Part 38: The Adventure Continues

Update 38: The Adventure Continues

In This Update:
- Recruitment!
- Wells!
- Voting!

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Welcome back.

I promised at the beginning of the LP to do every single mission in the game. With the main story finished, that's now the focus of this LP. We're a little more than halfway through the game with about 140 quests left.

Beating the last story mission doesn't unlock much -- there's not really a post-game to speak of. A bunch of quests become available and we can recruit a couple unique characters. That's really it.


We pick up from where we last saved: right outside the last battle.


Maybe we'll come back here some time. For now, back to Ivalice!


Lezaford's cabin now serves as the portal to Jagd Zellea. This means if you want to use his cabin as a time skip, you have to travel to Zellea and warp back first. It's very annoying.


Waiting for us in the pub is a bunch of new quests, such as the final Cinquleur battle. It's up to YOU to choose which quests we'll do next! Check the end of the update for voting info.


Let's unlock the first bonus character!


Back in update 27, a fellow named Al-Cid Margrace provided some useful information to Vaan and Penelo. After recruiting the sky pirates, this quest became available. I completed it then, but it didn't make sense to show it until now.


Samuel and Adelle walk into Aisenfield, where they run into Al-Cid himself.



: Such a vulgar word from one so young. I would ask you: what is a flower that has never basked in the sun? I could not leave such beauty to wither and die.

: Well, I don't know about basking and withering, but if you're who we're after, that's all I need to know.

: As you say. If it a duel you've come for, I would not want you to leave... unsatisfied.

: Whoa, not so fast! There must be some other way to settle this!

: What man would not gladly lay down his life for the woman he loved? No man of House Margrace, I can assure you.


Al-Cid really has a flowery way of speaking, doesn't he.


Oh look, the entire enemy team is viera except for Al-Cid himself.


The clan's average level is somewhere in the mid-30s, and we have a single target to face. And this is somehow a level 62 quest.


I'm even sending Imino to raid the large treasure chest by himself instead of fighting Al-Cid.


Meanwhile, Adelle and Zoe assault Al-Cid.


Al-Cid's allies aren't particularly threatening. They're surprisingly slow.


Of course, they do have some good attacks.


By the time Al-Cid takes his first turn, he's already down to about a third of his health.

"Impassion" inflicts Berserk and raises the target's critical hit chance. Which seems kind of counter-productive, honestly.


Imino finally reaches the treasure chest.


Just in time for Adelle and Zoe to finish off Al-Cid.


And that's that.



---



: I will entreat Marnot to reconsider. I'll tell him I took his invitation to dinner as that, and no more. Had I thought he meant more, I would never have accepted.



: She's an odd one. One chocobo short of a flock, if you ask me.

: A flower is at its most beautiful growing in the wild. Pick it, and its beauty soon fades.


Al-Cid and his manservant walk off.



---


Eternally yours,
A.M.

This letter is waiting for us after completing A Dashing Duel and beating the game. It should be obvious who sent it.


None other than Al-Cid himself, of course.

: Al-Cid!

: Whoa! Him again!



: How is it that, even left untended for months, you grow into such an enchanting bloom?

I thought wild flowers were the most beautiful, Al-Cid?

: Al-Cid. Your tongue is as skilled as ever, I see.

: It does not require skill to speak the truth.

: So, what's up? You've come a long way just to chat up my partner.

: Truth be told, I desired respite from my affairs. A diversion, shall we say. Work has been most demanding of late. Normally, I sleep like a babe, but they barely give me time to close my eyes! And then came this sky pirate, demanding I do some "research" for him.

: Oh...

: So I do it. But when I go to the appointed place, at the appointed time... he is nowhere to be found! So, we do not meet. Having no recourse, I ask another to carry my report to him.

: I'm sorry we weren't able to send word... Vaan, say something!



: But... thanks. You really came through for us, Al-Cid.

: Ah, then I was of some use after all. This is good to hear.

: So, we've been spending our free time with these Clan Sawyer folks. It's been good, hasn't it, Penelo. We've learned a lot from them.

: You don't say.

: Hey, we're glad to have the company. Huh, Cid?

: Hmph.

: I believe we have not yet met. Al-Cid Margrace, at your service.



: Samuel has told me much about you.

: I am pleased to see you getting along so famously with my pirate friends. My struggles to bring you together were not in vain, it seems.

: ...Struggles?

: No, no thanks, please. I merely performed that which was required of me.

: Um... wait, what?

: Please! Not another word! Yet, if you find that you cannot rest until you have repaid me in some small way, I will understand. Perhaps you would even take the time to listen to my trifling little problem.

: ...



: In fact, should present trends continue, things could get quite... ugly. I thought to make myself scarce a while and allow the world to order itself anew. But I could not find a suitable place to do so.

: Wait... You aren't-



: Join our... What!? You want to... You mean... Um, Cid?

: Sorry, but our clan isn't exactly set up to receive gentlemen of leisure.

: Again, no cause for concern! I have no intention of being a powdered guest in your halls, sir. If there is need, I would be happy to lend my considerable talents at marksmanship.

