Magdalene Forest

You can reach the Black Mage Village by heading southeast from Conde Petie. You have to go all the way around the cliff face to get to the forest and access the village. Use the map and screenshot below to help you.

Dead Forest / Grove

You start off by entering the Dead Forest, where you will find a sign that reads:

<- Where there are owls
Where there are no owls ->

You must continue down the path that leads to the area with no owls. Each time you take the correct pathway, you will reach the same area again, but there will be one less owl sitting in the trees. The correct path is:

• Right
• Right
• Left
• Right

Black Mage Village

Your party will split up as soon as you enter Black Mage Village, just as they always do. Vivi will chase after the Black Mages, and Dagger will follow him while Quina will wander through the town looking for things to eat. You will have access to three Active Time Events (ATEs) as soon as everybody wanders off:

• “Life On The Run”
• “Gourmand’s Nose”
• “Everyday Life”
• “Visitor, Not Invader”
• “Different Language”
• “Life Cycle”

Start by traveling to the northeast to find a Moogle named Mogryo. Mogryo will not be accessible for very much longer, so make it a top priority to speak with him now. Choose the Mognet option, and Mogryo will give you a letter to deliver to Mocchi.

Enter the Chocobo Stable to find Quina standing next to two cornered Black Mages. There are some hidden Gysahl Greens on the right side of the stables that you can pick up.

There is an Item Shop in the next closest hut run by “Black Mage No. 163”. The regular items are on sale, but you can also purchase Remedies and Hi-Potions at this store for the first time in the game.

There is also a hidden Ether on the left side of the room near the shelf. Exit the Item Shop on the left side and walk down the pathway to watch Vivi go running past (if you haven’t initiated the cutscene already).

Enter the next hut over to find Dagger speaking to the two Black Mages inside (again, if you have not initiated these scenes yet). This is the Black Cat Synthesis Shop—some of the nicer items up for sale include:

• Madain’s Ring (Required Items: Bone Wrist and Stardust Rod)
• Rune Tooth (Required Items: two Mythril Dagger)
• Extension (Required Items: Lamia’s Tiara and Multina Racket)

You will likely need to retrieve some of your party members before you can synthesize certain items, as you may not have the necessary ingredients on hand.

There is a hidden chest at the back of the shop that contains 2,000 gil. You can also climb the ladder to the second floor to find a treasure chest at the end of the pathway that contains 843 gil.

Exit the Synthesis Shop, return to the entrance of Black Mage Village, and enter the hut on the left side of the screen. This hut is the Weapon Shop, where you can purchase some of the more modern weapons and armor (some of which are needed to synthesize the items listed above).

There is an Elixir hidden to the right of the Weapon Shop door on the outside of the hut.

Travel down the pathway to the right of the item shop and back towards the Inn behind it. You can find Vivi in the back near the bunk beds. All four party members will meet up inside the Inn. When Dagger asks about Zidane, choose the “Rest” option to rest up your party.

There will be a few short cutscenes involving Vivi learning about Black Mages and death and a flashback to Zidane’s earlier days before the entire party meets up at the entrance to Black Mage Village. There are a few additional things that you should do though before leaving.

There is another Stellazzio coin that can be picked up in the bedroom of the Inn. Search the right side of the room to find the Virgo Stellazzio, part of the Stellazio side quest. Check out the Stellazzio guide in the Side Quests section for more information.

Travel back up to the second floor of the Synthesis Shop and walk towards the lower edge of the catwalk for an Action Icon to appear.

Zidane will eavesdrop on the two Black Mages below who are having a conversation about the Item Shop owner. You need to complete this 'eavesdropping' step first. Then, go back to the Item Shop and speak to Black Mage No. 163 and ask him to “Give me the usual.”

Travel up the ladder and hop on the bed to find a Black Belt. You can use the Black Belt Add-On to teach Vivi the Demi Black Magic spell.

Exit the Black Mage Village, and you will automatically return to the world map. Travel back towards Conde Petie to continue the story. Or…

You can take this opportunity to catch more frogs, though. Check out the Catching Frogs guide in the Side Quests section for more information.

Depending on how quickly you completed the previous events, there is a chance that the nearby Qu’s Marsh will not have refilled with new frogs yet, and you may have to skip this step for now.