Part 41

After forty updates, we have reached a new continent!



The Mist Continent is by far the largest and most densely populated, but the Outer Continent has quite a few things to it as well. Also, those left two continents look like a wyvern and a flaming horse to me.



First thing you'll notice upon arriving is some weird structure perched upon a bridge. We'll get there soon enough.



Along here you'll find Griffins from the last dungeon and Zanghols like the one we fought at the Hunter's Festival. There are two other enemies around here but I never seemed to run into them, only Griffins and Zanghols. Considering the other two have Blue Magic, it's quite frustrating and it'll be a couple updates before I finally get the damn things.





Also on this continent, a Qu Marsh. This one isn't quite as extensive as the one on the Mist Continent, though the moogle brothers managed to find their way here somehow.



On your way here, you saw a flat building shaped like a bridge, right? Try going there first.



Anyway, this place is relevant because we can catch frogs here.



It's harder to traverse and thus catch frogs (trying to leave a gold/male/female meant I ended up chasing the last sole frog for maybe 5-10 minutes, joy), but I catch a few to bump up my total.



There's also chocobo tracks here, so we can summon our buddy to dig up some more chocographs!



Except right now there's only one new one we can reach.





Not a bad haul, but not an exciting one either. 9 Phoenix Pinions, 5 Phoenix Downs, 12 Peridots, and Diamond Gloves. The last one is nice since it nullifies water damage and teaches Steiner and Freya both Counter and Ability Up, but it'll also be quite awhile before we'll get either one again.



A whopping once I do run into a Goblin Mage. It's a goblin that casts magic, and if eaten teaches the kinda-useless Goblin Punch.



For once, Matra Magic actually works!



Then I forgot I had Mug and accidentally kill it. WELP.



There's a bit more to do, but we'll get to that later. For now, let's check this place out.







Yeah, and what a weird-shaped...village? What is that thing?
Maybe it's a temple of some kind.
Is very delicious shape. Inside might have fine cuisine!



Geez... All s/he ever thinks about is food.











Uh, you think?



Meet the dwarves. In the early games, dwarves were a major staple race. They had remote caves in 1 and 3, the latter race protecting the Fire Crystal (and the former one possessing fucking dynamite). They're at their highest in FF4, where they're the dominant race of the underground and hold a pretty large role in the plot (and you even have one playable in The After Years). They've diminished in 5 where there's only five or so hanging out underground, and after that they completely disappear from the franchise except for this game and Dimensions.

Rally-ho is their properly-translated greeting cry. It was Lali-Ho in the English versions of FF4 as part of that game's rather poor translation, but Rally-ho makes more sense as a dwarven cry.



Wh-What's up with these little guys?









Oh, come on...
Rally-ho's oor sacred greetin'!



...So you may have noticed that the localization choice for the dwarven dialect is to raise the "Scottish dialect" dial to 11. It's going to be an utter joy transcribing this.



...





I love how utterly miserable Zidane is about saying a word. Too concerned about his image and all.



Anyway, we've got some ATE's we can go through now, so let's start with Vivi.







Ye're always loiterin' aroon'!
Wheesht! Would ye stop hecklin' me fer once!
Away wi' ye!



Where would ye be wi'oot me!?
Y-Ye dinnae have tae get sae angry...
If ye didnae want tae hear ma complainin', ye'd get back tae work!





Mercy me! Are nae ye a wee one... Runnin' errands here, are ye?
Um, pardon me, but...





Others?





We came to this continent looking for someone...
We dinnae get many ootsiders here!

Keep an eye on the names. They're all rather common first names combined with occupational last names. As has been demonstrated many times, FF9 goes all-out with its flavor.

That's all the NPCs in this room. On to the next and thus the next ATE.





This village have tasty munchies?
Aye, that we do! Condie Petie is hame tae the most delicious nuts an' berries in the warld! Ah ken that's why folk're always stealin' oor food!
How rude! Thieves very bad people.
Aye! That's right!

