Toggle Background Color
Chapter LXXX: The Curious Case of Giggity
In our previous updates, Aggro, Cid, and Alphinaud had recovered Cid's airship; however, it was in desperate need for repair. What's more, without the ability to pierce the winds protecting the Primal Garuda, the crew aren't able to get anywhere. Of course, it's fallen on Aggro to obtain a corrupted crystal of aether that would provide the Enterprise with that wind-piercing functionality.
Music: Dance of the Fireflies
Aggro's had a terrible night's rest, but she now at least has a lead on a crystal. How much work did she have to do to reach this point? Was that two-update dream what really happened? We'll let the Big A Realm Reborn Trim decide in July.
Sad news about this update though, as this next banner will tell you everything you need to know.
Following our lead, Aggro hits up Hedyn over in Old Gridania. He actually knows where the exact corrupted crystals we need are located, so thank fuck for that. Things are never easy, and this isn't going to be a single-quest update. No, because the area filled with those corrupted crystals is now a Spriggan den.
See, Spriggans are basically a cross between sprites and faeries, with an obsession with metals or other shiny things. They sap the energy from natural resources to power themselves, and in-lore scholars believe they're vessels for the will of the "Earth" (read: Hydaelyn, I always thought using the term Earth in a fantasy world that wasn't Earth pretty weird). Anyway, this means there isn't really any left except for one.
Anyway, the point is, a Spriggan known as "Giggity" has devoured all the corrupt crystals in the Shroud alone and now all the other Spriggans are terrified of them. Hedyn suggests we find a Spriggan—though not the ones found in a giant den for them in Central Shroud—and points us towards East Shroud.
Music: Flibbertigibit
Hedyn doesn't actually know exactly where in East Shroud this Spriggan actually is, so Aggro has to use her contacts. Good thing we became friends with the Sylph! We ask Komuxio—still bloodthirsty and raring for some Imperial slaughter after the attack on the Waking Sands, remember that... two years ago? Was it that long? Jesus Christ, so it was!—and then we're told to find the wandering Spriggan in Larkscall. Y'know, the place with all the tempered Sylphs. Great. Let's hope he's not already dead.
Music: A Curious Breed of Botherment
Larkscall is only a short trek over an old bridge to the North-East. The entryway is actually right at the edge of Little Solace—the Sylph settlement. We don't have to venture too far to find Tiggy, which is good, because anywhere further than Tiggy will see Aggro ambushed by enemies at the level range of the top 40's.
As usual, stepping into the dark area surrounding Tiggy will initiate combat.
Just try your best not to fall off the branch when you start the fight. Killing the enemy Sylvan Screech won't do you much good if it's outside the little darkened arena on the branch. Sometimes, this means you'll need to fight again.
What's worse is that the Screech will attempt to auto-attack Aggro between their Thunder casts, so they'll follow Aggro to the ground.
Tiggy is, of course, ecstatic to be saved and goes back to Little Solace. We'll catch up with them there.
Music: Flibbertigibit
Remember the runaround in the last two updates because Aggro is a mute protagonist? Well, it turns out Komuxio already has the information we need. They just didn't say before because they had no idea we were looking for Giggity. Oh, well. At least we did a good deed and saved Tiggy, who was on the run from Giggity to begin with.
So, we want to lure out Giggity with a very special, rare ore. Komuxio admits they don't know much about ore and points us to Maerwynn at the Sanctum of the Twelve, here in East Shroud.
Music: Serenity
Heading north-west, there's a winding path that takes us up to the Sanctum of the Twelve.
The Sanctum is a very grand place, and it's actually where players looking to get in-game married will be holding their ceremonies. There's some perks and stuff to it, but we'll get to that sometime, maybe, if Aggro ever gets lucky or whatever. Shut up. There's a Primal to fight.
Unfortunately, we won't get to peek inside the Sanctum today. Maerywynn is hanging around outside but has some advice for us. She recommends we get a hold of some true heart ore, which she believes Giggity will not have come across before. We can get one by murdering a Chert Golem in Larkscall and ripping out its soulstone. Also, we'll need to rub the soulstone on Amberscale Rock—which we can find in Central Shroud—to remove its enchantments. This would be a prime opportunity to let Thaumaturges Black Mages work a little magic and skip a step, but hey, that's maybe asking a bit much. Why should those jerks get an advantage anyway?
