Legend of Dragoon - Chapter 9: Severed Chains

Having defeated Lenus, the party needs to interrupt its pursuit of Lloyd and return to report to King Zior back in Fletz. Note: Now that we've finished with Lenus and the Undersea Cavern, go ahead and give Dart the Falchion you bought to replace his Heat Blade. Back in Fueno, stop by the hospital to visit Pete and his mother for a scene. Pete will want to know what it's like to travel with so many beautiful women. If Dart responds with "Jealousy", Shana will get upset with him. "Scary" will prompt Rose to confront him. With "noisy" pushing Meru's buttons. Unlike most choices, you can talk to Pete again to see all three scenes.

 

At the Fueno port, Commodore Puler is waiting with the repairs having been completed on the Queen Fury. Impressed by Dart's achievements, he'll ask him to be a "man of the sea" and travel with him. If you accept his proposition, although ultimately having to decline when Shana gets mad, Puler will give him 100G. When you're ready to leave, you'll have to sail the Queen Fury over the world map, of which you can still enter inside the vessel with the Square button if you missed the Stardust there or want to play the Julienne mini-game. Sail to the nearby Donau and through the Barrens once more to return to the Twin Castle in Fletz. Note: If you haven't viewed the scene where Shana reunites with her parents back in Seles, you need to do so now.

As you approach the Castle, you'll experience a bit of deja vu as the real Princess Emille comes down to meet with the townspeople. She'll apologize for the actions of Lenus and even name the baby of the pregnant woman that the imposter Emille had earlier shunned; all the while Albert swoons. Meet with King Zior in the Chamber of the Sun where he will laud your accomplishments, even if you couldn't recover the Moon Dagger. Before you leave for Mille Seseau the next day, a feast will be held in your honor and the party will disband to relax in the Castle. Dart and Shana will (attempt) to share a moment together before being repeatedly interrupted by Fester, and then Libria, who wants you to gather your party members to prepare for the banquet.

 

Back in control of Dart, you can find Albert in the Moon Tower trading sweet nothings with Princess Emille. If you go to the Star Tower, you'll see a small scene with Princess Lisa using her telescope to spy upon a love interest down in Fletz. As you enter back inside the Castle, you'll find Haschel and Meru being thrown out of the kitchen trying to eat before the party. Rose is found reminiscing about her past in the guest room across the way from the kitchen. Lastly, Kongol, happy to have found friends, is doing some training in the center room just off the stairs. With everyone gathered, talk to Libria near the training area you found Kongol to begin the party.

At the banquet, have Dart talk to all of his friends, before finally being coaxed out to the balcony by Rose where Shana has been waiting for him. As the two embrace under the night sky, the game's second chapter draws to a close.

 

Chapter 3 opens with the party, onboard the Queen Fury, approaching the Water City of Furni in the country of Mille Seseau. If need be, the group can reboard the Queen Fury and return to Illisa Bay, Tiberoa, or Serdio to tie up any loose ends.

In the Water City, start with Dart climbing the set of stairs in front of him and entering the home on the right. Dig around in the family's fishing gear on the mid-level where Dart enters to pick up a Stardust, then exit the home and continue to the north.

 

You'll run into a group of mercenaries who all look frighteningly similar to the ones you fought at the Hero Competition in Lohan. They're being rounded up to hunt a wolf named Kamuy in the nearby Evergreen Forest. After, enter the house to the north with the large emblem outside it and you can talk to the Knight Harris for a small scene.

From the square where the mercenaries were gathered, exit to the northwest. Descend the stairs to the lower-level and talk to the guy at the water's edge. Tell him that you're not one of the warriors that have come to slay the wolf and he'll recognize you as the heroes of Tiberoa and hand you a Boat License item that allows you to use the nearby boat to navigate around Furni's waterways. This place is also the city's inn, but don't waste any Gold as you'll get a free rest soon.

 

Hop in the boat and select to "Move to the front", followed by "To the item shop". Thunderbolts are for sale again for the first time since the party's last trek through Hellena Prison. Healing Fogs are also for sale now and you should replace any spare Healing Potions you have with these. The Depetrifier is new, as well, and you might pick up a couple just to be on the safe side.

From the item store, Move "To the right", "Go Up", and then "To the left" to find the weapon store. Rose should already have a Dancing Dagger from the Phantom Ship, but be sure to buy Combat Shoes for all of the male characters. While statistically even to the Iron Kneepiece, it does provide an additional 5% to your physical evasion. You might consider buying the Giganto Helm for Kongol since it adds some defense against magic, and then moving the Magical Hat over to Albert/Lavitz, but personally, I keep him equipped with the Hat. You can ignore the Destone Amulet as you will find one of these in the very next dungeon. That leaves the Attack Badge, which is absolutely one of the best accessories in the entire game. Not only does this increase attack power over the Power Wrist, but also provides a large increase in the character's magical attack. I purchased this for both Shana and Haschel, but is tremendous for any preferred offensive setup. Also, the excellent +20 physical evasion Elude Cloak is now for sale here if you didn't get one way back near the beginning of the game. I still have this equipped on Rose.

