwahahaha Ken's face!
: If each and every last member of the Brood had indeed been killed, all would have been lost... But there's still one of the Brood left!: And what of...God?: First things first, Guardian! The spirits of the dead dragons are too strong here... We need to go someplace else. There should be a cave at the base of the volcano to the west of here...I'll meet you there. The volcano to the west... Got it, my little dragon?
: The volcano to the west...she must mean Mount Zublo.
: Wait just a minute! Why do you have such a goofy look on your face, Ken!?Jealousy doesn't become you, Nina.
Remember this place?
: Don't be frightened... This is what I really look like... Were you expecting me to show up naked again? In that form... The one I was imprisoned in... I'm not able to fully utilize my powers, see...
MAKE SURE YOU ANSWER "I LIKE YOU THIS WAY" OTHERWISE YOU WILL LOSE HER AS A MASTER LATER ON KTHX
: Well! Thanks! You certainly know what to say to a lady, don't you!
: So...now that you're all here...: Is this...where we'll meet God?Garr has a slight case of tunnel vision, in case you haven't noticed.
: No, silly... I'm going to tell you how to get there from here! Before I was imprisoned... I would have been able to take you there myself, but I don't have enough strength left to do it now. All right, my little Ken... I'm going to open your eye so you'll be able to see the way yourself.
: It might hurt a little... But you'll just have to grin and bear it
: That, Ken, is called prana. The Eye of God... If you follow that light...you'll find the god who used the Guardians to destroy your people...
: Far, far away to the north... Across the sea... How you get there is up to you... I can't do it for you...This is all I can do now... It's up to you now Ken... Good luck!
: Garr, I want you to look out for him... Make sure nothing happens to him, understand?: I swear by the lives of all the Brood I stole...He will not come to harm while I draw breath.She sends Garr away too.
: Whew! I must be getting old if something like this knocks the wind outta me! You must be feeling your age as well... Sister...
: Ken! Garr! First Ken... then you, Garr, just disappeared like that! I was so frightened! What happened? Did you see Deis? Did you meet God?: God is...very far away... across the sea... Looks like we'll be needing a boat.No no NO! Fuck you Garr! I'm not going back to Rhapala and YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!
So I won't. For now.
Don't forget to post your guesses about the Hide and Seek kids! Here are the hints again:
Bais: Somewhere in the northwest where there's plenty of strong men
Lang: I'll be somewhere close...
Wynn: I'll go to that place that smells like oil!
Lee: The place that connects this world with that world...