Bravely Default/Chapter 2

Meanwhile, Alternis reports Edea's treason to the Council of Six. Now that they know the vestal's group is travelling into Florem, Victor and Victoria, two other members of the council, decide to stop the vestal themselves.

Miasma Woods
The Miasma Woods is located at the northeastern region of Harena. It is previously inaccessible due to the hazardous miasma, but now that the wind is blowing again, the fog is dispersed to bearable levels. However, there are still puddles of poisonous swamp on the ground. Walking into these patches will cause your whole party to be poisoned, so watch your step. If one of your characters have the Dungeon Master support command enabled, you can actually take shortcuts past some swampland to traverse this dungeon faster!

The woods are home to a bunch of new enemies. Great Moths can inflict Confuse status with Wing Scales, which will make the affected character behave unpredictably unless you hit them out of it. Treants are also very annoying, as they can put your whole party to Sleep. Scorpions are more standard enemies that inflict Poison. Lastly, Myconids are unique enemies that can generate copies of themselves whenever they're hit with physical attacks. They are pretty good to grind on, since every new Myconid gives you experience and job points as well.

At the entrance to the forest, there is a talking fox with the same inventory as the one in Yulyana. The first section of the Miasma Woods is pretty straightforward. Head north and go around the large poison swamp, then round the corner and go north again. Near the exit, go west and around the curve to find a Remedy. Head through the exit up north to enter the central region of Miasma Woods.

Here, head east past a blue chest, then north between several poison swamps. Follow the dirt path and you should come across a chest with 2000 pg along the way, and one with a Scimitar at the dead end. Backtrack to the intersection west of the blue chest and head north. Go east into the small branching path to find a Phoenix Down within a chest. Continue north and west to reach the final section of Miasma Woods.

Hug the northern wall to safely reach a chest containing a Hi-Potion. Follow the southern path between two swamps, then do a U-turn toward the east and head into the second eastern exit. You'll be back at the central section, where you can find an X-Potion. Return to the northern region and continue down the path to the west. Head north when you get the chance to reach a chest with an Ether. Head south and continue south at the intersection. Follow the dirt path around to find an Earthing Rod within the chest. Head west again, and carefully travel down the thin passage between the swamp to get to a chest containing a Turbo Ether. Start heading north when you're back on the main path. Make a detour east to a chest for a Remedy, then hurry north. Restock and save with the Adventurer if you want, then exit into the Florem region!

Florem, Land of Radiant Flowers
Somewhere else, Alternis requests the help of the Bloodrose Legion, the Eternian forces operating in Florem. After the cutscene ends, start heading west toward the city of Florem. It lies at the center of a river delta, so you'll have to cross several bridges to get there. Upon arrival, Agnes will state that Florem is a city populated exclusively with women, but some things have changed. While Florem used to be a devout Crystalist city, the locals seem more concerned about beauty and materialism. Perhaps the matriarch of the town knows what caused this change.

The extravagant city of Florem is split into two sections. The City Entrance contains all of the standard amenities: an inn, an armory, an item's shop and a magic shop. You can get scrolls for level 3 White and Black Magic as well as level 2 Time Magic here. Inspect the area to the left of the bush closest to the exit to find an Ether, then check the railing of the bridge to the scroll shop to get a Bomb Fragment. Go north to enter the Florem Plaza. There's an extravagant stage said to be used for the Sacred Flower Festival's fashion show. Head around the right perimeter of the stage until you can Inspect to get a Lilith's Kiss.

More importantly, the Plaza also contains the entrance to the Matriarch's Hall. Go inside. It appears that the Matriarch is aware of the changes in the attitude's of the residents in Florem, but laments that she can do nothing to stop it. Apparently, the water vestal has gone into hiding for a while. No one knows where she is, but you should go to the Temple of Water to look for clues. Once you regain control of the party, inspect the hall's right wall to find a Star Pendant, then check the flower ornament behind the Matriarch for a Tengu Yawn.

Temple of Water
To get to the Temple of Water, simply cross the western bridge from Florem and travel south. The appearance of this temple might look similar to the Temple of Wind. However, there are no enemies at all inside; this place is deserted, not attacked. There are plenty of loot you can get with ease. From the start, go into the narrow corridor to the west and head south to find a chest containing a Remedy. Now, head east to the room you can Inspect. Head to the bottom-left corner and move through the false wall between the two bookshelves. Follow the path east to find a Rebuff Locket.

