Part 4: Part Four: The Gang's All Here

Part Four: The Gang's All Here


Last time, we got permission to use an airship, and when we found the airship, we ended up picking up the blacksmith's lazy runaway daughter. She told us to head over to King Sasune's castle to see if he has a mythril ring handy.

Let's get to work.


Note that I can't leave Cid's airship through the same door I used to enter it.


I have to go to the wheel. This is the only time in the game where you can freely run around this screen (which is fine, there's not really anything going on here).






Using the wheel causes the airship to rise out of the desert sands. Looks like we're in business.

I have to ask, though, how did Cid manage to bury the thing? Did he do it by hand?



I can't leave this little area because there's a rock in the way of one of the passes and the airship can't fly over mountains. Kind of a disappointing airship, Cid.




If you try to take Kuja to see Tokka in Kazus, she leaves the party at the town entrance. This means that I have no reason to actually go into Kazus, so I just turn right around and leave:



How exciting. I wonder what she was planning to do with the airship once she found out that she couldn't get far in it.


If you go back to Ur now, this guy has a different line. He was asking about where Jecht could have gone earlier.


Miscellany aside, this is where we need to go. There are only two places we haven't been in this little area right now, this castle...


...and this cave. You might think the game is really cool, giving you an airship so early, but it's reduced to working like a canoe by the design of the place. Oh well, at least there are no random encounters on it.



There's someone guarding the gate. Who's this guy?


A real pro. If I had to guess, I'd say that the Djinn's curse was just done up in the last day or so. But then, who told the people in Ur?

: Only the power of a mythril ring may save them, I am told... But Kazus is suffering from the same fate as Sasune...

Are you telling Sephy & al. this, or are you just reminding yourself? Why is this line here?

: I must do something, but... Where will I find a mythril ring...?

The king has one. We're here to see the king.

Wait, aren't you associated with the castle? Did you not go make sure the king was safe, like, as soon as you got back and found things all cursed and whatnot?

Ladies and gentlemen, a real pro.

: I am the daughter of the blacksmith of Kazus. The king must still have the ring my father made him!
: We've come to borrow the king's mythril ring to save Kazus. Will you let us through?

If the Djinn cursed Kazus because they have mythril mines, and cursed Sasune's castle because...I don't know, because he's the king, I guess, why not go three for three and hit Ur, too? Did he run out of MP?


Back to the game, the gate guard is actually thinking about letting us in on just our word. Of course, he's going to deny us, because letting these strange people in would be a spectacularly bad idea right now.


...Or not.




He just opens the gate so that we can waltz right in.


This part isn't even scripted or anything, the dude just gives us free rein. Seriously, this guy is probably the most professional man I've ever seen in a JRPG.


The castle has a couple pretty good treasures, but unfortunately, they're guarded by monsters.


Monsters that will blind your characters. They've already blinded Kuja here, as you can see.

Since I have no offensive options but straight attacks, and blindness pretty much shuts that right down (not to mention that these enemies are a lot tougher than Goblins and Blue Mists - Sephy only hits them for ~10 damage), I'll have to deal with these guys later.




Running away in this game is based strictly on levels. It takes me two tries to get away from this fight, but everyone in the party gets a chance every round, and I manage to make it unscathed.


Literally two steps later, though, I'm attacked by melty zombies. Encounter rates in this game are pretty high, which can really ruin your day if you're at a low level or undersupplied. Combine that with the lack of in-dungeon save points and a restricted supply of items that restore magic, and some dungeons become a real slog.


In the main area of the castle, you can already see the ghosts hangin' out on the red carpet. Let's talk to those ghosts.

: Is there any way to lift the Djinn's curse?

No, you're boned.

: If I weren't a ghost, I'd go and defeat the Djinn myself! *Snort*

I'm guessing you'd have some trouble with that. If the Djinn was just sealed up however many years ago, it's probably not that easy to kill.

Or everyone in the past was a short-sighted jerk.

: Well, this is a fine mess that someone's gotten us into... What will become of this kingdom...?

