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[R^2]

Hey, that's a really good likeness...




So if you can put together "I finished the portrait of Gestahl" and "Talk to the Emperor twice", you can examine this painting a second time to find the letter that tells you where to find Locke and the Emperor's legendary treasure. Locke's been looking for that treasure since before you met him on the World of Balance, and you get your first hint that it exists in the auction house here in Jidoor, but... if the Emperor had a piece of magicite that long, how did he not know what magicite did until the raid on the Research Facility?

Anyway, this is a half-dozen tiny hints and plot threads coming together... for a quest we already did. Oh well.






They are indeed! Rafflesia are fond of Entice, which is like a super-charm ability that can't be dispelled or removed except by killing either the user or the victim.




Rafflesia aren't the only living painting in here!


Defeating the two lovely ladies reveals a door into Owzer's cellar.

[R^2]

This is about the point where Terra, Locke, and Mog catch up to Celes's impressive magical expertise, so I swap Celes out for Sabin since he has a better skillset. Celes might be heartbroken about it all, but she can


...deal with it.


Hum de dum, just walkin' through the creepy dark basement of a cursed art gallery...


Gyah!




I've been sucked into a painting by a lonely spinster!




It's... not for moogles, actually. Mog can't equip it.


Turns the user into an undead creature, so that the effects of healing and death magic are reversed for them.


Owzer's mansion is a teleport maze. Take a wrong turn, and chances are good you get dumped back out of this doorway painting.


Take the right path and you proceed through the cellar.

[R^2]

The last obstacle is a painting of... what the hell is that? Whatever it is, it counters with Doom, tries to poison and sleep the party, and is weak to fire.


In the final room of the basement, you find Owzer watching Relm paint. I have stared at Owzer's sprite for minutes at a time, trying to figure out how he's put together. Clearly those little beady things on top are his eyes, but is that horizontal line beneath them his mouth or his chin? Is he reclining on a sofa? Amano's official character art helps... it turns out he's just an unpleasantly toadlike sort of man.


Party: ...A monster!?
Owzer: Yes... It hides in the painting. It won't show itself...


Owzer: Relm! You mustn't attack the picture of the goddess! It'll only make matters worse!

How would she, anyway? Paint a portrait of the portrait she's painting? That sort of thing sounds like it'd cause the universe to recurve on itself, tear the laws of physics as we know them apart, and fill my inventory with a bunch of glitchy random items. That sounds like the sort of thing a poorly-thought-out Sketch could accomplish.


Chadarnook: This painting's the best I've had in a long time... No one's denying me this treat!


Well, that's... that's... par for the course for this screwed-up dungeon, honestly.




Chadarnook switches back and forth between its two forms semi-randomly -- a switch can happen after a random amount of time, or whenever the demon form gets hit with five attacks. The Goddess form is functionally invincible, reforming when defeated, and has some nasty HP-draining counterattacks. When she's active, it's generally a good idea to take a breather and heal the party... except she also has Entice.

The demon is the real target. He likes lightning-elemental attacks, and is weak to fire and holy. Fire and holy is what Sabin does best! Also wind.


I won't lie, I got trolled hard by this boss switching back and forth between its forms.




But eventually prevail.

[R^2]

Music: Relm's theme


Owzer: Oh, thank you... That picture's worth more to me than my own life!
Relm: ...Really?
Party: So... what was a monster doing in that painting?
Owzer: I guess I should start at the beginning. I'd been looking at this lovely stone I'd bought at the auction house... All of a sudden, I was overcome with desire for a painting of Lakshmi. I had a few different artists try to paint it for me, but none of them really gave me what I was looking for. It was right around that time that I heard about little Relm. I brought here straight here and set her to work. But then that thing came along and possessed her painting... It must've been lured here by that stone.
Party: Where's the stone now?
Owzer: Oh, the stone? It's over in that bookcase.


Owzer: Whatever it is, I sure don't need it anymore. If you want it, you can have it!


Lakshmi is better than Seraph, but not as good as Phoenix.

