Now you have g to buy more elements from the cart-lady (she greets you kinda funny, doesn't she?). There's a Rainbow Shell in the cart, but she won't let you have it. Bah! Check your house, and your cat's been replaced by a stupid Bubba Dingo. Go into your room. Wow, kinda dark, huh? And what's this Komodo Pup doin in yer room?? If you want, you can open the curtains to shed some light on the situation. :oD Check behind the boxes for a MagmaBomb (lv. 2 red). The Komodo Pup'll only give you an attitude if you talk to it, and ask you if you want to rest (don't, cause you'll have to pay if you do). As you leave your house, some guy comes in and berates you for "playing" in his house. When you ask about your mother, the guy responds that he's lived in that house for 5 years, and that the name Marge doesn't ring a bell. Wander across to the restaurant, and it's now a cafe! hmmm... talk to the poems girl again (like I said, it's important... to some extent). You don't have to actually pay attention to what she's saying, just do it. Talk to the jar four times to get an IceLance (lv. 2 blue) (and yes, both at the beginning and here you can talk to the chick AND the barrel/pot at the same time). No, the back room isn't empty, it just looks that way... see that white rope? Just stand in front of the "wall" and hit X for awhile, and the "wall" becomes a pulled-back curtain. Open the chest, and recieve a Tablet.

Run out into the courtyard (hi kitty!) and get a Turn Red (if you fought Radius earlier, he used Turn Blue, which turned his innate colour blue. This one will turn an enemy's innate colour red. By the by, innate colours become important later on. Basically, they come in opposites: red hurts blue the most and vice-versa, yellow hurts green the most and vice-versa, and black hurts white the most, and vice-versa, although other colours will work on different innates as well. Also, up til now it hasn't really mattered, but be careful about using elements on enemies with the same coloured innate, especially with bosses, cause it might heal them. Which is bad. Innates of enemies can be seen on the battle screen in the lower-left hand corner (the black box), represented by a coloured circle. Innates will be explained in the game itself in a bit more detail later on).

Huh, sun's settin... oh well, push onwards. Two chests again. The one on the ground contains an ElectroJolt (lv. 2 yellow) (equiiiip!! Either in lv. 3 or 2. Trust me on this.), and the small one's a Bone. Head onto the cape, inspect the rock, and... whaaa?

Boss: Karsh, Solt, and Peppor
Innate: Karsh: Green, Solt: Yellow, Peppor: Yellow
HP:
Attacks: AxialAxe (Karsh), PepporBox (red tech, Peppor), Summersolt (blue tech, Solt)

Karsh rarely ever actually does AxialAxe during this battle, but it did happen to me once, which is why it's in here. Peppor does PepporBox a bit more often than Karsh does AxialAxe, but again, it's rare. Also, at the beginning of this fight, they explain about elements a bit. Eh. Hopefully you put ElectroJolt in your lv. 3 slot. Use it on Karsh, since he's innate green, then have "Girl" use MagmaBomb (it's in her lv. 2 slot for some unknown reason), which hits them all. After that, use PhotonRay (hopefully it's in your lv. 2 slot, since yer white innate and therefore any white elements you use would be stronger...) on Karsh, and finish the others off however you like. Definately kill Karsh off first, though.

Leena and Poshul walk in, and automatically join your party (no Heckran Bone needed). (of course, these two aren't great fighters, but whatever... and this is only if you refused Kid's offer to join you at Cape Howl) Talk to the guy in the hammock again, just to piss him off. Go to the house next to the restaurant and into the basement. Talk to the estranged fisherman and inspect the doll, then give him the Shark Tooth. He praises you for catching it, but gets all worked up when you say that it was another him who caught it, the him who became a fisherman. (notice the pattern of everyone saying something about things that happened 10 years ago yet?) Fine, OK, leave him be and start to walk out the door. Mojo comes to life, and gives the fisherman life-affirming advice. Mojo jooined-om yoour party! (I suggest replacing Poshul at this point, if you already have 3 characters recruited).

Time to take a side-trip! (this is optional, by the way. If you don't want to do this, then skip this paragraph. After all, you'll be coming by here later, but you'll miss out on the elements and goodies!). From Arni, go north, and right to the end of the continent, and go north and enter the Hydra Marshes. Gack! Blurry, jumping screen! Well, we're gonna do a bit of running, cause staying in this section for too long drains your HP (hold down O to run, if you haven't figured it out yet). Alright, go around the guy and head left north and left past the other guy to leave the icky blurry area. Go north and left, keep following the path. See that floating green pyramid-thingy? It's one of those Record-a-whoosits that that guy in Arni was talking about all that time ago. If I say SP instead of Record of FATE, I'm still talking about the same thing, cause they're actually Save Points, and SP is a lot easier to type than Record of FATE (and faster, too!). And running around in em makes a cool sound! ^~__~^;; Aaaaanyway... go right. Here, go north and right, then left to get an ElectoJolt, then continue right. Talk to the first guy you see to get a lecture and the Safety Gear item. Go back to the entrance. Now we can go exploring without dying! Yay! (by the way, that stuff you've been climbing? Fungus. This is why we get rid of bathroom mold. :oD ) OK, see that white, bulbous thing that we passed earlier? DON'T TOUCH THOSE! Whenever you kill them off, they explode and cause one or more of your party members to get poisoned. BAAAAAAH. OK, go down the log behind the icky white thing and get the Tablet out of the chest. Go towards the back, and on your left is another chest with a Bushwhacker (lv. 1 green). OK, back to the entrance and leave.

