******PIER SOLAR******
and the great architects

FAQ/Walkthrough by Tim Maurer - timthreethreethree@gmail.com

Version 1.3

===PS00 Table of Contents===

**Search for "PS##" to find your section.

## Contents
01 Introduction: What's Pier Solar?
02 About the Battle System
03 General Tips
04 Walkthrough Part 1: *Reja
05 Part 2: *Oasis *Canyon *Ruin Town
06 Part 3: *Meho *Katsa *Rock Cellar
07 Part 4: *Zohonka *Teusa
08 Part 5: *Meho Rocks *Zephyr *Pine Forest
09 Part 6: *Mutch *Cave of Evil *Point Zero *Ice Castle
10 Part 7: *Assac *Ludon
11 Part 8: *Verahansha *Mine
12 Part 9: *Magic School
13 Part 10: *The Trench *Kleoneo's Fort
14 Part 11: *Promonotory *Jungle
15 Part 12: *Revisiting *Ice Cave *Urg
16 Part 13: *Dimension *Cliboe's Den
17 Part 14: *Hideout *Castle
18 Equipment Lists
19 Item List
20 Spells & Special Attacks
21 Bestiary
22 Extras & Sidequests
23 Low-battle run mini guide
24 About this FAQ

===PS01 Introduction: What's Pier Solar?===

Pier Solar is a BRAND NEW game for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. It's also a
pretty sweet RPG.

The project started on the forum "Eidolon's Inn" as a Sega CD game called
Tavern RPG. Originally the game was going to feature members of that forum,
but this idea was abandoned early on in favor of an original story. The game
was also moved to the Genesis (though it stil makes use of the Sega CD - more
on that later), became Pier Solar, and the development team became WaterMelon
Corp.

Preorders began in 2008 for the initial print run. Copies were numbered from 1
to 800 for each of three regions (note: ALL copies are region free and will
run on any Genesis or MD). WM originally wanted to release the game that year
to coincide with the Mega Drive's 20th anniversary, but the game ended up
taking quite a bit longer to finish. The first run sold out in mid-2010 and
was finally released in December of the same year. WaterMelon put out a
reprint edition soon after, putting to rest fears that those who didn't
pre-order wouldn't get to buy the game. There have been several runs of the
reprint edition (Check availability on magicalgamefactory.com). All told, PS
has sold an impressive number of copies for a "homebrew" type release.

--Interesting. So how's the game?--

It's pretty awesome! It really looks and feels professional throughout, not
like an amateur production at all. The music is great, it's challenging
without being ridiculous, and it's a pretty sizable RPG (25, maybe 30 hours
or so). The backgrounds are well-drawn and there are fullscreen still
"cutscenes" that look very impressive if you're familiar with the system's
limitations. The dialogue is pretty good - it has a Lunar-like sense of humor
and usually seems natural. I do think the story could have been better; the
concept is good - great, even - but for most of the game character
development is lacking and the plot amounts to little more than a push in the
next direction. Overall, though, it's a fun and very cool game. I recommend
it.

--About the Enhanced Soundtrack Disc--

The first run comes with a pressed CD. If you put it into your Sega CD or
Genesis+CD combo unit (I use a JVC X'Eye), the game will stream higher
quality music than the Genesis can produce on its own. It isn't Redbook, just
PCM, but it sounds great.

If you own a reprint copy, it doesn't come with a CD, but if you can find an
image of the CD (until recently Watermelon offered a download, but currently
it's unavailable) a CD-R will work just as well. The soundtrack sold on
magicalgamefactory.com also includes the Enhanced Soundtrack Disc.

Of course, if you don't have a Sega CD, you shouldn't worry about that
either. The game still has some kickin' tunes just using the Genesis's sound
chip.

--What are the differences between versions?--

The biggest differences are the languages available to play the game in:

EUR Classic - English, French, German
NA Classic - English, Spanish, Portuguese
JP Classic - English, French, Spanish (Only menus can be in Japanese)
Reprint - Same as European Classic.
Reprint_EP - Same as NA Classic.

Among first run copies, the packaging and cart label are different to reflect
the European Mega Drive, Japanese Mega Drive, and Genesis package designs.
All first run copies come in a glossy, high-quality cardboard box with an
attached full color manual and CD, as well as some goodies including a poster
and some stickers.

Reprint copies come in plastic clamshell cases like the old Genesis games;
most of the same stuff is included, but there is no CD.

Early in the first-run preorders, you could pay an extra $15 for the
"posterity edition." This entailed having your name put in the credits and
receiving a bonus magazine with your game.


===PS02 About Random Battles===

If you are a fan of RPGs you'll be at home with Pier Solar, which features
random encounters and a turn-based battle system. There are a few new
wrinkles, however, the most significant of which is the Gather system.

--Gather your power levels while ye may--

One of the commands available to your characters is "Gather." If you select
"Gather Now," the character will spend their turn in order to increase their
Gather by one. A character's current Gather level shows up in a bar
underneath their character portrait. Gather makes attacks, magic and healing
more powerful. It works like this:

Gather level 1: 1.5X power
Gather level 2: 2X power
Gather level 3: 2.5X power
Gather level 4: 3X power
Gather level 5: 4X power

Your gather is never "used up" by any of your moves, but level 5 will
automatically return to level 4 after a turn or two. Strong enemy attacks
will also reduce your Gather. Also note that Gather doesn't carry over
between battles.

Any character who has at least 1 level of Gather can spend their turn in
order to "send" it to a different character. In fact, this and using
gather-increasing items are the only way to get to Gather level 5. This adds
a lot of strategical depth - instead of spending several turns getting
everybody's gather up, you can take just one or two to get one important
character up to max. This works very well because characters sending Gather
always go first.

Some spells and abilities are not usable unless your character has at least a
certain level of Gather. However, if the rest of your party has enough gather
between them, you can still select that ability and "ask for" gather from
others so you can use the ability that same turn! The others you've selected
to get the gather from will still use their turn sending it, though, so
choose your donor carefully. Also note that if for any reason your
character's Gather sinks below the required level during the battle turn but
before their turn, the move will fail.

Here are a couple of Gather strategies I like to use:

Assault with batteries: Have one character keep attacking while others (the
"Gather batteries") alternate between gathering and sending gather to the
attacker. This way, your attacks will continue to get more powerful without
even taking a break from attacking.

Baton pass: After your character has gathered up so they can use a move, like
Edessot's fireball, don't just waste that Gather when the move is done.
Instead, pass it off to someone else who can use it, for example Kruller, to
let him use Heaven Blow. Use the "Ask Gather" feature to do this efficiently.

--Elements--

Each character has a base element to all of their attacks; Enemies have
elements too and will sometimes take half damage from the same element. These
are the elements for each character:

Hoston - Earth
Alina - Water/Ice
Edessot - Fire
Mohu - Wind
Rudy - Earth
Kruller - Wind
Zellini - Fire

--Flying enemies--

Some enemies fly. Only Alina and Kruller can hit these enemies with their
regular attacks. Others will have to use magic, stones (Edessot only) or just
defend.

--Defend and counterattack--

A defending character will sometimes counterattack against enemies that
attack them. There are two types of counterattack - one where they get hit,
and then return the favor, and one where they sidestep the attack and deliver
a hit to the enemy instead. Enemies can also do this to you! The armlet and
megarmlet accessories will cause your characters to counterattack more often,
even when not defending. Counterattack is one way for characters without
ranged attacks to damage flying enemies, by the way.

When you decide to defend, you can also select another character to take a
hit for him or her, but don't count on this, as it doesn't always work.

When you choose defend, you'll also be given the ability to "move back,"
making your character less likely to be hit. This does not take up a turn and
will persist between battles, so be sure to move your more fragile characters
back. You can "move front" to return them to the front line.

--Ambushed or Advantage?--

Sometimes the word "Ambushed" will display at the start of the fight, giving
the enemy a free turn on you. Conversely, "Advantage" gives you a free turn.
Pretty standard RPG stuff, here.

--Status Effects--

All status effects end when battle ends - you can't carry them around.

Sleep - A sleeping character won't wake up until given a curative like the
caffeine pill, or sometimes when attacked by the enemy. However, this is such
a rare effect that I've been through the entire game without suffering from
it even once.

Poison - Now this one is nasty. There are quite a few things in the game that
poison you, and the result is extremely painful. Not only will you take about
a quarter of your current HP in damage at the end of every turn, your defense
is also greatly reduced. Your attack is reduced as well. As if that weren't
bad enough, a poisoned character does a random action instead of the selected
one about 30% of the time. Cure this effect ASAP; If you're early on in a
random battle or have more than one character poisoned, you may be better off
just cutting your losses by running.

Death - Looks like you got your head handed to you. There are a couple of
items that can bring a dead character back, the PepperPowder and the
Electrode. Late in the game, there is also a life spell. At the end of battle,
dead characters earn no EXP. They do get 1 HP back after the battle, however.

--Six-button Shortcuts--

If you have a 6-button controller, you can press X in battle to automatically
have everyone repeat their action from last turn. This can be a nice time
saver. Don't do this on the first turn, though, or no one will do anything.
Also make sure not to use it after a turn in which you did something you
don't want repeated. Lastly, this will not repeat item usage; characters who
used items last turn will Gather instead. Y and Z also trigger the AI without
and with magic, respectively, but I never had much use for the AI in this
game, which does things like have characters who can't hit them attack flying
enemies.


===PS03 General tips===

*Press C to bring up the menu. You can save the game at almost any time, but
remember: THE SAVE WILL REFLECT THE STATE WHEN YOU ENTERED YOUR CURRENT AREA.
You change areas when the screen fades to black. For this reason, you should
only save immediately after entering a new area, which can be a house, the
next room in the current dungeon, etc.

*You can actually use the way saving works to your advantage. If you're well
into an area and realize you shouldn't be here, you can just save and load to
return to the place you came in.

*I highly recommend turning auto-run ON in the ingame options menu. I also
like to turn pathfinder OFF, but it's really up to you.

*As in just about every RPG, talk to everyone! And then talk to them again -
many NPCs have as many as three different dialogues to say.

*Don't forget the Notebook option in the menu. When you select it, one of the
characters will mention a reminder of what they're currently supposed to be
doing. This can help get you unstuck if you'd rather not depend entirely on
this walkthrough.

*Aside from Hit points and Magic points, your characters have six stats. They
are:

PP - Attack Power. The higher this is, the more damage you do.
DP - Defense. The higher this is, the less damage you take.
AP - Agility. The higher this is, the more likely you are to go first. This
is important!
LP - Luck. This probably governs critical hits. Beyond that, I'm not sure. All
the manual says is that Luck "might allow your hopeless attacks to
succeed."
MA - Magic Attack. Attack spells do more damage. Does not affect healing.
MD - Magic Defense. Like defense, but against enemy magic.

These stats do raise a bit from leveling up, but the main benefit of leveling
is the increase in HP and MP. These stats will mostly be raised by equipment.

*There's another 6-button feature that's easy to miss. When selecting magic to
use on the map, hover over a spell and press X, Y or Z to assign a button.
Thereafter, you'll be able to cast that spell simply by pressing the assigned
button. This is the best way to use the Opening spell.

*This game is really all about the accessories. There's four types of damage
in this game and an accessory to halve damage from each. Get five of each of
these accessories and equip the right ones at the right times, and the game
will be a cinch. Stick to this strategy if you want an easy time, but I've
also beaten the game without using these accessories very much, so I can
confirm that other strategies can also work.

*Just to drive the point about elemental accessories home: using them, I've
won while running from every non-boss battle and finished the game with Hoston
at level 6. 

*If you get "trapped" by an NPC, just keep walking against them. If they move
towards you, you'll walk right through them.

*Make sure to sell items you don't need. There's an inventory limit and you
WILL hit it. Hang on to accessories, though, as they can be very useful.

*For much of the game, you'll have two healers: One who can heal at any time,
even out of battle, and one who has to gather to do so. Do NOT discount this
second source of healing! When it feels like your resources are rapidly
running out, it's well worth stalling a bit in battle to get at this extra
healing.

*The maximum amount of money you can have is 65,535 Gold (this is 256 squared
minus one for the zero value, meaning the game uses just two bytes to keep
track of money). For this reason, don't count on hoarding a lot of gold.

*And remember to do some exploring on your own. Obviously I wrote this in
order to make a reference available to you, but leaning too heavily on a
guide your first time through can spoil the game.

===PS04 Walkthrough part 1: Who needs Doctors? Herbs cure everything===

Welcome to Pier Solar. We begin in Reja town, where Hoston's Dad is sick.
Hoston wants to go search a dangerous cave for the cure, but his mom doesn't
want him to because, well... it's dangerous. This is an RPG, so we already
know who wins this argument. Hoston is a really impetuous young guy, and
nobody's going to talk him out of anything.

Leave the house and you'll run smack into your first party Member, Hoston's
friend Alina. She's a sweet girl suffering from feelings of neglect; she also
likes to pretend she's everybody's sister. After she gets you to agree to
take her with you, you are free to explore the town.

***Reja Town***

---Weapon Shop---
Iron Sword: 144 Gold
Iron Bow: 100 Gold
Solder Iron: 121 Gold

---Armor Shop---
Iron Armor: 121 Gold
Iron Mail: 100 Gold
Feather: 64 Gold

---Item Shop---
Herb: 32 Gold
CaffeinePill: 66 Gold

Treasures: Dagger, Bow, Gold Bar, Caffeine Pill, Berries, Herb

Inn: Yes, and it's free!
***

First, go right back into Hoston's house and upstairs to fetch the [Dagger].
Hoston and Alina have a pretty amusing exchange about its potential as an
instrument of world domination. It raises Hoston's attack power all the way
to 1! Look out, world!

Go northeast a bit to find a house with a couple of workers on the roof. If
you're using the CD sound, you can even hear their work getting louder as you
approach. Is that cool or what? Anyway, this is Alina's house. Inside you will
find the [Bow], Alina's first weapon, and Alina's dad, who is a tremendous
jerk.

At the southern end of town, there's a small house. Inside you'll meet
Edessot, the cute little good-natured mad scientist. He's just thirteen; then
again, Hoston and Alina are sixteen. Why is it that the characters in RPGs
are always so young? The world may never know. Anyway, after demonstrating
Lossa, his pathfinding robot (it still has some bugs to work out, naturally),
he'll join you as well. Edessot comes with a pocket knife and 35 stones to
throw.

West of Edessot's house, you'll find a chest with a [Gold Bar]. Back up north
is the town center with an Inn (it's supposed to be a bed on the sign, but to
me it looks like a toothbrush) and shops. In Reja only, use of the inn is
totally free. You can also find a [Caffeine Pill] inside the inn. These are
pretty useless, so I'd recommend selling it for a helpful 50 gold.

Up at the town's highest point, you'll see a chest in with a bunch of crates.
To get it, you'll have to walk behind the small tree south of it and walk
around some barrels. It contains some [Berries], an MP restorative. The house
here is home to some tutorial dialgoues and an [Herb].

When you hit the shops, I recommend buying an Iron Bow for Alina first; there
are some enemies that only she'll hit. Don't bother buying the Iron Sword;
you'll find another one soon. I recommend buying at least two feathers, which
halve earth damage. These are a great investment because the enemies around
here almost all deal earth damage. Cutting your damage in half with this
cheap accessory is more effective than any armor. In fact, having as many as
five of these on hand now (note that you will find one in nearby Reja Forest)
can make things a lot easier much later in the game. Just something to
consider.

When you're done exploring town, leave and you'll be introduced to the game's
psuedo world map. Just pick a destination and go. I recommend making a stop
at the Headquarters of the local guard.

***Headquarters***

Treasure: Iron Armour

Quest Item: Gold Key

***

The [Iron Armour] is in a chest on the east side. Go all the way upstairs and
into the door. Not much to see here, so let's... whoops. The bounty hunter
who lives here is back, and he is pissed about you strolling into his home
like you're an RPG protagonist or something. Seriously, this scene is pretty
funny. Why are people so okay with burglary in RPGs? The world, again, may
never know. (Note: this will not happen without Edessot present.)

Anyway, this guy talks tough, but his "punishment" is a simple sidequest, and
he even gives you a gold key to go find "his" treasure in the forest and
bring it back to him. Awfully trusting guy for a bounty hunter, ain't he? At
any rate, you're now free to leave.

Another good place to visit early is the "Forest" location at the southwest
corner of the area (There are several "forest" locations, so don't get
confused).

***Bunny Forest***

Treasures: Gold Bar, Potion, Potion+, Mana Potion+, Aloe Wera, Electrode

***

It might not be immediately obvious, but the chest you see when you enter
this area can be reached by walking east one square above it, behind the
tree. It contains a [Gold Bar]. The eastern area contains a [Potion] as well.
Now, talk to the fellow standing near the entrance.

He wants you to catch all the rabbits in the area for him. You get thirty
seconds to do so. You can catch a rabbit by walking up to it and pressing A.
This might take you a few tries; if you fail, leave and re-enter the area to
try again. One of the rabbits is hard to see because only its ears poke out
where it likes to stand in the southwest clearing. Be persistent, because the
reward is very much worth it: a Potion+, A Mana Potion+, An Aloe Wera and an
Electrode. These are top-class items that you won't see much of until much,
much later in the game.

***Reja's Farm***

Treasure: HemishaBerry

***

The chest with the HemishaBerry is the only thing you'll get out of this
place. If you talk to the boss, he'll seem to set up a minigame, but it's
just WaterMelon playing a trick on us, dear reader: something you say
inevitably offends him, and there is no minigame. And yes, although it's
Edessot who says the offending dialogue, I've tried coming here without him;
Hoston says it instead. What a tease.

***Reja Forest***

Enemies: Baby Medusa, Amoeaba (Earth), Big Medusa, Insect

Treasures: Iron Sword, Feather, Caffeine Pill, Vaccine, Gold Coins

***

It's time for our first "dungeon." Don't worry, the enemies here are
pushovers who go down in one hit. There are two entrances to Reja Forest; I'm
going to assume you're taking the eastern entrance.

Right at the start, you'll see a tantalizingly orange box - so much fancier
than those lame green ones. You can't get to it yet, though. Head south.
You'll come to a split where you can go north or south; go south again and
around the bottom to find an [Iron Sword].

Head back to the split and go north this time. At the next split, you can go
south and up a bit you'll see a chest mostly obscured by a leafy plant; it
contains a [Feather]. If you keep going west you'll eventually find a
[Caffeine Pill]; to progress, go back north where you'll see some footprints
the party will comment on. Here you can access the orange chest, which
contains a [Vaccine], a very useful accessory that makes you immune to poison
and also provides a defensive boost! You can take the "treasure" back to the
bounty hunter for an amusing scene if you like, but you get to keep it either
way. There's also a chest with some [Gold Coins] in it around here.

Go west across a bridge and you'll find the cave entrance.

***Reja Cave***

Enemies: Same as Reja Forest

Treasures: Berries, Herb x2, Magic Gum, Metal Coins, Berries, Potion

Quest Item: Meinshu Herb

***

For all the talk about a labyrinth, this place is actually pretty
straightforward. Go north at the start - you'll see a chest that looks
unreachable. However, you can enter the wall to the east on the space just
above the mossy rock and zigzag up to reach the other side and some [Berries].
After that, return to the start and continue east. You'll soon come across an
[Herb]. When you see a "doorway" to the next area, zigzag downward through the
diagonal path to the Southeast to get the [Magic Gum], an accessory that
causes characters to counterattack more often.

In the next room, you'll easily find some [Metal Coins], which basically
means a joke chest. If you go through the first exit you see, you'll reach
two chests, an [Herb] and some [Berries]. You'll also see a third chest you
can't get to yet. Exit and go down the stairs to reach another exit. The next
room is basically a hallway and contains a [Green Chili]. Heal up before
leaving that room, because you're about to fight the first boss.

////WARNING////

Boss 1: Guardian - ~300+ HP

That... is a weird looking... thing. It does Earth damage, so I hope you
brought your feathers. Or not, this thing is a cakewalk.

He comes with helpers in the form of Amoeabas and tiny things called "Mini
Poo," but ignore them. They'll run away when he's defeated, and he'll just...
ummm... "summon" more anyway. Focus your attacks on the guardian itself. This
is your first productive chance to experiment with gather. Don't use the
Chili, though, this guy is a wimp. He'll go down with a little more than 300
damage.

After you win, climb the tower. There's a [Potion] on the way up. In the
garden area at the top, you'll be able to find the [Meinshu Herb] by going
north just past the fountain. Now all you need to do is find Edessot (he's
found a curious old book talking about a conflict between humans and
something called "Goaman") and his robot will carry you right back to Reja
Town.

Back home, you'll give the herbs to Rudy and after a night's rest, he'll
already feel much better. Alina and Edessot want you to go back to Ed's lab,
where it's decided that you should go back to the cave. Do so, following the
same path as before, but you won't actually get in before Lossa goes haywire,
forcing the party to chase after it and conveniently opening a new area...

***The Altar***

Treasure: Gold coins

***

You'll immediately find a chest with [Gold Coins]. After that, keep north and
wind your way around to where Lossa is waiting. Things get weird, and you get
teleported to a strange green room where you'll learn a bit more about the
Goaman tribe. When you get back, though, the guard will be waiting for you,
and you'll be dragged back to town. There's a scene where Alina gets berated
by her jerk Dad... poor kid. He really lets her have it.

That night, it turns out that Alina has decided to run away from home.
There's nothing for you to do but grab Edessot and try to follow her...


===PS05 Part 2: Last of the Goaman===

Leave Reja and head for the Bridge area. 

***Bridge***

Treasure: Gold coins, Gold Bar

***

Just walk across. The [Gold Coins] are located down the first stairway. There's
a cool effect where it fades from one style of architecture to another, and
you'll find yourself in a new map area.  Right before you exit the area, a 
[Gold Bar] is hidden behind a little tower in the middle of the screen.

***Oasis***

---Weapon Stand---
Dhanus (Bow): 256 Gold
Chisel (Tool): 361 Gold
Dynamite: 144 Gold

---Ripoff Fruit Stand---
Fig: 4 Gold
Grapes: 1024 Gold (What a rip-off!)
Herb: 49 Gold
CaffeinePill: 100 Gold
Antidote: 124 Gold

---Armor Stand---
Kandura: 289 Gold
Abaya: 186 Gold

---Honest Merchant---
Herb: 32 Gold
CaffeinePill: 66 Gold
Antidote: 80 Gold

Treasure: Berries, Gold Coins, Dynamite, Antidote

Inn: Yes
***

Right after entering the town wall, you can head west a bit to get the
[Berries]. The building with two pink square sheets on either side of the
doorway is the inn; head inside.

You'll find Alina! Well, that didn't take long. There's a touching reunion
scene. These kids are close friends. By the way, if you try to stay in the
inn you'll notice it's 10 gold. Every inn for the rest of the entire game
will charge 10 gold. Not bad, huh?

South from the Inn is a marketplace. Hold off on the chisel for Edessot;
you'll find one soon. Alina's weapons are always worth getting. If you have
the money, you may want to get some armor for anybody who doesn't have any
yet. Whatever you do, DON'T buy anything from the guy who says his 1024 gold
grapes are a "special." Instead, talk to the guy partially obscured by a palm
tree in the stand of trees east of the marketplace to get the same items more
cheaply. South of the marketplace and a bit to the west, you'll find some
[Gold Coins]. Way off at the town's northeast corner, there's a pair of
chests with a [Dynamite] and an [Antidote]. That's all you can do here for
the moment.

***Camp***

Sidequest Item: Lena Letter

***

Now's a good time to pay a quick visit here to kick-start this game's big
sidequest. Talk to the southeasternmost fellow here; he'll introduce himself
as Arburus. He spins a sad tale about how he lived in one of his rich
brother's houses but got kicked out when he brought his girlfriend home.
He'll give you a letter to give to his girlfriend Lena, who lives in the
capital city - a [Lena Letter], if you will. Exeunt.

***Canyon***

Enemies: Sand Worm, Sand Snail, Amoeaba (Fire)

Treasures: Metal Coins x2, Potion, PepperPowder, Chisel, Herb, Dynamite,
Antidote, Gold Coins

***

Upon entering this area, you'll meet a strange human-like creature with kind
of a... dog face? Horse face? Something like that. Anyway, forget him, there
is loot to be had! LOOOOT. By the way, watch out for the Sand Worms here -
they can poison you! It's also a good idea to have Alina attack the sand
snails; she's probably the strongest at this point, and since attacking
normally causes them to bury themselves, a strong attack won't give them the
chance.

