The Underrated Blademaster

[Skyblade]

Since she wasn't in the running for the Ciddie (or, for that matter, any Ciddie), I'd just like to take a moment to raise a toast to Frimelda Lotice, the most incredibly awesome character in a Final Fantasy game ever. She's a secret character, an idea which has been mostly abandoned by Square-Enix. She has one of the best written, and most tragically epic stories of any FF character ever. She's powerful, well written, beautiful, and well known as one of the most incredibly awesome blademasters in Ivalice.

And no one knows her, because she's a secret character in a spin off game.

[Red Mage Coffman]

I have no idea who this is. How do you go about getting her?

[Wolf Kanno]

I liked Frimelda, she was my favorite character in FFTA2 (Which isn't saying much I'm afraid) and I really did like her side story. It sort of just showed how the main plot of that game was so bad when all the side stories were far more interesting. It's almost like playing Fallout 3 again.

[Skyblade]

I have no idea who this is. How do you go about getting her?

A six part side quest exploring her backstory and fate. Originally, she was considered one of Ivalice's greatest blademasters, and travelled the land kicking butt with her sword, the Fallen Angel (the Excalibur 2 from FFTA) with her lover, Luc Sardac. You'll even spot a couple of pub rumors talking about how awesome she is. At one point before the story, she sort of vanishes from the public eye.



(SPOILER)You eventually get a quest to deliver potions to someone feeling ill, who turns out to be a zombie called Lotice. Using the potions of course hurts her, and she realizes she's undead. She apologizes for troubling you, and leaves seeking a cure for her condition.

You next meet her when she's near the town of Fluorgis, where some townsfolk were complaining about a nearby zombie and asking for it to be killed or driven off. Again, she apologizes, having just been seeing the sights of the city. Cid recognizes her, and tells you a bit about her.

The next part introduces you to a wandering swordsman who wishes to fight Frimelda, looking for a true blademaster to face. You help him in a battle, and inform him that you think he's searching the wrong continent, pointing him vaguely back toward Fluorgis.

Then comes a petition from a paladin seeking to be rid of a zombie who has been hounding his footsteps. The paladin turns out to be Luc Sardac. When the zombie is revealed to be Frimelda, he exclaims in shock that she should be dead, and reveals her fate: he poisoned her out of jealousy when it was clear he could never match her skill or fame, then stole her sword to try to make a name for himself alone. He then tries to kill her and your party (to shut up the witnesses), which is a stupid act that gets him his butt whooped. Frimelda takes her sword back, but doesn't kill Luc, just sends him away.

The next quest involves taking a special tonic to Frimelda, one the party believes was crafted by the powerful Witch of the Fens to cure Frimelda of her zombie state. You find Frimelda being attacked by other zombies, who seem to dislike her just as much as people do, while Luc Sardac claims to be trying to help protect her. After the battle, she is finally restored, and joins your clan out of thanks. Luc Sardac throws himself on her mercy, only to be cast free once more, as it is enough for Frimelda that she was restored. She tosses off his praise, saying that she was just doing what she had to do, being true to herself.

The quest concludes with a challenge from Ghi, the young swordsman, to Frimelda. You meet at the spot for the duel, but Frimelda refuses to fight him, instead saying thanks, because she realized that he was the one who got the Witch to make the cure. Ghi, a bit setback by this, then tells Frimelda that if she knows that, then she must know how much the fight means to him. She apologizes for not taking his feelings into account, and kicks his butt in a one on one duel (actually, it's fairly hard, especially if you haven't trained her any yet). It's revealed that the potion came at the cost of Ghi's life, and he only had a short time left, and wanders off to die, with Frimelda's thanks and condolences, and the knowledge that he faced a true blademaster.

It's one of the best quests in any FF game. Incredibly well written and with great backstory for this awesome character.

You're right, Wolf. It's a shame how the main story turned out when they're capable of writing this awesome.