Old Archades



Old Archades is the slum city of rejects located parallel to the Imperial City of Archades itself, in Final Fantasy XII. Old Archades is where poverty-stricken families and people deemed unworthy to enter Archades live. "Information is Gold" on these streets. In fact, the player must exchange vital information between certain NPCs to gain access to Archades.

Story
Appearing from the Sochen Cave Palace, the party arrives in the Alley of Muted Sighs in Old Archades. Walking past a stranded seeq Merchant, a group of eight dancing moogles and a number of the poor and destitute, the party reaches the stairs to the city of Archades. However, Archadian guards stop them asking for credentials or identification. Without any, the party can not enter.

Just as they are turned away, Jules, a streetear and an old friend of Balthier, appears, offering help in a sum of 1,500 gil. Vaan has no choice but to pay him, and Jules asks if he has heard any rumors in town. Vaan tells of one of three rumors he heard from walking past the Old Archades citizens, and Jules asks him to tell certain individuals what he has heard. This causes a fight forcing the guards to intervene, which allows Vaan and the rest of the party to enter Archades unnoticed.

Locations

 * Alley of Low Whispers (to the Sochen Cave Palace)
 * Alley of Muted Sighs (to Archades)

Quests
There are three rumors which the player can tell to Jules.

The Moogles Eight
At the Alley of Low Whispers, there is a group of eight moogles dancing, who are working for a Shady Seeq. Talking to the seeq reveals he is planning to sell the moogles. After telling Jules about it, Vaan can tell this to the moogles, causing the moogles to riot.

Bags in barrels
A lucky man has just discovered a bag of coins in a barrel and tells Vaan about it. Jules asks Vaan to convey this information to a man named Beasley, who apparently had his bag of coins, which he hid in a barrel, missing. This prompts a fight between the two men.

A swindler's swindler
A corrupt ex-broker in the Alley of Low Whispers is trying to stay out of sight of his old clients, whom he cheated out of their funds. Jules tells Vaan to relay this information to a fresh ardent who had just returned from Archades after being swindled by a broker. Once he finds out, the newcomer attacks the older man.

Medallion piece
As part of the Medal collection side quest for Nabreus Deadlands, the player can talk to a nu mou in Archades who says he is looking for a medallion. After talking to the nu mou the medallion can be obtained from Otto in Old Archades.

Great Cockatrice Escape
As part of the Great Cockatrice Escape sidequest in Giza Plains, the player can talk to a cockatrice in Old Archades. This isn't the one the player must send back to Giza, but if the player talks to a cockatrice in Archades Highgarden Terrace building and mention the cockatrice in Old Archades they get a hand-bomb weapon.

Cartographers' Guild
If the player forgot to take the map of Royal Palace of Rabanastre while they were there, the map is available in Old Archades' Alley of Low Whispers, for 100,000 gil.

Stranded Merchant
You may wish to consult the List of Final Fantasy XII Items and the List of Final Fantasy XII Accessories article for more information on these individual items.

Music
The background theme to Old Archades is called "A Moment's Rest".