Let's play Star Ocean 3! Part 8

Content Warning: With context that the game is Rated 12+ or 13+ depending on region, there's some minor discussion of war crimes and a very short non-graphic torture sequence in this part.

This part is almost all cutscenes again aw yeah. Welcome to the Elicoor section of the game! We're going to have a little more to do here than on Vanguard.


Airyglyph XIII: Very well. Continue with your investigation, and step up the pace of the invasion of Arias. If the enemy has indeed brought a new weapon into active service, then time is of the essence.
Guard: Your Majesty!
Airyglyph XIII: What think you, Woltar?


Vox: Lord Woltar appears to lack confidence.


Vox: They stand no chance against our legions, Sire.
Vox: Their weapons have proven themselves little threat to us. Anything they throw at us, we return in spades.
Woltar: Pride comes before the fall. Surely a measure of prudence would do us no harm.


Woltar: If only things were as simple as you say...
Vox: Regardless, we have yet to see any evidence the object is a new Aquarian weapon.
Vox: My men have already begun to interrogate the crewmembers. They'll talk before long.
Woltar: The Inquisitor? He always seems to enjoy his work a bit too much...
Vox: He is the best.
Woltar: As long as they do not die before they talk. We are not barbarians - even prisoners have certain rights, you know.
Vox: You speak absurdities. Prisoners have no 'rights'. We'll hurt them until they squeal. If they die as a result, then so be it. You've grown much too soft in your old age, Woltar.
Woltar: Compared to you, that may be true. I'm willing to do what's necessary, but I think your men have a tendency to take things too far.
Albel: What's the big deal? Just find out whether they're enemies or not. If that's too much trouble, I'll be happy to take care of them.


Vox: We know what we have to do, m'Lord. Don't worry - if we do kill them, we'll make sure they cough before they croak, eh?
Woltar: I certainly hope so.
Airyglyph XIII: That will be quite enough. Now is not the time for us to haggle over such matters.
Vox: Indeed it is not.
Airyglyph XIII: Vox, continue your interrogation. Woltar and Albel, return to your posts. We are counting on your knights. You are the pride of our great kingdom.
Woltar and Vox: Yes, Sire.


Inquisitor: That thing you were riding - what waaaaas that? A new Aquarian weapon? Ehh?
Fayt: (Aquaria...?)
Inquisitor: Answer the question!

He hits Fayt.

Fayt: Oof!
Fayt: I... told... you... I... don't know...
Inquisitor: Suuuuure you doooon't! Aahahahaha!

He strikes Fayt several times in succession.

Fayt: Oooh...
Inquisitor: Hmm...?
Fayt: ....
Inquisitor: Damn, he fainted on me. And it was juuuuust getting fun! See you again soon, my little kitten! Hahahaha...






Fayt: Look who's talking.
Cliff: Well, yeah - but I'm more used to torture than you are.
Fayt: Because you're a member of an anti-Federation organization.
Cliff: You could say I've been around. Hey, you held up pretty well, though.
Fayt: What could I do? It's not like they'd believe me if I told them I came from outer space.
Cliff: Good point.
Fayt: Why'd you let them catch you, anyway? I mean, you could've gotten away, right?
Cliff: Hunh? Nah... it would've been too much of a hassle.
Fayt: A hassle?
Cliff: Yeah, a pain in the butt. I couldn't just leave you there, anyway, and I kinda wanted to see what was going on first hand.
Fayt: So? You find anything out?
Cliff: As a matter of fact, I did.
Fayt: What?


Fayt: Very funny...
Fayt: Say, do you know what Aquaria is?
Cliff: Aquaria?
Fayt: The interrogator kept mentioning it. He kept referring to the Eagle as a 'new Aquarian weapon.'
Cliff: Hmph, must be the name of their enemy.
Fayt: So, what - they think we're spies?
Cliff: I'm thinking you got that right.

Cliff starts wriggling in place and pulling at his restraints.

Cliff: These restraints are pretty solid. Damn... They're too tight, I can't move at all...
Fayt: Um... that's why they call them 'restraints'.
Cliff: Don't bother me with semantics, kid, how are we gonna get out of these?

The screen fades out and back in.

Fayt: Do you think Mirage got away okay?
Cliff: Aww, she'll be fine. Like I told you, she's a Klausian. I bet she snuck off into town a long time ago.
Fayt: I hope you're right. Grr... How'm I supposed to rescue my dad trapped like this? I don't know why the Vendeeni captured him, but I doubt they're showing him much hospitality.
Cliff: Hey, cheer up. Somebody'll show up to spring us outta this place soon enough. Then we'll be on our way, you'll see.
Fayt: And who would that 'somebody' be? You told Mirage she shouldn't bother coming in after us - and it's not like we know anybody else. And I doubt your leader's found out about what happened to us yet...
Cliff: They're here already.
Fayt: What? Who?




