PART SIX - RACISM IS A CRIME
So! Before venturing forth, let's finish our bussiness with the celts:
This guy stands just above the druids' home.
We can offer him a music crystal, and in return we gives us a cool throwing axe, an ideal weapon for Sira.
We return to Mr. Impotent:
LITTLE ERRAND?! YOU DUMBFUCK-
We meet the sailor.
We already have the gold and the permission! The voyage can begin.
Let's roll!
Well, that's over with. Let's take a look at the city.
This chapter is strange. We should be searching for Toronto, yet Tom won't ask about it a single time. The quest here is also not really clear in the beggining, and is very tricky to boot. For now, let's look around this town.
An armory.
Someone's home. No significance.
Weaponsmith.
In another house, we find Siobhan, our new party member.
Straight to the point. I like this girl.
Her character page. As a warrior, she can wear the heaviest armors and has a +4 bonus to damage. She probably won't deal as much damage as Drirr (I don't know when she will gain additional attacks), but fully equipped, she'll be a much better tank.
There's a cellar in her house.
With a fuckton of Warniaks inside (Rainer got mad
)
Oh shit.
Oh shit [2] - this time Siobhan and Mellthas are insane too.
Somehow we manage to defeat the bastards.
I believe the bar is inside.
The inn. We'll rent a room. Let's talk to some locals first.
Healer, at last. Insane characters were driving me mad.
Finally, let's meet the Council.
Here's Gard.
Perron, he's giving us a hint here.
And the council president, Herron:
There is a little village by the name of Kounos on this mountain range. On the north side there is a small Iskai village called Srimalinar. Near there is a holy shrine, but there have been rumors recently that horrible creatures have been seen there. Now then, I wish you all the best for your journey. And come by again!
Last step, we're going to the brothel. Guess who's here.
Yes, it's Khunag, our almost-party member.
The plot thickens!
We can't do anything about it yet, so let's find those other two villages.
Krondir 2 - first contact. Tough bastard, but quite slow and not as heavy-hitting as Animals.
First things first - we explore the southern part.
OH FUCK.
Finally, we turn north.
There's a dungeon exit there, we will explore it sometime later.
Kounos.
In one of the huts, we find a friend of our dear druid:
Mellthas's face shows joy as he eagerly begins to write on his note paper.
Have you brought your friends with you? That's wonderful, you're all welcome in my home.
It's great of you to drop in. Of course, I'm not in the best moods at the present time. Kontos' last speech has really made me think. It's not that I doubt his intelligence, but sometimes he's just too radical for me.
It's mediate, not meditate, but whatever.
Now's the time to find this Kontos fellow.
Step aside, moron!
Fight! He's quite a tough foe, with about 300hp, some spells and big damage. But with Sira's Thorn snare spell, which immobilizes him for, I don't know, 10 turns, he's raped horribly.
However, it is possible to make him let us pass through dialog.
Some cool stuff for Siobhan.
We descend the stairs here.
Dark again!
Behind the right door, we find Kontos himself.
Blah blah.
A new opponent, the Rinrii. It's very fast and deals high damage, but kill one and the rest run away. XP gained is horribly low though.
We can change the walls' colors, but we don't know the right combination yet.
In another chamber, we find this!
Level 2.
Standard lever fare.
The western part first.
We find a map for the earlier wall puzzle.
For fuck sake, its a damn maze.
More new creatures - the lizards are the Kizz, not really powerful, fast or tough, but with high magic resistance. The second are called Brogg, those are dangerous for our mages - they can throw stones and deal quite a bit of damage.
A clue!
In the south-eastern part, we come across another puzzle:
The point is to shoot those fireballs with a lever so the wall moves to the same row as the passage we want to open, and then shoot from the lever near where we entered. And yes, it does sound illegible.
But the rewards are cool - a collar for Mellthas, increasing his HP, mana and luck!
And a protection amulet, we have those already.
And, most importantly, a speed amulet for Sira - she'll now be able to cast avalanche before 90% of enemies.
A big room with traps, but without anything useful.
We backtrack to Kontos.
We show him the document part, but he just laughes.
Time to go to Srimalinar.
Let's go the inn, the one time it'll be useful:
Our suspicions are confirmed!
Let's see what this Arrim has to say:
And here's the tricky part. Talking with Darios triggers the assassination. What we have to do is warn Herron first - this way the assassination attempt will be a failure and we'll get a reward. So we go back all the way...
We ask him about 'assassination' (tricky, it won't show, we have to type it ourselves)
Done. Now we can go to Darios.
Oh, and while we are here, we can meet a trainer. He only shows for an hour and he's the only one that can teach us Critical Strike.
Siobhan! I almost didn't recognize you after all these years. You've become a real woman! I'm very happy that you're visiting again!
Problem is one point of CS costs 950 gold! We can afford only two points for Drirr for now.
We go to Srimalinar:
and to Beloveno again:
That's a nice reward
Now we go YET AGAIN to Srimalinar:
We ask him about 'evidence' and get the second part of the document. Now we can combine both parts...
Success! We are headed for the Iskai shrine now.
Don't believe him! Don't fall into the trap! This is really a very simple trick. They are trying to mislead you. The document is a falsification!
If even half the document matches the part that Edjirr has kept, then it is genuine. Please, may I see the document at once?
Listen to me! What I am saying is true! I will proove to you that this place is full of horror and terror! I will enter the shrine and return with proof once and for all.
If you desecrate our shrine we will take revenge!
Bah - shrine - empty words!
We enter the shrine, which doesn't really look like one:
Kontos isn't there, we get out
It's thorn snare time again.
Mission accomplished.
Let's go to Beloveno's inn and rest.
Dsarii-ma! I am so glad I finally found you!
Dsarii-ma, Frill! What a surprise to see you again! Why are you looking for us?
I would like you to come with me to a place where some people are interested in talking with you. I cannot say more until we are there.
It sounds very secretive, honorable Frill. But we'll be glad to do it if this will help us get closer to our goal.
Oh, I can guarantee it!
I completely and entirely agree with you. You must try to prevent the worst! The last thing we need is a war between our races. I will wait here at the inn until you have tried your best. Good luck!
Dsarii-ma, friends. What's the situation between the Mahinos and Iskai?
Good news, the inhabitants of Kounos now understand that they were misled by Kontos. They didn't like it at all when they had to admit that they had been fooled like little children. In any case, we belive that the tribes can start to rebuild a healthy relationship.
That is good news! Now nothing stands in the way of a small journey by sea. Shall we leave immediately?
Yes, why not?
Good, then please follow me.
I understand. Now I wish you and Mellthas a beautiful time in Srimalinar. We'll certainly see each other soon.
Best wishes!
NEXT STOP - MASON ISLAND!