Part 45: Von Muir p. 92-95: "Chapter 12: Edward and the Trial of the Unsent Dead"
Von Muir p. 92-95: "Chapter 12: Edward and the Trial of the Unsent Dead"
Zalera is the Esper of Death, associated with the sign of Gemini. Made to sort the righteous from the wicked upon their demise, he heard one too many of the souls he judged unworthy profane the gods for their unfairness. Like Mateus, Zalera took a servant of the gods for his own, but, rather than holding a goddess before him as a shield, he instead chose a mortal shamaness and fixed her to his side, working on her until her blackened heart was the match of his. Forever bound now in partnership, they share both their power and their desire to bring the equality of death to all things.
Perhaps the shamaness, in her mortality, affected Zalera's mind as well and granted him impatience -- he must be defeated within five minutes, or the party is teleported from the boss chamber. This is not a Game Over (not that it would matter much, with a Save Point in the very next room) but instead plays a short scene. This scene is easy to miss, as it requires neither beating Zalera nor losing the battle.
Click for multimedia contentZalera is the final Esper that only costs one Mist Charge to summon, and provides about the same amount of power to the party as the others. Vaan can become proficient with the Blood Sword and Blood Sword A, while Basch can unlock Ether Lore 3 to make Ethers more effective.
Writing Assignment 7 Choose a summoner for Zalera and, in 100 words or less, explain why that character is the most appropriate choice. Tag spoilers and show your work. Remember that this is an essay contest, not a popular vote!
Writing Assignment 7 due! Once again, this was a pretty tough decision, but I give it to xSanguine8 for demonstrating having paid attention to the lecture and not just having read the reading assignments. When they first find the Dawn Shard, both Ashe and Vaan are haunted by visions of the dead, beckoning to them. For Ashe, it was Rasler, but for Vaan, it may have been his brother Reks. I asked at the time what made them different from the rest of the party, and I happen to believe that it is a drive for vengeance -- those two, much more so than the others, had a seed of wrath that called to the stone's power, something that would wield that power to lay waste to those who wronged them. But since then, Vaan has accepted the hand of friendship that Larsa extended, and seen him suffer the loss of his own family. His heart has softened to the humanity of those he once hated, and he has turned from being a willing engine of death. Such a person will make a fine keeper for Zalera.
xSangiune8 posted:
Zalera, esper of Death. Once judge of the dead, summoner of the Dead, and bringer of Death to many, Zalera should go to one who is acquainted with his dark work, yet has the ability to resist the corruption that having Death at one's fingertips inevitably has.
In this case, Zalera should go to Vaan. Vaan is well acquainted with Death, having lost his parents to disease and his dear brother to treachery. Yet despite having long walked in the shadow of the deaths of his family, Vaan has nonetheless risen above his desire to unleash death upon his enemies, having forgiven Basch and forsaken the path to power for revenge's sake as seen by his loss of visions of his brother.