Tales of the Abyss Part #5 - The Cheagle Woods (Part I)

Part 5: The Cheagle Woods (Part I)

I hope you're ready for a LONG fucking update, because damn.

Last time we left our... er, heroes we were heading to the Cheagle Woods so that Luke could prove his innocence. You know, even after his innocence has already been proven. Right.

Skit: To the Cheagle Woods!

: “Cheagle Woods is north of Engeve, right?”

: “Are you really going? You've been cleared of suspicion. Why bother?”

: “I'm not going to sit around while people laugh at me!”

: Nobody's laughing at you...

: “But do you think there's any that can actually prove the cheagles are at fault?”

: “Shut up already! I decided to go, and that's that!”

: “I see... Well, I suppose there's no point in arguing it further, then.”

: “I'll find your proof! You'll see. I'll show those stupid yokels!”

Before we head out though, we can pick up first official side-quest.

: “...Don't worry about it. We found out who really did it. It doesn't matter anymore.”

...Says the guy who's about to go find who did it because it does matter to him.

: “Sorry about that. By the way, I have a favor I'd really like to ask of you, if that's all right.”

Heh, well that's one way to spice up a Yes/No prompt.

: “No one's stopping you from asking.”

: “Well, it turns out, a cherished treasure of mine got mixed up in the stuff the cheagles stole.”

: “Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.”

: “I can't leave here. Is there any way you could go get it back for me? Naturally I don't mean I expect you to do it for free.”

: “All right. We'll go to the Cheagle woods.”

Like we were going to anyway.

: “Hey! Don't just decide for me!”

But you just wanted to go! And Tear didn't! We had a whole skit about this!

: “Oh, come on, Luke. We caused trouble for him before. This is the least we can do.”

: “Thanks. It was a small box that got stolen. Oh—no, matter what you do, please don't look inside.

If you haven't guessed yet, this is a quest the game assumes you're doing later in the game, and the dialogue is rather mixed up as a result. Yet there is no reason to not take this quest now, since we're going to the forest anyway. Not to mention... well, we'll get to that later.

Right, let's get going.

Skit: Homework

: “What are you doing?”

: “H-hey! Don't look!”

: “Sorry, I just... I saw you with a notebook out and...”

: “Shut up already! I have to do this every day.”

: “Do what?”

: “Well... don't laugh, but... it's a diary.”

: “Oh, that's great.”

: “...You're not going to laugh at me?”

: “Why? There's nothing to laugh about.”

: “Though I didn't exactly think you were the type to keep a diary.”

: “Humph... I'm not doing it because I want to.”

: “Oh? Then why...?”

: “...The doctors make me do it, just in case I get amnesia again.”

: …!

: “...What?”

: “N-Nothing. Keep it up, okay?”

: “Tch, I don't need you feeling sorry for me!”

Cheagle Woods is to the north of Engeve, marked by this out of place tree in a world map forest. It seems obvious looking at it, but on my first playthrough I ran around for hours looking for this damn place. Some actual direction would be nice game.

: “He's in trouble!”

: “Hey, are you okay?”

: “I-I'm fine. I just used too strong a Daathic fonic arte...”

: “I'm Luke.”

: “Luke... that means 'Light of the Sacred Flame' in Ancient Ispanian. That's a nice name.”

: “I'm Locrian Sergent Tear Grants, 1st Platoon, Oracle Knights Intelligence Division, under Grand Maestro Mohs' command.”

That's a mouthful.

: “You're Master Van's sister?! Then what was with you trying to kill him?!”

To be fair to this game, this is the first time Tear's full name has appeared in dialogue and you could make the Van Grants, Tear Grants connection. However this 'surprise' is still spoiled if you go into Tear's status menu, which proudly displays her last name. I had left it out of the OP until this time, since it felt proper.

: “Kill him...?”

: “Sorry, it's nothing. Just something between us.”

: “Don't try to avoid the question! If you're his sister, why are you trying to kill him?”

: “It's... I...”

: “It's a cheagle!”

: “So they do live here! Come on, we're gonna catch that thing!”

: “Would it be best if I did not inquire about you and Van?”

: “I'm sorry. It relates to my homeland. I'd prefer not to get you or Luke involved.”

: “Hey! It's gonna get away!”

: “Let's go!”

: “What? Oh, right!”

Cheagle Woods is our first proper dungeon, but it still is not that difficult. The forest design is laid out so that it feels much bigger than it is, and there are a handful of areas we simply can't access yet. Still there's some good loot up for grabs, so let's go!

