Completed Let's light the Magic Candle... Blind!

[lightbane]

Who do I have to fuck to get a new page around here?

Clearly you have to try harder...

 

[Monstrous Bat]

The charming troll

Back to Port Avur, then...

At the supply shop, we sold the gems for some tidy profit. Note that, if there's a gem cutter in the party, all gems will sell for 1/3 higher. Nice! I kept a single gem of each type, though, just in case we might need them.

Weeeeeeeell we're rich now.

I wanted to sail to Keof right after selling the gems, but no... I've got ideas about what shall we do with the money.

First, Eflun bought a suit of steel plate. This'll help him not getting dismembered by minotaurs.

Alhan shall work here for a few days. Other party members went to get some rest, expect for Kodex, who has other stuff to do.

Kodex went back to Soldain, and paid Makaso to max out his charisma.

Yay! Kodex is now the best learner on this planet!

Then Kodex picked up a book of Sabano from Azidamus. The book's expensive as hell, but it's worth it!

Thanks to his godly learning score, Kodex can learn spells at a much faster speed than Ziyx or Eflun. Due to his low magic skill, however, his spells won't be as powerful.

Unless, of course, we boosted his skill at the magic school in Port Avur. We could only afford one training session -- we need some money for our trip to Shendy and Fubernel -- but with such a high learning score, Kodex would benefit much from even a single training session.

Meanwhile, Eflun went to the armory to pick up his armor.

See? The training with Makaso is beginning to pay for itself.

Alright, we're done here. Let's hire Garlin to sail to Shendy, then.

11 hours later...

Sure we are.

While the ship is sailing, we could learn spells, fix weapons, or just get some sleep.

Octavius adviced me about using Fear to shut down enemy spellcasters, so I had Ziyx learning some copies of these.

The party arrived at Shendy about a day later. As you can see in the screenshot, the city of Keof isn't far away.

On the way to Keof, however, was some nasty monsters.

Kodex and Ziyx used some gonshis, and Shattered the crap out of the minotaurs.

Aww, Kodex's shield is running low.

But that's no longer a concern to us.

As long as we can afford to spam Shatter and gonshis, minotaurs shouldn't have a chance to hit us.

Minotaurs tend to leave depressingly lame loot when killed, despite being rather dangrous.

Anyway, we've arrived at Keof.

"Advice?"

"Seek Tasfaras."
"Tasfaras?"

"Tasfaras is out around 13:00."
"Rumors?"

"They say Dolomar is worried."
"Dolomar?"

"Dolomar is out around 1:00."

What's this Dolomar person doing so late in the night?

The guard on the right have a different advice for us.

"Vixeskre?"

"Vixeskre is out around 0:00."

Another night person. Keof seems to be full of those.

The armory in Keof sells armors at a slightly cheaper price than Port Avur.

Also, the gem cutter shop here pays almost twice as much as the one in Port Avur! Needless to say, Alhan will be working here 24/7 for our staying in Keof.

The combat school here could teach us at a cheaper price than Port Avur.

We rent a room at the guest house. As usual, the spellcasters will learn spells, Rexor will go around asking questions, and others will get some sleep.

There's an old man to the south of the guest house, but he won't talk to us.

"Advice?"

"Catch Ferrin at the inn early in the morning."
"Rumors?"

"They say you can teleport from Vocha."
"Vocha?"

"Home of orcs."

Note: somehow I completely forgot about this kid's advice, and never got around to meet this Ferrin person. Oops!

The archery school here is cheaper than the one in Port Avur as well.

"Advice?"

"You must raise your charisma for the world is full of crabby old man!"

Truer words have not been said.

"Rumors?"

"They say Tonton's service is very expensive."
"Tonton? You mean the halfling teacher?"

"A master of his craft, I hear."

"Advice?"

"Talk to the mysterious guest at the guest house."
"Rumors?"

"They say a saviour is coming!"

Hey look that's a crabby old man right here.

"Advice?"

"You can 'teleport' to Yberton from Dermagud!"
"Teleport?"

"Learn dwarvish to read the combination scroll in Dermagud."
"Already done that. Rumors?"

"They say the combination is hidden in Dermagud."

"Advice?"

"Seek Tonton in Bondell."
"Rumors?"

"They say fermigons love to eat halflings!"

Annoying fuckers. But you will not be able to deny our inquiry for much longer!

Anyway. Rimfiztrik told us to seek for books about teleportals in Keof library, and seek we did.

Intersting. We'll probably try the one in Dermagud soon.

"Advice?"

"Hire Kunder to sail."
"Kunder?"

"Captain Kunder gets here around 1900 hours."
"Rumors?"

"I hear the serpent has risen from the deep!"

"Advice?"

"Ask about 'white wolf' to Yodan."
"Why? They never even made a dwarf game."

"Beg pardon?"
"Uh, nevermind. Rumors?"

"They say giant eagles have stolen the prince!"

Another crabby old man.

He became a bit more cooperating after a few drinks though.

"Advice?"

"After you read Zirvanad, visit Belazar again."
"Rumors?"

"I hear a strange guest is staying at the guest house."

I remembered that Lord Banas had told us to seek Bestul in Keof, so I asked the guards about when Bestul will show up.

This old man is so crabby, he won't even tell us his name. Of course, I know he's Bestul, but we aren't getting any information outta him right now.

"Advice?"

"Read about Sherro's legend at the library."
"Rumors?"

"I hear the captain may sail to Point Hena."

After talking with Wein, Rexor immediately went to the library to read about Sherro's legend.

Very intersting. We'll probably have to ask some elves about Sherro's high call.

"Us haven't met."

"That was a terrible joke and you knew it."

Yeah sure but I have to at least try to be funny when I write a LP, no?

"Well... Advice?"

"Ask Bestul about Ongar's wizard."
"We would if he's not a such a jerk. Have you heard any rumors?"

"They say Chambur is dead."
"Chambur?"

"He was an orc chieftain."

"Advice?"

"Ask about 'teleportals' to wizards."
"Rumors?"

"I ignore rumors!"

"Advice?"

"Visit the 'candle'."
"The candle? What do you know about the candle?"

"It's in Berbezza."
"Rumors?"

"They say it's melting."

"Advice?"

"Kunder may take you back to Port Avur."
"Rumors?"

"I hear a band of heroes is on a quest to save us!"

You better believe that.

"Advice?"

"If you ever are in Lymeric, visit my friend Zeke."
"Zeke?"

"He gives sound advice."

"Advice?"

"Kunder can take you to Kuskunn."
"Kuskunn?"

"Take a 'lens' with you."
"Rumors?"

"They say black dragons burnt Theldair."

