Part 45: Episode XXXVIII: Respect My Authority
Brass de Chocobo
Riding the chocobo down the New Road is entirely optional but come on! Who doesn’t enjoy mounting a giant chicken and cruising at double speed with no random battles? I mean, it’s no Boar Drifting as far as animal transportation goes… but that is a rather high water mark to beat.
Shelinda seemingly teleports to the New Road if the party wins the battle against the Chocobo Eater. She is once more hanging out with Maechen. No history lessons this time.
It is a fairly short trip from Rin’s Travel Agency to the end of the Mi’ihen Highroad. At the north end of the highway we come upon a Crusaders checkpoint filled with several folks we’ve crossed paths with in the past. But we will get to that in a moment. It’s best to avoid going too far north or else one of the Crusaders will kick us off the chocobo like a jerk and we still need it for something.
If we hang a right and head southeast we’ll find ourselves on the Old Road path for losers and vagabonds. There is a reason to still venture down here even if it is optional this time around (namely getting that Mars Crest.)
It is quite hard to see unless you know what you’re looking for, but on the ground close to the exit of the Old Road is a lone chocobo feather. Examining it while mounting our feathery friend here results in…
Chocoparkour! Most every area with chocobos to be ridden also features a couple of hidden feathers. Which in turn lead to…
…free bonus goodies! In this case a lightning element sword for Auron and a blitzball with the Sensor ability for Wakka.
A bit south of where we met spoke with Lucile on the failure run is a Fortune Sphere which unlocks rare Luck nodes on the Sphere Grid. I probably ought to show off my progress on that thing one of these days soon…
In any case, that’s it for the Old Road adventures for now and forever. Now let’s see what’s shakin’ back at the Crusaders’ camp, ya?
"Sorry, ma'am! No exceptions!"
"You dare impede a summoner's pilgrimage?" "Sorry, ma'am! No exceptions!" *shakes head* "Useless!" "Sorry, ma'am! No exceptions!" “Is that all you can say?!” "Sorry, ma'am! No exceptions!" “…” “…” “…” "Sorry, ma'am! No exceptions!" “Grrr!”Tidus wanders over…
”SO YOU THINK YOU CAN RIDE THIS CHOCOBO?!” “As you can see, not even summoners can pass.” ”Got Chocobucks? You better put them on this chocobo!” “But they'll call on us in the end. Just wait and see.” ” Saddle up, if you think you can ride in this rodeo! “In the meantime, I think I'll have a nap.” “Are we in hell? I don't know... to the dirt, let's roll!” “Oh, Barthello?" The pair runs off to bang or whatever…
If we approach the north edge of the camp Clasko, the kid with the bowl cut riding with the other two Chocobo Knights earlier, will boot us off our chocobos. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted… Welp, let’s see if we can make our way through this checkpoint.
"This is the last of them."
"Good to have you with us. Go on through!"
Err… I don’t think that’s oversized chickens they’re transporting back there…
"Wait around. We'll have Sin beaten in no time!" *fist pumps in approval* <Those two are SO going to die. I kind of feel bad…>Luzzu, Gatta, and their carriage continue north…
There are a couple folks worth speaking with at the checkpoint. The Crusader closest to us will ask for donations. Each donation tier offers an item in exchange:
- 100 gil nets a Scout Ball… which we literally just got two minutes ago for free so meh on that.
- 1,000 gil can be donated in exchange for an Ice Lance. Yeah… no thanks.
- 10,000 gil can be offered to the operation as trade for a Moon Ring which provides SOS Nulblaze and SOS Nulfrost armor for Yuna. SOS equipment effects activate when the character’s HP drops to critical levels and in this case would protect against Ice and Fire magic. But we probably shouldn’t be getting Yuna rocked in the first place, especially by an enemy with elemental abilities and likely elemental weaknesses.
So that’s a big pass on the operation donation, bub. We’ve already sunk a grand into the only Cockney man on the planet’s money pit. No more handouts!
Unfortunately, the guy to the north will not let us pass no matter what. We can talk to him to learn about Operation Mi’ihen though…
“What they didn’t tell you? We're bringing sinspawn from all over Spira here. Sinspawn inevitably draw Sin, right? We're going to lure it into a trap!"…
…..
So let me get this straight… The Crusader’s plan is…
- Gather a bunch of boss monsters and sentient doom whale dandruff. Possibly poke them with sticks.
- Wait around in hopes Sin gets pissed and lumbers over.
- Shoot Sin, the creature that can level entire towns by just floating near it, with Al Bhed machina.
- <MYSTERY STEP! OR POSSIBLE NON-EXISTENT STEP>
- Kill Sin and become big damn heroes!
So is “Mi’ihen” an old Spira name meaning “Red Shirt” or am I just terrible pessimistic here…?
Oh well. It appears there is nothing to do but head back south and
Five seconds later…
Hey is that…? Why yes…! I could recognize that character design disaster from a mile off…
New Music: Permitted Transit
If it isn’t Maester Seymour with an entourage of a hunchback and incredibly sinister sounding music.
"Y-Yes?"
"You look troubled. Is there anything I can do?"Yuna looks toward the checkpoint…
"Well..." "I see."Seymour waltzes up to the checkpoint with his posse…
"Hold. I have a request." "Yes, Your Grace?"
“I need to have Summoner Yuna and her guardians let through to the command center." "But, Maester Seymour, sir." "Do not worry. I will take full responsibility."
Come on, guy? How could you say no to a face like that? You know, without fear of being set on fire if you refused.
And thus having finished doing the party a solid, Seymour departs. That was nice of him.
"Oh! Right!"Yuna and Lulu continue north…
”Pfft. Being all helpful and crap. Who’s he trying to impress?”
"He's a maester. Better get used to it, ya?"
Well folks, that’s a wrap for the Mi’ihen Highroad! Onward to… another road!
Episode 38 Highlight Reel
New Road Bridge Concept Art
Mi’ihen Highroad North End Concept Art