Music: A Curious Breed of Botherment
The path that leads to the Sanctum actually has a tunnel underneath that leads to Larkscall. Through here, we'll have to make our way past some level 23 tempered Sylphs. Not really an issue, but I'm noting it because they're on the Hunt Log—specifically, the Grand Company branch of the Hunt Log.
I honestly forgot this exists, but there it is. It rewards us with seals which we can use to improve our rank and buy things. That's something we'll worry about later on because the rewards aren't really worth the trouble when we're leveling.
Eventually, Aggro finds herself surrounded by very aggressive level 43 enemies. Sometimes it's easier to just kill them than get the Heavy status for taking a mount. My mind just took me back to the old A Realm Reborn days. This isn't a thing anymore. They removed it in the second major Stormblood update. Well, whatever.
Of note is the local Marlboro breed. They can be a giant pain in the butt because they unload status effects out the ass with Bad Breath. The best thing about them is that they don't actually have eyes. If you want to avoid their attention, just walk! It's that simple really.
Similarly, we can walk right past the Ochu for access to the Destination to progress the quest. Understanding how enemies aggro really saves a bit of time.
Ah, fuck. Everything's starting to attack Aggro anyway. Forget the delicate approach. Just murder any enemies before you begin, or grab them all—Chert Golem included—and start spamming those AoE moves. Nothing hurts. This is A Realm Reborn.
Fuck this forest up! The Ochus will pile up poison stacks, and the Treant and Chert Golem will try big offensive attacks that require a lot of moving. It's a little chaotic but Aggro is just going to rip and tear and she wouldn't have it any other way.
Killing the Chert Golem will automatically drop the soulstone in our pocket, so Aggro teleports right over to Central Shroud when we're done with slaying the rest of the Twelveswood.
Music: Serenity
We need to travel up The Matron's Lethe to get into Central Shroud's western section. Alternatively, there's a gate from Gridania that goes straight to that side, but I can't remember if we unlocked it or not and I'm basically winging these updates at this point before work has me back on another unplanned, should-have-seen-it-coming hiatus.
Aggro finds the Amberscale Rock in a small cave to the west of Central Shroud.
Tiggy is also already there, and they tell us where Giggity is found once we've rubbed the enchantments away from the soulstone.
From the cave, we head straight north where we find this old rope bridge. Across the other side is The Standing Corses, where the Spriggan Dig lies. In the distance, we can vaguely see what remains of West Shroud. It existed back in 1.0, but is now badly flooded and corrupted. A tiny fragment of the map is available through a PvP map.
Our goal is at the bottom of the Dig, right near the entrance. The tunnels actually do go a bit further, but we won't be seeing that anytime today at all. It's filled with level 43 Spriggans and Crater Golems, so it might be easier to clear out the two or three nearby the Destination.
After all the fighting, all that remains is to place the True Heart ore...
... and slay the Crystal Bearer aka Giggity. Giggity just uses the standard Spriggan fare of abilities, so the only mechanic is to avoid the orange markers before the castbar finishes and stunning them during Jittering Jig—a self-buff that increases Giggity's damage output. Easy.
Once Giggity is down, all Aggro needs to do is pull the crystal from Giggity's innards and teleport back to Gridania. Thankfully, the innard searching is done automatically after slaying the monster Spriggan.
Music: Dance of the Fireflies
Back in Old Gridania, Hedyn confirms the Corrupted Crystal is of the aspect we want. He also notes that Giggity's digestive juices provide a coating on the crystal that protects Aggro and himself from the harmful effects. Y'know, just so the whole Warded Pot part of the previous quests wouldn't be as redundant as the entirety of the last three updates including this one.
Anyway, a quick sprint and we're back at the airship docks to progress the main scenario. It only took three updates and six months.
The grunt work is over and Aggro has a corrupted ice crystal. Finally, the Enterprise crew will have the means of penetrating Garuda's tempest. Let's hand that over to Cid and get our cutscene reward.
Worry not, Aggro. I'll see that your hard work doesn't go to waste.
... Alright then.
At least we got a belt we... can't quite equip yet. See you next time when Aggro is level 44.
All Cutscenes and Dialogue