Part 34: Fila del Fia

Last time, Pearl's Dad told us to investigate an ancient city that floated. For a while, at least. Guess we'll check it out!

Update 34: Castle in the Sky Soil

As usual, the first step is to try and figure out where this forgotten city is supposed to be. Hey NPCs!

In Little Twister


If you go 'round the cape of Sand Canal and head north, you'll arrive at a giant crater. It is said that a floatin' city from the ancient past fell from the sky and landed there... Now, why would people want to live up in the sky, Ah wondah?

At the Ark of Destiny


Far south of Survey Point #17, you will find a mysterious crater. I do not believe it is a volcanic crater, but one that was formed when an object struck the earth from high above the sky. I would like to organize an excavation team one day to investigate what this object is.

Too late, we're beating you there and taking everything. Head south from the ruins of Survey Point #17, and...



Yeah, this could be it. Lombardia can't land on that rough ground, so we need to land by the entrance and walk in. The dungeon is located in the centre of the crater.



MUSIC: Fate Breaker

This appears to be a storeroom...

Now that we're actually inside, I feel kinda disappointed... I think deep down inside, I was expecting an actual floating city...
Yeah, you said it... Can't we sue someone for misrepresentation?
About that floating city... There is no conclusive evidence of it. Only a big crater, which could not have been caused by an earthquake or an explosion. The condition of the damage indicates it has fallen from the heavens. That is my investigative report thus far... Just a speculation that it may have once existed in the sky.
Just as the saying goes, what goes up, must come down.
Whether this was actually a floating city in the past is not our concern. We need to find out how this place was able to provide the energy to float, if in fact it did.

So... it is your concern?

So basically, if there is such an energy source powerful enough to levitate a city, then that means they'd come after it, too! (So that's what Daddy was trying to tell us... Daddy didn't leave on his own... He was guiding me all along. Daddy and I are working together...)
Maybe what your dad was trying to tell us is this... There isn't much time to stop their plan. So, I'll leave this to you, so that I can take care of other business...
Thanks... I'm okay now... Come on, let's go!



I'm not sure what those guys were whining about, one entire side of this room is taken up with a metal wall.



And things look a bit more technologically advanced once inside, though they are yet to master the concept of stairs. With no way of proceeding to the right, we have to jump down to that passageway on the left hand side... even if we have no way of getting back up.



Oh hey, treasure! Suck it, Ark of Destiny!

Maybe not quite as exciting as it could have been, the Grappling Hook is Doc's final tool. When used it shoots a cable directly up, and if it attaches to a grapplable surface pulls Doc up to that level. Hopefully after that he can jump off to reach a high platform.
You can't swing or anything.
The other chests have a Potion Berry and two Gella Cards.



Returning to the previous room, Doc can now grapple up and over the walls.



The next room has a locked door and a computer console. Despite being hundreds if not thousands of years old I'm sure it's fully functional... way more than my laptop can say.

Let me try breaking into the system. While I'm at it, I hope to pinpoint the main generator by backtracking the route of the energy source... Did you notice all these pipes surrounding you?
They're just ordinary pipes, right?
No... Not just ordinary pipes... I have just discovered this myself, but these pipes, and most of the system here are composed of both living and machine matter...

Eww... we're in a city made of flesh. Hope the walls don't start bleeding.

Half living organism, half machine... That's just like...
Yes... Like the bodily structure of both demons and dragons...



But this is supposed to be a city of neosapiens...
There might have been some ill will between the demons and the neosapiens, but... We don't know for sure... We, too, still wield ARMs made from the fossils of dragons...
I guess...

The computer bleeps.

There... I have unlocked the door. Let us continue our investigation.



Doc needs to use the Grappling Hook to hit this switch. There's also a ladder in the shadows, which if climbed leads to a Lucky Card.



Gotta sneak here, or the floor will fall out from under you. Go all the way around and you can use the Steady Doll to reach a chest with three Warp Stars.



Walking Dead enemies resist a lot of elements, so here's an indication of what Dark Lucied can do in better circumstances. Bear in mind it's Doc casting here - Boone would probably get twice or maybe even three times as much damage out if it.



We come across another terminal.

Could this be the main generator?
No, I believe it is a sub generator. A system devised to deliver energy throughout the city efficiently. ... If this city did supply such massive amounts of energy... then it may actually be true that this city once floated in the sky. Although I am more amazed at the technological level of the past...
Well I don't care how amazing it is. What we do know is that this city is buried in dirt. Everything must come to an end. Everything...

