Beyond the Beyond: Update 32: Children of Gaia (Jonowan Village)

[ladyabaxa]

Beyond the Beyond: Update 32: Children of Gaia (Jonowan Village)

Yes I know the game keeps spelling it 'Gaea' but although that is technically correct it is usually spelled with an 'i' rather than an 'e'. Usually. This isn't the first instance of spelling quirkiness in this game nor will it be the last. Anyway, this episode is about a new village in the team's path, not the Marion spelling bee.

The team begins a new day having finally blundered their way into the most out of reach village on Greenheim. (Yes, more out of reach than Simone which actually has two overland routes whereas this one is really only accessible if you have a boat.)

So, this is Jonowan?
I guess.
Small village from the looks of it.
Isla might be bigger than this.
Certainly busier at this time of day.
No sign of any pirates, either.
If that captain's been here the villagers will remember it.
I suppose we should look around then.

A new town means a new batch of opportunities for the team to barge into people's houses and for Finn to go through their things.

So, uh, is there a technique to this or do we just start asking people we just met a bunch of weird questions?
Questions have yet to fail me!
Is there something I can help you kids with?
We're looking for a pirate named Domino.
Prryaa! We're taking the direct approach today!
*shrugs*
A pirate? Yes sailors did visit recently. The whole village is in an uproar, actually.
Something wrong?
Those sailors were asking about the Isle of Gaea a few weeks ago. They left and we all thought that was the end of it. Then suddenly their ship was spotted moored just off the island.
That's bad... because?
The island is sacred! The only reason they could be there is to pillage the shrine.
But we heard the pirates left. They went back to Luna. Is the ship still here?
*nods* Yes.
So they really did leave Captain Domino and the ship behind.
I hope my husband is all right. He went to examine the ship but hasn't returned yet.
Is the island dangerous?
No, not that I know of. That might have changed, though, if those pirates have done anything foolish.
It seems like we need to find a way across the channel then. If your husband isn't back by the time we leave we'll look for him.
Thank you. He's not a foolhardy man so if something is wrong he'll hopefully come running right back. Talk to the rest of the villagers if you would. Some of them are angry but they can probably tell you more.

The team shuffles out of the worried woman's house.

Man things sound pretty serious around here.
Unwelcome guests usually do that.
Who are you? Why did you come here?! This is not a place for outsiders to visit!
Save it old timer. We're here to clean up a mess not make one.
Bah! What do outsiders know other then lying and cheating? Nothing!
How can you say that? We...
Let it go.
Sir Samson?

Sir Samson?
He's scared, Edward.
Of what?
Well I guess things are kind of messed up and it is kinda the fault of people sticking their noses where they don't belong.
Kinda like us then?
Eh.
Did my grandfather yell at you? He is usually kind to people, but lately he doesn't trust people from towns.
We noticed.
So we heard pirates came by recently. Is that true?
Yes. They came asking about the shrine.
Did your grandfather talk to them?
*sighs* Sort of.
I guess that's why he's so upset then. We heard that someone went traipsing all over the island.
He'll listen to reason once he's calmed down. He always does.

In the meantime do you mind if we borrow this?
Finn!
What?
*hearty laugh*
You certainly aren't shy, are you?
Is that a yes?
That's been collecting dust for years. *eyes bottle warily* If you're willing to drink that then by all means you can keep it.
All right!
Pryaa. I'm surprised you actually bothered to ask this time, Finn.
What? I'm not a thief!

We're now one Source of Wisdom richer. Yay?

Hmm, you have an interesting choice of literature here.
That? Oh, yeah we've had that book for several generations. *thinks for a moment* You're here tracking those pirates?
Yes ma'am.
Well that book might have something helpful for you.
Are we really going to stick around long enough to read a book?
Hmm, "The Burden of Jonowan". This might actually be useful.
We aren't going anywhere for a few hours at least. Whatever drove the pirates off is probably still on the island.
When you put it like that you make it sound like a horde of demons are out there or something.
Demons? *shudders visibly* Ahh, no, let's hope not!
Well this book says, "The descendants of Jonowan are the chosen protectors of the land of nature and the Shrine of Water" [sic]
I've never heard of this shrine. Sir Samson?
*shakes his head* No, it doesn't sound familiar to me.
Praa. There's a diary here too. You going to snoop through it, Finn?
That's kind of rude but I guess given the circumstances... *pulls diary off the shelf*
Never change, Finn.
What? I'm not stealing it. It's an old diary! It says, "9/13 - Pirates arrived from Luna. They were asking about the shrine, but they fooled us before, so I didn't tell them anything!"
Must be that old timer's diary then.