Red-Haired Woman: and die here. It's your choice.
Fayt: Huh!?
Cliff: What kind of options are those!?
Red-Haired Woman: The correct choice should be obvious.


Cliff: Our help?
Red-Haired Woman: That's right. You two were riding that lump of metal that fell on the town, correct? We want your technology.
Fayt: Our technology... We can't let you have that!?
Red-Haired Woman: Why not?
Fayt: Why not!? Well-
Fayt: (I can't tell her about the UP3... How am I gonna explain this?)
Cliff: And what would you do with our technology, if we gave it to you?
Red-Haired Woman: We'd use it to end the war that rages between this country and mine. With our side victorious, of course.
Fayt: Hold on a minute... 'your country'? So you're not one of the people that threw us in here?
Red-Haired Woman: No. I'm not from Airyglyph. I'm from Aquaria.
Fayt: Aquaria... The interrogator kept mentioning that name.
Cliff: Makes sense, now.
Red-Haired Woman: If you've been interrogated, I wouldn't think you'd have any particular loyalty to Airyglyph. Why not help me?
Cliff: Good point. We'll help you.
Fayt: What are you saying!?

Cliff looks down at Fayt, then back at the red-haired woman.

Cliff: Give us a moment, all right?

The woman stands back a little and crosses her arms.


Cliff: C'mon, you saw this civilization's level of technology. Look, all they need is a little college physics - and I don't know about you, kid, but I was paying attention in class.
Fayt: You're right about that - but what about the UP3!?
Cliff: Man, what a square! Then again, maybe that's your redeeming feature, huh? Straight as an arrow, just like... well...
Fayt: Just like who?
Cliff: Huh? Did I say something? Never mind, kid.
Fayt: I'm minding.
Cliff: Geez, forget about it! Listen - based on what she said, we must be in Airyglyph right now, and this place is at war with her country, Aquaria. You with me so far?
Fayt: Yeah.
Cliff: Good. Okay, both sides think we have some kind of unknown technology. Well, that makes sense - a big flying metal thing did land in the middle of a medieval town, what else could they think?
Cliff: Even if we don't cooperate with her, Airyglyph will want our help, too. I doubt their terms'll be any better.
Fayt: Yeah, but...
Cliff: So what I'm saying is, if we're gonna cooperate with someone, it might as well be that hot chick over there, know what I mean?
Fayt: I can't believe this. You're insane.
Cliff: Well, okay, let's say that was a joke. Either way, we can do whatever we want once we're outta this place. We'll just wait for our chance and make a run for it.
Cliff: We're not doing much better here in prison with our hands all in shackles. And if we die here, who's gonna rescue your dad, huh? I figured you'd want to meet him in this life, not the next.
Fayt: All right, you win, for now.
Cliff: Atta boy.


Red-Haired Woman: Then we have a deal. Step back from the bars.


Cliff: *whistle*
Fayt: (What did she just do!?)



Cliff: Yeah, thanks.
Red-Haired Woman: No thanks needed. I'm just doing my job.
Red-Haired Woman: But I'm going to hold you to your part of the bargain.
Cliff: Huuhh?


Cliff: Gah!
Fayt: Hey... She heard us.
Red-Haired Woman: I should thank you for calling me 'hot', though 'chick' I can live without.
Cliff: Sca-ree.
Nel: I'm Nel Zelpher - agent for the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria.
Fayt: My name's Fayt Leingod. And this is...
Cliff: Cliff Fittir.
Nel: Fayt and Cliff... My pleasure. So - where are you from, and what is the metal thing you came here in?
Fayt: What do we tell her?
Cliff: Just follow my lead. I'll handle this.
Fayt: Y-yeah, sure...
Cliff: We're from a country on a continent far to the east of here. It's a pretty small country, so nobody's really heard of it, but we've got some pretty solid technology.
Nel: From the east? One of the countries in Greeton? Not the country that invaded Aquaria...
Cliff: That what you call it here? Yeah, that's where we're from. We're engineers.


Cliff: We were on our way to rescue him in this newly developed, uhh, vehicle, but it broke down on the way - and we ended up here.
Nel: I see...
Fayt: (Wow, he sure is a smooth talker... And not all of it is lies, either.)
Nel: So you are from Greeton. I thought as much.
Fayt: How so?
Nel: There is no country on this continent with that level of technology. It was an easy conclusion.
Cliff: Well, you satisfied?
Nel: More or less. What I am sure of is: there's no way we can let Airyglyph have you. You must cooperate with us.
Fayt: Nel... That's your name, right?
Nel: Yes?
Fayt: What do you mean by cooperate? What technology did you want, exactly?
Nel: Yes, well...!


Fayt: Huh? Why?
Nel: Because you're about to get some.
Cliff: Don't you worry about us. You could say we're above average.
Fayt: You might be able to fight with your bare hands, but I need some kinda weapon...
Nel: I thought this might happen. In there.


