Final Fantasy X Remaster, 5: Mushroom Rock and Ixion.

  Welcome friends, tonight we go back to Spira, where in the aftermath of the failed Operation Mi'hen, Auron suspects foul play. To him, the operation was allowed by Yevon as a political move to consolidate it's power. Those who disobeyed the teachings were slaughtered by Sin, bringing many who had strayed back to the teachings, and thus consolidating power with Yevon.

  The horrors of the operation behind them for the moment, the guardians continued their pilgrimage up the Highroad, on their way to Djose temple.

The bridge to the temple at Djose.

   The temple at Djose was special in that it lay within the "Lightning Mushroom Rock." It was a huge stone, that exploded with lightning when a summoner addressed the fayth within. The fayth at Djose was named Ixion. It was a creature much a like a horse or zebra, but with a magnificent horn, and the ability to wield the power of lightning.

The Lightning Mushroom Rock orbiting the temple.

  Ixion, unbeknownst to me, is a figure from Greek mythology. The following is from www.pantheon.org: "He is significant in many respects, but is chiefly known as the first human to shed kindred blood. This occurred when Ixion invited his father-in-law, Deioneus, to come and collect the price that Ixion owed him for his bride. Upon his arrival, Deioneus fell into a pit filled with burning coals Ixion had camouflaged.

   Because this was a crime new to the human race, nobody could purify Ixion and he wandered an exile. Zeus took pity on him and decided not only to purify Ixion, but to invite him to Olympus as a guest. Once in Olympus though, Ixion became so enamored of Hera, and he desired to sleep with her. Zeus did not believe that Ixion would be so disrespectful as to have designs upon the wife of his host. To see if the rumors were true, Zeus made an image of Hera out of a cloud, and impregnated it. The cloud bore Ixion the monster Centaurus, who was unloved by the Graces and had no honor among men or the gods. Centaurus then mated with the mares of Mt. Pelion in Magnesia, and so from Ixion the race of centaurs was born."

Ixion's fayth.

  We can deduce that Ixion's horse like appearance was inspired by him being the ancestor of the centaurs. In another source I read, Zeus struck Ixion with a lightning bolt after he lay with Hera, which would explain the association with lightning, but really it need not get that deep I think.

  Oddly enough, the name of Ixion's overdrive attack is "Thor's Hammer", mixing in a bit of Norse mythology. I don't fault Final Fantasy for it's mythology mixing, I think the point is to invoke powerful and recognizable imagery, not to be tied together in a historical context. I, and I hope others, enjoy researching the history of these images, however.

  Thank you for joining me friends, and come back again next time... for This Bard's Tales!  

Forgotten World, 2: The Harbor

 Welcome friends, make yourselves comfortable. Tonight we're taking a trip back to a place we haven't been in a good while. We're going back to see our good man August Star as he explores Bastille.

 Now fully equipped, August headed for the harbor, still at night after his arrival in the city. A quick walk around the area near the gate to Bastille revealed a number of almost abandoned buildings. Evil humanoids, and other unsavories were pushing close to the city.

  

 Of note were an abandoned temple, and Shana's Alehouse and Emporium. The temple's weathered stone was covered in ivy, in an archaic script it identified itself as a temple to "Jolith", a figure that August was only passingly familiar with, there being a temple to the god in the city proper.

 Shana's Alehouse was a much large building. August had heard some rumors about town that the Ale from Shana's was a big export from Bastille, said by some to be the finest in the realm! However, given that Bastille was still bustling at night, he was very surprised to find that at Shana's, the door was open, but the inside was quiet. August pushed at the door, his trident in hand. The front room contained tables and chairs, everything seeming to be in order, a single candle alight on a round table. A hall of doors came off from the lounge. At first, August hesitated to search these rooms, thinking they might be rooms for guests, although an unlocked, unguarded door to an inn seemed unlikely given the recent influx of evil in the region. He heard voices, speaking in the gutteral tongues of goblins, and the high-pitched yaps of kobolds. August immediately threw open the doors, and cut these creatures down! 

 Further investigation of Shana's found other evil folk. The emporium seemed like it had only recently been overrun, as there was a spa pool that was still in good repair. August was tempted by the warm waters, but good sense prevailed as he moved on, not wanting to be caught unprepared by evil foes.