Skit: About the Cheagles

: “Hey, what are you even doing here if you can't fight? Get out of our way!”

: “I'm sorry. I just wanted to find out what really happened at Engeve.”

: “Huh? Why? It's none of your business, is it?”

: “The cheagles are sacred creatures. If they're harming people, they must have some reason for it. As one who is connected to the cheagles, I cannot sit idly by and watch.”

: “Well, they're just monsters, right? Just leave them alone.”

: “I can't. Maybe I'm strange that way, but... that's how I am.”

: “Anyway, if we have the cheagles, we should be able to lean what's going on.”

: “Tch, whatever... Let's just go find those cheagles already.”

These Axe-beaks are the main enemy around these parts, at least for now. They're not much trouble at all.

Oh hey, that's-!

Dammit, Tear! I wanted that!

Right, another new game mechanic to Abyss is the Field of Fonons. Spells – and some physical artes – have an element associated with them. When multiple artes of the same affinity are used in the same battle, the concentration of that particular element builds up on the battle field and manifests as a colored circle. For example: if lots of fireballs are cast there will be a red circle on the ground to represent the fire element. Okay, so far so good.

So what do these circles do? Simply put, they power up certain artes that are compatible with that particular element. For example, Luke's fang blade is compatible with the wind element. If a wind circle appears on the ground and Luke uses fang blade inside of it, he'll do a more powerful version of the arte called an Altered Arte. Altered artes generally do high damage and can have great effects, so taking advantage of and creating Fields of Fonons can become a big factor in your battle field strategy.

Here, Tear's current attack arte nightmare is dark elemental, and since she cast it twice the battle, it created a dark circle. Tear then cast first aid. First aid is compatible with the water element, and using it in the correct circle yields the altered arte Meditation, which heals for a greater amount of HP and also cures any status ailments. Handy!

But wait, didn't I just say Tear created a dark circle? Why was she able to use a water element altered arte? Basically, the elements, or fonons, are arranged as follows:

First Fonon: Darkness (Shadow)
Second Fonon: Earth (Gnome)
Third Fonon: Wind (Sylph)
Fourth Fonon: Water (Undine)
Fifth Fonon: Fire (Efreet)
Sixth Fonon: Light (Rem)

Follow me so far? Okay, so the thing is that there are no “Light” or “Dark” Altered artes. All altered artes are either of the second, third, fourth of fifth fonons. Dark circles can be used for water and earth artes, while Light circles can be used for fire and wind. Therefore Tear can use a water altered arte with a dark circle.

Well that was long winded! Basically I can sum it up as follows: altered artes are The Shit^tm, and you always want to use them if you can.

Straight ahead of the entrance is the secret box for the Grocer's side-quest.

There is nothing else in that direction however, so we cross the river to the right.

Along the way, Tear learns a new trick. Pow Hammer does low damage but has a high chance of stunning whoever it hits. It's also hilarious.

There's some nice loot beyond this foliage, but we can't get past at the moment. We'll be back.

: “Grr! You see?! It got away! Could you two be any slower?!”

: “Don't worry. Their nesting ground should be up ahead.”

: “How do you know?”

: “Oh, um... Actually, I was curious about the thefts in Engeve and did a little looking. Cheagles are intelligent and peaceful creatures. It's not like them to steal food.”

: “...Hmph. Wel, looks like we're both headed to the same place, then.”

: “The two of you came to investigate the cheagles, too?”

I swear, now the game's own characters aren't paying attention to the past cutscenes!

: “I'm not gonna let people accuse me of things I didn't do. And you're coming with us.”

: “Really? You don't mind?”

: “How can you think of taking Fon Master Ion somewhere so dangerous?!”

: “Then what do you want to do with him? He'll just come wandering back here on his own.”

: “...I'm sorry. I just have to know. Cheagles are the sacred beats of our Order, after all.”

: “See? Besides, we can't just leave a guy with a face so pale he looks like he's about to die.”

: “Oh! Thank you so much! You're such a nice person, Luke!”

That's JRPG for “I'm blushing.”

: “N-no I'm not! Now, quit saying stupid stuff and let's go!”

: “Okay!”

: “And don't use that weird arte again. You damn near passed out. We'll take care of the fighting.”

: “You mean you're going to protect me? Sir Luke, I'm so moved!”

: “Th-that's not what I meant! You'll just be in the way! Don't get all worked up over it! And it's just 'Luke,' got it? Now, let's go!”