Is it just me or does it feel like the world's going to hell in a handbasket?
Luna was peaceful.
Well between this and all that stuff back in Simone it's just all... heavy, ya know?
I have a one crisis at a time policy.
Heh. I suppose that's one way to look at it.
I think it's sort of exciting. Maybe we'll make a real difference in the world!
I'll take getting Bandore out of Marion, if that's an option. *sighs* Yet every day it seems we get further and further away from that. How did it come to chasing pirates halfway across the continent?
Pirates? You've come to the right place then.
Did you see them?
Me? No. I was out fishing when they stopped by the village. Quite the uproar when I got back, though.
You didn't see their ship or anything?
Not then but I saw it the next day. Yet, [t]he ship that landed on the eastern edge of Gaea Island is gone now! I think the crew survived uninjured.
They turned up in Luna just fine.
I'm glad to hear that. I had heard they got spooked and ran off.

Landing a ship on the sacred island... ungrateful swines! [sic] They must be arrogant townsfolk, just like you.
I'm sorry. What?
I heard you talking with my grandson. Why have you strangers come to Jonowan?
We're chasing pirates!
Oh Arawn have mercy!
We're not here to mess with the shrine or anything. We just sort of promised someone we'd find the pirate captain and find out if he was all right. Jeez why is everyone so uptight?
Listen carefully then because I'm only going to read this once. "The Guardian of the Shrine". It says, "If the Guardian, the Statue of Gaia, is removed from the Shrine of Water, the harmony of nature will be disturbed forever." Is that what you want?
No, it's not what I want! When the hell did I ever say anything about messing with the harmony of nature? Do you have rocks in your ears or something?
But you just so HAPPEN to come here right on the heels of those interlopers? Who sent you?
A friend of Captain Domino's, that's who!
A friend of his? Likely story!
Annie...
Look, we are not out to damage this shrine or guardian or anything else around here. Seriously, all we want is to find this guy and leave.
Well you can certainly go ahead and do the second part. I bet that scoundrel is already dead. It would serve him right.
Annie...
How can you say something like that? What did he ever do to you?
You mean besides lie and cheat and break the peace of sacred ground? Then again I guess that's what all city dwellers do. They can't just leave well enough alone, can they? Something pure or good exists in the world? Well they just have to swoop in and destroy it!
You know what? I think I know what your problem is. You're mad because somebody managed to sneak around and reach the shrine this village is supposed to be protecting. Well great job on that! AAGH! I can't believe this! You're making me defend a pirate! A PIRATE!
Just, just get out!
Fine, you'll get no argument from me about that.

That was painful.
I take it there are some ruffled feathers.
You heard that?
This is a small village. It's impossible not to hear a shouting match like that.
Yeah well maybe some of the locals could use an attitude adjustment.
Well, let me introduce myself. Greetings. I am the traveling merchant, Ghustan. Do you wish to see my wares?
There sure are a lot of you guys wandering around.
I don't think we need anything right now but we'll keep you in mind.
I look forward to it.

Ghustan sells an assortment of items we've seen before but the only thing of real interest is that he's got Mage Potions in stock. We might need some soon~ish so that's good to know.

Trees, bushes, rocks. Well I guess there's no shortage of nature in the village.
It's... very green.
What's this?
It looks like an herb.
So it does.

It's a cure herb. Yes, the game is hiding semi-useless items in bushes now. This is still way better then pixies hidden in random spots all over Shining the Holy Ark.

The rocks are in formation. I wonder why.
I don't think the villagers are going to tell us.
Maybe this is where they do some of their secret nature rituals?
Nature rituals?
Yeah! You know, like dancing around under the moonlight and stuff?
...Does Simone have any rituals like that?
*defeated sigh* No.

This village has an inn? How does it stay in business?
We should ask the owner!