This sets Pearl off, for some reason.

Maybe so... But I'm not going to let Filgaia come to an end so soon! That's why we're here, doing our best to protect it! You, too, must have a lot of memories you want to keep of this planet, don't you!? Then why do you say such things!?

Come on Pearl, don't forget about his defining character trait...

The problem is, I don't... I don't have any memories, so I can't get all passionate about this as you guys.

There is a long pause.

S-Sorry... I went overboard... Let's just go and get this over with. There isn't anything of value here, anyway...

Deeper in, the grapple point is too far away from the ledge to jump across. Moving those blocks in front of it provides a platform we can jump to.
And a couple of rooms later...



Surprise boss time!

BOSS BATTLE: CHAMELEON MAN



MUSIC: Blood, Tears, and the Dried-Up Wasteland

The hell is this thing?
One of the really random bosses in the game, Chameleon Man can be irritating to fight.



He has two attacks. Neither does much damage, but Lazy Lick inflicts the Misery status (only Pearl and Billy are protected) and Backstab causes Fallen. We're protected against that, and after Humbaba you should be too.

A bigger problem is his defences. He has very high arcana defence. ARM attacks are another way to go, but...



As soon as he's damaged by an ARM, he will go into stealth mode.

Once it is attacked physically, the monster will activate stealth mode, which nullifies all future physical attacks. However, its stealth mode will wear off after a number of turns.

In other words only one person can harm him with an ARM per turn, and he can't be harmed with an ARM for the turn after either. Arcana still work but are highly resisted.
It's worth noting that he will only instantly kill people while stealthed, so if you're lacking in wards you can completely avoid physically attacking him, and slowly grind him down with arcana, dealing with Misery as it is cast on you.

There are a variety of ways you can approach this problem, but the fastest ones require some annoying pre-planning.
I decided to try to maximise Doc's ARM damage, so that I could do as much damage as possible while it's possible to shoot him.



Step 1: Give Lust Jaw to Boone. This gives him a source of Dark damage.



Step 2: Use Weaken in conjunction with Lust Jaw to give the enemy a Dark Elemental weakness.
He only has a 25% vulnerability to Weaken, so this takes a few turns.



Step 3: Return Lust Jaw to Doc, and fill him up on the Weakness PS. (which doubles the damage done when attacking an elemental weakness)



Step 4: Mystic a Dark Ring onto Doc.
When equipped on a medium, a Dark Ring gives the Dark Ward PS. But it has a secret function: you can Mystic it to make one character's ARM do dark elemental damage.
I needed to give the enemy a dark weakness because I don't have any rings of any other colours. The Chameleon Man already had an ice weakness but I have no ice rings.

So, Doc is doing Dark Elemental damage to a dark-weak enemy who has low defence to ARMs, and his PS is boosting that damage further. Oh, and he gets a crit.

Step 5: Witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle Doc!



(that's just a hair under half its total HP - 14000)

He doesn't last much longer. He's not the real boss of this dungeon anyway.



THIS is the real boss of the dungeon!
... I love and hate this room. It's so simple but it gets me every time.



Turning the wheel rotates this crystal down to face the ground. A few seconds later it snaps back up.
The idea is to set it in place, then run down and use the grappling hook to activate it.

Only...



There just isn't enough time to make it there!
At this point I spend ages trying to race down there in time, before figuring out the trick again.



Freeze it in place.
You can then take a nice leisurely stroll down there and hit it with the hook.

A last sidepath leads to a room with a Gimel Coin and two Imitators guarding a Pocketbook.

Back the way we came, exploring further leads to an abandoned computer.



MUSIC: Preparations for the Valley of Bygone Days and Tomorrows

Most of the city's functions have ceased. The power output section seems to have taken the most damage. Here... I have uncovered some miscellaneous information... Ahh, yes... This city was indeed built by the hands of humans. The completion date, and the name of the foreman are also displayed. But the question is, where did they get the technology? From the information library Hyades, perhaps? Then it is safe to assume that demons and neosapiens did in fact make contact in the past?
Yes, I've got it! It was a crystallized energy similar to Aguelite and Germatron that activated Fila del Fia. And it was a much more high density and pure energy crystallization... Here, I'll bring it up on the screen.



It's name; the [Teardrop]... It contains a wavelength similar to bio-energy, and is said to sparkle a lustrous blue unlike any other gem...

A blue... sparkle?