Cliff: Great. Thanks.
Nel: One more thing... ... Fayt - right? You can't go around dressed like that. I don't know if the size will match or not; anyway, put those on.
Fayt: Th-thank you.



We finally have control again \o/ And Fayt trades his autographed shirt and sandals for a real outfit this time, which we'll see more of in the coming cutscenes. There's very little we can explore (our cell, empty) and two fellow prisoners we can talk to, who tell us to be careful and not worry about them. As soon as we turn the corner, we run into the inquisitor and a pair of guards, who we quickly and efficiently dispatch.


Fayt: W-wait a sec...
Nel: Yes?
Fayt: How are we gonna get out? There are lots of soldiers outside...


Cliff: Looks like kind of a tight fit.
Nel: Don't complain. If we can get through there, it widens out a bit. We'll just have to squeeze through that first part.
Cliff: Yeah, yeah...
Nel: Fayt, you go first. I'll bring up the rear.


Cliff: Aqueducts, huh?
Cliff: Hey, it's all frozen over.
Nel: This comes as a surprise to you? It IS winter in Airyglyph. Didn't you see the snow falling outside?
Cliff: Hm, good point.
Nel: Careful. You're no good to us if you fall in the water and freeze to death.
Cliff: Sca-ree...
Cliff: Let's get moving. This way leads to the city, if we can make it through.

Next time: let's visit the Aqueducts (dungeon #2) and go back outside.

Let's play Star Ocean 3! Part 9

Aqueducts time! This is a fairly short dungeon, but it feels a bit more "real" than the Coffir ruins did. There's half a mechanic in it! Most notably, large parts of it are blocked by ice, and we'll run into some sections that require we slow down and walk instead of just run everywhere.



About halfway through, we run into some large icy slopes:


Fayt: Nothing. It's just the ground's frozen.
Cliff: Hmm?

Fayt: Right.

If we run on them, we start sliding down, and doing so too fast will cause Fayt to smash into the wall at the bottom and reappear at the top of the slope. This can be worked around by either running upwards (which slows you just enough), running off the slope before reaching the bottom, or just being a reasonable person and walking instead, which prevents slipping entirely.



A little further in and we run into the dungeon boss:




It's a slightly tougher fight than what we've had so far, but not by much.


Nel: I'm surprised such a creature would make its lair here.
Nel: Based on the distance we've traveled, we must be nearing the exit.

This room's floor is entirely made of frozen-over water, but it's fragile enough that it'll break if we run. So we're stuck walking super slowly until we reach solid ground again.



But it's the last room of the dungeon, so once we're out we get to breathe some fresh (read: freezing) air again!



Cliff and Fayt walk out from behind her and Cliff stretches.


Fayt: You were talking about technology, but what exactly do you want us to do for you?
Nel: I'll explain, but remember: refusal isn't an option.
Fayt: I don't know about that... I won't do anything that I don't want to do. And there's always a chance we won't be able to do what you ask.
Nel: I told you in the dungeons that I required your technology, did I not?
Fayt: Right, but what does that entail?
Nel: Look, if this was going to be a problem, you should have asked me before you accepted my conditions. By agreeing to cooperate - even just to get out of the dungeon - you're bonded to me. Those were the conditions of your release, and I expect you to uphold them.
Fayt: I... But...
Nel: Or are you planning on breaking your word?
Cliff: Look, you didn't even give us a real choice!
Cliff: 'You can live or you can die' - that's called 'coercion', you know.
Nel: So, you won't cooperate.
Cliff: When did I say that?
Fayt: Huh?

Cliff takes Fayt aside.


Fayt: What are you talking about!? What about the UP3?
Cliff: This is hardly the time or the place, kid...
Fayt: That may be, but still...
Nel: Excuse me.

They turn around to face Nel.

Nel: Can we save the discussion for later? We're not exactly safe here. Of course, if you want to head back to the dungeon, be my guest...
Cliff: No thanks!
Nel: All right, then be quiet and follow. I'll tell you everything when we get out of town.

They both nod at her.

Fayt: Okay.
Nel: Good... My people have a wagon waiting for us outside town. The exit's to the east - let's go!

Despite what Nel said, we're actually perfectly safe to take our time and explore the bits of the city we currently have access to. This is by far the largest combat-free area we've had access to so far. There's an inn, a tavern, a workshop, four different shops, and five more random buildings to rummage through. I'll cover those in an extras post sometime, but suffice it to say there's plenty to visit.

The people in town are for the most part friendly-ish, other than the guards who are pretty abrasive and thankfully don't seem to recognize us. The innkeeper threatens to let us die of hypothermia if we don't pay for a room at the inn, but most of the other shopkeepers are nicer than that. Some chatting around gives us context about how Airyglyph is currently at war with Aquaria, and that it was partly for economic/military growth and partly because they were running out of resources to the point where the populace was starving. Everyone at the grocer comments on how lucky they are to finally have plenty of food since the war started, but examining said food reveals that it's mostly spoiled, wilted, or moldy. Things don't look great here!

