The trek back south is mostly uneventful, though thanks to Piers joining the party we can finally use Frost to reach that Jupiter Djinni on the Kibombo Mountains’ cliff (Waft damages one enemy and may put ‘em to sleep; it’s basically Blitz but with a slight power increase and different ailment) and I also took the time to swing by a treasure chest that I missed on my first go-around. It contains what looks like a crystal-clear rock called a Tear Stone, and the item description notes that it’s “forgeable” so we want to hang on to it. In addition to a boat (and ***ship) that’s another classic fantasy RPG staple that The Lost Age introduces. Also in Naribwe several NPCs talk about how Isaac and his party came through here looking for Piers as well. I don’t know where they could’ve learned that he’s a Lemurian though, unless they figured it out on their own after seeing his beached ship for themselves. One man, however, mentions not them but rather a “big brute who was looking for a woman named Menardi”. Foreshadowing~~
When crossing the Gondowan Cliffs we can again use Frost to access some ledges that we couldn’t before to grab the second of the two collectable mushrooms, the green Healing Fungus. Unlike the red Laughing Fungus which had no use other than to be sold, we need to present the Healing Fungus to that couple in Madra that had a Mars Djinni penned inside their house. The husband likes it so much (for the taste I assume, not…other potential properties…) that they decide to present us with the Djinni. Char damages one enemy and may paralyze them, so it’s basically the Fire version of Blitz. Since this is our fourth Mars Djinni, equipping them all on Jenna promotes her to the Hex class, which bestows upon her the Aura spell line. The Aura line is the Fire equivalent of the Wish series, though it is not as potent (Aura has a base heal of 50 HP to everyone compared to Wish’s 80, and Cool Aura tops out at 200 HP versus Pure Wish’s 400). Still very handy to have all the same.
Madra has managed to go without getting attacked by roaming bands during our absence this time, and things gradually seem to be going back to normal. Except for the girl with pale skin, red eyes, scarlet hair, and pointed ears standing near the mayor’s house. She looks new. Important too, because when you have Felix approach her general vicinity she automatically speaks up to say “Where could Menardi have gone? Where are you, my sister?” Reading her mind just has her direct her thoughts address you, telling Felix to leave her alone, and if you speak with her and suggest that Menardi is actually dead she gets pissed and threatens to kill you. She certainly has that Fire Clan temperament.
Ignoring Miss Personable for now, we can finally polish off the Piers/Madra subplot by entering the mayor’s home. The mayor and elder have finally returned from their trip to Alhafra having given up on getting the ship fixed for the time being, and they all apologize for Piers for all the trouble they’ve caused him and express their relief that everything turned out well. It’s a short and sweet scene, but it gets extended a bit when we leave the house; the mayor rushes out after us because he wants to give us the reward he promised back in Alhafra for helping with the boat. It’s a wedge-shaped object called the Cyclone Chip and it’s yet another piece of utility-Psynergy gear. More on that later.
The mayor addressing Felix by name during that little scene attracts the attention of the red-eyed girl, who realizes that he’s the Felix and again wonders where Menardi is. Despite Jenna trying to shush her Sheba blurts that Isaac killed both her and Saturos and the girl declares that no one should’ve had the power to beat him and her sister. Older sister I’d assume, since compared to Menardi’s Lady of War look this new girl has a more teenaged punk look to her though it’s a bit hard to tell with the in-game graphics. She eventually realizes that it must be true however, and wonders aloud if Isaac is the same rumored traveler she’s heard of and figures she could just wait around for him to show up, no doubt planning a bad end for him. Then Kraden goes all, “Well what if it was actually Felix who killed your sister?” Yeah, thanks a lot for that Kraden, just go right ahead and antagonize the angry dragon-elf girl, why don’t you? Seriously, why the hell would you say something like that Kraden??!!
Regardless, the girl is certainly not dumb enough to fall for that, pointing out just like Saturos did that Felix is too weak to fight the Fire Clan duo (admittedly true, but give me five or six more levels and then we’re talking!), not to mention he knows what the consequences would be if he did. She proceeds to offer some backhanded congrats on lighting the first two lighthouses but says that we’re on our own if we want to reach the Eastern Sea and Jupiter Lighthouse since right now they have their own goal: finding Isaac. She swears that the last thing that Isaac will see is Karst avenging her sister, and leaves. Sheba sums her up with, “And I thought Saturos and Menardi had issues.”
Once Karst is gone Piers, who probably feels a bit out of the loop on all this, points out that Karst seemed to be referring to herself in the plural a few times, and Kraden suggests that she’s likely traveling with a partner just like Saturos and Menardi did. Sheba suggests the party finds Isaac’s and warn them of the danger but Jenna and Kraden don’t think that’s a good idea since Isaac’s party is still opposed to their stated goal of lighting the lighthouses and a fight could break out. It’s better that in the meantime they continue making for Jupiter Lighthouse, no matter how much Sheba thinks Isaac and Jenna being “an item” will tip things in their favor.