If this Teardrop still exists somewhere on Filgaia today, and if the prophets are scheming to...
Why bother analyzing the situation? If they're after the Teardrop...
then our next goal is set.
Y-You're right... You're absolutely right! What are we waiting for!?
We haven't uncovered any leads about the Teardrop yet... So, let's gather as much information as we can! Come on, everyone!



A sparkle unlike any other gem... Sparkle... Gem... Hmmm... What's the connection here?

Maybe Pearl is thinking of...


Bwaaaaachoooo!



MUSIC: The Stage is Full of Miscast People


No matter how many times I hear it, I will never get used to Milady's sneeze.

I hope she doesn't catch a cold... Despite her tough attitude, she's still quite delicate...

Maya keeps marching the group onward.

Hey, sis...Sis!
I said, SIS!
I heard you the first time, so stop yelling. And pick up the pace!



Hold up! Where do you think you're going, anyway?
To find the ultimate gem, the Teardrop, of course!
But the info we gathered tells us it's this way, not that way! We're going in the opposite direction!
You heard what the man in Claiborne said! He said it's located inside the tower up ahead!
That's just a rumor...The information we gathered is much more reliable. Why are you so adamant in checking this place out?



I have a gut feeling about this!
You're just going because it's closer! And because you're obsessed with the idea of getting your hands on the gem as soon as possiblee!
Yeah, that's right! So what!? But think about it! Everyone in the village knows about this rumor! Which means if we don't get there soon, someone else might beat us to it!



Look at Milady's eyes... They're filled with tears.

A grown woman cryin'... She's serious.
All right, you win... Do as you please...

So it looks like we won't have any competition for the teardrop, because they're obviously going the wrong way. We can afford to get another medium next update.

For now, I grabbed another 5 Ariochs...

Ariochs defeated: 20/100

He's starting to feel like a proper miniboss. Still easy to take out in a few rounds, but I can't kill him quickly anymore. He still doesn't do much meaningful damage though.



In the Garden, I have succeeded in breeding Mini Carrots up to 100%. That leaves Mega Berries, Holy Root, Tiny Flower and Full Carrot to go. I'll keep growing Minis for a while, gradually turning their plots over to Full Carrots to help them grow more.

Then there was the matter of the Millennium Puzzles.



Millennium Puzzle #10, located on a hill west of Laxisland. Trickier than it looks, blocks are set up to have chain reactions if dropped in certain ways so it's easy to run out of matchable blocks if you're not careful. Reward is the Tracker, a very useful item that keeps track of which rooms you've been in in a dungeon for you. Good for checking you've been everywhere.



Puzzle #11, just south-east of Yggdrasil. Another one of the puzzles where you have to match three every time. Despite the bounding walls, possibly one of the easier ones. Reward: a Weather Vane. (Eagle Eye PS)



Puzzle #12 overlooks Glimmering Emblem. Need to be careful with your initial matches, as you can't move blocks up and down to start with. Clear out enough of one side first, and you get yourself some space to work on the other with. Reward is the second Pocketbook of the update. That's enough to give the Gella Boost PS to everyone, and I think I shall.



Puzzle #14 is on a small island southeast of where we first fought Balal Quo Naga. Your best bet here is to use the yellow and green in the bottom right to get rid of their counterparts in the middle. Then you can wipe out the left and then right sides.
For a moderately difficult puzzle, this one gives you quite possibly the best reward of all - the Teleport Orb, which can send us to any town or station we want for free as many times as we want. Doesn't come close to making Lombardia obselete, but mighty useful.

VIDEO: Millennium Puzzles #10, #11, #12 & #14

16 down, only four left to go - #16, #17, #18 & #20

And one last thing...



The grappling hook lets us reach this treasure chest in the Ark of Destiny. It's a Full Carrot!

Meanwhile, in Baskar Colony.


They said you found the <<floating city>>. I want you to tell me all about it. What was it like? It's in our legends, so I can't wait to hear what the real floating city is like!
<<Floating city>>
Yeah, the floating city... It was like a beautiful castle in the clouds, you know. It was... like, so... awesome. (I don't want to spoil Shane with the truth.)

It was a failure and a ruin. And there's no Santa Claus either.

... (sniff)


Next Time: I Hope we never have to come back here again. (fat chance)


A Day A Day

Today is March 15, the day of the Number Five. If you look at Gunther's face from the side, it looks like the number five. I've heard he has three brothers that look alike. If there's a chance, I want to see them line up to form 555.

Hm...




I don't quite see it.