First, skip the first cave you see and take the narrow path to the north.
You'll come directly to another cave mouth. After finding some [Metal Coins],
you'll come out on an outcropping and find a [Potion]. If you go down south
and to the east a little bit, in the space between two towering cliffs there's
a [PepperPowder].

Going back to the first cave you saw, you'll soon come to two chests
containing a [Fire Gem] and a [Antidote]. Keep going past the first exit you
see and there's a little fork - go north for a [Chisel], and through that
exit for some [Gold Coins] if you like. Go south to get an [Herb] and take
the exit. Outside, go south to reach yet another cave. Inside, there's a
locked orange chest that you can't open and two more exits. Take the middle
exit to get [Dynamite]. There's also a couple of chests out here that I
promise you you can't access yet. Pay them no mind. Take the exit on the end
- to the south is an [Antidote]. Now, enter the cave to the east.

In this cave, there are more of those lame [Metal Coins]. Where the path
splits, you can go east for some [Gold Coins]; go out through the exit here
and to the south a bit you'll find the [Mameluke], a new weapon for Hoston.
Go back to the split and go the other way. Congrats on making it through the
caves! Your whole party will respond by quickly fainting. Apparently it is
dry and hot out here in the Desert. Who knew?

***Goaman Hut***

You are rescued by the creature you've been following; his name is Mohu, and
he and his mentor Tagmor are the last of a race called the Goaman. Having
been driven into the mountains by angry humans, their population was then all
but wiped out by a mysterious disease. After thanking your hosts for their
hospitality, keep talking to the two of them until Mohu joins your party.
party! He's a pretty solid character with some good magic, including "Heaven
blow" which can heal characters in battle and "Sweet Home" which takes you
instantly back to the Goaman hut from anywhere. Together you'll head to the
lost Goaman village.

Note during the following segment that the Goaman hut serves as a free inn.
Just enter, wait a few seconds, and Mohu will ask if you want to rest. 

***Canyon, part 2***

Enemies: Same as part 1

Treasures: Herb, Aloe Wera, PepperPowder, Berries

***

There's an [Herb] right at the entrance to this area. Less than a screen past
it, a partially obscured chest contains [Aloe Wera]. Wind around the pillar
to the east for a [PepperPowder]; south of that are some [Berries]. Against
all reason, there's a merchant at the top of this screen.

---Crazy desert shop---
Berries: 197 Gold
Fig: 4 Gold
Herb: 57 Gold
CaffeinePill: 116 Gold
PepperPowder: 197 Gold
Antidote: 141 Gold

Despite the ludicrous prices, getting a few Berries and PepperPowders might
help you out. You decide how confident you are. Continue North.

***Old Route***

Enemies: Same as Canyon areas

Treasures: Mana Potion, Antidote, Potion, Dynamite, Bomb

***

This area is very straightforward. The chest at the end of the first room
contains a [Mana Potion]. In the second room, you'll see a chest on a
platform with a slide leading up to it; however, you can't climb the slide.
This requires magic you'll get later, so ignore it for now. The fourth room
has an [Antidote] that's easy to get to.

The fifth room is a bit more interesting. The exit is in the northeast
corner, but you can grab a [Potion] and [Dynamite] first. All the way south
from where the Potion was, there's an entrance to another little room,
containing a [Bomb]. Finally, in the last room there's yet another chest you
can't get to yet. Mohu will help you use the teleporter, sending you to the
town.

***Ruin Town***

Going straight north, you'll find the main entrance is blocked, so you'll
have to go around back of the building to reach the open doorway of a small
adjacent building. Inside, walking up to the curtain reveals a secret
passage. You'll soon find a big entrance. There's also a bit of a mystery
here. If you go past the opening to the little red door, you'll enter a
small, apparently empty room. From the SE corner, however, you can go south,
then east, then south into the darkness, and through determined and difficult
zigzagging I've gotten it to where the room itself is scarcely even visible.
However, I can't find anything in there. I know there are hidden treasures in
this building because of Bright Mind. If you know what the deal is with this
room, please email me.

At any rate, go through the big obvious entrance to proceed.

***Sanctuary***

Enemies: Same as Canyon areas

Treasures: Herb, Dragon Tooth, Metal Coins, Potion, Gold Block, Mana Potion.

Quest Items: Gold Key, Big Key, Compass

***

This dungeon is a bit less direct and more puzzle-oriented than anything
before. I hope you like buttons and platforms.

Head north and then west to a little side room. On the pillar in here is a
grey panel; face it and press A to activate it. Go back outside and you'll
find a new platform waiting for you; ride it and press the next button,
summoning another platform for you to ride. This same pattern continues in a
predictable fashion, bringing you eventually to the next room.

Near the start of the second room, there's an [Herb]. Go south instead of
immediately entering the door at the end of this room to find a platform that
will take you to a [Dragon Tooth]. This accessory defends against fire; equip
it on somebody immediately, because that's the kind of damage done by the
Canyon enemies you're still fighting. Head back north to the next room. After
finding some hilarious [Metal Coins], press the panel and head all the way
back to the first room. There's a new platform to the south; ride it.

On this platform, press a button, ride the resulting platform and press
another button. The next platform will be way down at the southern end.
Platform is starting to not look like a word. From here, it's again pretty
obvious how to get to the next room.

The room you now find yourself in is shaped a bit like a spiral. Ignore the
eastern fork and head directly for the next doorway.

Now, this room - the room with a large black space surrounded by pillars - is
where a lot of players get stuck. If you press the button here and ride the
platform that comes to you, you'll find a dead end in the form of a button
that requires a key. However, you may also notice that pressing the button
causes another platform to move as well. Instead of taking the platform that
comes to you, follow the other one. It will go back to the start of the room,
behind the wide pillar next to the entrance. In order to proceed, you'll need
to walk behind the pillar. It'll be on the same horizontal line as the end of
the guardrail at the room's entrance.

This sneaky ride brings you to two chests, containing a [Gold Key] and a
[Potion]. Now you can head back to that locked switch. After pressing it,
wait a while for another platform to come.

In the next segment, press the button, then check behind the first pillar to
get a [Gold Block]. Go up behind the second pillar to reach the next
platform; search behind the pillar this leads you to for the [Big Key]. Go
back, activate the locked switch and head for the next door.

This room has a big pit in the center - yeah, you might want to heal up and
save (by exiting the room). Off to the side is a [Mana Potion].

////WARNING////

Boss 2: Crab - ~700-800 HP

This Giant Enemy Crab is accompanied by two Amoeabas. This boss, unlike the
first one, can be quite difficult and may even wipe you out, so stay sharp.
Get everybody's Gather up, especially Mohu, who requires 1 level to use his
heal spell. The main reason the crab is so difficult is that he can drop down
on the party for massive damage to everybody. Try using Edessot as a "gather
battery" to send to Hoston. This is a strategy that I like to use throughout
the game - one character can keep attacking while the other gathers and sends,
and the attacks will increase in power. There's no shame in using a chili,
either.

Keep your health up (Use Heaven blow for urgent healing needs - Mohu's faster
than Alina) and if anybody dies, use your revival items to bring them back
into the fight. Failing that, just make sure you've got your Dragon Tooth on
Mohu (he's got more MP than Alina) and gut it out - the Crab really can't do
much damage to a character with that accessory, so you should be able to
outlast it one on one. The Fire Gem can also be very helpful in this fight.

The crab leaves a chest behind. It contains the [Compass], the item Mohu came
for. Its exact significance is currently unclear, but it's definitely more
than just a compass. Edessot will use Lossa to get you back to Ruin Town, and
you can use Sweet Home to get back to the Goaman Hut as well, if you like.

WARNING! Mohu is about to leave your party! Unequip his items (particularly
the Dragon Tooth) before entering the Goaman hut if you ever want to see them
again. The Goa robe can be sold for 200 gold. The stick is worthless, though.

Back at the hut, you'll meet a disagreeable gentleman named Ironhart. He sets
his soldiers on you, a battle which may be harder than it should due to
depleted resources. Then, Ironhart himself will attack you. Don't waste your
resources trying to fight him, as this is a scripted loss. All attacks do only
one damage to him, so you don't have a chance. An attractive stranger will
come in to save you, however, and after losing Mohu, you'll be automatically
transported back to Oasis.


===PS06 Part 3: Westward Ho===

Back in Oasis, you'll be joined by Hoston's dad Rudy. He explains that the
man who rescued you was a friend of his named Kruller and gives you your next
quest hook - you've got to bring that compass to the Western continent in
order to research its secrets.

Rudy joins your party. At level 9, he's definitely going to be head and
shoulders above your party. He's pretty awesome. Anyway, head back to the
Reja subcontinent and select the westernmost Forest area.

***Western Forest***

Treasures: Berries, Antidote

***

Right away, you'll find some [Berries]. Follow the path to where it splits
and take the southern fork for an [Antidote]. That's it for this little area.
Exit to the north.

***Sherlyme***

---Item Shop---
Berries: 169 Gold
Herb: 49 Gold
CaffeinePill: 100 Gold
Antidote: 121 Gold
PepperPowder: 169 Gold

---Equipment Shop---
Wind Gem: 324 Gold
Bronze Sword: 529 Gold
Speargun: 441 Gold
Spanner: 484 Gold
Bronze Armor: 441 Gold
Bronze Mail: 400 Gold

Treasures: Gold Bar, Speargun

Inn: No

***

This tiny fishing outpost isn't really a full village, just a quick pitstop.
At the southern end there's a [Gold Bar]. On the Dock is a [Speargun], which
you'd think would hurt business being about three feet away from a shop that
sells them. Unless you've got money to burn, I'd pass on the weapons here -
they're not a significant upgrade. I do recommend buying everybody some
armor, however. The +1 agility the armors here offer can be a significant
help in outspeeding enemies. It's not a bad idea to buy a few PepperPowders
here either - you can really never have too many of these in a tough boss
fight.

***Meho***

Enemies: Toc Toc H., Baby Turtle, Turtle Egg, Feather F.

Treasures: Gold Bar, Salad, Potion, Apple, Herb x2, HemishaBerry, Antidote

***

For the enemies here I recommend going for the Tentacles first (they can
poison) and the Mother Turtle last, as it has so much HP that you'll take
lots of extra hits from the others while trying to beat it. The tentacles
often counterattack, however, so you might want to try to take them out using
ranged attacks and/or magic. Rudy's CarnPumpkin and Hoston's AvacadoBlast
work well.

Go west at the start and south into a little diagonal enclave to discover a
[Gold Bar]. Head back east across the entrance path and enter the doorway
next to a big slide; in here you'll obtain a [Salad]. Head east again, go
north past the tree roots and up the stairs. On this plateau, you can go to
the west end to find a [Potion]. Back where you came up the stairs, you can
go up some more stairs and slide down a chute. This will take you into the
cave below, where a tasty [Apple] awaits. After coming back out, head all the
way north and up a huge flight of stairs to a wooden platform. Step on the
orange block to ride across. After that, you'll have to ride another block
and then slide down a chute. 

At the top of the next set of stairs, you'll notice another chute. Sliding
down it will lead you to an [Herb], but it'll also send you back to the
beginning of the Meho area, so you might want to skip it. Similarly, if you
go east past the chute instead into a partially hidden path, then head north,
then east again through an almost completely hidden path, you'll eventually
come to... another dang [Herb]. No doubt about it, WM is just screwing with
us here.

Back where these foolish tangents began, head north to reach a new area.
After climbing several sets of stairs, you'll find two chutes. Ignore them -
they both take you backwards. Go up the stairs and head west behind the
foreground tree to get a [HemishaBerry]. Then it's time to ride another
orange block. If you slide down the chute on the next platform, you'll enter
a cave containing an [Antidote]. Right as you come out of the cave, a well
-camoflauged chest awards the [Turtle Vest], which will be a HUGE defense
boost at this point. Head east. After a series of stairways you'll come to a
new named area.

***Meho Rocks***

Enemies: K. Mandrill, Ape Disciple

Treasures: Gold Coins

***

For the enemies here, focus on the big ape. The little ones will run away
when their boss is defeated.

Take the southern stairway at the split and you'll find a [Green Chili]. Take
the north stairway all the way up to obtain some [Gold Coins]. Cross the
bridge connected to this stairway at the halfway point and head north to
reach the town of Katsa.

***Katsa***

---Item Shop---
Berries: 197 Gold
Herb: 57 Gold
CaffeinePill: 116 Gold
Antidote: 141 Gold
PepperPowder: 197 Gold

---Armor Shop---
Fire Gem: 484 Gold
Monk Mantle: 900 Gold

---Weapon Shop---
Holy Sword: 841 Gold
Cupid's Bow: 841 Gold
Lighter: 961 Gold

---Fruit Seller---
Apple: 520 Gold
Grapes: 853 Gold
Salad: 333 Gold

---Chili Seller---
Berries: 169 Gold
Green Chili: 576 Gold
Red Chili: 900 Gold

---Produce Seller---
Milk: 100 Gold
Fig: 4 Gold
Fish: 576 Gold

---Secluded Shop---
HemishaBerry: 187 Gold
Herb: 40 Gold
Aloe Wera: 300 Gold

Treasures: Antidote, Green Chili, Herb, Lighter, Ice Gem, Monk Mantle,
HemishaBerry

Inn: Yes

***

Katsa is a pretty big town; you can get sort of lost in it. First, take the
stairway to the east up; just to the west at the top, there's a big staircase
leading down. Some monks will come out and will tell you to look for Kruller
in the market. Enter after them and you'll be in the monastery. Make a big
clockwise loop, ignoring the passage in the wall early on for now; there will
be an [Antidote] in plain sight as you go. When you get to twin staircases,
turn east first to get a [Green Chili]. Keep going to reach the exit; outside
you'll find an [Herb].

Starting from the town entrance again, if you hug the west wall, you'll find
the [Lighter], a new weapon for Edessot. In the courtyard area just east of
the item shop, you'll encounter Kruller juggling for the crowd. There will be
some chitchat about a shadowy Secret Society (Rudy wants to seek their help
decoding the meaning of the compass - what could possibly go wrong?) and a
free inn stay.

Kruller joins your party here. He attacks by juggling, which is awesome, and
can hit flying enemies like Alina. He also comes with Heaven Blow, for some
welcome extra healing. He'll be level 11 but still have a rotten HP stat; get
used to this. Kruller likes to crack wise, but he's a damn nice guy - maybe
too nice for his own good, at times. Kruller is the sort of person who seems
both experienced and naive.

You'll regain control near the weapon shop and market. I HIGHLY recommend
buying the Cupid's Bow - Alina's MP is a precious resource, and this weapon's
MP regen helps you stretch it out considerably. In fact, this is one weapon
you should hang onto long after it's been outclassed. The Holy Sword isn't a
bad buy either, with its slight HP regen effect. Beware of the market - just
about everything is overpriced. The inn is a little further east and has a
passage in the east wall leading to a [Monk Mantle] and an entrance to the
Rock Cellar, but more on that later. You can head to the northwest corner of
town, just past where you met Kruller, to procure an [Ice Gem].

The armor sold here provides a significant defensive boost, but you might
want to skip it anyway to preserve your agility bonus. It's shocking how much
harder fights can be when the enemies go first. Weigh the pros and cons for
yourself.

In the southeast corner of town, you can take a stairway down to reach a
house with a kid inside it who hates the sun. Go up through the holes in the
walls to find a secluded shop and a [HemishaBerry].

Head back to the monastery and take the side passage I said to ignore before.
This will take you to Rock Cellar.

***Rock Cellar***

Enemies: Same as Meho

Treasures: Green Chili, Linnaei, Mana Potion+, Antidote, PepperPowder, Ice
Gem, Grapes, Gold Block

***

This dungeon is completely optional in terms of beating the game, but it has
an important item, and if you don't get it now, you won't have another chance
until near the end of the game, at which point you'll have permanently missed
some things due to not having it. Therefore, I highly recommend giving it a
go.

After sliding down the chute at the start, head west (there's a chest to the
southeast of the start, but you won't be able to get it yet). Keep going west
straight through the wall to reach a hidden door. In the next room, head down
two flights of stairs until you reach an area with a chute with arrows on it.
To the west a bit is a [Green Chili]. Slide down the chute and head down to
the bottom. On the east side of the room you'll find two chests, containing
the [Linnaei] book and a [Mana Potion+]. Immediately read the Linnaei; a new
non-battle spell called Liane will be learned by Hoston. Stand on the square
underneath the chute you just slid down and cast the spell in order to go
back up. This ability will help you reach certain spots throughout the game.

A note about books: Once you've read them, they're useless to you. Sell them
to make some extra cash and free up inventory space.

Head north and then east. At the end of a spiral path are chests containing
an [Antidote] and a [PepperPowder]. Now, return to the start. This time, take
the north path. At the top, you can go west for an [Ice Gem]. Go all the way
east and you'll see a stairway - this is the way out, but there are a couple
more things to get first. See that hole in the wall on the east side? Walk
through the wall next to it and examine the bottom of the hole for some
[Grapes]. Leave the wall. To the south, you'll find a [Gold Block]. That's it
for Rock Cellar; exit up the stairs and you'll find yourself back in the inn.

Now it's time to leave Katsa behind and head for Teusa, home of the
aforementioned Secret Society.


===PS07 Part 4: The Secret Society====

***Meho Rocks part 2***

Treasure: HectorHammer

***

After leaving Katsa, take the first turn east on the bridge. This spot was
broken before, and is now oh-so-conveniently fixed. Go all the way east,
going over a rock bridge, then down some stairs to the south to get the
[HectorHammer], a new weapon for Rudy. This is a reference to the band
HammerFall. This weapon also gives Rudy a powerful special attack. Now, go
north and cross a couple of winding wooden bridges. Walk behind the rock at
the bottom of the stairs here to continue north. It's a pretty
straightforward path from here to the next area.

***Meho (2)***

Enemies: Same as first Meho

Treasures: Gold Bar, Mana Potion, Towel, Billhook, Green Chili, Berzerk Coat,
Gold Coins

***

This area is also called Meho, despite being distinct from the first Meho.
You'll come down some stairs at the start; there's a narrow path to the
north. Here, you can either go up the stairs to the west or across the
boardwalk to the east (behind the foreground tree/pillar). If you go east,
you'll soon reach a small cave containing a [Gold Bar]. Head up the western
stairs to proceed. As you continue down the path, you'll go past a chute,
south past a couple of big rocks, and you'll find a chute going down. Ignore
it for the moment and head up the nearby stairs.
 
Cross a wooden boardwalk to an oddly shaped stone platform, where you'll find
a [Mana Potion]. Next to the chest is a partially obscured chute. Slide down
to enter a cave. Enter the west wall here to find a [Towel]. Equip this
immediately on whoever you're having trouble keeping alive and who isn't
using the Vaccine - it reduces water/ice damage, which is common here, by
half. Exit the cave and you'll be back at the chute; now you should slide
down it and walk through the cave it takes you to.

In the next area, head all the way east, ignoring the cave entrance you see,
and head up the stairs. This path will take you to another chute you'll need
to slide down. In this cave, the ledge will form a stair pattern. On the last
"step," walk east into the wall and keep going until you get to a chest.
You're supposed to find this later, but this way is quicker. ;D It contains a
[Billhook], a very powerful weapon usable by either Hoston or Edessot. Head
back out of the wall and go north to exit the cave.

Outside, head west (the path east just leads back to where you got the
Billhook). Nestled into some tree roots is a box containing a [Green Chili].

Here you have a choice. You can enter the cave or go up the stairs. If you're
on the brink of death, you can go straight to Teusa by heading up the stairs
and taking the right orange platform at the point where there are two to
choose from. Otherwise, head into the cave. 

In the cave, you'll see a chute (it's too high for Liane). Heading north,
you'll see a little stone on the path. Stand on the right side of it and go
east through the wall for a [Berzerk Coat], great armor for Alina that you
wouldn't otherwise get for a while. Continue north and there's a leafy hole in
the wall on the west side - you can go in here and find [Gold Coins]. Head
east at the fork and up the stairs to find a little village called Zohonka.

***Zohonka***

---Weapon Shop---
Estoc (Sword): 2704 Gold
Rock Adze (Tool/Hammer): 2304 Gold
Flanged Mace (Hammer): 2304 Gold
Jogo do Pau (Staff): 2209 Gold

---Armor Shop---
Green Chili: 576 Gold
Scale Mail: 2209 Gold
Towel: 484 Gold
Magic Gum: 100 Gold
Dragon Tooth: 400 Gold

---Item Shop---
Potion: 289 Gold
Mana Potion: 625 Gold
Berries: 169 Gold
Herb: 49 Gold
CaffeinePill: 100 Gold
Antidote: 121 Gold
PepperPowder: 169 Gold

Treasures: Aloe Wera, Gold Bar

Inn: No

***

Surprise, there's a village in the middle of nowhere. In the SW corner,
there's an [Aloe Wera]. The middle of the three buildings you can enter
contains a [Gold Bar]. You'll notice a third chest that you can't get to -
ignore it for now.

The real reason to come here is for the shops. This is a fantastic place to
get some very useful accessories. You should already have a Towel and a
Dragon Tooth, but you should buy extras - they're cheap and do a better job
than anything else in cutting down damage. You might think I'm crazy, but
having five of each isn't a bad move at all; in fact, I strongly recommend
it. You'll know what I mean when you see all the enemy attacks barely hurting
your entire party. It won't even cost you that much.

As far as the weapons go, picking up a Flanged Mace is a pretty good idea, as
it provides a serious attack boost. You might also like to get Kruller a new
weapon - he'll get a stronger one soon, but it has a hefty string attached.
Apart from that, I'd hold off. For MP restoration, Berries are a better buy
right now than mana potions due to the high cost of the latter - It's a good
idea to have 10 or so of them on hand, just in case.

***Meho, Continued***

Treasures: Mangrove Bow, Gold Block, PepperPowder

***

If you followed my advice, you can equip all your towels (a must for
hitchhikers) and wear a merry smile as Meho's enemies barely hurt you.
They're super absorbent! Anyway, head up onto the boardwalk and you'll
eventually come to a place where there are orange platforms on either side of
you.

If you take the platform that goes west, you'll come down to another orange
platform (the way down to it is obscured by the foreground - just go all the
way to the end of the boardwalk and go south). If you take it across, you'll
come to a dead end with a [Mangrove Bow]. Alina will do more damage with this,
but hold on to the Cupid's Bow - its MP regeneration is very useful.

Down the stairs next to the platform that leads to the Mangrove Bow, you'll
find a chute and some stairs going up - take the stairs for a [Gold Block].
DON'T take the chute - it leads way back to the start of the area. Instead,
head back to the spot with the two platforms.

The east platform will take you straight to Teusa. By the way, go south on
the rock platform in the middle of this path to get a [PepperPowder].

***Teusa***

---Item Stall---
Potion: 337 Gold
Berries: 197 Gold
Herb: 57 Gold
CaffeinePill: 116 Gold
Antidote: 141 Gold
PepperPowder: 197 Gold

Treasures: CaffeinePill, Aloe Wera, Mangrove Rod, Turtle Vest, Dynamite,
Berries, Herb

Sidequest item: Master Key

Quest items: Leather Book, Small Key

Inn: Yes

***

Teusa is split into two halves, the east side and the west side. The two are
connected by a long indoor basement/hallway. You start out on the east side.
To the east at the start is a building with two doors; head into the western
door and explore the back room for a [CaffeinePill]. To the north past the
lowered courtyard area, there's an [Aloe Wera] up against the city's eastern
wall. The first building to the west of this chest holds a [Mangrove Rod],
which is a powerful weapon for Kruller. Beware, though - when it says it has
a 25% chance to cause poison, it doesn't mean to the enemy. If you equip this
weapon, ALWAYS have the vaccine accessory equipped to nullify the poison.

The furthest building to the west along this upper row is the one you need to
enter to cross to the west side - but first, head up the nearby stairs for a
[Turtle Vest].

In the middle of the long crosstown hallway, there's a little storage space
where you'll find some [Dynamite]. You'll also notice a path going up, but
you can't do anything there yet, so keep going until you get to the west side
of town.

Down the stairs from where you come out, you'll see the item shop stall. Go
into the building behind it. Inside are some [Berries] and a self-described
"old geezer" who promises to give you a knife in exchange for telling him how
many carved faces there are throughout the village. You can guess as many
times as you like, but the answer is 7. After you answer correctly, he'll
award the first [Master Key], which isn't a knife at all. Maybe his mind is
starting to go with age. 

On the southern end of the west side, you'll find the Inn, which looks like
two buildings but is really just one. When you're ready, head all the way up
the stairs at the west end to enter the headquarters of the secret society.
Here, the kids (Hoston, Alina and Edessot) will leave the party, but don't
worry, you won't have to fight without them.

