Baaj

Baaj is a twisted island that is a mass of ruins located off the mainland of Spira, situated south of the island of Bikanel in Final Fantasy X. Baaj is the first location in the game, and where it is critical to understanding the emotional development of Maester Seymour Guado, one of the game's major antagonists.

Long ago, Baaj was a great island city before an attack by Sin left the underlying geology permanently destabilized. Most of the city collapsed into the sea, save for a series of interconnected ruins surrounding the temple.

Baaj Temple is the only remaining building on the archipelago, though it is in poor structural condition. The entrances are submerged conduits and may only be accessed by swimming through Fiend-infested waters. As a former temple of the infuential religious cult Yevon, it shares the style and iconography with the other temples, but the Cloister of Trials and the main antechamber have been lost to the sea.

To access Baaj Temple, the player must acquire the airship Fahrenheit and talk to Cid and access the coordinate option. Baaj is found by searching for coordinates X=11-16, Y=57-63. Visiting Baaj is essential for receiving the aeon Anima. Baaj is not accessible in Final Fantasy X-2.

History
28 years before the beginning of the Eternal Calm, Jyscal Guado, Maester of Yevon and leader of the Guado people, married a human woman, and together bore a son named Seymour. The Guado, well-known for being highly intolerant of other races, were angered by their leader's perceived blood-treason and threatened rebellion. To secure peace for all parties, Lord Jyscal dispatched both wife and son to Baaj Temple, at that time a grand building.

Mistrusted by everyone both human and Guado alike, Seymour lived in exile and grew fond of the temple. As an adult, Seymour rejoined the Guado and became a priest of Macalania Temple before having the body of his mother, by this point the fayth of Anima, relocated to Baaj Temple.

Shortly after Seymour left Baaj for the last time - less than ten years prior to the game's story - the temple was attacked by Sin and reduced to the scene of dank desolation Tidus finds after being separated from Auron in Dream Zanarkand. Tidus explores the ruins and is attacked by Geosgaeno. Barely escaping Tidus winds up in a ruined chamber before being rescued by Rikku and her Al Bhed salvage squad.

The party may return to Baaj after obtaining an airship to defeat Geosgaeno and access the temple. On entering the Chamber of the Fayth, the party talks with the spirit of Seymour's mother and views a flashback of Seymour in the temple as a young boy. Seymour's mother grants Yuna the ability to summon Anima.

Temple Trials
The player has to open the treasure chests in each Cloister of Trials of the six main temples (Besaid, Kilika, Djose, Macalania, Bevelle, and Zanarkand) to break the seal which guards the entrance to the Chamber of the Fayth.In the antechamber there's a puzzle that shows off the aeons' glyphs. A pattern corresponding to each aeon lights up behind each of the statues once a Destruction Sphere has been used in the corresponding temple to open a hidden treasure chest. When finding a special chest in the other temples Anima's glyph flashes. One of the statues has a glyph for the Zanarkand Cloister of Trials even though Yuna did not speak to a fayth there and obtain an aeon so it is unknown what aeon uses it; it may be the glyph for the Final Aeon.

Music
"Creep" is played in the Submerged Ruins, a slow and dark music track. "Out of the Frying Pan" is played during the time Tidus is trapped in Baaj Temple."Underwater Ruins" is played inside the Underwater Ruins, and "Out Of The Frying Pan" is once again played after Klikk is defeated.

Trivia

 * The floors and walls have numerous inscriptions of words in Spiran script, such as "Semour", "Jyscal Guado", "Fire", "Flower" and "Guadosalam".