Bhujerba



The Skycity of Bhujerba is a location in the land of Ivalice in Final Fantasy XII. A floating city, it tries to maintain neutrality at all times, but recent events have forced its residents to ally with the Archadian Empire.

Profile
Bhujerba is located in the Sky Continent of Dorstonis, above the Naldoan Sea. A floating city-state, Bhujerba thrives on the export of magicite mined in the nearby Lhusu Mines. Originally founded by moogles, who were the first pioneers of airship travel, Bhujerba became an airship docking port and expeditions discovered more magicite mines, increasing Bhujerba's revenue.

During the age of the Galtean Alliance, House Ondore took over the administration and initiated a system to control the magicite mining activities; by closing exhausted mines to let the magicite recover and opening new mines elsewhere. This guarantees continuous production of magicite. It is rumored that should the magicite supply be exhausted, Bhujerba and the rest of the Sky Continent would descend to the surface; these rumors are yet to be proven true.

Politics
Ruled by Marquis Halim Ondore IV, Bhujerba tries to maintain its neutrality. It was the mediator between Archadia and Dalmasca when they signed the peace treaty, but have recently entered into a formal alliance with Archadia, although the Archadians are not supposed to have power over Bhujerba. In reality, though, Bhujerba has allied with the Resistance, in hopes of bringing down the Archadian Empire.

Dialect
The people of Bhujerba speak with an accent similar to Indian English with many of the terms being words from the Sanskrit language. The most common word is Bhadra, which is a formal address, not unlike the English use of Sir/Madam or Mr/Ms/Mrs. The city guides have the title of Parijanah, which fittingly means "guide".

Below is a table of some Bhujerban words:

Story
The party arrive at Bhujerba on Balthier's airship, the Strahl, after learning Ba'Gamnan has kidnapped Penelo and is keeping her hostage in the Lhusu Mines. Walking down Travica Way, they are approached by a youth named Lamont, who—overhearing their discussion of Lhusu—implores they let him join them on their journey. Balthier reluctantly agrees, and they head southwards to the mines.

They learn that they are not the only ones with interests in Lhusu: Judge Ghis and Marquis Ondore are also in the mines, conversing of the secret affair Bhujerba has with Archadia, providing the Draklor Laboratory with magicite. The party make their way to the end of the mines and find Ba'Gamnan, who had already let Penelo go. The party fight him off long enough to make an escape led by Lamont, though they lose sight of the boy in their chase.

Penelo, frightened and lost, stumbles upon the Judge and the Marquis on her way out of the mines. Ghis is furious of having discovered an outsider in the mines full of Empire's secrets, but 'Lamont', who reveals himself as Larsa Solidor of the ruling house of Archadia, comes to her aid as the rest of the party watch on from the shadows.

The party learn Penelo has been taken to Marquis Ondore's mansion, so they come up with a plan to get in by spreading rumors that Basch is still alive. In gaining an audience with the Marquis, they find that Penelo, Judge Ghis and the Resistance fighter Amalia have all boarded the Dreadnought Leviathan. Following a silent agreement between Ondore and Basch, the Marquis calls the guard and the group is captured, sending them on-board the imperial airship so they may have a chance to save their friends.

The party escape with Penelo and Ashe and make their way back to Bhujerba to Marquis Ondore's estate. Ashe wants to claim Dalmasca's throne, but cannot do so with no proof of her lineage. She decides to go and seek out the Dawn Shard, but the Marquis does not support her plan. Ashe attempts to steal the Strahl to find the Dawn Shard herself, but is caught by Balthier and Vaan. Ashe convinces Balthier to kidnap her by promising him the treasures within Tomb of Raithwall, and so the party leave Bhujerba for the Jagd Yensa.

Geography and Locations
Built onto the hilly grounds of western Dorstonis, Bhujerba is made up of narrow, steep roads with high walls that keep out the winds. Interestingly enough, the plazas that give view of the world below do not have any kind of rails, and transportation of goods is mostly done by smaller handcarts.


 * Travica Way The major promenade of Bhujerba, Travika connects the Aerodrome with the Marquis's Estate, Khus Skygrounds, Cloudborne Row and Miner's End. Wider than the normal streets and built with arches in regular distances, it holds the shops Rithil's Protectives (Armor), Targe's Arms (Weapons) and Mait's Magicks (Magic).
 * Khus Skygrounds A vast sky-view terrace in the west that holds the Item Shop. The Moogle Pilika can be found here.
 * Cloudborne Row Cloudborne Row is a set of somewhat narrow backstreets that form a residential area to the northeast, surrounded by somewhat lower walls and forest, and home to the local tavern, the Cloudborne.
 * Miners' End Made up of streets even more narrow than Cloudborne Row, this area are the living quarters of a majority of Bhujerba's magicite miners. Bashketi's Gambits and Clio's Technicks offer Gambits and Technicks for purchase respectively.
 * Kaff Terrace Lying to the far east of the city, this sky-view plaza is lying lower than its western counterpart.
 * Lhusu Square The lowest area in Bhujerba, the entrance to the Lhusu Mines is a long and complex staircase, overshadowed by dark rock. It is a favoured meeting place for miners, who often buy healing supplies before going to work.
 * Aerodrome The Bhujerba Aerodrome is one of if not even the oldest building in Bhujerba, and sits to the west.
 * Marquis Ondore's Estate A vast mansion and housing complex to the north of the skycity, the estate of the ruling family of Bhujerba is built onto the tallest, forested hill of the same, overlooking the city. While the smaller outbuildings house the personnel and the Marquis's council, the inner residence sits on the very top of the hill, in between a series of five massive magicite crystal wings that give the feeling of having burst in an explosion and then frozen over; they are meant to symbolise the great prosperity of Bhujerba.