Everybody in the society chants the same few vaguely threatening slogans at
you. These are totally trustworthy and upstanding people, for sure. There's
no treasure here except a box you really can't miss with an [Herb]. All you
do here is talk to the head honcho and leave, and you'll be reuinted with the
kids. There's a cutscene which only builds the tension between your party and
Sasheer, the head of the Society, and then a free rest.

After discussing the compass, the Society will give you the [Leather Book], a
relic that may offer clues to the secrets of the lost age. Head back to the
bunk room of the Inn and the party will attempt to decipher the book, coming
up with three words - point, zero, and north. Back at the society again,
you'll baldly lie and be rewarded with a [Small Key].

Head back to the building that bisects the town and head up the passage in
the middle. The key lets you open a new passage out of town.


===PS08 Part 5: No Vacancy: the Innless Stretch from Hell===

This is the part of the game that can be a real pain. I've played a lot of
RPGs, and I've never known them to strand you away from R&R like this stretch
does. Save resources however you can - equip that cupid's bow, towel
everybody up - because it'll be a while before you see another bed. There
will be one spot you'll get to rest, but it won't be repeatable.

***Meho (3)***

Treasures: Macana, HemishaBerry, Potion, Crossbow, Ban Hammer!

***

Holy crap, we're STILL in Meho? Does it ever end? Anyway, a little bit in,
just after riding yet another of your favorite orange blocks, there's a
north-south split. Head north to get the [Macana], a weapon for Hoston, then
head back south. Inside the first cave you see, you can walk west and north
into the wall in the northwest corner for a [HemishaBerry]. If you go up the
steps, you can walk into the wall again. Go east until you hit a wall, then
south, west, south, and east to reach a little opening with a [Potion] - Kind
of a lame reward after that much poking around in the dark, to be honest.

After the cave, go east and head up the steps to ride another platform (You'll
see a chest on the roof of the cave you just came out of - it can only be
opened later). You'll find the [Crossbow]. It's a decent boost, but I still
like the Cupid Bow's regeneration (it goes up with Alina's Max MP, so it might
be a good idea to hold on to this for most of the game!). Head back, taking
the moving block again, and enter the cave on the east end of this screen.

On the other side of the cave, you'll be in a slightly more open area. Head
down the stairs to the south and go down another set further down to find the
mighty [Ban Hammer!]. This thing is awesome. It has a very high crit chance
and a VERY strong special attack. Enjoy striking down your enemies with this
beautiful instrument. Anyway, head west and over one last orange platform.
Keep going north (you'll have to go behind the foreground for a bit) to reach
the next area.

***Meho Rocks (2)***

Enemies: Meho Rocks enemies plus Toc Toc H.

Treasures: None

***

Meho, man... it goes on forever... Well, time for more walking around winding
wooden bridges. The enemy groups here are sometimes nastier than the first
Meho rocks, with more Ape Disciples and the addition of the Toc Toc H, so be
careful. Do whatever you can to take out the K. Mandrill in a hurry, before
the many disciples can land their attacks. On the plus side, you're close to
the lone rest stop in this leg of the game.

Head west the first time you have a choice and you'll soon discover the out
of the way town called Querkon.

***Querkon***

---Item Shop---
Potion: 289 Gold
Berries: 169 Gold
Herb: 49 Gold
CaffeinePill: 100 Gold
Antidote: 121 Gold
PepperPowder: 169 Gold

---Weapon Shop---
Thyrfing (Sword): 1024 Gold
Yew Bow: 900 Gold
Seax (Sword/Tool): 961 Gold
Mjolner (Hammer): 841 Gold
Gridarvol (Staff): 841 Gold

---Armor Shop---
Berserk Coat: 1024 Gold
Power Glove: 2601 Gold

Treasures: Metal Coins, Gold Block, Salad

Inn: Very no

***

As the people there will tell you, there's not much to see in Querkon. If you
blink, you'll miss there being a town here at all. But this is a tough
stretch, and as they say, any port in a storm...

Head to the west end and you'll hit the jackpot with some [Metal Coins]. The
nearby cave contains a much better [Gold Block], however. Go down the stairs
and head to the east to reach... the shops! So there is something here. The
chest in this room contains a [Salad], by the way.

It turns out there is some awesome stuff hidden away in this otherwise
lacking village. You probably have a lot of money right now; here is a good
place to spend it. All the weapons are worth buying except Mjolner - Hammer
of Thor or not, the Ban Hammer's more-than-half crit rate can't be beat. The
Yew Bow gives an agility boost, so definitely buy that. Kruller's new weapon
might seem like a small boost over the mangrove rod, but it frees you from
the poison effect. Also make sure to buy Alina a Berzerk coat, which not only
offers great defense, but boosts her agility even more! As for the Power
Glove, it's a big offense boost and it sure won't hurt to have one around,
but you're going to have trouble justifying the use of the valuable accessory
slot most of the time.

***Meho Rocks, continued***

That shopping spree was so fun you almost forgot that you didn't get to rest,
didn't you? Courage - just a bit further. Head back to the split and go north
- before long the party will stop to take a break. Edessot wants to care for
his robot - remember Lossa? - and the others poke good-natured fun at him.
Kruller hopes to find some mind-altering rocks to save an old friend who may
not want saving or even be capable of being saved. More importantly, you get
to rest, and I hope you enjoy it - you can't rest here again, and the
distance from here to the next actual inn is even further than getting here
from Teusa. Head east and you'll fall down a weird sinkhole, to a place I
like to call...

***The Dust Bowl***

Treasures: Mana Potion x2, Potion, Green Chili x2, Electrode

***

This place is still technically Meho Rocks, but I'm tired of variations on
Meho, so I named it for you. I got stuck here for several hours on my first
go - if you wander around it, you'll discover that it's an endless loop. What
makes it frustrating isn't the puzzle required to pass, which is pretty easy
to figure out - it's the pair of bizarre, random arbitrary triggers you need
for the puzzle to even come up. It took me quite a while to stumble across
them on my first go. Maybe it's just me, but in case anybody else has the
same problem, I'll lay it out here.

Head down the stairs and you'll be in a wide sandy area with odd reverse
-funnel-shaped dunes you can slide around on. Head to the northern end of the
area and walk just past the northernmost one. The party will be a bit shaken
up, and Alina will tear her jacket. Before long, however, you're back on your
feet. Keep heading north and go down the stairs and into the cave at the
bottom.

On the other side of the cave, you'll come out on a ledge where you can find
a [Mana Potion]. A bit further north are stairways down to the east and west.
Take the western one. You'll find a [Potion] and will eventually come to
another cave. In here, there's another [Mana Potion].

At the exit of the cave, you'll be in a suspiciously familiar spot. Try to
shake that deja vu and explore the other cave entrance nearby. If you head
east and north into the wall and press A at the eastern end of the hole
there, you can open a completely unseen treasure chest containing a [Green
Chili]. Exit and head down the chute to your east. Follow this path and
you'll eventually find an [Electrode] and you'll end up back at the spot with
the east and west stairways. This time, head north. You'll be back in the
starting area. In the northeast corner, you can find another [Green Chili].
If you head back to the spot where Alina tore her jacket, you SHOULD get the
event you need - but you won't. This is why I was stuck here for so long.
Instead, head north again and keep going north until you come back to the
same spot. Now the party will FINALLY realize they're going in circles. I
apologize for the strange route, but I tested several more efficient ones and
they just don't work. I can't understand why this segment is designed this
way, to be honest.

Okay, I'm done complaining. On the bright side, the dialogue here is pretty
funny and creative. Anyway, to open the exit you'll have to push the
tree/statue things in this area onto the square indentations in the sand next
to them by facing them and pressing A. You'll have to do this in a certain
order or they'll reset, making you start again. There are five trees to push,
and the order is like this:

1......5
...2....
.....4..
..3.....

Although you can't see an indentation for the fourth one, this just means you
need to push it north. After completing the sequence, a new weird sinkhole
thing will open up to your east and you can exit. It's actually a bit of a
walk from where you come out to the end of the area, but it's a
straightforward one.

Near the end, you'll find a pair of people. The one on the left is a shop!

---Meho Rocks Shop---
Potion: 289 Gold
Mana Potion: 625 Gold
Earth Gem: 529 Gold
Ban Hammer!: 1521 Gold
Seax: 961 Gold

If you need mana restoratives - and I recommend having quite a few for the
area coming up - you can buy them here. Otherwise, just keep going. You'll
finally come to an area not called Meho.

***Zephyr***

Treasure: Gold Block

Quest Item: Shovel

***

You've reached the point Kruller's been waiting for; unfortunately, he didn't
plan on having to actually, you know, mine for rocks. Sigh... Head back south
and talk to the person on the right this time. They'll sell you a shovel for
900 Gold. Unfortunately, there's no way around this - you've got no choice
but to pay up. You'll get a [Shovel]. Use it at the spot indicated in the
previous scene; Kruller does his digging, and you can move on. At the edge of
the area you'll find a [Gold Block], which will make up the majority of your
shovel expenses. That's all there is to Zephyr.

***Pine Forest***

Enemies: Toxic Flower, Amoeaba (Earth)

Treasures: Green Chili, Herb, Saw, Gold Bar, Pine Rod, Bomb, Berries

***

This is the last area before you'll reach an inn, but it can be really tough.
The enemies here do Earth type damage, so if you've got feathers, equip them
to reduce damage. The Cupid Bow, which should be healing 5 MP a turn by now,
can also help. When you encounter the Tall Troll and Small Troll, take out
the tall one first. If you get poisoned, you might want to just run.

At the start, take the stairs down to the west, not the stairs up to the east
- you'll be going there later. Soon you'll see a chest up on a platform with
a chute with arrows on it - it's your first chance to use Hoston's Liane
spell! Remember, you have to be standing on the square directly underneath
the chute when you cast it. Your reward is a [Green Chili]. A little further
west, you'll find an [Herb] on a prominent little platform.

Head down the stairs and go a bit futher west; you'll come across two huge
trees with a raised platform between them. On top is the [Saw], a new weapon
for Edessot. Head back east a little (not back up the stairs) and to the
north. In the especially grassy area up here there's another Liane chute,
yielding a [Gold Bar]. Ignore the tree stump platform to the northwest and
zigzag north to reach another dirt area. Just to the east is a third Liane
chute, this one leading to the [Pine Rod], a great weapon for Kruller that
gives him a much needed (and huge!) speed boost.

Go a little further east and you'll reach a slight clearing with stairways
off in multiple directions. The SE stair has a treasure requires that Alina
knows the Opening spell, which you don't know yet. It only contains a [Bomb],
anyway, which may not be worth the 99 MP. You'll need to take the stairway to
the northwest to proceed. Head far to the west, ignoring a raised platform and
passing several trees, and go down some grassy steps. Head directly west into
a circle of trees and approach the thin tree to the north, and your party will
have a conversation about the path being blocked. Really, game? I have this
big saw... *sigh*...

If you head south and west "under" the tree ring, a little grass platform
holds some [Berries], which are certainly welcome as your resources are no
doubt stretching thin. Now, head back east. Head ALL the way back to the
start of the Pine Forest, and take the eastern path I told you to avoid
before (Actually, it's more to the north of the starting area). Drag your
weary party along until you reach...

***Hunter Lodge***

Treasure: Potion

Quest Item: Beaver

***

Hey, there's a house here. In the southeast corner of this map you'll find a
[Potion]. Head up to the front door. The owners seem hostile at first, but
they turn out to be nice people, just cautious. In fact... they're going to
let you crash here! YAY! This is exactly what you need right now! This is the
best possible place to... uh. Why isn't the inn jingle starting? Might as
well examine this cage... seems it's a beaver and.... no... no. NO. NO NO NO
NO NO....

Darth Vader: NOOOOOOOO

Oh this is precious. This is just peachy keen. They dangle the first rest in
AGES in front of you, but no. No, your party would rather steal a beaver from
these people under the extremely doubtful rationale that it might be able to
clear the tree blocking the path. To facilitate this, Hoston DRUGS the
innocent couple's tea. This is awful! What a dick move! This is the reward
they get for their generosity? They should have run you trespassers off when
they had the chance! Damn stupid party, you deserve what you get. I've got no
sympathy at all.

(Weird fact: if you come back here after leaving the forest, these people are
still friendly to you.)

Seriously though, not putting a rest somewhere in this stretch was a terrible
idea. I can't believe this didn't come up in testing. Well, you've no choice
but to soldier on... collect your [Beaver], keep your eyes down, just keep
telling yourself it will be over soon and if you murder everyone you'll only
regret it after the sweet release of bloodlust wears off. Head back to the
other end of the Pine Forest... I know it's hard. You think it's hard with me
leading you along, imagine getting lost on top of it. And when you make an
RPG, always ALWAYS put inns at regular intervals. Let's call it the "Pier
Solar rule."

Use the beaver at the offending tree. Hehe, "He's a beaver, he's slow. It's
not like he's a hedgehog or anything." 

Okay, that was weird. Let's never speak of it again. With that, we're finally
done with this damn forest.


===PS09 Part 6 Point Zero, North====

This new area is analogous to the Reja subcontinent. The part we're
interested in right now, though, is doubtlessly the part with the inn.

***Mutch***

---Weapon Shop---
Dao (Sword): 2500 Gold
CompositeBow: 2304 Gold
Saw: 2401 Gold
Cross Peener (Hammer): 2601 Gold
Pine Rod: 2704 Gold

---Armor Shop---
Wind Gem: 378 Gold
Fire Gem: 564 Gold
Earth Gem: 617 Gold
Ice Gem: 617 Gold
LumberJacket: 2916 Gold

---Item Shop---
Potion: 337 Gold
Mana Potion: 729 Gold
Berries: 197 Gold
Herb: 57 Gold
Aloe Wera: 421 Gold
CaffeinePill: 116 Gold
Antidote: 141 Gold
PepperPowder: 197 Gold

Treasures: LumberJacket, Alfedone

Inn: Yes!

***

This logging village isn't a big town, but it's a sight for sore eyes
nonetheless. Also, you can enjoy the disgruntled mumblings of the sexually
frustrated male (and one lesbian) workers. Up north past the woodpiles on the
outskirt of town, you can find a [LumberJacket]. In the item shop you can
find an [Alfedone]. 

After resting up, you can try the shops. You'll have some stuff to sell -
don't sell it in the armor shop! They will severely underpay you. The
LumberJacket is a pretty serious upgrade; why not get one for each of the
guys? As for the weapon upgrades, I chose to pass because I'm really in love
with the Ban Hammer and the Yew and Cupid bows. The Dao is certainly an
upgrade, but you'll find one soon. The choice is, of course, yours. By the
way, the armor shop dialogue is a reference to Digitpress.com's video game
rarity guide.

***Pine Forest North***

Treasures: Potion

***

In addition to the Pine Forest you came from, there are two Pine Forest
locations to the north you can choose. Let's start from the eastern entrance.

Ignore the first southern stairway. Take the next turn south and the stairway
down to find a [Potion]. Keep heading west until you find another stairway
down. On this grassy lowland platform, it may be tough to see, but there's a
door you can enter. Do so, and head down the stairs in the next screen, to
reach a hidden dungeon!

***Cave of Evil***

Enemies: Same as Reja Forest, but with higher stats

Treasures: Dao, Gold Bar, Mana Potion, Potion+, PepperPowder, De Magnete,
Bomb, Aloe Wera

***

I don't see what's so wrong with this cave. Wet, yes, but evil? I guess "Cave
of Dampness" didn't have the same ring. The enemies here are all Earth type,
just like in the Pine forest. I've literally never seen running fail here, so
if the run rate isn't 100%, it certainly must be higher than normal.

Head south and down the stairs at the start. If you go north a little bit and
up the stairs, you can get a [Dao]. Head down the stairs, east, and down to
the SE corner of the cave for a [Gold Bar]. Head north along the eastern wall
until you get to a little hexagonal platform you'll have to walk around -
head west here and you can get a [Mana Potion]. Head back to the east wall
and go a little further north; you'll find that you're as far north as you
can go, so take the stairs up here. Despite how it might look, you've got no
choice but to go west and south on the platform here and head down the stairs
again. Follow this winding path until you come out in a spot with paths in
several directions and stairs heading up to another platform. You can take
these stairs and wind around in a spiral to get a valuable [Potion+].

Heading north from these stairs and then west (ignore the path to the east,
it's a dead end), you'll reach another set of stairs; these will lead to a
[PepperPowder]. Return to the stairs that lead to the Potion+ and head south;
you'll soon come across another stairway. Head west on this platform over a
reverse-V shaped bend and all the way north to the end. On a raised platform
here, you'll find this dungeon's star prize, the [De Magnete] book. This will
teach Edessot the MagnetShield spell, which I believe reduces the random
encounter rate for a while when cast.

Follow the path west of where you got the book if you want a [Bomb], then 
head east for [Aloe Wera]. That's all for this cave, so head south from where
you got the book and trace your path backwards, northeast past the stairs 
that lead to the Potion+, then going south along the east wall to finally
exit. That took a while, didn't it? You might want to head back to Mutch for
a quick rest before exploring the rest of the Pine Forest.

***Pine Forest North, continued***

Treasures: CompoundBow, Red Chili

Sidequest Item: Master Key

***

Just northwest of where you found the Cave of Evil, there's a chest that can
only be opened with Alina's Opening spell; it contains a [CompoundBow]. Keep
going north and you'll soon meet up with the path directly west of the
entrance to this forest. Put another way, you can get the CompoundBow by
taking the second turn south from the start. The path across the grassy
platform to the north of that turn just leads to a couple of campers who
don't even have much to say, so you'd be justified in skipping it. Instead,
keep heading west. You'll soon come to another Liane chute. Go up it to reach
two chests, a [Red Chili] and the second [Master Key]! This Master Key is
permanently missed if you don't get it now - believe me, I speak from
experience. Head a bit further west, then go straight south to exit.

***The Lake***

Treasures: HemishaBerry, Aloe Wera

***

Have a rest at Mutch before coming here. Also, I'm afraid it's time for
another...

WARNING: Rudy is about to leave the party. Take his stuff off of him. Kruller
is leaving too, but he'll be back.

I know it's sad. I like him too. Rudy 4eva.

When you get here, Alina silently learns a spell called Opening. This spell
allows you to open chests you can see but can't reach. There are quite a few
of these throughout the game; there's one here, in fact.

Head to the west at the start, and you'll see a chest you can't get to
without the spell of Opening. It contains a [HemishaBerry]. If you go to the
extreme northeast corner of this area, you'll also find an [Aloe Wera].
Directly west from this chest is a stone arrow. Standing on it, use the
Compass. A new dock-like structure will emerge in the lake. Out on it, do you
notice how one of the pilings in the last row has a little round hole in it?
Face it, and use the Compass again. A bunch of stuff will happen. Yep, it's
everybody's least favorite guy again, Ironhart. And that means another
scripted-loss boss battle. At least it's just Rudy and Kruller this time, so
it won't take long...

***Point Zero***

Enemies: Same as Cave of Evil, but colored blue for the holiday season.

Treasures: Stone, Herb, Mana Potion x3, Power Glove, Antidote, Potion,
PepperPowder

***

Well, that sucked! You're down to three party members again and you're also
locked in here, so you'll have to find another way out. Just north of where
you start, there's a... [Stone]. Yay? Head down a pair of long stairways to
the next room.

In the second room, head east. Go east again in the third room, then (after
following the path north) south and west past a pair of little stairways.
There's a strange looking thing on the floor here (are those buckets)? North
of it is an [Herb]; follow the path to the next room.

In room 4, there's a chest at the start that I don't think you can get to.
Use Opening on it for a [Mana Potion]. Head east, ignoring the northern path
for the moment (unless you want to head straight for the exit). In the next
room, you'll walk a winding passage and pass behind a pair of pillars twice,
then another pillar; check the bottom tile of this pillar for a [Power
Glove]. Keep going west until you hit a wall, then go south for an
[Antidote]. The door to the north is just a dead end, so head back to room 4
and take the northern path I said to skip before.

The next room has a long, one-square-wide passage. Carefully navigate the
turns or you'll fall and have to start the room over. Just remember to stop
pressing the dpad when you get to a turn and you should be fine. Fortunately,
there are no encounters in here. If you're really having trouble, you might
try turning auto-run off. Anyway, head south at the first real split to find
a [Potion]. At the end, you'll reach a door with another door next to it.
Head in and out the other for another [Mana Potion].

To the north is a bit of a maze, but it's simple as long as you keep in mind
the pillar to the left that looks like a foreground object is in fact solid.
At the northern end of the room, go west past the pillar and south to obtain
a [PepperPowder]. Head north through a couple more rooms and you're done.
You'll meet a big dragon, but don't worry; she wants to give you a ride, not
fight. Awesome, right? 

***Ice Castle***

Treasures: Electrode, Potion+, Mana Potion, Potion, Key, Bolt Cutter, Bomb,
Fire Gem, Green Chili, Salad

Quest Item: Arekoll Dust

***

Mossae the Dragon will take you to this strange icy palace in the middle of
the ocean. If you go all the way north along the eastern wall, there's an
awesome [Electrode] in it for you. There's another chest to the far west, but
it's locked, so just go inside.

The interior is nothing if not roomy. The western side of the entryway holds
a [Potion+]. You'll soon meet the master of this place, a crazy-looking old
coot who's hardly pleased to see you. He thought you were going to be the
Goaman... Oh dear, is he in for a surprise on that count.

Anyway, after a bizarre little exchange you'll get a free rest. Just outside
of your bed quarters is a [Mana Potion] behind a crate. Feel free to explore
the castle - there's a lovely view of the inexplicably pink ocean. Seriously
though, you'll want to immediately go northeast. You can walk into the wall 
west of the stairs here at the corner and go north for a [Potion]. Go east
past the stairs leading up and into the little side room. In the SE corner of
this room, though you can't see it, is a chest containing a simple metal
[Key]. This is your new best friend. You know all those locked chests? That's
right. This key will open almost all the locked chests throughout the game!

For starters, head back outside. That locked chest to the west contains a
[Bolt Cutter], a new weapon for Edessot. Next, head down the huge stairway
where you met the old geezer; the locked chest here contains a [Bomb]. Say hi
to the penguin for me!

On the second floor of the castle, the northeasternmost room contains a [Fire
Gem]. At the northwest corner, a door with some stairs leading up to it leads
to a room with a [Green Chili] inside. If you really want to be complete, go
west from where Arekoll is waiting. In the northwest corner with the golden
wall, you can walk south into the wall. step west at the end of this secret
path and turn north for a [Salad]. Why such a common item is so exquisitely
hidden is anybody's guess. 

Now that you're done looting the old man's palace for all it's worth, find him
in the center of the second floor to demand a way out.

This guy's name is Arekoll. He knows Hoston's dad, and he knows a lot about
the compass, the Goaman and the Lost Age, but he'll speak in vague terms and
confuse the hell out of both Hoston and his friends and you. Eventually he'll
give you [Arekoll Dust] so you can return here when you need to. Talk to
Mossae and you'll soon be back at The Lake.


===PS10 Part 7: A Small Favor===

Return to Mutch and head for the docks to the northeast. You'll find Kruller
and his new friend Zellini, a hard-nosed woman whom Alina immediately hates
for absolutely no adequately developed reason whatever. Seriously, I like
Alina, and this sudden caprice really hurts her character for no reason of
which I can think. Anyway, as she says, you can now use the boat docked here,
so after making sure you've got no unfinished business in this area, go ahead
and set off.

By the way, the boat turns out to be kind of a little bit stolen (oddly, the
boat owner gets his own character portrait for his one line). Maybe Alina was
onto something after all. OH WELL! New town.

***Assac***

---Stolen Item Shop---
Potion: 385 Gold
Mana Potion: 833 Gold
Potion+: 2821 Gold
Aloe Wera: 481 Gold
CaffeinePill: 133 Gold
Antidote: 161 Gold
PepperPowder: 225 Gold

---Armor Shop---
Thief Suit: 2704 Gold
ExWife Dress: 2500 Gold

---Stolen Weapon Shop---
Steal Sword: 2601 Gold
Compound Bow: 2401 Gold
Bolt Cutter: 2500 Gold
Club: 2809 Gold
Sjambok (Whip): 2704 Gold
Bomb: 625 Gold

Treasures: Stone x4, Fire Gem, HemishaBerry, ExWife Dress, Armlet, Potion+,
Gold Block, Bandit Key, Bomb x2, Mana Potion+, Sphere

Inn: Yes

***

Welcome to Assac, your token seedy town for this RPG. To the west end of the
docks you start out on, there's a [Stone] next to a building with a [Fire
Gem] at the top. Head north and your party will be joined by Ze... er, "A
mysterious bounty hunter whom you certainly do not know from Adam." See, his
name is "Bounty" and everything. How mysterious. Pay no attention to the
female-only armor "he" comes equipped with. This new character uses whips, by
the way. Just east of the spot where this happens is another lovely [Stone].

