Legend of Legaia - Part 11 - The Enigmatic City of Octam

 

these giant forks are everywhere...

Welcome back to more Legend of Legaia.  Last time, we played mailman and sent a letter back and forth between Fat Fingers Zalan and his son Pepe.  Today, we are going to explore the city of Octam, as the mysterious Hari instructed us to do.

But before we do that, we can do a little bit of exploration.

 

As we look at the map, the overworld is composed of multiple islands with bridges connecting to each other.  There’s another area we can explore to the northwest.  I also want to demonstrate that the Sebucus Islands are pretty open ended.  As soon as we entered this overworld via the Ancient Wind cave, we could actually go mostly anywhere we wanted in this place.  We could’ve skipped Jeremi and head straight to Vidna!  Or we could’ve gone straight to Octam!  Sure, the monsters may be tougher, but I find that pretty neat.  Our journey in Drake Kingdom was a bit streamlined, but Sebucus Islands is a bit more free in that regard.

Now entering: Ratayu

 

This place is called Ratayu.  Unfortunately, we can’t go much further as we see a giant chasm in our way.

 

Well, no problem – Vahn can jump good.  Except there is a problem: hot steam is shooting out from the crack.  We’d be boiled alive if we tried to jump across.  Noa and Gala believe it’s a bad idea to go any further, so let’s leave for now.

The monsters here around Ratayu are a bit stronger than we’ve encountered before.

 

Demon Fly is much like the other Evil Fly monsters we’ve encountered.  However, its phosphor can now cast toxic on a party member, a more severe version of the venom status ailment.  Wolf doesn’t have much special moves, but it can do quite a combo of attacks.  Also, I find it funny how we got a bipedal wolf here, while Terra was stuck with one on all legs.

someBODY ONCE TOLD ME

 

Mad Ogre is a beefed up version of the Ogre, and this guy hits hard if you come here this early.  Much like its previous version, it can buff its attack so beware of that.

One more quick detour: I forgot something back in Vidna.  Back at the beach, you can examine a fishing rod here.

 

The man next to it will give it to you for free, along with some lures!  Nice.  Now we can actually do something about that fishing spot.

Gala is not interested in fishing, apparently

 

And when we get there, we can go fish.  And, like you’d expect: it’s a fishing minigame.  I’m not totally sure on how the mechanics work here, more specifically how to get a bite.  Everything else seems pretty self-explanatory: reel in the fish once you get a hit, but try not to apply too much tension. 

 

 

There are prizes you can get for fishing, but they just seem way too much for the points I’m getting right now.  Maybe if I upgrade to a better rod or something.  There is something special you get for fishing a lot of points, but we’ll discuss that later.

Enough detours: let’s head to Octam!  So where should we go?

 

Well, from Vidna, there’s a neighboring island with a path shaped like a spiral, with a city in the very center.  That’s where we’ll find Octam.

now entering: Octam

 

Noa gets excited as we reach Octam and rushes ahead of Vahn and Gala.  She really wants to see Hari and learn the meaning behind her dreams.  

 

Noa tries calling out to Hari, but Gala stops her.  He reminds Noa that Octam is covered in mist; no regular human being would be roaming about in the mist, let alone Hari.  Noa gets an idea: maybe there’s a Genesis Tree here we can revive.  Terra shoots down that idea, as she reports that there is no Genesis Tree nearby.  Gala finds staying here to be a waste of time, but despite that, we’ve made it here, and we’ve been led to this place for a reason, so why not explore this place a bit.

 

However, Gala raises an interesting point: there is no one here.  In a mist-infested town, we’d normally see human possessed seru roaming about, but here?  Nothing.  What happened to this place?

Octam seems to be deserted by people, but monsters still roam the place.

this is a name

 

We’ve got… Curry Devil.  That’s a name.  I’d expect some super spicy curry or something, but we got this one-eyed monster instead.  It can take a bit of a beating, and it does decent amount of damage on a party member.  Mad Mantis is another palette swap of another monster we’ve encountered in our journey.  Much like its previous version, it tries to land multiple hits.  Not terribly dangerous, but keep an eye on your HP.