Hi there. Huh? What are a bunch of kids doing all the way out here?
Actually we wanted to ask you how you stay in business what with this village being so isolated and all.
I take it you've been talking to some of the townfolk today.
Yeah, they're all worked up and my friend over there had a shouting match.
The village isn't usually like this. We're not quite as isolated as some of the old folk would like to think. Ships stop by here regularly.
It's like Ophera then.
Yes, actually. Opheran iron and steel are expensive but everyone seems to want them. We get plenty of visitors from the east who are going to or coming from Ophera.
Huh, I would never have thought that little village could be so busy.
To tell you the truth I wouldn't be surprised if much of it ends up in Bandore.
*sniff, sniff* Finn, I smell something familiar and nasty.
Well waddya know?
What makes you think those metals go to Bandore?
I've seen the war ships a couple of times. You have to have quality materials to keep beasts like them together. Now are you kids going to stay tonight?
Ah, we're not entirely sure yet. That depends on if we can find passage to the island.
Why would you ever want to go there?
We're looking for Captain Domino. Members of his crew said he stayed behind.
...when they turned tail and fled. Great crew. I heard something was going on over on the island. Nobody will take you there though, not for any amount of money.
Wait a minute. We still have that statue the sailor traded us, don't we?
Yes, yes we do. It's still in my pack.
Statue? Can I see it?
Just a minute. It's kind of buried.
Hmm, you know what? There's a statue just outside. You should go check it.
Ok, thank you.

Just outside the inn the team does indeed find a statue perched on a little strip of land in a pond.

The statue outside. I assume she means this statue?
Prr. This is the only statue in the village, Finn.
Hmm, something is engraved in the base. "For peace to return to Gaea, the Guardian must be placed with his chosen people. From the center of four, one east and then three north, the new resting place of the Guardian will appear."
What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Suddenly the screen shakes and the camera shifts to show this man running into a house by the village entrance.

Someone is shouting.
That means trouble. Let's go!
Towards the trouble?
Exactly!
*shrugs* That hasn't blown up in our faces yet.

Oh it's you kids. My husband has returned from the island.
And he's still soaked. Did you swim the channel or something?
Yeah it was the only way to get across.
What is happening on Gaea Island?
I'm lucky to still have my skin attached!
Did you see Captain Domino? We heard he was still there.
No, I didn't see another human. His ship, if he's the captain of those pirates who were here awhile ago, it's still there. I couldn't get close to the ship, but it looked like no one was on it...
And monsters? We heard about those too.
The island and shrine are both full of monsters...
*throws up hands* Lovely!
I take it the island is usually peaceful?
The Guardian is supposed to protect the Island of Gaea.
There are monsters on Gaea Island! This has never happened before. What evil force would disturb the sacred Island of Gaea?
I don't know but we're probably going to get to the bottom of it.
Guardian, guardian. Excuse me, sir, but what is this guardian you speak of?
It's a statue on the island.
Really? Hmm, you know what. I have an idea. Follow me, everyone!

Where are we going?
You thought these rocks looked suspicious and I agree. Hmm, now what did that carving say? One east and three north? Hmm, yes, there we go. There's a hidden switch right here.

Searching the tile in question causes a stone monument to spring up out of the ground.

Score one for Tont!
So is all this trouble because Domino did something in the shrine or because one of his crew members took the statue?
Well Domino took the crew there in the first place so in both cases he's at least partially responsible.

Well let's put the statue in the monument and see what happens.

Maybe like this.
Here let me help. Just a little to the left.

With the statue placed inside the monument the ground rumbles and the game switches to the overworld map. As the screen shakes the waters between Jonowan and the Island of Gaea part revealing a dry channel. Ok game, whatever. (Because so blatantly violating the laws of physics will not mess with the balance of nature or anything.)

Of course the team has no way of knowing what just happened. They could only hear the rumbling and feel the ground shake. Then the statue popped out of the monument and returned to Edward's inventory.

Before we go anywhere, however, we are past due to lighten our packs. We also need to replace the herbs I used on the way to Jonowan.

Back so soon?
Yeah we have a few things we're interested in selling.
I'll be happy to take a look.

So what now?
Uh, I have no idea, sis.
Give me some time to read that book we were lent. Then we can look for a route to the island.
Ok, sounds like a plan.

Next time on Beyond the Beyond - the path is now open to us. As soon as the team realizes that let's see what Domino's crew was running from, shall we?

Update Thirty-One | Index | Update Thirty-Three