Hồ Obel

Obel Lake on the World Map

Hồ Obel (オーベール湖, Ōbēru-mizuumi) là một địa danh trong Final Fantasy VIII. Hồ nằm ở phía bắc Timber, có hình móng ngựa với một bên nhỏ, và một dòng sông chảy về phía bắc qua Vaulny Canyon.

Obel Lake is the location for a sidequest that requires Squall to travel all over the world in search of rare items and hidden locations with a guide from a friendly black shadow. The sidequest is best done earliest after the player obtains the spaceship Ragnarok, or latest before the player enters the Lunatic Pandora at the end of Disc 3, before Time Compression begins. The player may opt to get the ability Enc-None to avoid random encounters.

Start

The player should travel to the inlet of the lake, and press the button. An option will appear:

This is Obel Lake Throw a rock Try humming

Selecting "Throw a rock" causes the rock to skip a certain number of times. For this part, the option is only "the rock x"; x being either "sank", "skipped once", "skipped twice", "skipped 3 times", "skipped 4 times" or "skipped 5 times".

Selecting "Try humming" causes a black shadow to rise on the surface. Options will appears again; "Throw a rock" causes said shadow to disappear, while "Try humming again" will initiate a conversation.

• Shadow: "...Hello human. What a lovely tune."
• Squall: (There's something large there...)
• Shadow: "Thanks for speaking to me again. Can you do me a favor?"
• Squall: "What is it?"
• Shadow: "It's my friend, Mr. Monkey... Can you find him for me? Please... Mr. Monkey should be in a forest somewhere. Keep walking around, and I'm sure you'll find him. If he's not around, perhaps he took a train towards Dollet?"

At this point, the player should start looking for Mr. Monkey at Roshfall Forest near Dollet. Walk around and an option appears.

There's the monkey! Throw a rock Sing

Selecting either option prompts:

• "You suck!"
• The monkey disappeared into the forest...

Once Mr. Monkey is found, the player should return to Obel Lake. After Squall "relayed the whereabouts of Mr. Monkey", the black shadow will thank him. The first part ends.

Black Shadow's clues

If Squall decides to stay and chat, the black shadow will relay random statements. Each statement points out clues to a hidden draw point, messages regarding two rare items in the game and some random trivia.

Random Trivia

"Back in the day, south of here, there used to be a small but beautiful village surrounded by deep forests. Everyone lived a happy life there."

This statement points out to a location near Almaj Mountains in Centra. If the player goes there, they should find a forest with clearing within. If the player presses , a message prompts out:

• Squall: ...This place just has rubble lying among the grass... Absolutely nothing...

This perhaps refer to one of the many Centra ruins found around the world.

Take a break

"Oh yeah, do you know what? Take a break at the railroad bridge. I wonder what it means?"

Points out a hidden Draw Point for the spell Break. The player should head towards the railroad bridge found at the river near Dingo Desert.

Take time off

"Oh yeah, do you know what? Take some time off at Eldbeak Peninsula. I bet it's a wonderful place."

Eldbeak Peninsula, which is located north of Balamb on the Trabia continent, contains a clue to a rare item. Walk towards the tip of the Peninsula, and a message prompts:

• There is a stone pillar. If you look closely, there's something written on it.

"TRETIMEASUREATMINOFFDEISLAND"

Following the shadow's clues, remove the phrases "TIME" and "OFF" to reveal "TREASURE-AT-MINDE-ISLAND".

Minde Island is located between Kashkabald Desert and Esthar's West Coast. Walk around the place while pressing , and the player may receive a Luck-J Scroll.

Rocks

"...Is this ....part of something?"

—Squall thinks as he receives the first clue

Next, the black shadow mentions "something" found at three different locations. Walk around while pressing the button, and a message may prompt out to show the player has received the item.

"Oh yeah... You'll find something on an island east of Timber, too."

This refers to the thin island just off mandy beach north of the long bridge crossing the sea. The message goes:

• You found a piece of rock by your foot... It looks man-made, and has some carving on it...
• R E A I D R

"Oh yeah... At the beach in Balamb, something special washes ashore at times."

This refers to Rinaul Coast, the only beach in Balamb. The player may have to try again and again. The message goes:

• You found a piece of rock by your foot... But it was just a rock...
• You found a piece of rock by your foot... It looks man-made, and has some carving on it...
• S T S L R M
• Squall: (...Seems like the same rock I picked up before...)

