Ipsen's Castle

Ipsen's Castle (イプセンの古城) 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.

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 the latin where ipse mean it/her/himself, so as Hildagarde Fabool decides on the castle's name, she means that it will be called the "no name castle" - also 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, an invisible barrier prevents the player from advancing any further than the first screen.

Hildagarde Fabool decides on the castle's name, stating, "Well, since this castle doesn't have a name, let's call it Ipsen's Castle".

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 inverted structure. Amarant wins the race no matter how fast the player gets to the mirror room, 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.

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.

In order to obtain the 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, kick, 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 about thrice each, the electricity within the blade will fill one pot, from which the Ancient Aroma may be collected.

Enemies

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

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

Musical Themes
The theme that plays in Ipsen's Castle is known as "Ipsen's Heritage". It is a rearranged version of "The Place I'll Return to Someday".

Trivia

 * When the party is on the way out of the castle, one member of the party will nearly fall through a trapdoor, forcing Zidane to ask if that member is all right. This member depends on party composition, as well as one member's priority over another. Garnet has the top priority to nearly fall through the trapdoor, followed by Eiko, Vivi, and Quina. Only Steiner and Freya are guaranteed not to get into this trouble, as is Amarant, who is not in the party, anyway.

Hochburg Ipsen