Part 28: The Passage Rings

: “Ah! It's you! What's that vehicle?!”

: “Field Marshal, we'll talk later. Right now, let's just get everyone onboard.”

And not a second too late.

















So I apologize, but I'm going to have to break my rule and link to somebody else's footage for this cutscene. Luke has a dick wordbubble here that auto pops up, and I clicked through it by accident. I have no save files even remotely close to it, so this is the best I can do. The scene starts around 4:28.



: “I imagine it will sink into the mantle before long.”

: “No! Is there nothing we can do?!”

: “This is like when Hod fell. They say it took a month to sink.”

: “Hod... hmm. So this is vengeance for Hod...”



: “Is there really nothing we can do?”

: “It's sad to lose your home...”

: “It's already weird enough having the ground fall apart. I can't think of anything we can do. It's hopeless!”

Thanks for the help, Anise.

: “I know! What about the Sephiroth? This place fell because Master Van messed with that passage ring thing and did something to the Sephiroth, right? Then can't we just bring it back?”

: “But we don't know how to use passage rings.”

: “Then we'll interrogate Master Van and...!”

: “Luke, there's no way we could pull that off. I understand how you feel, but...”

: “No you don't Guy! None of you do!”

: “Luke...”



: “I know this won't make up for what I've done, but if I could save this one city...!”

: “Luke! Get a hold of yourself. You won't get anything done like that.”

: “Let's go to Yulia City. They know more about the Sephiroth than we do. Now that the Score predicting St. Binah's safety has faltered...”

: “Yes, Grandfather might be willing to help.”

: “And Luke. You sounded like a child a moment ago.”



: “You're right... I'm sorry...”

: “Don't worry about it. We're not mad or anything.”

: “I'll launch the Albiore, then.”



The Albiore is our second in game vehicle. Though it can't travel over land or sea, it can fly and land on 'normal' terrain, which is basically grassy plains. It can also dock at any city by flying over it.

Skit: Saving Lives

: “At least we were able to save the people of St. Binah.”

: “Yeah. Where there's life, there's hope after all.”

: “But I want to save St. Binah itself...”

: “I know. We all saw how worked up you were.”

: “Luke, you've performed your duty as a member of the Kimlascan royal family admirably. Now we can search for a way to save the town itself.”

: “...I know. Jade just chewed me out for getting to anxious, too.”

: “Yeah. Having saved the people is more than enough for now.”

: “Absolutely. I hardly think that atonement means having to feel constant guilt.”



Okay, Yulia City.





: “I figured you'd come. I've been waiting for you.”

: “Grandfather, please help us! We want to save St. Binah!”

: “Yes, I suppose we must. Though we are fearful of deviating from the Score...”

: “Before we talk, I'd like to let the people from St. Binah get some rest.”

: “Oh, yes. Let us take them in.”

: “...Thank you.”



: “Luke, don't be discouraged.”

: “What?”

: “Jade rarely scolds people. What he said earlier shows that he's taken a liking to you.”

: “Field Marshal! Don't put words in my mouth!”

: “Old folks don't have time to bother scolding people we don't like. Jade is no different.”



This is another place where I can praise the writing. We're never directly told anything about Jade and McGovern's relationship, yet based on their interactions we can infer a lot about it.

And besides, anybody who can push Jade's buttons is alright in my book.

: “Hah hah. He pegged him. Guess Jade has a few soft spots, after all.”

: “Heh heh, yeah.”



: “What's this, all of a sudden...?”

: “You've scolded me from the very beginning.”

: “Oh... that was just... I mean...”

: “...Heh, it's weird. I always thought of getting scolded as a bad thing.”

: “It's not a good thing, either.”

: “...I know that!”

Heh heh...

Skit: A Man Named Asch

: “Ever time I come here, I think of Asch.”

: “Asch?”

: “Yeah, he told me the truth about myself... and through him, I learned a little about the world around me. That may be what really got me thinking that I needed to change.”