After you get your new party member, go east to talk to the guy you nearly
just had an altercation with; he'll agree to meet you at the dock later for
information.

In the item shop, there's a treasure hidden in the west wall. I haven't found
a path to it, but you can use Opening on it for a [Bomb].

North of the item shop is a house with a [HemishaBerry] inside. By the way,
these back doors lead to the Arena - more on that later. At the northernmost
point is another [Stone] - geez, this town has crappy loot, huh? I guess the
locals have nabbed the good stuff already. There's even a chest east of the
Armor Shop that requires Opening - don't bother, it's yet another [Stone].
Hardy har. North of here, though, a house has an item that's actually good -
an [ExWife Dress].

Near the weapon shop, there's a chest that has to be opened by Opening spell
- it contains an [Armlet]. This accessory is a major upgrade in increasing
counterattack frequency over the Magic Gum; it also increases attack. In the
inn, there's a [Potion+]. Finally, there's somebody in town who will tell you
in very easy to decipher code that there's a treasure in the tree stump.
Indeed, examine the tree stump on the north end of town for a [Gold Block].

As for the shops, I'm not crazy about going for any of the weapons here. The
armor, however, is good stuff with major agility boosts and it's not a bad
idea to buy everybody some new armor.

After having a (compulsory) rest at the Inn, head up to the extreme northeast
corner of town - at the end of the dock, you'll have your little meeting. Now,
head back south and west and you'll have access to Madam Mazooca's building.
In the door to the east as you reach the top of the stairs, you can find the
[Bandit Key]. The back door here just leads to a confusing series of dead
ends, so ignore it.

As for Mazooca's place... I'll let you find it. I don't think it's easy to
miss. The background in here is really cool. You'll come to an agreement with
Madam Mazooca - you'll find somebody for her in exchange for information on
the whereabouts of Hoston's father. The chest next to her contains a [Bomb],
by the way. Furthermore, just above the western entrance, you can walk west
and then south into the wall for a [Mana Potion+].

The chest on the roof of Mazooca's can be opened from below with Opening, but
you can reach it, if you prefer, by using the entrance east of the main one
and then walking east and north into the wall. The chest contains a [Sphere].

Before leaving Assac, though, there's one more thing to take care of. In the
back of the house just north of the item shop, you can enter the Arena.

***The Arena***

Enemies: Bandit

Treasures: Aloe Wera, Meteoro Log, Mana Potion, Potion, Bomb x2, Slade's
Guide

Sidequest Item: Master Key

***

Yep, you can get jumped by bandits just walking around here. Nasty town, eh?
They do fire damage, so equip your Dragon Teeth.

If you go west from the start you can find an [Aloe Wera] and the [Meteoro
Log]. This book teaches Kruller the WindofChange spell, which damages all
enemies in order to heal Kruller. Go east and take the second turn south to
find another two boxes: a [Mana Potion] and a [Potion].

Further to the east, you'll find the Arena itself. Along the southern end
you'll find a [Bomb]. In the room's northeast corner, there's another [Bomb]
and a locked chest that requires that Bandit Key you found. It contains
[Slade's Guide], which teaches the spell Bright Mind to your bounty hunter
friend. This spell enables you to tell if there's any treasure around.

Heal up and head down into the Arena itself. There's a guy there who offers
you 1000 Gold if you fight his Lion. That's not much gold, but trust me, it's
worth it.

////WARNING////

Boss 3: Ryan (Lion) - About 8000 HP!

Ryan's pretty nasty. Of course, like almost everything, if you use the right
elemental accessory (Dragon Teeth here), it's totally manageable. Even without
Dragon Teeth I'd say this is possible even as low as level 10 or so. Vaccine
is also a helpful equip, since its bite can poison for some reason. Don't be
afraid to use items - in a pinch, Fire Gem is a huge help. Keep a close eye on
HP and cure anybody who gets poisoned by the lion's bite. I find attacking
with Hoston while using Edessot and "Bounty" as his gather batteries (gather,
send, repeat) is a good strategy. I say those two in particular because their
regular attacks are resisted by the Lion. Keep your Gather high to do as much
damage as possible. You can also use Chili to keep gather up. Don't forget
that gather helps your healers as well! Kruller can attack too if you're doing
well on HP. It will seem to take forever, but stay consistent and he'll
eventually go down.

For beating Ryan the Lion, you will receive the promised 1000 Gold and the
third [Master Key]! Oddly, all the dumb people in the Arena still say the
same lines about the lion as if you hadn't just killed it - oh well.

When you feel like you're done here, have a rest if you're in bad shape and
head for the docks. It's time for another boat ride.

***Ludon City***

---Item Shop---
Potion: 385 Gold
Mana Potion: 833 Gold
Potion+: 2821 Gold
Aloe Wera: 481 Gold
CaffeinePill: 133 Gold
Antidote: 161 Gold
PepperPowder: 225 Gold
Electrode: 3333 Gold

---Armor Shop---
Green Chili: 480 Gold
Gambeson: 2900 Gold

---Weapon Shop---
Swordstick: 3481 Gold
Fishing Bow: 3600 Gold
Hook: 3721 Gold
Chain Whip: 3249 Gold

---Maze Merchant---
Potion+: 1410 Gold
Aloe Wera: 240 Gold
Swordstick: 2320 Gold
Gambeson: 2320 Gold

Treasures: Gambeson, Sphere x2, Swordstick, Green Chili, Napalm, Sharingan,
Red Chili, Dynamite, Bomb, Ludon Key, WaterMelon, Electrode

Inn: Not really. There's a building that looks like an Inn, but visiting it
will bring on the next plot point.

***

Welcome to Ludon City, the more upscale port town with gardens and some hedge
mazes. The first building you'll reach heading off of the docks contains a
[Gambeson]. This piece of armor offers high defense, but I'm not sure it's
worth forsaking the agility bonus. In the same building, walk east from the
middle crate into the wall and then south to obtain a [Sphere]. In the small
hedge maze southeast of the start, there's a totally walled-in box - cast
Opening for a [Swordstick], a powerful weapon for either Hoston or Kruller.
Nearby, there's a kid with some important info - he speaks of a basement under
the southern garden that is structured the exact same as the garden itself.
This is worth remembering!

Just west of that area, there's a pair of buildings you can enter - the one
set back to the north looks like a tiny shack, but when you enter, you find
it has a gargantuan basement. This isn't the basement the kid was talking
about, but it's still full of stuff. You can find a [Green Chili], [Napalm]
and a [Sharingan] (requires Opening) by just following the path. After that,
you'll go up some stairs. To the south here is a [Red Chili] and an exit, but
keep going west to get [Dynamite] and a [Bomb]! The Sharingan is an accessory
that greatly outclasses the Power Glove by providing the same attack boost
plus an agility boost and the effect that attacks will never miss.

West of this treasure trove is another mini hedge maze with another walled-in
chest. This one contains the [Ludon Key], which you'll need for a certain
chest here. Now, head south. I think Ludon is the first city big enough to
get a screen transition.

In the south side of town, the big building to the east holds a [Wind Gem].
Just to the east is the building with all the shops. On the west side is the
Inn, but DON'T visit it yet! This is very important!

In the shops, I recommend getting a new weapon for everybody - although hold
off on Kruller, since you'll be able to get a swordstick cheaper elsewhere.
Edessot's Hook is friggin' amazing - 65% Critical! I recommend sticking with
it until you get the ArcitectHand near the end. The new weapons for Alina and
"Bounty" are also good.

The south side is dominated by the big hedge maze. Although it'd take me
hours to map it out, it really isn't that complicated and you shouldn't have
too much trouble finding your way around. Sorry, this sort of thing is better
suited to an image map than a text file. In fact, I recommend making yourself
a map - not because you'll need it for the garden, but because you'll need it
for the Basement. It might help to know there are two entrances to the maze -
east and west. Just south and west of the eastern starting point is the chest
that requires the Ludon Key - it contains a [WaterMelon].

There's a guy wandering around in the eastern part of the maze who will ask
you in that silly code from Assac if you want five mana potions for only a
hundred gold. I strongly recommend saying yes. At the northeast corner of the
maze there's an [Electrode], and you should remember this spot for later.

On the western side of the maze, there's a man who may at first glance appear
to be walled in, but there's an entrance to his west. This is the Maze
Merchant, and his deals (including the swordstick) are greatly superior to
those available at the other shops in town. At the southern end, a guy named
Boris will give you 20 Gold "just because I'm so awesome" (this is a reference
to a donor). A chest on the easternmost end of the western half contains
another [Sphere].

South of the Maze Merchant, there's a little house. This is the entrance to
the Basement.

***Basement***

Enemies: Bandit

Treasures: Aloe Wera, Gold Block, Hook, Sphere

Sidequest Item: Master Key

***

Woah, it's dark in here! Like the kid early on said, this basement is laid
out the same as the garden above, but you can't see at all! Even worse, it's
full of bandits. They're the same as the ones from the Arena in Assac. My
attempt at a map went nowhere, so I'm afraid I'm not going to be much help
here. All I can say is keep your Dragon Teeth equipped and try to follow your
own map. Alternatively, you can just stumble around, maybe using the Opening
spell with mana potions to help (this is what I did). Chests are plainly
viewable when they're onscreen. There's a Master Key down here, so you'll
want that, but it's not too far from the entrance - go north to get to it, if
that helps. Somewhere there's actually another exit, but it's a dead end. I
wish I could really map this place out because my guide feels incomplete, but
the best I can say is unless you're feeling adventurous, get the Master Key
and get out. Sorry. I've found a [Hook] and a [Sphere] through determined
fumbling around, and Bright Mind says that's all the chests down here.

Anyway, when you're done, go to the Inn and talk to the man behind the
counter. When you go to leave, your party will be reduced to just the bounty
hunter. Now, head back to the spot in the northeast corner of the maze where
you found the Electrode - you'll find your quarry there. After talking to
him, you'll immediately be transported back to Mazooca's. At this point,
you'll never have a chance to return to Ludon again, which is why I said to
avoid the Inn before.

At Mazooca's, leave and immediately enter again. You'll have to pay her 1500
gold in order to get the [Perfume], a quest item. Oh, and "Bounty" turns out
to be Zellini - whatta surprise. The blue hair could have been anybody,
really. It's boat time again!


===PS11 Part 8: Verahansha===

***Verahansha (Docks)***

---Fishery---
Fish: 576 Gold
Speargun: 441 Gold
Fishing Bow: 3600 Gold
Scale Mail: 2209 Gold
Wok Pan: 900 Gold
Le Viandier: 2500 Gold

Treasures: Fish, Gold Coins, Fig, Hawk Eye, Green Chili

***

Verahansha is not only the biggest city in Pier Solar, it might be the
biggest 16-bit RPG city period. Really, it's huge.

Head east from the start and you'll reach a weird little fish-themed shop.
The equipment is all old stuff except the Wok Pan. Don't sell anything here,
even the book you can buy here - they pay low rates. This book gives Zellini
a new special attack that rules because it always goes first. At the western
end of the dock, you can find a [Fish].

North of the starting point and up the stairs, the eastern door leads to some
[Gold Coins] and an entrance to the Basement area; west of there and up some
more stairs, there's a [Fig]. On the west end of this area, accessible from
the ground level, there's an unreachable (as far as I can tell) chest with a
[Hawk Eye], an accessory that reduces the chance of being ambushed. There's
also a [Green Chili] in a building nearby.

There's two northern exits to this area. I'll cover the one on the east
first; it leads to an area labeled "City".

***Verahansha (City)***

---Healing Shop---
Alfedone: 480 Gold
Aloe Wera: 300 Gold
Lithium: 700 Gold
True Love: Money can't... no wait, 1024 Gold
Risperidone: 1203 Gold
CaffeinePill: 83 Gold
Antidote: 100 Gold
PepperPowder: 140 Gold
Electrode: 2083 Gold
Vaccine: 333 Gold
VitaminePump: 750 Gold

---Accessory Stand--
Feather: 64 Gold
Dragon Tooth: 400 Gold
Towel: 484 Gold
Small Weight: 529 Gold

---Gem Stand---
Wind Gem: 216 Gold
Fire Gem: 322 Gold
Earth Gem: 352 Gold
Ice Gem: 352 Gold

---Produce Stand---
Berries: 169 Gold
Fig: 4 Gold
HemishaBerry: 225 Gold
Grapes: 1024 Gold
Gooseberries: 841 Gold
Apple: 625 Gold
Herb: 49 Gold
Aloe Wera: 361 Gold
Salad: 400 Gold

---Women's Clothing Shop---
Dress: 1014 Gold
Blouse: 1093 Gold
Abaya: 294 Gold

Treasures: Gordian Rope, CaffeinePill, Blouse, Electrode, Silver Mail

***

If you take the stairs north of the start and enter the first house you see,
you can walk south into the wall just west of the southeast corner of the
room. The hidden room contains a [HemishaBerry] and an exit to the south.
Outside, you can see a chest sitting on a roof just above you. It may require
some walking back and forth to get the chest within Opening range, but it
contains the [Gordian Rope], a whip for Zellini. The name refers to the
Gordian knot, an ancient knot that could not be untied. This is a dead end, so
you'll have to come back the way you came.

The east side of this area contains a "healing" shop and a library. The shop
is maybe the best place in the game to buy healing items, but like most shops
in Verahansha, it doesn't pay well if you sell things. The library contains a
[CaffeinePill]. Take the time to read the books (examine the bookshelves) -
it's not just good background, it's required to progress. After reading the
newspaper, talk to the woman here to learn a bit more about the run-down
factory district of Timpo and its deceased benefactor, Garbo Greno. (You may
later find out that his wife was called Greta, a reference to the old movie
star Greta Garbo).

On the west side of this area are a few shops. This is your chance to stock
up on accessories for each type of damage in the game; I recommend it. The
"small weight" (Heh, you use a paperweight to protect against wind) also
confers defense points in addition to halving wind damage. If you have
anything to sell, do it at the Gem stand - unlike the other shops in this
area, it pays the full rate. South of the stands, you can see an out of reach
chest - it just contains a [Blouse], though.

West of the stands is a women's clothing shop - I can't imagine why you'd
spend the gold on the worthless equipment here. There's an [Electrode] in the
alley to the west and a [Silver Mail] inside, though. It also contains
another Basement entrance. Let's have a look in there.

***Basement***

Enemies: Amoeaba (Wind), Spider Egg

Treasure: Rainbow Gem

***

The monsters here are all wind type, so you can equip those small weights if
you got 'em. The Amoeabas are pushovers, but the Spider Eggs can be pretty
nasty, even with the small weights.

Take the first turn west to get an awesome [Rainbow Gem]. Round the corner
and head south where the path divides. You'll come back out in the Dock house
where you found the gold coins.

Now, take the west exit to the north of the docks (it's a long railed
staircase with a zag in the middle).

***Verahansha (Timpo)***

---Tavern---
Pommac: 6453 Gold
Panache: 6453 Gold
WaterMelon: 1687 Gold

---Bookstore---
Toxios: 3750 Gold
Slade's Guide: 3750 Gold
Liberarctica: 3750 Gold

---Weapon Stand---
Power Sword: 3969 Gold
Archer's Bow: 4356 Gold
Drill: 4356 Gold
Old Man Cane: 4356 Gold
Gordian Rope: 3969 Gold
Rain Knife: 841 Gold

---Armor Stand---
Silver Armor: 4096 Gold
Silver Mail: 3844 Gold

---Item Stand---
Potion: 433 Gold
Potion+: 3174 Gold
Mana Potion: 937 Gold
Mana Potion+: 3901 Gold
Milk: 150 Gold
Aloe Wera: 541 Gold
CaffeinePill: 150 Gold
Antidote: 181 Gold
PepperPowder: 253 Gold
Electrode: 3750 Gold

Treasure: Chino Pants, Wok Pan, Red Chili, Wind Gem, True Love, Risperidone,
Antidote, Stone

Inn: Yes

***

Timpo is the low-class part of town that suffers from deep poverty after a
factory has closed down. Workers still try to eke out a living mining and
selling scraps. Everybody here is pretty destitute, but some of them have a
better outlook than others.

Hey look, a tavern. Cool sign. Wait, does that say "Schiller?" Go inside and
talk to the girl - these are the Schillers, but Lena is a long-dead ancestor
of theirs. How very peculiar. You can also buy some expensive but potent
elixirs here.

North of the tavern and across a stairway, you'll find a pair of enterable
buildings. The one on the west is a bookstore where you can learn a couple
new spells. Don't miss the chance to get Toxios, which replaces the need for
antidotes. Don't resell the books there, though - low rate. There's a hidden
passage in the wall here, but oddly, it seems to just lead outside. To the
east and FAR to the south, there are some [Chino Pants], which are as useless
as they are bizarre.

Go behind the bookstore and up some stairs and you can reach a couple more
shop stands. The weapon and armor stands are OK places to sell. The Power
Sword and Old Man Cane are good buys. Beware the new weapons for Alina and
Edessot - they can poison and put to sleep the user, respectively. You may
decide you want to use the Bow anyway - if so, BE SURE to keep a vaccine
equipped on Alina. Since there's no equivalent yet for sleep and the Hook is
so great anyway, I don't recommend getting the Drill at all. You might want
to pick up some Silver Armor - losing the AP bonus hurts, but the poison
resistance (not immunity!) can be helpful.

Just north of the item stand is a buidling with the entry to another basement
area. This one is too short to give its own section, but you can encounter
enemies here - in fact, if you feel like you need to grind (Although you can
beat the game without it), this is probably the best place in the game to do
it. You can find a [Wok Pan] in here. Head south outdoors immediately after
leaving the basement go all the way to the end of the alley you come out into
to get a [Red Chili]. Re-enter the building, head up the stairs and out the
other door. If you head north right along the edge of this house, there's a
[Wind Gem] up in the corner.

Head up the stairs to the west to reach a big, red-bricked courtyard. There's
a man in the first building you come to who admonishes you for stealing from
a poor man like him - but he does this whether you actually steal or not, so
you might as well take his [True Love] away, you heartless bastard. To the
south is the Inn, which contains a [Risperidone]. Down at the southern end of
this area, you may find an [Antidote] among some crates. Take the stairs up
to the west to enter the factory district.

Take a look out over the ledge - there's another really cool backdrop here.
At the northeast corner, you can find a [Stone]. You'll soon come across a
disturbing sight - an army of child laborers risking their lives by crossing
an unsafe railroad bridge. One of the kids tells you that the train doesn't
work anymore - Edessot thinks he can do something about this. Head south to
take a look. Eddy will inspect the train - he thinks he can fix it, but
requires materials. Fortunately, you just happen to be near a factory.

***Factory/Factory Area***

Treasures: Bronze Armor, Mana Potion+, Red Chili, Antidote, Electrode

Quest Items: Gear, Sprocket, Wires

***

There are two factory buildings here - one on the east side of the tracks,
one on the west. You can also find a [Bronze Armor] in the SE corner of this
screen - maybe an old product of this former center of metallurgy. Enter the
east building first, then the west.

The east building is very small - just head up the stairs, north and east
(the stairs here are blocked) for a [Mana Potion+] and leave.

In the west building, note that you can walk through the large tubes. Head up
the stairs and up again to the north. You'll cross to an area with some big
furnaces. Far to the south are a pair of large tubes - at the end of the
eastern one is an unseen [Red Chili]. The other one leads to a [Gear], just
what Edessot was looking for. 

On your way out, note the fearsome-looking robot. Edessot says it seems to be
for mining. Uh... sure.

Return to the train. Edessot will try to fix it, but he soon realizes he
needs a tool. You'll need to go back to the previous section of Timpo to find
one. Talk to a man in a house south of the Inn. He'll say that he'll let
Edessot use his wires in exchange for some high quality metal. You can go
back to that robot to borrow some, but you'll soon discover its true
purpose...

(It isn't mining)

////WARNING////

Boss 4: Metal Robot - Less than 1500 HP

The robot comes with five Amoeaba helpers. Both the robot and the Amoeabas
are fire type, so EQUIP YOUR DRAGON TEETH. The robot and amoeabas hit HARD
and can wipe out weaker characters quick. Note that unlike the Amoeabas, the
Robot doesn't resist fire damage.

These enemies can deplete your Gather in a hurry, making this battle a
frustrating one. You can use attack magic to take out the Amoeabas - and yes,
this is a good time to use your gather increasing items. If you do defeat the
robot first, however, the Amoeabas will flee.

Beating the robot yields the [Sprocket]. Give this to the guy whom you talked
to before for the [Wires]. Now Edessot can fix the train at last! The train
will barrel through a fence, opening up a new little area. You can head west
here if you'd like an [Antidote].

There's a third factory building to enter down here - it's pretty
straightforward and contains just one chest, an [Electrode]. Now talk to the
kid near the train - he'll take you back to the Inn for a conversation about
Garbo Greno. While you're there, be sure to have a stay. When you're ready to
leave Timpo behind, head for the train again. All aboard!

***Mine***

Enemies: Crystal Fly, Trilobit, Sharpener, Amoeaba (Water)

Treasures: Metal Coins, PepperPowder, Stone, Bomb, Green Chili

Quest Item: Library Map

***

To the west of the area outside the mine are some [Metal Coins] - to the east
(you'll have to go down some stairs) is a [PepperPowder]. Follow the tracks
north into the Mine itself.

The enemies here do water damage, so towel up. The trilobits flip over and are
helpless after one good hit, so have one character attack them or hit them
with magic at the start of battle (Air Blow, however, is probably too weak now
to do this without Gather).

Unless you want to depress yourself by talking to the child laborers, the
only things of interest here are on the east side of the tracks. There's a
[Stone] in the northeast. Take the exit southeast to the next room. There,
there's a [Bomb] to the southwest and another two exits.

The west exit leads to a room with a waterfall and the [Library Map], which
is what you came for. The east exit leads to a [Green Chili]. That's it for
the mine. Head east to the next part of the interminable Verahansha.

***Verahansha (Noble 'Hood)***

---Weapon Shop---
Elven Bow: 4489 Gold
Army Knife (Tool): 5041 Gold
Noble Wand: 5329 Gold
Flame Whip: 5625 Gold
Dynamite: 144 Gold
Bomb: 625 Gold
Napalm: 1600 Gold

---Item Shop---
Potion: 337 Gold
Mana Potion: 729 Gold
Aloe Wera: 421 Gold
CaffeinePill: 116 Gold
Antidote: 141 Gold
PepperPowder: 197 Gold
Electrode: 2916 Gold

---Armor Shop---
Red Chili: 900 Gold
Dyneema Suit: 5041 Gold

Treasures: Armlet, Herb, Fig, Potion, Rainbow Gem, Napalm x2, Cola, Green
Chili, Noble Wand

Inn: Yes

***

Welcome to the snooty, snotty rich part of town. Nobody here is very friendly
to a strange bunch of travelers like you. There is a cool shopping building
here, though, with lots of great stuff you probably can't afford. You've got
two choices here: grind in the mine or the basement you'll soon come across,
or wait. You will have one more chance to come back here later. If you didn't
go for the poisonous bow earlier, I recommend the Elven Bow. Don't buy the
Noble Wand since you'll find one soon. The flame whip is great because it has
a powerful special attack. The Dyneema suit is good armor, but don't get too
excited about its HP regeneration - it isn't very much HP.

A little to the northeast of the shop, there's a chest on an inaccessible
building top; go way up into the corner and use Opening for an [Armlet]. Some
houses to the south contain an [Herb] and a [Fig]; a free-standing chest
nearby has a [Potion].

After heading east, you'll learn that the map doesn't seem as helpful as you
first thought. You'll have to ask around, but you'll find that people aren't
too into helping you... To the north here, there's a chest behind a fence
you'll have to magically open for a [Rainbow Gem]. Down the stairs to the
south, one of the houses has a locked chest that your Key should open for a
[Napalm]. Talk to the lady near this house three times to trade your perfume
for some information. She'll tell you that X marks the nearby bakery -
interesting.

You'll cross a big garden to the east; head up the first stairs you see (not
counting the fountain) to reach the Inn. Inside, there's a [Cola] that's kind
of hard to see in the eastern room. Head up the stairs west of the Inn. In a
little house just northwest of the inn, you can walk west into the wall
between the two piles of dirt. This leads to an area with a [Green Chili].
Return, then go up the next set of stairs. Here you'll find a door, but first
go west for another [Napalm]. Inside, your Key will open up a [Noble Wand].
You can also take the back door here to the basement, which I recommend.