One more thing to do in Madra before we can leave it forever: we can return to the Madra Catacombs now and use Frost to reach both a chest containing a new item (a Mist Potion which heals the whole party by 300 HP - not bad at all) and another floor in that ruined structure that lets us obtain the next summon tablet requiring two Mercury Djinn and one Jupiter Djinni, it’s Moloch. Now, the deity Moloch is usually associated with fire, given the whole “sacrificing children in ovens” thing, so of course here Moloch is Water-element and looks like a larger, more monstrous Terriermon. The wintry breath it breathes on all enemies also cuts their Agility in half.
Now we can leave Madra…only to be immediately accosted by the hapless trio of thieves from Vault! Yeah, remember them? They only show up here if you learned from Vault’s mayor that they had escaped jail when revisiting the village in your linked Golden Sun file, and there’s a little bit more to this encounter than the Colosso gladiator cameos: they’re out for revenge on Isaac, naturally, and upon us not coughing up his location they decide to give us a taste of what they have planned for him.
Bandit and Thief x2
HP
- 346 (Bandit), 212 each (Thief)
- Weak to Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water
- Slice - Deals Wind damage to one target; power may be doubled.
- Weasel’s Claw - Deals moderate splashing Wind damage to two/three enemies.
- Sleep Bomb - Attempts to put one target to sleep.
- Nut - Restores 200 HP to one ally.
- Nut - Restores 200 HP to one ally.
You know you’re a pathetic Goldfish Poop Gang when you don’t even get a boss theme (instead Isaac’s battle theme from the first game plays). They’re a little tougher than they were when first fought. Emphasis on “little” for they go down like a trash mob.
Winning earns us 366 EXP and 521 coins.
The three miscreants hastily makes tracks after getting their asses handed to them, leaving behind the Golden Boots. The Golden Boots are the best of the few pieces of footwear in the game(s), upping Defense by fifteen points and Agility by thirty, which is quite a significant boost in that stat.
After that Big-Lipped Alligator Moment we head north back towards the beach where Piers’s ship was beached. This time he’s able to use the orb to unlock the door leading belowdecks, and he says that in order to get the ship moving we’ll have to take the orb to the power room. Since the path to the power room turns out to be blocked by an Insurmountable Waist-High Fence of toppled crates we have to take the long way around, through small-and-mid-sized rooms containing Aqua Jelly monsters. Part of the Cuttlefish family from the first game, Aqua Jellies aren’t notable in battle since even though they can both poison and paralyze will Poisonous Bite and Electric Bite respectively they don’t have the HP to last long enough to take advantage of it. What they are notable for is melting away into a puddle of water upon defeat which we can then Frost up in order to traverse the rooms. The final room has several Aqua Jellies who, rather than remain stationary immediately jump up and merge together to create not a giant jellyfish, but rather…
Aqua Hydra
HP
- 2776
- Weak to Fire; Resists Water
- Rising Venom - Deals Water damage and attempts to poison one enemy.
- Triple Chomp - Deals Water damage to one enemy.
- Drench - Deals moderate splashing Water damage to two/three enemies.
- Raging Flood - Deals heavy Water damage to all enemies.
- Slaver - Lowers all enemies’ Defense.
…a hydra monster. Go fig. Lotta HP, so building up to Summons is the way to go, I think, especially Meteor (remember, I’m not cheesing things with the summon rush strategy here). When I fought it it only used Triple Chomp and Raging Flood. Triple Chomp was surprisingly not that damaging; like, you’d think from the attack name that perhaps its damage output can vary between light, medium, and heavy (and we already have precedence for this with the Rapid Smash and Sonic Smash unleashes) but no. Spamming Raging Flood on the other hand, that was a bit of a problem since it’s part of that exclusive club of attacks that take total HP percentages into account when doing damage calculation. Sheba, who’s weak to Water, was taking almost exactly 100 points of damage with each one of those, more than half her maximum HP. It was a good thing we just got access to the Healing Aura spell.
Winning earns us 963 EXP, 1612 coins, and a Vial.
Like its jellyfish brethren the Aqua Hydra melts upon defeat, flooding most of the room and sadly submerging a treasure chest. Oh well. Down a corridor that looks completely different from the rest of the ship is a room with a pedestal in the center, and Piers placing the Black Crystal on it causes the room to light up with Tron Lines and the ship slides out to sea at last. Everyone quickly congregates on deck where Piers, despite being the only one who’s actually an experienced sailor, gives Felix the job of actually steering the ship. Jenna gets all excited over finally having a boat at last, momentarily forgetting about their quest to suggest that they go back to northern Gondowan and Angara and revisit the towns they’ve passed through, even Vale. Kraden however says that that’s not a good idea; he explains that Angara doesn’t have any easily accessible harbors or ports thanks to its rocky coastlines, and going back to Lalivero or Tolbi would be inadvisable after what Saturos and Menardi did there. Sheba also points out that the Laliverans would probably force her to remain in the village, and she doesn’t want that.
In any case, Jenna’s disappointment quickly fades. They finally have a seaworthy boat and can travel wherever they please in the Eastern Sea. There are many more new lands to explore now, and we’ll start with what lies to the east at the world’s end…
Soundtrack
- Full Speed Ahead!
- I don't like it quite as much as the Karagol Sea track from the first game, but this is a fine piece of sailing BGM all the same.