Transcribing dialogue between Quina and a dwarf is going to give me an aneurysm. Also, that "Condie" part is actually in the script, but I can't really fault the localization team for missing a mistake in the middle of this dialogue.



Ah'll let ye have that pumpkin bomb there fer 1000 Gil!
Huh? Why you need Gil to eat food?
If ye dinnae pay fer somethin', ye're stealin'!



N-Not me! I only gourmand!
Ye cannae fool me, thief!



Color me surprised that there'd be a communication breakdown between a Qu and a dwarf.



How come you built your village on this spot?
'Cause we feel the mountains, the woods, an' the sun here mair than anywhere else! See, Conde Petie is suroonded by the mountains, nearhaun the woods, an' blessed by the sun!





It's so hard to choose, but I gotta pick seasoned oglop.

Aye, that's great! But ye have tae go tae the Moontain Path fer that!



Next, Dagger gets to experience the joys of talking with dwarves.





Well, what's wrong wi' this ootsider lass right here?









Hmm... Sanctuary...

At least Dagger has alternatives now if things with Zidane don't work out. I'd love to see a dwarf as heir King of Alexandria.







Wendy Grocer sells basic items. Nothing exciting.



Another moogle letter as well.







Nothing new weapon-wise besides those Poison Knuckles that nobody can equip (yes, we are finally going to meet the last two playable characters soon), but there's some new armor. For the mages, there's the Magic Armlet to boost Magic and teach Clear-Headed and Silence as well as the Magician Cloak to boost ice damage and teach Insomniac and MP +10%. There's also the Ritual Hat, which teaches Bright Eyes, Counter, and Undead Killer.





Otherwise, we're kinda restricted on where we can go. Might as well admire the...what is this?



An' afterward we'll go tae the Sanctuary tae enscribe oor names together!



O' course, we're a wee bit young tae receive the blessin' just yet.





Mods change my name to Kelley Fingerwaver



Um... These two people-



What way did ye cook it? Did ye frizzle it wi' some o' yer mejick?
The berries ye traded me were astoondin', too! But likesay, what's a wee lad like ye doin' here the day?



How could I? I've never been here before.
Yeah, I didn't think so.
I'll try talking to some other people.

With that, let's check out one more ATE.





But ye just ate a boiled owl, did ye no?
Ah did, but it didnae satisfy me voracious appetite! Ah have tae eat somethin' wi' more punch, likesay... Eh?





Rally-ho! What have ye tae sell today!?

Hmmmm...



Hi. Have you seen a strange-looking guy here? He goes by the name of Kuja...



No... You see, uh, he looks really sinister, and uh...



...

So much for that! Talk again, though...

Someday, Ah want tae travel the warld together wi' ma duggy!



This place is an inn if we need it.











Wise words from Barbara Gibgab.

...Mods, change my name to Barbara Gibgab.

Anyway, that's it with NPCs. To continue the plot, we need to go back to Wendy Grocer the Grocer.



Plenty thanks. Yir goods are always welcome here.









Zidane, what's going on?
I have no idea... But we gotta catch up with Vivi!



He ran away.
Huh. Where the heck did he come from? Has Brahne found us?



Huh? Did you just say Pointy-Hats!?
Nay, Ah said Pyntie-Hets! They often come from the Sootheast Forest tae trade wi' us.
They!? You mean there's lots of them? And...they live near here?
Aye! But ye gots tae go all the way aroon' yon cliff an' then go east tae find the Sootheast Forest!



What's that supposed to mean?



Yeah, me too.
I think it's a good idea. We might find some clues.
If possible to try new food, anywhere fine.





We can just ride our chocobo all the way there, but there's an encounter I want to trigger there. Well, several encounters really, but I have no luck with those other two monsters and I can always do Ragtime Mouse later.





Ladybug is the next monster in the Friendly Monsters quest chain.



Like the others, she likes Ore.





But she's a little greedy and wants two of them. Fine with me.



And with that, we get 20AP and an Ether.



Next time, we get to one of my favorite parts of the game.