Go left, and north of Arni to get there. Acacia dragoons let you through, but tell you to stick to the low path. Choose what you will, but you'll be missing out on some items if you do what they say (there's, like, three key items up there). As soon as you pass them, a Mama Dingo runs at you. Defeating them shouldn't be too hard. Follow the path. If you don't want to go up, you don't have to.

If you do, answer the guard that you are the exorcists. Continue up, do the same with the Acacia sergeant, and he'll let you by. Just approach the large dragon head, and a purple thing (i.e., the Heavy Skull) jumps out and talks to you. Agree to take him along, cause, after a looong and aaardous jouuurney you can recruit this guy (by the way, you have to find all of Skelly's parts first to do this). Head over to the left, and up the path to the purple flowers growing there (p.d.: avoid those damn tree-lookin thingies, they're annoying, cuz they blend in, + that makes for unexpected fights, plus occasionally you have to fight a Dodo, as well as the Drongos (Dodos are explained in a minute). Pick the flower, make your way back, and talk to the Acacia private standing there all by his lonesome, looking down. Head down the bones just to spite him. Raid the Dodo nest (you recieved a Big Egg (and don't you dare make an omelette out of that! ^>__<^ ), and RUN!!! (trust me, a Dodo, in the state you're in right now? Not a good idea... plus, the stupid thing doesn't even qualify as a boss battle, so you don't even get a star for beating it.) If you do get stuck fighting the damn Dodo cause you took too long to get back up, well... HIT HIM WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT! Cause his tech can KILL. ^.__.^ Climb back down the rope ladder and head to your left. Uh oh, it's the bumbling Shaker brothers, and they want a rematch! (big deal... boss battle or not, it's still easy)


Boss: Solt and Peppor
Innate: Yellow
HP:
Attacks: PepporBox (red tech, Peppor), SummerSolt (blue tech, Solt), CrossCut (red double tech), Strengthen (increases attack power)

Don't ask why their techs are red and blue when they themselves are innate yellow, cause I don't know. And again, they talk a lot and teach you stuff. Basically most of the time these guys are gonna be your teachers in this game, cause they're really dumb and mess everything up. Ehhhh. This time they're explaining how Turn elements work (which I kinda already explained, but oh well). Peppor also tends to use Strengthen a lot, like that Mama Dingo earlier. Some elements, like Strengthen, Weaken, LoRes, etc., temporarily mess with your stats. For a list of the elements and what they do, go here.

If you went to the Hydra Marshes earlier, that Bushwacker will come in handy here, as long as you haven't equipped it to Poshul... Solt rarely ever does his tech here, so get rid of Peppor first. Basically all Solt does is cast LoRes constantly. He'll pretty much only do it if most of your party members are in the red, which they really shouldn't be. They're really easy, so you don't really need a strategy...

See that city to the left? Go there!

Ahhh... smell that salty fresh air, feel that festive atmosphere... it's time for the Viper Festival! You have no choice but to witness the scene between Acacia Dragoon private Glenn and the flower lady. ... ghost? We don't know anything about a ghost, do we? :oD Talk to the flower lady afterwards to find out more about Glenn. If you haven't saved your game yet, you can do so now (you can save your game on the world map or at any Record of FATE (except the one in Arni Village, since it's always busy) by pressing triangle, save/load, save, and choose your memory card, etc...). You'd know this if you'd gone to Hydra Marshes. :op If you need to save, you can also enter that door on your right (the Inn) and use the Record of FATE there. Like I said before, I'll just be calling it an SP (for Save Point) from now on, cause "Record of FATE" takes waaaay too long to type. And yes, I'm lazy. :op You can also use Inns and such to rest. Resting will refill your star level, so that your party members are always fighting at their top performance level. Well, you can either do it or not, but I never rest unless the game makes me (i.e. earlier in Arni, etc.), cause I always forget, and I've still beat the game about 15 times, so it's really your choice.

Head up the stairs, and Kid stops you, if she's not already in your party. If so, she won't join you right now, whether Leena's in your party or not. Oh well. Go all the way up the stairs to the top platform and listen to the old geezer polishing General Viper's statue. Talk to him, and he'll be all mean and condescending, but you're gonna have to put up with him anyway. After he's done, Kid reappears, if you don't have her already in your party. Either way, she says that you have to break into Viper Manor. Agree this time. Well, you don't have to, but if you don't agree, she automatically joins in about ten minutes anyway, so whatever. Kid joined yer party! She also gives you the TelePorter item now (this allows you to change party members from the World Map and any SP). (*Tip: You don't have to have Kid in your party for the subsequent events, either).

