Part 70: DS Dark Elves have Magnetic Personalities part 1

DS Update 14: Dark Elves have Magnetic Personalities part 1

Hello, everybody! Today we're back on the rails again.


I think we've kept Rosa waiting long enough. Let's check out Troia Castle.




It's a pretty big place! Lots of stuff to collect, too. We'll be spending a good bit of time here.

First, let's see what the crew has to say:


I hear blunt force trauma works wonders.


I half agree with this statement!


This is a helpful hint!


Isn't that what Earth Crystals are supposed to do? I'm a bit rusty on Crystalology...




Thank you, ladies! Now, which way to your magnificent ruler(s)?




Epopts? That's seriously what you call your leaders? What kind of dumb name is that.

I got nothing, actually. Is it supposed to be St. Pope backwards? It wouldn't be the stupidest name Squeenix ever came up with...


Here's the antechamber. Lots of people to talk to here!


The man claims to be a prince, although that is not something I'm inclined to believe.

A Damcyan prince, you say? Wait... Nah, it couldn't be.

Could it?


You have an awful lot of soldiers for being a "peaceful people."

Well, actually that's a good thing. As the esteemed George Washington said, "To be prepared for war is the one of the most effective means of preserving peace."


That, though. That is not a good thing. What did I just say, lady?


Jeez, all I said was "hello." Prickly, ain't ya?


Well, good. Way to take matters into your own hands!


Yeah... you just keep telling yourself that, right up until they roll up to your doorstep.


Why does everyone think I want them to dance for me?!


It affords little protection, but it does provide mobility, and it's fashionable!

... Whatever helps you sleep at night. _{Also fuck you, Japan!}


Let's have a chat with these stupidly-named leaders.




Lady, I've known some pretty violent chicks, and some very peaceful men. There's all sorts of people in this crazy world.


Then you came too late, I'm afraid. It has been stolen by a dark elf and it now grows weaker by the day.

What? Oh son of a bitch, really?


Our land has always been blessed by the Earth Crystal's bounty. But now the Crystal is gone, and I fear for our future.

You people are terrible at your jobs.

Should you enter the lodestone cavern to the northeast with any metal weapons or armor, the magnetic field will render you nearly immobile.

Ooh. My bullshit detector is going off. I smell a gimmick dungeon! Goodie.


Of course, you will need to recover it first.

Says you. If it's so easy, why don't you get off your lazy asses and get it back! You ladies don't look like you have much need for metallic equipment!

The dark elf who stole the Crystal dwells in a cave on an island to the northeast.

Retrieve the Crystal for us and we will let you borrow it. But we ask that you bring it before us, first.

Yeah, yeah. I got it. Fucking JRPGs and their fucking fetch quests!


The one who stole the Crystal has turned the walls of his cave to a lodestone, erecting a powerful magnetic field as a means of protection.

Really? Fucking really?! This is bullshit!

A lodestone is a magnet, from before magnets were a thing. They're naturally-occurring magnetic rocks that were used in ye olden times for navigation.

Without the Earth Crystal's boons, this land of plenty will soon revert to a barren wasteland.

And just what, pray tell, were you planning to do if we hadn't come along?


Yep. It's definitely gone.

Bull.

Shit.


Fine. If they're going to send me on a stupid fetch quest, I am going to loot this place blind!


Starting with the east tower.


Hmm, this looks promising!


Let's start down here.


Looks like we stumbled upon someone else's liquor stash!


All right, so the middle was kind of a bust. Let's try again.


I've died and gone to heaven! So much loot!

In total, these chests netted us:

2x Tent
2x Hi(gh) Potion
2x Ether
2x Ruby Ring

The game is nice enough to toss you a couple extra Ruby Rings, in case you sold yours off. Unlike the Iron/Silver/etc. Armlets, Ruby Rings are non-metallic.


Let's try the western staircase next, though I have a feeling it won't be nearly so exciting.


Eh? Is someone locked up in there?


This is the worst dungeon ever, worse than the one in Damcyan!


Have they given you permission to enter?

Now that you mention it... no.


Damn it, Cecil! Why you gotta be so honest and virtuous and stuff?


Eh. Time to check out the western tower, I guess.




Oh, yeah. Didn't the other lady mention something about finding an injured Damcyan Prince?


Eddie? You cannot be talking about Eddie. There's no way Eddie survived being eaten by a !


Nevermind. That sounds like our boy Eddie, right enough.


Well, hot damn. As I live and breathe!



Cecil... So, you survived, too. You cannot know how I've worried. I... I must fight by your side again!

Aww, I appreciate the sentiment, buddy.



Tellah... you are well, then. Please, accept my apologies for what happened to... to Anna. She died because... because of me.