***Basement***


Treasures: VitaminePump, Mana Potion, Flee Flute, Potion

Sidequest Item: Master Key

***

The enemies here are wind type, like in the previous basement.

Go east from the start; a chest you'll pass to the north will require Opening
for a [VitaminePump]. Here you can go north/east or south. Head south first.
Immediately after taking this path, you can head through the wall to the west
to reach a hidden hallway with a [Red Chili]. Now, head back to the main
path. The first turn south along this path will have an unseen [Mana Potion]
in it. After the path turns north, head east across a little bridge for the
fifth [Master Key]!

Go back to the fences and go north to reach a [Flee Flute]. This extremely
useful accessory will make running always successful - equip it when, for
whatever reason, you don't want to fight. Further east, go south for an
unseen [Potion] and north to exit to the Docks area.

***Verahansha (Northern Docks)***

Treasures: Capricciosa, Fish, Speargun, Gold Coins

***

In the house you'll come out in, you can find a [Capricciosa]. Honestly, I
think all these different-but-identical restoratives are a waste of scarce
inventory space.

Once outside, you can walk behind the tiny house that's the only other
enterable building in the area to get a [Fish] in the northwest corner.

Around here is an artist who talks about drawing Genesis art in a thinly-
veiled way. To the north end, there's a [Speargun]. To the south near a trio
of poets, you can find some [Gold Coins]. Leave the area to the south - it's
time to visit that mysterious bakery. You might want to head back to the shop
and buy equipment with the money you made in the basement first.

***Bakery***

---Bakery---
Cola: 1849 Gold
Salad: 400 Gold
Capriciosa: 1600 Gold

Treasure: Green Chili

Quest Item: Bread

***

The shop is right next to the chest. Talk to the big stationary Chef in the
center. You won't get anything out of him, and the party will decide they're
tired of looking for today and would like to rest in the inn; go do so.

In the morning, head back to the bakery and talk to the chef again. He'll
give you some [Bread] for free - isn't that nice! Head outside to eat it...

What follows is just gross. I mean really, this is disgusting. Let's not ever
talk about it ever. Suffice to say that you will want to kick that baker's
ass.

////WARNING////

Wait, really?

////YES////

OK, then...

Boss 5: Pizza Chief - About 5000 HP

Yeah, I know, what? Well, he's got three or four (it's random) little baker
helpers. They all do water damage, so equip your towels because they're
pretty strong. Honestly, I'd just wail on the Chief; the Fifres will run when
he's defeated, and will often run away regardless. If they bother you,
though, you can use Air Blow or something to get rid of them while also
hurting the chief. Just keep your health up, use your Gather, and this fight
shouldn't be too bad.

After defeating the bad chef, your party will discover a tunnel and enter it
- I recommend going back to the Inn for a quick refresh, though. Also, note
that you can still buy from the bakery shop - seriously, what the Christ?


===PS12 Part 9: Magic School - Hogwarts? No. Annoying puzzles? Yes.===

***Basement (Bakery)***

Enemies: Same as Verahansha basement, so get your small weights back out

Treasures: Electrode, Potion, Jarnhandskar, Alfedone, Golden Sword, Mana
Potion

***

Walk east onto the elevator, which immediately breaks, stranding you in an
underground tunnel. But look - footprints! Follow them; they soon lead to a
dead end in another elevator shaft. Go back east and hug the eastern wall
going north. Zellini will soon find a hidden passage through the wall to the
east; head through it.

Boy, it's grody down here. There must be some massive spiders. North and east
from the secret passage is an [Electrode]. At the southern end of this area
there's a [Potion] at the end of a little L-shaped passage. Head east just
north of there and follow the passage north, keeping east where it forks
briefly. Eventually you'll reach a spot where you can continue north or head
south to the east. Go north and enter a nasty web wall through a weird
-looking hole - poking around in here with the A button on the west side,
you'll discover a [Jarnhandskar], essentially a double Power Glove. West of
this spot, you can find some [Alfedone]. Now, head back south and take the
east path.

You'll loop around and again be presented with a choice: east or north? Well,
the first path east is a dead end, but if you go a little further north and
take the next path east, you'll come across a little indentation in the east
wall. You can't see that there's a chest here, but search this spot for a
[Golden Sword], a friggin' sweet weapon for Hoston! The rest of this path is
a dead end, so head back to the fork. Here you'll want to take the eastern of
the two paths north, go north just a little bit, then head east and south.
Skipping the obvious dead end, if you take the path south here all the way
down, there's another indentation hiding a [Mana Potion]. Go back north and
take the turn to the east. Go all the way north from here and you'll come
across more footprints and a pair of stairways. You've finally found the lost
Library!

***Library***

Treasures: Pyro Pages, Sphere

***

This place can be a little confusing - you can walk under the light-colored
wooden rectangles, but not the dark. There will be a bunch of books on the
floor all around the place; read them for some interesting backstory (and
because you have to). Make sure to examine the left side of the half-circle
bookshelf directly north from the entrance for the [Pyro Pages], a book that
teaches Edessot a very powerful spell. Go upstairs using the spiral staircase
on the west side. On the second tier, be sure to read the book. Then go up
another spiral staircase to reach the third tier. Check the southeast wing for
another book to read. Return north, then go east and south for a [Sphere].
North of that chest, head up the final set of stairs. Read the last of the
books here - the last one you read, whichever it is, will have a note attached
speaking of a most valuable book hidden behind the sculpture.

Go back down to the second floor - here, there's a set of three statues in
the middle of the room. Examine it and you'll learn of the School of Mystics
- clearly, this is our next destination. You've learned all you can, so leave
the library now.

You'll need to head back to where Zellini found the secret passage to get
into this area. Yes, I know there's a path west of the library, but
bafflingly, we don't want to go there yet (this is a bit of a design flaw,
imo - the player is given no clear direction to backtrack instead of
continuing). Anyway, head back to the spot where you met a dead end before -
the elevator awaits you, now. It'll take you to a new area of the basement.

***Basement (Upper Section)***

Treasures: Potion, Gold Block

In this area, you can go east into the wall at the start. Go south from the
eastern end of the little alcove you come to until you can't anymore, then
west for an invisible [Potion]. Return to the start and proceed north. In the
northwest corner you'll come to, walk west into the wall a few spaces south of
the corner. Keep walking a little bit past the little alcove here and press A
for a [Gold Block]. Go east. Take the last hallway and you'll see a door with
a book over it - this is the entrance to the Magic School. Approach it and the
party will discuss it, then hide as some other people come in.

When they knock, a voice will say, "Trik-no-ckies..." - they'll knock six
times in response, and be let in.

Approach the door yourself. A voice will say either "Dosk-no-ckies" or "Trik
-no-ckies". For the former, knock four times using the A button; for the
latter, knock six. If you mess up, walk away from the door and return to try
again. When you succeed, the door will open.

***Magic School***

Treasures: Towel, Apple, CaffeinePill, Tjocksulad, Mana Potion+, Berries x2,
Lithium, Aloe Wera

***

Don't go north at the start or you'll be recognized as intruders and
teleported back to the elevator. Instead, go east to enter the bathroom.
There's a [Towel] here, appropriately. Steal the clothes of the showering
students in order to dress as students. A foolproof disguise!

Sure enough, even if he just teleported you away as intruders, Professor Myer
is totally fooled and will give you the grand tour of the school. Afterward,
you'll have a free rest, followed by the opportunity to explore the school
freely. In plain sight of where you wake up, there's an [Apple].

To the southeast you'll find a pair of doors. The eastern one leads to a
[CaffeinePill] - important medicine for students. The western one leads to
the Basement - more on that later.

At the north end of this big room are a pair of staircases. Take them up to
the second floor, which is still the same area. To the far east, there's an
unseen chest at the end of a little dead-end hallway containing a
[Tjocksulad], an agility-boosting accessory. There's also a [Mana Potion+] in
an orange chest over here, which should open with your Key.

There are two doors along the north wall. The western one leads to a room
containing [Berries].

On the west side of the second floor there are three exits. The northern one
leads nowhere important. The middle one leads out into the garden, which has
a room in the back containing [Lithium] and [Berries]. If you use Opening near
the entrance to said back room, you can also get an [Aloe Wera]. The southern
one leads to a classroom, but no treasure.

Now, to reach the classroom, you can take the exit at the south end of the
main hall. First, though, I'll cover that Basement.

***Basement (Magic School)***

Enemies: Same as previous basements

Treasures: Mana Potion, Aloe Wera, Others?

***

This place is a bit of an oddity that I can't quite figure out. There are only
two chests here, which seems strange to me.

The basement initially appears to be a tiny dead end; however, there's a spot
you can go south into the wall. You can't quite see where you're going here,
but you can move in this order after initially going south: east, south, west
just a step or two, south, east, south. Here you'll be able to see a chest,
which contains a [Mana Potion]. Directly north of the spot with the visible
chest, there's an unseen chest containing [Aloe Wera].

Anyway, save, then enter the classroom and talk to Myer, who will start you on
a series of trials to prove your worth.

***Trial***

---First Trial---

First, you'll have to push crates onto marked spots on the ground. These
puzzles are based on the famous game Sokoban. Give them a try on your own
first - they can be done! If you get stuck, talk to Myer to reset a puzzle.

The first puzzle is a cinch designed to show you the ropes; I won't insult
you by listing a solution.

For the second puzzle, push the box furthest to the left straight down until
it's one square above the bottom, but not actually touching the bottom. Move
Hoston around to the left side of the box by taking the other path, and push
the box one square to the right. Next, push the middle box up two spaces and
right four. Take the long way around to move Hoston above this box and push
it two squares down. Now push the last box left one square, up once, and
right until it's directly above the second box. Again, take the long way
around and stand in between the two boxes on the right side. Push the lower
one down and all the way to the left, covering the corner spot. From here, it
should be quite plain how to push the other two boxes into place.

The third and final puzzle can be quite tricky. First, push each of the boxes
down once, starting with the top one and working your way down and across.
Push the bottom box to the left, covering the leftmost spot. Next, push the
uppermost box one square to the right and the bottom one (not the one you put
on the leftmost spot) down once. Push the middle block up, right, up, then
right again. Move around to the right side of the block beneath it and push
that block left once; now you can push the block above you up onto the
uppermost spot. Next, push the nearby block up and right to cover the spot
below the top one. Finally, go to the bottom and push the last block up,
left, then down. You're done!

---Second Trial---

You'll be playing a minigame called Pier Pyromar. If you've ever played any
of Hudson's Bomberman games, you know exactly what this is. If not, it works
like this: Press A to lay a bomb. Bombs will blow up blocks, players, and
combo with other bombs. Beware that you can be blown up by your own bombs.
Pick up frogs and you'll be able to lay more than one bomb at a time and have
a bigger blast range. You can also push bombs that are already down. I really
don't have any advice here - just keep at it and good luck. Personally, I hate
this segment and can never win without trying a ridiculous number of times and
getting lucky. You can try as many times as you need (with Myer counting them
all, how embarrassing). You'll have to win twice to proceed.

Unfortunately, the frustration is added to by the fact that a round doesn't
end when you die - it has to get down to 1 or 0 people alive. When you die,
ordinarily the AI behavior is switched to commit suicide, but occasionally the
behavior will fail to switch. If this happens, you will have to either wait a
long time for the AI to accidentally kill itself or reset.

---Third Trial---

Treasure: Rainbow Gem

You'll have to walk around on one-tile-wide paths, most of which are slick so
you can't stop moving. There is also a time limit, and you only get ten
attempts. I honestly don't think this is too tough - just turn when you hit a
turn, the timing is pretty easy to get down. The last of the three segments
isn't slippery. Don't worry if you do run out of time or attempts; you'll get
to try again.

By the way, before entering the third and final path in this trial, you can
head east for a [Rainbow Gem].

After passing the trials, head to the east side of the second floor to find
the library.

***Magic School (Library)***

Treasure: Yoga Sutra, Brisingamen

***

In here, you'll learn about Kleoneo, the Magic School's mysterious
benefactor. The party decides to search for more information about him.
First, though, talk to the student in the northeast corner. She'll tell you
that the down-right most bookshelf has a powerful magic book. Heed her advice
and check the southeast of the four sideways-facing bookshelves in the corner
of the room for the [Yoga Sutra], the best book ever. Reading this will cause
your party to start each battle with one point of gather for the rest of the
game. This. Is. Awesome. Not only does everybody now damage and heal at 1.5x
as a baseline, not only can you now use abilities requiring 1 gather right
away, but you've now got five points of gather to play around with at the
start of every battle. You can even cast Supernova on turn one by Asking for
gather from everybody if you wanted, which is a great way to get rid of
annoying enemy groups in one swing - after all, Supernova costs just 40 MP.
This is powerful stuff here.

Push the bookshelf at the northwest corner of this room north in order to
discover a secret passage. When you enter here, Zellini will temporarily
leave your party. Check the westernmost bookshelf and you'll learn that one
of the professors here knew Kleoneo when they were both students. 

Before leaving the secret nook, walk south into the wall just east of the
middle for an even more secret passage. Go east for the [Brisingamen], an
accessory that greatly raises magic defense.

Go back to the main hall (Hey, is that Zellini walking with a Secret Society
member? Blatant, ain't she?), enter the western door on the north wall and
talk to the professor. He knew Kleoneo, all right, and he knows that he now
lives on top of a volcano. How eccentric!

We're done here. School's out for ever. Leave (head down the stairs where you
saw Zellini and the Society member) and return to where you found the
underground library (and Edessot's Pyro Pages). On the way, you'll be
accosted by a boss.

////WARNING////

Boss 6: Giant Spider ~3500 HP

That was rather sudden, wasn't it? No preamble, just the usual random
encounter transition. And yet, that is the boss music. Here we go.

The Giant Spider can be a problem if you let it. Every turn, it lays another
Spider Egg, and they can get quite numerous in a hurry. Here's how I like to
handle this: boost Edessot's Gather all the way up (A red chili will do it)
and rain down all sorts of fire. This should take care of the spider and her
babies all at once. This thing doesn't have much HP, so it should go down
after a few turns of this.

Like I said, go back to where you found the library before. Head west from
there and you'll soon enter the Mine.

***Mine (2)***

Enemies: Same as the first mine, so it's towel time once again

Treasures: Napalm, Ice Gem, Dynamite, Red Chili

***

That's a [Napalm] on the way in, by the way. Anyway, you're in a new section
of the Verahansha mine. Head straight north at the start for an [Ice Gem],
then turn around and return to the start. Go west from here for a [Dynamite].
If you take the path north, take the first turn west and walk west into the
wall two tiles up from the corner, you can proceed south for a [Red Chili].
Return to where you got the dynamite and go west. Keep going along this path
and you'll eventually exit from behind the waterfall back in the room where
you got the Library map. From here you can exit the mine and return to
Verahansha (Noble 'Hood).

Be sure to take advantage of the Inn while you're here. This is the last look
you'll get at Verahansha, so buy anything you want from the shop now - it'll
be a long time before you can get anything better. When you're ready to go,
head north to the Docks. There, you'll meet back up with Zellini. Get on the
boat and wave goodbye to Verahansha - you won't be back.


===PS13 Part 10: Into the Trench - in which your game isn't the only thing
you can't save===

***The Trench***

Enemies: 1st part: Same as the Mine, although the enemies seem a bit tougher
here

2nd part: Soldiers

Treasures: Fire Gem x2, Berries, Red Chili, Napalm, Aloe Wera x2, Mana
Potion, Potion, Rainbow Gem

***

Hear that music? Yeah, it's getting real. We're getting into the home
stretch now.

Go north from the start and you'll soon head across a little bridge. Head up
the stairs here and push the panel; a platform will come to you, but don't
ride it yet. Instead, head back toward the boat. Just before you get there,
you'll find a new little platform to the west. Ride it for a [Fire Gem]. Now
go back to the other platform. After riding it, there will be a Liane chute
you can slide down for some [Berries]; you'll have to cast Liane to get back
up it. In the next room, there are two octagons with a curious logo on them;
these are teleporters. This area is a bit of a maze, so I'll map it out for
you.

In the maps, letters are teleporters and numbers are treasure chests.
There's a table of which teleporters take you where at the bottom - note
that going back into the teleporter you just came out of won't always take
you back to where you just came from!

AREA 1

A B
| |
\ /
 |

AREA 2

C-----|
|     |
|     -----|
---|       |
   |  |----|
   D  |
     |-
     |
     E

AREA 3

H----|
     |  1
     |  |
     |--|
  G     |
  |     |
  |-----|
     |
     |
     |
     |
     F

AREA 4

  |--K
  |   
  |-------
         |
         |
         |
         |
        |--|
        |  |
        |  |
|---|---|  |
|   J      |
|       2---   
|-----I

AREA 5
    |---|-|
    |   | | N
|---|   | |-|
|       |    -M
| L-----|----|
O

AREA 6

|----|
|    |
P  |-|
   |
   |
   |-----Q (Leads to switch)

TABLE

Source--Destination
A       C
B       I
C       B
D       F
E       C
F       G
G       C
H       A
I       A
J       L
K       G
L       P
M       A
N       P
O       A
P       B
Q       Exit

Treasures:
1 - Red Chili
2 - Napalm

For the shortest path to the switch, take B at the start, which will take
you to I in area 4. Follow the path to the first teleporter (J), which will
take you to L in area 5. Immediately double back on L to go to P, which
leads in a straightforward path to Q, which takes you to the switch. If you
take this path, you'll probably get to the switch without even triggering a
single battle. After pressing the switch, you'll end up back at B and can
exit. Note that there is a useful Red Chili on the path from A, though.

Return to the starting area. West past the stairs, you can go north to find
a [Fire Gem]. Go south and west; you'll have to pass behind some foreground
rocks. Go up the stairs you'll come to; after the first flight, walk up
around some posts to the east for an [Aloe Wera]. Now, head north into the
next area. From here on, you'll be encountering Soldiers instead of the Mine
enemies - you must be getting close to Kleoneo's! These guys do fire damage,
not water, so switch your accessories. You can also save in this area, unlike
the previous one.

Here you'll find a little platform to ride - that's why you had to press
that switch! On the other side, there are three stairways going up. 

Up the eastern stairway, you can go east behind some foreground rocks to
reach a little area with a [Mana Potion] and two stairways. Take the
stairway up to press a switch. Then, head down the stairway to the south and
you'll eventually find the platform summoned by that switch. It will take
you to an area with ANOTHER switch. To find the platform summoned by this
one, head all the way back to the "eastern stairway" that started this leg
and go north. Ride it to find... Another switch. @_@ So many switches! Press
it and head back down the stairs, then return to the area with the three
stairways.

The middle stairway will lead you, in a relievingly straightforward way, to
a [Potion].

The western stairway leads to a little area full of pillars - west of the
stairs going up here, you may find another [Aloe Wera]. Go up the stairs. To
the east, you'll see an unreachable orange chest - magically open it for a
[Rainbow Gem]. Up the next stairway, there's another unreachable chest to
the east containing an [Electrode]. Finally, take the little platform here -
the result of all your switch pressing earlier - to the next area.

When you get to the door to Kleoneo's fort, you should enter, leave, and save
before continuing.

***Kleoneo Fort***

Enemies: Soldiers

Treasures: Potion+, Mana Potion+, Moon Stone

***

Go north and take your first turn east. See that Pier Solar logo? Step on it
for a free HP and MP recharge! You can do this as many times as you want.
The next turn east has a [Potion+]. The second turn west after that yields a
[Mana Potion+]. After that, get ready - things are about to get heavy. Equip
Alina and Zellini to resist poison and water, keep the dragon teeth on
Kruller and Edessot.

Yes, that's Rudy and Ironhart you see, and meet Kleoneo and Bethina. Get
ready for a whole bunch of revelations at once. Like Edessot says, it's
tough to tell who the bad guys are!

I just want to know who we're supposed to hit, says Kruller. A convenient
list of people to hit follows.

////WARNING////

Boss 7: Alina & Zellini VS Sasheer (~4000 HP)

Sasheer comes with two Ape Disciple helpers and can summon more as well as
hitting hard himself. The apes can poison with their attacks, which is your
main problem here. Since the attacks here do water damage, equip either
towels or vaccine. Don't hold back - use gather items and go at it with
Arctica and Lavafall. The fight will seem very easy if you do this, but if
you pussyfoot around it will get near-impossible in a hurry.

Boss 8: Kruller and Edessot VS Ironhart (~8000 HP)

Ironhart gets his own battle theme. Neat huh?

He really isn't so bad if you've got your dragon teeth equipped. He can
summon soldiers, but they shouldn't be a problem. Just wail on him and enjoy
it - you know you've been wanting a crack at this bastard for ages.

When you've done a few thousand damage, he'll start using Supernova and
Lavafall on you, but these, too, are fire damage. Heal if you need to and
keep at it.

After you finish off Ironhart, Bethina and Kleoneo escape. And while I don't
want to spoil anything, I do have to admit that Rudy... won't be rejoining
your party. ;_;

Oh snap, it looks like that was a load-bearing boss! The place is coming
down. You have time, though, to take a little detour to the west on your way
out to get the [Moon Stone]. Its one gather at start of battle effect stacks
with the Yoga Sutra for a total of two. Also, the Soldiers still insist on
attacking you, so you might want to put your Dragon Teeth back on. Now
that's dedication to one's job!

You can also still use the HP/MP regenerator on the way out. It still works!

***The Trench, continued***

Treasures: Fire Gem, Aloe Wera

***

So, when you get back to your boat... your boat isn't there. Damn it!

Hoston understandably kind of loses it. I'm a bit surprised Kruller doesn't
have anything to say here - wasn't he Rudy's best friend?

Anyway, you'll need to find another way out of here. Head back west to the
spot where you go up the railed stairs to get to the next area, and go south
instead. There's a new platform here now; follow the path it leads to west.
Where the path splits, go south for another [Fire Gem], then north.

Up in the northwest corner of this area, there's an [Aloe Wera]. Go south
and the party will be a bit puzzled as to how to go on... This is where you
use the Arekoll Dust. It'll take you back to Point Zero. Go north to meet
Mossae again and head back to the Ice Castle.


===PS14 Part 11: Worst. Zoo. Ever.===

Go find Arekoll in the same spot as last time. Hoston totally flips the Hell
out - he can be a dangerous, scary kid when he gets unstable. He does have a
point about deserving an explanation from the so-far cryptic old man, though -
and an explanation you'll get.

Head downstairs and go to the dining room to the northwest. Arekoll will
earn his exposition merit badge explaining the entire plot to you -
particularly what Pier Solar is.

"In the face of absolute Power, all benevolence crumbles." I think that sums
it up.

Arekoll is actually truly ancient thanks to the power of Pier Solar - He,
Cliboe and Bethina were its creators. I mention this because each of them
had one of the crystals needed to activate the device. This will be the
impetus for the next couple of quests in the game.

I'm trying not to go too deep into the plot here, but I love what Edessot
has to say - "We're okay with murder and just trying to figure out who's
worthy of it?" It's only too bad this sentiment is lost later.

Anyway, this is, at last, your ultimate goal - you must destroy the machine
that makes men into God. You must destroy Polo Solo.

...What do you mean, "I mean Pier Solar?" that is clearly exactly what I
just said.

Talk to Mossae and you'll head off to the island where Arekoll entrusted his
crystal to a friend. Edessot will stay behind to help with mad science.

***Promonotory***

Enemies: Believe it or not we're back to Meho - turtles, tentacles and Toc
Tocs. They still do water damage.

Treasures: Grind Amulet, Green Chili, Antidote, Potion+

***

Those freaking poison tentacles again. If you've got Silver Armors, equip
them. Vaccine over Towel may also be worth considering if you don't have
Silver Mail.

You can talk to Mossae here any time you want to have your HP and MP fully
restored. You probably won't have much use for it, but it's a nice fail-safe.

Head up the northern stairs at the start to obtain a [Grind Amulet]. If you
like levels, this thing is your friend. It also provides a significant
agility boost.

Go back down and west into the jungle. Directionally, this place is kind of
a mess. Head north where the path splits for a [Green Chili]. This might
appear to be a dead end, but there are secret paths in the "walls" to either
side. Zigzag west and north to reach a clearing containing [Diamond Mail],
powerful armor for female characters. The right path is another one of the
game's weird mystery paths like the one way back in the Sanctuary. You can
poke around in there (pathfinder might help), but Zellini says there are no
more chests in the area, and I can't find anything. If you want to try it
yourself, I recommend stepping into the "Jungle" area to save first, as you
can get very stuck.