"Oh yeah... There's also something on top of a mountain with a lake and cavern."

Here, the player should travel to an area called Monterosa Plateau where there is a cavern with a river flowing out of it. Land the Ragnarok on top of the plateau and walk towards the ledge. A message will be displayed:

A bird is warming an egg Check it out Leave it alone

Selecting "Check it out" prompts a battle with two Thrustaevis. Defeat them and Squall receives this clue:

• You found a piece of rock by your foot... It looks man-made, and has some carving on it...
• E A S N P D
• Squall: (...Seems like the same rock I picked up before...)

This is yet to be complete. For the fourth piece, travel back to Obel Lake.

Mr. Monkey

When the player returns to Obel Lake, s/he can try "throwing a rock" again. At some point, they may come across the message "The rock skipped many, many times." This should be the moment at which they return to where Mr. Monkey is.

There's the monkey! Throw a rock Sing

Once there, select "Sing" prompts the "You suck!" message. Select "Throw a rock" and Mr. Monkey will respond.:

• "Ahhh! Damn it! Y-You're just a big loser! I'm able to skip the rock as many times as I want! So there! Ha-Ha! Loser! Moron! Idiot! You mum wears combat boots/a shellsuit!"

"Throw a rock" again

• "...OUCH!...D-Darn it!...You're gonna pay for that!"
• The monkey threw a rock at you and ran! ...Upon inspecting the rock, it looks man-made, and has some carving on it... U R H A E O.
• Squall: (...This must be all of them...)
  

S	T	S	L	R	M
R	E	A	I	D	R
U	R	H	A	E	O
E	A	S	N	P	D

(...?)

Next, leave for Obel Lake, and talk to the black shadow for the last time:

• Shadow: "Hello! ...This must be all the rocks."
  

[	S	T	S	L	R	M	]
[	U	R	H	A	E	O	]
[	R	E	A	I	D	R	]
[	E	A	S	N	P	D	]

"I wonder what it means?"

In fact, reading it from top right downwards for each column reveals:

MORDRED PLAINS HAS TREASURE

To Mordred Plains

Now, the player should travel to Mordred Plains. It is an area found North of Esthar, sandwiched between two mountain ranges: Vienne Mountains to the north and Nortes Mountains to the south. The start of this sidequest occurs with this message:

There are many multicolored rocks with faces all over the place...

There are four colored rocks here: blue, white, black and red. They give the player, or rather try to give them, clue to the final item. Pressing the button prompts messages from the rocks as long as the player is within the area.

The best reference is the blue-faced rock:

The blue-faced rock whispers "I don't know where the treasure is..." The blue-faced rock whispers "Some of us just say the opposite of what we mean." The blue-faced rock whispers "Some of us just talk nonsense." The blue-faced rock whispers "Some of us just repeat the same thing." The blue-faced rock whispers "People call us 'The Liar Rocks'."

The white-faced rock is the one talking nonsense.

The white-faced rock tells you coldly "It's south." The white-faced rock tells you coldly "It's north." The white-faced rock tells you coldly "It's east." The white-faced rock tells you coldly "It's west."

The black-faced rock is the one that just repeats the same thing.

The black-faced rock tells you sternly "...The treasure is probably in the direction of the North Star..."

The red-faced rock is the one that say the opposite of what it mean.

The red-faced rock tells you angrily "The treasure's to the north!" The red-faced rock tells you angrily "The treasure's to the south!" The red-faced rock tells you angrily "The treasure's to the east!" The red-faced rock tells you angrily "The treasure's to the west!" The red-faced rock tells you angrily "The treasure's not here!"

Whatever the red-faced rock says, do the opposite. If it says "north!", which refers to the "up" direction in the control pad, press "down" instead. Eventually the player will finally found what they were supposed to find: A Three Star item that enables a GF to learn Expendx3-1 - this means that casting three spells under Triple status will only cost 1 magic spell in stock.

This ends the sidequest.

After Time Compression

The player should do this before entering Disc 4. If not, going to Obel Lake at Disc 4 prompts nothing. No black shadow will rise, only "nothing...".

Trivia

• The Stone Faces are a recurring element in the Final Fantasy series.