Part 17: The Vespertine and the Sea of Nightmare
With the Vespertine under their command, the party can now make tracks from Brisk to... an island. Many of the Villagers living in Brisk want a new home, and you can make it happen. There's little point to remaining in Brisk - the repairs have blocked the vast majority of the port town, and the only thing here now is a lonely, outdated Merchant - so you may as well speak to Hortence and get underway.
Welcome to the high seas! Now that the Vespertine is under your command you can use it to sail all over the world map. Your destination is the snowy island to the northeast of Brisk, which is marked on your Map (check the menu) with a gold star. Hortence won't let you debark anywhere but this island until you've completed a few more tasks, so you might as well head northeast. Note that you will not wrap around the map if you hit any of the edges, unlike many RPGs.
A cut scene follows when you enter the woods on the south end of the island, and once it's done you'll receive the Home Achievement. This heralds the creation of an unnamed town, your new home in Sea of Stars. Before you can explore the town, however, one of the Villagers asks Valere and Zale to check out a cave they discovered, to the north. Use the northwestern exit to return to the world map.
Next to the town's northern exit is the Settler's Rest Fishing Lake, if you care to throw your reel in the water. Otherwise, follow the trail north and you'll soon arrive at the Ancient Crypt. Here you'll meet the Cryptwalker, a happy little spirit who will invite you to explore the many monuments inside the Ancient Crypt. This area serves as the 'credits' for Sea of Stars' many Kickstarter backers, and you can enter and check out the messages on each of their, uh, graves. Speak to the Cryptwalker and it will allow you to enter a code that can take you directly to a specific grave.
If you check to the right of the Ancient Crypt's entrance you'll find a half-hidden chest that contains a Rainbow Conch. Otherwise - at least as far as I know - the Ancient Crypt is just a fun side area with no other tangible rewards. Explore it as much or as little as you like.
Head back to town. Garl will assemble the villagers, and they'll let him choose a fitting name for the place: The Town of Mirth. Sounds good. Shortly after the naming the headmaster will show up on the island, and though he proves... gutless... he'll provide the group with a place to go next. He'll also give you a Coral Hammer that you can use when you get there. He'll also give you the Evermist Shrine Key.
Before we leave Mirth we should acknowledge a fellow called Jirard the Constructionist. He's standing in the northeast of Mirth, and has a scheme to grow Mirth - though he'll need Plans to get the job done. You'll find these elsewhere in Sea of Stars, and can use them to expand Mirth's size and range of services. We'll look at these changes in another section of the guide.
Aside from a save point, as well as chatty Villagers, there's currently little of value in Mirth. That will change over time, but for now you might as well leave. The one exception is on the roof of the northern-most building, which appears to be for meetings. Use the stairs in the back to exit onto the roof, then look behind the wall on your right. There's a chest back here containing a Rainbow Conch.
Head to the dock in the east and speak to Hortence to hop in the Vespertine. Sera will learn the Ultimate Attack Vespertine Cannons in the process. You can use Ultimate Attacks by spending Combo Points in battle, and they tend to be very powerful. Other characters will learn their own Ultimate Attacks over the course of the game.
Sailing
Okay, now we can look around the world. There are many ports which you can use to explore, though most of these locations are of little use until the story catches up with them. Still, we'll poke around and see what we can find before progressing the plot.
- You don't have to go back right now, but Wraith Island is the big landmass in the middle of the map. You may also spot a smaller island off its northeastern shores, though you can't get at it with just the boat. If you travel back to Lucent and speak to Edgar, the owner of the tavern, he'll pass on the word that Mirth needs an innkeeper.
- There's a huge island with glowing, pinky-purple mist covering its sky to the southeast of Settler's Island, called Mesa Island. This place has a small location called Mesa Hika. There's a giant's head sticking out of the island that is asleep, and presumably you need to wake it up to proceed. We'll check in with him again later.
- The island in the east is Hiker's Island, and it has the Skyward Shrine Bridge. Currently there is... no actual bridge... so you won't make much progress here.
- To the southeast is Watcher's Island. The plot continues here, so we'll leave it alone for now.
- In the south of the map is a fish-shaped island called Stillpond Island. There's a Fishing Lake here, though there are no fish to be found in the lake. Curious. Check the northeast of the fishing hole and you'll find a chest hidden in the trees. It contains a Rainbow Conch.
- In the southwest you'll find Evermist Island, where you began the game, though you can't access any of its locations from the boat. We'll address getting there again below.
- In the west is a small island with what appears to be a Solstice Shrine. You can't reach it from the boat, alas.
- In the northwest is Sleeper Island, where you can debark at Brisk. We'll discuss this place in a moment. Note the floating island just north of the main landmass.
