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Hopefully I can actually manage to minimize Technical Issues from now on. Anyway...
Mozart's #6 Dance Tune
So, last time we left off right outside a town after getting the second ship.
: Where would you buy spoons here, anyway...?
: Here, lemme show ya.
: First Mozart, now you? 
: Guess he's rubbing off on me.
: Ugh, seriously?
: Did you forget to drop the anchor?
: No, I'm quite sure I did that. Maybe the chain broke, though.
: Not again...
: So... how're we gonna get off this island now?
As of now, the Sing command actually has some relevance! I probably won't use this song much, if at all, since Regen probably won't be all that useful- either I kill things too fast for it to activate, or I'm dying too fast for it to keep up.
: Well, at least this place isn't a COMPLETE loss- this sheet music says its song gradually heals the wounds of the listener.
: Guess you weren't kidding about magical songs.
: Lesson time?
: Lesson time.
: Respectable, but you screwed up the last note.
: Perfectionist much?
: Music is Serious Business. And my job.
Nothing else of interest in town, so time to go this way!
: We might as well explore while we're here. Maybe we'll even find a way off!
: Nah, we aren't that lucky.
Walking into the center of that patch of forest drops us here.
: Some sorta funky-colored ostrich?
: A Black Chocobo. From what I've read, it's a rare mutation that a Chocobo can be born with. It's not just cosmetic, either- they've apparently got drastically increased wing strength.
: Increased by how much?
: They can fly, from what the book said. With passengers, at that.
: Huh. If that's true we might be able to ride it off this island.
: Okay, let's give you a quick check-up. Let's see, good sheen to the feathers...
: How would you know about chocobo health?
: Boko's gotten sick a few times, so I had to learn. Now spread your wings... damn. Wingspan's at least twice as wide as Boko's.
: His voice sounded kinda off, though.
: I was getting to that. Open your mouth please... hm...
: Something wrong?
: Looks like he swallowed a couple crystal fragments.
: I'll get 'em out.
Faris then whacks the chocobo a couple times to force it to spit the shards out.
: Your bedside manner needs work.
: These need to be washed before we even consider repairs...
: Gross. 
: You didn't strike me as the squeamish type, old man.
: Well, anyway, let's see if that's all. Give us a "kweh," please.
: KWEEEEH!
: Oh yeah, MUCH better.
Now that the chocobo's condition has been confirmed (and the crystals he had been choking on removed), the party piles on its back; this is just before liftoff.
: Any of you know how to ride a chocobo?
: Nope.
: I'm a pirate. Why would I ride chocobos?
: Sorry, I'm out of practice.
: Great... guess I have to steer. This is gonna suck...
We now have the Black Chocobo! This guy can fly better than the dragon could due to being able to pass the smaller mountains (he still can't pass the white ones), but he can only land in forests, making him a little restricted. Regardless, we now have almost the entirety of World 1 available for exploration! First thing to do?
Well, this isn't where we're supposed to go, but I tend to prefer going places I'm not supposed to first anyway.
: Wait a minute, I never knew this town was here. How'd you find out about it, Mozart?
: This is my hometown. Welcome to Lix, guys.
: 
: Yes, it's me. Sorry, though, I don't have time to play anything for you today.
: Same to you, gramps. You been forgetting to shave lately?
: Come on, it hasn't been THAT long... I mean, the kids still recognize me.
: Probably because I left my old instruments there when I left. I'll have to let him know that I'll be charging him rent.
: Considering how "old times" includes the time I broke my friggin' ARM, I'd rather not.
: You can't even SPELL smart right, what makes you think you've got what it takes?
: 
: Errr, I think I hear someone calling me...
: Sorry, not interested in groupies.
By "on sale" he means "buy things for their sell price." That'd be great if he sold Phoenix Downs or I had any use at all for Ethers.
: I never realized we were a NINJA village...
: Well, here's my old place. Time to tell that bard about the rent.