: “Okay, Luke!”

He's so cute when he's flustered.

Further in are wolves, which are a little fast but otherwise just as useless as the rest of the fodder. There are also weird floating snails, because why not?

Dead end. For now.

: “So that's a cheagle?”

: “It looks like it's still a child.”

: It's so cute...

: “Hey, it ran away!”

: “It is a wild animal, after all.”

: “This must be the cheagles' nesting area.”

: “I do hope we can find some proof they stole food from the village.”

: “Those stupid things probably left proof all over the place.”

: “Let's explore a little.”

: “So these guys did do it!”

: “I think I hear something inside the tree.”

: “Cheagles live inside tree trunks.”

: “Fon Master, that's too dangerous!”

: “Please, let me through.”

: “Like these monsters are gonna understand you.”

: “The Order's founder, Julia Jue, made a pact with the cheagles and gained their aid... or so I've been told.”

: ...Mieu mieu. Mieu, mieu.”

: “It is the power of the ring we were granted as part of our pact with Yulia. Are you of relation to Yulia?”

: “Yes. I am Ion, Fon Master of the Order of Lorelei. Am I correct in assuming you're the cheagle elder?”

: “Indeed I am.”

: “Hey, Monster. You guys stole food from Engeve, right?”

: “I see now. So, you've come to exterminate us.”

: “Hmph, so you don't deny it.”

: “Cheagles are herbivores. Why do you need to steal human food?”

: “...To preserve the cheagle tribe.”

: “It doesn't look like you lack food. There's plenty of vegetation in this forest.”

: “One of our members caused a fire in the northern region. As a result, the ligers that lived there moved down to this forest. In order to prey on us.”

: “Then, the reason you stole the food was so your people wouldn't be eaten.”

: “...Correct. If they aren't sent food periodically, we cheagles are captured and eaten.”

: “That's horrible...”

: “And totally not our problem. If you're weak, you're food. That's how it works.”

: “Besides, I'd be mad too, if you torched my land.”

: “That may be true, but this is hardly a normal food chain.”

: “What else? We're gonna drag these guys down to Engeve and–“

: “But if we do that, the ligers will likely attack Engeve next in search of food.”

: “I don't care what happens to that stupid village.”

: “That's not acceptable. Food from Engeve is shipped throughout the entire world, not just the Malkuth Empire.”

: “Then what do we do?”

Back when I was living in southern California, we had a problem with coyotes in the area. I have fond memories of going with everybody to the coyote den in order to sit down and work things out with them.

Oh wait.

: “With monsters?”

: “Can those liger things talk, too?”

: “We can't talk to them directly, but if we take one of the cheagles with us as a translator...”

: “Then I shall lend this sorcerer's ring to the one who will be your interpreter.”

: “Mieu, mieu mieu mieu mieuuu.”

: “What the...?”

: “This child is the one who caused the fire in the north. I want you to take him with you.”

: “...Something about this thing is really annoying.”

: “I'm sorry! I'm sorry!”

Symphonia veterans can take a breath: the sorcerer's ring in abyss is nowhere near as annoying in terms of bullshit puzzle solving.

Now that we have Mieu, and by extension the Sorcerer's ring, we can access a few areas of the forest we weren't able to earlier.

Skit: More About the Cheagles

: “These cheagles really get on my nerves.”

: “Oh? I think they're rather cute, myself.”

: “They're adorable.”

: “Really? They keep on bouncing around all over the place make all those weird noises. I can't stand them.”

: “I think it would be quite soothing to have a bunch just playing all around. Though I must admit, for 'sacred beasts' I was expecting something a bit more... majestic.”

: “I don't know... I'd say cute is best, personally.”

: “...Yeah okay, whatever.”

: “Woah! He breathed fire!”

: “Neat, huh?”

: “What was that?”

: “I can breath fire, so I'm useful for more than just interpreting. I'm going to work extra hard to make up for all the trouble I caused my friends.”

: “That's right, I'd forgotten that cheagles were a fire-breathing species.”

: “Yes, we are! But mine is special!”

: “Special?”

: “I'm still a child, so I can't actually breathe fire. But-!”

: “But?”

: “The Sorcerer's Ring! Thanks to that, I can breathe fire! And no matter how much I breathe out, I never get tired.”

: “So the Sorcerer's ring is good for more than just translation, huh?”

: “It was originally made to amplify fonic artes. It's a type of capacity core.”

: “But a flame of that size isn't going to be of much use in battle.”