"Atlan?"

"Advice?"

"Sail with me!"
"Can you take us to Fubernel?"

"I can tke you there for 100 coins. OK?"

Very well. But before we leave for Fubernel, there's one last person I want to meet.

"Advice?"

"You need the mad wizard's help but you have to be very patient with him."
"Mad wizard?"

"He sits at the top of his 'tower'."
"Tower?"

"Why, the tower of Thakass, of course."
"Thakass? You mean the tower on Wizard's Isle?"

"He just sits there, looking at his 'ring'."
"Ring?"

"The mad wizard holds the blue ring."
"Alright. Rumors?"

"They say the king is ill."

We're ready to set off!

Several hours later...

Hmmm... No thanks. We'll probably stay on Fubernel for more than 15 days, and I planned to visit Delkona anyway.

The village of Bondell is just to the east of our disembarking location, but we were assaulted by monsters on our way.

Wheeeeeew that's a lot of domugs.

Ziyx cast a Fear on the zorlim to shut him down, then Kodex and Ziyx Shattered the domugs to death. Easy victory, but we did burn quite a few gonshis.

Bondell is similiar to Soldain, in that there're quite a lot of locked buildings which can't be entered unless you know who's living inside.

Unfortunately, we have very little knowledge regarding the residents of Bondell.

The person we want to meet lives here, in a nice-looking house at the north of the village.

Tonton charges a lot of money for his service, but it's worth it.

While Kodex is busy training, the others would go out to beat some monsters up.

Shatter spamming was as effective as ever.

Afterwards, we met a halfling on the road.

"Advice?"

"Seek Tuten at Bondell."
"Tuten?"

"Conquer Shadrum!"
"Shadrum?"

"Tuten knows the words to enter Shadrum."
"Rumors?"

"Some say the Ogre King wears a stolen circlet."

Another road encounter.

"Advice?"

"Conquer Shadrum!"
"Shadrum?"

"Shadrum is the tower the evil ogres built on our fair isle."
"Ogres?"

"They corrupted our beautiful isle. There is nothing but swamps now."
"Rumors?"

"Some say there is a dungeon with no entrance!"

I had Ziyx cast a Locate, and... Holy crap, this isle is choke full of monsters.

Let's clear out those who wander the roads first. The first group was easily beaten.

The secound group was nastier, with two jerrahs among the monsters.

First off, Ziyx will shut down the jerrahs with Fear. Didn't want two powerful spellcasters flinging fireballs and paralyzing us.

The fighters quickly dispatched a jerrah with the help of a few luffins.

See? This is why you should make sure to shut down the jerrahs as soon as possible. Fortunately, with most other monsters dead, this is mostly just a nuisance rather than actually dangrous.

Oh. My. God.

That's a tough battle if I ever saw one. Three jerrahs, one zorlim, and two... What's those things?

ZEBANIS: Zebanis are lesser demons who do not attack with magic. They throw knives. There is probably magic involved in the fact that a Zebani never seems to run out of knives...Unlike most other demons, Zebanis are willing to travel by daylight.

Oh, crap. Out of the seven monsters here, six have a ranged attack. Bad news.

And this, my friend, is why you never underestimate the combined firepower of four spellcasters.

Nazim had around 50 points of shield. The jerrahs and zorlims literally killed him with fireballs in a single turn. I don't think we can win this fight.

Well, I decided to try anyway, and actually managed to take out the zorlim and a jerrah.

But then this happened.

Well, fuck this. We're running away.

Running always succeed in this game, but the monsters would receive a free turn during which they could beat you up.

Alhan was paralyzed as well, but this didn't prevent us from running away.

The bad news is, the mighty hunter Nazim is now gone forever.

Fuck this shit. None of the above ever happened. We didn't even have to fight the monster group, actually; we could just slip by through another route. And look! Magical plants there!

Free luffins! I really should be using those more often.

Meanwhile, Kodex has finished a training session. Another one begins immediately.

The other party picked a slightly weaker group of monsters to beat on.

Ziyx shut down the jerrahs with two Fear spells.

The fighters took out one of the jerrahs quickly.

By the way, zebanis can hit pretty hard. Good thing that Rexor had a nift to protect him.

Well, we won. But it's now dark, and we're tired, so we shall rest here until tomorrow.

Or maybe not. Why did I think resting on the road while there're several monster groups wandering around was a good idea?

RUN!

Fortunately only one cyclops managed to get an attack, or Eflun would be screwed.

Now this is bad. We want to go back to Bondell where we'll be safe, but the monsters are still after us, and I don't think we can outrun them. But Ziyx has a spell that will hopefully get us out of this problem:

CONFUSE avoids conflict when traveling outdoors. When enemy patrols have located your party and are pursuing you, a Confuse spell will cause them to forget about you. They will resume their random wanderings. Of course, there is no guarantee that they will not randomly find you again right away.

It worked! Let's all run back to Bondell before they find us again.

We met another halfling on the road.

"Advice?"

"Pindalf studies the 'magical rituals'."
"Pindalf?"

"He lives in the Crystal Castle."

:takenotes:

Whew! We're safe here. It would take us a few days to recuperate. Meanwhile, let's check out if Kodex has finished his training...

There. Nobody will refuse to talk to us, EVER AGAIN. You shall know fear, crabby old men, for the greatest diplomat in Deruvia is coming for you.

But before we go for crabby old men, we shall first inquire the halflings.

"Advice?"

"You can buy the book Zoxinn at Shiran."
"Zoxinn?"

"Ask about it to Fizkreto."
"Rumors?"

"They say Dinera lost her powers."
"Dinera?"

"She entered Shadrum with the help of Tuten and battled the mighty king of ogres. Alas, she lost the fight. She now wanders the roads of Fubernel."
"Tuten?"

"He lives in the northeast corner house."

:takenotes:

"Advice?"

"You can buy the book Ishban at Lymeric."
"Ishban?"

"Ask about Ishban to Remulda in Lymeric."
"Rumors?"

"I hear that the king's hero is on a quest to recover the 'circlet'."
"No, he isn't. But he would like to know about the circlet nonetheless."

"The 'king of ogres' wears it now!"
"King of ogres?"

"He sits at the top of his 'tower'."
"Tower?"

"Tower of Shadrum is on the isle of giants."
"Shadrum?"

"Tuten and Dinera the witch entered it once."

Well, so let's pay this Tuten guy a visit.

"Advice?"

"Seek Dinera. She's not as crazy as they think!"
"Dinera?"

"I was with her when we took on the king of ogres in the tower of Shadrum. I was wounded at the third level and could go up no more."
"Shadrum?"

