Part 32: Gerad, Master of Deceit
Chapter 32: Gerad, Master of Deceit
This is Mantra, Sabin's fifth Blitz. Along with eliminating a few basic status ailments like poison and mute, it also divides an amount of healing equal to Sabin's health among the other members of the party. Naturally, that means that once we get some new folks, its usefulness will tank quickly.
You can also confuse Sabin just before he uses it to heal the enemy party, and for some reason, if there's only one enemy on the field, it gets healed a ridiculous amount. I've read that it's possible to damage enemies using this trick, but I've never been able to pull it off.
So Mobliz. You might recall from the gossip in Tzen that it's the place that got nuked by the Light of Judgment.
Place certainly looks the part. This kid who sees us runs back inside, so naturally we have to follow him.
We really don't have time for this.
: Wait!
Boy Mama! Are these your friends!?
: Oh! I'm so glad to see that you're safe! I've missed you!
: Terra... come on, let's go! Unless we stop Kefka, all's lost...: I...Terra runs back into the room she walked in from. We could follow her, but there's some info to be had from poking around.
Too bad about that soldier. I hope that Lola's taking it well.
Duane and Katarin are also here. You might recall that they're the sixteen-year olds who were staring at one another back when we first arrived in Mobliz. If a year has passed, that means that they'd be seventeen or eighteen. Just keep that in the back of your mind for later.
: The very day the world fell, Kefka turned some kind of beam on this town. Almost all of the adults perished trying to save their children...Now, in most narratives, you'd think that this explanation would be enough, but apparently Squaresoft thought that a person outright saying that the parents died wouldn't be enough, so they included a flashback to...Wait, how could Terra be flashing back to this?
Regardless, all it shows is that the parents did indeed, unquestionably, with 100% assurance, die. Was this flashback really necessary?
: There were only children here... The moment I arrived, I felt needed...
Katarin: Duane... Please excuse him. It's just that if Terra goes, she takes with her the very spirit of our survival...
: I don't know why these kids need me... But they've made me feel things I've never felt before. The moment I sensed this, I lost my will to fight. I can honestly say I don't know what's going on inside of me... And the more I try to understand it, the less inclined I am to fight.Jeez, Terra's still on her "feelings" kick, I see. Fortunately, a kid runs in to break up the pity party.
He's also completely invincible against Terra's attacks for some reason. That's because she's supposed to lose this fight. Even if you Vanish-Doom him, the game will still act like she lost horribly.
Fortunately, his invincibility wears off for the rematch.
If you're wearing a Wall Ring, Phunbaba's going to be a pushover. All he does is Bolts 2 and 3, with the occasional Blowfish for variety. He's also weak against poison, so Bio works wonders against him. After a bit of fighting, he'll run off for another day.
Boy: Mama! Are you okay!?
: I'm staying here. As you can see, I can't be of any help to you. And besides, the children really need me.: But Terra...!: Maybe after a little more time passes... I need to understand what's happening to me...Yeah, unlike most of the characters who rejoin the party, Terra's going to require a return visit.
Oh well, at least we get the Esper Fenrir out of the deal.
Fenrir gives everyone in the party the Image status, which makes them invincible against physical attacks, but has a 1/4 chance of vanishing after every attempted hit. So...basically worse than Phantom, only with a significantly higher MP cost. Swell.
Warp: x10
X-Zone: x5
Stop: x3
Level Up Bonus: MP +30%
If an Esper has a stat bonus in the latter half of the game (and many of them don't) then it'll generally be something quite good, and Fenrir is no exception. X-Zone is a fairly unique spell, and I'll show you why.
Yeah, just tearing open a hole into the Void. No big deal.
X-Zone works similarly to Doom in that it defeats enemies instantly and can be used with Vanish to cheese bosses as well. The difference with X-Zone though is that it bypasses certain important triggers like, say, treasures. There's an enemy later on that coughs up an Esper, and if we kill it with X-Zone, we'll miss out on that Esper forever. Not like I was planning on cheesing bosses anyway, but it's something for you guys to be aware of.
As we walk to Nikeah, we pass by that tower that those wacky Kefka Fan Club folks made. Obviously, the mountains block us from actually checking it out, but once we get our flying machine for this world (SPOILERS) we'll be able to give it a look.
All things considered, Nikeah still looks quite pristine. They didn't even put the dust filter over it.
There is no relation whatsoever with the fact that the only characters who can equip a sword called the Enhancer are the playboy and the two older women.
It is, however, a very good weapon for protecting yourself from magical discharges. Never leave home without one.
Anyway, enough creepiness, it's time for some town gossip.
Man: When I would try to sleep there, demons would come for me...Oh, I don't want to remember that.
So Doma Castle's haunted now, eh? I guess you can't have mass death in a magical world without evil spirits coming to town.
Oh, Nintendo. Next you'll be telling me that they're ordering big frothing mugs of water.
