Ipsen's Castle

Ipsen's Castle is a location on the Forgotten Continent in Final Fantasy IX. The building itself, inside and outside, is an architectural marvel, much like. Many rooms are upside down and in one room the visitor has to slide up a pole.

While in Ipsen's Castle, weapons will do more damage the lower their attack power is. Weak weapons are sold by a local moogle, and the characters' default weapons can be found in many of the treasure chests. The unusual weapon set-up does not extend to armor, accessories or magic.

The reduced weapon damage while in Ipsen's Castle weaker is due an alteration in the base damage formula: $$Damage = Base = (60 - Atk) - Def$$

Origin
According to the Final Fantasy IX Ultimania, Ipsen's Castle is one of the locations from Terra that ended up on Gaia 5000 years ago due to Garland's failed attempt to merge the two planets into one. The origin from Terra is made clear by the unusual-looking treasure chests, as Terran treasures are always blue, whereas Gaian chests are wooden.

The castle is named after the explorer Ipsen, who was thought to be the first to discover the castle. Another etymological origin derives from Latin where ipse mean it/her/himself, so as Lady Hilda decides on the castle's name, she means it will be called the "no name castle"—the "ipsen" castle (literally translated: the castle itself).

Due to steep, canyon-like walls that surround the castle, it can only be accessed with a chocobo or by airship. It is possible to develop Choco as far as dark blue (ocean/mountain crossing) by the time the party first visits the Forgotten Continent, so it is technically possible to visit Ipsen's Castle before it is mentioned in the storyline. If the player does so, however, the castle appears on the map as simply "?", and although it can be entered from the map, the front door is closed, preventing the player from advancing any further than the first screen.

Story
The party is sent to Ipsen's Castle to retrieve the four elemental mirrors. Amarant challenges Zidane to a race for the mirrors, saying that he "works alone". The player party ventures through the maze-like interior, made all the more confusing due to the castle's mirrored structure. Amarant wins the race and vacates the premises after declaring his disbandment from the party. Zidane and his friends collect the mirrors, but are interrupted by the monster, Taharka, the mirrors' guardian.

Upon exiting the castle, the party discovers Amarant hasn't come out yet. Zidane scours the castle and finds and rescues him. When the two return, Zidane formulates a plan to raid the four elemental shrines, whose locations are marked by the mirrors' placement on the mural they were found in.

Mognet
Kumool at Ipsen's Castle receives a letter from Mogki from Lindblum Castle:


 * {|width="50%" style="border: 1px black solid"


 * - bgcolor="#FFD700"
 * style="text-align:center"|Where is Mognet Central?
 * - bgcolor="#EEE8AA"
 * From Mogki to Kumool
 * From Mogki to Kumool


 * Hey, Kumool. How are you, kupo?
 * Us moogles in Lindblum are all wondering
 * the same thing, these days:
 * Where the heck is Mognet Central?
 * No one knows, kupo.
 * Do you know where it is, Kumool?
 * It's supposedly very far away, and you
 * can't enter very easily, kupo...


 * }

After the party returns from Terra they can start a side quest to fix Mognet Central by taking to Kupo in Alexandria. As part of this chain of correspondence Mogryo from Black Mage Village sends a letter to Kumool:


 * {|width="50%" style="border: 1px black solid"


 * - bgcolor="#FFD700"
 * style="text-align:center"|Rare Item
 * - bgcolor="#EEE8AA"
 * From Mogryo to Kumool
 * From Mogryo to Kumool


 * I heard that the machine in Mognet Central
 * broke down! It's because they're missing
 * that item!


 * I wonder where you can find one? Kupo?
 * It's a rare item, so I don't think
 * you'll find one very easily...


 * }

Kumool in response sends a letter to Mois at the entrance to Fossil Roo at Qu's Marsh:


 * {|width="50%" style="border: 1px black solid"


 * - bgcolor="#FFD700"
 * style="text-align:center"|Where Is That Item?
 * - bgcolor="#EEE8AA"
 * From Kumool to Mois
 * From Kumool to Mois


 * I understand! Kupo! Mognet will
 * function again once we have some!


 * I think Mois would know!
 * Kupo! Where is that item?


 * We need it to repair Mognet!


 * }

Ancient Aroma
Ancient Aroma is an add-on found within the castle. It teaches Dagger the ability "Odin's Sword", which, when equipped, allows Odin to deal damage to enemies that survived the Instant Death.

To obtain Ancient Aroma the player must solve the puzzle of the rotating tablet near the elevator to the mirror room. When prompted, Zidane is required to examine, push, pound, think, push, think, try something drastic, and rest in order to flip the wall and gain access to a new area of the castle. This opens up a new door in the dungeon's entry foyer, directly to the left of the first door the party entered. The new passage leads to a large glowing sword with three ledges and two pots.

A voice within the room whispers, Fight the flow of time, implying the pots must be picked up and placed on the next ledge counterclockwise from its present location. After both pots are rotated thrice each, the electricity within the blade will fill one pot, from which the Ancient Aroma may be collected.

Blu Mag
Quina can eat Cerberus to learn Auto-Life, Gargoyle to learn Mighty Guard, and Veteran to learn Doom.

Treasures

 * Aquarius
 * Earth Mirror
 * Fire Mirror
 * Water Mirror
 * Wind Mirror
 * Mage Staff
 * Fork
 * Ancient Aroma
 * Air Racket
 * Golem's Flute
 * Dagger
 * Cat's Claws
 * Javelin
 * Maiden Prayer
 * Broadsword
 * Rod
 * Barette

Enemies

 * Agares
 * Cerberus
 * Gargoyle
 * Taharka (Boss)
 * Tonberry
 * Veteran

Musical Themes
The theme that plays in Ipsen's Castle is known as "Ipsen's Heritage". It is a rearranged version of "A Place to Call Home".

An arrangement of this theme appears in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy as Zidane's dungeon theme.

Trivia

 * During disc 3, if, instead of going to Ipsen's Castle by airship, the player goes there by Gold Chocobo, upon leaving the dungeon, the chocobo will be replaced by the party's airship.
 * After the battle with Taharka, on the way out of the castle, a cutscene will play showing one of the non-Zidane party members nearly falling into a trapdoor, a result of having unknowingly triggered some traps in the castle. The member who barely avoids this peril depends on the player's party and the characters' priority over one another. If the party contains Garnet, then she will nearly fall into the trap. If she is not in the party, then Eiko will nearly fall into the trap. If neither Garnet nor Eiko is in the party, then Vivi will nearly fall into the trap. Finally, if Garnet, Eiko, and Vivi are all left outside of the castle, then Quina will nearly fall into the trap. Only Steiner and Freya are guaranteed not to have this peril, as is Amarant, who is not even available to the player at this time, anyway.
 * After the events of this location, Amarant, who, up to this point in the game, has gone without posing at the end of battles, will finally begin to pose.

Alte Hochburg Ipsen Замок Ипсена