Update 3: Aurum Gets Wings
The final step before completing your mission will be to visit the Grand Court and report your find.
We’ve an obligation to return the Iridescent Ore to the Count. Let’s get going, shall we?
Speak for yourself, I’m bushed. I’ll meet you kids at the inn.
Aye, I could use a rest.
I guess a rest couldn’t hurt. We’ve still gotta make sleeping arrangements, though- I wasn’t planning on having a full guild just yet!
Don’t worry about it- There’s an inn just up ahead! I have some relatives that stay there on occasion, including my brother, who lives just outside of town.
Yeah, we are new explorers! How’d you know? Anyways, we’re gonna need reservations for… two rooms, please.
Two?! But I must object- such tight spacing will surely not be adequate for proper rest!
Why, Alan? You’ve volunteered to pay for our housing? How kind of you! That’ll be… twenty five gold, for five rooms, if you please.
I never-
OR, we could pay ten for two rooms, and take the funds from the guild coffers. It’s your call.
Ahahaha! Alan, was it? I think it’d be wise to leave the financial decisions to Rei.
All right Amine, UP AND AT 'EM! We got a mission to turn in, people to meet, places to explore! Get yourself ready, will you? I’ll go get the guys-
FIE, WOMAN! LET ME SLEEP! THE CARDINALS HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO CHIRP!
Not a morning person I see… All right. You’re up, at least.
The party gets almost two levels’ worth of experience.
It’s a vessel that sails the skies, powered by the Iridescent Ore. You’ll be searching for Yggdrasil on one. Your skyship is ready now at the city gates. Once you claim it, why not make the Lush Woodlands your first stop? The Lush Woodlands is a large, natural labyrinth currently being investigated by many of our explorers. Once you reach the Lush Woodlands, head straight for the pillar of light you’ll see. It’s an invaluable tool. Oh, and stop by the atelier before you go. I sent them my authorization for you to buy certain necessities. Well then, may your way be clear!
Rei grabs the first of the damage skills she’ll be using the entire game- Blazing Link.
Billy has a better chance to trigger Taunt.
Another level in Long Shot.
Smith gets Healing high enough to unlock Line Heal, which is just as self-explanatory as Healing. It costs 10 TP though, which is pretty hefty for this point in the game- especially to be using in long dungeon treks.
And finally, Alan gets Lightning Rune, which targets a whole row of enemies. It’s probably the best of the first-tier Runes.
We were asked to head to the Berund Atelier, no?
The soldier takes a moment to catch his breath before pulling out a letter and reading it over.
It says he will be giving you a Foodapult. I’m guessing that’s equipment for your skyship? Maybe that’s why he can’t give it to you by hand. It says here it’s been delivered to the city gates, and you should ask the one in charge there for details.
The soldier apologizes for delaying you and nods curtly before leaving.
I got a request from the Outland Count to prepare yeh a skyship. She’s all ready to go. Yeh can set sail as soon as she’s registered. So, what’re yeh going to name her?
If I may? Our guild is titled after a word of old, meaning gold. Perhaps a name such as Argentum would suit our guild’s new flight companion?
Don’t be so dry. Our ship should bring death from above for all who dare oppose us- She should be called the Juggernaut, the Deathship, the Flying Menace!
Let us go with the Mocha.
Huh? Why the “Mocha?”
I had a dog once. We called her Mocha. She was brown, like coffee. …I know not why you are glaring at me like that.
Oh, yeah! We’ll definitely stop by.
Sure thing.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt! We won’t be visiting, will we?
Nope.
Wynne isn’t lying. Ariadne Threads are great. They’ll warp you out of the labyrinth in both dangerous situations as well as ones where you just don’t want to walk back to town.
Y’know, I’m real curious to know who would pay for a Grasseater leg and what its practical applications are, but we got paid so I don’t really care.
The Leather Vest is a pretty nice upgrade from Tweed, and Billy will be taking quite a few hits, so I grab one for him. Unfortunately the shop requires you to have enough materials to make each piece of armor, and I only had enough for one Leather Vest, so Rei will be stuck in Tweed for now. The back row really doesn’t need anything else quite yet.
Did anyone else notice that magnificently dressed woman disappearing into that building just now? …Come to think of it, what is that building?
Nothing stopping us from checking it out.
I beg your leave, but I do not believe-
“Commensurate rewards,” you say? Color me interested. C’mon, Amine, let’s at least check them out!
How about this one?
And this one?
Rat fangs? I wonder if I could aim precisely enough to sever them with my arrows.
