P06E: Wrapping Up the Bresha Ruins AF005

P06E: Wrapping Up the Bresha Ruins AF005

After the CS with Alyssa you are shown the unlocking of the area that was previously not accessible to you due to a locked gate and have revealed to you the object at the ivy-covered stones -- and you should notice that you now have access to a Chocobo in the immediate area -- which you might be thinking the only use for that beautiful bird would be if you would prefer to ride back to town rather than have to fight your way back, but that is not all that it has to offer you mates -- it is, in point of fact, your key to an area we could not get to previously because we cannot jump as high as a Chocobo!

So we are going to be taking things out of what might seem like the logical order here -- first thing first, once the CS ends and you are in control of your team again, assuming you purchased Gysahl Greens before when I suggested it you should have plenty, but if not, head over to the Chocolina and get some.  Actually while we are on that subject I want to share with you on the Greens...

Collecting the Artifacts and Flagging the remaining Missions

-- Gysahl Greens --

Gysahl Greens are not really greens at all but are actually a type of carrot that has its greens attached to the top, and they are a recurring item in the Final Fantasy series that, while usually directly connected with Chocobo riding in the minds of most FF gamers, were in fact originally a somewhat magical plant and veggie.

First introduced way back in Final Fantasy III, they were a merchant-obtained purchased item that was used to summon the infamous Fat Chocobo -- which was more of a utility mob than it is what the present-day incarnation of Chocobo represent.  Also known as the "Chubby Choco, and the "Godsbird" to veteran FF gamers, gamers used Greens to summon El Chubbo not to ride, but to be a beast of burden in the literal sense of the phrase, as the Fat Chocobo appeared equipped with massive pack bags in which vast quantities of items, supplies, extra kit, and the like could be stored and transported.

One of the major limitations in the previous games in the series was the items and treasure that the players collected while playing the games.  In addition to factoring in simply the number of items that a character (or party) could carry, they also factored in weight, and sometimes dimensions using more or less reasonable presumptions of limitations for the characters.  That being the case, El Chubbo was a Godsend of a utility mob, since you could offload all of the stuff you wanted to keep but could not conveniently carry on your person into their bags. 

I should also mention that in some of the games El Chubbo functioned as a summoned battle companion as well, able to land on enemy combatants and do pretty good damage to them due to his or her (never was clear on what sex it was) mass and claws.  My all-time favorite game in the series is FFVII, and El Chubbo did appear in it, but it was actually a rare alternate summons with a very slim chance of appearing in place of the regular Chocobo -- but when it did it would land on your enemies with a satisfying thunk!

So yeah, the Greens first appeared in the games in FFIII, being sold by merchants in the small town of Gysahl -- hence their name.  They appeared in FFIV as carrots in the Nintendo SNES verison of the game, and as Greens in the later port of the game to Sony's original PlayStation -- and they appeared in FFVII in several alternate forms (they were variously known in VII as Gizzard Greens, Gysahl Greens, and just plain "Choco Greens") and cost twice as much in VII as they did in IV (inflation I guess?).

The use of the greens in VII changed radically from its use in the previous games in the series in that in VII they were a multifunction strategic resource that could be fed to Chocobo during battle to distract them, and if applied to one of your allies in the game functioned as a healing herb.  In addition to that they had a third use in the game, specifically for the Gold Saucer Chocobo Races, where you could use them as a speed and stamina booster by feeding them to your racing Choco, though they were not the best feed item for that purpose so most players did not use them that way...

In Crisis Core (VII) they had the added function of being one of the stack-able ingredients for Materia Fusion, adding 1 Luck up to a maximum of 100 Luck, and were dropped by the Kactaars family of mobs (they could actually be stolen from Kactaars).  In VIII they were used to summon 'Boco' (the named Chocobo, with similar treatment in IX as well as being a cure for Berserk during battle...

In X-2 they are used as bait for capturing Chocobo, but it was not until the release of Final Fantasy XI (the MMO) that the greens finally matured into their present primary function, which is the form of payment that is used to ride Chocobo!   Similarly in XII, and in XII-2 they are required in quantity in order to ride even Yellow Chocobo because they were timed rides and running out of greens would cause the Choco to buck you off and abandon you! 

Interestingly in FFXI the primary function (other than being used as feed in raising your own Choco) was as payment for the digging services of a Chocobo -- rented or owned --  as digging was actually a level-based skill in the game, and you had to go through a tremendously large number of them in order to level up your Choco Digging skills, but as they could also be grown in pots in your Mog House as well as purchased from specific merchants.

That pretty much is the history of the Gysahl Green in the worlds of Final Fantasy -- pretty cool eh?  Bet you did not know most of that, right?  If you did know most of it, well hey, cool, you are a true Final Fantasy Fan!

-- Back to the Game --

Now that you know all the important stuff about Gysahl Greens check your inventory to make sure that you have some (you should have bought some when I mentioned them earlier prior to our entering the Ruins)...  But if you did not for whatever reason you did not there is a conveniently handy Chocolina nearby where we are right now, so head over and allow her perky happy goodness to sell you that historical veggie for your riding pleasure!

