Part 153: Return to Zil Padon

Welcome back!

Last time, we took at trip down to a place filled with horrifying tentacle monsters in order to make an old man hornier so we can get info on how to get to the local ancient priestess's house.

Look, it may be hidden behind "storage for knowledge" and "Ancient city that tells us how to unfuck the world" but, y'know.



: Talk about loony. Hold on Pops, just wait a bit and we'll have you back to normal.

: OK Milda, this is all we need to get the information from him, right?

: Of course! Here, all we need to do is put them here on...



: these bumps and... THERE we go!



: Hey... Pops... are you REALLY, REALLY all right?

: Master Dorlin! We have so many questions. Look at this!

: The key to the Portal of Angelou spoken of in the Words of Yore! One step closer to Mistress Liete...!

: So it's true! This IS the key to Alent!



: What?! Is Zil Padon a Shrine?

: Yes. According to the Words of Yore, Alent was the Shrine of Knowledge, and Zil Padon the Shrine of Wisdom. Both floating shrines, and both possessing the key to the other, entrusted to those who were worthy. The three eyes on the Shrine door in the middle of Zil Padon judge the worth of the entrant. The Mogay, the oldest people on the ground, are said to possess the Medal of Knowledge. This is also the key to Alent.

: Wait, so instead of the key to Alent, I have the key to unlock the door to the place that has the key to Alent?

: Was Angelou ruled by the Umbrella corporation?

: The Mogay...? Guido? With the rabbit ears...?

: The Mogay are a most ancient people, said to have descended with the Shrine of Zil Padon in the age of Angelou. The Mogay control the Shrine of Zil Padon and will open the door only if you prove worthy. To go to Alent, go first to Zil Padon and obtain the Medal of Knowledge, the key to Alent. Throw it into the Rainbow Spring and the long-closed door to Alent will open once again.

: With you so far.



: Then I will finally... FINALLY... have obtained the image of Mistress Liete with my OWN HANDS!!

: Your own hands...? This guy's dangerous.

Yeah, I'm with Rapp on this one. Let's ditch this guy and never look back.



: That's right. Thanks to you and everyone else, Milda!

: Justin boy... 'fraid this is good-bye.

: What!? But... why?

: Because you beat me in a fight once. I ain't lettin' y'all do that again!

: Naah, just teasin'. I know I'm real beholden' to y'all but...

: I just can't leave my Darlin'. ♥

: Poor ol' Darlin didn't eat a thing while I was away. Now he's skinny as a board.

: Waita minute... you call THAT skinny?

: I see... well, that's too bad. Guess it can't be helped.

: Milda, thanks for everything! Give our best to Darlin too!

: Justin boy... y'all might be havin' a hard time, and feel like givin' up, but don't, OK? Don't y'all DARE give up now!

: Feena girl, Rapp boy... you keep 'a goin' now, y'hear?

: Milda, yer all right.

: Milda, give our best to Darlin.

: I'll be here in the village, so y'all don't be strangers!

: Take care, y'all.

And just like that, Milda's time with the group is over. Like Sue and Gadwin before her, she leaves behind her XP and equipment in the Stashing Place.

But we'll get to that later.



: But there's no temple in the middle of Town. That's a fountain there......

: I get it! The fountain is the entrance!

: Whoa! For you, that's pretty good thinking, Juss!

: We have to put a medal in a fountain to get another key to get to where we're going? Okay, now I'm convinced that Umbrella ran ancient Angelou.

: I wonder if you hit it. Let's check it out right away.



: If we fit the medal in there, it will work. Good.

: Wait a minute, Justin! If we open the door now, the water will flow in!

: If so, there's only three of us to drink it off. If Juss and I do half each....

: That's not right!

: Look, Dorlin didn't say that. We need the cooperation of the Mogay.

: That's right. He said that if we are not recognized by the Mogay, the door won't be opened.

: But the only Mogay we know is Guido.





Dammit, none of the other Mogay we've talked to in town had that accent. Much like with Guido, I'll be de-Marioing her text.

: Just like the Elder said, a very cute red-haired one. Well, my grandmother, she had a bit of that! But he's got bushy red hair.

: How did you know that I have the Spirit Stone? That's....

: Tee hee, excuse me! I've been talking silly again. It's a bad habit. I am Gina. The Elder, he said that he's been looking for you.

: The Mogay Elder has?

: Justin, perhaps....

: Ah, if he recognizes us, maybe he'll open the door! Say, Gina! Would you take us to meet the Mogay Elder? Would you, please?!

: Of course! That's what the Elder, he intended when he sent me. The Elder's house is a cellar where the Mogay live. When you meet the Elder, he will surely be surprised. Oooo. ♥

And here's Gina's gimmick. I don't recall it being too annoying, but usually I'm not paying attention to any of the text by the time I get to this point of the game.