"Chant 'damlaz', 'firtarafa', 'yaklamatofar' to open Shadrum."
"Thanks. Heard any rumors?"

"They say the ash of shir-aka was used by eldens to trap Dreax!"
"Shir-aka?"

"Wizards of Shiran look after it now."

:takenotes:

Kodex joined the party once again. Now, I'd wanted to explore Fubernel completely, but I changed my mind. We're probably a bit underpowered for Fubernel. So let's just head to Delkona and sail back to Keof from there.

A travelling old woman? Could it be...

Getting this old woman to talk requires an ungodly level of charisma -- and Kodex just have that.

"Hi."

"Greetings Kodex, my name is Dinera."
"Advice?"

"You must destroy the ogres. I couldn't!"
"Ogres?"

"They live in the tower of Shadrum, on the isle of giants."
"Shadrum?"

"You must reach the 'top level'."
"Top level?"

"There are three halls at the top. One of them is the 'hall of no return'."
"Hall of no return?"

"If you wish to meet the king of ogres, you must 'cross' this hall."
"How do I cross this hall?"

"To cross this hall, reach the east wall and move south."

:takenotes:

I think this is the monster squad that we had to use Confuse on to escape from, although there's one less cyclops this time. Maybe he's on a smoke break. Or something.

Whatever. We slaughtered them.

A bridge encounter.

After what we've been through, this fight looks like pretty much a cakewalk.

Bridge guardians here aren't as rich as the ones in mainland, apparently.

One last fight before we reach Delkona.

Lots of cyclopes here. Or was it cyclope? I could never remember the plural form of cyclops. Anyway, we killed the monsters without too much trouble.

Well, then. Let's see if the citizens here have any intersting information to offer.

"Advice?"

"Leksra knows all about teleportals."
"Leksra?"

"Leksra is out around 01:00."
"Rumors?"

"I hear the kraken is awake!"

The other guard:
"Advice?"

"Old man Kahir has much wisdom."
"Kahir?"

"Kahir is out around 02:00."

Unfortunately, the only way into the city is throught the town hall... But they won't let us in.

"Advice?"

"Why don't you camp outside. It is so pleasant around Delkona."
"Rumors?"

"Rumor has it that the enemy infiltrated our city and prepares to strike from within!"
"Shut up you corrupt fuck, I know what you want."

100 coins was enough to buy a one-time pass into the city. It's not like we have much choice, though...

"Advice?"

"Read about Sherro's legend at the Keof library."

Already done that, sorry.

"Advice?"

"I know of an 'elf' that may help you, but I must warn you about his temper."
"Elf?"

"Genevar the elf claims he has gained much insight to the mystery of obelisks lately."
"Genevar?"

"He visits the Delkona inn often, but hardly ever speaks to anyone."
"Rumors?"

"Read about Khazan before you attempt to conquer it."
"Nah, that LP's long dead."

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

Jokes aside, let's ask the librarian about Khazan.

That's actually very helpful information.

"Advice?"

"There is an obelisk on Vo."
"Obelisk?"

"Inspect it!"
"Rumors?"

"Stop wasting time on rumors!"
"Do you know anything about teleportals?"

"Sphere, sphere, cube from Khazan ports to Yberton."

:takenotes:

"Advice?"

"Fozimar the wizard may improve your learning skill."
"Fozimar?"

"He lives with my kin at Bondell."

What the...? I literally just wandered into a building in the town, and immediately we're ambushed by monsters? I guess the officer wasn't kidding when he said enemy has infiltrated the city.

We won the fight, of course, but we had to burn quite a few consumables and spells.

Oh, and when we're exiting, we were asked if we want to go up or down. Apparently we're in a tower of some kind!

Anyway, I didn't feel like doing more fighting, so we went downwards, and ended up in the city again. We'll explore the tower when we come back to Delkona later. After all, I'm sure nothing bad will happen to the citizens of Delkona while we're screwing around in the mainland.

Delkona also has an archery school and a magic one. The latter is particularly noteworthy, as the price is quite a bit cheaper than the one in Port Avur.

"Advice?"

"One of the three levers is at Darvale."
"Levers?"

"Must pull all three at once."
"Rumors?"

"They say there are two destinations to teleport from the 'lost dungeon'."
"Lost dungeon?"

"Ask Llockhean about it."
"Llockhean?"

"He likes to wander in dark."

By the way, I discovered that gemstones sell at a much higher price in Delkona. I hesitated a bit, but in the end, I decided to sell all of our remaining gems for more than 1000 coins.

"Advice?"

"Try and talk to that grumpy elf Genevar."
"Genevar?"

"He is here after 17:00 hours."
"Rumors?"

"Murdar has a lady friend at Sumruna they say."
"Murdar?"

"Captain Murdar gets here before noon."

No, screw you, I'm not going to make a Murdar pun.

"Advice?"

"Seek Heru, the god of war."
"Heru?"

"He sleeps in Khazan."
"Khazan?"

"It is close."

NECROMEN: As a wolvinga is an elf gone bad, so is a necroman a wizard gone bad. I shudder to think that necromen have become more than a theoretical possibility.

"Rumors?"

"Some say faery rules Heavenly!"
"Advice?"

"Visit Shendy, it is dandy!"
"We're just planning on doing that, actually."

"Can take you there for 150 coins. OK?"
"Deal."

Well. Now we just have to collect some more informations before tomorrow.

"Advice?"

"You can pick luffins on Kuskunn."
"Rumors?"

"They say it's all because of hodli ducks!"

Not sure what was he referencing, and I don't care enough to google for it either.

"Rumors?"

"They say you must go to Sargoz."
"Sargoz?"

"I hear the only way in and out Sargoz is through teleportal chambers."

Isn't it a little sad that a puny brat would know more about distant dungeons than Kodex's party do?

"Advice?"

"Don't gamble! Look at me, I'm ruined. Lost everything at dice, including the 'amulet'."
"Amulet?"

"I fell on hard times. I sold it to Faruk."
"Faruk?"

"He's a rich merchant now, here on Fubernel."
"Rumors?"

"They say my armor is magical."

Huh. We'll probably have to find this Faruk guy at some point, then.

We then went to the guest house to get some rest. Kodex won't rest for long, though, for he still has more interrogation to do.

"Advice?"

"You must find the combination to port to Sargoz."
"Sargoz?"

"There is no other way in."
"Rumors?"

"They say there is a teleportal on Shendy."
"Do you know anything else about teleportals?"

"Sphere, pyramid, pyramid from Bendangidar ports to Udar."

:takenotes:

"Advice?"

"Research at the 'library' is essential for success."
"Library?"

"There is a parchment on 'obelisks' at Delkona library."
"What do you know about the obelisks?"