Now your main task is to find someone that'll help you break into Viper Manor. Whomever you choose, you still have two boss battles to fight. I used to always choose Guile, because it makes more sense story-wise. (or maybe I just like having large boulders tossed at my head... *sweatdrop*) Whatever... if this is your first time through the game, don't choose Guile... you could die on the bluffs even without being attacked by something! Recruiting Nikki gets you into a whole big deal and having to go looking for him cause he's missing. ^9__9^ And with Pierre it's pretty much the easiest route, but one of your party members gets knocked out a.s.a.p. (well, he's supposed to, but I know a trick around this). But we'll get to them in a minute. First things first though.

If you were lucky, you got two things of Copper after your last fight with Solt and Peppor. If you did, great. If you didn't, then ouch. Well, go down the first flight of stairs and go right. Take the path going north, but talk to the guy at that counter first. He talks lots, but he's useful later. OK, continue north and enter the Smithy. Talk to Zippa at the counter, and choose "Forge." If you got two Coppers, then forge a Copper Mail and a Copper Swallow for Serge. If you only got one, then you'll have to choose between better armour, or a better weapon (I always go with the weapon, but that's just me). If you don't have enough g (which you should), then get the item I'm gonna talk about in a minute (equip it, too, silly), go back to Lizard Rock, fight everything in the first section, and then take the top path and fight off all the Opah Fish there, then come back to Termina. If you want, you can talk to Zappa (fat guy in blue behind the counter), who gets all pissy and decides that you've ruined the sword he was making. Eh. Don't enter the back room, especially if you don't want to recruit Pierre (I'll get to recruiting the people in a minute. Once you enter that back room, you're stuck with Pierre, even if you don't talk to him). Leave the Smithy, and go north. Welcome to Van and Gogh's house (... oh the puns... they hurt...). Go behind the stairs and press X a lot to get a Profiteer's Purse (when equipped, you get more g).

Head back to the Churros guy (you can talk to that kid in front of the Smithy on your way back if you want, but it's not really important) and go right. You can get your fortunes read if you like, just inspect the glowing yellow eyes in that red tent (if you just choose your other two party members, and then choose "Quit," she'll give Serge a reading anyway). Haha! Take that, Leena! :oppppp Continue right for a scene involving Korcha (notice he has a boat). Continue right! That guy at the head of the stairs is the Churros guy's brother. Eh. Go down the stairs to the shrines. Follow the path, and some old woman stops you. Bah! And yes, we do have business here. Enter the hut and talk to Romana. Greco's not home right now. Aww. Alright, keep following the path in front of the hut to find Glenn again, along with Riddel. When Glenn asks, give him the Bellflower for free. Yes, that's Garai and Dario, Glenn's father and brother, respectively, under there (Dario was also Riddel's fiancee, and Riddel is General Viper's daughter). Complex, no? Read the inscription on the grave if you want, then follow after Glenn and Riddel. ... wow, they disappeared! But Korcha's there. Talk to him, and he says he can take you to Viper Manor if you bring somebody who knows the way there by boat (well, Guile does, but don't worry, talking to Korcha doesn't leave you stuck with taking Guile's route). OK, back to the Churros guy! (Churros guy: What am I, a sign post?) ... yes, yes you are. Talk to him again, and tell him to lower his prices to 70 g. OK, go north out of this area, then turn around and come right back. Talk to him again, and your HP is restored! You can come back and have leftover Viper Churros for free whenever you need to.

Go left and enter Lisa's Shop (on the other side from there is the Bar, but don't go into the bar or you'll get stuck recruiting Guile). Lisa sells elements, and either has elements you don't have yet, or elements that you don't have enough of. And yes, it's OK to spend all you've got here. If Leena's in your party, you get some extra talking going on. Be sure to stockpile green attack elements, like Bushwhacker and AeroSaucer, cause you'll need em. Enter the back room (on the right) and talk to Lisa's father, who teases Leena a bit if she's in your party, then goes on and on about mushrooms. Answer "I envy you," and he tells you a secret: how to get into Viper Manor! (this is the way you'd go if you recruit Nikki, and no you're not stuck with him now. Plus, this route's really useful later on) ... OK, I'd make a pun on the chapter of LoTR called "A Shortcut to Mushrooms," but there's already enough puns in this game to kill a horse ten times over... Alright, go back to where the old man and the statue of General Viper are. Go to the left of it, and where the top-most tip of the shadows from that building are is some dude (just go around pressing X for awhile and you'll find him). Say "Understood," and he gives you the Tea for Three frame! Whee... Now go right and enter the house there. Talk to the old lady in the chair, and then her granddaughter. ... his name was huh? (Skelly: !!!)