Anyway. To the Mogay Elder!



His house is in the center of the Mogay section. You can tell he's important because he has a carrot patch right outside his door.



Oh, hey Guido. Fancy meeting you here.

: Oh. It's been a long time. The Brave Couple! You came to me, just like you promised!

: This is a humble house to meet people invited to Angelou. Well, please stay a while.

: Guido, you really did know everything. Did you foresee about Laine too?

: A merchant, he lives by information. And the Three Wise Men of Laine?

: That was very heavy! Thanks to a monster called Gaia, people and the forest were turned to stone.

: The only way to return those people to normal is to go to Alent.



: Please, Guido! Take us to meet the Mogay Elder! They told us in Laine that the key to Alent is in the underground temple of Zil Padon.

: In order to open the door of the temple, you must be approved by the Mogay. I really want to go to Alent!

: I understand, Justin. However, one thing before that. I want you to answer my question.

: Why do you want to go to Alent?



Unusually for this game, this choice only has one right answer. The other two just make Guido ask you again. Naturally, we'll be fucking it up before advancing properly.

: I want to meet Liete.

: If you meet this Liete, what do you intend to do? Will your travels end there?

: So far, you have always traveled. Is that truly the only thought born inside you?

: No, it's just that....

: Can't you answer? Ah, no sense in meeting the Elder.

: To solve the mysteries of Angelou.

: Why you want to solve the puzzle of the ancient civilization? Shouldn't that be over and done?

: So far, you have always traveled. Is that truly the only thought born inside you?

: No, it's just that....

: Can't you answer? Then, there's no sense in meeting the Elder.

: I want to protect the world we live in.

: Which involves dealing with the crazy monster that took down the Angelou civilization, so I need to know about what spawned it, which involves talking to Liete!

: What is it?

: When I started traveling, I just wanted to try going. That was it.

: But now it's different! I want to go to Alent to protect this world!

: Protect the world? You're neither a Spirit nor an Icarian, how could you do that?

: Well....

: Oh yeah! By stabbing evil monsters!

: Congratulations, Justin. The Mogay Elder approves of you. You are the proper person to go to Alent.

: Huh? The Elder?

: What!? Could it be that Guido is the Elder!?



: Then let's go! To the underground temple of Zil Padon to look for the key to Alent.

: Guido....



: We enter the temple with this. The "barrier water" has been removed.

: Thank you, Guido! Great. I can see Alent! Well, to the underground temple, everyone!

And Guido has joined the party!

Before we go to the dungeon, though, there's something to pick up in Mogay House 1.



And we get a Blue Pill. Not quite as good as Blue Potion, but any free MP restore is good by me.



: There's a board with three holes in it. If you fit the medal in the middle, the door to the underground temple, she will open. We have no idea what lies ahead either. We've been too cautious to go in.

: Well then, we have better prepare ourselves.

Once we enter the dungeon, we won't be able to leave.

: Well, let's go back and get ready!

: That's right, no one knows what will happen.

Right. Before we get going, let's take a look at our new party member.



He can use the same weapon groups as Rapp, and can use bows in addition to throwing weapons. His skills, though, are pretty unique.

Mogay Shot is only usable with a ranged weapon. It's the standard "Attack one enemy from a distance" tech, in the vein of Knife Hurl, Puffy Kick, and Missile.

Mogay Bomb is a bit more unique. Despite only requiring bow levels, it's always usable. It hits a standard radius, about the same as Shockwave or Fireball, and doesn't do much damage. However....



It deals an enormous amount of IP knockback. It charges up very quickly, too, which makes it great for pulling out in a pinch.

Mogay Hypo costs 45 SP, and it restores 45 SP to the target.

Mind you, the effect isn't hardcoded, it's based on the skill's listed power. Meaning that, say, the Aura Armor or Moves Ring can make it restore more, and the cost can be reduced by the Energy Charm.

Sadly, Mogay Hypo, as well as the one tech he hasn't learned yet, have a unique targeting byte, making them unable to be used on Guido himself.

Finally, Mogay Pickpocket. Costs only 10 SP, and deals no damage. As the name implies, though, it's Grandia's equivalent of a steal skill. Rather than keep a separate list of steals and drops, though, it just rolls the item drop chance.

Needless to say, this can be very abusable if you know which enemies drop what items. Such as, say the Satans from the Tower of Temptation, whose rare drop is an All-Around Fruit. Or the Layelahs who can drop both seeds and Fruits of Magic.

But going back in order to grind wouldn't be very sporting, now would it?

Tune in next time!