GUY SPEAK BEAVER!

He said the line!

In the snow cavern, north of Salamand, lies the Goddess Bell, which will open the pathway in Kashuan Keep. This place is five floors long and filled with things weak to fire. Too bad gaining MP is a Herculean task in this game. Fortunately, punching them with Guy is super effective, though, not as fast against multiple opponents. The treasure is filled with an assortment of stuff that might be good, but you need to explore B5 thoughtfully. You'll find an ancient sword here, and it has an on hit effect. It carries a chance to inflict targets with the curse status, lowering their attack and defense. It's key to what I'll be doing later tonight and probably more stuff down the line. Too bad Firion does so little damage... Elsewhere on this floor is a room filled with giant beavers. In one of the best lines ever written in Final Fantasy, Woosley or otherwise, Guy lets the party know he speaks their language. He converses with the apparent beaver King, and we learn there's a secret passage to the King's right. The Bell is behind that, but it is guarded by a monster. Following the path takes us to an adamantoise. The turtle has high defense, so this is where the curse effect on Firion's sword can aid us. If it procs, Guy can make turtle soup in two rounds. Behind him is the Goddess' Bell. Taking it off the walls reveals a secret stairwell back to the first floor.

I wonder why teleport doesn't work? As we try to leave, we see Borghen waiting for us. He tells us he's been demoted, and his future prospects don't look good for him. Apparently, this is our fault. In an act of revenge, he attacks us. Josef sneezes, and Borghan dies. But Borghen isn't done yet. His dying words are telling us that he's booby trapped this room. As he fades away, a boulder appears behind him. We're on a staircase down, so the boulder rolls after us. As it's about to crush us, Josef acts as a barricade, stopping in it its tracks. But he can't hold for long. Guy offers aid, but Josef tells us to get to safety. Just as we do, Josef's strength gives, and he's crushed. He tells us to protect Nelly and fades away. If we return to Salamand, a woman who had a crush on Josef will be watching over Nelly, who is coming to terms with the fact her "daddy" won't be coming back. The whole town knows and asks us not to make Josef's death in vain.

I returned to Altair, but I don't know if you have to. I was in the area because I wanted to test my mettle against the Captains in Fynn. It's a tough fight, made worse by the ambush rate, but if curse procs, they're an easy kill. Once you take out three or four of them, they become pretty simple even without curse. I was there because I wanted a few of their item drops. I got Maria a Flame Bow, drastically upping her attack potential and a few golden armors. Firion is the only one donning one, but I got a few extras because I wanted the curse tome. Maria now knows curse, the same ailment the sword has, so remind me to grind it one day. Hilda tells us to head to Kashuan ahead of her. She and Cid will be there to pick them up afterwards.

Kashuan is to the southeast of Bafsk. Cid can take you there if you don't want to hoof it. We'll enter, fight a few world map mobs, and gaze at a fire in the middle of the room. The flame means nothing right now, so inspect the door behind it. Use the Goddess' Bell, and the door will open for us. Behind it is Gordon. Josef died for no reason! If this dude had been around and told us how his castle works, we wouldn't have had to watch a man be crushed to death...

Gordon wants to be a man but is afraid of monsters. Maria does something, he joins the party, and we walk through a long dungeon spamming the attack command. I'm just now realizing that Josef didn't need to die, and I'm quite bummed by it. He was so much better than Gordon! Gordon's fragile, and even Maria has more HP than he. Firion does more damage than he does, too, so I kinda hate this guy. The treasures in his house aren't very good, but an adamantoise did drop a diamond shield for Firion. At the end is the supposed boss. Red Soul died in two hits, and I don't know what he does. Curse proced, and so did Guy. Behind it was Egil's Torch, the item we need to control the Sunfire, the flame we saw in the middle of the first room. Use the Torch on the fire, and head out of the castle.

We all look up and see a game of cat and mouse. Cid flies overhead, but he doesn't have time to land. The Dreadnought is behind him, and it can keep up. A grabber arm extends from the Dreadnought and captures Cid's airship. If we return to Altair, all the attendants will tell us Hilda felt bad for having us do everything and wanted to, at least, pick us up. Sadly, it cost her. So we now have to save her because this is a high fantasy game; there's always a princess that needs saving somewhere.

Just south of Kashuan is the Chocobo's Forest. This is the first time they appeared in the franchise, and their function has remained unchanged ever since. Far to the south, beyond the desert, is the Dreadnought. I passed it, but I kept going around the world. I may have made a mistake. I continued south until I found a river without a bridge. On the otherside of that river is the village of Mysidia. There's nothing really here yet, but a few pieces of equipment are worth getting. In the armor shop are two types of gloves. One raises agility and the other ups strength. For some reason, I bought the Thief's Gloves for Guy. I guess I want him acting sooner. I also got a pair for Maria. Firion and Gordon got the Giant's Gloves. I also got a Knight's Armor, but I didn't buy any of the weapons for reasons I can't remember.

But this left me in a pickle. The chocobo returned home when I dismissed it, so I had to walk all the way back to Fynn (the nearest settlement far to the north) on foot. En route, I encountered mobs that were beyond my ability to kill. Through safe scumming and luck, however, I did. I wanted to get a bit of exploration south of Mysidia, but all the mobs kept turning us to stone. Northwest of Fynn is the Dreadnought's drydock. I saved outside of it and will save Cid and Hilda...

...tomorrow!

Seriously? Why did Josef need to die? I'm angry. My ire towards the battle system is subsiding, though. If I hate it, why am I grinding on mobs much harder than I should be? I'm confused, but it has an endearing quality to it. Once I get the good gear for Maria and Guy, maybe I'll come around fully. But seriously, screw Gordon.