Part 24: Church Storming

Daath is the headquarters of the Order of Lorelei, and as such is considered to be one of the pivitol locations of the game. Despite that, it's paradoxicaly small, with most of the city's bulk being made up by the central Cathedral. The rest of the city is all in a single area.

Despite this, we have a handful of things to do here.



The very first thing we want to do is stay at the inn. Why? No clue, but apparently Ion and Natalia can rot for awhile: we've got some training to do!





: “What's this, all of a sudden?”

: “I've been thinking of using this fonology book to learn to control hyperresonance... will you teach me?”

: “I'm afraid not. I can't use the Seventh Fonon, after all.”

: *sigh* “...I guess I'll have to ask Tear, then...”

: “If you don't want to learn from me, then-”

: “I... I never said that! W-will you teach me?”

: “...Okay.”

This is a subquest chain that technically starts when Tear gives us the fonology book back in Yulia City. The triggers for each of the steps in this quest require you to sleep in the inns at various cities at specific times. Sleeping in the inn usually has to be the first thing you do, as well. For example, had we gone about ten feet further to the next screen we'd have met up with Anise and the subquest would have been locked out forever. We know this song and dance by now, however, and this quest is very important for building both Luke and Tear's characters. The game also kind of assumes that you're doing it, but more on that later.



: “Quiet! Don't just close your eyes. Listen for the fonons flowing through the world.”

: “Like I could hear that...”

: “Don't listen with your ears. Feel them with every fon slot in your body.”

: “Uhhh....”



We hear Legretta's voice.

: Major Legretta...



: “Yes. Fonons are a combination of sound and elemental properties. It's rare to see them. But your fon slots can perceive them. They feel the vibration. Drawing those fonons into your body is the basis of all fonic artes.”

: “Yes, ma'am. I understand.”

: “Good. Then let's stop here for today. Tear, you have talent. I suppose I should expect no less from one who shares Van's blood.”

: “Th-thank you!”

: “Don't let that go to your head. People may treat you more harshly simply because you are Van's sister. As foolish as that is.”

: “I understand. I am ready for that.”

: “Then that's enough serious talk. Tear, I've been given a letter for you from Van.”

: “From Van?”

: “He's looking forward to seeing how you grow. He eventually plans to ask you to become his right hand. Practice hard, so you can meet those expectations.”



: “Why, thank you. But all I can offer is my meager cunning and my memory. So for his sake– no, for your own sake more than anything– you must grow strong enough to survive... the world ahead of us will be fraught with chaos.”

: “Yes, Major!”

Of course, it's not just Luke and Tear. These cutscenes actually do a wonderful job humanizing Legretta of all people. Just one flashback, and it's already clear that she genuinely cares for Tear: telling her to become stronger not just for her brother's sake, but for her own as well.



: “Enough!”

: “Remember that feeling of power overflowing from inside you, of your body trembling... those are fonons.”

: “Yeah... I think I understand.”

: “Don't rush yourself. This is only the start of your training.”

: “I know! But, yeah... Th-thanks.”



Skit: Spending the Night in Daath

: “May I check your pulse for a minute, Luke?”

: “Huh? Okay...”

: “Hmm... looks all right for now.”

: “Colonel, is there something wrong with Luke?”

: “Well, he's the first isofonic replica I've encountered. He seems stable at the moment, but I can't predict what might happen in the future.”

: “Huh? Am... am I going to go crazy or something?”

: “There's no fear of that. You're already crazy.”



: “Hey, come on!”

: “I'll try to check up on you from time to time, but if you feel anything unusual, let me know immediately. Understood?”

: “Yeah, thanks Jade.”

: “Luke... thanking me...?”

Even Jade is caught off guard.

: “W-would you all stop doing that!”



: “Well, you know, given your usual attitude...”

: “Your usual attitude!”

: “...Shut up, Thing!”

: “Mieu...”

Jade's been back in the party for less then five minutes and I'm already realizing how much I missed him.



This guy chilling in a corner offers us the pizza recipe, a lovely dish that restores a decent amount of TP and HP. Not bad.



I also take this opportunity to do some mad shopping: we really didn't get any shopping opportunites when Asch was in the party, and nobody in Yulia City sold weapons or armor. So pretty much the entire party is under-equpied. Luckily I have some mad cash since I haven't spent a dime since Akzeriuth.



Oh, and I have this baby, which I think one of the bosses dropped. Yeah, I don't even know which one, and I've beaten this game close to ten times. Whatever.

Skit: The People of Daath

: “Sure are a lot of people here... how do the people in Daath make a living, anyway?”

: “A large part of the Order of Lorelei's income is from donations. Members of the Oracle Knights, like Anise and me, receive a living allowance from the Order. The ordinary followers engage in subsistence farming.”

: “Subsistence? Is doing business prohibited or something?”

: “No, it's just that the people living here don't feel the need. The inn in the First Quarter is run by people from Chesedonia with special permission.”

She says after I just dropped 35,000 gald on new equipment for everybody.

: “Huh... I guess they feel that's all they need, as long as the Score protects them.”

Again, more of Abyss going out of its way to explain shit you really don't need to know.



This is the main cathedral that dominates the city. You don't get a good view of the exterior in this game, so here's some concept art.



Those supports are enclosing the entire city, by the way. I'm definitely a fan. If only the interior was half as interesting.







: “Whoa! Asch, you cut your hair?”

: “I-I'm...”

: “Oh, no, it's Luke.”

: “Wait, what?! Why's the spoiled brat here?!”





: “...That voice could break glass.”

You're telling me.

: “Anise, we've gathered the manpower to rescue Ion. What's the situation?”

: “Ion and Natalia have been taken to Oracle Headquarters beneath the cathedral.”

: “Do they let people just walk right in?”

: “Into the cathedral, sure. But only Oracle members can enter the Headquarters below.”

: “Can we sneak in somehow? If we don't find a way to rescue them, we really will have a war on our hands.”

: “It looks like it's already starting.”

: “Tear, you still haven't reported back that the Seventh Fonstone was fake, correct? Can you take us into the Headquarters as witnesses for its discovery?”

: “Okay. I'll try asking the Minister of Affairs, Maestro Tritheim.”

: “Well, this Tritheim guy's inside, right? Let's go on in.”



I love the tiny doors.

Skit: Regaining Trust

: “Luke, are you feeling better? You're welcome to just sleep forever, you know...”

And she comes swinging right out of the gate.

: “Whoa, ouch...”

: “Well, it's my fault so... still, I don't have time to be lying around. I've got to keep going, no matter what!”

: “Wow, since when did you get this worked up? Well, whatever. That doesn't matter now. We have to save Natalia and Ion.”

: “Yeah, let's go see that Tritheim guy.”

: “Huh? You're giving orders now?!”

: “Huh?”

: “Ahem. Come on, let's get going.”



So here's the main hub for Daath Cathedral. It's divided into several sections, but for right now we realistically can only head to the library on the left, or straight ahead to the chapel where Tritheim is. I'm going to be covering the library in a seperate bonus update, since it's full of books that provide a ton of backstory and lore for the game.

Also, I missed it unfortunately, but there's a conversation you can overhear if you try to head upstairs.

: "Damn it, is there still no word from Van?"

: "My apologies. The Commandant has gone to inspect Belkend."

: "We're finally close to causing this war as written in the Score. What's he doing at a time like this?!"

: "Perhaps you could head to Baticul ahead of him."

: *Sigh* "Yes, I suppose I could."

: "I'll escort you."

At this point Legretta and Mohs come down the hallway towards the party, who runs off.

: "Grand Maestro Mohs...and Legretta... They really are trying to start a war..."

: "We've got to find Ion and stop it!"

: "Right."

Skit: Twisted Love?!

: “Ion, can't you be more careful? Getting caught like that...”

: “Man... what are you, a princess?!”

: “It just shoes how important a figure he is.”

: “Well, yeah, I know that... but his personality is part of it too. How can he be so... well, naïve?”

: “Yeah, he does seem to let other people use him a lot...”

: “Oh come on! The Fon Master is a fine person!”

: “Though... I will admit that he can be... at times... a bit too trusting.”

: “He'd make a perfect comedian, though.”

: “With Anise as his foil, perhaps? Now that would be something to see...”



: “Ugh! Stop it, all of you! I don't want to hear another bad word about Ion!”

: “Hey, you started it.”

: “I can complain about him, but nobody else can! You do it again, I'll kill you!”

: “Wh-whoa...”

: “I wonder why she's so upset?”

: “It's easy, right Colonel?”

: “Ah, the scent of love is in the air.”

: : “Love?!”