: “I see.”

: “He always used to get in our faces and pick fights and all, but lately... he's just left us alone.”

: “You're right. I wonder what he's trying to accomplish... the next time we encounter him, it may not be as an enemy.”

: “You're not telling me I have to get along with him?!”

: “I'm saying that we may not have to fight him.”

: …

: “When Asch appears, it's always been for something important, one way or another. Don't forget that.”

: “...I'll try.”

This isn't Tear bullshitting, either. Asch doesn't do things meaninglessly. A good idea to keep in mind.



This guy has the second arcane arte text for Luke, but once again he's asking for a 40k gald and the party refuses to let me just pay for it. So we'll eventually have to mooch it off Luke's mother. But that's much, much later down the line.

Skit: Can People Change?

: “At least we've reached Yulia City safely.”

: “Though the people of St. Binah will probably take a while to get used to it.”

: “Yeah.”

: “And it looks like Jade's finally starting to approve of you, Luke.”

: “Not just the Colonel, either. Anise, Natalia, and of course us, too. We all think you're doing well.”

: “...I can't really tell, myself. I'm just doing what I have to. I haven't had any chance to really try and change myself, or think about how I used to be...”

: “Well, to be honest, nobody would believe you if you came out saying 'I'm going to change!' all the time.”

: “Hee hee. Indeed.”

: “Don't laugh about it!”

: “Sorry. In any case, let's finish what we have to do.”



Also this guy is begging again, this time for five maces. This sidequest is important only much, much later in the game, and the cut-off time for this is far down the line as well. I give him his five maces much later.

Let's go meet Teodoro.



: “Oh, this is a difficult problem. If only we had the key of Lorelei that Yulia used...”

: “The Key of Lorelei? What's that? It sounds kind of familiar...”

: “It refers to the Sword and Jewel of Lorelei. If I recall, it was used when creating the Planet Storm. I've also heard it referred to as the symbol of the pact between Yulia and Lorelei.”

: “Correct. The Key of Lorelei is said to be a fonic weapon created by Yulia using the power of Lorelei.”

: “The Sword of Lorelei gathers Seventh Fonons, and the Jewel of Lorelei disperses them. It is said the Key itself is made of Seventh Fonons. Supposedly, Yulia sumoned Lorelei into the Key and freely commanded that power...”

: “Whether that is true or not, what IS true is that it could control the Sephiroth.”

: “But once the Planet Storm was formed, the Key of Lorelei was cast down into the core.”

: “Yes. We can't use something we don't have-something that may not exist at all. In any case, I suspect it would be impossible to lift St. Binah back up to the Outer Lands.”

: “Hmm... is there really nothing anyone can do?”

: “...It may be possible to at least prevent it from sinking beneath the liquefied surface.”

: “With the Sephiroth?”

: “Yes. They are controlled by devices called 'passage rings'. By using the passage ring to restore the Sephiroth, we might be able to keep St. Binah afloat.”

: “Where is the passage ring that controls the Sephiroth Tree for the St. Binah region?”

: “At Shurrey Hill. It's to the east of St. Binah.”

: “That's where I was taken when I was captured on the Tartarus. At the time, I thought it would still be protected by the Albertesque and Yulian seals...”

: “The Albertesque seal disappeared once the passage rings for Hod and Akzeriuth were destroyed. But the Yulian seal should not unlock until the promised time.”

: “But the Commandant must have unlocked it and operated the passage rings, right?”

: “yes, even we don't know how he did it.”

: “Let's worry about that later. How do we operate the passage ring?”

: “I've heared that all the control panels require the use of the Seventh Fonon.”

: “Well, we've got three people who can use that.”

: “Luke, Tear, and myself.”

: “The other issue is whether Van has done anything to damage the passage ring...”

: “We won't know that until we get there.”

: “If it's east of St. Binah, then it's probably falling along with the city.

Sounds like a dungeon. Maybe this one will actually be interesting! There's really nothing else to do in Yulia City, so let's get back on the Albiore.



