North Mountain

- Head northeast from Carwen, assuming you went that way after the Ship Graveyard, and you’ll find a divide in the mountains. The left leads back to the Graveyard; the right leads to North Mountain.

- Enter the dungeon. The path inside the first area splits to the north and south. To the south you’ll find a Phoenix Down; to the north is a Gold Needle, as well as the exit.

- Wander north on the next screen, into another cave, and east through that to arrive outdoors again. Out here you’ll find purple flowers on the map that will poison your characters if you step on them. Yes, all of your characters. Blegh. Avoid the flowers and make your way north to find a save point in the next cave. Make sure you use it, ‘cause the boss coming up in the next area is preeeeetty tough.

Magissa

This fight starts off simply enough. Magissa is a black mage, for the most part, and she’ll use offensive spells on your team to do damage. She’s not too bad, but her Drain spell will smart pretty good. Things get complicated, however, when Magissa drags her husband Forza into the fight after a handful of rounds. Forza is a potent physical attacker who can, if your characters are already low enough, kill in one hit. Ouch. Ignore defence during the first half of this fight and try to whittle away Magissa’s health as quickly as possible. If you’re strong enough she’ll die as Forza is appearing, and save you having to fight both - which is a pain, since Magissa will heal Forza while he beats on you. Once Magissa is gone, smack Forza down with your strongest attacks, healing as necessary. Protect will make dealing with Forza much easier. You’ll get a Power Drink and a Whip for besting Magissa and Forza.

(Regardless of how you handle this fight, mind that Lenna is poisoned when it begins. Ahh, storyline continuity.)

- Head through the cave to the west to hit a cut scene. Once it’s done your team will be healed, and you’ll gain a new form of transportation: the Wind Drake, Hiryu.

Exploration

Despite how it seems, Hiryu does not open up the whole world for you. He can fly around the map as much as you like, but he can’t fly over mountains and can only land on grass, which greatly reduces the amount of terrain you can actually cover. Still, there’s one side area you can visit before heading to the next mandatory location…

… and that’s Castle Tycoon. Located east of the Tycoon Meteor where you started the game, Castle Tycoon contains a cut scene with the chancellor of the kingdom, among others. Once it’s done you can have a look around. There’s a Hi-Potion on the first floor, down from where you spend the night, a Cottage, an Ether, a Phoenix Down, and an Elixir in the east wing, an Ether, a Elixir, a Phoenix Down, and a Maiden’s Kiss on the fourth floor (right from the throne), and, in the Storehouses (near the Castle’s entrance, protected by a soldier when you first enter), an Ashura, a Shuriken, and a Diamond Bell. To access these three you need to hit a switch in the Storehouse and wander through a secret passage in the back.