Queen of Cards The Queen of Cards is a non - playable character in " Final Fantasy VIII " . A master of Triple Triad , the Card Queen controls regional rules and is part of a sidequest to obtain rare cards . Her real name is unknown . The Queen grew up in Dollet where her father works as a painter of new Triple Triad cards . Although first found idling near the train station in Balamb , the Queen is on the move , traveling from town to town in search of challenging opponents . Her card skills are so respected that any new rule she adopts soon spreads among the populace wherever she is playing . Gameplay . Card rule manipulation . The Queen offers to pass on a new rule to a region for the price of 30 , 000 gil . She will also offer to combine rules , like any other Triple Triad player . The Queen of Cards is the only one who can influence the trading rules . Each time she is played , one of the four trading rules ( One , Diff , Direct , or All ) is selected and the most recent trading rule used in a game with her may spread . It is not necessary to play her , as simply challenging her and then quitting at the rule screen works . Every time the player challenges someone there ' s a chance of a random region ' s rule becoming One , so these changes are not permanent . Playing anyone in a region where the Queen is has a chance of asserting her rule . For example , if the Queen is in Balamb , last selected Direct , and the rule degraded to Diff or One , playing again in Balamb will eventually reassert Direct there . Additionally , playing in a region has a chance to spread that region ' s rule to one other region , so playing in Balamb will have a chance of spreading Direct to Galbadia , or Fishermans Horizon , etc . This allows for somewhat sophisticated rule manipulation . The player can challenge the Queen of Cards , accept a game with All , then purposely lose a rare card to send her to another region , say Galbadia . If she goes to the desired region the player will be able to spread All to anyone who plays with Galbadian rules . Opponents do not have to be physically in the region with the Queen , they just have to play with that region ' s rules . In this manner , one can set rules for regions before even arriving there . The Queen ' s region cannot be changed in endgame ( she ' s always at the crash site ) , but her personal trade rule cannot be changed either . Her region and trade rule for rule change purposes will be whichever ones she had at the point of no return . Locations . Whenever the player wins or loses a rare card to the Queen of Cards , she will travel to a new region . Paying 30 , 000 gil to her prompts her to spread a new rule to the current region . These regions are : If she is in Balamb she will move to Dollet ( 37 . 5 % chance ) or Deling City ( 62 . 5 % ) . The card quest . Although the Queen carries no rare cards herself , her father , the card painter , does . If the player is willing to lose certain coveted cards to the Queen her father will be inspired to create a new one - of - a - kind card . To begin the sidequest the player must first get the Queen to move to Dollet . The Queen will change locations each time the player loses a rare card to her or wins one back from her . Once the Queen is in Dollet ' s pub the player will be given a new option to ask about her artist father . They can then lose cards to her to get new ones . When the player loses one of these cards to the Queen she will say it is a great card and that she is sure her father can create a wonderful new card from it . She will then move on to the next location . Once the new card has been created , the player must locate the Queen ' s son to win back the lost card . The Queen ' s son is found in a house opposite the pub ( he is the little boy who keeps placing a bone in the artist ' s painting ) . The new cards created by the card painter are distributed to the public and must be won from certain people . Defeating Seifer at the Lunatic Pandora is the point of no return and the card quest ends , regardless as to whether the player participated . The Queen has taken up permanent residence on the Esthar ian continent , just outside the southern border of the city barrier . She is found on the escape pod ' s crash site , which isn ' t visible on the map , but the party can enter it by stepping on the right spot . There , the player can challenge her to win the Card Quest cards if they have missed or modified them . The quest is considerably easier if the player can make the Queen move only between Balamb and Dollet . This way they won ' t have to chase her around the world . If she goes somewhere else the player can reset the game and try again . The cards she needs can be lost to her even before she requests them . For example , upon first meeting her in Balamb station , the player can lose the MiniMog card to her and have her move to Dollet . In Dollet , she will say she has already given the card to her father . That means that the easiest and fastest way to complete the quest is : Etymology . She is named Ishtar in the French version .