St. Binah and the surrounding area have collapsed into the Qliphoth. Shurrey Hill is, true to word, due east.





Shurrey Hill is divided loosely into two segments. The first, outside segment is short and rather straightforward. The second indoor one is less so.



: “It's normally hidden by a fonic arte. If I recall correctly, the fonic arte was created using three read fonstones and the Fifth Fonon.”

Shoot Mieu Fire at three red fonstones. Roger.



You would not believe how maddening it is to line this up properly. Mieu Fire's hitbox is pretty small.



Oddly, there's a tree here along with a blue fonstone that's much too far away to hit with Mieu Fire. Shaking the tree with Mieu Attack also does nothing. Huh.





Got it, coach.

Skit: Relics of the Dawn Age

: “Akzeriuth, Shurrey Hill... These places with the passage rings feel so strange.”

: “That's probably because they're from the Dawn Age. They were made to protect the Sephiroth Trees.”

: “Oh, right, so this has been around for two thousand years.”

: “Indeed. The technology in use seems to be quite advanced. We can't build anything like this with our current knowledge.”

: “So civilization was more advanced two thousand years ago?”

: “So they say. Even in Yulia City, we don't understand how most of the facilities work.”

: “I wonder what the world was like when Yulia was around... I wish I could have seen it.”

: “You mean you wish you could have seen the machines, right?”

: “...Well, yeah, but come on. That's when they came up with the idea of creating the Outer Lands.”

: “Those must have been turbulent times.”

: “Now is hardly any different. After all, we're on the brink of diverging from Yulia's Score.”

: “Yes...true enough.”

: “Human history is one of eternal turbulence. Now let's take care of what we came to do.”

: “As dry as always...”



So I've talked about it before, but I love the Passage Rings. It has a nice blend of sci-fi and fantasy, all while holding something of a musical motif, what with the holographic sheet notes and the passage rings that look like tuning forks.



: “This isn't your average fon machine. I don't have a clue what to do with it.”

: “What exactly are we supposed to do with Seventh Fonons?”

: “This is strange, the Yulian seal hasn't been removed.”

: “What does that mean? Did General Grants not use it...?”

: “Ugh, don't tell me we came all this way for nothing?”

: “There must be some way to use it. Let's look around.”



Welcome to our actual first proper dungeon with puzzles and stuff. You know, 15 hours into the game.

Basically there are three Yulian seals, and we have to break them all. There are also three paths, but two are blocked off at the moment. So we'll head down the first one.

Skit: Van the Terrible!

: “Van certainly has quite an arsenal.”

: “Yeah. He's smart, he's quick, he's great with a sword, he can use the Seventh Fonon... He's amazing! Incredible! And he's got a beard.”



: “Is his beard special?”

: “Of course! That's where he gets all his power!”

: “My... I had no idea!”



: “And those eyebrows are amazing, too.”

: “What kind of power do they have?”

: “His eyebrows... um... tell him where enemies are. And watch our for the hypno-rays they shoot out!”

: “Oh, such power! How fitting, for the Commandant of the Oracle Knights.”

: “Tear... are you going to let her say things like that?”

: “S-sure... why not...?”

: “Ah hah hah hah! Regardless of the beard, he certainly is intelligent, and clever. Things will be difficult if he stays ahead of us.”

: “But what can we do? We can't fight him head on, and we don't even know where he is.”

: “Asch might have an idea...”

: “Asch, huh...”

I never thought Anise would manage to out Jade, but there you have it. Keep it up, girl.



Let's go solve us some puzzles!



So basically, there are clumps of fonons hanging around on the map.



There are also enemies that have fonon clumps. Note the golem above Luke that has a blue clump on him. Fonos collected are listed in the top left.



Also hanging around are these beams of light, which are focusing into mirrors. For the first puzzle, the mirror is already set up for us.



At the bottom of these mirrors are note sheets made of fonons. Note how some are smaller than others? You just have to insert, in order, the colors of the smaller fonons to complete the chart.





