Wild Arms - Alter Code: F Prologue FAQ/Walkthrough Version 1.0 By Jason Venter jasonventer[at]yahoo.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version History: (1.1) May 11, 2006 - Decided that the FAQ would work better if it focused on the occasionally perplexing opening areas, rather than providing just another broad look at the game as a whole (besides that, I found that a lot of other people have already done the latter). Fixed up formatting a bit and made sure everything looks right. This will likely be the final update. (1.0) December 13, 2005 - Began work on my walkthrough for Wild Arms - Alter Code: F. I plan to write this as I play through the game, so this is one FAQ that will probably take a long time to write. Ah, well. Had to start somewhere. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents: I. Introduction 001. Prologue 1: Surf Village 002. Prologue 1: Berry Cave 003. Prologue 2: Ruins of Memory 004. Prologue 3: Curan Abbey 005. Prologue 3: Sealed Library II. Conclusion Search Tip: You can hop around this guide easily by copying the line from the contents above that corresponds to the area where you need help, then pressing 'CTRL+F' on your keyboard to bring up the box. Paste the line into that box, then search to skip immediately to the desired portion of the guide. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============== I. Introduction =============== One question I often hear is "Why are you such a stud, and why did you pick Game X when you decided to write a FAQ?" The stud part is easy: I was born that way. As for the decision about the game, well, it just depends on any number of factors. In the case of Wild Arms - Alter Code: F, it was a matter of laziness. I'd always wanted to write a FAQ for the original, but I didn't because I was always too busy and by the time I would have, plenty of people had done it already and most people forgot the game even existed. The remake was the perfect excuse to go back and re-visit the game, in updated form. Intitially, I figured the best way to accomplish this would be to write a massively in-depth guide for the whole game. Alas, the best of plans fell by the wayside and I never really made it past the prologue. This left two choices: trash hours upon hours of work, or give you the gift of the world's best Prologue FAQ. I chose the later. With this FAQ, my goal was to make it easier for everyone else to become a fan of this awesome franchise, if they're not already. The FAQ works thusly: you consult the Table of Contents for the area you're at within the Prologue, then you skip to that portion of the FAQ and everything you need is right there in one place. As I wrote, I assumed you'll be reading through the whole thing, but I've definitely done what I can to make sure that those people who only consult a FAQ when they're stuck find a lot to like. See how thoughtful I am? "Sure," you say. "Really thoughtful. That's why your stupid introduction is three paragraphs long!" You have a point. So now it's over. Enjoy the FAQ! ============================= 001. Prologue 1: Surf Village ============================= LOCATION: The game begins you here by default. Surf Village is located in the middle of a vast desert. Of course, 'vast desert' describes most all of Filgaia. ITEMS: Bomb, Heal Berry (7), Revive Fruit Before you'll have a chance to do anything other than adjust a few game settings, you'll get to watch a video that shows the game's characters standing in a verdant field, then rushing to meet one another. This is your first chance to meet all of them, but it's brief. Then you're looking at a screen that tells you this is the first prologue (yes, there are several). Press the 'X' button to get started. The camera will now pan around the area while you are told the history of the world of Filgaia. The once-lush world has now become a wasteland that only a few people known as Wanderers dare to fully explore. You are one such person, and you are presently staying in a place known as Surf Village. The game begins properly with you brushing down a horse, until a man named Bambollo tells you that it's time to finish up the task. He's pleased to have hired you. At this point, he'll ask you to remind him of your name. You'll be prompted to enter your name, or you can leave it at the default, Rudy. For the purposes of this FAQ, I left it as it was. After you've chosen your name, you'll be awarded with five of the HEAL BERRY item. This exchange was entirely forced, but now you're placed in control of Rudy and can start exploring. You'll notice first of all that there's a red bird sitting on a nearby fence. You can talk to this memory bird if you wish to save. Go ahead and do so, just so you have a file to work from. Once you've saved, head across the road to check the other side of a fence for a HEAL BERRY. If you head up the hill, a guy named Tony will stop you to tell you about holy berries. They grow in a cave just west of the village called the Berry Cave (what an imaginative name!), and the town used to be able to harvest them until monsters filled the region and the village chief sealed it off. Tony would very much like a holy berry, but he's hesitant to ask outright. Head inside the building behind Tony and you'll find Clair, who offers to let you rest upstairs. You can do so if you like, or you can talk to her. Choose the latter