"I believe the words engraved on the obelisks are the three Words of Will."

"Advice?"

"Seek the gonshi patch at northern Fubernel."
"Nah, too many monsters there. Rumors?"

"I heard of a drelin patch at southern Fubernel."

"Advice?"

"I survived! So could you."
"You survivded what?"

"I can't help you with that. Anything else?"
"Rumors?"

"I heard of the man who can raise dungeon gates with a gaze!"

"Advice?"

"You will find a lever at Piyan."
"Rumors?"

"I hear there is no more dream dust in Theldair."

I completely forgot about Genevar's advice of looking for information in the library until later in the day, when the library has already closed. Oh well, we'll come back tomorrow.

"Advice?"

"Seek the luffin patch at west Fubernel beaches."

Already done that.

"Advice?"

"You can probably find mirgets on Isle of Giants."

Good to know, but we won't head to Isle of Giants anytime soon.

"Advice?"

"Argelb knows the teleportal combination to escape from Sargoz."
"What do you know about Sargoz?"

"Sargoz is the lost dungeon."
"Where's Argelb then?"

"He lives in Crystal Castle."
"Rumors?"

"They say Argelb speaks to no one."
"Don't you worry. If he won't speak to me, he won't speak to anyone."

"But he won't speak to anyone."
"No, screw you, he will speak to me."

"Advice?"

"There are four teleportal houses on the 'surface' of Deruvias."
"Surface?"

"At 'Pheron', 'Khiriss', 'Kherbel', and 'Shendy'."
"Pheron?"

"Three cubes from Pheron ports to Hidden vale."
"Khiriss?"

"Three pyramids from Khiriss ports to Shendy."
"Kherbel?"

"Pyramid, sphere, pyramid from Kherbel ports to Fubernel."
"Shendy?"

"Sphere, cube, sphere from Shendy ports to Dakland."

:takenotes:

"Advice?"

"Don't lose the rings, they would end up in the 'furnace of hades'."
"Furnace of hades?"

"It is the furnace of eternal flames at the bottom of Sargoz."

At the next morning, we went to the library to look for information about obelisks. Hmm, intersting. I'm sure we'll have to deal with those obelisks eventually.

But right now, we have other things to do. We'll go back to Keof, and Kodex will scoop up any information that we weren't able to obtain.

But that would be reserved for the next time. This update is already too long, isn't it? Writing it sure did make me tired.


Bonus content: Deruvian History, Part One

History and Legends

Father Gostav has spent may years composing a history of the Deruvias. He is now on a pilgrimage, visiting his brother monks in their sanctuary in Uberion and searching for a passage to the lost temple of Valon. These abridged chapters of his history may be of use to you in your quest.

The Dark Invasion

In the latter part of the Elden Age, long before the appearance of wizards and the race of manin the Deruvias, the Powers of Darkness launched the greatest invasion history has ever known. From far-off Gurtex the Minions of Darkness came in thousands, and then came thousands more. Surprised and overwhelmed, the Eldens were unable to resist. Their scattered remnants fled deep into the mountains of Udar and the forests of Trilliad to gather themselves for defense and counterattack.

In the crags and chasms of Udar, the hardy subjects of Dwarvenking Thorin joined with the Eldens led by the mighty warrior Zilbann and the great mage Zokadir to keep the Minions of Darkness at bay. During the years of exile, the dwarves forged for Zilbann the mighty sword Brennix, and Zokadir placed upon Brennix its famed enchantment. Those same years were put to good use in Trilliad, where Speaker Zehran of the Eldens and King Enegail of the elves gathered and trained the largest army ever formed by the Children of Light. Finally, Zehran sent the call southward. The two Elden armies and their allies would meet on the banks of the River Shelan in South Bihun to drive the archdemon Dreax andhis Dark Horde from Deruvia. (Here, Father Gostav relates at length the trials and glories of the marches to Bihun.)

The Battles of Bihun

As the armies advanced northward into Bihun, they discovered the Forces of Darkness to be much stronger than their worst fears. Zehran had not expected an easy victory, even with the powerful new Elden magic from Zokadir's studies, but now any victory at all was almost beyond hope.

(Father Gostav details the many heroic battles that followed.)

After weeks of fighting, Zehran was close to despair. Despite victory after victory for the Children of Light, the forces of Darkness were as numerous as ever. With free access to the beaches of North Bihun, Dark reinforcements were arriving in swarms, as if they were created from the smoky air. There were too many beaches, and the Children of Light could not build a blockading navy in the mountains and forests. In council, the great mage Zokadir uttered the now-famous words: "If you cannot wound the body, you must sever the head." All agreed that, were it not for the leadership of the archdemon Dreax, the Dark Horde could be eventually defeated. But Dreax could not be killed. they had all seen Dreax slain in battle several times, only to vanish in a cloud of greasy smoke and reappear on the field the next day. "Dreax cannot be killed, true," said Zokadir, "but he can be captured." He explained his plan. He and his apprentice Zirva had developed a series of spells designed to trap the mighty demon in the flame of a pure white candle.

 

[CappenVarra]

Always nice to read more about your exploits

 

[Monty]

I was just wondering if the resting and stat boosting would have implications in terms of the time limit when I saw the days remaining - 752. Quite a long game actually.

 

[lightbane]

Yeah, it seems to be quite long, but the lp is good so far, so it's fine.

 

[Azira]

Pump those skills

 

[Monstrous Bat]

The other castle

Back to Keof!

Without further ado, let's put Kodex's newly acquired charisma to use!

"Advice?"

"You must go into a dungeon to find what you seek."
"Dungeon?"

"Name the dungeon you seek."
"Uhh... Dermagud?"

"I can't help you with that."
"How about Khazan?"

"I can't help you with that."

Then what CAN you help us with, jerk?

"Advice?"

"My advice to you is: avoid bad advice!"
"Rumors?"

"Kunder dares to sail to Isles of Ice, they say."

"Advice?"

"Captains won't sail to Heavenly."

Indeed, none of the captains we have met was willing to sail there.

"Rumors?"

"They say a cure for the curse exists!"

Meanwhile, I got an idea...

"Rumors?"

"They say you can teleport from Vocha."
"Vocha?"

"Home of orcs."

This Vocha place sounds like a dungeon. Maybe Numbar knows something about it?

:takenotes:

"Advice?"

"After obtaining the 'star', seek the 'Gate keeper'."
"Star?"

"It is the key of the 'vault'."
"Vault?"

"The vault is in 'Sudogur' below Lymeric."
"Sudogur?"

"Ask about 'Sudogur' to the gate keeper."
"Gate keeper?"

