Trials of Mana/Part 14: Thorny Situation

Diorre is a tricky place to find and access. To get into it, we must have Luna. This is why I'm getting you to find Luna first. Anyway, to summarise, We now have Fairy, Wisp, Gnome, Jinn, Shade, Undine, Salamando and Luna as spirits. We only have one more to get and that's Dryad. Once you board Booskaboo, you should see that there is only one red dot left. This is Diorre. The beach you want to dock at is to the east of the red dot. Follow the coast and you'll find it. Dock here and head west. You'll stumble across a tree blocking your way. When asked, use Luna (the spirit you just obtained.) She'll recognise the tree as being from the Moonlight Forest and will open a path for you. Now the tricky part. If Carlie is on your team, she'll recognise the place and explain that the forest must hold a secret. If she's not on your team, you'll meet her just a little further down. She'll storm off after a chat. Head southwest and beat up the monsters here. Talk to Carlie again and she'll reveal the secret of the plants. The secret is that the flowers glow in the dark. If you follow the red plants, they will take you to Diorre. The forest is called the Lampflower Forest for this reason. Wait until dark and then follow the red flowers -- it's not too hard. I'm not going to tell you where to go, the path is right in front of you. Oh, all right, in case it's day time, go (where were you meet Carlie the second time) south, southwest, south, south, east, south, west, west and north to enter Diorre (notice the two graves outside. They belong to Leroy and Shayla, Carlie's parents.) When you look around, no-one will talk to you and actually try to avoid you. The King's house is on the southeastern part of town. Go inside and make your way to the top room. You'll find the King. Talk to him and Carlie will take over (if she's on your team) or run into the room (if she's not.) Watch the scene and then leave. Carlie will rejoin your team if she's a member otherwise, you'll never see her again.


 * NOW* the people will talk to you. The elves here make really powerful weapons, better than the dwarves. Fork out on everything you can afford and stock up on supplies. The inn here is very cheap, only 10 luc per night. When you're done, the next thing we need to do is to find the Gold Statue the King spoke about.

When you're ready, head south then east out of the town and back into the Lampflower Forest. Now go north (notice the flowers again?) and west to get to the Gold Statue the Fairy King mentioned. The enemies should now be easier because you've got new weapons and armour. Once at the statue, talk to it and to use Luna when asked. Luna will open up a path and keep one of the plants because of their scent. When she has finished, save at the Gold Statue and then head west down the path Luna opened. Now go northeast, north and north again to face:

Boss : Gildervine Gildervine isn't too hard. He is weak against any electrical-based attack so use Thunder Saber, Thunderstorm, Thunder Jutsu or anything similar. If you don't have any of Jinn's more powerful moves, the basic Fireball spell does wonders, especially after Lise has cast Protect Down and Mind Down on Gildervine (you can get Lise to cast Mind _UP_ on Angela instead if you want to.) This fight is one of the easier ones. A few of the spells are taught by Dryad.

Once Gildervine is defeated, Dryad will appear and join your team (after some persuasion.) Right! That's all nine spirits. Where to now? The Island of Obilivion. It lies in the middle of the world. It is the centre of all Mana energy -- and that's where we're heading next.

From the place where you beat Gildervine, go south, south, east and you'll be back at the Gold Statue. Refresh and save here and then head for the beach. There's a shortcut you can take to get to the beach quickly. Go northeast from the Gold Statue. Now go east, north and east again and you'll end up back at the beach. Call Booskaboo and head for the final red dot -- The Island of Oblivion.