Chapter 9: the Haunted Mansion, Botanical Horror and the Dweller of Woe

Checklist

The entrance hall and the first ghosts

1. Before leaving the entrance hall, walk up the stairs to the headmaster and interact with the candles on the right. Lighting them makes the painting slide aside: take the hidden path to the right for an Obsidian Ingot.
2. Drop back down and go through the nearby door (the other one leads to the basement, which your group won’t take). In the corridor beyond, Serai joins again.

3. The next room holds Spellbooks: casters with a mix of spells and a fair amount of HP. They burn easily, so lead with fire. Once the room is clear, talk to the ghost and it becomes a camp where you can rest and save.
4. In the room to the right you meet the Waltzers, dancing ghosts that throw slow pink flames. The flames curve on their way in, which makes the block timing awkward, and they hit hard.
5. The fireplace passage:
   1. Talk to the ghost in that room afterwards: it mentions the torch left of the fireplace.
   2. Examine that torch to open a secret passage and press the switch at its end. This unlocks the door below.
   3. Knock the ladder loose, descend, and enter through the door you just unlocked.

The dining room: a sandwich for a ghost

1. Head north and fight another batch of Spellbooks. The chest in the corner of this dining room holds the recipe for Mooncradle Fish Pie.

2. The ghost girl here wants a very strange sandwich, so you’ll have to make it. Take the two servings of meat off the table, then go left into the kitchen. A note there gives the formula, and every ingredient sits on the counters:

3. The result is the Master Ghost Sandwich. Hand it to the girl: she pays 100 gold, unlocks the next door and leaves you a clue — “Crown the King”.

Crowning the king

1. The next room has two groups of enemies, one on each side. The left group is much tougher, so keep everyone’s HP up. When both are gone the fog lifts and two ghosts appear; neither has anything useful to say.
2. Collect the pieces:
   1. On the lower floor to the right stands a king statue wearing a knight’s helm. Take the Knight’s Helm from it.
   2. On the left, the lower bookcase that sparkles holds Question Pack #3. The other bookcases only have text.
   3. Go north, put the helm on the knight statue and climb the ladder.
   4. Up there, go left for the Crown. You can also grapple right along the upper walkway and kick down a ladder at the far right end as a shortcut.
   5. Put the crown on the king statue. A new puzzle appears in the middle of the room.
3. The picture in the centre of the room shows the answer: set the skulls on each side so they match it.

4. A scroll falls onto the ground floor. Pick it up: Zale and Serai learn the combo skill X-Strike.

Stairs, a shortcut and the garden

1. Take the door next to the king statue and go down the stairs. The climbable wall here is easy to miss: use it to reach the platform, then grapple onward — but first climb straight back down the same wall for a chest with the Spectral Cape. Only Garl and Serai can wear it, and it’s worth putting on one of them.
2. In the next room, go south and break the wall. It opens a shortcut to the camp room, so rest and save there before coming back and heading north.
3. The room to the north has two fights in a row; winning them reveals a door on the left. (A girl sits on a chair here, but we found no way to speak to her.)
4. That door leads outside, to a table loaded with food: take the milk and meat. Then go to the bottom-left corner and interact with the urn by the west wall. It opens a hidden passage to a chest you could see but not reach earlier: a Rainbow Conch.

5. The hedge maze to the north:
   1. Before fighting, wander the maze for four berry bushes and three servings of eggs.
   2. In the northeast corner, beat a Boulbe and a Woodland Spirit. It’s a quick fight.
   3. A second Boulbe waits in the northwest corner.
6. With both corners cleared, the main door in the centre opens. Heal and save first: the boss is through there.

Boss: Botanical Horror

1. The Horror is a central flower with four limbs: two Top Flowers and two Bottom Flowers. Only the central flower matters, but it can’t be hurt while any limb is alive.
2. Wear the limbs down first, using single-target attacks on the top pair. When all four are low, finish them together with hit-all attacks — by now everyone except Garl has at least one.
3. With every limb gone, the central flower stays open for several turns. Pour everything into it.
4. Eventually the Horror revives its limbs, but only at half health. Another round of hit-all attacks (plus a hit or two if needed) brings them down again and reopens the flower.
5. It’s weak to fire. Played this way the fight is short, and you may not need to heal at all.
6. Afterwards Serai leaves the party. Go left from the camp into the room that was closed before for Music Sheet #2, then save and head back to the headmaster. The scenes that follow lead straight into the next fight.

Boss: Dweller of Woe

1. This one is a story fight with a safety net. You control the headmaster, who can either heal the whole party or Focus to raise the damage you deal. Brugaves and Erlina fight alongside him: they mostly attack but can also heal, and combo heals usually come up before things get dangerous.
2. In the first phase, just attack and use skills as they become available. Skills and boosted attacks do by far the most damage.
3. The roof:
   1. Partway through, the headmaster decides the room needs more light and sends Garl to open the roof.
   2. For a moment you move Garl around the room yourself: go south, climb the ladder and examine the roof until you find the right spot to open.
   3. Garl learns the combat skill Cooker Surprise.
4. Back in battle, the Dweller changes form for the second phase. The moves are the same, but Spectral Scythes now hits three times. Keep blocking, heal when needed and keep the skills and boosted attacks coming.

5. Long scenes follow the fight, including animated ones, and the group ends up back in town tending to the headmaster. Brisk needs help urgently: when you’re in control again, talk to Yolande to sail back. That’s Chapter 10.