A new path appears...



And at the end of the path is the Yulian seal stone.



Destroying it breaks one of the glyphs, and opens our next path.





The second puzzle adds your standard mirror block element. Just push the blocks to reflect the light into the lens and reveal the note sheet.



Two down.



The final puzzle contains a series of lenses that need to be adjusted in order to focus and reveal the note sheet.



Going to the top reveals the pattern we should be trying to mirror.



A little rotating, and we've got it.



Final stone: dust.



That should take care of our Yulian Seal problem.







: “Tear! Could you approach that fonstone?”

: “Okay...”



: “What?!”



...Hmm?





: “I don't know, but it's definitely been unlocked. We can use the passage ring now.”

: “Hey, this writing looks like an explanation of the passage ring.”



: “...You've really outdone yourself this time, General Grants.”

: “My brother did something to it?!”

: “He's closed the valve, making it impossible to revive the Sephiroth Tree.”

: “What does that mean?”

: “He used a code to render the passage ring unusable.”

I bet the passage rings are running linux. Van probably just logged in as root and ran 'chown root:root' on everything.

: “Can we break the code?”

: “If I could use the Seventh Fonon I'd break it myself. But...”

: “...What if I use hyperresonance to erase the code or whatever? That uses the Seventh Fonon, right?”

Using hyperresonance is like typing 'sudo' before your commands. Only you don't need a password.

: “...If you could erase just the code, that might work.”

: “Luke! You can't control it yet...!”

: “I've been practicing! Besides, if I mess up here, we're no better off than if we'd done nothing.”

This is what I mean when I say the game assumes you're doing the hyperresonance training side quest. This whole exchange doesn't make much sense unless you're doing so.

: “...That's true. You're right.”



: “Erase just that red part.”

: “I'll give it a try.”







: “...It looks like it started up. The Sephiroth has begun releasing memory particles to raise the land.”

: “Then St. Binah won't sink into the mantle!”

: “...We did it! We did it!!”



: “I-I didn't do anything. You're the one who operated the passage ring.”

: “But it wouldn't have started up if you weren't here.”



: “He doesn't sound like Luke at all.”

: “I don't see any problem with that. I like him better this way.”

: “You're on Luke's side.”

: “Not really. Just like you're not on Asch's side either, right?”

: “...I can't choose either of them.”



: “Oh no! Wait! It's too soon to be celebrating! Look at that!”

: “...Whoa, it says the Sephiroth supports almost the entire Rugnica Plains region! Doesn't that mean Engeve is going to fall, too?!”

: “Yeah! This is seriously bad for Engeve!”

: “Oh no! We have to get back to the Outer Lands and evacuate the people from Engeve!”



: “Just a bit tired, I guess. I'm fine, though.”



It didn't on a completely positive note, but this is a pretty uplifting sequence in my opinion. It's a mirror to Akzeriuth. There he ignored everybody and went off on his own, using hyperresonance on a passage ring and wiping out the city. Here on the other hand Luke follows the advice of his friends and uses the same power on a passage ring, but this time it saves the city instead of dooming it. It's a simple reversal that shows how far along Luke has come since Akzeriuth. That and Yuri Lowenthal really hits it out of the park in this scene; you can feel just how incredibly happy and relieved Luke is that he managed to save St. Binah.

Skit: Worried about Tear

: “Tear, are you okay?”

: “What do you mean?”

: “Well, you were just saying you were tired...”

: “Oh... I just got a little dizzy. I'm fine.”

: “You sure? You always push yourself, so I can't trust your saying-”

: “Well, excuse me for not being trusth worthy.”

: “H-hey, I was just-!”

: “...I'm sorry. I guess I was acting a little strange. Thanks for asking.”

: “S-sure... I mean, if you're okay, that's fine.”





We're heading back up to the Outer Lands now, but before that, what's with the landmass to the south?



The fuck?