: “I don't smell anything. What's it smell like? Apple gels?”



: “More like a certain young religious leader.”

: “Really?! Wow!”

: “...Would somebody please shut these two up?”

I'm really getting my mileage out of this emoticon today.

Anyway, we could go straight to Tritheim, but we've got some some people to talk to first.



: “Mama, are you saving money like you're supposed to?”

: “Oh, my, don't worry Anise. We donate our income to Lorelei every month, just like we should.”

: “Are you still doing that?! How are you going to live in retirement?!”

: “Don't worry. As long as you follow the Score, you don't need money.”

: *sigh* “Looks like I don't have any choice but to marry into money...”

For a 13 year old, Anise sure has some adult problems.



That's Tritheim up top, but first...



: “Papa?! What are YOU doing here?”

: “I just received a message from Maestro Tritheim.”

: “Papa... you'd better not be getting tricked into another weird scam.”

: “hah hah hah. I'm fine, Anise. I live each day according to the Score, so my life is always good.”

: “Are you sure? If you say so...”

: “Of course. Just the other day, I got a letter saying I'd won a seven night, eight day trip to Keterburg.”

: “What? Was that a prize?”

: “I didn't enter anything like that... so I sent them back a message informing them they had the wrong person, but it turns out it was a present for devout followers of the Order of Lorelei. It's a highly discounted trip – only 10,000 gald per person – so I paid at once.”



: “No kidding. What kind of tirp could you take for a measly 10,000 gald?”

: “You idiot! That's not the kind of scam it is!”

: “The first letter said he'd 'won' a trip, so why does he have to pay for it? That's the question.”

: “Oh... I see!”

: “The perpetrator's probably long gone by now.”

: “Honestly, Papa! Why do you let people trick you so easily?”

: “It's not good to distrust everyone you meet. Besides, we don't know yet that we can't go on the trip.”

: “Of course you can't!”

: “Even if what you're saying is true, it must mean that person needed the money so badly he had to trick someone to get it. I think it's better than us having it.”

: “Papa!”

: “Uh oh, I can't stay here any longer. I have to get back to work. Please take care of Anise, everyone.”

Doesn't even being to describe this shit.

Still, that's a lot of information that actually does wonders for fleshing out Anise's character and giving us some insight into why she's been so... grating. Too bad 95% of players would never bother to talk to either of her parents, since they look just like any other random NPC.



: “Personal Score readings are held each week during the mass on Remday... hmm? Oh, Cantor Tatlin and Cantor Grants.”

: “Maestro Tritheim. I've completed my assignment from Grand Maestro Mohs. Could you grant permission for me to take these witnesses into headquarters to assist in giving my report?”

: “...Ah, from Grand Maestro Mohs... understood. Please take this with you.”



Alright, now we can get into Oracle HQ.

...Er, where was that again?

Well, enjoy this skit. I'll look for it in the meantime.

Skit: Anise Gets Things Done

: “How did Ion and Natalia come to be captured, anyway?”

: “Um, well, Asch was going to bring us all back home, so first he stopped at Daath for me and Ion, but then we heard that a war was about to start, and...”

: “Natalia asked Ion to issue an official edict. They were apparently taken when they tried to enter the cathedral.”

: “Apparently...? Weren't you with them?”

: “No, I was working on repairing the Tartarus' ability to travel on land.”

: “The rest of us managed to escape and ask the Colonel for help. Then I came back to the cathedral to look for the two of them.”

: “Sounds like you've been busy.”

: Unlike a certain rich kid, yes!

: “So, were you able to repair the Tartarus?”

: “No. The mud from the Qliphoth got into some of the machinery. It's hopeless.”

: “Well, that's unusual. The Colonel not coming through for us.”

: “Well, it certainly won't do to make me do all the work. In any case, let us find Ion and Natalia instead of just talking about them.”

Okay, here we go.



First you go right here.



As you enter is a stair case and a series of five teleport glyphs. Ignore all of them and continue onward to the door on the opposite side of the room.



Run down a corridor...



Run up some stairs...



Then in the next corridor ignore the bend and head through the first door...



And finally, run down one more corridor to talk to this chucklefuck, who lets us into Oracle HQ.

Do. You. Have. Any idea how long it took me to find that on my first playthough? I was stuck here for hours. This cathedral is huge, and you're given zero directions. Fuck...