: “Mieuuuu....”

: “Yeah, but come on. Breathing fire! That'll be fun!”

: “Hey you! Thing!”

: “Luke that's horrible!”

: “Oh shut up! It's fine for this little freak!”

: “Listen up, Thing. When I give the order, you spit fire. Got it?”

: “...Mieuuuuu... Yes, sir....”

Which is a fancy name for the standard fire ball the Sorcerer's Ring always shoots out in these games. You'll see soon enough.

: “Mieu mieu mieuu!”

: “He says, 'It's your fault we're being threatened by ligers, Mieu!'”

Wood Golems are the first real challenge you'll have in the game, as they can hit hard and send you flying. However if you're smart, block when you need to and abuse free running, you'll be fine.

Before we move on with the main quest, remember that foliage I said we couldn't pass before?

Well behind it is this, one of the handful of dick moves in the game.

The S Flag is a special item that lets you change the displayed party member on the over world. Or to put it more simply...

Hey there, Tear!

This is a standard ability you get in most Tales games for free, but for some reason the developers in Abyss not only decided that this ability needed to be earned, but that it wouldn't even be hinted at anywhere. Unless you stumbled upon this item, you had no ability to change your displayed party member for the whole game. Wonderful.

: “Yes! We cross the river and keep going.”

: “How are we supposed to cross the river?”

: “We'll just have to wade through the river.”

: “Are you serious? My shoes, my clothes... everything'll get drenched! No way!”

: “Fine. You can stay here. Someone who cares that much about his clothing would just get in the way.”

: “Excuse me?!”

: “Mieu?”

: “You heard me, breathe fire already!”

: “Mieu mieu mieuuuu!”

: “I see. The tree's roots were rotten. Excellent thinking, Luke.”

: “...Heh. This is nothing.”

: “Indeed. Mieu is the one who deserves thanks.”

: “H-hey!”

: “I thought it was nothing for you. And stop yelling. Fon Master Ion, shall we be on our way?”

: “Oh, right. Luke, cheer up. Come on, let's get going.”

: “Let's go!”

: “Shut up!”

: “Mieuuuuuuuuuu...”

This is all more or less an into the Sorcerer's Ring's primary function: getting rid of obstacles barring your path.

: “How'd you learn strong moves like that arte you used earlier? Could I learn to do that, too?”

: “That was a Daathic fonic arte. ...You see, it's...”

: “Wait, wait, I don't need some long explaination. Just tell me if there's some easy way to get stronger.”

: “You're unbelievable.”

: “What?”

: “Please, don't fight. I'll tell you an easy way to become stronger.”

: “Really? How?”

: “What kind of capacity core do you use, Luke?”

: “Capacity core? What's that?”

: “You don't know?”

: “He's somewhat ignorant about the world.”

: “Well excuse me!”

_{_Princess.}

: “Then take this, Luke.”

: “Yes, you can think of it as an accessory with a fonic arte applied to it. Your body's abilities will increase in accordance with the fonic verse inscribed. These days, even regular citizens wear them as fashion accessories.”

: “So if I put this on, I can use that arte you used earlier?”

: “I'm sorry. Only Fon Masters of the Order of Lorelei can use Daathinc fonic artes.”

: “Oh. That sucks.”

: “But with a capacity core equipped, you can learn special abilities. Use it well, and you'll be strong enough.”

This is a very poor hint at the link between AD Skills and the enhancement attribute, which as I mentioned can only be raised via capacity cores.

: “It looks good on you, Luke.”

: “Cool. Now I can get stronger, too.”

: “...At least your muscles will.”

We continue on our way, burning down another tree.

Skit: Playing with Fire

: “C'mon, you! Fire! Fire!”

: “Mieuuuu....”

: “Watch it! You very well could start a forest fire! Then what?”

: “Forest fire? Hah hah! Like that'll ever happen. Even if it did, it wouldn't be my fault. It's the one spewing fire all over the place.”

: “Mieu?! If that happened, I'd be banished for real this time!”

: “I can't believe I'm witnessing this level of idiocy...”

We also face off against ligers, which means we must be closing in on their lair! Ligers are faster and stronger than wolves, and have a lunge attack that does wind damage.

This looks like the place.

There's a chest trapped in some branches here; burning the branch causes the chest to drop the floor below.

This right here is a very good demonstration of some of the more lazy aspects of the map design in Abyss. The camera is simply too far zoomed out, and so the you can see the blackspace outside of the cell. It would have taken five minutes to clean this up, and it looks lazy as hell. Oh well.