option and she'll tell you about a scary book called "The World Moves to Wilderness," which is in a bookshelf upstairs. The book relates the history of Filgaia, of a time before it was in the desolate state you see at present. When you head through the door to the left of where you meet Clair, you'll be introduced to Tallman. He is pleased with your ability to settle into the village so nicely. However, he's concerned about the desolation that is settling in on the world, and on the village. Like other people you've found in town, he mentions the Berry Cave, off to the west. He also mentions bombs in the room to his side. Go ahead and enter it to find a red treasure chest that contains the BOMB tool. As the menu explains, you can press the '[]' button to set these items at your feet. They'll explode to bust open crates and the like, and will be important throughout the remainder of the game. Now that you've got the bombs, head back out of the room and you'll witness an exchange between Tallman and a villager. He reveals that Tony has headed out to the Berry Cave, despite a ban Chief Tallman set on the area. He says to make sure no one--you included--tells anyone of the boy's indiscretion, lest it throw everyone into a panic. If you talk to him again, he'll reveal that no one from the village may enter the cave, as per a law the villagers enacted. There's no time to change it, either. Tony is in deep trouble. Hmm, who could possibly go out and save the foolish boy? While you ponder that, go ahead and check the bookshelf behind the chief to find a book entitled "Rotting Beast and Holy Berries." It tells of the history of the berries. Go back out into the previous room where you first met Clair, then head to the right and up the staircase to the next floor. There, check the bookshelf to read the book she mentioned to read the book that tells of the history of ARMs such as the one you carry with you. There's also a patch of light that lets you exit onto an upstairs porch. Check the barrel there to obtain one REVIVE FRUIT. Now head back downstairs and exit the building. If you look toward the left from that building, you'll see a stand-alone shanty, and left from there a larger building. Head along its front wall to find a barrel that contains a HEAL BERRY, near where the horse you were tending to earlier is standing, pawing at the ground with his hoof. Once you grab the berry, you can head inside the house to talk with Tony's father. He mentions that he's been injured, and can't keep a close watch on his son. He's (justifiably) concerned that the boy may cause trouble for others as a result. The shelf behind him contains a book called "Zephyr of Hope," a book about the hope for the future lying within the hearts of mankind (translation: it's sappy and you probably don't care to read it). Exit the house and head back to the memory bird to save your progress. You've done all you can do in the village at this point. Though you will notice a hole in the wall if you head around to the back side of the stables, you don't have any way yet to enter the little nook that lies beyond. In case you're curious, you'll someday come back here to grab a treasure chest. But that's not the case just yet. Right now you should save at the memory bird and exit the village into the grand world that lies beyond its rickety fences... =========================== 002. Prologue 1: Berry Cave =========================== LOCATION: As the villagers in Surf Village mentioned, Berry Cave lies to the west. When you leave Surf Village, the game's tutorial will remind you of the fact and tell you how to use the 'Search' function (just press the '[]' button while exploring the world map to search for nearby locations of interest). From the village, head due west. Stay just above the forest and search as you walk. You'll find the cave nestled against a small recess in a mountainside. ITEMS: Gella (200), Gella Card, Gimel Coin (10), Heal Berry (4), Lucky Card (3), Migrant Seal, Small Flower When you enter the cave area, a man named Campbell will immediately talk to you. He says that you should enter the cave to rescue Tony, since you're not bound by village law. Go ahead and accept his request. He'll give you three LUCKY CARD items and the MIGRANT SEAL party item as a reward. The seal is a useful item. With it, you can cancel out enemy encounters if you have enough energy left on your gauge. You do so by pressing the 'O' button whenever an '!' appears overhead as you are exploring places that monsters lurk. Because this is an RPG, there are some battles you'll simply have to fight (scripted ones, of course, and those you don't avoid quickly enough). Once a battle starts, you can't back out of it. Keep that in mind. From where you talk to your pal Campbell, go ahead and walk directly north, into the heart of the cave. There's a good chance a monster will attack you in short order. You'll have plenty of time to avoid the encounter if you like, but I'm all for building levels as promptly as possible. Besides that, your life meter will refill a fair amount after any battles you fight, so they're not as draining as in some RPGs you may have played previously. The monsters in this cave should not present much of a problem for you, especially with your health restored after each encounter. The gobs tend to spend more time telling each other to attack than actually