- In the north is the volcanic Basalt Island. The Sulfuric Basin Fishing Lake is found on this island. There's also a mystery location snugged up on the west side of the volcano, but there's nothing of interest in this clearing besides a cluster of Mushrooms and a campsite. We'll be back.
Before you left Mirth Moraine suggested one of two courses of action. If you go to Sleeper Island you'll continue the plot. If you go to Sleeper's Island and hop off you'll discover that Brisk has been restored to normal, which was very fast work on their part. Well done. The place is more or less the same as before, aside from some creative map changes and different NPC dialogue. Speak to the Molekin near the save point before you leave town.
From Brisk you can travel all the way back through the levels you've already explored:
- Coral Cascades is the same as before. Use the blast pad geysers on the west side of the map to launch yourself to the top.
- The Stonemasons Outpost is largely unchanged, though you'll find the pirate band playing in the tavern, about halfway up the hill. Speak to the artist, Darro, in the next room over, and he'll rush to Brisk to speak to the Molekin woman who wanted to be painted. Follow him back to the woman in Brisk and he'll give you a Rainbow Conch. If you speak to the western-most Molekin, the miner near the exit, he'll create a shortcut on the map that will allow you to skip the Moorlands. Last, if you speak to Chi, the bathing mole on the east side of town, she'll emigrate to Mirth.
- There's one more Rainbow Conch to grab in the Moorlands, if you elect to head inside. Roughly halfway through the Moorlands is a large, green crystal. Blow it north - you'll have to approach it from the southeast - and you can park it on a tile. This will reveal a block up to the chest with the Rainbow Conch.
- Return to X'Tol's Landing and climb up to the golem itself. Now that you know the name of the other golem - Y'eet, of all things - it will lob you back to Evermist Island. There's a geyser near the Everist Island Landing that you can use to skip the Mountain Trail, landing on the lower section of the island.
- ... though you should check out the Mist Elder Trials before heading south. Take the northwestern portal inside the trial and you'll find a tall block a little ways from the entrance. Blow it to the left to reveal a chest. Inside the chest is a Rainbow Conch.
- Check the bottom entrance of the Mountain Trail. Head down the eastern path from the entrance and you'll eventually spot a grappling log on your right, just after crossing a rope bridge. Grapple across to the east to find a chest containing a Rainbow Conch.
- As you head through Forbidden Cavern you can run straight down the middle. If you dip into the western cave near the southern entrance, however, you'll see a large block. You probably wondered about this much earlier in the game, and if you use the Mistral Bracelet to blow the block out of the way you'll find a chest containing a Rainbow Conch.
Along the way down the trail you can head over to Evermist's Solstice Shrine, to the east of the entrance to the Mountain trail. The Evermist Shrine Key that Moraine gave you will open the shrine and allow you to challenge the puzzle inside. You should complete the shrine, as it not only teaches you a good Combo, it will extend a dock out to sea that will allow you to leave and reenter Evermist without covering all that ground again.
While you're here, you can also trek back through the Forbidden Cavern to reach good ol' Mooncradle.
Mooncradle
It has been a long while since you last visited Mooncradle, and last time you didn't have a chance to properly look around. Might as well give it a once over before you make the long return trip to Brisk.
- Check the field in the northeast of Mooncradle to find a bunch of Lettuce.
- Head west of the Lettuce field and climb onto the gateway that forms the northern entrance to Mooncradle. On the other side is a chest containing Music Sheet #1.
- In the east of Mooncradle is a large, intricate tree. Check behind the boughs of the tree, to the north, and you'll find a hidden chest. Inside the chest is the Celestial Willow Leaf, an artifact for Teaks.
- Check along the northwestern cliffs of Mooncradle. Tomatoes grow in a nearby field, and there are Bell Peppers growing along the path that rises up the slope. At the end of the slope is a chest containing 25 gold.
- In the west of Mooncradle is a farmer's field full of thorns. The Farmer living south of here is annoyed that he can't grow anything in the field. Use your Mistral Bracelet to blow the two battered crates in this field around, destroying the thorns with each pass. The thorns in the middle are a bit tough to reach, so send one crate to the corners, then knock the other beside it to reach the thorns. Speak to the Farmer once the thorns are all gone to receive a Rainbow Conch.
- Check the tavern in the middle of town. Along with the pirate band you'll find a Master Fisherman. Speak to him and he'll emigrate to Mirth.
- In the southeast of Mooncradle is a Villager and many small piles of twigs. Use the Mistral Bracelet to blow all of the twigs into the larger pile. The grateful villager will give you a Rainbow Conch. There are also some Berries to pick near the twig pile.