"He is at Lymeric."
"Rumors?"

"I hear of poisoned pillows at some guest houses."

"Advice?"

"Many teleportal combinations may be learned in Shiran."
"What do you know about Ongar's wizard?"

"Ask me by his name."

No problem. The document about Meardom back in Port Avur library gave the answer.

"Debaramos."

"He had an apprentice at Merg by the name of Ruhbear. Ask him about Debaramos."

:takenotes:

"Advice?"

"You must develop your learning skill. Aksimento can help."
"Aksimento?"

"He resides in Lymeric."
"Do you know about teleportals?"

"Cube, sphere, cube gets you from Sudogur to Pheron."

"Advice?"

"Remulda of Lymeric sells Ishban."
"Teleportals?"

"Pyramid, sphere, sphere gets you from Vocha to Ice plains."

We're done with Keof. Next stop is Port Avur.

First, we'll have to buy a pass (AGAIN) in order to gain access to the jail.

Kodex's super charisma works on orcs as well.

"Advice?"

"Tell my brothers at Vocha that I sent you for help."
"Vocha?"

"You need 'three words' to raise the gate of Vocha."
"Three words?"

"Seek that knowledge from Numbar the wise."

Way ahead of you, buddy.

"Rumors?"

"I heard dreads have risen!"

DREADS: Thousands of years ago, in the Elden Wars, a chief foe of the Children of Light was the dread, a being of purest evil. It was thwarted, but not defeated. I wish I did not need to tell you that the dread may still exist. It may have allied with the invading forces of Darkness. And, worst of all, it may have spawned more of its kind.

Uh-oh. This doesn't sound like good news.

"Advice?"

"Give up your struggle. Dreax's release cannot be prevented."
"Rumors?"

"I hear Dreax is already visible at times!"
"Dreax?"

"ITZ COMING!!"

"Advice?"

"Help us escape now and you shall be spared when the day comes!"

Even if you wanted to help the orcs escape, you weren't given the option. Railroading piece of shit

"Rumors?"

"I hear we shall be pardoned and send to Isles of Ice as ambassadors."
"Isles of Ice?"

"My kindred dwell under The Isles of Ice."
"Tell me what you know about Thorin's hammer."

"We buried the hammer right next to Chambur's tomb."
"Chambur?"

"He is buried in Vocha."
"Where's Vocha?"

"Vocha is below the Isles of Ice."

There -- we now know where to look for Thorin's hammer. We'll probably take a trip to Isles of Ice soon.

"Advice?"

"Ask about temples to monks."
"Rumors?"

"I hear a guard of the castle knows a teleportal combination."
"But do you know any of these?"

"Cube, sphere, cube from Pheron ports you to Bay of meric."

Well, and our business in Port Avur is thus concluded.

We now know what these things do (used in teleportal rooms), so we stocked up on them.

Also, the two knights on roads who weren't willing to talk before is more cooperating now.

"Advice?"

"Captain Kunder sails to Isles of ice."
"Rumors?"

"I pay no heed to rumors."

"Advice?"

"Pick nifts at northern Phaleng."
"Rumors?"

"I hear the king's hero beheaded an ogre."

Remember this guy in the castle? Other servant said he has a secret...

"Advice?"

"Intersting items are hidden below!"
"Below?"

"There is a dungeon below this castle. But its entrance was sealed by Rebnard's grand father king Ongar. Only a magical prayer opens the secret gate."
"Prayer?"

"I know the prayer to open the gate into the dungeons!"

"Yes, we do."

"All right. Meet me in front of the servants' quarters at 8:00 hours."

Two hours later...

And then Beratt opened the gate into the dungeon for us!

This is the dungeon of Meardom -- the dungeon of doom. I'm sure we'll have to explore this dungeon sooner or later, but for now, we have other matters on our hand. Let's go back.

The dungeon gate closed once again. Our business here is concluded, so we went to Soldain.

Time to check out all those jerk dwarves who didn't want to talk! First, Yodan.

"White wolf?"

"Use hoyam essence to lure the white wolf."
"Where's the wolf rock?"

"The wolf rock is in Phaleng."
"Rumors?"

"They say there is a new diamond mine in Phaleng."

Next stop is at Denkar's house.

"Bowls?"

"Found in dungeons, they are filled with a milky substance."
"Rumors?"

"I hear Azidamus is willing to sell a Sabano."

Sadly, most of the clues and hints given by residents of Soldain are of no use to us, since we already know about most things they talk about.

"Advice?"

"Interrogate the orcs at Port Avur jail about the 'hammer'."

Bah, I figured that out myself. Away with your handholding!

"Rumors?"

"They say the white wolf is alive!"
"White wolf?"

"It may be possible to lure the white wolf by using 'hoyam' essence."

Hokando comes next.

"Prayers?"

"They are found at temples."
"Do you know about Valon?"

"You can reach his temple through Dermagud."

This is the last guy we want to interrogate.

"Advice?"

"A visit to Kuskunn before daring Vocha may be a good idea."
"Rumors?"

"I hear rumors of many treasures at Vocha."

Phew! That's it. We've gathered all information we could from the residents of Port Avur, Soldain, Delkona and Keof. So what should we do now?

Well, currently we have two obvious leads that we can follow:
1. Go to Vocha, retrive the hammer, trade the hammer for hoyam essence, then use hoyam essence to lure the white wolf.
2. Explore Meardom, possibly after going to Merg to see what information does Ruhbear have to offer.

However, I opted to do neither, and headed to the teleportal in Dermagud. From there, we'll teleport to Yberton -- a province literally located in the exact opposite of the world.

After all, what could possibly go wrong?

Wait.

Have I forgotten something?

...

...



I forgot to ask Father Orboon about Zirvanad.

Seriously, if only I'd remember to read my own notes. Good thing I backed up my save just before teleporting. Let's reload, then.

"Advice?"

"My brothers can help you locate temples."
"Rumors?"

"They say winds of despair are upon us!"
"Belazar said we should ask you about Zirvanad."

"That's the subject of my 'research'."
"Research?"

Ah, it's clear now. The hammer of Thorin, the hoyam essence, the white wolf, the vault in Lymeric -- they're all related to our quest of finding Zirvanad.

But first, we have other things to do.

The party has been teleported to Yberton. Taking a look at the world map, I discovered that we're currently standing near the western coasts of Kuzu Bay. Our goal, the Crystal Castle, is just to the southeast.

Kodex cast a Locate spell to find monsters in this region. There aren't many monsters here, actually, and they're mostly stational guards.

Heading to the south, we encountered a dwarf on the road.

"Advice?"

"Buy my 'gems'."
"Rumors?"

