While we are in Pranno we pick up healing plant
Combining the healing plant with mix bowl (which we bought long ago) and helgak flute gives a Mold antidote which will become useful later.
Anyway, we return again to Azziz. He informs us of Princess Alisa's betrayal.
Maya... I had feared the worst.
We failed... Doskias succeeded in raising the shell.
Alisa came by and took the Doomsday Plans.
But she helped us...
She worked with us only to get her hands on the Doomsday Plans... time will tell if she's as reckless as Doskias...
At this point in the game we can ask Azziz about Tori.
Do you know where Tori has gotten to?
He was looking for you... Perhaps Uncle knows where he is.
So we head to Uncle.
Have you heard from Tori?
He's been up to his old mischief. He sold something to Mayor... some sort of device Mayor used to reprogram the Workbots.
Where did he get it?
In the Factory.
No one's ever been in the Factory!
He said he was going back.
Time to find Tori at the factory.
Tori! Where have you been!
Uh... Hey Maya, I didn't mean to do it!
Do what?
I found a way to sneak into the Factory. I found some neat stuff-
You mean 'stole'...
-uh... and I uh... brought it back out. Mayor offered me 500 coin for it. I couldn't refuse...
What was it?
Something he used to reprogram Grubb's Workbots. It's terrible.
The Workbots being used to kill is horrible...
No - no, I mean it's terrible that I didn't ask for more money for the thing... I didn't know it was that valuable...
You never learn, Tori. Well, if the technology came from the Factory, then perhaps whoever lives inside can also help us to stop it.
But no one else has ever been inside...
YOU were inside... how did you get in?
I tried to go through the front gate. I even opened it. But there's this weird light behind it. So I snuck in through a small pipe, too small for you to fit.
Then we'll have to find another way.
I'll, uh, leave you to it then...
Oh no, you stay right where you are!
The barrier in front of the Factory can be dispelled by Corgan.
This is a gate, a daemon's gate.
Really?
Marduk's Daemon Sword Technique is built upon such principles. I think I can open it.
The barrier is opened and we go inside.
Where are we?
Inside the Factory, I hope. Who knows where the gate leads to.
Soon we meet the inhabitants.
Who enters the hall of the Watchers?
Um... Maya of Oasis. I come seeking help.
The children seek the help of the old.
Our Mayor has used one of your devices to reprogram our robots, we need your help to-
Great Birds see the ants, but the ants do not realize their audience...
You know of our troubles?
We wish to help you right the wrong. We who watch are Great Healers, not destroyers.
Great Healers? Can you heal my love, Layla of the Seven Winds?!
Seven Winds? We can but try. We will need a healing plant of the Lens Jungle of Shell 4, and an ancient Talisman of the Chosen, which they left behind on their trek to the upper shell so long ago...
But the Lens Jungle hasn't been traversed for ages... since Marduk's people left Babylon...
The people who left Marduk's city became the Chosen.
How do you know so much of the Chosen and their history?
Time brings all answers to those who wait. Here, this Device will reverse the programming of your Mayor. Use it on his central computer. He has another device which was stolen from us, a key to the ancient canal system on Shell 4. Retrieve it from the Mayor and use it to gain access to the ancient lens jungle of our ancestors. There you will the healing plant that we require to help save your friend.
And this other Talisman?
You will find it in an ancient Chosen Temple on Shell 6.
Thank you...
Return when you have what we require.
First we go to the Smelting Complex in Oasis to deal with the Mayor and his robots.
It is a small area, but populated with many strong robots. Grubb & Led are very useful here with their Repair skill (which hurts enemy robots) but Lightning attacks work even better.
When we use the Watcher device on the central computer, the Mayor shows up.
Attack! Kill them!
But it is too late.
I can't hurt my friends...
The Mayor is taken away and we obtain Canal key.
Well, I hope they don't hurt him too bad...
Now it's off to Shell 4 to find the lens jungle. Whilst we're there, we buy a Terrarium which will be used later.
With Canal key we open the sewer door carrying Marduk's seal.
At this point a messenger will also show up.
Who's there?
I bring news from General Campbell of Ankara. He awaits your help on Shell 3.
Well, now what do I do?
We'll just continue what we were doing. We reach Lens jungle after passing two small sewer areas.
We pick up healing plant in this area.
In this area we also find a special optic vine.
Now we go to Chosen Ruins on Shell 6.
With the optic vine, we can open the door and enter.
The most interesting part of this dungeon is the next-to-last bird to feed bird seed to.
The dungeon is very big, but eventually at the end we find what we need.
We also find a Cloak fate card. Cloak combined with Barrier will make us almost impervious to harm.
Upon returning to the Factory, we find Tori and Layla's body inside.
Is Layla okay?