Oh well, I'm sure it'll have no part to play in the game.



We're back.





Wait, what's going on down there?!

















Oh, it's the most poorly animated cutscene of all time.























So that's the end of that, but damn can screenshots not do justice to how terrible the animation is here. I get that they're trying to show lots of fluid movement with a minimal budget, but oh my god.

Have some .gif's, too:









So... beyond the animation, what is going on?!





: “This isn't good. Both armies could be completely wiped out.”

: “Yeah, we're above the Rugnica Plains. The Sephiroth Tree below is already gone...”

: “This must be... what my brother was trying to accomplish.”

: “What do you mean?”

: “He wanted to eradicate the people of the Outer Lands. He knew from the Score about the war in the Rugnica Plains...”

: “He eliminates the Shurrey Hill tree causing both armies to fall. It's quite efficient.”



: “If they're fighting here, then Kimlasca's main force must be at Kaitzur. I'll make them cease hostilities!”

: “I'm concerned about Engeve as well. It's likely to be targeted as a strategic supply point. With St. Binah gone, that village is virtually defenseless.”

: “You mean it could be attacked and destroyed even before it falls? Jeez...”

: “Let's split up. One team will check on Engeve, and the other will call for a cease-fire at Kaitzur.”

: “...I should go to Engeve. Discussions won't even start without someone from the Malkuth military.”

: “And I'll go to Kaitzur.”

: “Either one is fine with me. I have an idea.”

: “What about you, Luke?”



It only took 23 updates for us to get a meaningful choice, but it's Voting Time , baby! Should Luke go to Kaitzur with Natalia to help her convince the Kimlascan army to cease hostilities? Or should he head to Engeve with Jade to help evacuate the citizens?

On top of this, you also need to vote on the third member Luke will have join him, regardless of which location you choose. The options are Tear, Guy, or Anise. Also note that Ion will go with whatever team Anise goes with.

Since the next update is to be delayed, you have until... Tuesday the 7th to submit your vote.

In any case, we'll stop here for today.

Synopsis:

The Albiore managed to make it to St. Binah just in time. We picked up
former Field Marshal McGovern and the other trapped people, and took off in
the Albiore. Just then, St. Binah fell past the dividing line and collapsed
into the Qliphoth.

According to Tear, if we don't do anything, St. Binah will fall into the
mantle and disappear. The people from St. Binah looked depressed at that. I
tried really hard to think of how we could save the town. I thought about
Akzeriuth... Could the reason only pieces of land remained be because of the
hyperresonance I caused? In that case, since St. Binah's collapse was caused
by Master Van doing something to the Sephiroth, couldn't we do something else
to it and raise the land up again?

But Tear said that nobody knows how to control the Sephiroth, so that
would be difficult. I started to lose control and lashed out at everybody.
I was mad that they wouldn't help me think of how to save St. Binah, that
they didn't realize how much I wanted to avoid a second Akzeriuth.

But then Jade scolded me. I think that's the first time he's ever done
that. He's looked at me strangely, he's annoyed me, he's ignored me plenty of
times, but he's never scolded me.

Jade told me that everyone else wants to save St. Binah too. That's when I
realized--everyone knew that panicking wouldn't accomplish anything, so they
were trying to think calmly. Only I was flailing around like a stupid kid. I
haven't changed at all... I'm really pathetic.

Jade suggested that we ask about the Sephiroth at Yulia City. Yeah, that's
probably best right now. Let's head for Yulia City.

Teodoro was waiting for us at Yulia City... Apparently they had realized
something was wrong when St. Binah collapsed. We placed the people from St.
Binah in his custody before heading on. Just then, Mr. McGovern told me to
cheer up--Jade wouldn't waste his time scolding people he didn't think were
worth it.

Really? I'd like to think so... It would mean I've regained a little bit
of trust--no, I was probably never trusted in the first place, so maybe I've
finally earned some trust for myself. But I can't let it go to my head.
Anyway, I'll keep trying. Let's go see what Teodoro can tell us.