Oh hey, I never described what Phoenix did. Phoenix teaches Curaga, Raise, Arise, and Reraise, then tops it off with Firaga. Summoning it is effectively a Phoenix Down on the entire party.

Lakshmi teaches Cure, Cura, Curaga, Regen, and Esuna, and does most of those fast: Cure is x25, Regen and Esuna are x20, and Cura at x16. But at this point in the game Cura is showing its age and almost everyone knows Esuna from Seraph already, so teaching Curaga at x1 (compared to Phoenix's x2) is kind of a letdown. When summoned, Lakshmi heals the entire party's HP. Her level-up bonus is Stamina +2.


Anyway, blah blah Owzer blah blah painting blah blah Relm joins the party hooray.


So we're off to this Cult of Kefka tower we passed by earlier, with Relm in tow.

Music: The Fanatics. Check out those digitized voices!


Hey, is that... Strago?






Relm: Grandpa, you idiot! What were you thinking?
Strago: Oh, Relm... I was sure you were...
Relm: Did you really think I was gonna check out before you, you old geezebag!?
Strago: Oh, you're as foul-mouthed as ever, bless your heart!
Relm: Come on, Grandpa. You're coming along with the rest of us!


Strago: All right... Guess I can't be leaving everything up to you whippersnappers!

[R^2]

Pff, I already know the hint.










Pah, I got your strong magic right here.


Dum dee dah, climbin' a tower without any random encounters...




There's a secret switch to the right of this chest.


Which opens the way to the last of Edgar's tools. The Air Anchor kills its target the next time said target takes an action. Also in the tower is a Genji Shield and a Kagenui.


See? I reached the top of the tower just fine! So there!

[R^2]

What, you think I'm going to go inside that little closet on the top floor and steal the Cult of Kefka's most precious treasure? Pissing off the Cult of Kefka sounds pretty dangerous. Screw that! I'm going back to Narshe.


With Locke in the party, I can un-Locke the doors scattered around town.




He can give you the magicite as-is, or sharpen the edges and strap a pommel onto it and make it into a sword.


Espers are great and all but I'll take the knightsword plz


Aw yeah, that's the stuff.






This gift is... decidedly less awesome.


The Cursed Shield absolutely destroys the wearer's stats, gives them a weakness to six elements (all but holy and poison), and inflicts Doom, Silence, Berserk, Confusion, and Sap in every battle. Terra wears it along with a Ribbon to null the worst effects.

[R^2]

While I'm in the area, north of Narshe is this little copse of trees.


B... Banon?


Oh. No, it's Duncan. He does look a lot like Banon, though.


Guess Sabin should come back here, huh.


Sabin: Master Duncan... I'm so glad you're safe...!
Duncan: Oh, dear... Sabin, you aren't... crying, are you?


That... sounds familiar.


Duncan: ultimate badass.

[R^2]

Duncan and Sabin have a sparring session, culminating in both of them flying into the air and beating the crap out of each other in the sky.

[R^2]

Meeting Duncan unlocks all eight of Sabin's Blitz techniques, if you haven't reached the level where he learns them normally -- 23 for Chakra, 30 for Razor Gale, 42 for Soul Spiral, and 70 for Phantom Rush. And how did you get this far at level 23, anyway?

Soul Spiral, also known as "The Blitz Nobody Ever Uses" and "Dammit Sabin Now You Can't Fight in the Coliseum", removes Sabin from the battle and heals the rest of the party. Phantom Rush is a massive single-target attack, its input is a full 360 on the control pad. Or thanks to the bug I mentioned when I talked about Blitz inputs before, a lengthy but simple "left, up, up, up, right, down, down, down, left".

[R^2]

Well, off to Maranda. Guess it's about time I went back and did what the game intended me to do first.




Yes yes, this whole half of the game is resolving everyone's personal conflicts.










As an aside, look in the top-left corner of this screenshot. That little chimney in the corner there is the only place that background object appears in the entire game. Isn't that fascinating?

...no? Oh well.

