#the sylphs are a little odd (they probably think the same of JoJo) but I do like them

[eorzeaisnotcrash]

(ARR Diary #8) We respect our elders

Before Joceline can join the Order of the Twin Adder, she is sent a few screens over to help some people who were in an airship crash. The Empire already has some lackeys closing in on the survivors. I cut them good, and find I’ve saved this game’s incarnations of Biggs and Wedge. This game’s incarnation of Cid is their boss. They’re not sure where he is at the moment, though...

JoJo heads back to the Serpents’ Nest and scares the guys there by promising to strike down our shared enemies and drink of their blood. They give me a hunting log, just like the Lancers’ Guild. I gain new ranks based on how many targets I take out, and when I get higher ranks I can buy some very useful items. I also get a chocobo! His name is Steelbeak.

When I return to the Hall of Justice, they send me right back out to the Shire, right back to the precinct. At least I have a mount to make the trip go faster. The sylphs have yet to start any mess, and both groups of JoJo’s employers hope to keep it that way. So after learning a little about sylph culture and finding some nice drug to bribe them with, I take my first official trip to Little Solace. I do a lot of dancing for these (admittedly cute) people. One of them takes the opportunity to play a prank on poor JoJo. But since this is an RPG, when I kill enough of the local monsters, plus some Imperials encroaching upon the area, the sylphs finally start to become somewhat friendly. JoJo saves the prankster’s buddy from Ramuh-worshippers, and he now trusts her enough to come out and say their elder has gone missing. Three guesses as to why.

Hunting for clues, JoJo meets Buscarron again and runs more fun errands. The man tells her it’s very likely somebody in the area has sold out to the Empire and is feeding them information. We’ve been shooting and stabbing at each other, but now I go talk to some Redbelly and Coeurlclaw poachers after one of Buscarron’s pals suggests it, and they agree to keep an eye out for the sake of everybody’s favorite proprietor. Laurentius, a Wood Wailer stationed in the area, has scored big-time at the Gold Saucer... naah, he’s totally been taking bribes from the Empire. JoJo confronts him, and after attempting to evade her for a little bit, he has the nerve to shout, “Garleans! I’ve brought the Hyur bitch!”

Excuse you?

...hmm, my WoL is beautiful, intelligent, tenacious, compassionate, and horny. (Like Jolyne!) All right, then, Larry. The acrostic does check out. But I’m still going to crack your teeth for being a sellout. Thank goodness I spoke to the poachers, because they show up and help fight all the Imperials Laurentius calls. When they’re all gone, he is seized with regret and goes to turn himself in. I admit in this case Buscarron shows more compassion than I do, but I just have so little love for people like this.

And now we know where the sylph elder is! JoJo enters the Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak and finds pools of poison, sticky webs, exploding pods, and plenty of mites. Ew. A particularly big one awaits me at the end, thanks to Lahabrea the scumbag Ascian. When the nasty creature is dead (the diremite, not the Ascian), Elder Frixio is freed from one of the pods. He lets me know that he had been trying to hide from the Imperials who had already harmed or killed several of his people, and he gives me another crystal and the warning that my fate is likely to be a very cruel one. Thanks, Elder. JoJo will sleep well tonight.

Buscarron gives JoJo another present for the sylphs, who ask her to stand at the bridge leading into their territory and observe how the tempered ones are just hovering there, making no move to grab any sacrifices for Ramuh. This being Final Fantasy, I’m sure I’ll encounter him later on anyway, but for now we have one less primal to worry about. JoJo lets her Serpent boss and her Scion boss know things are okay... oh, and a sylph joins us at the Hall of Justice! Her name is Noraxia.