I asked Teodoro if there was any way to save St. Binah and the lands
around it. He said that there was no way to raise it back up to the height it
used to be at, but it might be possible to keep it from sinking further.

Here's how it would work.

The Outer Lands are held up by power from the planet's vital points, the
Sephiroth. Pillars called Sephiroth Trees are extended from the Sephiroth,
creating a force field called the "dividing line" on which the Outer Lands
rest.

The Sephiroth Trees are created by devices called "passage rings" that
control the Sephiroth. That's how Master Van was able to make the Sephiroth
Tree beneath St. Binah disappear. So if we reactivate the Sephiroth Tree, we
should be able to create a force field above the mantle that will keep the
area around St. Binah afloat. That may be the limit of what we could do, but
Teodoro says it should be possible.

The passage ring that was supporting the area around St. Binah is
apparently under Shurrey Hill. Ion said he was brought there when he was
captured on the Tartarus and forced to remove the Daathic seal. That's one of
several seals the passage rings were protected with, since they're such
important devices. Master Van must have gotten around all of them somehow.

It's also necessary to use the Seventh Fonon to operate the passage ring,
but that shouldn't be a problem. We've got two Seventh Fonists with us, Tear
and Natalia, and it seems like even I can use the Seventh Fonon.

Sitting around sulking won't help St. Binah. Let's see what we can do at
Shurrey Hill.
We arrived at Shurrey Hill. The Daathic seal is already gone, so let's
head inside.

We came as far as the device that's presumably the passage ring, but it
doesn't respond to anything we do. Apparently it's still sealed by the Yulian
seal. That's odd... I thought Master Van removed that seal. Maybe he sealed
it again? Let's look around Shurrey Hill and see if we can find a way to
unseal the passage ring.

Well, we've done what we can. I was worried that we still wouldn't be able
to use the passage ring, but it reacted to Tear and started up. I wonder if
it's because Tear is a descendant of Yulia.

Anyway, we were about to try and use the passage ring, but it looks like
Master Van was a step ahead of us--he set the passage ring so that the
Sephiroth Tree couldn't be regenerated. Put simply, he's made a valve out of
some sort of code that closed off the Sephiroth. We were stuck, so I asked if
there was any way I could use hyperresonance to erase the valve. I have been
practicing the use of hyperresonance, after all... Jade said that it could
work, so I gave it a shot.

The passage ring control panel is something like a picture, with all the
information represented graphically. So if the part of the picture
representing the valve is erased, then the code will disappear too. I
followed Jade's instructions, using hyperresonance to cut the valve part out,
and succeeded in reviving the Sephiroth Tree.

I did it! But just as I was getting elated, we found out that things were
much worse than we thought. It turns out that the Sephiroth Tree controlled
here had been supporting almost the entire continent of Rugnica. At the very
least, it looks like Engeve is going to fall as well.

We can't just sit around here--we have to evacuate everybody from Engeve!

With the comparatively light weight of the Albiore, it should be easy to
use the remaining power of the Sephiroth to return to the Outer Lands. Let's
head for the hole in the Outer Lands northeast of Yulia City.
We returned to the Outer Lands...and found that Kimlasca and Malkuth had
gone to war.

So we weren't able to stop the war after all...

Worse, the battles were occurring throughout the East Rugnica Plains. The
Sephiroth Tree that was supporting this area is already gone--at this rate,
all the soldiers on the battlefield will die.

Tear said that this was Master Van's real aim. There was a reason he was
trying to make people follow the Score he hated so much: by causing a war and
then removing the Sephiroth Tree under the battlefield, he could eliminate a
large number of people from the Outer Lands all at once.

But why is Master Van trying to kill people here? Is it revenge for Hod?

Thinking about that won't help us right now. We've got to stop the war and
get everyone out of the area. We decided to split into two groups: one group
going with Natalia to negotiate a cease-fire, and the other going with Jade
to evacuate the people of Engeve.