From chatting up the disreputable fellows in this
Naturally, the game only has the man himself appear in town once you talk to every single thief in the
Gerad: What's your problem?
: Y...You're Edgar, aren't you!?He walks off at this point, so we follow him.
: Edgar?Gerad: Enough of this nonsense. I have things to do! I'll be busy getting ready for our departure to Figaro.
: Don't play possum with me, Edgar! Or have you somehow lost your memory?Gerad: Listen. my lady, I've been "Gerad" all my life!
: Only Edgar would say "my lady".
Smooth moves, Eddie. Naturally, if you named Edgar something silly like "Tim," this whole sequence won't make a lick of sense.
Henchman: G'ho ho, do we ever!
Gerad: Yeah, you lead the way since it's buried.
What the thieves and Gerad don't know is that they're taking on extra cargo. And somehow a lady in a white cape doesn't get noticed on the entire voyage there. Where's "there," you may ask?
Why, South Figaro, of course.
South Figaro is a nice change of pace from the standard "quaking in fear of Kefka" mindset that everyone else has got themselves in. Too bad we don't have time to chat, because the thieves are down at the local
Anyway...
: Be polite now, Edgar!Henchman: Boss, everything's ready. Let's go!
Gerad: Case of mistaken identity, my dear. Give it up!
In other news, the rich man's daughter is still giving out cryptic hints and pretending she didn't mean to say them. That girl knows more than she's letting on.
Also, it turns out that reports of Duncan's death were grossly exaggerated. Makes you wonder how Vargas thought he'd gotten rid of him, but knowing the characters in this game, it probably involved throwing him off of a cliff.
And by "monsters" SigFreud here means "treasures," because there sure is no shortage of monsters in Figaro Cave.
Music: The Mystic Forest
Anyway, you've seen Figaro Cave before, so let's just cut to the part that matters.
Henchman: Presto!
Gerad: Good job! I used to have a turtle...!
Apparently the turtle doubles as a mobile platform. The characters could have theoretically just gotten a little wet, but as we'll see later, it's common practice in this world to use turtles for crossing bodies of water, so perhaps nobody knows how to swim.
Well, if the thieves, Gerad, and that weirdo can do it, so can we.
What a guy.
What are the odds that the tunnel would actually lead into Figaro Castle? There's absolutely nothing else in there.
Everyone's either unconscious or in shock about something, but we can't get any information out of them. All we can do is take those stairs to the left down to...
Music: The Returners
More castle. Huh. This is apparently Figaro Castle's inner workings.
In addition to a Gravity Rod and some generic goodies, there's also this special hat for Sabin and Edgar, just on the off-chance that the fellow we're chasing happens to be him.
While we were roaming through the place, Sabin learned his next Blitz: Air Blade. It's significantly more powerful than Fire Dance, and since it's Wind-elemental, flying enemies are going to just die to it. It also requires a 270 degree turn to activate, starting from the top and swiveling around to the left.
Yes, apparently the problem with Figaro Castle is that weird yellow tentacles are gumming up the works. Splendid.
Henchman: Boss! What're we gonna do? Our treasure's stored in the room back there!
Gerad: You guys get in there while I keep this thing busy!
Henchman: But boss! That's dangerous!
Gerad: Get going!
: What're ya waiting for, Celes? Give me a hand!!: Edgar! It IS you!Music: The Decisive Battle
The game optimizes Edgar's gear for this battle, so no need to equip him.
These tentacles are actually quite pathetic, the strongest of them only having 7000 HP. One of them doesn't even have instant death immunity, and I kill it in the first few seconds of battle with a lucky strike from Edgar's Chainsaw.
The gimmick of the Tentacles fight is that they'll inflict Slow on party members...
And then pick up any party member with Slow status, slowly draining their HP and MP before letting them go in a short while. Unlike a certain annoying boss in a different Final Fantasy game immediately following this one, the game is not over if the entire party is snagged, and if the party has Slow protection due to wearing RunningShoes, then the entire gimmick fizzles.
This is just sad, really.
: Well, I heard that Figaro had had an accident. I wanted to help, but didn't know where to look. Then I heard that those idiots had escaped from the prison.: You needed to use them...: Bingo. I had to wait until they led me to their secret cave.: Amazing, considering that you threw most of 'em in jail to begin with!
: Don't treat us like strangers anymore!Suddenly, there's a noise coming from the room that Edgar threw his minions into.
: Uh, oh...! Let's hide!
Henchman: Must have been eaten by that thing...It wasn't even much of a monster... Well, let's go...
: You don't want that treasure back...?: It's completely worthless. Besides, Kefka's the one we need to worry about. Those guys haven't committed any serious crimes...: Then come on, let's go...: There's only one little problem, eh, brother!And Edgar has now rejoined the party. In addition, if we search the room those criminals just looted, we get an additional reward.
A more powerful Rune Edge that we're never going to use. Ain't that swell?
Next Time: We go graverobbing in order to get a new ride.