Go all the way south then east for an [Antidote]. Go west from there for a
[Potion+]. Finally, go north then west to enter the jungle proper.

***Jungle***

Treasures: Potion, Gold Block, Gold Coins, Key, PepperPowder, Mana Potion
x2, Electrode x2, ArcitectHand, DiamondArmor, Mana Potion+, MD Cart,
MetalDetectr

***

Go up the stairs and rope bridge/ladders here. On the next platform, the
stairs down lead to a [Potion]. The southern outcropping after that holds a
[Gold Block]. From there, keep heading north until you reach a very large and
oddly shaped platform. You can go south here if you're a total treasure
completist and want some [Gold Coins]. Otherwise, take the stairs. You'll soon
come to a cave entrance. West of the entrance is another [Key] like the one
you found back at the Ice Castle - seriously, it stacks with that one. There
are several of these in the game so players have more chances to find it.

In the cave, walk south and west into the wall, which is full of holes. The
treasure chest you'll reach by walking straight west contains
[PepperPowder]. Head south, then west to get out of the wall. Near the cave
exit, head east for a [Mana Potion].

Outside of the cave, head west, then east after crossing a tiny rope bridge.
Go north past a tree for another [Mana Potion], then go all the way south
for an [Electrode]. Cross a thin zigzag path to the west and go down a rope
ladder, then wind east around a platform with a chest on it - Open it
magically for the [ArcitectHand], a powerful weapon for Edessot, who, of
course, isn't here right now. A bit further north you'll come across a pair
of stairways - take the west one for a [DiamondArmor], an armor with a high
defensive value and a big magic defense bonus. Head up the east stairway and
north to the next area, which is a good place to save.

This charming abode has seen better days. Off in the east wing, there's a
[Mana Potion+] you'll need magic to open. Among the specimens on the main
floor, check the west side of the room for an interesting curiosity - it's a
Model 1 Genesis/Mega Drive! Maybe he got it from Myght from Lunar. Examine
it for the [MD Cart]. Just having this unlocks a minigame back on the title
screen, but hold onto it for now- the minigame is only unlocked as long as
one of your saves actively has this item.

Go upstairs. It looks like you're too late to get the crystal - your enemies
have gotten to it first. Before attending to the fallen man, walk west behind
the tricky foreground wall to find the [MetalDetectr], which boosts money
drops. Walk west into the wall in this area, right beneath the open crate, and
you'll be in a huge hidden passage. After going west, go north, east, and
north to find an [Electrode] (Opening can help if you're having trouble
finding it).

When you're done looting, you should talk to that poor guy on the floor. Soon,
a big nasty thing that's broken free from its chain drops in on you.

////WARNING////

Boss 9: Pet ~2000 HP

This thing does water damage, like the rest of the enemies around here. Its
only attack hurts the whole party. Ameliorate can help you keep your HP up
here. It comes with some TurtleEgg helpers, but they don't seem too keen on
hatching, and they're unusally durable. It can counerattack, so attack magic
might be a good way to go. Don't go too crazy here; this fight isn't too
bad.

So much for your big mission; there's nothing to do but turn around and
leave. When you get to the cave, however, you'll be attacked by the Pet
again - it followed you! This battle is the same as the first - how
annoying, right? Well, you're not done - it'll show up once more just before
you get back to Mossae.


===PS15 Part 12: Cloudy with a Chance of Meteomobiles===

Back at the Ice Castle, you'll learn that Edessot and Arekoll have built a
vehicle called the Meteomobile - it can teleport you anywhere that there's a
certain kind of dock. The main purpose is to take you to the private
dimensions Cliboe and Bethina built for themselves with Pier Solar, but it
can do more than that.

Have you missed the ability in this game to backtrack, like you can in most
RPGs? This is your chance. You can revisit most of the game with the
Meteomobile. Here's a complete list of locations you can't revisit:
*Zephyr/Pine Forest/Mutch area (the sinkhole leading here has sealed up)
*Assac *Ludon *Verahansha and connected areas *The Jungle Island

To get to the Meteomobile, enter the door on the northwest side of the upper
floor of the Ice Castle. Don't talk to Arekoll yet; that's the way past the
point of no return, though he will warn you and give you a chance to back
out. Anyway, stand in front of the glowy arrow next to the sphere in the
back room to activate Meteomobile.

Let's go over what's now available in the places you can get to. Remember to
return to where you "parked" the Meteomobile when you're done at a stop.

***Meteomobile Destination 1: Reja's Farm***

Treasures at this stop: Nurse Notes, Sphere, Key, Master Key

***

---Reja Town---

Right outside Hoston's house, you'll find Doctor Gilbert, the doctor Rudy
was waiting for at the start of the game. A little late, isn't he? He'll
give you the [Nurse Notes], a book that'll teach Alina a new spell called
Life Water. This spell can revive, and causes a living character to regenerate
HP for the rest of the fight. It's not a dramatic effect, though.

While you're here, you might as well do the decent thing and tell Hoston's
Mom the bad news. She doesn't take it well... Unfortunately, there's nothing
to do but move on.

---Reja Cave---

Near the end of the cave, a little side area contains an unreachable chest
with a [Sphere].

---Meho---

Standing near the chest that contained the Turtle Vest near the end of this
area, you can use Opening to obtain another copy of the [Key] that opens
orange chests. It's easier to get the one in Ice Castle, but I'm including
this to be complete.

---Rock Cellar (Katsa)---

You can also reach Katsa by walking from Teusa, but it's easier to reach by
walking there from Reja. Anyway, just southeast of the start of rock cellar
is a chest blocked by some stones. Open it for the sixth [Master Key]! Now
you'll have to walk back to Reja's Farm.

While you're in Katsa, though, you might like to buy some Red Chilis. I'm
sure you have a lot of money at this point, and they could come in handy.

***Meteomobile Destination 2: Camp***

Treasures at this stop: Arburus Ring, Master Key x2, Master Key chests,
WaterMelon, Sphere x2, Genesis Cart, Red Chili, Electrode

***

Sure, you could just walk here, but you've got a cool new mode of
transportation - why not use it?

---Camp---

Talk to the southeasternmost guy here to get more confusion about the Lena
Letter quest and the [Arburus Ring]. If you never got the Lena Letter, you can
get it now, but it won't do you any good because the guy who gives you the
ring will never show up.

---Oasis---

It's time to use those Master Keys. Are you excited? I am.

To reach the Sultan, Enter the west hallway in front of the palace through
one of the pink-fringed entryways and head west and north. 

The Sultan's guards will tell a couple of silly jokes at the expense of the
SNES. The Sultan himself will give you the last two [Master Keys]. Head back
to the town entrance and enter the small building that's been off limits
until now.

In here are 8 chests. Two of them (1 and 4 in the chart below) will require
Alina's Opening spell to open. Each chest you open uses up one of the Master
Keys. If you've been following along, you should have all 8 keys; in case
you missed some of them, though, I'll diagram the chests so you can choose
what you want.

1*23*4
*5**6*
*7**8*

1 - Elsydeon, Hoston's ultimate weapon.
2 - Valkerye, Alina's ultimate weapon.
3 - Mithril Rod, Kruller's ultimate weapon.
4 - GuardianArmr, some very powerful armor for Hoston.
5 - Prism Dress, armor for Alina.
6 - CrystalArmor, even better than DiamondArmor for Kruller.
7 - Pixie's Whip, Zellini's ultimate weapon.
8 - SpikedJacket, Awesome armor for Zellini.

Special effects that are detailed in the Equipment List.

I know what you're thinking - what about Edessot? Don't worry, he gets the
BEST toys, and they're coming soon.

---Canyon---

Through the first cave, take the southeast exit to see a couple of
unreachable chests. The green one contains a [WaterMelon]. Enter the cave
here (the orange chest in here, which you can reach but couldn't open
before, is a [Sphere]) and take the first exit to get within opening range
of the orange chest, another [Sphere].

Head past the Goaman Hut (it's empty...) and into the Old Route.

---Old Route---

Up the Liane chute here, you can obtain the [Genesis Cart]. Now that you
have both carts, enter another room, save, and go back to the title screen
and make a copy of your save. Now you've got your minigames unlocked and can
discard the carts to make room on your main save.

The next room has an orange chest toward the southern end that will require
Opening; it contains a [Red Chili]. Finally, in the last room of this area,
Open the chest for an [Electrode]. That's it for the Camp stop.

***Meteomobile Destination 3: Teusa***

Treasures at this stop: WaterMelon x2

***

---Zohonka---

It isn't far from Teusa to Zohonka. From the spot where there are two orange
platforms, go south until you reach a cave entrance; this leads to Zohonka.
There, you can Open the chest on the roof for a [WaterMelon]. It might seem
like a lot of trouble for one chest, but WaterMelons are very useful against
the final boss.

---Meho (3)---

If you return to the Meho area after Teusa, you can find a [WaterMelon] on the
roof of a cave entrance early on.

***Meteomobile Destinations 3 & 4: Point Zero and The Trench***

I don't know why you'd want to return to these dungeons, but I thought I'd
note that you can. You can't go much of anywhere in the Trench, though - the
platform leading back to Kleoneo's fort has disappeared.

***Meteomobile Destination 6: Ice Castle***

I know I skipped one, but you'll want to come here first. Go downstairs and
head down the big stairway south of Arekoll & Mossae. Here you can enter the
Ice Cave, a brand new dungeon.

***Ice Cave***

Enemies: Same as Verahansha Mine

Treasures: Red Chili, Liberarctica, Potion+, Andvaranut, Mana Potion,
FeatheredHat

***

Wow, penguins! Head south at the start for a [Red Chili], then proceed west.
You can get a [Liberarctica] to the north here, in case you missed your
chance to buy one earlier. Continue heading west until you reach the next
room. Just head south there - the chest is a [Potion+].

In the next room, to the west is a door leading to a Liane chute. Go up it
to obtain the [Andvaranut], a magic-boosting accessory. After that, go south
to reach an area with lots of slippery spots. South and to the east there's
one I don't think you can get past, in fact - just magically open the chest
you see beyond it for a [Mana Potion]. Head all the way west for an orange
chest with a [FeatheredHat], then go north and you'll soon be at the end of
the dungeon.

You'll find some old furniture at the end of the cave, and Arekoll will come
in and explain the real story of Arburus and Lena to you - it's pretty
nasty! It really hammers home how much absolute power corrupts. If this
doesn't happen, you missed a step somewhere on the sidequest - make sure you
have the Arburus ring.

Stop at an inn somewhere if you like, then proceed to that mysterious new
destination, Urg.

***Meteomobile Destination 5: Urg***

Enemies: Same as Pine Forest (Earth types)

Treasures: WaterMelon, Sharingan, Megarmlet, Brain Pump, ArekollBeard, Light
Armour, Fire Anchor, Muscle Pump, Napalm, Jewel Crown

***

Urg is an undersea city where old secrets sleep. If you've had Arekoll talk
to you in the Ice Cave, you'll see Arburus's ghost when you get here. He'll
disappear down the door to the east. Follow him, but first check the
southern end of this room for a [WaterMelon] and a [Sharingan].

In the next room, use the Arburus Ring. Nothing will happen, but that's
normal. The chest at the entrance here contains a kick-ass accessory called
the [Megarmlet]. A character wearing this will always counterattack - that
means everybody who attacks them gets a smack for their trouble, and they'll
frequently dodge as well. I've been ambushed and won before my actual turn
came up in this manner. Edessot is a good character to wear this accessory.

Anyway, head south, ignoring the two entrances you see for the moment. On
the west side of this room, you can just see the corner of an inaccessible
chest - Open it for a [Brain Pump]. Then, head all the way east and up the
stairs into the door. In the next room, Arburus will be following you. Walk
forward a couple of rooms to the altar - Arburus will stop and wait there
for his spectral bride. Leave the room, use the Lena letter, and return;
Now, Lena will be following you too. Go back up to the Altar and the couple
will be reunited at last, leaving behind three treasure chests. These are
your awesome rewards for carrying that letter around the whole game. They
are:

ArekollBeard - A really cool accessory that boosts PP and confers major HP
regeneration - much better than that of the Dyneema suit. I like to put this
on Kruller.

Light Armour - Not only is this the best armor for Edessot, it's the best
armor in the game. In addition to its high defense stat, it also confers
major HP regeneration.

Fire Anchor - Edessot's ultimate weapon. Causes Edessot to start with an
extra 3 Gather! This stacks, for a total of 4 with the Yoga Sutra or 5 if
you equip that moon stone.

So that's awesome, but we're not done here. Leave the altar area and return
to the main room, which has four doors not counting the one you came in
through and the one leading to the altar. The southeast door leads to a
[Muscle Pump] and a [Napalm]. The southwest door leads to a [Jewel Crown],
which protects against both poison and sleep, and then comes out the door in
the middle of the room. That's it, really, as the northern door leads to an
infinite loop. We're done here - head back to the Meteomobile and get ready
to go to Cliboe's realm.


===PS16 Part 13: Cliboe's Super Fun World of Eternal Misery===

Back at the Ice Castle, talk to Arekoll. He'll warn you that there's no
going back; say Yes to go back on the Meteomobile. Actually, you CAN still
go back at this point, but you'll have a new destination beyond the Ice
Castle, called simply "Dimension."

***Dimension***

---...Weapon Shop?---
Stick: 1 Gold
Stone: 4 Gold

---...Armor Shop?---
Paper Mail: 4 Gold

---Item Shop---
Potion: 289 Gold
Mana Potion: 625 Gold

Treasures: Lithium, WaterMelon, Napalm, Fight Flute

***

Arekoll has come with you to try and get the third of the Great Architects
to join your side. It's eerily quiet here... Unable to face the world after
Pier Solar, Cliboe made a private universe where he and some subjects could
live, frozen in time, for eternity... but can you call this living? Many of
the people here have given up; others have gone insane. 

East from the start, the first house you'll see has some [Lithium] inside. To
the north and west a bit, a kid named Mikomi will ask you if you like
watermelons. Of course you do, right? You'll get a [WaterMelon] for answering
yes. To the west, you'll find probably the craziest people in town, which is
saying a lot... to the north of this weird little outcrop is a [Napalm].

Back to the east, there's a building with some... shops? You can get some
Stones, if you still want any... and hey, all the mana potions you want.

A little to the west of the shop building and up some stairs, a chest is
cleverly concealed behind the wall. It contains the [Fight Flute], which makes
it impossible for enemies to run away, in case that annoys you.

OK cool that was depressing. Head into the castle. The guards will tell you
to stop - ignore them. 

***Cliboe's Den***

Enemies: Giant Spider, Sand Snail, Amoeaba (Wind)

Treasure: Cliboe Hair, Risperidone

***

The Giant spiders here are the same as the one you fought as a boss earlier,
so focus on them - their eggs will run when they're defeated. Equip your
paperweights if you're worried about the damage.

There are four stairways here. Each leads to an illusory series of identical
rooms that make no sense. I'm not at all certain how this puzzle works, to
be quite honest, but here's an order that gets you where you need to go:
Take the southwestern stairway. Immediately go down the way you came up,
then take the eastern stairway up. You'll now be in a large room full of
randomly placed blocks. Go south FIRST - if you're in the right room, you'll
find [Cliboe Hair], an MP-regenerating accessory, in the southwest, and a
[Risperidone] in the southeast. Cliboe should be on the altar at the north end
of the room - if he isn't, you've gone the wrong way. It's important that you
take this path immediately after entering the four -stairway room - taking
other paths first can mess it up.

Anyway, Bethina got to Cliboe first - what a surprise. Wear your towels - he
does water damage.

////WARNING////

Boss 10: Cliboe ~4000 HP, plus 3 ~2000 HP clones

There are four of Cliboe for some reason. Use a poweful spell - Supernova is
a good candidate - to wipe out the clones. From here on in he'll cast
Blizzard on you, so use Ameliorate to keep your HP up. He actually goes down
before very long at all.

After defeating Cliboe, Hoston will find himself in an imaginary version of
Reja Town. You might as well go... home?

***Reja Town?***

Treasure: Potion+ x5

***

You'll have a bizzare and disturbing conversation with an illusory version
of Rudy. Leave Hoston's house and you'll have another weird conversation.
All of the buildings here connect to the same weird inner structure. You can
find 3 [Potion+] west of what should be Edessot's lab - enter the "lab" and
go east for another pair of [Potion+]. Go back outside again and head down
to where the armor shop was in the real town - that little triangular
balcony. "Rudy" will be there; talk to him. When he leaves, you'll find him
back at Hoston's home. Sickeningly, some of the things he tells you are
true. By the way, he's a bear. Rawr!

////WARNING///

Boss 11: Rudy ~6000 HP

This area didn't give you five Potion+ for nothing; you'll need them in this
drawn-out fight with no healer. You might want to use a gather item or two
to help put him down faster. "Rudy" does Earth damage just like the real Rudy,
so equipping a feather will help.

After winning the fight, leave the fake Reja; you'll return to Cliboe's Den.
You can get Cliboe's Hair if you missed it before, by the way.

You might wonder why I spelled all this out - the fact is, as simple as this
part is I've managed to get lost in it for hours. I'm probably the only one,
but you never know.

Leave Cliboe's room and take the southeast stairway in the next room to
exit. Without Cliboe around to guide his dimension, everybody seems to have
turned into a frog. ...Well, obviously. Return to the Meteomobile; it'll
automatically take you to your next destination.


===PS17 Part 14: Cut the Strings ~Finale~===

***Hideout***

---Item Shop---
Potion: 433 Gold
Mana Potion: 937 Gold
Aloe Wera: 541 Gold
Electrode: 3750 Gold

---Weapon Shop---
Solar Blade: 6400 Gold
Stellar Bow: 5476 Gold
ArcitectHand: 5929 Gold
Lunar Staff: 5776 Gold
Comet Whip: 6241 Gold

---Armor Shop---
DiamondArmor: 6241 Gold
Diamond Mail: 5625 Gold
Muscle Pump: 1024 Gold
Brain Pump: 1024 Gold

Treasures: Herb, Potion+, Sonic Shoe, Berries, Red Chili, PepperPowder,
Bethina Tear, Sphere

***

Welcome to Bethina's domain. It's a bit nicer than Cliboe's, actually. The
people here are devoted to Bethina and know who you are and why you're here,
but don't really seem to care, to the point where they'll sell you things
you could well use to take her down. How odd.

To the northeast you'll find an item shop. Use that gold and buy some
Electrodes - it's a good idea to have a lot. Don't bother Opening the chest
on the item shop's roof - it's an [Herb] of all things. Proceeding west,
you'll find a weapon shop where you can buy the second-best weapons for each
character - if you didn't get all of the ultimate weapons, here you go.
These weapons aren't nearly as strong, but they do provide some nice agility
bonuses.

You can find some Secret Society members here, as well as a kid with a meta
statement about the "long delay" of Pier Solar - har har. Anyway, the area
is divided into two rings - an outer ring and an inner ring. At the south
end of the inner ring, a house contains a [Potion+]. At the east end, a boy
says he'll give you a present only if you show him a fungus - he's actually
talking about the Black Mushroom known as the Sega 32X, and he'll give you
something if you're playing this game on one. Despite being one of the
stupid few to buy one at full price when it launched (D'oh!), I don't have
one anymore, but the accessory you can get is the [Sonic Shoe], which provides
an insane AP boost. Upstairs from that kid is an armor shop - again, it sells
armor inferior to what you got from the Master chests. The chest on the roof
of this building contains [Berries], if you're curious.

On the outer ring, a tower to the west has a [Red Chili] on the third floor.
A house at the southern end has a [PepperPowder]. Finally, go to the tall
tower on the eastern end. The chest outside contains the [Bethina Tear], a
mysterious accessory (Don't equip it, you'll be sorry). Head up the tower. Go
outside on the third floor to get a [Sphere], then keep going up. You'll soon
reach the final area of the game.

***Castle***

Enemies: Soldiers, Amoeaba (Fire), Tin Soldier, Metal Robot

Treasures: Sun Stone, Grind Amulet, Aloe Wera x2, Potion+ x2, Sphere x2,
WaterMelon x3, Mana Potion+, Electrode x2, Green Chili, Rainbow Gem x3,
Napalm x2, Red Chili x2, Muscle Pump, Brain Pump

***

Two stairways - each with two doors behind them. Go west, west and you'll be
presented with a long slippery-floor puzzle. Waiting for you on the other
side is the marvellous [Sun Stone], an accessory which starts you with three
gather (four with Yoga Sutra)! Of course, you'll have to go back across the
slippery floor after getting it. It's very easy for an Eternal Slip veteran
like me. =P  The west, east path goes literally nowhere.

Go east, east to go on. You'll have another thin floor to walk across, but
this one isn't slippery. In an orange chest on the other side, you'll find a
second [Grind Amulet]. Head out the east exit here to access a little path
with an [Aloe Wera], a [Potion+], a [Sphere], a [WaterMelon] in a locked
chest and a [Mana Potion+]. I'd direct you to everything, but just about
every path here ends in a chest, so just go nuts. It's like a shopping
spree. When you're done, go back and take the west exit.

There's a pretty waterfall in the next area. Up in the northwest corner of
this room, you may find an [Electrode]; in the northeast corner, a [Sphere]
in an orange chest. Head north to exit.

Go west in this tasteful courtyard (now here's a final boss with some design
sense) for a [Green Chili]. The east end holds a [Rainbow Gem] in an orange
chest. Enter the big arch here and again you'll have an east-west decision.
Either way you'll face a short set of slippery tiles. Go east first.

If you fall off of the tiles you'll reach a tunnel area. You'll land near a
[Napalm] chest. If you're obsessed with item collecting, you can go north here
and into a small room. There, go east through the wall at the bottom and south
through the wall in the next little area, turning east at the end for another
[Napalm]. Back on the main path, go south and exit through the door you'll
soon find. Follow the path and enter another door, then head north to reach a
teleporter. From where you'll end up, go west for a [Rainbow Gem]. After
getting it, notice the wall facing the screen just south of the area where you
got it - you can walk west into the wall a couple of steps down from this wall
and find a door. Inside is another [Rainbow Gem]. Now, return and go through
the door north of the teleporter. You'll soon come out on the balcony
overlooking the big arch you entered earlier. Keep going and you'll find
you're on the other side of the slippery tiles after all. :D 

Whether you went through that passage or just crossed the tiles, go into the
room on the east side here to press a switch, then cross back over the
slippery tiles. Don't fall this time! Now, take the west path. Don't
intentionally fall off the tiles here - you'll end up in the same tunnel.

After crossing through the next room, you'll end up in a big room with some
lovely windows. Take the door to the east and you'll soon find the platform
you called with that switch. Before taking it, though, go east into the wall
north of it for a [Potion+]. Across the gap, go through the gilded door to the
north. Once inside, you can enter the east wall for one more [Napalm]. After
passing through another door, you'll be in a hallway with a tricky switch
puzzle. Ignore the first path to the north for now. Take the second path and
press the switch. Continuting west, take the third path and walk east into the
wall in the tiny room you'll come to - search here for a [Red Chili]. Now,
instead of going to the last path (the switch there will already be on - this
can fool you, which is what makes me call this party tricky) exit back to
where you rode the stone platform across - a second platform will have joined
the first. Be warned before you get on - this is the last place in the game
where you can save. Ride the new platform - this one takes a while!

Now it's teleporter time again. After taking the first teleporter, take the
east teleporter on the next platform. You'll see a chest high up - go around
north of the other teleporter here so you can reach it with Opening for a
[Red Chili]. To your east here there's another slippery path across water -
cross it and press the switch. By the way, if you fall you'll get a [Muscle
Pump] and a warp back to try again. After pressing the switch, the tiles
are, oddly, no longer slippery. Head back and take the teleporter you came
out of when you entered this platform - you'll be taken back to the start of
the teleporter sequence.

This time, after going through the first one, take the one you come out of -
that's right, step off it and step right back on it. You'll arrive in a
brand new area with access to the platform you just called. It'll take you
to another teleporter, and soon you'll be on a very wide balcony. At the far
east end is a [Brain Pump].

Now - does that door look final or what? Heal up. For accessories, resisting
poison will help, as will the humble towel. The ArekollBeard and Cliboe Hair
are useful. Don't bother with the Sun stone - it only boosts gather once, and
you'll be boosting it many times.

In the next room, there's an [Aloe Wera] to the west and an [Electrode] to
the east. Head up the stairs, and just before climbing up onto the main
platform, note there are orange chests to either side of it - both contain
juicy [WaterMelon], appropriately this game's final treasure.

Now then...