 

Leave the weapon shop then move "To the right", "To the upper right", and "To the Mayor's house". The Furni Mayor will plead with Dart to listen to his issues. His daughter, Fa, was attacked by the wolf who is currently being hunted down, but it left her mute. The wolf was a pet of her best friend, Teo. He'll ask the group to search for both Kamuy and Teo and hopefully this will restore Fa's ability to speak again. Accept the Mayor's offer to spend the night and Shana will help put Fa to bed that night. Haschel will walk in on Shana singing a familiar lullaby to Fa, one that is revealed in a flashback to have originated with his daughter, Claire. When questioned about it, Shana reveals that this was from Dart, who learned it from his mother; leading Haschel to accept that his being there is a little more than just mere fate as a Dragoon. Shana will follow Dart up onto the roof of the house, but as they gaze upon the Moon That Never Sets, she is once again troubled by a pain in her head with a distinct light emanating from it.

The next morning, leave the Mayor's house and select the option "To the right" to arrive at the exit of town. Enter the house to the northeast, which belongs to Teo's parents, and climb the ladder inside. Make your way up the stairs to an attic-looking area of the house. In the middle of the upper room there is a switch hanging from the ceiling, which will be indicated by an action icon. Hit the switch, then have Dart enter the nearby door to use a slide that deposits you in the family's storehouse. Search the metal basin in the bottom-right corner of the screen to find another Stardust. Flip another switch to the left of the ladder to exit the storeroom and home, then you can leave Furni for the nearby Evergreen Forest.

 

The Evergreen Forest is a relatively small dungeon that acts as a gateway to many different sections of Mille Seseau; some of which are closed off to us at the moment. The enemies here all inflict a wide variety of status effects, some of which disable party members, so don't be afraid to use your "Special" Dragoon command to clear the entire party of them if multiple characters are compromised. Also, target the Dark Elf enemy first when encountered; they have a nasty habit of attempting to petrify your characters. From the entrance of the Forest, take the right-handed path and follow it as it curves around the terrain to open a Destone Amulet chest. This protects against the petrification status, but I don't think the threat justifies an accessory slot.

 

Move back to the fork at the entrance, then exit to the northwest, just before a save point. Climb the steps and take the Body Purifier out of the chest, then return and take the path just past the save point heading north.

This area has many different paths to take, but continue moving north and you'll see a raised area with a boy standing on its summit. The boy will flee when spoken to and the white wolf, Kamuy will appear, followed by a number of the hunters from Furni. The boy, Teo, will come back in and try to protect the wolf; claiming that it was another wolf that attacked Fa and not Kamuy. The mercenaries refusing to listen, Teo and Kamey will escape off to the south with the hunters hot on their trail.

 

From this scene, move Dart south, then at another fork, head northeast to find another treasure with a Depetrifier. With it, retrace your steps to the beginning of this screen, then exit via the western path. Follow the next path left, then turn north to the next area where you will see Teo and Kamuy in the distance. Prepare yourself for a boss fight, although it is an optional one and you could instead choose to take the path south to Deningrad. However, not doing some you will miss out on some precious EXP, a one-of-a-kind item, and some Gold.

Kamuy is an incrediably easy boss and doesn't need much in the way of tactics to defeat. He might stun a character, but otherwise, you only need to worry about average, at-best, physical attacks. He's a non-elemental boss, so don't bother looking for an advantage, just use your best attacks.

 

The silver wolf will drop the Darkness Stone accessory that cuts darkness-based damage by half, and like the other elemental stones, is a one-of-a-kind item. Shana will manage to heal the badly wounded wolf with her White Silver Dragoon Spirit and, apparently, take away whatever made it aggressive and grow to three times its size. Seeing this, Knight Harris will allow Teo to take Kamuy back to Furni.

Head back to the Water City and find Knight Harris on the top floor of his station. Talk to him and he'll give Dart 500G for taking care of the Kamuy problem. I guess they're not concerned about the real wolf that attacked Fa? Anyway...

 

Back in the Evergreen Forest, from the area you went north to find Teo and Kamuy, this time, use the path that twists from the southeast to take the exit to the south. Continue south and Meru and Rose will both unexpectedly split from the party; each having some business to take care of in other parts of Mille Seseau. Without them, exit to the south and out to the world map. The Crystal Palace in Deningrad is just ahead.

