Part 4: Old Man and the Sea Monster

The Waterway is a pretty large area considering it is the second dungeon in the game. The treasures here are unremarkable, they're just more Potions and Tents.



A crazy old man prevents us from walking any further.

Could it be...? A Dark Knight? I need your assistance!

What's wrong?

I must get to Damcyan to rescue my daughter. She's been tricked by a wicked bard! We must hurry, I sense evil in the air!

I heard about you in Kaipo... you must be Sage Tellah!

Indeed I am... That girl! Is she a Summoner? Excellent! She can help too. There's a giant monster that lurks in the lake that can withstand my magic. If we work together, I can finally reach Damcyan!

We're in a hurry to get there as well.

Then let's make haste!

Tellah then joins our party.



Tellah can use any Black or White Magic... well, he could if he could remember them. His Recall ability lets him try to remember a forgotten spell in battle, but it doesn't always work, and you still need the MP to cast the spell (which with his paltry 90 Max MP is difficult as best).



The exit to this area is to the north, but if you come down here...



...there's a secret area! There's a Dry Ether, an X-Potion, and a Phoenix Down here.



Proceeding through the cave, the three travelers come across a strange area.



This magic field repels monsters. We can use my Tent to rest here tonight and prepare ourselves for the upcoming battle.

Magic Circles like this introduce a new feature to the Final Fantasy series- Save Points. Some love them, some hate them. Which one are you?



The girl's already asleep? She must have been exhausted. Who is she?

A Summoner from Mist.

She has great potential. With the proper training, she will be able to master many spells. Look at her. What a cute face. She reminds me so much of Anna at that age...

Anna?

My daugther. She eloped with a bard to Damcyan because... I wouldn't consent to their union.



My friend suffers from Desert Fever.

Ah, so you're looking for a Sand Ruby. It won't be easy to obtain. You'll have to enter an antlion's lair to get one.

We'll worry about that later. Tell me more about this monster we must face.

It's a vicious creature with eight tentacles. It's blocking the way to Damcyan... I just hope I can get there before it's too late.

Too late for what?

I don't know. I just hope my instincts are wrong...



The next area has an Ice Rod for Rydia. You can use it as an item to cast Blizzard in battle.



The north part of the Waterway introduces undead enemies. Tellah can dispatch them easily with his Fire spell (the one elemental spell Rydia doesn't have). Cecil's attacks only deal 1 damage to undead because he uses Dark weapons.



The Shadow Blade in this area is a much needed boost for Cecil, but it suffers the same problems the Dark Sword does when it comes to undead.



TinyMages are pricks. They love to drain Rydia and Tellah's MP with Osmose and also cast Hold, Blizzard, and Fire.



We have to step outside to reach the last part of the Waterway. This is a great place to save and use a tent to recover your MP (damn TinyMages).



That's not quite true. We still have a ways to go.



The Hades gear is a nice boost in defense for Cecil.



Red Mousses are annoying because they take almost no physical or elemental damage. Fire messes them up good though.



In addition to the armor there's a Hermes' Shoes here as well. It's a one-shot Haste item in battle, which is really nice.



That's it? Not very impressive at all...



Oh.



The Octomammoth is a strange boss. All he does is hit with physical attacks, but the more you hurt it the weaker those attacks get (it loses tentacles as well). With Cecil's new gear and with Rydia and Tellah chucking Thunders at it, it goes down without much of a fight.



Just behind the dead beast is the exit.



Now all we have to do is go to Damcyan and-



-Damn.