: I won't have you injuring yourself on my watch.

Remember what Cid said when Samuel joined the clan? He's a big softie, really.

: Death...this would be a problem. But I am no stranger to cuts and bruises. And you do have a judge amongst your ranks, yes?

: ...Fine. I don't care what "disorder" you're running from, we'll take you in.

: Cid!?

: You're letting him join? Are you sure? This is Al-Cid we're talking about!

: I think Cid knows exactly who he's dealing with, somehow.

: Ahh... This is a relief. My quest for sanctuary was longer than I expected.

: What about your...escort?

: A little too conspicuous, wouldn't you agree?


After a brief discussion, the manservant leaves.

: True, it has been many years since I traveled alone. Yet, I think I shall find the experience...refreshing.

: Never thought I'd be rubbing shoulders with a Margrace, that's for sure.

: Margrace... Adelle mentioned them too. Who are they?

: House Margrace, rulers of a mighty land off east called Rozarria. Royalty, kid, to put it plainly.

: Royalty? Really? What, so he's some kind of prince!? Him? No way!

: Only one among many, I assure you.

: Well, at least that explains the attitude. Huh. How come now I know you're a prince, you don't seem so annoying?

: That, my friend, is a mystery. Yet the more of me you see, I think, the more highly you will regard this diamond in the rough. And we will be seeing much of each other!

: ...

: We are brothers now, after all, yes?

---


Al-Cid Margrace is the worst recruitable character in the game.


His stats aren't terrible, maybe a little below the clan's average. His unique job is Agent, a gun-wielding smooth talker that basically makes him Ivalice's James Bond.


We'll go into detail about just how lackluster Agent is in an upcoming Job Roundup. The short version: almost every ability targets females only and there are no no R- or P-Abilities. But that's only part of why Al-Cid is so bad.


You see, Al-Cid cannot change jobs. He is stuck as an Agent for the entire game. He will never have any R-Abilities or P-Abilities, and he cannot use any A-Abilities besides Reconnaissance and Items.

And he's a hume, the most versatile race in the game. Guns are one-handed weapons, and I think Al-Cid would be able to dual wield them. But no, he's stuck as an Agent.

---

There's one quest I want to get out of the way before tackling more side quests.


Odd Places is another one of those quests that unlocks more areas.


There's between 1 and 3 wells on the map, in four possible locations.


"Wells" is misleading, we can only examine one each time.




There's four groups of enemies, one for each well. (The fourth well can appear near the treasure chest to the south.)


Indeed they do not!

: That well looks suspicious... Let's check it out.




We're going to ignore the monster for the most part. The quest ends as soon as you examine one of the wells.


See?



---



: Okay. So the well was connected to this place. Those monsters don't seem too hungry... Let's take a look around.


The well teleported us to Goug!


Odd Places unlocks a few more quests, such as this one. "Firewyrm Mount" is the location the well took us to.

---


Odd Places only shows up during Silversun -- the quest description mentions strange rumors crop up "around this time of year." This means we have to take a year-long nap in order to repeat the quest.


It's random which wells appear. You're wasting your time if you investigate the same well, so take note of which ones you've checked already.


Otherwise, the enemies and the law are the same.


I guess we'll go around counter-clockwise.

: Hrah... next well. Wonder where this one leads...

---



: Hrmm. So the well was connected to this place. Those monsters don't seem to pose much of a threat. Let's have a look around...


This time we came out in the Sant D'alsa Bluff!

---


Odd Places is rank 39, which means it's great for leveling the clan. A lot of them are still level 41, and the few who battled Illua reached level 42 - 43.


Same laws, same dialogue, etc.


That was cathartic!


Here's Al-Cid's Escort ability. It's just like the Paladin's Cover, except it only works on female units.


It lets me vent some of my frustration on Al-Cid.


Only one more well left after this.


Did you notice we're visiting only volcanoes? I wonder if we'll see an explanation for that some time.


We were actually in the Neslowe Passage, the series of caves that give this part of the map its name.


Hell no!

---


Last one.


There's really not much to say at this point.



: Okay. So the well was connected to this place. These monsters don't seem too hungry... Let's take a look around.

Yup. No unique dialogue.


The last well took us to Kthili Sands, an area we've rarely visited.

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With that out of the way, let's talk about future updates.

There's a bunch of side quest chains left to do. Most of them are pretty short, maybe three or four quests, though a few are pretty long. The majority of the remaining quests are one-shots that don't connect to anything. Future updates will either feature one long quest line or two small quest lines, with one-shots as filler if needed.

I want YOU to choose what quests we tackle first! At the end of each update, I'll post a few options for the next update. There will be a mix of long and short quest lines to choose from.

Vote for ONE LONG QUEST or TWO SHORT QUESTS! As usual, put your choices in bold.

Today's options are:

Long:

1. Visit the Witch of the Fens.
2. Enter into the Ivalice Tournament Circuit.

Short:

3. Annoy Prima Donna some more.
4. Have a Showdown with Clan Bowen.
5. Help someone bake a cake.

Thanks for reading! Voting will be open for a day or two.