: Technically speaking, this is still my house, so I'll be charging you rent starting now.
: Err, right... I suppose that's fair.
: Huh. Mom's music box. Kinda surprised this thing's still here.
: Now that you mention it, where is she?
: She died when I was still a kid. Not sure what caused it- I was barely old enough to understand what happened.
The music box's tune prompts a flashback in Mozart to the last time he saw his mother (who is off screen for this screenshot).
: (Come to think of it, I guess I'm turning out more like Dad than I thought I would. I always took after Mom more, so I thought I'd just be a bard and nothing else.)
: My mother composed it, actually. Think she convinced one of Cid's colleagues to make that thing for her.
The NPC bard then gives us our second song! This one confuses all enemies, which I have already proven can be incredibly handy. I won't underestimate this song after seeing how far Tempting Tango's gotten me.
Anyway, Mozart and the NPC spend several hours discussing terms for the rental, so we hit up the Inn afterwards for a place to stay the night.
: Stop talking like an old man- you're a year younger than me!
That night, Faris wakes in the middle of the night for... whatever reason, and notices that Mozart's not in bed.
: Yeah, just visiting Mom's grave. Thanks for asking.
: Wait, what're you doing?
: Dad died a few years ago. His body's gone, but I'm sure his spirit's here, so...
Faris approaches to see what Mozart added to the grave.
: So your father's name was Dorgann...?
: Yeah. He was... well, he was the kind of guy who needed to help everyone he saw. Galuf kinda reminds me of him, for some reason.
: I would've expected that to be Lenna, really.
: Dad... well, no offense, but he wasn't suicidal about it.
: "No offense?" 
: Well, you seem to be getting close with Lenna, so I figured you might get mad about someone pointing out her flaws.
: Nah, I'm fine with that as long as they're flaws she actually has.
: And as long as I'm not malicious about it, right?
: Of course.
: Yeah, we need our sleep anyway. Night, Faris.
Amazingly enough, Mozart's actually fairly alert the next day. There's nothing else interesting in Lix, though, so it's time to leave.
Next up on the "world tour" agenda is this town, tucked away in the northwest corner of the map.
: I kinda like this place- a travelling performer can earn quite a bit here. Too bad we're on a schedule.
Just for the hell of it.
: 
: What's gotten into you, Mozart? Never figured you to be the jewelry type.
: MAGIC jewelry, on the other hand...
: What do they do, anyway?
: Elemental protection, mostly, though they also stock rings that prevent magical deterioration of the body.
: Meaning...?
: Some spells can age you about thirty years in an instant, and others temporarily convert a living body into one of the undead. This ring prevents both of those.
: Huh. Sounds useful.
: Hence why they cost a friggin' fortune.
: Doesn't sound too bad... Maybe we could take care of it.
: Okay, I take it back. Sounds pretty nasty.
: 
Mozart jumps the fence in order to chat with this guy. He's not stupid enough to antagonize a sheep just after being informed of its irritability.
: Huh. We've got a bit of a reputation, it seems.
: (Too bad it probably includes our success rate...)
: Let's see what we've got... huh. A song intended to soothe the listeners...? There's even a bit of magic in it to reduce them to a stupor... Well, I can try it sometime, at least.
At this point, Sing's starting to look like a viable addition to my arsenal. I'll keep Hide for the foreseeable future, but this is about the point that Bards start becoming useful, if outclassed and gimmicky, instead of active hindrances.
: Where're you going, Galuf? The chocobo's THAT way!
:
: Here we go again... I'm just gonna hide over here for a bit.
: HALT, EVILDOER!!!
: I'm with Mozart. Lenna, could you make sure Galuf survives?
: Umm... I'll try...
Note: Mass Hide does not work on Ramuh- since he's classified as a random encounter despite the boss music, you can run from him.
This is a Thundara. It hurts.
: Oh, never mind, you two look like you need help staying alive.
: I think we underestimated him.