doing so (it's lovely when they attack in pairs for just that reason), and the snakes can do a lot of damage if you let them, but fall within two rounds. If you encounter a mixed group, always take out the snakes first, because they are stronger. The gobs will usually run before you can tend to them, but that's just fine; they don't give you so many EXP anyway! As you continue north through the cave, you'll enter a new room. Here, you'll see miscellaneous junk to your left, and a set of crates on some limestone to the right. Head up to the crates and bomb around their base to get a HEAL BERRY for yourself. You can then walk past where the crates were to reach the edge of a small drop-off. While balanced on the edge, press the 'X' button to jump down to the path below, then head toward the right. Now you'll see a blackened entryway to your left. Enter it. In the next area, move forward and you'll find more crates sitting out in the open. Blast them open to clear your path. Follow it as it wraps around to the right, down a torch-lit chamber to a new doorway that leads into the next area. From this door, you'll see a set of two crates off to the right. Blast them, then walk past to a drop-off and jump down to where a red treasure chest awaits below. It contains a HEAL BERRY. From there, drop down a few more ledges to where a sign tells everyone to keep out of the cave that lies beyond. It's signed by the village chief, and advises that removal of the sign is punishable by law. Naturally, you don't care. Go ahead and bomb it to dispose of it, then go into the next area. Here, you'll just wrap along the path as it heads off to the right, then loops back toward three glowing orbs you should have noticed when you first entered. Just to the side of those orbs is an archway that leads into the next chamber. Enter it and you'll see two crates to your left. Blast them with your bombs to obtain a SMALL FLOWER. Walk toward the left, being careful not to slide down any embankments, and you'll find a tutorial on climbing ladders. There's a ladder nearby, so go ahead and descend it to a treasure chest waiting below. It contains ten of the GIMEL COIN item. This item is particularly useful because you can save your data even if a memory bird doesn't happen to be nearby. That's obviously quite useful. Equally important is the coin's ability to let you re-attempt a battle if you happen to lose. Climb back up the ladder and follow the path left as it continues to another archway, which you should enter. From here, you'll see a dim path leading off to the right, beyond some crates. Follow it carefully, as a misstep can lead to a plummet into the abyss. When you reach the end of the stone pathway, you'll see two crates that block off a red treasure chest. Destroy them and head over to the chest, which contains a GELLA CARD. Then head back left and enter the next doorway. From here, you'll see three crates off to the left, and white gems that line a path branching off to the right. You'll want to head to the crates in a moment, but first go in the direction the glowing orbs indicate (grabbing them restores bars on your encounter gauge). You'll find another opening here that leads into a storage room. There, step ahead and drop off the ledge (or climb the plank down) to where a treasure chest waits off to the left. It contains another HEAL BERRY. Exit back out of the room now and go to where the crates were positioned in the previous room. Blast them out of your way, then continue past them along the path (be careful not to drop off) to a sign. It warns you not to bump the ladder. Head left through an archway to find a ladder blocking your path to an opened treasure chest. Hold the 'X' button to dash against the ladder. This will knock it down so that you can cross a gap that lies beyond the empty treasure chest. Use the makeshift bridge to reach another opening. From where you appear now, head to the diagonal upper left. As you walk along the path, it will brighten slightly to reveal a pile of crates blocking your path. Blast them out of your way to obtain another HEAL BERRY and to reach another high ledge. This one has a barrier along most of it, but you can find a ladder that leads down to the lower area, where there's also a treasure chest hiding in the shadows. Open it for 200 GELLA before entering the nearby door. When you start to follow the path left here, you'll soon run into Tony, who is surprised to see you. He asks if you're here to help. Head to him, and then to where a large boulder blocks your progress. Plant eight bombs around its base (a single one just won't work) to blow it to smithereens and gain access to the archway it hid. Pass through into the next chamber. You've now reached the deepest area of the cave. This will trigger a scene where you wade through a shallow stream of water to a massive tree. When you climb and pick a bunch of berries from its lowest branch, Tony follows and happily accepts when you hand the cluster of fruit to him. He plans to use it to cure his ailing father. As the two of you start to leave the area, a massive quake shakes the region. Once the rumbling subsides, you're greeted at the cave's entrance by a group of villagers, including the chief. They reprimand the boy and thank you. As everyone is about to leave, the dog that came with them starts barking at the darkness behind you. A monster