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[R^2]

In a move that's certain to have no dire consequences for the souls of the dead whatsoever, Sabin decouples the rear cars. Without conveyance to the afterlife, the ghosts are forced to wander the world in undead torment, their hatred and jealousy of the living drives them to attack wayfarers and travelers the world over.

And no one notices, because that's kind of how things are anyway. At least Final Fantasy 2 gave a good reason for there to be killer monsters roaming everywhere.


Well, no big deal. On to the dining car!






Sabin and Cyan have a standard conversation, where Cyan throws his hands up and lets Sabin eat whatever he wants. If you have either of the two optional party members, they each get their own scene if they're placed as party lead. Shadow feeds his dog, while the ghost just silently chows down.






Once you're done, don't forget to sneak around behind the phantom waitstaff and steal the Earring available here. Those things are darned useful.

[R^2]

Elsewhere, with a different chest...


Siegfried: If I were you, you overmuscled moose, I'd grab Grandpa there and run away while you still can!
Sabin: "Greatest windbag" is more like it. You're the one who had best beat a brave retreat.
Siegfried: What!? Brazen words for a man about to be spitted upon my blade like a plump and juicy pig! En garde!


Siegfried: You kids had better get ready! Hi-yaaaaaa!


Block.


Block.


Pathetic damage. Siegfried attacks eight times in his initial flurry, but either misses or gets blocked half the time, and does single-digit damage when he does land a hit.






He flees after being hit once.


The Siegfried Rule: Just because you are weird does not mean you are important.

Anyway, Siegfried takes the treasure and runs away.

[R^2]

The next cabin over from Siegfried has treasure data, but no treasure chest graphics. You can grab the Tent from its invisible chest, but short of a walk-through-walls cheat code, there's no way to get the Fairy Ring beside it.


The next car over from that has actual chests in it... and an Apparition. You know, now's as good a time as any to talk about the Ghost's special skill. It's Possess.


Possess removes the user from the fight, and kills whatever enemy it's used on. Ghosts can't leave the Phantom Train (or participate in the boss fight at the end of it), so it's kind of a useless ability to have. You can kill one enemy in a random encounter! Whee, so can Aura Cannon, Fang, or Shuriken.

If Possess is hacked or glitched into any other part of the game, it becomes an utter game breaker. Since it's not supposed to be used on anything but random encounter monsters, no enemy in the game is coded with an immunity to Possess. It can be used to defeat anything, even fights you're not supposed to win, even the final boss, instantly.


As it is, Possess forces the ghost who used it out of the party.




No problem.

[R^2]

Once you throw the switch, the train whistle screams again...


And you're forced into one of the oddest battles in the game. You're fighting the Train you've been riding on the entire time, by running from it down the tracks. You'd think you could evade the battle by just running anywhere other than where the tracks go, but whaddyagonnado?


Well, you can exploit one of the most famous bugs in the game. See, most monsters that are particularly large are coded as such. "Heavy" monsters in Final Fantasy 5 got over status ailments quickly and were immune to many attacks.


A similar designation exists in Final Fantasy 6. One of the effects is that the monster becomes immune to Sabin's Meteor Strike suplex attack.


The developers forgot to add that designation to the Phantom Train.


So yes, Sabin just lifted a locomotive engine, leapt into the air, turned it upside down, and smashed it into the ground. Somehow this does not instantly end the fight by derailing the train.


There's more to the fight, but who cares? Sabin just suplexed a train!

[R^2]

Cyan knocks Sabin out of the way as he dashes toward his departing departed family.

[R^2]

[R^2]

[Brentai]

AIN'T NO GETTIN' OFFA THIS TRAIN W--



Oh.

[A²]

Kefka is court magician, but not a proper military officer. Taking over a position as general is kind of weird, but he is Gestahl's right-hand man.

Chiming in data from a friend:

(8:13:48 PM) Magi: He could easily be considered "court mage" and also a general as well, because he's high ranking, and probably their most powerful magic user who isn't brainwashed
(8:15:06 PM) Magi: Okay, yeah, it doesn't say he was demoted to general, I think I just confused the information with the SNES translation that said that there were three generals, and litsed Kefka as a general
(8:15:17 PM) Magi: "- 3: Around the time his ward Celes ascends to the rank of Leuitenant, Kefka has a nervous breakdown, and developes many personal eccentricities. He is deemed unfit for his position in empire and is demoted. However, due to his many years of service, The emperor sees it fit to keep Kefka around to do the jobs no one else is willing to do. 26 year old Leo Chirstophe is promoted, and Kefka develops a deep hatred for him.
"

Re: The court mage comment Edgar makes earlier:

(9:50:12 PM) Magi: ガストラ皇帝直属の魔導士ケフカ
(9:50:52 PM) Magi: Yeah, it does more or less say "The sorcerer of Emperor Gastahl's direct supervision"
(9:52:30 PM) Magi: So court magician makes sense as a translation

tl;dr: He was a military, but got booted, and now he's the Empire's Cleaner.

[François]

Soldier B: What's wrong with that guy, anyway? It's like General Leo got all the good qualities a man could have, and Kefka got stuck with the rest...

[A²]

[R^2]

Edgar and Locke cannot possibly be in the fight with the Phantom Train.

[R^2]

That's what the area intro window said, yeah.