Arriving in Deningrad, the weapon and item store is the top-entrance in the double-door building on Dart's right, but we'll visit there once our group has banded back together. Also, there's not much reason to explore at the moment, since the city's Stardust is not available until later on. Climb the large set of stairs to the city's eastern side to enter Deningrad's church. The Bishop, Dille, will be giving a sermon on the Divine Tree to some onlookers. Afterward, have Dart agree to listen to more about the Tree for a fantastic video on the birth of the Divine Tree and the species its fruit bore.

 

Bishop Dille will suggest that the party visit the Mille Seseau National Library to learn more about the world's history. Luckily, standing in the back of the church is the librarian, Ute (I wonder if he is kin to Une?). Although rather rudely, if you speak to him, he will hurry off to unlock the Library for your visit. The Library is found to the north of the city's entrance; the large, second door on your left on the next screen. The group will split up inside to search for literature that may provide some clues as to Lloyd's goal in the country. Talk with all of your party members, then finally Ute, to view another movie about the Dragon Campaign and the Dragoon's role in it.

Ute will then invite the party to the Library's top-floor reference room when he hears that Dart is a survivor of the Black Monster's attack on Neet. Upstairs, Ute, through another movie, explains how the Black Monster arrives every 108 years to kill the recently-born Moon Child, that was, unfortunately, hiding in Neet that night.

 

The scene then switches to Rose, who is visiting the ruined remains of Neet. Move forward and she will meet the Second Sacred Sister, Luanna, a survivor of Neet, and the Third Sacred Sister, Setie. Through a flashback, you'll see the Black Monster's destruction upon Neet; including killing Luanna's mother, and leaving her blind. The Black Monster was looking for a Princess Louvia, the newborn Moon Child. The same Louvia we heard about on the Phantom Ship. Rose will then volunteer to protect the Sisters on their way back to Deningrad.

The focus switches then to Meru, who is arriving in an area we haven't seen before. A fireball will be hurled her way, but it's revealed to be thrown by her childhood friend, Guaraha: a Wingly. Meru, a Wingly herself, is attempting to return to her hometown, but due to her breaking the forbidden rules of leaving the Forest for the world of humans, she is now shunned by them. Despite this, Meru insists on trying to talk with the Ancestor, so attempt to enter the village. Emphatically turned away, Meru will have no choice but to return to Dart and her friends. Guaraha, however, warns that the threat of the Divine Dragon, the King of Dragons, being unsealed is a heavy concern upon the Winglies at the moment.

 

Another movie will play where you see the Divine Dragon struggling against its chains and threatening the world with its impending freedom.

 

Switching return to Dart, the party gets the feeling that something is wrong as they exit the Library. Try to leave Deningrad and you will run into Rose, Luanna, and Setie on their way back from Neet. Luanna senses something has changed within Dart recently, and everyone will gather inside the inn to talk. Neet will be discussed, then Luanna senses that Dart and everyone else are more than mere humans.

Suddenly, the ground begins to shake and the Divine Dragon descends upon Deningrad and the Crystal Palace just as Meru enters the inn. Dart will then reveal that they are the slayers of the Dragons in both Serdio and Illisa Bay: the Dragoons, and they may be the country's only hope in stopping the Divine Dragon. The Sisters will then want the party to meet Queen Theresa inside the Crystal Palace, which is due-north from the strip outside the inn. Rose and Meru have also rejoined the party.

 

At the entrance of the Crystal Palace, on the third level, check behind the second-from-left crystal pillar in the foreground to open a semi-hidden Angel's Prayer chest.

Climb the large stairs into the upper-areas of the Palace and then have Dart take his first left. Just off the stairs, in the corner to your right, you will find a treasure with the Holy Ankh accessory inside; the first of only two in the game. This accessory, like the earlier Angel Robe armor, gives about a 50/50 chance to revive the wearer when they are downed during battle. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I actually like this on Dart. Dart is above-average in every aspect, and has no weaknesses to balance with his accessory slot, so I think this suits him perfectly. However, many players may prefer something like the Attack Badge to further accentuate his strengths, so you be the judge, yourself. Note: This and the before Angel's Prayer chest need to be gotten before the game progresses to much, or they will become missable.

 

At the top of the flight of stairs, the party will meet Queen Theresa and the First Sacred Sister, Miranda, who is berating a knight for being afraid of the Dragon. Theresa will ask for the Dragoons help in stopping the rampaging Dragon, but you will need one of the sacred artifacts from the Winglies: either the Dragon Buster or the Dragon Block Staff. Lloyd, having used it to kill Lavitz, wields the Dragon Buster, so we'll have to convince the Winglies to let us borrow the latter. Thankfully, maybe the ex-Wingly, Meru, can help us enter the Forest of the Winglies.