Ramuh has Osmose, which could potentially prolong the battle, but sufficient Mystery Waltzing leads him to this. Yes, Galuf and Faris are blinded- he Flashed me once, which I can only assume led to blindness through the whole "gouge your own eyes out at the sheer horribleness of what you just witnessed" thing.
Without Thundara it's a fairly simple matter to smack him down.
Please ignore the change in my HP and the lack of blindness; again, I missed a screenshot I later decided I wanted, so I went back to an earlier save to get it.
: You guys know each other?
: Yes, Ramuh serves as the summon spirit of lightning.
: Not that that means much to us, since we can't summon anything.
Boss Deaths: 0
Total Boss Deaths: 3
Other Deaths:1 (I decided to count my failed attempt at the Karnak Castle Escape as a death. Probably a bit late to change this, but oh well)
I'm not quite sure why Ramuh drops an item that gives you the spell to summon him instead of directly teaching you the spell, though...
I go back to Karnak in an abortive attempt to grind up enough money to buy at least ONE ring, but decide it can wait just short of 10,000. I feel it's likely I'll get enough money for my first ring in the next dungeon anyway- not like I've got much else to spend it on at the moment, since I've got the best gear I can buy in World 1.
I think that's enough getting sidetracked for the moment. Time for Plot.
: Seriously? We went to all that trouble, and you manage to sink it in less than a day?!
: On the bright side, we found a Black Chocobo.
: Wait, those actually exist?
: How did you think we got back here, by swimming?
: Father?! Where is he?!
: Calm down, Lenna.
: That's west of here, for those of you who haven't memorized the map.
: Try to be less condescending, please...
: What could he want there?
: I'm more concerned with how he plans to get there.
: Huh. Hate to break it to you, Lenna, but I'm not sure your father's himself at the moment.
: There's a spell that lets people do that, though.
: But has your father studied magic? Besides, I was under the impression that different forms of magic require different approaches to casting them.
: Anyway, if Mozart's right, then that must mean the Earth Crystal is there!
: Glad one of you has priorities.
: I'm sure Cid can come up with something. We might have to wait a bit, though.
Have a desert. What's that? You don't want it? Well too bad, this is the Plot destination now!
Watch your step.
Incidentally, I like the music here. Kinda like you're entering a place that's been undisturbed for centuries, possibly involving things best left alone.
Thankfully, you don't sink into the sand- it just acts as a conveyor belt. However, the game will not advance until you step into the moving sand, so here we go!
: Don't worry, Cid'll be along shortly. I'm sure he's got something in mind.
: Right on cue.
: ...With what materials?
: ...then you guys kill it and use its corpse as a bridge!
: I don't like this plan.
: Agreed.
: Sophistication has nothing to do with it- you guys want travelling entertainers to fight a giant sand worm, TO THE DEATH, just to make a bridge so we can get through the desert?
: It does sound pretty crazy, when you put it like that...
: 
Not like we've got a choice though, right?
: If I say no, will you come up with a different plan?
: Nope.
: Worth a try, at least...
: Guess it's just as well that I don't know any magic, then.
With no further warning, the two scholars ring their bells, which lure the Sandworm straight to us; you can see the path it's digging here.
: This is gonna suck, isn't it?
Here's the Sandworm. His gimmick, as explained more extensively in other runs, is that you have to target the correct hole to damage him (with the "counters magic" thing being intended to keep players from cheesing it with multi-targeting); if you aim for the wrong hole, you get countered with Gravity, presumably representing the poor schmuck falling in or something. And yes, every so often he'll randomly switch which hole he's in, making this boss fight essentially a game of Whack-A-Mole that fights back.
Sandworm is not the only boss who does this "aim right or get countered" thing, but at least you can see which one's the target at a glance.
This is gonna take a while- Sandworm generally does crap damage even to weaklings like Mozart's team, but on the flipside we don't do much more to him unless someone manages to Jitterbug him. Also: I hadn't realized how FAST the Sandworm switched holes until getting here- he's switching like three or four times in the time it takes me to charge my ATB ONCE. Thankfully, he'll occasionally pop out of the same hole twice in a row, so that cuts down on counters a bit.
