Part 30: Steel Beach and Freighter

Main Walkthrough

The team finally has a boat, only to discover that it's not nearly sturdy enough to get across the Outer Sea. Fortunately, Zig, the team's newest member (sorta, anyway - he won't be doing any fighting) knows a bit about a man called the Legendary Mariner, who is the only person known to have crossed the ocean between continents. The party will need to head to Parch, a seaside town, to learn more.

Steer your boat west. (We'll get into how you can do this soon. For now, just remember that hitting the up button always steers you forward, regardless of which direction your boat is facing.) You'll find Parch a ways northwest of Rhapala. 

Parch

A salty seaside town that is overrun with lice, Parch - and the people living there - is obsessed with one thing: Fishing. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot else to do besides fish, so... that makes sense. Still, you should give the place a once over before visiting the mayor, who will push the plot forward.

  • North of the dock you'll find a combined inn, item, and weapon / armor shop. The weapons are a bit behind what you probably found in Junk Town, but the armor isn't bad. Check the dresser by the Manillo who's camped out in the bedroom to find a Coin.
  • There are two homes on the northeast side of Parch. The home on the left has a dresser containing 400 zenny...
  • ... and the home on the right, which happens to be the mayor's home, has... nothing. Well, at least you found the mayor!
Yep, slim pickings. Speak to the mayor and he'll refuse to speak about the Legendary Mariner, claiming that the party will feed him fish and make him sick. He mentions the Maekyss Gorge during his rant, a place you probably haven't visited since Ryu was a lad. This begins one of the more obnoxious sections of Breath of Fire III.


Shisu

Park the boat at Rhapala's Wharf and hoof it back to Wyndia. Take the road southeast of Wyndia and you'll cross the Maekyss Gorge as you're headed towards Genmel. If you check beneath the bridge spanning the gorge you'll find a house on the north side. It belongs to a pair of artists and their daughter, and the wife, Kimiko, will explain how to make Shisu. It's a delicacy made of fish that nonetheless tastes nothing like fish. Perhaps it would loosen the mayor's tongue a little?

You need four ingredients to make Shisu, and you'll need to track them all down. Depending on how prepared you are this can take a few minutes, or... a while. Let's get started.

Mackerel

First up is Mackerel, the all-important fishy component of Shisu. Mackerel can only be found at the Fishing Spot on the southwest side of the Maekyss Gorge. Any rod will do, though grabbing the Deluxe Rod from the Checkpoint near Dauna Mine will make your job a fair bit easier. Worms will do as bait, if you don't have anything else, though Mackerel seem more willing to actively chase higher-quality bait like Frogs.

The quality of the Shisu will depend heavily on the size of the Mackerel. For the best results you want one that is 68 cm or larger in size. You may need to go fishing in this spot a few times to get the best results. (Though if you just want to barrel through the minigame and don't care about a nice prize, any size Mackerel will do.) 

Shaly Seeds

Next are Shaly Seeds. These are the easiest of the four ingredients to track down, as there's a tree with Shaly Seeds just outside Kimiko's home, down a side path and beneath a bridge to the north. Put Peco at the head of your party and have him smack the seeds out of the tree until you can't carry any more.

Vinegar

Third, and arguably most obnoxious, is Vinegar. When you first visited the Coffee Shop near the Plant you may have spoken to a man by a well, who explained that the well was filled with Vinegar. Return to him - he's down a slope on the east side of the outdoor eating area - and he'll offer to give you Vinegar, if you can pull water out of the well for him. The catch? You need to play a minigame. Sigh.

Put Garr at the lead of the party to begin the game. The aim sounds simple - fill the bucket and pull it back up - but performing this task can be annoyingly difficult. Perform the following steps to successfully fill, and retrieve, the bucket:

  • Press the triangle button until you hear a splash - try to do this at a steady pace, not too quickly or too slowly
  • Press the analog buttons left and right until you can't hear a churning water sound anymore
  • Press the X button roughly the same number of times as you pressed the triangle button, again not too quickly or too slowly - don't go over the number of times you pressed the triangle button or you'll mess up and need to retry the game
You'll receive four does of Vinegar for successfully pulling up the water. Yes, it's a terrible minigame. No, you can't skip it. Sorry. (If you're having trouble with this one, you might be going too slowly during the first part. I found I succeeded more often than not when I sped up to between nine and twelve presses of the triangle button.)

Horseradish

Last is Horseradish. This, like the Shaly Seeds, is pretty easy to get, and you may have some already. Horseradish grows on the side of the main path as you walk through Ogre Road. The plants stand out from the rest, and Ryu can slice them up. You can gather three tufts of Horseradish per visit.

Take the four ingredients back to Maekyss Gorge. Kimiko will explain how to prepare the Shisu for the mayor, and provide rough estimates on how you should handle the four ingredients. Her tips are as follows:

  • Bigger Mackerel means bigger Mackerel slices
  • The ball of Shaly Seeds needs to match the size of the Mackerel
  • Use one-fourth as much Vinegar as Shaly Seeds
  • Balance the amount of Horseradish with the number of Shaly Seeds you used
  • Knead twice
Kimiko will also provide some approximate ratios for each of the ingredients.


Take all this knowhow back to Parch and speak to the mayor's assistant to begin the Shisu construction. Lay out each of the ingredients in the amounts you want, then knead (Knd) the Shaly Seed ball to the correct size. Choose End to present the Shisu to the mayor. I found these directions gave me the best results:
  • 1 Mackerel
  • 15 Shaly Seeds
  • 4 Vinegar
  • 3 Horseradish
  • Knead the Shaly Seed ball twice
Regardless of how well the Shisu turns out (so long as you knead it, anyway) the mayor will be pleased with the results, and he'll give you Sea Charts that will help you find the Legendary Mariner. Apparently he lives to the east of Parch. Speak to the assistant before you leave and you'll also receive an item for your help, and what you get varies based on how well the Shisu turned out:
  • Ammonia
  • Wisdom Seed
  • Wisdom Fruit
  • Sage's Frock
  • Barbarossa
  • Lacquer Armor
  • Shaman's Ring
The Shaman's Ring is by far the best of these items, as it reduces AP use in combat, so you should aim for perfection if you plan to take this minigame seriously. (Thanks to the GameFAQs forum for the full list of rewards. I got sick of making and remaking Shisu after a while.)

Part 32: The Legendary Mariner and the Black Ship

Main Walkthrough