Cyan: To the south of here lies the Veldt. 'Tis a wild and dangerous land, inhabited by all manner of ferocious beasts...
Sabin: But if we turn around and go back, the Empire will be waiting for us.
Cyan: Hmm... The village of Mobliz lies on the eastern coast. If we can make it through the Veldt, we could head there...
Shadow: I have served my purpose...


It's not that Shadow has filled his purpose, since you're not to Narshe yet. It's that he's seen Sabin's impulsiveness, knows what's coming next, and wants no part of it.




Because the next step is to intentionally leap down a waterfall.


And it's a biiiiiiiiiig waterfall.


There are plenty of carnivorous fish to be fought on the way down, too.


Including a sub-boss...


...who can be one-shotted with Sky.

[R^2]

Shadow was right to bamf out when he did.



Music: Gau's theme
You thought Shadow's theme was an odd fit for the character? Check this one out.












The kid panics and runs away.

[R^2]

Music: The Veldt


The Veldt is a wide, flat chunk of the overworld map. Random encounters here are all enemies you've met before -- meeting an enemy for the first time is what triggers it appearing on the Veldt. Most of what appears here are monsters from the Lethe River, the Phantom Forest, and the Imperial Base, since those monsters appear in more varied mob formations. Sadly, none of these monsters give experience.


Sometimes after battles, Gau shows up again complaining that he's hungry. There's nothing to do but hit him so he goes away.


As Cyan said, Mobliz is a little village on the far side of the Veldt.


Some townspeople are amazed you even made it to this remote backwater.


Most give background information or clues on what you're supposed to do next. Since Gau got an introductory snippet and a name screen, it's no surprise that you need to figure out how to recruit the hungry feral child.


Hint: This item shop is the first one to sell "Dried Meat", described as "Cures an empty stomach".












There's a mention of a wounded soldier, and some people who are willing to play postman for you.

[R^2]

Injured Lad: I tried to flee, rather than help them attack Doma, but they came after me... I barely escaped alive. Now I can't even move. I'll never see Lola again... There's a letter on the desk. Would you be kind enough to bring it to me?


Lola's Letter: The flowers in the garden will soon bloom, and announce the arrival of spring. How are you doing? I'm worried. I so wish that I could fly to your side and be with you! Please think only about getting better, and try not to push yourself too hard. Rest knowing that I spend every day thinking only of you, and wishing I could see you...
Lola




The letter sent, we can either continue the game or prompt it to come up with her reply.








For whatever reason, asking this guy about the Serpent Trench takes up enough time for the postage pigeon to reach Lola, for her to pen a response, and the pigeon to return to Mobliz.


Send her a record, talk to the guy about the Trench...


Deliver a potion, listen to the Trench speech...


Send a letter, how 'bout that Trench...


...deliver a book, etc. etc.


Injured Lad: I wish to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Please, accept this as a token of my appreciation.


The Tintinnabulum is a tiny chime that restores HP as you walk around. It's sort of an out-of-battle Regen effect. Something that closes wounds and restores health seems like it'd be useful to a wounded soldier, but it only works while walking. And he can't. So...

[Brentai]

I still remember having to convince my boss at Squeenix that this actually happens.

(Also.)

[R^2]

Guess what's next! If you guessed "go back onto the Veldt, fight until Gau shows up, and throw Dried Meat at him", you're right!


Cyan: I am Cyan, and this is Sabin.
Gau: You Cyan, you Sabin... Me want more food!!!
Sabin: Sorry, all gone!
Gau: You go... get more for me.


With each line of dialog, the speaker -- Sabin or Gau -- will hop toward the other. The other hops back, intimidated, but they get a bit closer each time...








The two wrestle one another, leaping around in circles.


Sabin: You're pretty tough... for a little guy!
Gau: Wah-ha-ha! That fun! You strong!


They wrestle again, in faster circles this time. But Gau jumps out and stops, leaving Sabin wrestling with himself for a couple of laps before he catches on.


Gau: You fall for it! Fall for trick!
Sabin: Shut up!

[R^2]

Cyan: And thou, o wild one... Who might thou be?
Gau: Thou?










u mad bro

[R^2]

Cyan: Let us not dwell on such things. Sir Gau, I have a feeling we will get along quite well. Wilt thou join us?
Gau: Oh!!! Gau give you present!
Sabin: Right... What manner of rubbish do you suppose he's gonna give us?
Gau: Gau's treasure... shiny, shiny! Shiny, shiny, shiny!!!
Sabin: ...Can anything be THAT shiny?
Gau: Mr. Thou like shiny thing?
Sabin: Mr. Thou's that one -- over THERE!
Sabin: A shiny thing, eh? Locke's gonna be jealous when he hears about this!
Gau: Who Locke? He bad man? Maybe he try steal Gau's treasure!


Gau is spinning in place, having a minor fit about the possibility of someone stealing his shiny, shiny, shiny thing.


Of course, I get two screenshots of him facing the same direction, so it looks like he's just facing away from Sabin instead of rotating in place.




Gau: Shiny thing here! Where Sabin is, that Mobliz! Cyan stand place river bring you... Gau stand... Crescent Mountain! Moon-shape mountain! Shiny thing there!

I never understood what the hell Gau was going on about until this translation. If you superimpose a map of the Veldt on where everyone is standing, it becomes clearer: Cyan is standing on the northwest corner where you start after the Baren Falls sequence. Mobliz is in the northeast, near where Sabin is standing. And Gau is standing where the next area is, Crescent Mountain, where there's a cave with a shiny shiny shiny thing inside.