Incidentally, for the Berserkers among you: I'm assuming that attempting to attack a target you shouldn't be able to target (the two extra copies of Sandworm and the "switcher" in this case) simply redirects your attack to a valid target (which, in this case, means "a hole"- I was targeting the center Sandworm when he moved, and the back hole countered me); the fact that you still attack form-changing bosses correctly is presumably a product of there only being one target at a time there. I'm curious about the script the game uses to synchronize HP values though (but it's not like I'd be able to read it even if I had it)...
This is a result of the Sandworm deciding to be a whore and just go Quicksand EVERY TURN for like 8 turns straight. The second try goes worse, since it decides to go Quicksand FIRST TURN. Again, I die to Quicksand Spam.
On my third try I get the idea to substitute Sing on the guys- not like Hide would help much on this fight anyway. Let's see how much Regen helps!
The answer, for the record, was "not at all." It took FOREVER to tick, and when it did it only healed 20 HP- which is rendered completely moot considering Quicksand (which Sandworm has proven that it LOVES to spam the hell out of) inflicts Sap, which drains something like 40 HP in the time it takes Regen to activate. I had to use a few Phoenix Downs and SEVEN FRICKING ELIXIRS in this fight, and as you can see Lenna ended the fight dead!
Boss Deaths: 2
Total Boss Deaths: 5
Other Deaths: 1
: Easy for you to say! You didn't do anything but watch!
: 
: Hang on, Lenna, we'll get you fixed up soon!
: There's no way we could've won that one aiming randomly...
: Hang on, do you hear something? Sounds like a barbarian's victory cry, combined with the sobbing of a broken soul...
: Oddly enough, yes. Wonder what it is...
:
: Don't act all proud- I TOLD you it'd end up like this!
I'll come back to this place later- next thing on the agenda is to resupply. To the Ship Graveyard!
By the time I finish, my party looks like this. For the record, any encounters with no chance to drop Elixirs (something like 70% of the encounters in the Ship Graveyard are Skeletons, which, as previously mentioned, drop Daggers) I ran from, both to save time and to power up the Chicken Knife when I get it. I hit my quota at level 20, but since I don't know if anything coming up uses Level 5 Death I ground out another level in the Graveyard, earning a few extra Elixirs in the process.
On a less important note, all four characters have mastered both Bard and Dancer by now!
And my inventory after a quick trip to a store. It may interest some of you (Bear, for example) that Mindflushers can drop Flame Scrolls, and the Skeletons' Daggers may be useful to throw depending on the algorithm (I'm not gonna look it up for a class I'm not even using). I sold the Flame Scroll and six Daggers that dropped while I was looking for Elixirs (before I wised up and checked which enemies drop them, though admittedly some of the Daggers came from Skeletons that showed up alongside them). About 30 Elixirs dropped- pretty damn good haul for only an hour and a half! (Is it me, or is the drop rate I'm getting in the Ship Graveyard INSANE?)
Also: Turns out I ended up getting enough money to buy one of those rings before the next dungeon after all! I picked an Angel Ring, since a lot of the stuff a Fire Ring protects against I can cheese by hiding from it until it runs out of MP, and I'm pretty sure Water attacks won't be an issue for a while.
Sure, I always wanted to see one!
: And don't screw it up like you did with the whole "crossing the desert" thing.
: Well, at least it wasn't hard getting through there.
And here are the Gohn Ruins. I ran into some Bio Soldiers on the way here, though, and one of them got a Bio off, so I'll be using a Tent before heading in. I mean, I've got the things, might as well use 'em, right?
I'll leave actually investigating the ruins off for next time, though, since I feel like it's been too long since my last update (plus I feel like the next dungeon's gonna take a while). Next time: The most improbable flying method in the game! (From a real-world perspective, at least...)