Damn, Tellah, that's cold.

Know that I am... truly... *cough*



Yang, you're alive, too. What... what of Rydia?





Forgive me. All of you are fighting, and I but lie in bed.


Hell yeah you are, Cid!

I hear you risked your neck for Cecil and Rosa. Now it's my turn. You just leave things to ol' Cid for awhile!

You're Cid? Then, you escaped with an airship?


Cecil, what's become of Rosa?

Oh, yeah... that.


But the Crystal is already gone- stolen by a dark elf.

Interestingly, Cecil still says this if you talk to Eddie before speaking with the Epopts. It's kind of weird.

A dark elf, you say?





What is it?

The only way that I can accompany you now. Please, carry it with you.


Oh, hey, didn't a kid in Troia mention this stuff?


Will do, buddy!


Huh. So, why isn't this stuff used more widely? Seems like it'd be damn handy!




Yeah, now that I think of it: what the hell happened to Rydia?! Everyone else survived. Why not her? Team Asskicker is short one murderess!






Before we go charging off to swipe borrow the Crystal, I'll need to do a bit of shopping.


This building in the northeast of town contains some more hints about how to proceed, in case you missed Cid's comment.


And growing fresh greens allows us to raise hardy chocobos in turn.


Ooh, does that mean you can breed chocobos in this game? Oh, boy oh boy. I remember just how to do it, too!


They already have the black chocobo? That makes things easier!




Fly? Oh, we're going off the FFT black chocobos. (Er, I guess FFT went off these black chocobos, now that I think of it. I play things out of order!)


And here I thought FFTA was the first game to introduce the concept of choco-stench.


Yessss, now just tell me how I can breed one of my very own.

The ones here are all farm-raised. They can't fly like the ferals.

What? Oh, son of a bitch! I guess chocobo breeding is out, then. How disappointing...

Find one o' the wild ones in the woods up north, though, and you'll see. It's a sight to behold, a black chocobo in flight! Not the highest of fliers, but they get around. Even see 'em down here on occasion. Hear they'll only land in the woods, though.

Black chocobos are a nice counterpart to the airship. They can only land in forests, while the airship can only land on open ground.


So. Cute. I want one!


Before we can do that, though, we have some shopping to do.


The gimmick of the Lodestone Cavern is the same as it is in other versions: take anything metal in there and you're fucked. So, I pick up one of these things for Cecil.


Most of the enemies there are weak to fire, so this'll hit their weakness at least. But, its attack power kind of... sucks.

The 'shard weapons are a new addition to the DS version. In this version, Cecil can't equip bows. These were thrown in to give him some non-metallic attacking options. Considering their weaksauce attack, I'm not sure which version makes out better, to be honest...


Now the armor selection in Troia makes sense! It's all non-metallic.


However, we can get some slightly better stuff if we go a bit out of our way...


The Baron armor shop has these for sale. They're quite a bit better than the lame-ass Leather Armor.


Yang already has one, so I just need a set for Cid and Cecil.


Annoyingly, you can't land the airship next to the Chocobo Forest. It looks like that patch of grass is big enough, but alas, no.


Therefore, we have to hoof it.


And of course, we get jumped on the way. What else is new?


Well, this enemy is new, actually. Cid's analysis says it all: 440 HP and flammable, as you would expect from a plant.


At least Cecil profits from the experience. I still say that sword of his looks totally cool!


We made it! Let's see about nabbing ourselves a flying chocobo.


Ooh, this one's a Chocobo Village. My mistake!


There are a few items to grab here, as well. But first, I don't think I've shown this off yet.


In order to summon Fat Chocobo outside of Kaipo,


use a Gysahl Green and boom! There he is.


And he has a fully filled out menu now! That's nice. Those other functions work just the way they did when -ingway had them.


Enemies we've scanned get fully added to the Bestiary, complete with a kill count.


There's one of these guys, too, which is always handy!






There are a few hidden Greens, should you need the services of Fat Chocobo in the future.

Now for what we really came here for!


Yessss, giddyap!




This is so cool!


With our new friend's help, we can reach this island to the northeast, which houses our next dungeon.


He'll even wait patiently for us here while we delve in. How convenient!

I'll leave the dungeon proper for next time. For now, I'll leave you with the party's impressions:


I dunno. So he can play you a lullaby, I guess?


It's not as simple as all that, actually. Not all metals are magnetic, for one, and some are paramagnetic, meaning they actually exclude magnetic fields! Nobody tell that dark elf that, though. ()


Ever the engineer, that Cid. My kind of guy!


Presumably he's picked up a thing or two in his travels. Bards hear things, man. They know things.

Next time on Let's Play Final Fantasy IV DS: The Lodestone Cavern!

Joy.