Tourist attraction? Haha, just kidding, the people of Ur are probably going to take over. They're pretty much unopposed, after all, and your only guard just lets people into the castle as long as they say they're here to "help".


Also in this area are these two beds, just sitting out in the open. Kuja is still blind, so I'm not going to look this gift horse in the mouth.



Everything is better now. I'm ready to save the world.


You see those cracks in the bricks?


They mark a passage through the wall.


I go through it and find a Phoenix Down. Always nice to have, even though the game takes the stance that only chumps let their party members get knocked out.



Over here, 2,000 gil in separate chests. I'm slightly less poor!


In the basement is this pool. It's not a wellspring or anything, just decoration. Whatever.


Upstairs, I find something useful...


...and something a lot less important. Blizzard is our first available spell, and it's a good choice for the upcoming dungeon. Spells are learned from items in this game, and you need one item for each character you want to learn a spell (you can get them back after you use them, though). Each character can hold three spells from each of the eight spell levels. I'll probably give this Blizzard to Sephy because he has a higher job level, which determines magic damage. We're talking a full two-thirds of a point of damage higher than Jecht or Kuja could get, which might just break the game wide open.



Following an actual hidden path, I find a weapon meant for a class I don't have yet. Since the Freelancer can equip a bunch of things, I'll probably just dump the knuckles on someone for the added damage.


Once I'm done looting, I decide to actually go see the king.


Big throne room. Is the room outside just for visitors to queue up in? Because you could pretty much fit every person in the area into this room, just sayin'. Even more because most of them are ghosts.


Oh yeah, the king. What's up, Sasune?


I'd noticed. I'm just glad I didn't have to point it out, that seems kind of rude.


The kingdom's best knight is kneeling down at the start of the scene.


And then he stands up and the camera just zooms in really close.

: The mythril ring... You seek to use its powers to banish the Djinn once again.

Well, I didn't want to play fuckin' hobbit with it. Come on, game, stop telling me the same thing over and over.

If it weren't for the game's really old-school design philosophy and uneven difficulty, I'd think this was meant to be Final Fantasy Junior.

: I would grant you this boon... However, my daughter holds the ring, and she went missing shortly before the the curse was cast upon us.
: If the princess holds the ring, the Djinn may have taken her!

You might think so, but based on what we've seen coming from characters in this game, it's more likely that she's stuck in a tree somewhere or something.

: If it is so... I fear for my precious Sara. The Djinn must have taken her to its cave to the north.

Sara was the name of the princess at the start of the first Final Fantasy, as well. The next time a Sara(h) appeared in the series was Final Fantasy IX, where that was Garnet/Dagger's birth name.

: Don't worry, sir, we'll get her back!
: Sire. I would like to ask you for your leave to accompany these brave souls to the Sealed Cave, and rescue Lady Sara.

Isn't that kind of your job, guy? I don't think the king is in much danger, already being a ghost and all.


At this point, we get the chance to name him.

Goons named him Golbez, but some jackass forgot to actually take a picture of it and didn't realise until way the hell later.

"A loyal soldier"? He's 14. All the party members are 14. This guy is a squire.

: You have my leave, Golbez. Unless...there are any objections?

If incompetents weren't allowed in the party, I'd have never gotten past the title screen.

: Of course not! His sword is worth twice that of those two.
: Now, that's not fair! But...I agree that having one of the king's men with us would help us a lot.


And so, our party is completed.

: There is a secret passageway in the Sealed Cave... Search for the skeleton...key. I am counting on you and your friends, Golbez. Banish the Djinn, and save us all!

Now we have a goal! I mean, it's the same goal we already sort of have, but now it's official, I guess.


Oh, and Golbez joins at level four. You can see that's when Freelancers get their first stat increase. Not enough to make a huge difference. I'll probably get everyone up to level 5 before I handle the cave, because that should get each of them a second hit.


Golbez also has the standard party member equipment. It's alright, but I'll probably run back to Ur real quick and pick up some new toys. That'll have to wait until the next update, though.