Green savepoints, as opposed to the standard yellow, heal you for full HP/TP when you enter them. Generally their presence means you're about to fight a boss.

The chest we dropped below gives us another life bottle. Yep, definitely not a boss ahead!

Skit: The Cheagle's Diet

: “Hey Mieu... I've heard that the cheagles are herbivores, but what exactly is it that you eat?”

: “Mieuu... Tataroo Grass, Baticul Grass, Yulia Grass, Fubras Grass, Katz Grass...”

: “Huh... You sure like your grass, don't you?”

: “Yep! But we eat mushrooms too!”

: “Do mushrooms actually grow around here?”

: “Yep! There's lots of them up to the north!”

: “That sounds interesting. Can you show me around sometime?”

: “Of course!”

: “The queen?”

: “Ligers live in packs formed around a giant queen.”

: “Mieu, please go talk with the liger queen.”

: “Yes, sir!”

: “Are you alright?”

: “Hey, runt, what did it say?”

: “She says her eggs are about to hatch, so go away. Her Highness is really mad that I accidentally burned down their home.”

: “Eggs?! Ligers lay eggs?!”

: “I was born from an egg, too. A lot of monsters are born from eggs.”

: “This is bad. Ligers are more violent when they're guarding their eggs.”

: “So what, do we come back later?”

: “But if the liger eggs hatch, the young will likely swarm the village in search of food.”

: “Huh?”

: “Liger young like human flesh, so people hunt down any near cities before they can reproduce.”

: “Could you ask them to leave this land?”

: “Y-yes sir. Mieu, mieuu, mieu mieu...”

: “Th-thank you!”

: “Don't get me wrong. I wasn't protecting you. I was protecting Ion!”

: “She says she's going to kill us and feed us to her children.”

How direct.

: “Here she comes... Fon Master, please step back with Mieu.”

: “W-Wait... if we fight here, the eggs might break.”

: “It may be cruel, but that would probably be for the best. If we leave the eggs and they hatch, the young could easily wipe Engeve out entirely.”

: “Look out, the Queen!”

The Liger Queen is our first boss, and while she's not going to kill you if you're careful, she does take a lot of punishment before she goes down. She's very slow however, so you can abuse free run easily here by running behind her and landing a good combo.

The first of her two actually dangerous attacks is a sort of ground pound shockwave that deals decent damage and sends you flying.

Once she's been hurt bad, she'll start using lightning breath, which hits multiple times for good damage. It's easy to avoid, but you don't want to be hit by it.

: “This isn't good, our attacks aren't hurting it at all.”

: “So... so do something!”

: “Allow me...”

: “Who are you?”

: “You can't order me–“

: “Let's leave this to him. We'll buy time by taking on the liger queen. Don't let her attacks hit him.”

: “I know! I know!”

So now Jade is in our party and uh...

Yeah, he's a complete monster. He's casting high level fonic artes like blessed drop: the second most powerful water arte in the game.

I remind you that I accidentally had the game set on hard at this point. Even so, Jade ended the liger queen in only two casts.

: “Well, that was disappointing.”

: “W-who is this guy?”

: “He's definitely no ordinary fonist...”

: “Anise! Could I speak to you for a moment?”

: “Yes, colonel~! Did you call me?”

Whoever modeled Anise must have been having a lot of fun.

: “...This left a bad taste in my mouth.”

: “You're quite kind... or perhaps just soft.”

: “And you're cold!”

: “Oh, dear. Lover's quarrel?”

: “Shut up!”

: “Colonel Curtiss, we don't have that sort of relationship.”

: “I'm joking. And please, call me Jade. I'm not accustomed to being called by my family name.”

: “...Jade, I'm sorry for running off and doing this.”

: “It's unlike you to do something like this when you know it's wrong.”

: “Together with Yulia, the cheagles are the foundation of the Order of Lorelei. I felt I had to take responsibility for any trouble they had caused...”

: “And that's why you used your power? Didn't the doctor tell you not to?”

: “...I'm sorry.”

: “And you've involved civilians as well.”

: “...Hey, old man, he's apologizing, right? Give him a break.”

: “Oh. I expected you to complain about being dragged into this. I'm a bit surprised.”

: So am I...

So am I!

: “Well, we don't have much time, anyway. I'll stop the lecture at that.”

: “The letter arrived, didn't it?”

: “Yes. Now, let's go ahead and get out of this forest.”