After getting distracted talking to everyone and annoying the guards, we make our way to the eastern gate, our only way out of the city.



Nel: Nice work, Tynave.
Tynave: I'm just glad you're safe.


Nel: Yes, Farleen. They're engineers from Greeton, as we thought.
Tynave: So we were right!
Farleen: Great! Then we'll be able to complete it!
Nel: That's right. But we don't have time to kick back and chat now. Our pursuers are right behind us. If the Dragon Brigade shows up, we'll be in serious trouble.
Tynave: Yes, ma'am!
Farleen: Ma'am!
Nel: Get in the wagon. We leave immediately.



Cliff: Hey, you gonna introduce me to these fine young ladies?
Nel: This is Tynave and the driver's Farleen. They serve directly under me - my ears and eyes in Airyglyph. They're the ones who told me about you two.
Fayt: Lucky for us.
Cliff: All women, huh? Not that I'm complaining!
Nel: Aquaria is ruled by the Holy Mother of the Church of Apris. We employ many more women than Airyglyph.
Fayt: The Church of Apris?
Tynave: Yes, the church of the Sun God Apris. The Holy Mother leads the church - and is also Queen of Aquaria.
Fayt: A theocracy...
Cliff: I gotcha. What you're saying is your country's packed with temple maidens. Now I HAVE to see this place.

Fayt shakes his head.

Fayt: Nel, I'd appreciate it if you'd answer my question now.
Nel: Right. But before that, might I ask one thing?
Fayt: What?
Nel: Are you two really engineers from Greeton?
Fayt: Well, umm...
Cliff: Hey, you still don't believe us?
Nel: It's not that. It's just... The fact that you possess special technology and knowledge is clear to me - so, yes, it does seem likely that you are who you say. Still, something doesn't fit. The way you respond to danger, and your fighting ability indicate that you are not telling me everything. And... you are certainly not average engineers. So you see... I believe my doubts are well founded.
Fayt: Well...
Cliff: Okay, you got a point.

[pause]

Cliff: But, it seems to me you're just going to have to take our word. We got nothing to gain by lying to you anyway. Wait, you don't think we're Airyglyph spies, do you? Oh, please.
Nel: Yes, I see what you mean.
Cliff: But... you still don't trust us?
Nel: No, I trust you. In any case, I was ordered by Her Majesty to bring you to Aquaria. I must fulfill my duty.
Fayt: ... Well then, Nel?
Fayt: Please answer my first question.
Nel: Yes... Since you're unfamiliar with this region, I'll fill you in on the details while explaining our current situation.
Fayt: Please.
Nel: Tynave, the map.
Tynave: Yes, ma'am.


Nel: As I mentioned earlier, Aquaria and Airyglyph are at war. Airyglyph is a militaristic nation that reveres power above all else; Aquaria is a peaceful nation that worships the Church of Apris.
Nel: Aquaria and Airyglyph maintained friendly relations until several years ago. But one day, they invaded our territory without warning.
Tynave: It seems they'd been planning their invasion for some time. Airyglyph's a frigid land ringed by mountains. Food production has never been easy here - especially in winter. We believe they were after our land, fertile with the blessing of Apris.
Cliff: A war of aggression, huh?
Nel: Correct. There was no diplomacy, only outright military aggression. We resisted, but we were outmatched. Somehow, we managed to hold them back, but the bordertown of Arias was laid to waste.
Nel: Still, the war has not been completely one-sided. We may be lacking in military power, but we do have runology.
Fayt: Runology?
Nel: A secret art handed down by the followers of Apris. We inscribe special runes into our flesh that enable us to invoke normally impossible phenomenon...
Nel: Thus the name 'runology'.
Cliff: So that's how you broke the prison bars.
Nel: Correct.
Fayt: (Special runes? They look like tattoos... I can't help feeling I've seen something like this before.)
Cliff: Hey, isn't that like symbology?
Fayt: Symbology! Right, that's what it reminded me of!
Cliff: Yeah.
Nel: Symbology?
Cliff: Er, never mind that. Just continue.
Fayt: But - what's stopping you from using runology to keep Airyglyph back?
Nel: There's only a few of us that can use runology. Far too few to help us stand up to Airyglyph.
Nel: That's why we decided to develop a weapon that makes use of runology. It's a man-made weapon that uses the special energy evoked by runology as a power source.
Nel: The engineers have named that energy 'channeled force'.
Fayt: 'Channeled force'?
Nel: Correct. It's similar to lightning. But there are still a number of problems preventing us from completing the weapon.
Fayt: A power... similar to lightning?
Nel: Just when our research ground to a halt, Tynave and Farleen told me about you two. They also brought back a fragment of that thing that fell into Airyglyph. It was of great interest to our researchers.
Nel: They said the fragment was of a material they could not identify, and that we should enlist your aid in our weapons development. And that's where I came in.
Fayt: So you're asking us to help develop a weapon that uses channeled force?
Nel: Yes. That is correct.