"I hear the merchant at Delkona offers best prices for gems."
"You sell gems?"

"Gems eh?"

Well, I'm not sure about the selling price of topaz , but even pearls (the least valuable of gems) can sell for approx. 35 coins each, and I'm sure topaz can sell more than that. Seems like a good deal.

Kodex bought 25 topaz stones. We'll sell those once we're back in a town.

The Crystal Castle is already visible from here. But we'll have to defeat a monster squad in order to get there.

The monsters here aren't too impressive, actually.

Octavius' advice about using Fear on enemy spellcasters is working like a charm.

The jerrahs and zorlims here differ from those in Uberion in that they have magical shields to protect them from spells. Spellcasters in Uberion didn't have shield at all, those in Fubernel has 15 points of shield each, and here, all spellcasters have 30 points of shield. Though really, this doesn't help them much.

Kodex and Ziyx made short works of the spellcasters.

And the battle is easily won.

A monster squad almost managed to catch up with us before we got into the castle.

Here's the Crystal Castle, where the queen resides.

"Advice?"

"Mind your manners in the court."
"Rumors?"

"They say the queen can 'sense' the monsters below."
"Sense?"

"Ask her advice."

The court is empty at the moment; presumbly, the queen and her courtiers are sleeping right now.

"Advice?"

"Hot lava flows freely down in Crezimas. Don't go down without magical 'boots'."
"Boots?"

"You can buy them at any supply shop."
"How magical could they be if they're so easily acquirable?"

"Magical enough to be lava-proof?"
"Point taken. Rumors?"

"Some say the furnace of Hades is at the bottom of Sargoz."
"Furnace of Hades?"

"Hell's window at this plane."
"Sargoz?"

"Go there only after you are the best you can be!"
"Teleportals?"

"Sphere, pyramid, pyramid from Crezimas gets you to Selderad."

:takenotes:

The stairs here leads down to Crezimas. We won't go there yet.

"Rumors?"

"I heard of a treasure down below."

Right. And what kind of adventurer wouldn't enter hell, if there's treasure to be gained? That being said, maybe we should leave our hell-diving to later, when we're better equipped and more experienced.

I'm sure we have many things to do in the castle, but right now, we're most concerned with this. You see, the Crystal Castle has a knights' room as well.

And behold, this is why I chose to come to Yberton so early in the game -- I knew there's better, stronger recruits available in the Crystal Castle.

I believe it's now time to refrom our party. We'll probably drop all the old companions, but I could keep them in the party if you guys insist. But really, the volunteers here are so much stronger than the ones in king's castle that it's not funny. Let's take a look at them:

Volunteer: Kruga (at the Crystal Castle)

Armed with: Battleaxe, Chain Mail.

From the Crystal Castle: Kruga: Fighter/Dwarf

Awesome. Made mockeries of our most difficult combat tests. Personal mission to rid all former dwarven holds of forces of Darkness. Possible ability to do so.

Kruga is a great fighter, with retardedly high strength, impressively high stamina and reasonably high dexterity. Also, his entry in the manual alone is badass enough to qualify him a for the quest.

Volunteer: Ben (at the Crystal Castle)

Armed with: Long Sword, Ash Bow, 30 Arrows, Ring
Mail.

From the Crystal Castle: Ben: Mercenary/Race of Man

Skilled. Experienced mercenary officer. Left service age 45 to marry childhood sweetheart. Later took one final commission: family killed by Jerrahs while on campaign. Nothing left to lose.

Ben is basically a Kruga with much less physical prowess and an emotionally engaging background story.

Volunteer: Rasul (at the Crystal Castle)

Armed with: Short Sword.

From the Crystal Castle: Rasul: Tailor/Race of Man

Refugee from Knessos. Quick learner. Has been studying swordplay with other volunteers and advising them on demeanor and deportment.

If you vote for Rasul, I will shoot you myself.

Volunteer: Madir (at the Crystal Castle)

Armed with: Scimitar, Leather Armor, The Book of Demaro.

From the Crystal Castle: Madir: Mage/Wizard

Confusing. Boasts of sword prowess (adequate). Does not mention magic skill (impressive). Suspect mid-career disillusionment with chosen profession, possible despair that magic can defeat Darkness.)

Madir is basically an Eflun with slightly better attributes across the board.

Volunteer: Lupi (at the Crystal Castle)

Armed with: Brom Bow, 50 Arrows, Leather Armor.

From the Crystal Castle: Lupi: Ranger/Elf

Skilled in archery. Trained in magic. Owns Brom Bow, named Darkfinder. Confidential: Lupi admits to being an elven princess of the royal blood, disguised in male attire. Motives unclear. Recommend secrecy.

Lupi is an archer. She (?) starts with a brom bow and 55 in archery skill and also receive a +5 racial bonus to damage done with a bow, which may or may not be enough to compensate for her low strength. She can learn to cast spells later.

Volunteer: Nimmo (at the Crystal Castle)

Armed with: Ash Bow, 30 Arrows, Leather Armor.

From the Crystal Castle: Nimmo: Gemcutter/Halfling

One of few halflings ever seen in Yberton. Charming. Skilled in combat. Learned gemcutting from Bedangidar dwarves in Kharin exile. Do all halflings eat this much?

See my comment on Rasul. If we have to have a gem cutter in our party, at least have one that is useful in combat. He has high charisma but who gives shit, Kodex is the best diplomat on this planet.

Volunteer: Yulig (at the Crystal Castle)

Armed with: Light Axe, Ring Mail.

From the Crystal Castle: Yulig: Gemcutter/Dwarf

Dwarvish friend of the halfling Nimmo. Fine gemcutter; good dwarvish combat skills. Almost likable. Told a joke once.

Such as this one. A gem cutter, just like Nimmo, but with twice as much strength as the latter.

Volunteer: Eldai (at the Crystal Castle)

Armed with : Ash Bow, 50 Arrows, Leather Armor.

From the Crystal Castle: Eldai: Carpenter/Elf

Skilled in archery and magic. Gave an amazing demonstration of rapid shelter construction from living saplings. Claims that living plants cooperate; dead plants resist.

Inferior version of Lupi. See my comment on Rasul and Nimmo.

Volunteer: Tamas (at the Crystal Castle)

Armed with: The Book of Ishban

From the Crystal Castle: Tamas: Mage/Wizard

Handsome (for a wizard) and arrogant, but with good reason. Most talented of our mages, and the only holder of the Book of Ishban.

A decent mage. He has the book of Ishban, which contains a number of very useful spells (Fireball and Teleport, to name a few.)

Volunteer: Nagi (at the Crystal Castle)

Armed with: Long Sword, Steel Plate Armor.

