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Ipsen's Castle(イプセンの古城,Ipusen no Kojō?) is a location on the Forgotten Continent in Final Fantasy IX. The building itself, inside and outside, is an architectural marvel, much like M.C. Escher's drawing "Relativity". Many rooms are upside down and in one room the visitor has to slide up a pole. While in Ipsen's Castle, weapons will do more damage the lower their attack power is. Weak weapons are sold by a local Moogle, and the characters' default weapons can be found in many of the treasure chests. The unusual weapon set-up does not extend to armor, accessories or magic.
According to the Final Fantasy IX Ultimania, Ipsen's Castle is one of the locations from Terra that ended up on Gaia5000 years ago due to Garland's failed attempt to merge the two planets into one. The origin from Terra is made clear by the unusual-looking treasure chests, as Terran treasures are always blue, whereas Gaian chests are wooden.
The castle is named after the explorer Ipsen, who was thought to be the first to discover the castle.
Another etymological origin derives from the latin where ipse mean it/her/himself, so as Lady Hilda decides on the castle's name, she means that it will be called the "no name castle" - also the "ipsen" castle (literally translated: the castle itself).
Due to steep, canyon-like walls that surround the castle, it can only be accessed with a chocobo or by airship. It is possible to develop Choco as far as dark blue (ocean/mountain crossing) by the time the party first visits the Forgotten Continent, so it is technically possible to visit Ipsen's Castle before it is mentioned in the storyline. If the player does so, however, the castle appears on the map as simply "?", and although it can be entered from the map, an invisible barrier prevents the player from advancing any further than the first screen.
"Ipsen and his good friend Colin worked at a tavern in Treno. One day, Ipsen got a letter. The letter was so wet from rain that most of the writing was illegible. The only part he could read said, 'Come back home'. Nowadays, we have airships and stuff, but back then, it was really hard to travel. He didn't know why he had to go back, but he got some time off, gathered his things, and set out on his journey home. He walked a thousand leagues through the mist. Sometimes he was attacked by vicious monsters, but he made it, because his friend Colin was by his side. And then, after much time on the road, he had to ask Colin something: Why did you come with me? Only because I wanted to go with you."
The party is sent to Ipsen's Castle to retrieve the four elemental mirrors. Amarant challenges Zidane to a race for the mirrors, saying that he "works alone". The player party ventures through the maze-like interior, made all the more confusing due to the castle's inverted structure. Amarant wins the race no matter how fast the player gets to the mirror room, and vacates the premises after declaring his disbandment from the party. Zidane and his friends collect the mirrors, but are interrupted by the monster, Taharka, the mirrors' guardian.
Upon exiting the castle, the party discovers Amarant hasn't come out yet. Zidane scours the castle and finds and rescues him. When the two return, Zidane formulates a plan to raid the four elemental shrines, whose locations are marked by the mirrors' placement on the mural they were found in.
Ancient Aroma is an add-on found within the castle. It teaches Dagger the ability "Odin's Sword", which, when equipped, allows Odin to deal damage to enemies that survived the Instant Death.
In order to obtain the Aroma, the player must solve the puzzle of the rotating tablet near the elevator to the mirror room. When prompted, Zidane is required to examine, push, pound, think, push, think, try something drastic, and rest in order to flip the wall and gain access to a new area of the castle. This opens up a new door in the dungeon's entry foyer, directly to the left of the first door the party entered. The new passage leads to a large glowing sword with three ledges and two pots.
A voice within the room whispers, "Fight the flow of time", implying the pots must be picked up and placed on the next ledge counterclockwise from its present location. After both pots are rotated about thrice each, the electricity within the blade will fill one pot, from which the Ancient Aroma may be collected.
When the party is on the way out of the castle, one member of the party will nearly fall through a trapdoor, forcing Zidane to ask if that member is all right. This member depends on party composition, as well as one character's priority over another. Either Garnet, Eiko, Vivi, or Quina, in that order, can nearly fall through, but Steiner and Freya are guaranteed not to get into this trouble, as is Amarant, who is not even in the party.
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Aroma Vase artwork from The Art of Final Fantasy IX book.
Concept art.
Concept art.
Concept art.
Ipsen's Castle covered in Mist.
Entrance Hall.
Room with traps.
Inverted Hall.
Inverted Room.
Castle lift.
Castle lift.
Stairwell.
Stairwell.
Mural room.
The Four Mirrors.
Battle background in Ipsen's Castle, when fighting Taharka.
Battle background in Ipsen's Castle.
Battle background in Ipsen's Castle.
