Mini-Contest Idea

Alright, the results for Good Morning Sabin are up now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwuLoF9EfCQ

Thanks to everybody who participated, and I hope that you'll all participate again in the future (although clearly Edrin won't). I'm thinking about posting this to a larger forum like GameFAQs to get more participants. Any thoughts on that?

As for the next challenge, it is all ready to go:

Offering

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Story:
After obtaining the Falcon, Celes, Edgar, and Setzer discovered Relm painting a picture for Owzer... a painting so beautiful it attracted the attention of a malicious spirit: Chadarnook. The battle was bravely fought, but before victory could be assured, there was a terrible twist of fate... as a last-ditch effort, Chadarnook sucked the souls from Relm's companions, leaving their bodies as empty shells. Relm escapes with her friends husks and must now seek out some form of worthy offering to convince the spirit to release the souls of her friends.

Task:
Relm must obtain an Offering! The only available offering in the game comes from the KatanaSoul in the Ancient Castle. Without the aid of Celes, Edgar, or Setzer; Relm is to gather any companions or provisions she needs to defeat the KatanaSoul and obtain an Offering.

Restrictions:
Celes, Edgar, and Setzer are not in the party and can never be added to the party. Also, instant-death attacks are prohibited. Sketch is allowed, but if it causes KatanaSoul to kill itself with his special, the run is invalid. Same goes for confusion. All normal glitches and exploits are also illegal.

Analysis of the save file:
The save includes Relm in a party alone, just outside of Jidoor. There is rudimentary gear for any character you might decide to pick up. All character stories are progressed to the point where you can approach the final stages of acquiring them as party members. The first encounter with Terra has already been finished, Rust-Rid has already been applied to Mt. Zozo, and Shadow is waiting in the Colosseum. There are also some basic supplies already given to the party including a handful of smoke bombs and warp stones. This save starts with natural magic only, but any magic you learn during the run is valid.

Goals of the challenge:
This challenge hopes to analyze the differences between characters and the order of acquisition in the World of Ruin, barring absolute necessity for gear. Things such as routes to obtaining characters, the advanced equipment scattered throughout the routes, and their effectiveness in battle all need to be placed under consideration.
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You may perhaps notice that the tone of this challenge is a little different. This challenge is a little longer, and there is a noticeable lack of Sabin in the backstory. That's because the challenge was made by Edrin rather than myself. Before he left, we were originally planning to go back and forth on these, allowing me to participate sometimes while he ran it. However, that can't be the case anymore. Since he isn't running it, I can't participate (even though it was him who made it). Somebody needs to validate runs and police the rules, and I can't do that if I'm participating. I decided not to tweak the challenge though, as I'm sure that Edrin put more thought into his decisions than I'd be able to with a quick glance.