Fayt: Yeah - a radio wave device, maybe. I don't really know much about this 'channeled force', but my guess is it's electricity - and if we can make that, we're home free, but...
Fayt: Nel, I can't do it. We can't help you.
Nel: Didn't I say refusal wasn't an option?
Fayt: But you're talking about a weapon that will kill many people! I don't want to have any part of that.
Fayt: Plus, we don't have any time to spare.
Nel: I understand your situation - you need to hurry to save your father, correct?
Fayt: Yes.
Nel: You admit this is a personal problem - not one that concerns us?
Fayt: True, but...
Nel: Our country's in a state of war. Both the people of Aquaria and Airyglyph are dying, energy weapon or no. A quick end to this war will reduce the number of lives lost. That is why we need to complete our new weapon as soon as possible.
Cliff: This is starting to remind me of my old Earth history lessons...
Fayt: Even so, that's not a good enough reason for me to build a weapon.
Nel: So you're going back on your word?
Fayt: That's coercion!
Nel: Call it what you will. I already told you back at the prison I could not let you live if you refused to cooperate. I don't have anything against you two, but my duty comes first. And I don't need to remind you that you can't help your father if you're dead.
Fayt: Now wait a second!
Nel: What do you think Airyglyph would do if we abandoned you here?
Fayt: We wouldn't help them, either!
Nel: I wonder if you'd sing the same song after their Inquisitioner had his fun with you.
Fayt: ... I would. I've already had a taste of it. Believe me.
Nel: Confident, aren't you?

There's an awkward pause as Fayt and Nel both glare at each other.

Cliff: Hey, don't get all bent outta shape. And you, chill out.
Fayt: But...!
Cliff: No buts, kid. Nothing good comes of acting hastily.
Nel: We have no other choice. Frankly, the war with Airyglyph will escalate unless something is done soon.
Nel: If we could only complete the new weapon, the situation would shift in our favor. If that means we must force uncooperative people into submission, then so be it.
Fayt: Is that a teaching of Apris?
Nel: Of course not. The Sun God Apris and our queen would never wish such things. Yet if we do not act, they will find themselves lacking for followers.
Nel: Would you rather we submit to their swords, like lambs to a slaughter?
Fayt: That's not what I mean.
Nel: But that is what you are saying.
Fayt: You're just twisting my-
Farleen: Oh no!


Nel: They've caught up with us? Damn, we were so close to Kirlsa, too!
Cliff: What are you gonna do? Fight?
Tynave: Lady Nel...
Nel: What is it, Tynave?
Tynave: It would be best for you to slip off and find shelter in the rocks - We'll lure them away!
Fayt: That's too risky!
Tynave: Don't worry.
Farleen: We'll be fine! We've lost their kind before!
Fayt: But...
Nel: Tynave, Farleen, I'm counting on you.


Tynave: You are too valuable for us to lose! We'll be fine - fewer people means more speed. We'll outrun them! So please, go!
Cliff: No time for chitchat. Let's move!
Fayt: But...!
Tynave: Fayt-
Tynave: Please, look after Lady Nel.
Fayt: You be careful yourself!
Farleen: Don't worry about us! May the grace of Apris be with you!
Tynave: May the grace of Apris be with you!


Nel: It shows how important you are to them.
Cliff: That's the Dragon Brigade?
Nel: Correct. They're one of Airyglyph's three military branches - Knights riding powerful air dragons. Not to be trifled with.
Nel: Time to go. While Tynave distracts them, we can go through Kirlsa and enter Aquaria territory.


Fayt: And we can't leave them here! There's no way they'll be able to escape with those dragon knights chasing them...
Nel: Yes, there is an extremely good chance that they'll be caught. But there's nothing we can do about that.
Fayt: What!?
Nel: They knew the dangers of their mission when they accepted it.
Fayt: !
Nel: If I became a burden to the mission, they would leave me behind in the same way.
Fayt: Mission, mission - what's the matter with you!?
Cliff: Hey, Fayt. Shut up.


Cliff: I'll leave whether or not we cooperate up to you, but save the debate for later! We got to get somewhere safer first.
Fayt: ....
Cliff: We'll be safer once we reach Aquaria, right?
Nel: Yes, I can guarantee that.
Cliff: There you are. So let's go there, then we can decide what's what. Make sense to you?
Fayt: Yeah, but still...
Cliff: You want Tynave and Farleen's sacrifice to go to waste? Whatever their objective might be, they're risking their lives to save us!
Fayt: ... You're right.
Cliff: Atta boy.
Nel: Let's go.

We're all by ourselves in the middle of a mountain path now o/

Next time: We follow Nel's directions for once, maybe.

Let's play Star Ocean 3! Part 10

Content Warning: Mild references to war crimes again. This'll be a semi-frequent thing in the Elicoor section in general (due to being in the middle of a war on a planet that hasn't invented the Geneva conventions yet), so consider this a blanket warning for the rest of that part of the game, though I'll make notes if anything more notable comes up.