Where you could find steps in the Temple of Wind, you can now find chests. At the southeastern corner of the temple, there are two chests containing a Hi-Potion and a Phoenix Down respectively. In the northeastern corner, you will find an Ice Charm and an X-Potion within the chests instead. Head west into the northwestern narrow corridor and go down to the dead end to find an Ether. It's time to check out the altar. It appears that the water vestal is gone, but has still left a barrier on the Crystal of Water as protection. It wasn't quite enough seeing as the seas have rotted.

Entering a fashion show?
Return to Florem and talk to the Matriarch again. There's not a single clue about the water vestal's whereabouts, but Ringabel makes a bizarre suggestion: have Agnes join the fashion competition. Hopefully Olivia will realize that the wind vestal is searching for her, but Agnes is too plain looking currently. You must ask around to know about the latest trends.

First, speak to the girl outside the Matriarch's Hall, who says that spirit hairpins are the latest trend. It isn't stocked in the local shops, a fact that you can confirm with the Trader at the City Entrance. She points you to a blue-haired girl. Talk to her and she will tell you about Petalhue dye, then suggests asking the nearby man. The Ancheim citizen wants to see something sexy, and points out another girl as an example. Talk to her and she says an old sage comes to town regularly to sell sexy clothes. Finally, talk to the Matriarch again. Apparently, the old sage is the same one who lives in the Yulyana Needleworks. A dangerous passage connects these two regions together: Mount Fragmentum.

Sub-scenario: Dye to die for
After talking to the Matriarch about the sage, two sub-scenarios become available to you. The first one can be completed pretty quickly. Talk to the girl outside the Matriarch's Hall to hear her rambling on about Petalhue dye. At the City Entrance, you can find the merchant selling Petalhue dye...for a million pg! After talking to the salesgirl, talk to the dye-crazy girl at the plaza again. Now stop by at the item shop. The shopkeeper doesn't want to stock Petalhue dye, but says the merchants come from the east.

To the Twisted Treetop
Exit from Florem and head east past several bridges, then to the northern woods. Move east through a valley between two mountain ranges. You will encounter the dye-seller, who, after some persuasion, tells you about the dye. It is made by extracting a substance from serpentine creatures called orochi living in the woods. The dye also contains a chemical that is extremely addictive, causing the residents of Florem to obsess over it.

After telling you about the dye, the salesgirl realizes she has been tricked, and sics two Bloodrose minions upon you. You'll fight a Bloodrose Mage and a Bloodrose Impaler. The Bloodrose Mage can cast Silence to debuff and Gravity to do damage. The Bloodrose Impaler is more physically-oriented, and she often uses Execution to do extra damage. She is weak to electric magic like Thunder. Both enemies are normal goons, so you'll be able to defeat them with ease. Keep heading east and north until you see a single large tree among a forest of wilted trees. Approach it to enter the Twisted Treetop.

Boss: Artemia Venus
The corpses of dead orochi are strewn about in this small area. It turns out that Artemia Venus, youngest of the Venus sisters, is responsible for causing this. She only listens to her sister Einheria and lives solely to hunt. Telling her to stop only irritates her more, causing her to antagonize the party. The hunt is on...and you're the prey!

Artemia is a skilled Ranger, and uses her bow for her attacks. She is accompanied by a Legion Impaler and a Legion Mage. Her most threatening move is Multiburst, which deals a ton of damage randomly spread out across your party. However, it costs a significant amount of BP, and thus Artemia will use Default very often to build up BP. Artemia can ignore Default defense from your side with Targeting, which she will use very often. Because she wears an animal hide, she is very vulnerable to fire magic.

Your first priority is to defeat Artemia's assistants, as they can be annoying and potentially disruptive if left alive. Some concentrated attacking and electric magic should kill them off quickly. With your focus on Artemia, you should play very defensively. Use Default in anticipation of her Multiburst, and don't worry about getting hit by Targeting. She uses Multiburst very sparingly, and never does another Multiburst within two turns, so you should be more aggressive after blocking a Multiburst. Continue on with this strategy of baiting a Multiburst and then attacking in the aftermath to wear her down. Artemia's liberal use of Default won't make this easy, but you can use the turns she spends Defaulting to heal and cast buffs on your party. A Black Mage or a Spell Fencer with fire magic will be very effective against her, so use these spells liberally to end the fight quickly.

Artemia drops the Ranger asterisk. Rangers are extremely accurate and skilled with Bows and Daggers. Most of the abilities they learn deal extra damage to specific enemy types, but they are powerful physical attackers with just their normal attacks.