From the Crystal Castle: Nagi: Knight/Race of Man

Leader of our defenses. Beloved by all. Sir Nagi is prepared to join your quest when it reaches our castle. We will miss him sorely.

Nagi to Rexor is what Madir is to Eflun. Okay fighter, but why choose him when you have Kruga and Yulig?

Volunteer: Dokar (at the Crystal Castle)

Armed with : The Book of Sabano.

From the Crystal Castle: Dokar: Mage/Wizard

Surpassingly quick. Young, for a wizard. No personal data. Refused interview: "Too much to learn." Impressive/frightening ability to learn spells.

Dokar is an excellent mage. He's the second fastest learner in the world, with the fastest being Kodex.

Volunteer: Rogga (at the Crystal Castle)

Armed with: Light Axe, Ring Mail.

From the Crystal Castle: Rogga: Metalsmith/Dwarf

Superb blacksmith, specializing in weapon repair. Excellent axeman as well, with an unusual forehand-backhand technique that often allows him to land two blows in a single pass. Refuses to reveal where he learned this type of axeplay.

Excellent fighter. Most dexterous creature on this planet. Comparable to Kruga in terms of physical prowess.

I'll also post the latest character sheet of the current companions for easy comparison:

So, who shall company Kodex in his quest from now on? Vote now!

(As the last time, I'll keep the poll open for two days)

Bonus content: Deruvian History, Part Two

The Capture of Dreax

(Father Gostav tells the well-known story of the "Five Against Bedangidar." We skip to the climax.)

Zibann fell, still clutching the ichor-covered Brennix, with a gaping wound in his noble chest! Dolgas and Elmion rushed to the attack, but were no match for the demon, even with one arm gone. Dreax swatted Dolgas across the bloody chamber, then slashed the elf from gullet to bowel. The archdemon turned from the remains of Elmion to dispose of the semi-conscious dwarf and paused. He sniffed the dust and ashes in the air, whirled, finally noticed Zokadir and Zirva, and realized his doom. With a thunderous scream of despair, the archdemon was sucked into the flame of the Elden candle. As the Elden mages completed their sealing spells, Dolgas staggered to his feet and went to Zilbann's side. The warrior still lived! "But not for long, young friend," Zilbann whispered. "Leave me. Save the candle. I would give you Brennix, but you know the spell. None save its rightful owner can lift the sword, and I fear that I will remain its owner until my spirit is laid to rest. Hurry! Save the candle!"

(The story continues with the flight through the tunnels, Zokadir's tragic death, and the escape of Zirva and Dolgas with the candle. With Dreax gone, the Forces of Darkness begin to fight among themselves, and the Children of Light prevail. It's an old story, but Father Gostav tells it well.)

Fort Berbezza

The war was over. Enegail and his elves had returned to Trilliad. Thorin and his dwarves were about to leave. Most were returning to Udar with Thorin, but some were heading northwest with the hero Dolgas to see what lay beyond the Gambode Pass. As the groups parted, Thorin called to Dolgas. "May dwarvenkind always remember this struggle, and your bravery," said Thorin. He handed Dolgas his battered war-hammer. "Take this with you as a reminder. May you never need to use it. If you do, use it well." Zehran bade farewell to Thorin and Dolgas. But where was the other hero? Zirva had, thought Zehran, been absent from many of the recent ceremonies and celebrations. He sought Zirva out in Zokadir's old quarters, and found him slumped in exhaustion at the table on which stood Dreax's candle. How much bravery resembles foolishness, thought Zehran. Throughout the close of the war, throughout the celebrations, throughout the ceremonies, Zirva must have been maintaining the candle's spells all by himself, never asking for help. Zehran's thoughts unwillingly proceeded to his own foolishness. He should have realized that candles melt and that candle flames are likely to flicker out. All of Zirva's energies must have gone to keeping the candle at its full height and the flames at its full strength.

And so it came to pass that Speaker Zehran ordered a mighty fortress built at Berbezza. Zirva and his new assistants--for Zirva was now a master mage, no longer an apprentice--were given the finest of accommodations there, with the best of serving staffs to attend to their everyday needs. A giant candle of purest white was made under Zirva's direction and installed in Berbezza's main hall. Four-four Elden mages labored for four-four days to transfer the archdemon Dreax from the flames brought from Bedandigar to the flame of the giant candle at Berbezza. King Enegail of the elves sent four-four of his finest rangers to seal the passes into Berbezza with elvish sorcery, so that none might wander into Berbezza unwanted. And so it came to pass that the valley of Bebezza became knows as the "Hidden Vale," and the giant candle in Fort Berbezza became known as the "Magic Candle." And forty-four mages labor there still. And so shall they forever.

Father Gostav, as you have noticed, borrows from holy liturgy in this chapter. Since he left,the liturgy has been shaken to its very roots. "Forever" may be over. We have not had word from even one mage at Berbezza this year, let alone 44. The Magic Candle cannot last long if it is unattended.

EDIT: Apparently it's impossible to edit a existing poll, so you'll have to do it the old way -- voting by posts!

 

[Azira]

Alright, you want votes, you got them:
Kruga
Lupi
Yulig
Tamas
Rogga

Ditch the old companions, these new ones are much better.

 

[Monty]

I like the old companions, was just getting used to them. And it's not like you're dying every two minutes. All I'd change is to swap Rexor for Rogga. So:
Rogga
Nazim
Alhan
Ziyx
Eflun

 

[CappenVarra]

What, improving your party by hiring new companions? Teleporting across the world only to do so? Preposterous! What's next, playing on easy?

I'd say hire them mages and steal their spellbooks, then keep the old party. If that's an acceptable option...

 

[Monstrous Bat]

I forgot to add that, since Kodex has a spellbook himself, I could do a little exploit to swap the spellbook of the wizard volunteers. So for example, I can have Tamas exchange his Ishban for Dokar's Sabano. You may want to take that into consideration when voting.

EDIT: CappenVarra, I can't steal the mages' spellbooks, but I can swap them around if I wish.

 

[lightbane]

What, improving your party by hiring new companions? Teleporting across the world only to do so? Preposterous! What's next, playing on easy?

I'd say hire them mages and steal their spellbooks, then keep the old party. If that's an acceptable option...

This, only in death does duty end (and when it does, you could recruit new characters instead of reloading, you know ).

 

[Azira]

These guys are whiners. Take the best the game has to offer. Squeeze every last drop you can. You're doing this semi-blindly right? Stack the odds in your favour. I'd rather see the LP completed than abandoned due to frustrations. That can happen you know. It's happened to one of my LPs..