Oh and if that wasn't bad enough, you're immediately dropped into this room. You have to take the top most door, but damn if this room isn't obnoxiously drawing your attention away from it!



Run down three empty, identical stairwells...



Finally...



Oracle Headquarters is a gimmick dungeon in every sense of the word. It's entire design philosophy is around a single gimmick, and everything else is just padding for the next time you have to exploit the gimmick. It also continues the sad trend of being very bland color wise. I miss Aramis Spring.

: “Where do we go from here?”

: “I don't know. We'll have to search the whole place...”

: “We'll get caught if we do that.”

: “We'll have to do our best not to draw attention.”

: “And we can't have them calling for reinforcements if they spot us. We'll have to make sure we leave them dead.”

: “...I wish we didn't have to do this.”

: “It can't be helped. If we don't hurry, war really will start... and many more people will die.”

: I'm going to make even more people hate me...



Skit: Protecting the Score

: “Grand Maestro Mohs... why is he doing this? It's clear that he's acting only for the sake of Auldrant's prosperity as written in the Score, but...”

: “But that's no reason to start a war!”

: “The Score must be observed... that's what everyone in the Order of Lorelei has been taught.”

: “Most people in Auldrant consider observing the Score to be a virtue. From that viewpoint, one cannot consider Mohs' thoughts or actions to be evil.”

: “If anything, he is a perfect follower of the Order of Lorelei.”

: “So the two of you are okay with just letting a war start?”

: “Certainly not. And in order to stop it, we need to find and rescue Ion and Natalia.”

: “Let's hurry.”

Because we've spent most of the game with Ion in our party and trying to prevent war, thus working opposite to Mohs, he comes off as evil and an extremist. Yet this is the game subverting cliche's again: the Score says there is going to be war, and Mohs's job is to observe the score. The Grand Maestro faction that's been chasing us around and trying to stir up war? They're the moderate faction.. Ion is the extremist, for suggesting the Order deviate from the Score in order to preserve peace. At least, that's how it would seem to the normal citizens of Auldrant.



The game drops us at an intersection... except that's a lie, because one path is blocked by these insurmountable waist-high weapon racks. It's doubly insulting because they're not even side by side, and even if you couldn't move them, you could obviously squeeze between them.

Skit: The Oracle Headquarters

: “Hey, what exactly is this place? I mean, I assume there are a lot of Oracle soldiers here...”

: “Why are you even asking? I can't imagine it has anything to do with a spoiled rich kid like you.”

: “Man, that's cold...”

: “I...I just, well... there's so many things I don't know...”

: “Humph... well, whatever. This is all a secret, okay? Headquarters is kind of like the hidden side of the Oracle Knights. Everybody else is kept out because it looks so military. Oracle soldiers all undergo training here. I trained here. Tear, you trained here too, right?”

: “N-no, actually. Major Legretta came to Yulia City to teach me, so...”

: “Really? Well, I guess you are the Commandant's sister, after all...”

: “Anyway, there are dormitories here, too, and low-ranking soldiers all sleep there... is that enough for you?”

: “Yeah, that's fine. Thanks.”

: “Woah! Luke said thank you!?”

: “Yeah, kind of startling the first time, isn't it?”

: “Well, excuse me...”

_Princess.

No, I will not stop using that joke.



Can you spot our gimmick?

: “The door doesn't open... looks like it's locked.”

: “What are we going to do? Natalia might be inside there.”



Subtle.



The sound of the gong echoes through the hall.





So yeah, welcome to Oracle HQ. Basically every door in this place is locked, and to open them you have to ring a gong somewhere near the bell. Doing so makes soldiers come out and unlock the door, and you then have to beat the shit out of them and check the rooms. There's a little trick they pull with this, but otherwise it's just an additional step added to the process, and it's pretty tedious. On the up side, there are very few roaming enemies around: almost all of them come from gong ringing.



The other thing to note is that these soldiers are chumps, and go down like sacks of potatoes. The problem with humanoid enemies in this game is that they stagger too easily, so if you get them in a decent combo then they're never any trouble.



The funny thing about this dungeon is that there are a LOT of optional side rooms, and all of them have a lot of effort put into making them look like actual living quarters instead of boring empty rooms. You have storage rooms, dining halls, libraries, bunk houses, living quarters... it's actually kind of impressive.



