Svagatam! I'm so tired today. I've been to Canterbury and back for work (about 40 miles) and my mental capacity is running low. I think I can manage a bit of writing, but good lord I could fall asleep now.
Bhujerba[]
Coincidence? Sure, I'll play along.
Save using the Gate Crystal (nice excuse of having 'strong mist' preventing teleportation), and leave the Aerodrome. You'll soon be accosted by a young man(?) who asks to accompany you. He has a British accent, so you know he must be important ;)
Flavour time: Bhujerba is based on a British Indian colony. They speak with a Sanskrit dialect, with many of their words borrowed from that particular language. It's italicised so you know it's foreign, bhadra.
Head into town. At the higher level is a Cartographer Moogle -- drop 720 Gil buying the maps for both Bhujerba and the Lhusu Mines, our next destination. Now for more shopping. Weapons and armour are subjective to your party setup, but there's nothing outstanding, except maybe the Aevis Killer for your ranged fighter. Magick-wise, pick up Vox and Silence, as well as the Horology Technick.
When you're done, head southeast on Travica Way towards Miner's End, then take the northeastern path to Lhusu Square, as diversions are currently being blocked off by conveniently-placed imperials. Approach the Lhusu Mines for another scene. It seems that the imperial army isn't allowed in Bhujerba, with some exceptions. I assume those exceptions are in effect, what with the soldiers blocking off useful areas of the town :P
Lhusu Mines[]
Raksas[]
- Steeling
- Slaven
- Skeleton
- Skull Defender
- Aerieel (Rare Game)1
1 Has a 20% chance of spawning in Oltam Span.
Hey, is that a Ronso?
Heads up -- the Lhusu Mines are pretty big and you'll be coming back here a lot in the late game. For now you'll be exploring only a relatively small area. Also, as of now you'll start running into traps, usually-invisible landmines that provide a multitude of negative effects. Use Libra to make them visible (as glowing, pink-red 'fountains').
Continue downstairs -- oh look, more sainikahs. These must be quite the extenuating circumstances. I recognise that voice...so that's Marquis Halim Ondore. I must admit, I do love the highbrow sass in Ivalice.
Like all good things, you start off in the Shaft Entry. Insert your own jokes here. Anyway, "Lamont" is pretty handy as a guest, what with his infinite supply of Potions. Here you'll find Steelings, Skeletons and Skull Defenders, nothing you can't handle yet. Proceed west along the horizontal track when you can -- the western path south is the one you want, as the eastern route ends up blocked off by a gate. Kastam, my bhadra. You're now in Oltam Span. There are traps here, so watch out. Proceed west to Transitway 1.
"A little light exercise now and then does wonders for a gentleman".
Here, the southwest path is blocked by a gate, so go north to find yourself in the Shunia Twinspan. The bridge here acts as a good grinding spot, as you can spawn a theoretically infinite number of Skeletons and Skull Defenders. When you've finished having fun here, proceed north to Site 2.
The north path ahead leads to a gated dead end (with the possibility of some treasure, but also an explosion trap in the corridor) so take the south path and follow up some stairs to a cavern-looking area. Ahead is a scene.
Lamont produces a piece of nethicite (from his pocket, not like a chicken produces an egg), making Balthier suspicious. Ba'Gamnan, the giant murkha, shows up and spoils the fun/gives Lamont a handy distraction. Despite the nethicite clearly being an important item, Lamont lobs it at the scaly dude's face. Clever.
You now have a choice of either running away, or fighting the four Bangaa hunters. Guess what I'm going to recommend.
| Boss Battle: Ba'Gamnan and pals | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Level: 12/11/11/11 Elemental Affinity:
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| Strategy: This is going to take a while. Ba'Gamnan can inflict Silence, so switch your Cure gambits to Potions and Hi-Potions instead, and turn off any offensive Magicks. This is a straight-up brawl, so you can spend your MP on any Quickenings at the start of the battle and go from there. Take out the flunkies first; they're relatively weak and you want to focus your attention on the big guy. Just watch out for Water Spout. Why is his special attack the same element as his weakness? We may never know. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
After you beat them up, Ba'Gamnan breaks his circular saw on a nearby rock in frustration (smart), and you're free to go. Chase Lamont back through the mines to the entrance. It seems that this "Lamont" is actually Lord Larsa, son of Emperor Gramis and Vayne's little brother. Also of interest, nobody knows men like Fran does. What an accolade you give, Balthier. And who is this Judge Geese?
Don't do this bit with anyone else in the room, trust me.
Bhujerba[]
Head back towards civilisation -- in order to discredit Marquis Ondore, they decide to prove that he's been lying about Basch's execution these last two years. Their solution? Have Vaan go around town preaching the good word. Instead of, y'know, just having Basch parade around in front of people.
It's one of the game's sillier plans, up there with Nooj's plan so bad even Yuna thought it sucked. I think this does it justice. Consider this Final Fantasy XII's version of the Luca Laughing Scene in X, only slightly (slightly) less cringey.
Right then, time to go and make a fool of yourself. The basic rules: Normal citizens will increase your notoriety by 1-2% each if you press 
near them. The Parijanahs are tour guides and will increase your score considerably. Avoid testifying near any sainikahs, as your score will decrease. Return to Miner's End.
Troll around the place and preach to as many green dots (yeah, I know how that sounds) as you can. When you reach 100%, Vaan gets taken away and a scene occurs. I love that the Bangaa accuses him of being mean. Awww.
Meanwhile, Larsa lays down the smooth talk on Penelo -- nice try kid, she's like five years older and several social echelons lower than you. Penelo fears the Empire (and rightly so), but Larsa promises her she'll come to no harm. We'll see.
Definitely not the house of a villain.
Anyway, back with Vaan. Ondore's tigery attendant arranges a meeting with the man, and you're free to explore. You're in the The Cloudborne Bhujerba's version of the Sandsea. Which means they have a hunt board! Examine it and accept the Nidhogg hunt. We'll come to that later.
Bear in the mind the shop inventories have been updated, so upgrade away -- it'll help in the upcoming section. We'll leave the hunts for now; you'll be grateful for the extra EXP and LP.
When you're shopped out, make for Ondore's gaff. It's marked on your map as a red cross on the northeastern side of Travica Way. Talk to the guards outside to be let in.
A scene, and an FMV -- the Imperial Fleet is heading for Rabanastre, which can't be good. Basch doesn't want what Ondore's dishing out, and draws his sword. Guess what happens next? It's arresting time again, fans. Also, Vayne does a thing. And hey, it's the local Cid! This one's a bit...odd. Expect to hear him say "The reins of history back in the hands of man" a lot; it's his thing.
More scenes! Aboard the Dreadnought Leviathan, Judge Geese (I know, I know, it's 'Ghis' but sod him) re-introduces the party to "Amalia", aka Princess Ashelia B'Nargin Dalmasca. Well, that wasn't totally obvious. Ghis seems especially interested in the stone Vaan stole -- young Ratsbane hands it over in the hopes that it'll spare everyone from being executed. And exactly how long did you expect a Judge to hold onto that promise?
The fates jest.
Basch
As the party is being led to their cells, the soldiers decide to pick a fight -- which they very quickly lose, thanks to Balthier, Fra everyone but Vaan's asskicking skills. To cap off this clusterfluff of cutscenes, Vossler (to whom I have been hitherto referring as Azelas; the guy Vaan met in the tavern in Lowtown; Basch's mate, remember him?) shows up to give you hand, and joins you as a guest party member. Good lord, that was a lot of exposition. When you finally regain control, save your game.
I'm so done with this part of the game. It's been a total raksas to write.
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