BEEEEEEE

 

Another monster is a KILLER BEE.  This monster was what ambushed and killed off Vahn back in Rim Elm, but now we’re much stronger, it’s payback time.  The most it can really do is try to poison a party member.  Aside from that, beat it up with your fists.  As usual, flying monster, so no low attacks.

sick of being pondered at, the Orb decided to turn the table and ponder at YOU

 

But the main star of the monsters here is Orb.  It’s another seru!  It’s not particularly powerful, though its Jewel Beam attack can do a bit of damage.  This is a seru you definitely want to capture.  Its magic is a healing spell that targets the whole party, so it’s a very useful seru to get.

We explore Octam and find that yes indeed, no one is here.

 

In this inn, we check a cupboard and find a letter left behind.  It mentions something about a plan.  Perhaps they anticipated the mist?  It would make sense, since they have Hari around.

turn the green door blue, and we'd probably get a matrix reference

 

Checking the upper floor of the main building, we find a book informing us about the places in Sebucus Islands.

 

Most of the info here are stuff we already know, but here are some snippets of some new interesting stuff:

“Also unknown is why [the Shadow Gate] would be named after Tohn, god of the sea.  Legend has it you can hear the ocean waves if you press your ear against these massive stones.”

“Rem is said to sleep underground and is worshipped as the creator of the 99 islands in the Sebucus archipelago, and its 33 hot springs and 11 volcanoes.  As the reader no doubt knows, legend holds that strange events happen when Rem is angered.  Strangely, the Rem Shrine contains a massive stone identical to the one in Gate of Shadows in the east.”

That last bit about something similar to something in the Gate of Shadows to the east?  I think I remember something about that, and we’re gonna be seeing that much later.

 

In the other room, we see what looks like a train station.  This must be where the Flying Wagons once operated.

 

We can also check this stairs in the northeast corner.  It leads down to a bar.  And you guessed it: it’s completely empty.

 

Nothing else around here, so let’s head back up.

 

 

Time to check the main building.  We open the door in the middle and find a room adorned with gold and statues placed in the back corners of the room.  I’d wager a guess and say this must be the Temple of Rem.  In the center of the room is yet another door that leads even lower.

 

The lower floor houses strange looking statues with inscriptions on them.  “North Gate, The Key is Earth.  East Gate, The Key is Wind.  South Gate, The Key is Water.  West Gate, the Key is West.”  Best remember this, I feel this may be a solution for a puzzle.

 

Also in the room at the far edges are books.  Sashia back in Vidna did mention something about books of prophecy.  Perhaps these are the books she’s talking about?  Let’s read them all:

“Be warned!  Take heed!  The Mist is Death in disguise!  The Mist is a cradle of Madness!  History warns us: The Mist stops time.  The Mist brings chaos.  When the evil Mist appears from the west horizon, leave everything and run for your lives!  The god Rem awaits you all, in the hot depths of the earth.  Until the heroes of Ra-Seru defeat the Mist…

When reality turns into a nightmare and nightmares bring despair, the god Rem is the last hope.  Rem leads humans to the depths of the Earth, and in his bosom destroys the Mist nightmare.  But hear this, heroes of Ra-Seru, those who walk through the Mist!  Thou must show a sign of being the heroes of Ra-Seru!  The path to Rem’s bosom is ever steep and hidden in darkness.  Gather at the Gate of Shadows!  The path to Rem’s bosom can be found only there.

The path to Rem’s bosom is at the Gate of Shadows.  However, the mouth of the Gate of Shadows is shut.  The Gate of Shadows is a stone flower.  Only words carved in the Four Faces make the flower bloom.  Speak to the Four Faces.  Find the words engraved in the Faces and engrave them in thine hearts.