emerges, flings the animal to the side, and approaches the cowering humans. Time for your first boss encounter! *** [Boss Encounter: Rotting Beast] This is your first encounter, and the game will choose now to tell you about Force Abilities. You have one called Lock-On, which allows you to focus your attacks so that they do more damage. The drawback is that you're more likely to take damage, and it'll do more harm to your HP meter. That's fine. The beast at hand doesn't have a particularly large life meter, so you can afford to be slightly reckless. Attack mostly with just your normal shots, but as your meter permits, go ahead and use the force attack. You have plenty of heal berries by now, if you need them, so don't be afraid to use them. The monster's main attacks are physical. Sometimes, he'll counter-attack if you shoot him. More often, he'll breathe his rotten breath in your direction, which does a fair bit of damage in the likely event that it connects. Watch your life meter and use a healing item if it drops below 40 or so. When you run out of bullets, as you will, just spend a turn guarding to block your opponent's attack while you refill your ammunition. A combination of the Lock-On force skill along with Boosted Ammo will hit him for about 1/3 of his total life. Just keep hammering away at your opponent. He only has around 300 to 350 HP and should go down fairly quickly. *** Tony is amazed that you were powerful enough to defeat so legendary (and huge) a monster. However, the others are more afraid because you used your ARM to do so. They remember the legends that warned against the use of such a powerful weapon, and fear that you will bring misfortune upon the village if you remain among them. They decide to return to the village to deliberate over your fate. You'll now be prompted to save your progress to this point, so go ahead and do so. Now it's time for the second prologue. ================================ 003. Prologue 2: Ruins of Memory ================================ LOCATION: When you begin Prologue 2, you'll automatically start out in the ruins, at their entrance. ITEMS: Gella Card (2), Gimel Coin, Heal Berry (2) Now that the first prologue is past, it's time to change viewpoint characters. You'll find yourself walking into the Ruins of Memory, now controlling a character in a flowing brown jacket. He's a treasure hunter, and accompanied by a rat-like creature (a wind mouse, the game later mentions) named Hanpan. It can talk and can also be used as an on-screen item (just press the '[]' button). If you choose to use Hanpan's skills, he'll dash forward a short distance before returning to you. This is useful if you need to hit remote switches and the like. Naturally, you will be the time you complete this dungeon. This should come as a surprise to no one. Start your exploration by walking directly forward. You'll come to a glowing panel and display. It looks a bit like an ancient computer. Examine it to trigger a sequence. Hanpan will dance over the keys, and you'll be asked to enter the correct descendant's name if you are the 'successor of memory.' This is just a tricky way to let you name the treasure hunter. His default name is Jack, so I'm going to just go with that to keep things simple. When you enter the name, the computer won't find any matches. An earthquake then follows, and you're dropped down a hole into the chamber below. From here, you'll watch as Jack runs through the ruins, triggering and barely avoiding all sorts of traps. When you again gain control, it's just after you've been dropped into a low basement. This room is interesting, and has some traps. If you look toward the center, you'll see a marble area of sorts, with columns at each of the four corners. Blue crystals are perched atop of those, while a gray stone floor borders the area. You'll notice there are holes along that gray stone, and there's a reason: spikes. As you walk on the flooring, make sure that you keep moving. Spikes will rise in your wake, and will certainly come up to damage you if you stand still. Cross over to the marble area and search the strangely- shaped statue at the center to get a clue as to what you should do. Apparently, you must somehow trigger the four blue crystals. To do so, you'll have to throw crates, but they're presently out of reach. Instead, exit out the door on one side of the room. In this next room, you'll be given a little tutorial on looking about. Basically, holding the 'R2' button and pressing 'X' will allow you to check for traps that may await. This can be useful if you have trouble finding a way to proceed, too, as the game notes. Try using it immediately and you'll find that you can cycle through items of interest within the room. For example, there's a treasure chest directly ahead, beyond a booby-trapped floor. It's empty, though. Start toward it and then turn sharply left halfway across the flooring to find a switch you can press. This will open a door off to the right. From the trigger you've just flipped, run across the floor and up the short flight of stairs. Grab the orbs and pass through the doorway into the next room. This area gives you a tutorial on using Hanpan. Head down the stairs ahead and then press the '[]' button to release him. He'll rush ahead to trip the switch. This opens a doorway to the right. Climb up the ledge to your right, then drop off its