While the game expects us to finish walking to Kirlsa, which is pretty close, we actually have the option to run allll the way back to Airyglyph and get some extra dialogue! I'll cover this in extras and not the main updates, but that's going to be a thing. We're not expected to go back to Airyglyph at all until a good 10-15 hours from now, but there's at least 5-6 separate occasions where we can visit it for some unique dialogue, mainly with party members. One of them is even a PA, and it's the first since the one back on the transport ship Helre way back when. I wasn't kidding when I said the game is frontloaded with them.

So with that, we're just going to follow the mountain path down to Kirlsa. We get pretty close to the gates, when:




Fayt: Uhh... I just felt dizzy there for a minute.
Nel: We'll be in Kirlsa soon. Can you make it that far? Why don't you have him carry you...


Nel: Very well.
Cliff: ...

We stopped right before the gate, so let's walk that final couple feet.




Cliff kneels down next to Fayt.

Cliff: Don't overexert yourself. Remember, you're not as strong as we are.
Fayt: Now even you're treating me like a baby. I said I'm fine!
Cliff: Yeah, well, I'm saying you don't look fine at all.
Nel: I'd prefer to just leave this town now, but that won't be possible with Fayt in this condition... Let's stay here tonight.
Cliff: What about those guys chasing us?
Nel: We'll be okay if Tynave and Farleen succeed in leading them off... And in any case, we have nothing to gain by forcing a sick person to march.
Cliff: True enough.
Nel: And we're in luck. There's an inn right over there, in that building with the wagon outside.




Cliff: Where're you going?
Nel: I'm just going to check things out. I'll be right back.
Cliff: All right, but are you sure you should leave us alone? Aren't you afraid we'll just run away?
Nel: No. You won't run out on me. I trust you, remember?
Cliff: Oh, don't say that. Now we can't run away...
Nel: Heh heh.

Nel smiles warmly.

Nel: I don't mind you walking around, just don't leave the town. And don't do anything... conspicuous. We're still in Airyglyph territory. There's no telling where the enemy is hiding.
Cliff: Gotcha.
Fayt: All right.


Cliff: What're you gonna do?
Fayt: Don't worry about me. What are you gonna do?
Cliff: I'm conspicuous just walking around... Well, it's gonna be pretty boring, but I guess I'll just have to wait right here.
Fayt: I think I'll take a walk - I'm sure it'll do me good.
Cliff: All right, but be careful. Like she said, we're still in enemy territory.
Fayt: Yeah, I know.

We're free to explore Kirlsa now! All the gates are locked, as well as the doors to Woltar's mansion, but everything else is open. It's a little bit smaller than Airyglyph (the city) but not by much. First off we can talk to Cliff in our inn room:
Cliff: Even if we make a run for it, we've got nowhere to go. Let's just keep a veil of trust up for right now.

And going down to the ground floor we can check the guest register for the inn, where we're listed under the alias "Scarlet Rathgrith".

Walking around town to get a feel for things, the important topics today include information about how this used to be a mining town but they had to close the mines on account of being infested by dragons, which doesn't seem like a great situation to be in. Some of the townspeople mention that there's apparently spies in town that the guard are trying to find, which is why all the gates are closed. Most of them are worried at the idea of Aquarian spies infiltrating their midst, but a handful are excited about the idea of the spies being captured and executed as they deserve.

There's a lot to explore in here, but I'll cover it more in the extras when we get there. There's a lot of interesting townspeople in Kirlsa and many of them have defined little arcs/progression. When we're done wandering around, we find an old man near a barred-off mine, who's really anxious to find someone to talk politics with.

Sermonic Old Man: One day, the church in our town was suddenly surrounded by dozens of soldiers who proceeded to arrest the many followers of the Church of Apris whom had gathered there. A subsequent investigation by Duke Vox, Captain of the Dragon Brigade, concluded that the believers of Apris who gathered there were plotting the assassination of His Royal Majesty. When His Royal Majesty heard about the assassination plot, he declared war on the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria, which was thought to be behind the plot. That is why all the temples of the Chuch of Apris were burned to the ground and even the worship of the Father God, Apris, was banned. It's actually quite a simple matter... Our country merely needed a reason like that so it could invade a sacred kingdom like Aquaria.
Sermonic Old Man: Based on the investigations conducted independently by Duke Vox and the Black Brigade authorities, most of the war protestors have been branded as spies from the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria. They have all been executed at the Kirlsa Training Facility to dissuade others from joining in. No matter how hard His Majesty, Airyglyph XIII, tries to win the war against the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria and make our kingdom flourish, I cannot imagine that the gods would ever forgive him for such sins.
Sermonic Old Man: It would seem that there are more than a few in this world who extol His Royal Majesty as either the second coming of the kingdom's founder, Airyglyph I. However, no matter how much our kingdom flourishes, we must not forget the many who sacrificed their lives to make it possible.