The Gate of Shadows is a stone flower.  The words of the Four Faces will cause a great flower to bloom.  However, for the true Gate born in the flower, seek the Key.  That Key is the Star Pearl, a silent treasure that slumbers deep under the Palace of Rem.  The Star Pearl will open the true Gate.  Heroes, pass and take the ancient path to Rem’s bosom.”

insert Zelda door unlocked jingle here

 

As we finish reading the last book, we hear something moving.  The pedestal holding the book we just read moves away from its original position, and reveals a hidden stairway!  Perhaps we can find the Star Pearl down there.

By the way, we needed to do this to progress through the plot.  In order to progress deeper into the temple, you must read all 4 books of prophecies.

 

We head deeper in and find ourselves in another room.  There seems to be what looks like an elevator in the center.  We approach it and hear a voice come out from the door we just came from.

hello, Not-Rouge

 

Our heroes face toward the voice, and find a woman in front of them.  She reveals herself as Cara, a common thief.

noa pls

 

Noa introduces herself and the rest, completely ignorant of what a thief does for a living.  However, she quickly changes her tone when she realizes what stealing is.  It doesn’t matter much for Cara, as she can take whatever she wants here, as everyone ran away from the city.  She explains that the people of Octam knew of the mist beforehand, and fled to an underground shelter.  That must be what this elevator leads down to!

more T-posing Noa

 

Unfortunately for us, Cara says that this elevator won’t open.  Looks like we’re gonna have to find another way, I guess.  She also mentions that they took everything from here, save for a jewel called the Star Pearl.  This catches our attention – the Star Pearl is what we need to solve this riddle.

I'm pretty sure she meant "pawned" and not "palmed"

 

Cara already took the pearl and apparently pawned it off on Zalan, back in Jeremi.

mysteries abound

 

Gala still has more questions to ask to Cara, but she leaves before he can get any answers from her.  Gala raises an interesting question: how is Cara able to travel through the mist safely without a ra-seru?  But we have a new objective: retrieve the Star Pearl from Zalan.  Let’s head back to Jeremi!

 

We return to Jeremi and ask Zalan for the Star Pearl.  We freed him and Jeremi from the mist, and we’ve helped him on his request, so I feel he should return the favor.  And indeed, he does – he presents us the Star Pearl and gives it to us, free of charge!

 

even more T-posing Noa

Apparently, it had no value as a gem, so looks like he wanted to get rid of it anyways.  By the way, we can equip the Star Pearl as an accessory.  It raises intelligence by 20%.  Though, we’re going to be using it very soon, so I don’t think it’ll be very useful as an accessory…

With that said though… I think I realized there’s a bit of a plot hole here.  Cara mentioned that she pawned off the Star Pearl on to Zalan, right?  By that time, the mist has already covered Sebucus Islands.  Zalan at that point was most likely turned into a human-seru monster, so how could Cara even do her business with him at that state?  I guess you could argue that Cara dropped it off Zalan’s place while he was still possessed, but Zalan clearly says that Cara gave the pearl to him, so obviously there was some transaction going on.  So… whoops?

 

Anyways, let’s head to the Shadow Gate, as that is where we need to go to use the Star Pearl.  The gate is past the mountains from Octam, so we need to go the other way around to reach it.

 

now entering: Shadow Gate

We approach the area and hear a voice.  We see someone leap to the top of a statue and look down on us, figuratively and literally.

 

He jumps down and introduces himself as Gi Delilas as he strikes a pose.  Gala notices a seru on him, so clearly this guy’s not a friend.  Gi challenges Vahn to a one-on-one fight, but is immediately interrupted by this lady here.

from this angle it looks like she has big lips or something

 

She seems to be the younger sister.  She whispers something to Gi, and he informs our heroes that our fight will have to be postponed.  But not before properly introducing himself and the rest of his team.

insert explosion

 

They introduce themselves as Gi, Lu, and Che Delilas, and they all strike a super sentai pose.  Then they disappear in a puff of smoke.

 

Well that was silly, but Noa seems to enjoy their poses.

The Shadow Gate seems like it comprises of this one area, but we do have some monsters here we can encounter.