 

  Across the path from Shana's was a warehouse situated on the river.The warehouse seemed like it could possibly be abandoned. Beside the door was a plaque, proclaiming it "Greenlund Trading Co. Receiving." August pushed open the door, it being unlocked. He was greeted by men wearing the livery of royal guards. However, August figured them to be either fakes or very daft, as their first action was to draw their swords as their leader yelled "Bandits!", and to fall upon August. Four armed guards being quite intimidating, August cast a spell of sleep to incapacitate them. After a short internal debate, he cut their throats and looted the bodies, telling himself they must be thieves.

 

  These guards turned out to be my primary source of grinding for my first few levels. Which is representative of my main gripe with Forgotten Worlds; it's very difficult to adventure on your own, hence the need for me to grind. Of course, it's hard to say if this a fault of the game, as it was obviously designed to have a number of people to adventure with available at any time. There is an option to create a character that is at max levels, and in hindsight that may have been the way to go. However, I'm going to stick it out! My blogging has lagged behind my playing quite a bit, and at the moment August is at levels 6/5/5. The game, at this point, is pretty much survivable in the surroundings of Bastille, but very tough outside of it.

  Thanks for stopping by friends, return again soon... for This Bard's Tales!

Final Fantasy X Remaster, 4: The Operation, Garm and Lamashtu.

 Welcome back to Spira my friends. When last we left, Wakka and Tidus led the Auroch's to tournament victory, only to have the stadium be invaded by a horde of fiends. The guardians fought hard, but the day was saved by Maester Seymour and his powerful aeon.

 

Seymour summons Anima.

  The guardians then prepared to continue the pilgrimage. Next, they were to travel down the Mi'hen highroad to the temple at Djose. Something was up however, there were a number of the warriors known as the Crusaders about, who were preparing for some sort of "operation" that they were a bit vague about. Along the road, the guardians encountered two of the Maesters: Seymour, and Kinoc.

 The Maesters were present to watch the "operation" which was a joint effort by the Crusaders and the Al-Bhed to use forbidden machines, or "machina" to destroy sin. The Maesters seemed to be up to something, Seymour saying simply "Pretend you don't see them," meaning the machina, which are against the tenants of Yevon. Kinoc, reunited with his old friend Auron, said to him "You know this will not work..." Wakka, ever devoted to the teachings, had a bit of a crisis of faith as he realized the Maesters of Yevon were willingly letting this operation proceed, even though it was against the precepts of their religion.

 

This Sinspawn escapes during the operation. It must be defeated by the guardians, and Seymour.

 Sin did come, releasing it's spawn onto the beachhead. The Crusader's charged, and the Al-Bhed's cannons shot. However, in the end, Sin seemed unharmed. The combatants were slaughtered almost whole-sale. Tidus, overcome with emotion at the sight of the destruction caused by Sin, possibly his father, gave chase, however futile it may have been. 

 Tidus awakened on the beach, after coming close to Sin. He sensed, what was perhaps, an impression of his father. He was Sin, and he wanted the destruction to stop.

 

In the aftermath, the beach is littered with the bodies of Crusaders.

 It's been a bit since I actually played through this part of the game, but I remember it being quite an emotional moment, and I'm not easily moved by video games. It's at this point that the story really starts to get intriguing, and never lets up until the end.

 There have been a couple of monsters I've encountered that had names that intrigued me, since I recognize them from other sources. One is garm, a dog creature. Here is the description from Encyclopedia Mythica, at www.pantheon.org: "The monstrous hound Garm guards the entrance to Helheim, the Norse realm of the dead. It has four eyes and a chest drenched with blood, and lives in Gnipa-cave." I have bookmarked the page, I have no doubt it will be quite handy. The garm monster in the game doesn't quite live up to this description, but it is an interesting reference non the less.

Artwork for Final Fantasy X's garm.

 One of the dragon type creatures in the game is named Lamashtu. This caught my eye as that is also the name of a demon goddess in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game world of Golarion. Not surprisingly, the name comes from mythology. The game's creature bears little resemblance to it's source, which is not rare for Final Fantasy. Usually the monster names are a mix of names such as this, and those that resemble their source, such as garm.

 On Lamashtu, from wikipedia: "In Mesopotamian mythology, Lamashtu was a female demon, monster, malevolent goddess or demigoddess who menaced women during childbirth and, if possible, kidnapped children while they were breastfeeding. She would gnaw on their bones and suck their blood, as well as being charged with a number of other evil deeds." Whether Final Fantasy X's Lamashtu does these things is not so much explored in the game.

A plaque depicting Lamashtu.

 In the carnage of Operation Mi'hen, it is becoming apparent that all is not as it seems with Yevon. How could they stand by and watch so many die for naught? How is it that the consciousness of Tidus's father lurks within the massive beast Sin? Join me again, for This Bard's Tales!