I swear I didn't just transcribe this out of a want to infodump about the politics of this game as well, but this is actually one of the required triggers before we're allowed to continue the story, so the game expects you to have read it for context. Now that we have, if we walk back up to the small graveyard on the north side of town, we run into a familiar face.



We can see Nel is talking, but can't hear them from where Fayt is standing.

Fayt: (What's she doing in a place like this?)


Nel: I see... They're up to the same nasty tricks as always.
Nel: Is it the Dragon Brigade?
???: No, it's the Black Brigade. Of course, the Dragon Brigade is backing them up.
Nel: I see. Good work.
???: Whatever you do, please don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. You know they plan to-
Nel: Huh? Shh!



Fayt: Nothing really. I was passing by and saw you, so...
Fayt: Who was that?
Nel: She works for me, gathering intelligence here in Kirlsa... I was just checking up on her.
Fayt: Is something the matter? You looked pretty grim...
Nel: Nothing unexpected: I've found out our pursuers are getting close to this town.
Fayt: That's it?
Nel: Yes... Why?
Fayt: Oh, well, no reason, really.
Nel: We leave first thing in the morning. We can't afford to waste any time here.

Fayt nods and the screen fades to black.


Fayt: I ran into her at the entrance.
Nel: Like he says.
Cliff: Ah, I see.
Cliff: So how are you feeling now?
Fayt: I'm okay. It must have just been the fatigue catching up with me.
Cliff: Right. Well, hope that's all it was.
Fayt: Sorry to worry you guys.
Cliff: Well, as long as you're okay. Don't sweat it.


Cliff: The Kirlsa Caverns?
Nel: Mineshafts to the north of town. We'll go through there to Arias. Of course it'd be faster to go through the wilderness to the east, but we can't be sure that they aren't waiting to ambush us if we go that way.
Fayt: And the Kirlsa Caverns are safe?
Nel: Well, at least we can be sure there are no Airyglyph soldiers to worry about.
Cliff: Spit it out. What's dangerous about the mineshafts?
Nel: Well, a number of monsters have taken up residence there. I'm not saying it's 100% safe.
Cliff: Riiight.
Nel: Let's just say I'd rather face them than the soldiers. So now that everyone knows the plan, let's get some sleep. We leave early.
Fayt: All right.
Cliff: Okay...

The screen fades to black as they all get some sleep.


Nel: What?
Fayt: Do you think Tynave and Farleen got away okay?
Nel: They'll be fine. Those girls can fend for themselves. They are trained for these eventualities...
Fayt: I hope you're right...
Nel: Hurry up and get ready. Our pursuers are not far away.
Cliff: Yeah, yeah...

Funnily enough, at this point we can just decide to run back to Airyglyph (again). There's a handful of new dialogue from the townspeople if we do (which I'll post in extras), but more importantly there's a PA if we decide to talk to Cliff near the Aqueducts.

Cliff: Who'd have thought it would ever come to this. What a mind-blowing experience. Where've you been anyway? I can't find that Mirage either.
Fayt: Yeah, I wonder where Mirage is.
Cliff: Beats me. Wonder what she's up to.


[If we choose I'm worried about Mirage.]
Fayt: I'm worried about Mirage. Guess it really is dangerous for a woman to be all alone on an underdeveloped planet like this.
Cliff: Gimme a break! You really think she's just a pretty face? You wouldn't say that if you really knew her.
Fayt: Look, Cliff. You're right about the physical abilities of you Klausians being far superior to the people of Elicoor. But that doesn't make me feel any better about leaving a woman all by herself on this planet.
Cliff: Well, I suppose we Klausians aren't invincible or anything. We're just like anyone else if surprised in our sleep, and we'll die if someone poisons our food. However... Mirage's weakness lies somewhere else. How should I put it... I don't think she knows the meaning of the word "hesitate". Once she determines that someone is an enemy, she'll never hesitate to act. It makes no difference if it's someone that she's met before.
Cliff: Anyone who's come up against her and lived can only be described as lucky.
Fayt: Hmm... I see.
Cliff: Just remember this. Don't do anything to ruffle her feathers. If you get her really angry, even I won't be able to save you.
Fayt: I'll try to remember that.
[pause]
Cliff: Man, what's up with her? She could at least contact us once while she's out there. I suppose it'll be okay as long as she's safe.

