Ugh, I wish I had my auto-attack Gambits...
Anyway, I made tracks through the Garamsythe Waterway. Despite some truly awesome visuals, the place isn't too interesting: the local monsters are mostly Dire Rats (remember them?) and Steelings. Rats and bats, in other words. While I marched through it, Vaan went up to Level 5.
In the Northern Spur Sluiceway, you meet monsters called Ichthons; like the Cactites, they're normally neutral but you provoke them by attacking. Occasionally, a rare monster called the Rain Dancer appears here — it didn't this time, but oh well. Sometimes, a chest appears here ("Chest 11"), which can contain a Mage Masher, which is a fine dagger — once again, it didn't this time. Lost opportunities!
After ascending the stairs to the Palace, we're treated to an introductory cutscene showing Fran and Balthier. Back to Vaan, I obtain a map of the Palace and save at a crystal. In the Palace basement, there's another chest which disables access to the Zodiac Spear, in the south-east corner — it's a shame, since it contains an Elixir. Avoiding it, I sneak up the stairs at the far end of the basement and get into the Palace.
In the Palace, I have to play cat-and-mouse with the Archadian soldiers. It's not a particularly fun minigame and boring to recount, so... I reach a Secret Passage. Flipping a switch lets me enter the treasury of the Palace. I'm greeted by a cutscene of Vaan stealing the Goddess' Magicite; Balthier and Fran interrupt him, and try to take it from him. Disorder outside allows him to escape. I'm taken to the Garden Stairs, which I run up. Another CG cutscene begins, in which the rebels have stormed the fete. How dramatic an interlude. The rebels are soon interrupted by the Archadian warship; after being sighted, Balthier and Fran make their escape, with Vaan unfortunately in tow.
We've crashed into the Waterway once more; Balthier and Fran resolve to co-operate with Vaan for now. We also gain access to Gambits which you can control and automate yourself. Which means this liveblog can really kick into gear. More on this next time.
Team levels:
