Chrono Trigger - Tyranno’s Lair
Crono and the friends go to the woods to witness the argument between Ayla and the village elder. The elder is angry with Ayla because her decision to take the reptites head on has put the survival of the tribe in jeopardy. While Ayla is adamant fighting the reptites is the only way to insure the long-term survival of humanity. She ends the conversation by declaring she will go bring the fight right to Azala’s doorstep. The Elder is free to go hide. She leaves to find a way to Tyranno’s lair.
Ayla has been a good friend of the whole party and has come through in their time of need time and time again. Now when she needs us the most, there is no way Crono will abandon her. Accompanied by his friends, Crono makes his way to the top of the mountain where Dactyl’s nest is. Ayla is getting ready to take flight on one of the Dactyls so she can get to Tyranno’s Lair. She does not want Crono and company to come with her since this is a dangerous journey. Marle declares that is all the more reason for them to go together. Ayla is overcome with emotion at this show of friendship and acquiesces to their demand. The whole party flies off. They land atop the mountain that has the entrance to the Lair. The party makes its way inside and sees some of the villagers imprisoned in a cell. Ayla frees them, but Kino is not among them. We will have to keep looking for him. This place is teeming with reptites and traps. The Lair shows how much more advanced the reptites are compared to the humans. They have elaborate mechanisms and stone forts while humans live in thatched huts and wear pelts. Kino is in one of the smaller cells. Ayla climbs in to find a way to free him. Once freed, he also wants to join the party. Ayla convinces him to go and bring the helpless villagers to safety. Kino has finally matured enough to know where he is needed the most. He can be trusted to lead his people now.
With the villagers in safe hands, our work is only partially done here. Until Azala has been dealt with permanently he will be a threat to Ayla’s people. It is time to finish him of once and for all. On the way, the party meets a familiar face. It is Nizbel again! This fight against Nizbel was considerably easier than the first one. I don’t know if it is supposed to be this way or if my party is over levelled. The trick to this fight is, Nizbel’s defense goes up every time he is attacked physically and goes down every time he gets hit with lightning. I alternated between Crono’s lightning and Ayla’s punching while Marle provided support. This combination made short work of Nizbel and Crono was ready to move on.
The puzzles in the Lair consist of switches and trapdoors. Some switched open up trapdoors, others open doors and the forward. The frustration comes with the increase in enemy encounters. There are significantly more enemy encounters in this area. Narratively it makes sense since this is where reptites are concentrated mostly, but that does not make it any less annoying. The most infuriating instances are those where two battles happen in succession without the team moving at all. I switched Marle out for Robo to give me another physical attack option. I lost out on double tech of Aura Whirl, but I figured two healers should be enough to keep me alive while getting three hitting options will bolster my attack.
After wading through waves of reptites, Crono and his companions find themselves in Azala’s throne room. He has been waiting for us. Azala realizes this is going to be the last fight and only the victor will emerge alive, but he does have one more trick up his sleeve. He opens the door behind and exits while telling the part to follow him. Sensing a trap, the party cautiously goes through the door to find themselves on top of a bridge. On the other end, Azala stands besides Tyranno looking at the sky where a crimson star shines. Azala is angered by this sight and taunts it come crash into the planet and paint everything red. He would much rather have the whole Earth be demolished by the falling start than let the humans have free reign over it.
The battle ensues against this backdrop. It was not as tough as I anticipated. Lightening and physical attacks were enough for Azala. Once he fell, all three party members used the strongest Techs to make sure Tyranno did not give them too much trouble. Azala sees inevitability of defeat and wants Ayla to remember him as a brave fiend who fought to the bitter end. He predicts a terrible Ice Age is about to come. The crimson star is Lavos that came from outer space. Magus never made it, he only summoned it from its slumber. It had been dormant underground, storing energy until it would come out in the future and wreak havoc upon the world.
Lavos comes crashing down on the Lair and destroys it completely. Crono and friends are at loss of words. They have been wrong about Lavos twice now. Before they make another misinformed decision, it is a good idea to investigate where Lavos landed. With that in mind, our heroes head back into the ruins of the Lair.
12-12-2020