////WARNING////

Boss 12: Kleoneo HP ~15000

This fight is pretty straightforward at first, but after you do about 9000
damage he becomes possessed by this weird black spirit and becomes a flying
enemy. He hits hard, so keep an eye on your HP. Keep a couple of
characters' Gather high so you'll do plenty of damage - you can use some
chilis here, but save those WaterMelons. Kleoneo can also use an instant-kill
attack, but he doesn't use it often.

There won't be an opportunity to heal between fights. Sorry.

Boss 13 (FINAL): Bethina

1st form: ~10000 HP

Bethina can hurt your whole party at once, so keep Ameliorate going and
watch Alina's MP (Cliboe's Hair will take care of this for you). Keep gather
up, and be aware that she hasn't gotten serious yet. This is a good time to
use the special attacks at your disposal.

2nd form: Your guess is as good as mine! Let's just say a LOT!

Targets: Abdomen, Head, Thorax, Arm, Eye

What the hell is that? This is where it gets very nasty. Use your
watermelons and attack with magic so you'll hit all targets at once. Use the
most powerful magic you can, but if she's outspeeding you, you may want to
stay away from 5-gather spells, as her attacks WILL reduce your Gather.
WindOfChange can be handy because it's safe (3 Gather) and heals Kruller up
nicely while dealing damage. The Abdomen and Arm will go down pretty quick,
but the Head and Thorax take forever.

Bethina attacks up to twice per turn. Her attacks include:

Dark Water - A wave damages your entire party. This is the same move that the
first form loves to use.
Absorb - Damages one party member and heals the Head. On the bright side,
this attack never does fatal damage.
Poison - Yep. This is a real pain. You'd better believe this does damage,
too.
Near-fatal wounding - She can take you down to 1 HP instantly.
Totally unfair attack - Kills a party member outright. I hope you stocked up
on Electrodes! It's possible to survive this by using the water or rainbow
gems.

Don't wait to heal or use an Electrode - fix whatever's broken immediately.
When your gather's down to 0, use WaterMelons. Keep pounding away. When you
damage the head enough, the Eye will come out for brief periods. Keep it up
and eventually she'll go down.

Well, that's it. Enjoy the unusual ending - I think it's tragic, and don't
agree with the decision made by the heroes, but that's open to
interpretation. It's certainly more nuanced than your usual video game
story.

The credits music is really cool, especially if you use the Sega CD feature.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the game, and I hope you found my guide useful
and that it aided your enjoyment in some way.

If you wanna go again, why not try some self-imposed challenges? Swearing
off elemental accessories ups the challenge and really opens accessory
strategy up. There's also the surprisingly easy low-level challenge, which
I've outlined in section 23.

~Fin~


===PS18 Equipment Lists===

***Weapon List***

--Swords (Hoston)--

Dagger - +1 PP. Found in Reja Town.
Iron Sword - +2 PP. Sold in Reja Town.
Mameluke - +3 PP. Found in Canyon.
Bronze Sword - +4 PP. Sold in Sherlyme.
Holy Sword - +6 PP. Restores a little HP at the end of each turn. Sold in
Katsa.
Estoc - +8 PP. 25% Critical chance. Sold in Zohonka.
Macana - +11 PP. Found in Meho.
Billhook - +14 PP. Also usable by Edessot. Found in Meho.
Seax - +16 PP, +2 LP. Also usable by Edessot. Sold in Querkon.
Thyrfing - +17 PP, +2 MA. Sold in Querkon.
Dao - +19 PP, +4 LP. Sold in Mutch. Found in Cave of Evil.
Steal Sword - +22 PP. Sold in Assac.
Swordstick - +30 PP. Found in Ludon. Also usable by Kruller.
Power Sword - +33 PP, +4 DP, +7 MA. Sold in Verahansha (Timpo).
Golden Sword - +40 PP, +9 AP. Found in the tunnels under the Bakery.
Solar Blade - +49 PP, +5 DP, +12 AP. Sold in the Hideout.
Elsydeon - +62 PP, +6 AP. One of the Master Key chests.

--Bows (Alina)--

Bow - +2 PP. Found in Reja Town.
Iron Bow - +4 PP. Sold in Reja Town.
Dhanus - +6 PP. Sold in Oasis.
Speargun - +7 PP. Found in Sherlyme.
Cupid's Bow - +8 PP. Restores a little MP at the end of each turn. Sold in
Katsa.
Mangrove Bow - +11 PP. Found in Meho.
Crossbow - +13 PP. Found in Meho.
Yew Bow - +16 PP, +2 AP. Sold in Querkon.
CompositeBow - +18 PP, +3 MD. Sold in Mutch.
Compound Bow - +21 PP. Found in Pine Forest.
Fishing Bow - +28 PP. Sold in Ludon.
Elven Bow - +35 PP, +8 MA, +4 MD. Sold in Verahansha (Noble 'Hood).
Stellar Bow - +42 PP, +5 DP, +10 AP. Sold in the Hideout.
Archer's Bow - +49 PP. May poison Alina. Sold in Verahansha (Timpo).
Valkerye - +55 PP, +6 LP, +7 MA. One of the Master Key chests.

--Tools (Edessot)--

Pocket Knife - +1 PP. Initial equipment for Edessot.
Solder Iron - +2 PP. Sold in Reja Town.
Chisel - +3 PP. 20% Critical Chance. Sold in Oasis.
Spanner - +4 PP. Sold in Sherlyme.
Lighter - +7 PP. Found in Katsa.
Rock Adze - +10 PP. Sold in Zohonka. Also usable by Rudy. 
Billhook - +14 PP. Also usable by Hoston. Found in Meho.
Seax - +16 PP, +2 LP. Also usable by Hoston. Sold in Querkon.
Saw - +18 PP. Found in Pine Forest. Sold in Mutch.
Bolt Cutter - +23 PP. Found in Ice Castle. Sold in Assac.
Rain Knife - +25 PP. Sold in Verahansha (Timpo).
Hook - +29 PP. 65% Critical chance. Sold in Ludon.
Army Knife - +39 PP. Attacks never miss. Sold in Verahansha (Noble 'Hood).
ArcitectHand - +46 PP, +5 AP, +3 LP. Found in the Jungle.
Drill - +49 PP. May put Edessot to sleep. Sold in Verahansha (Timpo).
Fire Anchor - +55 PP, +13 MA. Edessot starts with +3 Gather (stacks with other
Gather effects). Reward for the Letter for Lena sidequest.

--Staves (Mohu, Kruller)--

Stick - +1 PP. Initial equipment for Mohu.
Staff - +5 PP, +2 MA. Initial equipment for Kruller.
Jogo do Pau - +9 PP. Sold in Zohonka.
Mangrove Rod - +13 PP. 25% chance to poison Kruller. Found in Teusa.
Gridarvol - +14 PP, +1 DP, +1 MD. Sold in Querkon.
Pine Rod - +18 PP, +5 AP. Found in Pine Forest. Sold in Mutch.
Club - +22 PP, +2 AP. Sold in Assac.
Swordstick - +30 PP. Found in Ludon. Also usable by Hoston.
Old Man Cane - +37 PP. Sold in Verahansha (Timpo).
Noble Wand - +44 PP. Sold in Verahansha (Noble 'Hood).
Lunar Staff - +44 PP, +11 MA, +6 MD. Sold in the Hideout.
Mithril Rod - +48 PP, +20 (!) MA. Cuts MP costs in half. One of the Master
Key chests.

--Hammers (Rudy)--

Hammer - +3 PP, +1 DP. Initial equipment for Rudy.
HectorHammer - +5 PP, +1 MA. Found in Meho Rocks. **Special attack: Hector
Hammer (requires 1 gather).
Rock Adze - +10 PP. Sold in Zohonka. Also usable by Edessot.
Flanged Mace - +12 PP, +4 LP. Sold in Zohonka.
Ban Hammer! - +14 PP. 55% Critical Chance. Found in Meho. **Special attack:
Ban Hammer (requires 2 gather).
Mjolner - +18 PP, +1 LP. Sold in Querkon.
Cross Peener - +20 PP, +5 DP. Sold in Mutch.

--Whips (Zellini)--

Whip - +19 PP, +4 LP. Initial equipment for Zellini.
Sjambok - +21 PP, +3 LP. Sold in Assac.
Chain Whip - +25 PP, +4 DP, +6 LP. Sold in Ludon.
Gordian Rope - +31 PP. Sold in Verahansha (Timpo).
Flame Whip - +43 PP. Sold in Verahansha (Noble 'Hood). **Special attack:
Flame Whip (requires 1 Gather).
Comet Whip - +48 PP, +4 AP, +9 LP. Sold in the Hideout.
Pixie's Whip - +55 PP, +6 DP, +7 LP. One of the Master Key chests.

***Armor List***

Armor--------Stats-----------------Who can equip--Special
Iron Armour  +1 DP                 Men
Iron Mail    +1 DP                 Women
Paper Mail   +1 DP                 All
Dress        +1 DP, +1 MD          Women
Blouse       +1 DP, +1 MD          Women
Chino Pants  +1 DP, +1 MD          Men
Kandura      +2 DP                 Men
Abaya        +2 DP                 Women
Goaman Coat  +3 DP                 Mohu
Bronze Armor +3 DP, +1 AP          Men
Bronze Mail  +3 DP, +1 AP          Women
Monk Mantle  +7 DP, +2 MD          Men
Scale Mail   +8 DP                 Women
Turtle Vest  +10 DP, +2 MD         All
Berzerk Coat +14 DP, +2 AP, +1 MA  Women
LumberJacket +17 DP                Men
ExWife Dress +20 DP, +3 AP         Women
Thief Suit   +21 DP, +5 AP         Men
Gambeson     +27 DP                All
Silver Mail  +30 DP                Women           50% Poison Protection
Silver Armor +32 DP                Men             Poison resistance
Dyneema Suit +38 DP, +9 MD         All             Slight HP regeneration
Diamond Mail +43 DP, +5 LP, +10 MD Women
DiamondArmor +48 DP, +6 LP, +12 MD Men
GuardianArmr +55 DP, +7 AP, +13 LP Hoston          MP regeneration
Prism Dress  +55 DP, +20 MD        Alina           
CrystalArmor +55 DP, +7 MA, +13 MD Kruller         
SpikedJacket +55 DP, +20 AP        Zellini         Counterattack
Light Armour +62 DP, +13 MD        Edessot         Major HP regen

***Accessory List***

Everyone can equip an accessory unless otherwise noted. Accessories are
grouped by function.

Elemental:
Feather - Reduces damage from earth attacks by 50%.
Dragon Tooth - Reduces damage from fire attacks by 50%.
Towel - Reduces damage from ice/water attacks by 50%.
Small Weight - Reduces damage from wind attacks by 50%. +5 DP.

Stat-boosting:
Power Glove - It's so bad. Raises attack. +12 PP. 
Jarnhandskar - Raises attack. +24 PP.
Wok Pan - Stir-fry defense. +12 DP.
Muscle Pump - Raises attack & defense. +16 PP, +8 DP. Only Hoston, Edessot
and Zellini can equip.
Tjocksulad - Raises agility. +12 AP.
Sonic Shoe - For fungus-owners only. +24 AP.
Brisingamen - Raises magic defense. +24 MD.
Andvaranut - Raises magic power. +24 MA.
Brain Pump - Raises magic stats. +16 MA, +8 MD. Only Alina and Kruller can
equip.

Counterattack:
Magic Gum - Character sometimes counterattacks if hit before their attack
turn.
Armlet - Character counterattacks more often than Gum. +7 PP, +1 LP.
Megarmlet - Character always counterattacks. +12 PP, +4 LP.

Other:
Vaccine - Gives poison immunity. +6 DP, +1 LP, +1 MD.
Jewel Crown - Poison and sleep immunity. +12 DP, +3 LP, +6 MD.
Sharingan - Attacks never miss. +12 PP, +4 AP, +2 LP.
Hawk Eye - Halves chance of being ambushed. +7 LP.
VitaminePump - Healing items are twice as effective.
Flee Flute - Escaping always succeeds, except on bosses. +4 AP, +12 LP. Only
Alina can equip.
Fight Flute - Enemies cannot run. +3 AP, +10 LP. Only Alina can equip.
Moon Stone - +1 Gather at beginning of battle; stacks with other Gather
effects. +4 LP, +6 MA, +2 MD.
Sun Stone - +3 Gather at beginning of battle; stacks with other Gather
effects. +3 LP, +10 MA, +8 MD.
MetalDetectr - Gives double money after battles. +1 LP.
Grind Amulet - Gives the user double EXP in battles. +1 PP, +10 AP, +2 LP.
FeatheredHat - Reduces MP cost of magic by half. +3 MD. Only Kruller can
equip. Does not stack with Mithril Rod.
ArekollBeard - Major HP regeneration. +12 PP, +4 DP, +2 AP.
Cliboe Hair - MP regeneration. +2 LP, +12 MA, +4 MD.
Bethina Tear - "???" says the description. With this equipped, you will
sometimes be poisoned after making physical attacks. A dirty trick. I beat
Bethina with this equipped; nothing special happens.


===PS19 Item List===

--HP restoratives--

HP and MP restoratives may be grouped into the range of effectiveness
mentioned in their description. The actual healing is based on your
character's max.

Random amount: Fish
3%: Fig
Small/some (About 22% of Max): Herb, Salad, Milk
Average (1/3 Max): Potion, Alfedone, Gooseberries, Lithium
Huge (60% of Max): Potion+, True Love, Capricciosa
Full: Pommac

--MP restoratives--

Random amount: Grapes
Small/some (About 22% of Max): Berries, Apple, HemishaBerry
Average (1/3 Max): Mana Potion
Huge (60% of Max): Mana Potion+, Risperidone, Cola
Full: Panache

**Special restorative - the Sphere restores a "huge" amount of both HP and
MP.


--Gather promoters--

Keep in mind that a character's gather only goes up to a maximum of 5.
Green chili - Raises target character's gather by two points.
Red Chili - Raises target character's gather by four points.
WaterMelon - Always raises target character's gather to the maximum. Great
for the final boss!


--Status Healers--

Caffeine Pill - Awakes a sleeping character. Next to useless, really.
Antidote - Heals a poisoned character. The opposite of useless.
Aloe Wera - Cures both sleep and poison. Shouldn't this be Aloe Vera?
PepperPowder - Revives a fallen character in battle with 1 HP.
Electrode - Revives a fallen character in battle with 1/2 their Max HP.


--Gems--

Gems are used in battle to make the target character all but immune to all
attacks of the gem's type (they'll do one point of damage) for five turns.
This can buy you a much needed breather.

The tyes of gems are fire, ice, wind and earth.

There is also a rarer fifth gem, the rainbow gem, which makes your character
immune to all elemental damage at once. Unlike the others, it can't be
purchased.

--One-time use weapons for Edessot--

Stone - Edessot starts with a lot of these. You can throw them in order to
hit flying enemies.
Dynamite - Does a "small amount" of fire damage.
Bomb - Does an "average amount" of fire damage.
Napalm - Does a "huge amount" of fire damage.

Note: Dynamite and bombs won't hit flying enemies, but napalm will.

--Money--

Instead of just finding money in chests, in this game you find "items" that
never go in your inventory, they just add to your money total. Here is a
list of them and what they're worth.

Metal Coins - 1 gold.
Gold Coins - 10 gold. (Hey, it's good for an inn stay!)
Gold Bar - 100 gold.
Gold Block - 500 gold.

--Books--

When you read a book, a spell is added to one of your characters. Once
you've read a book, it's not needed anymore - you should sell it to make
some gold and free up precious inventory space.

Linnaei - Teaches Hoston Liane, a spell which helps you climb certain
chutes.
De Magnete - Teaches Edessot MagnetShield, which can reduce the encounter
rate.
Meteoro Log - Teaches Kruller WindofChange, which damages all enemies and
heals Kruller.
Slade's Guide - Teaches Zellini Bright Mind, which will tell you if there's
one treasure, more than one treasure, or no treasures on the current map.
Le Viandier - Teaches Zellini the special attack Fried Shrimp.
Toxios - Teaches Hoston Toxios, which cures poison.
Liberarctica - Teaches Alina Arctica, which does Ice damage to all enemies.
Pyro Pages - Teaches Edessot Supernova, which does tremendous fire damage to
all enemies.
Yoga Sutra - Read this and everyone will start battle with 1 point of gather
for the rest of the game! Stacks with other Gather effects.
Nurse Notes - Teaches Alina Life Water, which can revive with 1 HP or cause HP
regen in living characters.

--Keys--

There are a lot of locked things in this game. Surely it's no coincidence
there are a lot of keys.

Gold Key - You'll encounter several of these one-use keys throughout the
game.
Big Key - Used to activate a switch in the Sanctuary.
Small Key - Used to activate a switch in Teusa.
Key - This little beauty opens quite a few locked chests.
Bandit Key - Opens a chest in Assac.
Ludon Key - Opens a chest in, where else, Ludon.
Master Key - You'll want to save as many of these as possible; you'll be
able to use them to get great stuff near the end.

--Quest Items--

These items briefly occupy an inventory slot before being used to move the
plot along.

Meinshu Herb - Used to cure Rudy.
Leather Book - This old relic may offer clues to deciphering the compass and
the secrets of the Lost Age.
Shovel - You'll be forced to buy and use this to continue.
Beaver - Annihlates trees. Needed to get past a certain obstacle.
Arekoll Dust - Used to return to the Ice Castle at a certain moment.
Perfume - You'll be forced to buy, and later use, this to continue.
Gear - Used to fix a train.
Sprocket - Made of good, workable metal.
Wires - Also used to fix a train.
Library Map - Ostensibly shows the location of a library.
Bread - Auuuuugh. I don't even wanna think about it.

--Other--

These items are used in sidequests or to obtain special extras.

Lena Letter - A letter to Lena Schiller. Used in a certain sidequest.
Arburus Ring - An old ring, used in the same sidequest as the letter.
Genesis Cart - "Probably Phantasy Star IV." See Extras section for details.
MD Cart - "Probably Alien Soldier." See Extras section for details.


===PS20 Spells & Special Attacks===

---Spells---

Hoston:

Avacado Blast (20 MP) - Does Earth damage to a single enemy. Learned at
level 2.
Liane (20 MP) - Allows you to go up certain chutes. Book found in Rock
Cellar.
Needle Vine (40 MP, 2 Gather needed) - Does Earth damage to a single enemy.
Learned at level 10.
Toxios (60 MP) - Cures poison. Book sold in Verahansha.
Toxic Plant (80 MP, 4 Gather needed) - Does Earth damage to all enemies.
Learned at level 25.

Alina:

Heal (30 MP) - Alina comes with this extremely useful spell. It heals at
least 100 HP, scaling up with the Max HP of the target.
Blizzard (80 MP, 1 Gather needed) - Does ice damage to all enemies. Learned
at level 5.
Opening (99 MP) - Opens a chest visible onscreen, assuming you have any
necessary key. Some chests can only be opened this way. Learned when the party
reaches The Lake. This doesn't use MP unless it actually opens something, so
you can use it liberally to seek out hidden chests. Don't press A too fast
after using this - there's a bug where doing so causes the game to say your
inventory is full, even if it isn't. You can avoid this problem by assigning
the spell to the X, Y or Z button (See general tips).
Arctica (100 MP, 3 Gather needed) - Does heavy ice damage to all enemies by
dropping giant ice cubes upon them. Book sold in Verahansha.
Ameliorate (99 MP, 1 Gather needed) - Heals the whole party. Healing is
weaker than Heal, but you can boost it with Gather to make this a real
lifesaver. Learned at level 17.
Pure Snow (70 MP, 3 Gather needed) - Heals sleep or poison, like Aloe Wera.
Learned at level 25.
Life Water (80 MP, 5 Gather needed) - Revives a fallen character with 1 HP.
When used on a living character, causes the selected character to regenerate
HP each turn. Book found in Reja Town late in the game.

Edessot:

Fireball (20 MP, 1 Gather needed) - Does fire damage to all enemies. Learned
at level 3.
Desomnia (40 MP, 1 Gather needed) - Cures sleep status. Learned at level 10.
MagnetShield (60 MP) - Reduces random encounter rate. Book found in Cave of
Evil.
Supernova (40 MP, 5 Gather needed) - Does insane fire damage to all enemies.
Great for wiping out enemy groups or against bosses. Book found in Library.

Mohu:

Sweet Home (20 MP) - Map only magic that instantly returns you to the Goaman
hut.
Heaven Blow - See Kruller.

Kruller:

Air Blow (50 MP) - Does light wind damage to all enemies. Known at start.
Heaven Blow (35 MP, 1 Gather needed) - Heals a target character. Slightly
more powerful than Heal, I think...
WindofChange (40 MP, 3 Gather needed) - Does wind damage to all enemies and
absorbs HP for Kruller. Book found in The Arena.
Megashock (99 MP, 5 Gather needed) - Does high damage to one enemy. Learned at
a certain point in the story.

Rudy:

Carnpumpkin (20 MP) - Does earth damage to one enemy. Although it doesn't
look like it, it can hit flying enemies.
Rock n' Roll (25 MP, 1 Gather needed) - Rains boulders down upon all
enemies, doing earth damage.
Toxic Glare (40 MP, 2 Gather needed) - Foul gas does very strong earth
damage to all enemies. Learned at level 11.

Zellini:

Lavafall (30 MP, 2 Gather needed) - Does fire damage to all enemies.
Bright Mind (30 MP) - Tells whether there is one, multiple, or no treasures on
the current map. Bear in mind that all interiors in a town are generally on
the same map. Book found in The Arena.
Attraction (20 MP) - Instantly summons an enemy encounter. Learned at level
26 or 27, I think.
Pier Pyromar (60 MP, 4 Gather needed) - Big fire damage to everybody.
Learned at level 35.

---Special Attacks---

Hoston:

KohonaCleave (2 Gather needed) - Hoston rises up from the earth for a strong
slash. Doesn't hit flying enemies, so don't try. Learned at level 15.
Space Divide (5 Gather needed) - This does a lot of damage! Learned at level
35.

Alina:

Ice Blast (2 Gather needed) - Does stronger damage, but cannot hit flying
enemies. Learned at level 20.

Rudy:

Hector Hammer (1 Gather needed) - High damage special conferred by the
HectorHammer.
Ban Hammer (2 Gather needed) - Very high damage special conferred by the Ban
Hammer!

Kruller:

BlueBall: Sometimes puts enemies to sleep, even if the attack itself misses.
Learned at level 20. Since this needs no gather, there's really no reason to
ever use RedBall again. As far as I can tell, it doesn't seem that anybody
except bosses is immune to sleep.
GreenBall (3 Gather needed) - High damage attack. Can't hit flying enemies,
though. Learned at level 30.

Zellini:

Fried Shrimp (5 Gather needed) - Hits an enemy with a shrimp made of fire
for huge fire damage. Always goes first! Book sold in Verahansha.
Flame whip (1 Gather needed) - Hits an enemy for strong fire damage.
Conferred by the flame whip.
Pyro Petrol (4 Gather needed) - Powerful fire attack. Learned at level 25.


===PS21 Bestiary===

When I say "[element] type", the enemy resists as well as deals that type of
damage. Flying enemies can only be hit by Alina and Kruller's regular
attacks, magic, stones, and certain other special attacks.

01: Baby Medusa
Flying. Does Earth damage.
02: Big Medusa
Flying. Does Earth damage.
03: Amoeaba
Can take any of the four types - types you encounter are noted in the guide.
04: Insect
Does Earth damage.
05: Mini Poo
Summoned by Guardian. Will run away when the guardian is defeated.
06: Sand Worm
Attack can poison. Does fire damage.
07: Sand Snail
Does fire damage. When you attack, it submerges itself in the sand, leaving
only its antenna sticking out. When this happens, its defense is very high.
The good news is that it will have to spend a turn getting back out before
it can attack you.
08: Soldier
Comes in A, B and C varieties. A has a sword, B throws bombs, and C throws
spears. Does fire damage.
09: Toc Toc H. (Blue)
Flying. Does water damage. 
10: Baby Turtle
Does water damage. 
11: TurtleEgg
Will hatch into a Baby Turtle. This uses up its turn.
12: Mother Turtle
Water type. Attack is uncounterable. Has a lot of HP.
13: Tentacles
Water type. Attack can poison. Counterattacks very frequently.
14: Feather F.
Flying. Attacks do water/ice damage. Can hit entire party at once. Can turn
invisible, making it impossible to target. Attacks already targeted on it
can still hit, and moves that attack all enemies will still hit. It can't
attack while invisible. If still invisible when all other enemies are
defeated, it will turn visible again automatically.
15. K. Mandrill
Hits hard and can summon Ape Disciple helpers.
16. Ape Disciple
Will run away when K. Mandrill is defeated. One of their attacks can poison.
Does water damage.
17. Toxic Flower
Attack hits whole party and can poison. Does Earth damage.
18. Tall Troll
Has two attacks: one that hits the whole party and one that absorbs HP. Does
Earth damage.
19. Small Troll
Can summon Mini Poo. Does Earth damage.
20. Bandit
Does fire damage.
21. Spider Egg
Does wind damage.
22. Crystal Fly
Flying. Can duplicate/summon more crystal flies. Someimes turns into a
diamond-like gem; they have higher defense, do not attack and can be hit by
ground attacks while in this state. It'll have to spend a turn to return to
its regular state. Does water damage.
23. Trilobit
One good hit knocks these on their back; there they will remain, helpless,
for the rest of the fight. Can absorb HP when it attacks you. Does water
damage.
24. Sharpener
Does water damage. Can hit whole party.
25. Fifre
Little baker helpers for the Pizza Chief. Will run when the Chief is
defeated. Actually, they'll often run regardless.
26. Tin Soldier
Sometimes appears as just a pair of legs. Does fire damage.