right-most edge to the lower area, where you can then pass through the doorway. You're now on the lower level of a new room. To your right are some glowing white orbs, which you should go ahead and grab. Left from them, you'll find an archway. Be careful about passing through it, though; a guillotine is positioned overhead, and it will take half your life if you pass through at the wrong moment. Send Hanpan through to trick it into dropping, then pass underneath as it is rising upward again. On the other side is a short staircase that will allow you to climb up to a green treasure chest that contains a HEAL BERRY. The trap is also rigged with fire, which will do a small bit of damage after you grab the loot. Climb back down the stairs and go out the nearby doorway, into the next room. This room has one of those blue crystal switches on its left side, while a short flight of stairs leads to a raise ledge on the right. Three crates are positioned there, and you can pick one up by standing nearby and pressing the 'X' button. Heft one overhead, then get a short distance away from the crystal switch and heave the box. It'll crash against the switch and open a new doorway to the right, just past where the crates were positioned. Pass through it. You're in a room you've been to before, but on an upper level. It's the room that had the empty treasure chest. You can drop off the sides of this ledge, to the level below, and run out to the center. Look left to the treasure chest, dash across that spiky floor, and stand to the left or the right of the chest. Open it to discover two GELLA CARD items. Now cross over the spikes to the stairs to the right, grab the glowing orange orbs, and exit through the nearby door. You're now in another room with three crates and a blue switch. Throw one crate to bust the switch, then head along the room's right side and drop down to the ledge where you've just opened a door. Pass through that opening. Now you're in another room with some glowing orange orbs ahead, just on the other side of another one of those spiffy guillotine devices. There's also a short staircase that leads to a ledge where a treasure chest waits. If you open it, you'll find it contains a GIMEL COIN. Grab it and then head down to the lower level. Trick the guillotine as before, then grab the orange orbs. There's a treasure chest waiting on a ledge above, but you can't reach it. Also, watch out for a spiked bit of flooring, just past the third of those glowing orbs I mentioned. To the diagonal left of that, you'll see a door leading into the next room, so go ahead and use it. Here, you'll notice a bit of obvious flooring ahead, with a gray switch at the center. By now, you'll recognize that there are spikes beneath it. To the right, a short flight of stairs leads to a raised area. Start by heading there. A blue tile along the wall provides a clue about what you should do next, which is this: press both switches at once. Clearly, you can't be in two places simultaneously, so Hanpan will have to do some work. Stand on the nearby switch (the one that doesn't have a spiked floor around it) and face the other one, then send Hanpan out to step on it. You can control his direction with the d-pad or left analogue stick, whichever you prefer. When both switches are pressed together, the door to your right will open. Pass through it and into the next room. Now you'll see two sets of two crates, some to the left and some to the right. Beyond the left set is a blue crystal switch. Throw crates at it to open two doors along the room's right side. One of them is currently within reach, so pass through it and you'll find yourself back in the room where you first entered the dungeon (the one with the marble area, a statue and four blue switches). You're at the upper level now, though, so you can make your way around its perimeter, grabbing crates and throwing them so that they fall apart after hitting the blue switches. When you hit all four, the statue at the room's center will disappear from sight, and a glowing device will appear in its place. Now, you'll notice there are three additional doors on this upper level that you can enter. Two are positioned near its corner (they're left from where you first entered the room, in case you've lost your bearings a bit). One of those two leads to a treasure chest with 200 GELLA and one leads back into the previous room, which you don't care about. Another of the doors on this level lets you access that high treasure chest you couldn't reach in one of the other rooms. It contains a HEAL BERRY. When you've got those items, go ahead and return to the room where you just broke all those crates on the switches, and drop down to the lower level. Walk up to the glowing device and you'll trigger a boss battle. *** [Boss Encounter: Atlachnacha] If you like bosses that resemble giant spiders, then Atlachnacha is going to be a welcome treat. However, he does pose a serious threat if you let yourself get cocky. His physical attacks will cut down around a fourth of your life meter, while you can only hit for around 35 damage points with a standard attack. A good strategy is to use normal attacks (healing as necessary) so that you build up your Force meter and have access to more worthwhile attacks. This will allow you to access the Accelerator, which you should mix with the Speed Fang attack. The two combined