OBJECTIVE
Get Past the City Guards
The Imperial City is off-limits to the lowly denizens of Old Archades. Figure out a way to slip past the Imperial soldiers guarding the entrance to the city.
Action Checklist
1. Talk to the Lucky Man near the bridge.
2. Talk to the Imperial guard.
3. Talk to Beasley.
Get Past the City Guards
Check out the Stranded Merchant just around the corner. He doesn’t have much to sell, but this at least provides an opportunity to sell all the Maggoty Flesh you surely accumulated in Sochen Cave Palace, as well as to restock expendable items.
Now follow the narrow, grimy streets and talk to everybody. Pay attention to the tidbits of information you learn from each NPC; trading info is like gold in the streets. (Several characters tell you as much!)
For example, an Ex-Broker up in the northeast corner of the Alley of Low Whispers is remorseful for all of the former clients he bilked. Not far away, a Fresh Ardent bemoans being bilked by a broker. A connection, perhaps? Also, talk to the “Lucky Man,” the one who confides in you how he found a “bag o’ money” in a barrel. This information will be very valuable shortly.
Continue to head west, then cross the bridge to the Alley of Muted Sighs. A fellow named Jules sits on a crate and speaks of the “market” for information, offering to pay for good tips. Move on to find the Save Crystal in the southwest alley, then continue up the stairs to the Imperial guards blocking the path.
Talk to the soldier on the left, who asks for credentials. Regardless of your answer, after you make your way back to the south a little ways, an event follows in which Jules appears and talks to your party. It turns out he knows Balthier, who calls Jules a “streetear”—a peddler of information. When Jules asks for 1500 gil, go ahead and pay up. You can’t get into the city without his help.
He asks for any street tips you may have picked up. Vaan tells him about info he’s learned. If you talked to the Lucky Man to learn about the bag o’ money he took from a barrel, Jules sends the party to report this to Beasley, the man who lost the money. Beasley sits on the ground back near the bridge.
Talk to Beasley and return to Jules to trigger another event. Beasley has started a fight with the Lucky Man! This brings the Imperial guards jogging past to stop the fracas. Now that the coast is clear, Vaan runs upstairs.
The party automatically enters the Imperial City of Archades. Watch the brief event in which the party arrives in the busy streets of the capital. At this point, a new objective appears on the Location Map.