 

Gizam and Zenoir return, now in their lvl 2 forms.  Generally not too hard enemies to deal with.  If you haven’t gotten their magic yet, this is a good chance to get them now.

 

The Shadow Gate comprises of a giant stone flower in the center, with 4 statues occupying each corner.  On each statue, there are 4 colored buttons to press.  This seems like a puzzle.  We need to push a button on each statue to open the gate.

However, let’s see what happens if we get it wrong first!   

 

game this is clearly not gold learn your colors

The ground shakes as a monster reveals itself.  This inappropriately named Gold Face is quite a damage sponge, and it deals a lot of damage as well.  It doesn’t even give a lot of EXP or money either.  Truly a punishment for getting the answer wrong.

To solve the puzzle presented here, we need to recall the colors or keys that each statues presented themselves back in the Rem Temple.  Or, if you want the answer right here: North is Earth, East is Wind, South is Water, and West is Fire.  The direction names refer to the statue names rather than the actual direction you see.  The perspective is shifted 45 degrees counterclockwise in this case.

 

By inputting the correct keys into the statues, the ground shakes again.  But this time, we see the stone flower in the center bloom, unveiling something in the centre of the flower.  A strange, gelatinous substance rests there, but how do we reach underground from here?  By taking a closer look at the goo, we can toss the Star Pearl into it.

 

The substance rises up, and engulfs Vahn and our party, and they sink underneath the flower!

 

The next thing we see, we’re underground.  The following path should take us closer to… somewhere.  But with a new area, we got new enemies as well.

hey, it's an angry bird

 

Mad Bird is a recolor of the spikefish we’ve encountered before.  It’s noticeably stronger though, so it ain’t gonna be a pushover like the last one.  Again, low attacks won’t work on this flying monster.  Mush mush is much like the other mushroom monsters we’ve fought, but this one is particularly dangerous, as it has a special move that can cast rot on one party member.  I suggest taking this one out first, as it doesn’t have much HP, and can be quite a nuisance if left alive.  High attacks generally won’t do anything to this short monster.

 

Another monster we’ll encounter is this Warman.  This fishman monster takes a couple of hits to take down, and in the meanwhile, it can use a special attack that cast curse on a party member.  Annoying, but not too difficult to take down.

I like this seru's design

 

We’ll find a new seru in this area: Nova.  This seru can hit pretty hard with its special attack, but nothing too drastic compared to the rest of the monsters here.  If you’re gonna try catching this seru, be sure to equip an Ivory Book – this seru’s catch rate is notably lower than what we’ve dealt with before.

 

This cave has multiple branching pathways, so it seems a bit daunting to navigate, but it’s not as bad as it seems.  Any “wrong” pathway is cut off short and usually leads to a treasure chest for you to collect. 

 

One item you can get I feel is worth mentioning is a Life Ring, an accessory that raises max HP by 10%.  It’s just like Mei’s Pendant, just under a different name.  If you couldn't get Mei's Pendant from before, here's your alternative.

This underground pathway has kind of an interesting design.  It first presents itself as a regular ol’ cave, but you start finding these tiles attached across chasms that you cross over.  Blue goo that may or may not be like the same substance on that stone flower can be found all over this cave.  Those tiles we’ve found before start floating up and down as we travel deeper into the cave.

these tiles are supposed to be moving up and down, but I don't know how to gif :l

 

What is that blue goo?  How are these tiles floating like that?  These are questions I don’t think we ever get an answer to.  But part of me feels it’s better that way; it just adds to the overall mystique of this dungeon.

Noa's Y-posing this time

 

But eventually, we reach the end of the dungeon, and find ourselves in a huge expansive cave.  Noa notices that there are a whole bunch of people here.  It looks like we’ve stumbled into an underground town.  This must be the Underground Octam, and these must be the people who escaped from the original city.  This gets Noa excited because now, at long last, we can finally meet with Hari and learn about Noa’s dreams.

And I think we will do that next time!  We went through a lot today, but I think it’s all been worth it, as we’ve finally reached the true Octam.  Next time: we explore Underground Octam, and meet face to face with Hari!