will strike for around 130 damage! You can only use it two or maybe three times in a battle, but since Atlanchnacha only has around 300 HP, that's more than enough. *** After you win the battle, go ahead and walk up to the blue cylinder you fought so hard for. When you do, you'll appear in a new area. Ahead, a glowing circle of greenish light awaits. Walk up to the terminal just to its left and Jack will try pressing keys in a random fashion. This clearly doesn't work, and Hanpan is unimpressed. However, eventually you trigger a holographic image. The image is that of an Elw, which you may remember were a race of magical beings that disappeared from the planet years ago. They are a subspecies of human. Hanpan will explain it all to Jack. Suddenly, the Elw begins to speak in his head. It references an absolute power, which happens to be what Jack is searching for. It warns him not to seek out Lolithia and the freezing power that goes with it. After the image disappears, Jack resolves to do precisely that! His new destination is Lolithia's Coffin. A new cylinder appears now at the bottom side of the room. Walk over to it and touch it to be transported back to the entrance of the ruins. Jack will exit automatically, and you'll be prompted to save your progress. The second prologue is over. ============================ 004. Prologue 3: Curan Abbey ============================ LOCATION: You'll appear automatically in this region when you begin the third prologue. ITEMS: Heal Berry (2), Target Tool, Witch: Ep. 1 When the third prologue begins, a girl is spinning in space while a voice calls her a shaman and demands to know her name. She denies that she is a shaman, but the persistent voice is relentless. Finally, she admits that her name is... well, you get to decide. By default, it's Cecilia, which is how I will reference her from this point forward. You can, of course, name her whatever you like. Once you confirm the name, you'll be instructed to release the spirit's power from the sealed library. Cecilia is confused by these instructions, but the next thing you know, she's kneeling under a table while her friend Holly is trying to awaken her. Holly mentions that there was an earthquake just after a school bell rang. Cecilia remembers that, and that she crawled under a desk to protect herself. Holly reprimands her for daydreaming, and asks how long it will be until Cecilia returns to Adlehyde. She's about to turn 17. With that back story out of the way, you'll gain control of Cecilia. Begin by talking to Holly yet again. She's nicer now, and she reminds you to see Sister Mary and Master Anje. Exit the room and you'll find yourself in a hallway. To your right is a red spire, while above that you'll notice an archway. There's another to the right, and another below it. Begin by entering the one to Cecilia's right, on the bottom side of the room. You'll descend a gently declining staircase, toward a patch of glowing light. Left, there's an archway and another doorway. Enter the brown doorway to find Sister Mary. She doesn't offer the assistance you seek, but it's still worth talking to her. Also, while you're here, check the bookcase to her right and find a book there entitled "Our World Filgaia," which you should read to find out about the ancient war you've already heard of on occasion. With that done, return to the room with the red spire. This time, exit out the room to the spire's right (which, as you approach, will be on the top side of the room). Follow this staircase, past Brea. She's staring out the window and will yammer about the earthquake if you talk to her. Keep going past her and you'll see another open patch of light leading outside, as well as a brown door to the right. Enter it and talk to Trish, who is standing behind the desk. She mentions that she was organizing things and notice that a book was missing. You'll receive an event item called WITCH:EP1. Look to the shelf at the left and search it to find... books. This is, after all, a library. One book is entitled "Crest User." Another is called "Basic Crest Sorcery." On the back side of the shelf, there's a book called "Elemental Properties." To its right is a book called "The Challenge of Magic." The final shelf against the wall contains "De La Metalica." Finally, there's one to its right called "Recommended Magic." Why read all of these? They're great tutorials on the use of magic in the game. Head back out the door into the previous room now, and this time exit out the patch of light to your right. You will now appear in the abbey's garden. Walk along the path (grab a HEAL BERRY from one of the barrels here if you want), then notice a door about halfway down the walkway. Enter the door and you'll find yourself in a kitchen area. The cook will give you chow mein to eat if you're interested. There's also a barrel nearby. If you search it, you'll find a HEAL BERRY. Exit back out the door, and continue to follow it around the garden's perimeter to the next door. Enter it and you're in a new room full of doors and torches. Directly ahead, you'll see a lady in a pink dress. Talk to her and she'll explain the types of magic. From where she stands, you have a few options. There are three rooms along the hallway to her left, and three along the hallway to the right. The first room to the left contains a lady who will let you listen to various musical compositions