STILL GOING AT IT BECAUSE I DONT HAVE TO SCREENSHOT, JUST COMPLAIN

-random encounter Djinni still exist. fuck that
-thankfully I can use my old file to look up Djinn locations through the ingame Djinn List. quite a handy record, that
-anyway Konpa Ruins is a dungeon where we were supposed to meet Kraden given the bridge collapse. needless to say, this hasn't worked very well
-oh hey, do we actually have to decode ancient runes here? TAKE THAT SOL SANCTUM
-dese some actual puzzles doe
-still has Psynergy-granting items, in this case the Grip Crystal. these tend to be mandatory to equip to a certain element of Adept because reasons
-Grip is the hookshot because we didn't have that before. its honestly a pretty neat power
-do all Djinn just flee from you in the field as well as in fights now? I'm not really complaining because it means they get to be a little more creative with catching them, but sometimes I just want a prize to be a prize
-these skeleton animations are top notch by the way

OH THERE'S KRADEN, FINALLY

-Kraden is there with his two students and a Psynergy Vortex. Nowell suggests ditching the place and leaving a note to meet at an actual city, which seems very sensible to me
-Kraden wants to stick around to study the Vortex though, which is a lot safer for him than most of us since he's not an Adept
-Rief, his other student, almost pulls a Tyrell and gets way closer than is reasonable to the vortex, winding himself for even trying and earning a scolding. guess which one of these three is joining our party
-Nowell elects to climb down and check out a machine near the Vortex that reacted to it trying to draw Rief in, but is cut off by a crossbow bolt narrowly missing her! ACTION, EXCITEMENT, ETC.
-these Stealthy Scouts have some high tech gear, including psy grenades that sap PP from targets in a blast radius, which interrupts Tyrell trying to use Starburst to area attack. huh!
-the fight isn't THAT tricky, they can stun targets and you'll lose Psynergy really early in the fight from the psy grenades, but Rief still manages to get his dumb ass captured during the fight
-at around this time a shadowy cabal of villains turns up, consisting of Alex (but he has a mask so pretend we don't know him) and his latest in his series of muscle-bound mercenaries, this one named Blados
-they use the captured Rief as bait to say "hey Kraden, go a different way from your fightin' kid escorts, because we're dropping him off at one out of two exits". this is, presumably, meant to be a threat rather than an inconvenience
-Blados is far more characterized than Saturos ever was, though. he is loud and rude and impatient and he's carrying a big-ass katana like a FedEx package. I like this jerk
-in any event, the split here does force us to take a detour to reunite with Kraden, since the Vortex here will be expanding in strict defiance of every other vortex we've seen. this isn't terrible but it is mildly annoying, although I'm more motivated to figure out the Vortexes and what's up with Alex and Blados than anything else
-(we will not be doing much of anything for either of those things)
-"Now how did our quest for the feather get off track THAT easily?" tyrell I swear to qazlal I'm going to punt you into a psynergy vortex

TIME TO HIT EI-JEI

-Ei-Jei, of course, being the southern coast of Angara, home of Champa among other things
-we can't cross over to the north side anyway thanks to the terrain, but I wanted to investigate the machine! needless to say, nothing ever explained what exactly that machine's purpose is
-as soon as we leave the Konpa Cave, Blados' crew sets off an explosion that collapses the passage behind us, although he is clearly not aiming to hurt us
-it's not really stated what his goal is yet, but I think he can afford a bit of mystery at this point in time. he really does want to beat the hell out of all of us, but the time isn't right and he's agreed to something with Alex, near as I can tell
-anyway here's a hopping crate, Rief is in it, he joins our party and is the new Mia. he sucks and I hate him
-I find it interesting that Blados' idea of severely inconveniencing us just forces us to do what Kraden expected us to do anyway. this seems inefficient, Camelot
-anyway this is a point of no return. hope you have two Djinn of each element (and the Zagan summon if thats your thing)

POINT OF NO REGRETS

-Harapa's our first stop, the City of Ruins. apparently there's lots of work for mercenaries now that many self-styled kings are forming their own countries. don't expect any of them to ever be introduced or named
-item shop is selling Sun Saga 2! yay!
-"Together, they could stop Felix and Alex, two mad fiends who had the same ambition." this... i dont... what... NO. fuck you, sun saga 2
-"A Fire Adept can start fires. But we can't put them out. It's a sore subject for us." then maybe dont huck fireballs about with abandon you dumbass
-two countries in the Ei-Jei region are at war: Ayuthay and Kaocho. if memory serves that actually becomes a slight problem for us
-apparently Nyunpa the monk became able to live without eating and became a living mummy? that is pretty rad
-weapon unleashes can sometimes multitarget, taking the one advantage Psynergy had over normal attacks. was fun while it lasted
-go to Passaj in the mountains, you say? nah ima hit wartorn Kaocho

DETOURS FOR REASONS

-this encounter rate is nuts, I'm shortcutting Avoid again
-"Sorry, I'm just feeling too tired to do much of anything except look at fish..." MOVE YOUR LAZY ASS FOR TWO SECONDS I WANT THAT DJINNI OVER THERE THIS IS THE DUMBEST OBSTACLE
-Kaocho is a split-off country from Sana, i.e. colonial not-China, it seems. emperors from there sought the same secret to eternal life that Babi once held, but he kept the secret before he died. good, I guess
-the gate guards at Kaocho ask if we're Adepts but I know better than to get involved in a land war in Angara
-still have no idea why Steel is a love spirit that steals HP with a kiss. no, steel!=steal
-okay fine I'll climb to Passaj, bye