Spreading Rumors
After escaping the Lhusu Mines the party will try to attract the Marquis's attention by spreading rumors around town that the Marquis has been lying about Basch's execution. The player must roam around town and press near NPCs to spread the word and fill a gauge. The more people hear the word, the faster the gauge is built. Shops are usually the best spots to do this, as well as near the city Parijanas. However, spreading the word within earshot of a Bhujerban Sainikah will cause the gauge to deplete drastically.

Pilika's Errand
The moogle Pilika will ask Vaan to retrieve her diary from her workplace if spoken to again, after finishing the hunt for Rocktoise. The player must go to the technick shop and will be given the choice to read the diary once it it found. The player must return to Pilika and give her the diary, and she will ask if Vaan read it. The player must answer "I've done nothing" to get a Shepard's Bolero. If the player answered "Read it" she will give a Kilimweave Shirt, an inferior reward.

Bhujerban Madhu
After acquiring the Dawn Shard the player can revisit Bhujerba and hear about a famous liquor called Bhujerban Madhu. The player can earn 1000 gil per bottle by selling to the right buyers. The bottles are located all over Bhujerba and there's guaranteed to be a buyer in the same area a bottle is found. The player doesn't have to sell only one bottle to a buyer—they'll pay the same price for each bottle they can get.


 * BHUJERBAN AERODROME
 * Bottle: On some luggage in the waiting area.
 * Buyer: Man sitting on rail directly across from the bottle.
 * RITHIL'S PROTECTIVES
 * Bottle: Cabinet near the clerk's counter.
 * Buyer: Old Shop Clerk near counter.
 * TARGE'S ARMS
 * Bottle: The corner between the cases of weapons in the second floor.
 * Buyer: Woman speaking with the sitting man on the ground level.
 * KHUS SKYGROUNDS
 * Bottle: Box with moogle next to the street vendor.
 * Buyer: Woman leaning on the rail across from the street vendor.
 * TRAVICA WAY
 * Bottle: The street next to Street Kid at the southeast end.
 * Buyer: Guy leaning on the wall across from the Magick Shop.
 * MAIT'S MAGICKS
 * Bottle: With other bottles on a table.
 * Buyer: Bhujerban Guru next to the table with bottles.
 * STARAS RESIDENCE
 * Bottle: Between the dressers to the right of the entrance.
 * Buyer: Niray, in the middle of her home (only after completing the Antlion hunt).
 * CLOUDBORNE ROW
 * Bottle: On the stacked boxes in alley below Staras Residence.
 * Buyer: Man talking to passed out bangaa in front of Cloudborne entrances
 * CLOUDBORNE
 * Bottle: Table closest to the bar.
 * Buyer: Magu, the seeq sitting in alcove between the exits.
 * LHUSU SQUARE
 * Bottle: On the edge of the pool before entrance to the mines.
 * Buyer: Miner sitting next to the seeq street vendor.
 * BASHKETI'S GAMBITS
 * Bottle: Bookshelf in the upper floor.
 * Buyer: Seeq shop clerk on the same floor.
 * MINER'S END
 * Bottle: Crates next to the Gambit Shop.
 * Buyer: Bangaa miner south of the Gambit Shop.
 * KAFF TERRACE
 * Bottle: Next to the seeq sitting near the top of the stairs.
 * Buyer: Woman north of the stairs, standing at the edge.
 * CLIO'S TECHNICKS
 * Bottle: Box between the counter and the stairs.
 * Buyer: Shop clerk standing in the middle of the shop.

Shops
Note: The items available for purchase change throughout the game. These items may not all be available at the same time.

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Targe's Arms

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Rithil's Protectives

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Mait's Magicks

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Clio's Technicks

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Street Vendors (Seeq)

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Street Vendors (Bangaa)

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Musical themes
The music in Bhujerba is the eponymous track "The Skycity of Bhujerba". A piano arrangement of the theme is included on the Piano Collections: Final Fantasy XII album.

Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable
The Skycity of Bhujerba appears in Itadaki Street Portable as an area. The Strahl can be seen in the background.

Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Mobile
The Skycity of Bhujerba returns in Itadaki Street Mobile as a stage.

Trivia

 * Sage Knowledge states that Clan Diatroma is located here.
 * In Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, the player can learn the job Parivir. It's also mentioned Parivirs came from western part of Ivalice.
 * Miclio, the petitioner for the Diabolos Hunt, can be seen with another hat-wearing child running around Bhujerba before the hunt becomes available. After Diabolos is defeated he explains that children in Bhujerba no longer wear hats because of the stories about Diabolos, confirming the two children around the skycity are ghosts.
 * Since the Japanese text for Final Fantasy XII lacked specific accents, the localizers had to derive them from the Ivalician mannerisms and culture. To avoid stereotypical Indian accents for Bhujerba, a Sri Lankan accent was chosen. The written language in Bhujerba is flavored with borrowings from Sanskrit in the way that Indian speakers of English retain words from Hindi to realistically portray Bhujerba as a nation colonized by the empire.