Creepy Dungeons: Final Fantasy, Tam-Tara Deepcroft

Dungeons.

You go up in there for experience and loot and come out with a tale to tell. There’s glory in exploring some rough dungeons and clearing out the ne’er-do-wells that reside within.

But what happens when you slip up?

When you first start heading into dungeons, you find that several adventuring groups are inspired to go through them as well! You inadvertently spark a fire inside of them. One adventuring party comprises of a full, classic squad in XIV. You have the gladiator tank (a Hyuran male named Avere), a conjuring healer (by the name of Edda, also Hyur, and engaged to Avere) a budding archer (Liavinne, an Elezen female) and a stirring thamaturge (by the name of Paiyo Reiyo, a male Lalafell).

Inspired by your heroism, they take themselves to task and head into a particularly dangerous dungeon, filled with cultists, demons, and generally unsettling creatures. So, how do they do?

Badly.

Three out of the four make it out okay, but one, Avere, dies a particularly gruesome death. Though the party as a whole did not handle the dungeon well, the blame fell wholly onto Edda, whose healing wasn’t enough to keep Avere alive...nor was it enough to keep his head attached to him.

The group broke up soon after that, leaving Edda alone to tend to herself...and the head.

The dungeon that was the catalyst for all of this misery is called Tam-Tara Deepcroft.

‘Course, you and your adventuring crew traverse the dungeon, dispatch the cultists, and take down the mind flayer that they summoned. You receive praise, loot, and recognition by Edda, who vows to become a better healer. And that’s the end of that story, yeah?

NOPE!

Overtime you get to see the other two in some capacity. Though you do see Liavinne again, she, unfortunately, dies in a battle. Paiyo, on the other hand, you run into again, and he informs you that he’s heading to a wedding. Edda’s wedding...to Avere...whom is dead.

...what, did you think I was talking about the normal dungeon? Strap in ya’ll, cause we’re heading back to Tam-Tara Deepcroft: Hard Mode!

While your first foray in the place was a challenge itself, this run into Tam-Tara ramps the creepiness up to eleven. Three words: Puddles of blood. Not only do you see them pop up continuously, the entire place seems to be a lot more...red.

You have demons, you have undead, you have bugs, but the bugs are less than before. This congregation of macabre is more or less considered on the guest list of this dark wedding. Along with her former friends...like Liavinne.

Oh, did I mention that Paiyo spotted her walking about? (Also, remember that music I told you about? Yup! Every boss fight, save for the last.) And that she is undead? Speaking of which, you may be wondering where the hell he is. More on that.

As you traverse this terrifying place, you uncover notes on how Edda basically lost her mind and does what she could to bring Avere back to life. She succeeds...after a fashion, but she needs bodies to put him together. After busting through demonic barriers by means of cleansing coffins of their defiled spirits (and these are big coffins-see Lala for scale), you find Paiyo, and a dullahan called “Spare Body” behind him. It hits you then that she needs living bodies to bring Avere back.

The deeper you go, you start to find and fight more discarded body parts, that have grown increasingly grotesque. You also find more of her notes, and if you’ve been paying attention to her sanity slippage, you’ll find that she mentions you quite a bit, almost to an obsession. On clearing the final barrier, it all becomes *painfully* clear: the body she is looking for, the one she absolutely needs...

...is yours.

The fight with her “husband” is a painful one. But when you win? Edda is so beside herself with grief and madness that she does *not see the edge of the platform, slips, and falls to her death...with a sinister look on her face.*

After that, you rendezvous with Paiyo, and it’s over..right?

…

NOPE!

Her saga does NOT end until much later; quick note: when this Happened in game, there would be times you would see her in towns, just before she fades away. Have fun with that.

Many thanks for Brenna Narenna, whom helped me out with going through this dungeon to get pics ^^! SHE SO CUTE!

--Dio (10/30/19)

Screenshots by Me! Edda’s party pic by finalfantasy.fandom.com Brenna as Herself :3