from the game. The second on the left is worthless, while the one just across the hallway from it is where Master Anje lives. Enter it and talk to her. She'll ask you to touch the magical orb, which is situated on the table she stands next to. This is actually tougher to do than you might imagine. Stand near to it and search to make sure that you're in the proper position. When you are, access the 'Item' menu by pausing the game. When you do, press the "R1" button to cycle through item types until you find Event Items. Select the Teardrop item and there will be a cinema sequence. A voice asks you to release it from the book of Nelgal. When the sequence ends, you'll receive a party item called the TARGET TOOL. This useful item highlights nearby items of interest in yellow, to make them stand out more. Talk to Master Anje again and she'll tell you to talk to Peleira. Now, head back out to the main room where the girl was standing. It's time to explore the doors in the hallway to the right. The first leads to the room where Peleira is waiting. She knows of the sealed library, and tells you to stand before the holy woman who guards the door, then raise the light of life. The second door in the same hallway has a memory bird that will let you save your progress. The door across the hallway from the room with the memory bird lets you talk to another student, but is otherwise useless. What you want to do now is head out to the garden. In the garden, there's a statue that appears to be guarded by the other statues, and is facing west. Stand in front of it and use the Teardrop from the Event Items menu. This will cause a nearby door to briefly flash blue. If you'd tried entering that door before, it would've been locked. Now, you'll be able to enter it. If you haven't done so already, save at the nearby memory bird, then go ahead and enter that door to find yourself at the entrance to the Sealed Library. =============================== 005. Prologue 3: Sealed Library =============================== LOCATION: The Sealed Library is actually a dungeon contained within the Curan Abbey. To find its entrance, you'll need to follow the steps outlined in the section above, as it's a lengthy procedure. Once you've satisfied the requirements, you can find it by entering one of the doors from the side of the garden. In the small room you find, stand in front of the engraving of the Teardrop and use that item from the Event Items menu to be warped to the library. ITEMS: Aqua Wisp, Heal Berry (2), Tinder Staff When you appear in the library, you're high on a pedestal. There's a path to the right that curves down around to the lower level, so you'll want to follow that. At the base, you'll find a treasure chest. Open it to get a tool, the TINDER STAFF. This is a powerful weapon you can use on the map to do crazy things like light torches from a distance. It's going to be one of the most important items in the game when it comes to solving puzzles and such. With your new toy in hand, it's time to resume your exploration. To your right, you'll see a door that is locked. There's a blue plaque nearby that advises you to light all the candles in order to proceed. Climb back up the winding path to where you first appeared, then turn toward the other wall. You'll see one of the torches unlit. Fire your magic at it and the flames will reappear. Below, the door will open. Head back down the path and through the newly-opened door. You're now in a large chamber with a few options. Directly ahead is a ladder you can descend, while the balcony leads to the right and another door. For now, ignore the ladder and head for the latter. Sorry for that last bit. I'll be good now. Anyway, go through the door. There's a treasure chest there that contains two HEAL BERRY items. Grab them, then return to the previous room. At this point, you will probably notice that the balcony also extends in the opposite direction, and that there's another door there. So, should you go down the ladder yet? No. Instead, go to that other door and find yourself in a long hallway that winds in a half-arc. Follow it and it leads into yet another room. This room is noteworthy. You'll see two torches blazing to the right, while there's a pit to the left with a rising staircase that leans out over the abyss. Climb to the end of that platform and from the vantage point, light three torches. Doing so will open a new door at the other end of the room. Go ahead and pass through it. Follow the path in this room as it winds around to another room. From where you appear in this room, follow the path around to the door opposite the one you entered. At the moment, it's sealed. However, you'll notice a ladder on the wall just to its left, which leads up to a higher area. Climb the ladder. You'll notice an open door that you can enter, while to the left there are some circular items that look like jars. They're actually torches, but you don't want to light all of them. The room I told you about leads to a plaque on the wall with a clue. Basically, it tells you to open up the first, third, and fifth candles only. Return to the previous room and walk along the ledge, quickly sending out tinder fire to light those three (you have a short time limit, so press 'O' to escape from any battles that may try to stop you). When you are successful, the door below will open. Through that door, you'll