Yeah, I brought her from the ship. I - uh, wanted to help out.
Are you going soft, Tori?
NO! I just feel... responsible for some of this, for what I got you into.
Wow, you're finally growing up Tori.
We give healing plant and talisman to the Watchers, but we get to keep the talisman.
You may keep the Talisman, child.
Wha..?
The healing will begin. Go to the Cathedral on Shell 3 and await the return of your friend. But be warned, no one touches the realm of the dead and returns unchanged...
Thank you...
The area in front of the cathedral will be crowded, but Corgan can clear the mob.
As a Guard of Wind City, I command you all to stand aside and yield!
Maya, stay here, I must go alone.
I understand.
Corgan enters alone, but is up for a surprise.
Where is my love? What have you done with her?
At one time, you would never have spoken to me in such a manner.
Guess Corgan won't be porking her anymore...
Layla?
It was the only way to save me, dearest Corgan. The Watchers had no choice.
Are you really...Layla? Or are you one of them?
A part of me will always love you, Corgan, but the Layla you knew is gone. She paid for her recklessness by meeting death, now she has learned and become one of the Watchers.
Layla...
Don't be sad. I am part of a larger consciousness now – I have evolved into something much greater than Layla ever was... Now I must help to lead the people of Septerra against the forces of chaos...
I am... I am yours to command.
After Corgan exits the Cathedral, we re-enter with our entire party to talk with Layla. She will give a lot of information.
Hello, Maya.
Layla?
Please come here to seek information whenever you need it.
Are you... one of them?
I am all that Layla was, and all the Watchers are. I am here, and I am there. I am myself, I am everyone.
Watchers? Who are they... Why have they done this?
They were once part of the Chosen, but stayed behind when their brethren ascended to the upper layer, so long ago. They have been observing ever since, waiting for the day to act. I am that first step...
What can you tell me of the Chosen?
We were once of the Chosen, the ancient people of Marduk's city. Many years after Marduk's reign, our people tapped the power of the Spine and learned to reshape nature. But we also learned that to fully use the energy and knowledge of the Spine, we would have to travel to the upper shell, and draw that power from the north pole of the planet itself. Our people began the long journey, abandoning the ancient capitol of Babylon. The Chosen believe in power through strength and war, that from conflict comes growth. The Watchers left their ranks because we believed in the power of the mind.
Tell me of Septerra...
It was built from the heavens by the Creator, whose angels gave it life. Seven concentric world shells orbit the planet, and at its center lies the Core. Each world shell is connected to the Core by the Great Spine, a living axis which stretches from pole to pole. The rotations of the shells turn the parts of this axis, and generate power. The Core uses this energy to regulate the rotations of the world shells themselves.
Tell me of Marduk...
Marduk fought against Gemma the Devil, with the help of Kyra the Healer, and Dogo the Trickster. He commanded the Army of the Seven Winds, made up by troops from each World Shell. He destroyed Gemma's temple, ending his reign of terror, and retrieving the Keys that had been stolen from the Creator. Marduk then took Gemma's daemon minions, trapping them within a realm from which only his disciples can recall them. After, he ruled the world from the city of Babylon.
How were the Keys found?
They were unearthed near the North and South Poles of the upper World Shell, where they'd been hidden. Marduk teaches us that the keys would be found when they were needed to save the world, and that we could use them to unlock the Core. But Doskias was impatient, and decided to steal them from his brothers... to tamper with the natural order of the world by bringing light to the Core prematurely. In doing so, he has indeed brought the world to the brink of destruction.
Why did the Creator make the Keys?
To allow man one day to obtain greater power. Or perhaps to allow us one day to obtain heaven on earth. No one really knows. The Chosen believe that the person who completes the Prophecy will wield the power of heaven, and use it for whatever purpose he desires.
What do the Watchers believe?
Some of us believe that it matters not the person who completes it, but that the Creator will judge all of us, and grant us the Gift only if we are worthy. That is why we must oppose Doskias. His actions doom us all.
How can we save the world?
We must wait for Doskias to attempt his next shell movement. When he does, we will be ready to save those people he would throw away. We cannot allow Doskias to receive the power of the gift of the Creator! He would use it to subdue all people, to enslave them to his will!
If we bring Badu in front of Watcher Layla, we can even learn some interesting background information. Normally Badu only speaks gibberish, but Layla can decipher it.
What did he say?
He pledges his faith in the Creator and the Watchers. Badu's people have served the Watchers before, in the days of old.
Where did they come from?
They were originally Marduk's priests, made blind, so that they could see what the eyes cannot. They traveled to the Core, but were lost and wandered the lower shell. Slowly, over thousands of years exposure to the radiation of the Core, they have been changed, and the truth of their origins has been lost, even to them.
Now it's off to speak with General Campbell.