Now before we head on over to the nearby Chocobo and rent it we need to have a chat with Alyssa to obtain the closure dialogue from the CS so that you know for sure that she is OK with the revelation that her dreams were purely imaginary, or at worse the ripple of some other not-to-be-true-now timeline.   With that mischief managed, take a few steps to the side and speak to her friend Jed who will tell you about the Silver Petals and then offer you the Anima Miseria Mission (to find a Silver Petal).

From the mission description page you get the hint that you need to search in the vicinity of the paradox effect to learn how to find this but, obviously, since they are only found in the Winter this is one of the items we will get while we time-travel to the other incarnations of this zone!  Go ahead and accept the mission -- and then head over to where Moogle is hovering near the Ivy-covered stones -- remember the Ivy-covered Stones?  They were the second revealed location that we were shown after the gate was unlocked as part of our reward for defeating Atlas.

When you use the Moogle Hunt ability Moogle reveals another Artifact -- this is the Eclipse Artifact --- which is an Artifact of unknown properties that resembles an image projector of some kind...  It is very different than the Wild Artifact you found earlier.  

I know that I did not mention this earlier, but you do recall the Leaving Gate Seal that we obtained when we first arrived in Bresha right?  That actually is part of the ability to close gates that we now have, which allows us to revisit areas that we have to close the gates to in order to reopen them in order to go there -- something that we will actually do quite a bit and so I am just mentioning it here so that it is planted in the back of your mind for later recollection :)

-- Treasure Box --

If you look to the left of the stones (if you are facing them, right if facing away) you will notice the hovering Treasure Box that contains the LT reward for this section -- head over and open it to receive either the Lucky Clover (A charm to make you feel that your luck has gotten better, but really it hasn't) or the Chocobo Figurine (Depnding upon the colour adds a specific passive bonus to the Monster that has it equipped). 

-- Checking the Map --

A brief check of the map should reveal the marker for the Artifact you are looking for, as well as the Silver Petal Mission Marker, Gate locations, Chocolina and Chocobo locations, and any obstacles that remain in the zone.  You will also notice that there are three distinct dark (unexplored) areas within the largely explored area that we have already been through, as well as a long unexplored tunnel network that is presently blocked by an obstacle. 

Now that you have all the intel and your situational awareness is at maximum, rent the Chocobo and ride all the way back along the path past the gate to the long set of stairs that we came up what seems like forever ago -- and look to the left as you go down the stairs and you will see that ledge demarcation for the dark area here -- which you can now access by jumping up onto the stairway ledge with your Chocobo's very strong legs!

In this area is a Treasure Sphere containing Power Droplets x8 and along the wall to the north you should temporarily hop off of your Chocobo and use Moogle Hunt to reveal the Graviton Core Beta and 500 CP -- if you open the Character Menu and then select Fragments > Categories > Graviton Core > Graviton Core Beta for a single page description that reveals an image of Snow and a message entitled "The Hero's Trail" that suggests that Snow is having visions of the gates and artifacts that implies that Serah has a sort of mental connection to Snow that is leaking bits of the events that she is experiencing to him...  Maybe?

Now that you have cleared out the gimme items for this area and of course turned it from the dark of unexplored to the light blue of explored, hop back onto your trusty Chocobo and run back along the path past the Gate to the marker on the Map for the still undiscovered Artifact that you need to discover!

-- The Reunion Artifact --

When you ride back to the path where the Artifact marker is you will of course instantly recognize the metal gate that was highlighted as the first of the pair of objects that were revealed after the CS's following our defeating Atlas!  Excellent!  We have now uncovered both we should take the Reunion Artifact (A curious artifact carved into the shape of a flan monster).  Now that you have obtained the second Artifact head back to the Excavation site (the first area where we arrived at) and look for a girl named Cordelia -- when you speak with her she will tell you a story about the stupid lock on the stupid drawer of her stupid desk in which there is a stupid file that she really needs... Err..  Yeah...

At the end of this one-sided conversation Cordelia offers you the mission Ars Symphonica, the objective of which is to locate Cordelia's Personal Notes for her.  This is a nice and easy (and quick) mission so why not say yes?  Yes!

With the mission flagged head into the researcher's meeting chamber (the one with the long table and the displays) and head to the back right side and use Moogle Hunter to reveal the Treasure Box, and obtain the Personal Notes from within it, then return to Cordelia and talk to her to hear her enthusiastic thanks -- and then she reveals an anomaly that must be paradox related...  In addition to the Ars Symphonica Fragment you also receive 100 CP as part of your reward for helping her -- sweet!

Inside the Researcher's Meeting Chamber is the guard who locked you into the cell at the start of the chapter -- his name is Morris -- and if you chat him up he tells you about a problem that he is having with someone using the same electronic ID that he is using which is causing him all sorts of trouble, and he asks you to help him to find the Comm Device that is the source of the difficulty -- which is the basis for the Vita Lyrica Mission.  Go ahead and flag that mission now (you actually cannot complete it yet though), and that wraps up this section nicely!