find another of the arching paths this particular dungeon seems to enjoy so much. At the end of that, there's another room like the one I described two paragraphs ago. This time there are five torches to light. Again, time is of the essence. Stand on the platform and quickly light all five torches to open the next door. The trick here isn't to try doing it with one torch at a time. Instead, hold down the '[]' button and spin the analog stick in a quick circle. Cecilia will whirl about, flames blazing. It should be fairly easy, even if it takes a spin or two to get it right. When you've done so successfully, pass through that next door and into another arching pathway. When you pass through that hallway and into the next room, you'll find yourself looking at a winged statue, near the base of that ladder you never got to climb down upon first entering the dungeon. Face the front of the statue and use the Teardrop. You'll lower a ledge that allows you to walk over to the other statue in the chamber. Use the Teardrop there, as well, and you'll lower yet another ledge. Now you have created a staircase that you can climb to another doorway. Enter that door to find a new object directly ahead. Examine it and you'll be told how to operate the wheel device. Hold the 'X' button and rotate the left analog stick on your controller in a clockwise motion. This will swing a ladder around, which you can then climb to the room's middle level. From the head of the ladder, you can walk directly ahead to another wheel. Don't use it just yet. Instead, walk beyond it and climb the ladder up to the upper level. There, investigate the blue tile (it's flashing, unless you've disabled on-screen indicators). You'll be asked to enter the password, which is "Guardian Blade," which shouldn't come as a surprise if you've been reading books and plaques as you've made your way through this dungeon. With the password entered, head down one level to the wheel and turn it to make the ladder you just descended slide to the right. Head to where the ladder has moved, climb to its top, then walk toward the diagonal upper left. You'll find the doorway you opened. Enter it only when you've made any necessary preparations (if you're on the verge of going up a level, fight a few monsters so that your health, vitality and magic are restored). In the next room, you finally find the object of your affection, a book. It's sitting on a solitary table directly ahead of the doorway. When you approach the table and search, Cecilia will seat herself and open up the tome. It's called the "Book of Nelgal." She begins reading, but suddenly the book's pages begin flipping wildly and the next thing you know, you're in a boss battle with Nelgal. *** [Boss Encounter: Nelgal] Nelgal deems you worthy of consumption, but you definitely don't want to live up to your potential in that regard. Instead, you want to kick his butt. The best way to do this is by not using your fire magic, since the beast is resistant to attacks of its own affinity. Attack with physical strikes a few rounds and Nelgal will summon a few companions to help defeat you. At this point, a guardian will whisper to you. You'll gain the power of the medium named AQUA WISP. To use the medium's skills in battle, make sure your Force level is high enough, then use the Aqua Wisp skill on your Force menu in battle. This will summon the medium. The attack will cause Nelgal and his friends to vanish. The battle is won. *** With Nelgal defeated, the book begins to flip through its pages once more, and a voice speaks to you. It asks you to release it. The voice belongs to the guardian of the water, Schturdark. Nelgal had imprisoned it with his dark power. The guardian warns you that the world is about to be enveloped in darkness again, that Lolithia is about to be opened and a messenger of Armageddon will appear. It's heavy stuff. When that scene ends, you're not magically warped out of the dungeon as you may have hoped. Instead, you're left standing in front of the table. Step to the previous room, though, and you'll be warped back out without having to worry about enemies and other pesky annoyances. Sister Mary greets you in the garden. She knew all along that Cecilia was actually a shaman, as it is a position the female members of the royal family have always held. After a talk, Cecilia heads out to tell everyone at the abbey goodbye. Then the third prologue ends and you finally get to see the animated movie you knew must exist. ============== II. Conclusion ============== Of course, you must realize that the real adventure has only just begun. In the original, the three-part prologue made up only a small part of the game, and signaled the start of great things to come. That's most assuredly the case here, as well, but I've gotten you started and now I have to bail. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Closing Notes: If you have any questions or comments about this FAQ (including corrections, information about glaring omissions or just a few words of praise), please don't hesitate to contact me by e-mail (jasonventer[at]yahoo[dot]com). Include the relevant game's title in your 'subject' line to ensure that your e-mail is not erroneously deleted. On a more tedious note, remember that this FAQ may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. 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