And then there’s the bar patrons. I’m honestly curious if anyone would be interested in seeing the dialogue here- there’s a LOT of it. In the interest of actually getting something done today, I’ll be skipping this for now. I do have the dialogue in case anyone is interested in seeing it in the future though.
Let’s visit the Atelier first, and the Grand Court afterwards.
No, I don’t believe you need to recite a technique so simple as reading a grid.
And now, if we head to the City Gates, we have three options- warp directly to a labyrinth like the Lush Woodlands we’re headed to, we can head to a “land,” which essentially corresponds to the Strata of the previous games, or we can begin next to any cave that’s been discovered.
The Foodapult lets the Mocha literally catapult food in front of the airship, and it’s part of some FOE puzzles on the overworld map. There are other pieces of equipment too, and some of them are pretty useful for making money.
As you would expect from the Windy Plains, strong gusts of wind blow across the skies. Some of the stronger winds seem likely to sway the Mocha from her course… Far to the north of these skies looms Yggdrasil, your ultimate destination. But you will never reach it without understanding how to control your skyship. You review the controls…
Now how did I get stuck with Skyship duty? I ain’t too sure this is part of my contract.
Most likely because your uses in the navigation department are severely limited. Regardless, operating this craft is simple. This lever drops crates of food, this one controls the thrust, and this wheel turns the skyship- obviously.
The map you received from the wharf master shows Tharsis, as well as the Lush Woodlands the Count spoke of. You could head straight for that natural labyrinth, but it might be wise to have a look around first. Be on your guard. Encounters with monsters and tornadoes could cost you your lives.
I hope these soldiers like carrots!
Are you SURE this is the right time to be gathering vegetables, lass? I can’t really patch you up if you’re kangaroo droppings!
But think of how much these will sell for!
We need to be leaving- now!
Quick! Through there!
You fool! The winds are too strong for our ship!
How was I to know?!
Quit your bickering. 'Sides, he’s not following us anymore anyways.
Winds will push you in the direction they blow- groundbreaking, I know.
I don’t think I need to say this, but let’s find another way around.
Such power! I must learn the ways of the tornado, and seek to become so fearsome a force in combat!
Learn 'em on your own time- I’d rather keep our ship and bones intact.
There are brightly colored fruits on the trees; many animals seem to flock here to feed on these fruits. You grow excited to think of what manner of exotic beasts you may encounter in this forest.
Breathtaking, truly, but this is most certainly the wrong destination according to the map.
Looking down, you see breathtakingly clear spring water gushing out from beneath the quay. This seems to be the source of the river flowing to Tharsis. You linger to take in its beauty before leaving.
This is an important location for an upcoming quest.
You can almost hear the rustling of the trees thick with large, glossy green leaves. This is the fabled kapok grove! You must simply mark its location so as not to forget and report to the Outland Count to fulfill the request!
Kapoks, hm? They are marvelously beautiful- 'tis a shame we have none in the East.
…Fascinating. What do you use for lumber, then? What about adhesives derived from Kapok sap?
I am unsure about these… adhesives. But we have other species of trees native to my homelands- in particular, the Darru trees, whose lumber is very flexible and strong.
Ah! This intrigues me. Magic and baking are my callings, yes, but plants always fascinated me. Perhaps you could teach me about the flora of the East at a later date?
Perhaps. On the condition that you, too, tell me of the plants native to the West.
You’re going to bond… over plants. Whatever floats your boat, I guess.
To the east and west are high mountain ranges, far too tall for your skyship to fly overhead.
Visibility is close to nil in the ravine. To brave it with your skyship would be far too dangerous. You also see some kind of monument south of the ravine. You can barely make out a crest engraved in it.
To the side of the forest is the same stone monument that was next to the ravine. It seems to coincidental to ignore… There may be some connection between the ravine and the Lush Woodlands.
That’s it- the Lush Woodlands. Those monuments are connected, without a doubt. I say we crush whatever monsters are in there, and we’ll find a way to clear the fog. Though I wonder why my brother never mentioned the monument before… he works as a soldier here all the time.
No use speculating- the food’ll spoil if we don’t deliver it soon.
You recall the request from the bar to deliver food to some soldiers… These are most likely the ones. If you mean to fulfill the request, it is best that you drop the food off at the soldiers’ location.
LOOK OUT BELOW!
After checking over the contents, they signal you, satisfied. They seemed pleased with the food. The request is now complete! You can turn it in the next time you find yourself at the bar.
You see a stone monument at its entrance that looks clearly man-made. Who built it here, and why? You will never know the answer unless you step into the maze… You steel yourself to begin your explorations.
I think we’ve flown around enough. Onwards!
And that wraps it up for this update. Next time, Aurum checks out what’s going on in the Lush Woodlands.