The second gong's trick is that when you ring it, you're out of sight of the guard. You have to leg it to get to him fast, otherwise he loses interest and heads back inside, locking the door behind him.



The next door has a guard in front of it already, but killing him does nothing. What's more, the gong in on the lower floor, which we can't reach yet.

So:





We circle around from below...



Ride the elevator back up...



Commence the murder...



And finally, we ring the gong. The guard comes out, sees his downed buddy, and starts wandering for the culprit.



We're the culprits.



Insultingly, there's nothing but a single chest containing a sub-par piece of equipment.



Anyway, the next iteration is similar: this guard here (pictured dead) will engage us on the stairs if we just approach, and ringing the gong at that point the dead guy is too far out of the view of the soldiers, who go right back inside. You have to freeze him using Mieu Fire from behind the bars, then run up and kill him while he's still within eyeshot of the door.



This group contains two Hi-Oracle Knights, who hit hard enough to drop Anise by double-teaming her. This is what happens when I take Guy out of my party.



The door opens up into a grand hallway, and oh boy is this a dick move. Just look at the above picture. Now, take a guess at which room Natalia and Ion are in.

You'd think the furthest one down, right? It's framed nicely in the shot, has light coming down on to it... yeah. But you'd be wrong: they're actually in the third door on the left. All the other rooms, including the one farthest down, just have sweet loot.

So what's the dick move? Most players will open the all the side doors first, and encounter Ion and Natalia before they get all the loot. That'd be fine, except finding those two immediately kicks you out of Daath, so you miss your chance at the treasures. It's just little things like this...



Oh, did I also mention that this is an obviously unfinished dungeon? The central door, the one you'd assume Natalia and Ion are behind, opens up into a huge downward spiral, culminating in a center area. Obviously you were supposed to plow through this dungeon, fight your way down the spiral, fight a boss, then rescue Ion and Natalia and get out. Yet this huge area is completely empty: no boss, no enemies.



All it has a treasure chest with a decent capacity core in it. It's painfully obvious that they had some grand ideas for this dungeon, but were forced to cut it for whatever reason. So instead they just stuck Ion and Natalia in a side room, and left this area to rot. It's sad too, because this dungeon is in bad need of a boss.





: “...Luke... it's you, isn't it?”

: “Sorry for not being Asch.”

: “No one's saying anything like that!”

: “Ion! Are you all right? Did they hurt you?”

: “I'm fine. Thank you all for coming here just for us.”

: “Was my brother involved in your kidnapping?”

: “I haven't seen Van. But the Six God-Generals tried to get permission to take me away. Mohs refused...”

: “He's trying to remove the Daathic seals so he can wipe out the Sephiroth Trees...”

: “Which means the Commandant will come back for Ion.”

: “Exactly. Let's hurry up and get out of here. We should be okay once we get outside town. We can decide what to do next then.”

: “How about that Fourth Monument thing? Let's head to the hill where that is.”



And bam: we're out. Could be worse I guess, they could have forced to walk all the way back through the annoying dungeon.

Fuck you Megaman Legends 2 water ruin.

I'm going to end it here for now, partially because that bluescreen set me back and I want this update out tonight, and partially because I'm running up against the end of the footage I've recorded so far. I really need to get on that...

Synopsis

We rejoined Anise in Daath, and she had discovered that Natalia and Ion
were being held in the underground Oracle Headquarters. Outsiders aren't
allowed to enter, so Tear is going to try and sneak us in as purported
witnesses to the discovery of the Seventh Fonstone. First we have to see
Maestro Tritheim to obtain a pass to enter the Oracle Headquarters.

We succeeded in fooling Tritheim and obtaining a pass to the Oracle
Headquarters. Okay, let's head underground.
We made it into the Oracle Headquarters, but there's no hint of where
Natalia and Ion might be. We'll have to stay low while we look for them.

We found Natalia and Ion in a room in the lower area of the Headquarters.
They were both doing fine. That's a relief, anyway...

Ion said that Master Van was trying to force him to open the Daathic seals
on the Sephiroth. Just like Asch said, he must be trying to control the
Sephiroth to make the Outer Lands collapse. It's too dangerous to stand
around here talking, so we decided to return to the Fourth Monument Hill
before doing anything else.

We fled as far as the Fourth Monument Hill, but it looks like nobody's
coming after us. I guess they can't go and kidnap their leader in broad
daylight... They're not an evil organization, after all.