Skies of Arcadia/To Valua

Oblivious to the plight of their friends and family, Vyse and Aika leave the temple on Shrine Island. You can save again by your boat, before departing the island and heading home. Once you've set sail you can press Start and select Map to check your position and direction - Pirate Isle will be marked with a red pin.

Back at Pirate Isle you'll find the place in ruins. Head underground to find the women and children; one of the women will tell you that Vyse's mother is in Dyne's office. Go to speak with her, and you'll be given another Swashbucker choice: "Try and save everyone", or "There's nothing we can do" - the correct one should be obvious. You'll rest up for tonight, and set sail for Valua first thing in the morning.

Setting Sail

As you leave Pirate Isle, you can speak to the children, who are all putting a brave face on things and promising to rebuild the island before you get back. As before, board the ship when you're ready and set sail for Valua.

To get to the Valuan capital, you need to head north past Shrine Island, then turn east. Unfortunately, on your way you'll find yourself coming into some thick fog - and you'll have a brush with the giant arcwhale Rhaknam. You're given the choice to "Attack it!" or "Retreat" (or chicken out completely with "I don't know!") - take the safe "Retreat" choice for your Swashbuckler Rating. Rhaknam doesn't care that you're preparing to back off, though - he wrecks your little boat and both Vyse and Aika black out.

The pair wake on the deck of a ship, confronted by an angry man with a mechanical arm. The man, Drachma, was chasing the arcwhale that destroyed your ship when you were attacked, and the remainder of your ship seriously damaged Drachma's vessel. As a result, he's lost the trail and none too happy about it - you'll have to work for him while you're on board.

Drachma

File:SOA DRACHMA.jpg

Drachma

Drachma will tell you to move boxes from the middle deck up to the bridge of his ship - there are two, and you can move them simply by pressing to start the cutscene. After moving the first one you'll get a little bit of conversation out of Drachma, and will listen to Vyse's whole story - unfortunately he's fairly unsympathetic. Once you've moved the second box up, Drachma lets Vyse take control of The Little Jack, and you'll have to sail to Sailor's Island yourself.

It's a little to the east of where you met Rhaknam, so head through the tunnel in the rock ahead of you, and you should see the lighthouse on the island fairly soon.

Sailor's Island

Once on the island, Drachma will leave your party again and head into the tavern - you'll have to find some way to convince him to take you to Valua so you can rescue Vyse's dad and his crew.

First off, you should head into the Sailor's Guild on your right and speak to the Guild Master; he'll buy any discovery information that you've collected. Second, go behind the Sailor's Guild, past the brooding man in purple, and you'll find a chest with three Repair Kits inside - they'll come in very handy. There's also a weapons merchant with some good armor and weapons, and the item merchant can stock you up with healing items.

There's a pair of gossiping merchants standing outside the Sailor's Guild who mention the Ship Merchant having information about a new cannon, so head there now. It's right-hand side at the very end of the island beside the Inn, and has a Ship's Wheel sign hanging outside. Inside, listen to what the merchant has to say and you'll get some news about the Harpoon Cannon, a massively powerful weapon for sale in Valua that might just be able to take out Rhaknam.

Head back to the tavern and speak to Drachma. You'll get the option to come straight out with the news, but it's better for your Swashbuckler Rating if you beat around the bush. The barkeep, Polly, will back you up with what she's heard, and you'll find yourself with Drachma back in your party, and a ship to get to Valua. Unfortunately you'll need to get a Valuan Passport to enter the country - but luckily, Sailor's Island is just the place to come across something like that.

The Valuan Passport

Your best bet is the Sailor's Guild, but the Guildmaster has some bad news. A real Valuan Passport would take an entire lunar cycle to obtain, and he's too scared to make you a fake one. Fortunately, a merchant from the desert kingdom of Nasr has overheard your conversation, and is willing to give you his unneeded Valuan documentation if you'll act as his security for his journey home.

Accepting the job and head back to the Little Jack, where you'll get some directions from the Nasrean merchant you're helping on how to find his country. It's pretty simple, really—follow the stone reef east until you reach Nasr.

Just before you reach Nasr you'll be spotted by Baltor, the notoriously vicious leader of the Black Pirates. He's keen to take on the ageing Little Jack in order to steal the cargo from your Nasrean charge, which gives you the first Ship Battle of the game.

Ship Battle: Baltor The Black Pirate

Before you actually engage Baltor's ship, you'll be given a quick rundown of the Ship Battle system by Drachma. Choose an action for the character, and choose when you'd like them to execute it. The effectiveness of certain moves will depend on who executes them; for instance a strong character like Drachma will do more damage with a cannon than Aika.

With that in mind, it's best to use Vyse to Focus or attack when you have the Spirit Points; heal (using a Repair Kit or Sacri) or dodge with Aika when needed; and attack with Drachma. Baltor himself isn't all that strong - your cannons will do reasonable amounts of damage to him, and he shouldn't pose too much of a threat to The Little Jack so long as you keep an eye on your HP.

Defeating Baltor will net you a Captain's Stripe, which you can use to "level up" your ship.

Once Baltor's ship goes down in flames, you'll be able to continue your journey to Nasr - once you arrive at the border, the Nasrean Navy will take over the protection of their citizen. The merchant will hand over the Valuan Passport, and you're able to continue with your rescue mission.

Discovery

Guidestones
On a small circular island between the South Dannal Strait and Sailor's Island

The easiest way to find Valua is to follow the stone reef back to Sailor's Island and head north from there - on your way, keep an eye out on the right (or starboard, if you prefer) for a small circular island with the "Guidestones" Discovery on it.