Reaching Kashuan
To reach Kashuan from Salamand, you have two choices. If you wish to walk, head east and then south to return to Bafsk. From Bafsk, you must go south and the east between the coast above and the mountain range below, until you find a break in the range. The Keep is in the center of the mountain range, so you much head south west until it comes into view. The alternative is to return to Poft, and hire Cid's airship to fly you to Kashuan, where it will drop you directly in front of the keep.
Kashuan Keep
- 1st floor
- As you enter the courtyard of the Keep, you will see the Sunfire sitting in plain view. But you don't have the item necessary to transport it anywhere, Egil's Torch. Just about the flame is a door that appears to be locked. Use the Goddess Bell in front of this door, and the seal will break.
- Climb the stairs beyond the door, and you will run into Gordon. Unable to completely recall the layout of the Keep, but determined to help any way he can, he joins your party. Follow the hallway to the stairs on the right, and you'll be in the upper portion of the first floor. Walk down the right side to retrieve the Cure Tome from the chest, and then backtrack around to the left side to find the stairs the go to the second floor. Give the Cure Tome to any of the main three characters who hasn't learned it already, or give it to Gordon.
- 2nd floor
- There are a few dead-ends on this floor, which you should try to avoid. Your goal is to make it to the bottom, and then travel counter-clockwise around the outer edge of the floor until you reach the chest in the upper right corner, which contains 300 Gil. Then keep going left along the top of the floor and follow the path around the to stairs to the third floor.
- 3rd floor
- From the stairs, head right and then down until you reach a hallway of statues with three southern passageways. The left one is a dead-end, but the middle one leads to a corridor where you can find a chest in the lower left corner which contains a Gold Shield, as well as a forced encounter with some Wererats. Watch out as Wererat poison sticks after battle. Then you must return to the statues and take the far right passage to begin the path that will lead to the next floor.
- 4th floor
- The floor plan here gives you more options, but the lower left corner is closed off and only accessible from the 5th floor. There is a door near the center (marked with an A) that leads to a room containing three treasure chests. Each chest contains a weapon, but one contains the Werebuster, a mace particularly effective against Were-beasts. No other door is particularly useful. Make your way to the staircase located just above the lower-left corner.
- 5th floor
- When you arrive, you must head up. Make your way into the center of the floor, where you will find a lone treasure chest which contains Gold Armor, along with a force encounter against Mines. Be careful of their tendency to self-destruct and heavily damage one party member in the process. After you collect the armor, head to the door in the upper right corner. While not quite as good as the floor below, this room has three chest with status-healing supplies.
- Finally, make your way to the staircase in the lower left corner which will lead back down to the fourth floor. Immediately enter the door that you find there, and you will be forced to face a Red Soul which is guarding Egil's Torch. The Red Soul's fiery appearance and seemingly high resistance to physical attacks may incline you to think that you are meant to cast Blizzard on this enemy. However, the fact is that any magic you cast on the Red Soul will heal, not harm, the Red Soul. Your only choice is to slowly slog through the fight, chipping away at its health until it is defeated. At first, it comes out of the gate with many high level offensive magic spells, but after a while, it resorts to weaker physical attacks. Once it is defeated, you may advance to the chest behind and collect Egil's Torch.
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Floor 1: A) Cure Tome
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Floor 2: A) 300 Gil
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Floor 3: A) Gold Shield
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Floor 4: A) Werebuster, Mythril Axe, Mythril Sword, B) Egil's Torch
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Floor 5: A) Gold Armor, B) Echo Screen, Antidote, Eye Drops.
Kashuan aftermath
Once you have the torch, you can exit the keep anyway that you like, Teleport will work. Just remember to return to the first floor, just beyond the entrance, and approach the Sunfire. You will be given the opportunity to use an Item, at which time use Egil's Torch. The flame will transfer to your torch and you will now be in possession of Sunfire. After you exit the keep and set foot on the bridge, you will witness a scene. An airship (presumably the one which Cid and Hilda were on) is attacked by a much larger airship (the Dreadnaught). Not knowing the fate of the smaller ship, you must make your way back to Altair to find out what happened.
Fortunately, you have access to a much easier way to travel, courtesy of the first Chocobo Forest to ever appear in the Final Fantasy series. It's found directly south of the keep. You'll see an extremely small clearing just north of a mountain range. Step inside, and you'll have to track down to lone Chocobo resident of the forest. Talk to it, and you'll be able to ride on it throughout the overworld. This is an excellent means of transportation because it is fast, and you are safe from random encounters throughout your journey. Your next destination is far to the south, although you may wish to return to Bafsk first to restore your health.
Dreadnought
Head back to the Altair and speak to everyone in the room. You will find out that Princess Hilda and Cid have been captured by the Dreadnought, but it requires replenishment and the replenishment location is to the Northwest of Altair. Head Northwest and enter Dreadnought. Go through the map to find Cid and Princess Hilda. Cid will tell you to throw the Sunfire into the engine. Go to the 5F which is the engine room to throw the Sunfire into the engine. A Dark Knight will appear and ask what have you done to the engine. Maria will recognize the voice but there is no time to talk here as the ship is about to blow. Your party will auto exit the Dreadnought and head back to Altair.
Go into the King's room and you will find that the King is about to die. Before you do so, unequip Gordon's items as he will leave you after this section. The King will ask Gordon to take lead of his army. He asks of Minwu to break the seal binding the Ultima Tome. He asks Firion to head to Deist, home of the Dragoons, to search for last standing Dragoons and their Wyverns. Lastly, he asks that you all take care of Princess Hilda. After which, he leaves the world. Gordon and Minwu leaves the room to handle their tasks and you are back to 3 party members again.