Old Archades

Path: ALLEY OF LOW WHISPERS > ALLEY OF MUTED SIGHS

Cut Scene: Emerging from the backdoor caverns the air, as expected, smells like crap. Vaan, sitting on a balcony like some sort of wily little wood sprite, complains that for a capital, it sure smells bad. Balthier lectures him that it is ok for stuff to smell bad. He goes on to explain that people who don’t have a permit to live in the city live here.

ALLEY OF LOW WHISPERS
 From the merchant sitting in the corner, buy the Embroidered Tippet. What is a Tippet you may ask, well it is like a long scarf that hangs down to your knees. This accessory is just as important as the Golden Amulet because equipping it will double the Experience Points earned. Only buy three because EP is only earned by active party members (unlike LP which everyone gets). Have your three active members wearing the Tippets and inactive members the Golden Amulet. I wore this combination throughout the rest of the game.

Talking to everyone in the city you find that they are sad, have big dreams, and have the same speech patterns as Eliza Doolittle.

ALLEY OF MUTED SIGHS
At the bottom of the stairs talk to someone called “Lucky Man.” Proceed to the end of the south of the city and talk to the imperials. Respond “I have not.” A man approaches Balthier and says to him that “he didn’t think he’d be seeing you again.” Balthier knows him as Streatear. Streatear (his Christian name is Jules) is very poor and dirty. So poor in fact that he can only afford half of a shirt. Pay him what he is asking for - 1500 Gil. If you need the money, go back into the caves to fight more monsters.

With the money, Jules will create a diversion for the clan. You must talk to a man named Beasley to set things in motion. He is sitting on the ground in ALLEY OF MUTED SIGHS, just east of the bridge. When you walk up to him he will be labeled “Archadian Vulger.” After talking to him, go back to Jules, who is now sitting on a crate. By talking to Beasley, Jules was able to get the guards to bite the hook. With the guards handling a petty dispute, the gate is now unguarded. See with all the border security it still just comes down to people. Jules parts with Balthier but not before touching on the sore subject: his father.