Dead Dunes The Dead Dunes is the desert continent in Nova Chrysalia in " " . The area is dotted with ruins and Lightning can slide down the steep dunes . An oasis village serves as a base for the local bandit group called Monoculus . The fal ' Cie Atomos and parts of Titan are found among the sand , rendered immobile , suggesting the Dead Dunes was once the Archylte Steppe . This area is much more sparsely populated than the other areas of Nova Chrysalia and has fewer . The desert is considered more dangerous during the day time , when the toughest enemies come out . The ruins below the desert don ' t have a day and night cycle . The player can fast - travel the area via the red cactuar waystones , which are scattered around the desert and in the ruins below . Datalog . " The fringes of this desolate desert are lapped by the ocean of Chaos . It is not a place meant for human inhabitation , but thanks to the ancient ruins that are scattered among the dunes , many lawless bandits have come here to plunder the treasure within . " " In the desert , wild monsters are most active during daylight hours . Unlike other parts of the world , nights in the desert are blessed by relative peace and quiet . " " Centuries of plundering have emptied most of the ruins , but one legendary treasure — the holy clavis — still sits beyond a seal that no one has been able to break . " Story . Lightning arrives on the Dead Dunes following the rumors that an artifact called the holy clavis is buried somewhere in the desert . Suspecting the local bandits know something about it , she locates their settlement , Ruffian . Lightning speaks with a Monoculus member named Adonis , who says they won ' t divulge anything until Lightning joins their gang . As a trial , Adonis tasks Lightning with stopping the sandstorm known as God ' s Wrath that blocks a path to the settlement . After defeating a Gurangatch , Lightning obtains a crux which helps her operate a monument to quell God ' s Wrath . Adonis accepts Lightning as a part of Monoculus and reveals the group ' s boss is a woman who knows Lightning and has been keeping tabs on her ever since she got off the monorail at the station . Back in the Ruffian , Adonis introduces Lightning to the boss , her old friend Fang . Fang explains she left the Order of Salvation in Luxerion and is now looking for the clavis , and asks Lightning ' s help . Fang and Lightning team up and head for the Temple Ruins , an ancient maze under the desert . As Lightning is the savior can open the doorway . Fang and Lightning locate tablets from shrines around the desert and use them to activate murals within the ruins to open the chamber where the clavis is kept . The murals spell humanity ' s creation story , showing how Goddess Etro ' s blood birthed mankind , whose souls would cycle between death and rebirth . The god Bhunivelze , however , saw death as impure , and thus the souls of the dead as tainted . Lightning and Fang reach the clavis and to Lightning ' s surprise Fang sets out to destroy it . Lightning stops her . Fang explains her friend Vanille wants to use the clavis to draw in the anguished souls of the dead from the Chaos so that the Order can destroy them , but the ritual would kill her . Lightning is shocked the Order wants to eradicate the souls of the dead , and that Vanille is onboard with their plan . The Order ' s military branch , the Secutors , arrive to claim the clavis and send a monster after Lightning and Fang . The two defeat the monster , but meanwhile the Secutors nab the clavis and seal the pair within the chamber . The mysterious Lumina appears , gloating how she led the Secutors to them . She looks forward to Vanille performing the Soulsong on the world ' s to obliterate the souls of the dead , including Lightning ' s sister Serah . Lumina opens the chamber ' s door and disappears . Lightning tells Fang she cannot save Vanille if she is bent on dying , and says Fang is the only one who can convince her . Fang departs , saying the Monoculus is officially disbanded , and the two promise to meet in Luxerion on the eve of the Apocalypse . Locations . Ruffian . The headquarters of Monoculus is located here . The settlement has , an inn , a sorcery shop , a boy who will appraise the Unappraised Items the player can collect from the lizards on the desert and the skeletons in the ruins , and a restaurant . Giant ' s Sandbox . The large area where the monorail stops is known as Giant ' s Sandbox . Chocolina ' s Canvas of Prayers is found just outside the station with a . Entrances to different parts of the Temple Ruins are found at the sandbox , and the superboss Aeronite patrols the dunes here after . A merchant is camping out here next to the north entrance to the Temple Ruins , who is part of a mission the player can start with the item shop owner in Ruffian . Grave of the Colossi . There is Bhakti ' s Oil under the skeleton of an oretoise , and a shrine where one of the tablets that activates a mural in the ruins is located . If the player quells a sandstorm near here , they can open a new area that has a quest item and a treasure sphere locked by Lumina that requires Energy Points to open . Atomos ' s Sands . Area of the Dead Dunes where the fal ' Cie Atomos ' s remains lie . It is assumed that Atomos had felt God ' s presence , prompting it to enter into a form of stasis while it waits for the world to end . The people residing within the Dead Dunes view the area as a " public dumping ground , " prompting Adonis to post a bulletin about littering . Lightning can find a loupe on the ground near here for the boy who wants to appraise items back in Ruffian . There is also a shrine for one of the tablets needed to activate murals in the Temple Ruins here with a cactuar waystone outside it . Oasis Lighthouse . The way to the lighthouse is blocked by a sandstorm that has a Cactair caught in it . Defeating it earns one of Dajh Katzroy ' s soul fragments needed for a main quest in the Wildlands . The player can battle Cactuars here who drop good gil and locate the quest giver for the game ' s most arduous quest : to fell every Last One enemy . Because some enemies only appear in the final dungeon this quest cannot be completed until in . Dry Floodplains . There is a shrine for one of the tablets needed to activate a mural in the Temple Ruins here . Otherwise it is a large and empty sandy area that has been left abandoned . There is a look - out post Lightning can climb , but no one else ever ventures out there but Lightning . Temple Ruins . Temple Ruins is an expansive maze below the sands . The structure is ancient , predating Cocoon , and nobody knows who built it or why . The ruins are said to hold the holy clavis , an artifact that can draw in the souls of the dead . The ruins are littered with murals that spell the creation story of mankind . The temple is filled with sealed doors that operate via magic and mystical tablets and cruxes are needed to delve deeper into the ruins . The skeletons standing guard can be torn apart to reveal Unappraised Items and Yellowed Skulls , but sometimes this also initiates a battle . Shops . Giant ' s Sandbox . Ramon ' s Essentials . The shop becomes available after completing His Wife ' s Dream quest . Lightning can slash lizards that wander the desert for unappraised items and lizard tails . Slashing 30 lizards in the Dead Dunes earns the achievement . Creation and development . The Dead Dunes were inspired by real - world location Cairo . Early screenshots of Dead Dunes differ from the gameplay demo shown during Japan Expo 2013 : while early screenshots suggest Lightning was meant to look for a hidden treasure , the treasure became the holy clavis artefact . In early screenshots , Adonis wears silver as opposed to his final red color . Musical themes . The theme that plays depends on the time of day . " " plays in the morning , " " plays in the afternoon and " Desert Lullaby " plays in the evening . " " plays during the night . " " plays when Lightning reunites with Fang and " " is Fang ' s leitmotif that plays in scenes associated with her . " " plays in the Temple Ruins . " Village and Void " plays in the Grave of the Colossi area during the day . In the Ruffian bar a singer performs a vocal arrangement of " Eternal Wind " , the theme of " Final Fantasy III " . A full arrangement of the song appears on the game ' s " " . Other appearances . " Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call " . The Dead Dunes appear as the background for the Field Music Sequence of its eponymous theme .