Bosses:

B01: Guardian - ~300+ HP
Comes with Amoeaba (Red) and summons Mini Poo to help. Does Earth Damage.
B02: Crab ~700-800 HP
Fire type. Can hit the whole party at once for massive damage.
B03: Ryan (Lion) ~8000 HP
Fire Type. Bite can poison. Can hit whole party.
B04: Metal Robot - Less than 1500 HP
Does fire damage. Comes with Amoeaba (Black) helpers.
B05: Pizza Chief ~5000 HP
Does water damage.
B06: Giant Spider ~3500 HP
Doesn't attack; lays a Spider Egg every turn.
B07: Sasheer ~4000 HP
Fought by Alina and Zellini only. Comes with Ape Helpers and can summon
more. Does water damage.
B08: Ironhart ~8000 HP
Fought by Edessot and Kruller only. Can summon Soldiers. Casts Supernova and
Lavafall. Does fire damage.
B09: Pet ~2000 HP
Hits whole party for water damage. Comes with TurtleEgg helpers, but I've
never seen them hatch. Fought three times.
B10: Cliboe ~4000 HP
Starts with three ~2000 HP clones. Casts Blizzard.
B11: Rudy ~6000 HP
Fought by Hoston alone.
B12: Kleoneo ~15000 HP
Becomes Flying after about 9000 damage is done.
B13: Bethina
Two forms - human and giant multi-target insect thing. Second form attacks
twice per turn; can poison, absorb, and instant-kill. Does water damage.


===PS22 Sidequests and Extras==

--Master Key locations--

1. Teusa - An old man asks you to count the number of carved faces in town.
If you guess 7, he'll give you this key.

2. In the northern Pine Forest, climb a chute using Hoston's Liane spell to
reach this key.

3. Awarded for defeating Ryan the Lion in the Arena at Assac.

4. In the dark basement in Ludon City.

5. In the basement in the Noble 'Hood section of Verahansha.

6. In the Rock Cellar in Katsa. Requires Alina's Opening spell.

7&8. Given to you by the Sultan in Oasis, which is also where the chests the
keys open reside.

--A letter for Lena--

This quest is mentioned throughout the walkthrough, but it spans such a long
stretch of gameplay that I thought I'd go over it again here, step-by-step
for clarity.

1.When you first get to the camp near Oasis, talk to a man in the lower
right. He'll tell his sad tale of how he lived off of the generosity of his
talented brother, but was thrown out when his brother disapproved of his
lover. He'll ask you to deliver a letter to his beloved Lena Schiller at the
capital city. You'll agree.

When you finally get to Verahansha however, talking to the people in the
tavern reveals that Lena has been dead for a long, long time. How odd...

2.When you get the Meteomobile, return to the camp. In the same place you
got the letter, talk to the person now standing there for the Arburus ring.

3. Travel in the Meteomobile back to the Ice castle and head for the
basement. It's the big wide staircase leading down into a bluish hole;
Arekoll and Mossae stand just above it. You'll discover a new dungeon called
the Ice Cave. When you reach the end, the rest of the story will be filled
in for you.

4. Finally, take the Meteomobile to the mysterious new location of Urg.
You'll see a ghost! follow him and then use the ring to get him to follow
you. If you take the path far up and to the right, you'll find an altar
where he will stop and wait. Leave the room, use Lena's letter, and return.
Reunited at last, the couple will leave behind three fantastic chests: the
Fire Anchor, Edessot's best weapon; the Light Armor, an insanely awesome
armor for Edessot; and Arekoll's beard, a very useful accessory for
characters you have trouble keeping alive. Trust me, these rewards are WELL
worth the hassle!

--Title Screen Unlockable Goodies--

These are accessed under the "Goodies" menu at the title screen.

Jukeboxes - With these, you can listen to the game's music in both FM and
PCM. The three jukeboxes, side A, side B and 100%, are unlocked through
normal play.

Minigames: There are a few...

*Pier Pyromar - A bomberman like game that supports multiplayer! Unlocked
after you play a similar game in the story.

*Mossae's Quest - Unlocked if one of your save files has the item "MD cart".
Edessot flies around the grainy Mode 7 world on Mossae the Dragon's back.
Place names will display in the upper left; fly over them to be granted a
point. My high score is 17.

*Eternal Slip! - Love those sliding-on-a-narrow-path puzzles? Here's your
chance at a MUCH harder, longer version. It is possible to win, despite the
name. There are three different endpoints. Go right at the start (left leads
nowhere good). At the first split you come to, go up for an "easy" win or down
for the other, harder paths. A secret awaits you at the end - I won't spoil
it here. Don't email me to ask, either. =P


--Other--

Enhanced Soundtrack Disc Extras: Pop the CD into your PC to view production
art, MP3s of some of the game's songs, and ROMs of an extremely early alpha
version of Tavern RPG, a later alpha version, and a beta version that used
to be offered on Piersolar.com as a demo. It's pretty cool to see how much
of the game has changed and what stayed the same. (These extras are not
present on the CD image linked to on the Pier Solar forum for use with the
reprint edition - only on the original disc.)

Sound test - If you enter the code UUDDLRLRABC (A modified Konami Code) at
the title screen, you'll enter a sound test for the game's various sound
effects. Press left and right on the D-Pad to cycle through sounds.

32X easter egg - If you play Pier Solar with a 32X attached, there's
somebody in Bethina's hideout who notices. He'll give you a special
accessory, Sonic's Shoes. Thanks to incrediblehark on the Pier Solar forum
for finding this.

Game Over - When your party gets wiped out, you'll be sent to a special
"game over room" where you can wander around a bit. There's nothing to
really do here, but if you wait a bit you'll get a few lines of dialogue
about how you should reset your game. Actually, though, you can press C to
return to the title or load a game. 

Free reign at Point Zero - Near the end of point zero, in the room with the
pillars after the little maze and before the Meteomobile dock, just past the
northernmost set of pillars you can walk west into the wall. Surprise, it's
roomy in here! You seem to have free reign over the map, making me think that
spot on the wall was supposed to be hard. Don't go too far north or you'll
cause the game to wrap around to the southern end of the map, where you won't
be able to move. Crossing the southern boundary also gets you stuck, and going
out of bounds east or west causes the game to behave oddly as it tries to find
you after battles. The only way back into the playing area seems to be the
same spot you left it.

Rudy & Kruller - This is a glitch, not an extra, but during the brief moment
in Teusa where your party is just Rudy and Kruller, you can walk all the way
back to Reja if you want. If you never got the minigame fakeout conversation
at Reja farm, they'll even have the same conversation, with Rudy playing
Edessot's part. The developers obviously didn't anticipate anybody doing
this, though, because certain conversations in Reja play out the same way it
would if you visit just after getting Rudy to join, but with Rudy saying his
son's lines. Weeeeird.


===PS23 Low-battle mini-guide===

There are only fifteen battles you need to fight in Pier Solar; everything
else, you can run away from. This is a fun challenge that is exciting without
being too extremely difficult. I've documented such a run here to help out
anyone else who wants to try it. 

At the start, I was able to afford to buy four feathers (Total 256 gold)
without even entering Reja forest. A fifth one is found in Reja forest;
having five of these now makes this run possible later (Pine forest). Money's
scarce, so this is all I bought in Reja Town.

I'm very thorough about getting all the treasures. Without grinding to produce
money, it's necessary to strictly ration resources, so every bit helps.

////Fight 1 Guardian////
Equip: Feather

This is a laugher even at level 1 - so much so with feathers equipped that I
went out of my way to kill the Amoeaba for a little extra exp/gold. I feel bad
for anyone who's ever lost to this thing.

Exp: Hoston 52, Alina 70, Edessot 52.

Hoston reached level 2.
Alina reached level 2.
Edessot reached level 2.

Time at save back at Reja Town: 0:33.
Gold: 327 after selling caffeine pills.


In Oasis, I bought an Abaya for Alina (196 gold). I also equipped Alina with
the vaccine, since enemies seem to like to attack her the most.

Time at save before entering the Canyon: 0:47.

It was slow going in the canyon as I kept leaving to regroup after grabbing
treasures. Alina's only got enough MP at level 2 for 4 heals, after all. The
enemies do fire damage and dragon teeth aren't available, so this might
actually be the most difficult stretch of the game for this run, since
elemental accessories aren't available to greatly limit damage. Getting
ambushed sucks pretty hard, by the way. I went back to Oasis and sold some
Antidotes (the boss won't poison) to get enough gold to buy a Kandura
(289 gold) for Edessot. Hoston kept using the Iron Armor found in the
Headquarters.

When Mohu joins, his level (6) is pretty impressive. That helps. The free inn
at the hut and Sweet Home's instant exit are also big assets.

Time at save after Mohu joins: 1:14.
Gold: just 66.

////Fight 2 Crab////

Crab battle! The Crab is no joke under normal circumstances, unlike the first
boss. However, it really wasn't THAT bad. I used a Fire Gem on Hoston and
hammered away with Avacadoblast, which I never had any use for in either of my
normal runs, but with Hoston as weak as he is, it's by far the most damage I
could do at a respectable 150 with Gather (I also used the Green chili here).
It took me four tries (though each was a win) to finish with everybody alive,
due to getting unlucky a couple of times with back to back crab drops.

Gold earned: 355
Exp: Hoston 193, Alina 126, Edessot 126, Mohu 126

No level ups =(

////Fight 3 Soldiers////

Well, two of three of them ran away. I don't think it makes that big of a
difference, so I went with it.

Gold: 10
Exp: Hoston 56, Alina 38, Edessot 38

At this point you're stuck with a level 2 party for a long, long time. This is
the last required battle for so long that Rudy won't participate in battle
even once. Sad face. He is level 9, though, which bolsters survivability a bit.

Time at save after Rudy joins: 1:56.
By selling the Goaman Coat, I was able to get my money up to 1204!

Meho was uneventful. Honestly, I think I had an easier time making it through
than I did while fighting.

In Katsa, I bought the Cupid's Bow (841 Gold), an important survival tool.
Kruller joins at a mind-boggling level 11, which the kids will never match.
I'm drooling over that 350 MP.

After looting Rock Cellar, my gold reserves got up to 2787 thanks to the
valuable Linnaei. I'm going to need the gold at Zohonka, so I'm holding onto
it for now.

Time at save after rock cellar: 2:27.

The second Meho gave me a little trouble due to some costly ambushes. It's
luck of the draw whether running succeeds when you need it to, unfortunately.

In Zohonka, I sold the HectorHammer, the Mameluke and the Abaya in order to
just barely have enough gold to buy 4 towels and 4 dragon teeth (total 3536
gold). I've almost no gold remaining, but these purchases are absolutely
essential. Right away, the towels pay for themselves, making surviving the
attacks of the Feather F. easy.

Time at arrival in Teusa: 2:45.

Meho Rocks is tough because not all of the enemies there do the same kind of
damage, a fact that is never repeated anywhere else in the game. For this
reason, the Vaccine is a better equip than the Towel here.

In Querkon, I made a lot of money selling the weapons found in Meho and was
able to easily afford a Berserk Coat for Alina (1024 Gold). The agility bonus
helps with running away.

At Zephyr, I had cash to spare for the Shovel (900 Gold). Buying the feathers
back in Reja paid off big time in Pine Forest, where the enemies don't do any
damage worth worrying about (under 10 in most cases). Of course, I also had
everybody in pretty good armor at this point - monk mantles, turtle vests and
the berserk coat. I still had to use some healing items, though, as it'd been
a while since a rest. Actually, Pine Forest was a pretty tight squeeze because
of all the attacks that hit the whole party and the poison. I also had to
resort to using MP restoratives to stay healthy.

Time after staggering into the Mutch Inn: 3:32.
Money: 3626 after selling old junk. I saved it for the speedy armor in Assac.

If you do the Cave of Evil, bear in mind that Edessot won't have enough MP to
cast MagnetShield. Alina will have enough to cast Opening once, however.

Time at Zellini joining the party: 4:06.
Zellni is level 16. Look out, world. 700 HP. I've found my tank.

I bought everybody new armor in Assac at a total cost of (10,612 Gold). This
really cleaned me out, but I went on wearing this set of armor for a long
time. These make a great stepping stone between the early game stuff and the
endgame stuff.

I did raid the Arena for its treasure, but fighting Ryan the Lion is optional
and therefore against the letter of this challenge. It's just as well - I'm
not sure I could have won without using up most of my resources. If you try
it, let me know how it goes.

In Ludon, I bought a Hook for Edessot (3721 Gold). There's one in the
Basement, but I didn't feel like braving the Bandits to get it. I used several
MP restoratives here because there are a lot of good chests that require
Opening. Fortunately, there's a guy here who sells 5 mana potions for only
(100 Gold).

Back at Assac, I had to buy perfume for (1500 Gold), what a ripoff.

Time upon arriving at Verahansha docks: 4:48.

I only made it here with 3277 gold on hand. I did manage to get a Small Weight
for everyone (2645 Gold total), completing my collection of elemental
accessories. By selling up my Bombs (meh) I was able to afford Le Viandier and
the Fried Shrimp move, an excellent go-to damage skill for this run.

I really think the game could have used a real boss somewhere in the stretch
between the crab and here - it would've helped the flow.

////Fight 4 Metal Robot////
Equip: Dragon Tooth

As long as I had my dragon teeth on and stayed sharp on healing, this was
completely doable. Slow going, but doable. WindofChange helped a lot, as
Kruller was the toughest to keep alive and this spell heals him while doing
lots of damage. Using that and Lavafall (they resist it, but it still did
surprisingly OK damage), I was able to defeat the five Amoeabas for precious,
precious exp.

Exp: Hoston 671, Alina 616, Edessot 616, Kruller 688, Zellini 901.

Hoston reached level 3.
Hoston reached level 4.
Alina reached level 3.
Edessot reached level 3 and learned fireball.
Gold: 1379.

The effect of these level ups is pretty minuscule, but anything helps.

Time after defeating Metal Robot: 5:34.

In Verahansha (Noble 'Hood), I bought a Flame Whip for Zellini (5625 Gold).
In the Basement, I got the Flee flute! It makes the rest of the game pretty
smooth sailing, bosses aside.

////Fight 5 Pizza Chief////
Equip: Towel

This fight wasn't hard, just long. The four little baker guys were easily
taken out with a couple of spells, so it was down to attacking and healing. My
big damage source was Zellini's flame whip special. I used Kruller for healing
after Alina ran out of MP.

Exp: Hoston 169, Alina 168, Edessot 168, Kruller 233, Zellini 212

Alina reached level 4.
Edessot reached level 4.
Gold: 423

These were good levelups. Alina now has enough MP for five heals.

Time after beating the Mad Baker: 6:24.

The Magic School is not different from a normal run.

////Fight 6 Giant Spider////
Equip: Small Weight

This fight wasn't too bad either - it was easier than the previous two, in
fact. With Edessot's 60 MP I was able to use fireball and supernova once each.
After that I just hammered away with physicals and it was over before long. I
never even had to heal in this fight.

Exp: Hoston 197, Alina 197, Edessot 311, Kruller 299 (No level ups =/)
Gold: 788

Time upon returning to Verahansha: 7:16.

I bought an Elven Bow (4489 Gold) for Alina before leaving Verahansha for
good. Hey, I had some extra cash. Couldn't hurt.

////Fight 7 Sasheer////
Equip: Towel, Vaccine

This is one of the hardest fights. The poison completely screws up strategy by
making your characters disobey you. There are too many ape disciples - within
a few turns I was nearly done for. Fortunately a Lavafall took them all out in
one go, and I was able to heal back from the brink of defeat. After that it
was not exactly a cinch, but manageable.

Exp: Alina 360, Zellini 521

Alina reached level 5 and learned Blizzard.

Gold: 910

////Fight 8 Ironhart////
Equip: Dragon Tooth

Sasheer really made me sweat with the monkeys and the poison, but Ironhart
isn't a big problem. Fortunately Kruller has enough MP for 10 heals, making
staying healthy here totally doable. Ironhart has a lot of HP, but I was
eventually able to outlast him.

Exp: Kruller 819, Edessot 1026!

Kruller reached level 12.
Edessot reached level 5.
Edessot reached level 6.

Gold: 624

Edessot now has over 400 HP, a luxury for this run.

Time upon returning to the Ice Castle: 8:00.

Next up is the jungle. I considered using the grind amulet found here to try
to squeeze out some levels, but I quickly decided that it would be too hard to
keep a character without an elemental accessory alive throughout a boss fight.

////Fight 9 Pet////
Equip: Towel

This thing can do some pretty nasty damage! Both Alina and Kruller were needed
for healing, and I had some seriously close calls. This thing's tendency to
counterattack really made me change my strategy to one based almost entirely
on Lavafall.

Exp: Hoston 190, Alina 193, Kruller 193, Zellni 291

Hoston reached level 5.

Gold: 507

At this point, saving all the restoratives throughout the game pays off - it's
the only way you can restore between bouts with the Pet.

////Fight 10 Pet (2)////

I had some even closer calls in this one. This thing's constant damage toward
the whole party at once can be really annoying.

Exp: Hoston 190, Alina 240, Kruller 190, Zellini 241

Zellini reached level 17.

Gold: 504

////Fight 11 Pet (3)////

This is the same as the first two.

Exp: Hoston 190, Alina 240, Kruller 190, Zellini 240

Alina reached level 6.

Gold: 505

Time at unlocking the Meteomobile: 8:31.

Bought a Red Chili (900 Gold) while visiting Katsa.

Since I forwent fighting Ryan the Lion, I only had 7 of the 8 Master Keys and
needed to leave one chest behind. I decided to leave the Valkerye. I also
completed the Lena letter sidequest to get Edessot's best stuff.

Time before leaving for Cliboe's dimension: 9:25.

In Cliboe's dimension, I bought 10 Mana Potions (6250 Gold).

////Fight 12 Cliboe////
Equip: Towel

This fight is no joke because all four clones can cast blizzard. It's a
disaster. Edessot has no chance of getting Supernova off because his agility
is only 3 - if he has 5 gather, he's down to 2 when it gets to be his turn. 
You really miss Ameliorate, which is clearly the biggest benefit of levelling.
I got lucky and just barely managed to beat the clones without anybody dying -
some characters were under 20 HP. This is definitely the most difficult fight
so far.

Exp: Hoston 200, Alina 198, Edessot 268, Kruller 198, Zellini 266

No level ups.

Gold: 761

////Fight 13 Rudy////
Equip: Feather

If you lose here, you'll have to fight Cliboe again. Fortunately, with the
Feather it was a pretty standard back and forth. In fact, I only ended up
using two Potion+.

Exp: 405

Hoston reached level 6.

Gold: 327

Time upon arriving in the Hideout: 9:42.

I bought the Stellar Bow for Alina (5476 Gold) and 5 Electrodes (18750 Gold),
spending up the last of my money.

These were my stats for the final battle (these are with the ultimate
equipment and towels equipped, except for Alina who has the Stellar Bow
instead of the Valkerye):

Hoston lv 6 - HP 375, MP 125
PP 65 DP 58 AP 16 LP 16 MA 2 MD 2

Alina lv 6 - HP 275, MP 225
PP 44 DP 62 AP 13 LP 2 MA 3 MD 22

Edessot lv 6 - HP 425, MP 75
PP 58 DP 65 AP 3 LP 3 MA 14 MD 14

Kruller lv 12 - HP 320 MP 400
PP 50 DP 57 AP 4 LP 4 MA 33 MD 18

Zellini lv 17 - HP 700 MP 300
PP 62 DP 67 AP 26 LP 13 MA 3 MD 3

////Fight 14 Kleoneo////

This guy was dangerous because I had to have towels equipped for Bethina, but
he DOESN'T do Water damage. Yikes. He's able to one-hit Alina. Fried Shrimp is
my savior here, doing 1500 damage a go. Zellini really kicks ass in this
party, taking the hits and doing the damage. She even counterattacked Kleo.
Oh, and when he started to fly, I used Edessot's stones, which I'd saved from
the beginning of the game - this is the only flying enemy I actually fought!

Exp: Hoston 272, Alina 270, Edessot 438, Kruller 270, Zellini 274.

Edessot reached level 7.
Kruller reached level 13.

////Fight 15 Bethina////

I started the fight by using up all my red chilis maxing out everybody's
gather. Wind of Change remains a great way for Kruller to heal himself while
doing damage, and Fried Shrimp is still my best purchase of the game aside
from the elemental accessories. It's like having access to one of the level 35
skills at the bare minimum level. Even against the first form, I couldn't
afford to have Alina or Kruller ever do anything BUT heal.

Before too long, of course, I was up against the final form. Again, poison was
my biggest problem, and again I missed Ameliorate due to constant whole-party
damage. My whole party was so much on the brink of death that I had little
opportunity to damage the boss from all the upkeep.

I used Hoston for item work mostly, Alina and Kruller for healing and backup
attack magic, Zellni for Lavafall and Edessot for fireball and more item use.
You'd better believe my saving of Mana Potion+, Watermelon, and Aloe Vera paid
off. Still, I was seriously starting to run out of resources by the time I
finally won. Having said that, win I did.

So what have we learned here? Several things. First, that it's possible to
beat the game only fighting 15 battles, and ending at level 6. Second, that
levels just aren't that important in this game. Third, that the elemental
accessories are the best possible equipment by such a huge margin you'd be
crazy to use anything else - and honestly, I don't know why they say 50% when
I'm taking 250 damage without and 73 with.

The time at my last save was 9:48, although that was at the beginning of the
castle area. If you try this, see if you can beat my time. Have fun!


===PS24 About this FAQ===

Start date: 2-16-11
Version 1 finished: 3-4-11
Version 1.1: 3-8-11 (Proofreading and corrections provided by Zebbe of
WaterMelon.)
Version 1.2: 3-27-11 (I played a low-battle challenge for fun and noticed
some corrections.)
Version 1.3: 2-23-12 (Comport9 found some things I missed, which inspired me
to play through again and discover many, many other things I had missed. I
also added the mini-guide to winning the game in just 15 battles, based on a
post I made on the Piersolar.com forum.)

I spent quite a bit of time on this guide. It might seem odd to write a
guide for a game with such a limited audience, but I feel that every good
game deserves a good guide, and I knew - felt pretty certain, anyway - that
nobody else was going to do this one unless I did it myself. I know that the
developers have a thing for gamers discovering things for themselves, and
don't get me wrong, there's something cool about that - in fact, I
definitely don't think it's a good idea to lean on a guide throughout your
entire first playthrough. But I think the option should be there.

I've been using FAQs for over a decade now, and I want to express my
appreciation for all the guys and girls who write them. It's not easy to do,
that's for sure. I've always appreciated the presence of that reliable
friend, the guide you can turn to when you're stuck, when you're curious
about something, when you need a quick reference. I hope this guide is such
a friend to somebody. And remember, if you have corrections, additions or
comments, feel free to email me.

Thanks to WaterMelon, Sega-16.com (The best Genesis fansite!), GameFAQs, and
to my girlfriend Rochelle, for putting up with me writing this damn thing in
front of her because I was so obsessed with getting it done. 

Furthermore, thanks to Zebbe of WaterMelon for various typo fixes, telling me
what certain spells actually do, and more. Thanks to Jorge Nuno from the
Piersolar.com forums for a tip about getting to the Berries in Reja cave.

Big thanks to comport9 for finding three things I missed: the Brisingamen, the
Fight Flute, and the Diamond Mail in the Promonotory. This made me decide to
replay the game more thoroughly, and I found many treasures I'd missed and
several paths to treasures I'd previously said required the Opening spell.