[R^2]

Wow, Lola. You and your new boyfriend must be hitting it off pretty well.


Lola: Look closely -- they're all handmade! Real flowers won't bloom anymore, so he made me these from silk! And he just sent me this letter!


The anonymity of having any party members possibly present forced the developers to put a generic quote here. Even though it's Terra speaking, who you'd think would know the fate of Mobliz as a surety.


Obviously Forged Letter: I believe I should be able to return to thy side before too long...






Up and away, little pigeon!


The pigeon flies around somewhat aimlessly for a while before deciding which city to go to.


Might as well follow it.

[R^2]

The pigeon flies north of the city, into the mountains.


And we can't follow, despite the ease of just knocking the door in.


One Honest Man: The monsters up there are quick! If you go, you'd better have a way of making sure you'll be able to hit 'em. Like one of those, you know... sniper whatchamacallits!

Or any number of attacks that never miss.


He sells it for a paltry 1000 gil.


Yay.






The enemies here are indeed too quick to hit with regular attacks.


Phantom Rush never misses, though. You're intended to come through here with Celes, Edgar, Setzer, and maybe Sabin. Tools, Blitz, and most Slot attacks never miss. So really it's only Celes who'd be out of luck, and she'd just use magic.


That's nice. I mean, it's not "let the moogle die" nice, but... that's nice.

[R^2]

Hmm, there's a chest over there I can't reach.


This switch oughta... yeah, the chest opened!


...and a monster came out!


Despite being the first dragon in line if you try to recruit Cyan when the game hints you should, the Storm Dragon is one of the harder ones. It's wind-themed, and that's a tough element to null or absorb, and one of its stronger moves is actually non-elemental. It tends to counter with a powerful physical attack, too.


But I have Phantom Rush for dealing with that sort of thing.


...And Arise for when things go poorly for the party.


And an supermode where Terra can now strike with Thundara -- the Storm Dragon's weakness -- and do as much damage as a Phantom Rush.


Not as tough as the Red Dragon was, chief.

[R^2]

Confession: I have only now realized the error of my ways, and taken up this quill in hopes of correcting a great wrong. Your boyfriend, who you believed to be in Mobliz, passed away some time ago. I have been writing to you in his stead. We humans have a tendency to become trapped in the past and refuse to move on. I implore you not to let this happen.

Hypocrite.

Confession: Now is a time for you to look forward, and rediscover love and all of the other joys of life...
     Cyan


Cyan himself is on the cliffside beyond this cave...


...attaching a letter that is not his heartfelt confession to another carrier pigeon.


...and reciting poetry.




Cyan: But... however did thou find me? W-wait! T-tell me thou did not read my letters...!

[R^2]

Cyan rushes inside and hurredly cleans up all the evidence.


Like it matters, we saw it all on the way in.

[R^2]

Cyan: I decided to pay a visit to Maranda. I learned that she had long since stopped receiving replies, but still sent a letter each day. I could not bear to stand by and do nothing... As I wrote to that girl, I began to realize that I was no different from her... I was refusing to move on. I could not let go... I will no longer live in the past. We must all look to the future now.

Okay, so not hypocrite. Just took him some time to come around.


Still locked?


Locke's in the party, you know. We didn't have to come out here and look for this.






He really is a warrior-poet, trained in both martial and marital arts.

[Roger]

Because after the end of the world, Gau went back to doing what he's good at: living with monsters. Thankfully, he recognizes the party as soon as they arrive, and...


NO MOG NO

Entire playthrough justified for this one moment.

[Mothra]

Amazing

[Roger]

The enemies here are indeed too quick to hit with regular attacks.


Phantom Rush never misses, though. You're intended to come through here with Celes, Edgar, Setzer, and maybe Sabin. Tools, Blitz, and most Slot attacks never miss. So really it's only Celes who'd be out of luck, and she'd just use magic.

Nevermind that with the Evade Bug on the prior SNES/PSX releases, it was all a moot point anyway since Evade didn't even matter...

[Classic]

They fixed the evade bug in the GBA version? I did not know that!