As you leave, with Miranda in company, Shana appears to have wandered off. To find her, reenter Theresa's throne room and use the stairs on the right-side to find a strange Signet room. Here, constantly haunted by an unknown power, Shana will be forced to surrender the White Silver Dragoon Spirit that lands in the hands of Miranda. Shana, exhausted, will have no choice but to stay behind in the Crystal Palace with Miranda taking her place as the White Silver Dragoon.

 

Miranda, our final party member, has succeeded Shana. Like with the Lavitz-Albert swap, Miranda and Shana are identical, statistic-wise, and comes with all of her equipment and Dragoon level.

Of course, if you have a Gameshark, you can add Shana back to the party easily, just like Lavitz. The code to put Shana back into your party is: 

 

300BAF50 0003
300BAC58 0002

 

I don't know about everyone else, but it feels complete seeing all of the party member slots filled. Remember: don't use Shana and Miranda together during battle or the game will lock up.

Now that the entire group is back together, let's take a look at the shops near the entrance of town before we leave for the Forest of Winglies. The item shop is rather mundane, although Spark Nets have returned for purchase for the first time in awhile. The armory contains the physical defense equivalent of the Legend Casque: the Armor of Legend. While the best armor in the game for all characters, I wouldn't purchase this until you've outfitted your party with Legend Casques first; magic defense is much more important. If you didn't get a second Jeweled Crown from Lenus, go ahead and buy one now for Miranda/Meru, along with Stardust Boots for all of the ladies. Also, if you didn't get them from Gehrich/Mappi, Haschel's Diamond Claw weapon and Soul Headband are for purchase now, alongside the Master's Vest which you should pass on equipping if you already have an Energy Girdle for him. Get the Tomahawk for Kongol and Spear of Terror for Albert/Lavitz, as well. I would recommend you keep Kongol's Lion Fur armor equipped over purchasing the Breast Plate for him due to the loss in magical defense.

 

Just outside Deningrad, the next special monster, the Red Bird, awaits our challenge. Yeah, so be prepared to be frustrated by this one. While basically the same as the Treasure Jar, the Red Bird has an extremely high magical evasion, causing your magic to only hit with, an estimated, 30% chance. The ladies' Tiara helmet provides a +10% magical accuracy, and your two Wargod's Amulet accessories give a +20%, so they will be vital equipment here to defeat it before it flees.

 

My strategy: first, make sure you've maximized your MP and Dragoon turns, then use Miranda and Meru as your party members. Equip the two ladies with the Wargod's Amulets and Tiaras along with giving Dart a Bandit's Ring. Begin the battle and wait for the Red Bird to attack. Throw the Speed Up item on Miranda, followed by the next character using the Magic Signet Stone. When Meru's turn comes up, have her use the "Special" Dragoon command and cast Freezing Ring. In my experience, the water aura increased the hit rate of her magic significantly, but it could just be luck. Have Dart follow up with Flameshot and Miranda casting Star Children and hope they connect and you are able to get enough turns and magic hits to deplete the Red Bird's 5 HP.

For winning, the party receives an excellent 1000G and the equally-nice Phoenix Plume helmet. While not as good as the Magical Hat, the Phoenix Plume provides a solid boost in magical defense and defends against several status ailments. You will find two additional Phoenix Plumes in treasure chests, but otherwise, this is the only place in the game to get more. If you have the patience, I would recommend you try to get a Phoenix Plume for all of the guys; besides whoever has the Magical Hat equipped. The ladies can use this helmet, as well, but I prefer the Jeweled Crown for its magic attack boost and the Tiara for Rose (+Physical defense and can't use Jeweled Crown). For reference, I'll give an update of what my character's equipment looks like thus far:

• Dart: Falchion, Phoenix Plume, Plate Mail, Combat Shoes, Holy Ankh/Attack Badge/Wargod's Amulet 
• Albert/Lavitz: Spear of Terror, Phoenix Plume, Chain Mail, Combat Shoes, Bandit's Ring/Spirit Cloak
• Miranda/Shana: Bemusing Arrow, Jeweled Crown, Sparkle Dress, Stardust Boots, Attack Badge/Amulet/Elude Cloak
• Rose: Dancing Dagger, Tiara, Sparkle Dress, Stardust Shoes, Elude Cloak/Physical/Therapy Ring
• Haschel: Diamond Claw, Phoenix Plume, Energy Girdle, Combat Shoes, Attack Badge/Wargod's Amulet
• Meru: Morning Star, Jeweled Crown, Sparkle Dress, Stardust Boots, Therapy/Physical Ring
• Kongol: Tomahawk, Magical Hat, Lion Fur, Combat Shoes, Bandit's Ring