[If we choose I never dreamed something like this would happen.]
Fayt: I never dreamed something like this would happen. Crashing on an underdeveloped planet and then getting mixed up in a war...
Cliff: Well of course you didn't. I'd have to smack you if you knew about all this ahead of time and didn't tell me.
Fayt: No, you're missing my point. I always assumed I'd lead a completely ordinary life in which I'd go to college, get a job, and so on... What I'm trying to say is, such assumptions about one's life are meaningless. After all, look how easily the ordinary life I was leading was shattered.
Cliff: Ain't that the truth. You guys lead pretty sheltered lives there in the Sol System. I bet you didn't even know that the Pangalactic Federation and Aldian Empire are still duking it out in Lambda Sector and Gamma Sector. It might seem that it's peaceful over there, but that's far from the truth.
Fayt: What!? But I heard that the front had recently stabilized, and that for the last several years no battles to speak of had occurred.
Cliff: Oh, come on! You don't actually believe everything the Federation government says, do you? Granted, there haven't been any battles big enough to shake up the balance of power in the galaxy for sometime. Still, small skirmishes between a few battleships happen all the time.
Cliff: Well, I suppose it's because your planet is so far from the frontlines. I shouldn't be surprised that you are so cut off from reality.
[pause]
Cliff: But enough about that. Right now, let's concentrate on getting ourselves off this planet. We can worry about other stuff later.

With that little detour out of the way, let's run all the way back to Kirlsa and maybe check out those caverns we were supposed to go to.



The Kirlsa Caverns is set up in two halves, and the first is pretty small and fairly straightforward. We just kind of go into a counter-clockwise loop (with a handful of branches for loot), run into a device that needs power, and then keep going until we reach a boss and a power generator.


Nel: These days, it's only used as a passage through the mountains. But even that's become dangerous because of cave-ins and such.
Fayt: I see.




That's the boss, it's a big rock. It hits hard but it's fairly slow, so if you're careful with timing your hits right it's really easy to avoid taking damage. It goes down pretty quickly.


Cliff: Kinda late for that now.
Cliff: Wonder if he's behind that cave-in?
Nel: It's a possibility. Don't let your guard down.
Fayt: Yeah.

We turn on the power generator and get power, hurray! The door locked behind us though, so we have to keep following the loop until we get back to where the device was.



And with that, welcome to the bane of my existence. The hauler beasts. This "minigame" (puzzle?) makes up the entire second half of the dungeon, where you have to try to drive a hauler beast around on the tracks to either pick up loot or try to find and head for the exit. These are a nightmare to drive. If you go too fast they miss turns or get scared by rocks, if you go too slow they miss jumps or get scared by wood barriers. You need to not only figure out what path you're going, but constantly adjust your speed up and down so your hauler doesn't either go on the wrong path or gets so stressed out it panics and takes you back to the beginning. This gets exponentially worse if you're trying to get all the loot, because it requires using the "special" abilities of more than one hauler, one of which is "walks around at random" where you have to just cross your fingers and hope it picks the right path because it's the only one that has the stats to reach one of the items. Every time I play this game I reach the Kirla Caverns and remember "OH NO THE HAULER BEASTS" and rethink my entire life.

I'm not going to cover everything about this minigame, just have a couple screenshots and imagine me screaming in frustration in the background. (Disclaimer: I actually managed to exit the caverns on my very first try for this playthrough and it's the first time I've managed that)



Fayt: Yeah, I did, but uh...


Old Soldier: There's also been some terrible rock slides and holes have opened up in some of the tunnels. It's a complete mess in there.
Fayt: Umm... Who are you?
Old Soldier: Oh, I forgot to introduce myself.
Old Soldier: I'm Gregory von Dermein III, administrator of these caverns. I'm a member of the Glyphian army.
Fayt: Gregory... Uhh...
Gregory: Ha ha ha... Just 'Gregory' will do. I'm only a rank and file soldier. This is a job suited to an old man such as me. Not that I like being old, mind you...
Fayt: How interesting...
Gregory: Whoops. There I go bellyaching again.
Gregory: Well now, if you made it here on that hauler, that must mean the tunnels are clear.
Fayt: Yep. There were a few dangerous parts, but nothing that prevented us from making it through.
Gregory: I see... Well then, I'll drive this one back. I was a fine hauler driver back in the day.
Fayt: Thank you. That would be great.
Gregory: There's a wide expanse of wildlands from here on. Be careful.
Fayt: You be careful, too, Gregory.
Gregory: Don't worry about me. I can still keep up with you youngsters.

Gregory is the MVP, because from here on out if we want to cross the caverns we can just talk to him and he'll take us across without requiring us to do the minigame again (though we still have access to it if we want to hunt for any treasure we might have missed/skipped). Big thank yous to Gregory.

We're now out on the Bequerel Mountain Path, which we'll revisit a couple times during the game. If we explore this area we can go to three different places:
- Arias, our destination
- the mountains of Barr, an area we can already visit ~50% of if we want, but that we're meant to go later and that's significantly higher level than we are right now
- or the Bequerel Mines, an area we're also meant to go to much later, though slightly before Barr, and that we can't progress past the first room in

So with nothing better to do (I say as if I didn't spend half an hour exploring Barr to see how far it would let me go before missing story flags would stop me), we head straight for Arias.

Next time: Arias! We get to meet some more of Nel's coworkers.