 

[Monty]

These guys are whiners. Take the best the game has to offer. Squeeze every last drop you can. You're doing this semi-blindly right? Stack the odds in your favour. I'd rather see the LP completed than abandoned due to frustrations. That can happen you know. It's happened to one of my LPs..

It's not as if the party is constantly being overpowered and destroyed though is it? Existing party seems fine.

 

[Azira]

But is it fine enough? Hmmm?

Oh, and apparently, you can polish a turd.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

Just seems a bit like metagaming, teleporting across the world to find these companions with the "best stats in the world".

I believe these companions are here to replace companions who die later in the game, hence the better stats. But we don't have deaths as we reload. And we make this effort to bring them into the early game. I think it would be better to stick to our original party and, if we have any deaths later on, then recruit these as replacements.

 

[SCO]

Fuck yeah Tailor class. Voting to replace rexor (and _only_ rexor) with Boss, Hugo Boss

 

[Monstrous Bat]

I pity you fools who are unable to experience the joy of breaking a game

These guys are whiners. Take the best the game has to offer. Squeeze every last drop you can. You're doing this semi-blindly right? Stack the odds in your favour. I'd rather see the LP completed than abandoned due to frustrations. That can happen you know. It's happened to one of my LPs..

I played Pool of Radiance with 14 strength fighters. Did you see me abandoning that?

On the other hand, a much bigger concern would be me abandoning this LP due to boredom. Because seriously, fuck, the trash mob in this game is almost on DA:O level. I shudder at the thought of having to clear out Uberion AGAIN once monsters have respawned...

 

[CappenVarra]

Oh, I assure you I can experience the joy of breaking a game just fine - when I'm playing it. But there's no fun to be had in reading about somebody else breaking a game... Dunno, do what thou wilt.

 

[CappenVarra]

snip

All right, I'm sorry! I like the old party members, but not enough to kill the LP. So if continuing with the old party is annoying enough to demotivate you from updating, feel free to use your damn upgrades:

Kruga
Madir
Yulig
Dokar
Rogga

Sheesh, who knew bats were so low on willpower?

 

[Monstrous Bat]

FFS, it hasn't even been a week since the last update and you're already getting impatient? I've already finished the playing session, and I'll finish writing the update tomorrow as well. Now how about you go and harass Crooked Bee for a Wizardry II LP?

 

[Azira]

Heh, LP readers are fickle. I know. I am one.

Would you rather have it the other way though? Look to my Silent Storm LP. Since the last update I posted 4 days ago, I've had one reply.

The trick to doing LPs seems to be, that you don't do them for the audience as much as you do them for yourself. If you enjoy the process, you will complete the LP.

But why am I writing this here? You've already completed an LP, so you know this full and well. Just ignore this post.

 

[CappenVarra]

FFS, it hasn't even been a week since the last update and you're already getting impatient?

You've been updating close to bi-weekly before; I detected a disturbance in the pattern. That's all.

 

[Monstrous Bat]

Azira: Nice job advertising your LP. Reading it just now

Anyway, here's your update:

Gem trading

Well, apparently the vast majority want me to stick with the original party, so stick with them I shall. But I'm still going to get myself an Ishban.

First, I kicked out all party members except Kodex, and recruited Tamas.

Now, you may ask, can't we simply command Tamas to hand his book over to Kodex?

No, of course it's not that easy! The developers made sure that we can't hire a volunteer, strip him of all his possesions, and kick him away. So how are we going to get his book?

Well, in order to gain something, one must give up something as well. Kodex had a Sabano book, and since he's not a wizard, he could give it to Tamas.

Now Tamas has two spellbooks on him. His Ishban is no longer his only spellbook, so he can give that to Kodex now.

Basically, Kodex and Tamas just exchanged their spellbook.

Now let's kick Tamas out and let the original companions rejoin.

There's a guest room in this castle as well. Other companions shall rest there while Kodex explores the castle.

There's a lot of locked rooms in the Crystal Castle. We know two people who live here, so let's pay them a visit. First, Argelb.

"Advice?"

"Do talk to Shagar before you head for Khazan."
"Shagar?"

"At Kharin."
"Khazan?"

"You can find about its whereabouts and how to enter at Fubernel."
"Rumors?"

"They say dreads are back in Sargoz!"
"Sargoz?"

"Pyramid, pyramid, cube from Sargoz gets you out to Fubernel."

Next, Pindalf. I heard this guy knows about magical rituals.

"Advice?"

"I hope my 'studies' can help you."
"Studies?"

"I study magical rituals."
"Magical rituals?"

"Ask me about a specific ritual."
"Uhh, no, we don't have any specific rituals in mind right now. Do you know about teleportals?"

"I suspect the teleportal at Shendy is a gate to Sargoz."

Well, Kodex dosen't have much left to do until morning, so I had him learning some spells from the Ishban book.

TELEPORT changes the location of the caster and his companions. The teleport spell can only be use outdoors, and only where conditions are proper for it. Its range is limited by its caster's magic skill. The most powerful mages can save several hours of travel by teleporting, but Teleport is more often used to cross impossible terrain than to save time.

Sounds useful!

It's daytime now, and the residents of the castle are starting to show up.

"Advice?"

"Seek Hubbo's advice when you can."
"Hubbo?"

"He lives in Bondell."
"Rumors?"

"I hear Marumas is cursed with a no-sleep spell."

So that's why he hangs out after midnight, huh?

"Advice?"

"Shagar claims knowledge about the lost dungeon."
"Shagar?"

"He resides in Kharin."
"Rumors?"

"I hear Marumas is cursed with a no-sleep spell."

"Advice?"

"Buy Methreal armor at Kharin."
"Rumors?"

"I hear the 'cloak' is stolen."
"Cloak?"

"The elven cloak protects from fire, they say!"

"Advice?"

"The queen can sense the presence of enemy bands down below. Ask her advice."
"Rumors?"

"I don't care much for rumors."

"Advice?"

"Find the portal at level 2."
"Portal?"

"I can't help you with that."

"Advice?"

"I can tell you the number of enemy bands waiting in ambush within rooms and corridors of Crezimas."

Well, how about level 1?

Uh... Thanks, I guess? But I really don't get why this information would be useful to us.

"Crezimas?"

"'Members' of my court explored Crezimas. Ask them about it."
"Members?"

"They are usually here with me."

Let's ask random courtiers about Crezimas, then.

That's... Interesting?

"Advice?"

"Seek Trebor one eye's treasure in Crezimas."
"Trebor?"

"He was a theif-king. They say his treasure is buried 11 steps west of his tomb."

:takenotes:

"Rumors?"

"Umaro claims he went down once!"
"Umaro?"

"He's the queen's hero."

"You mean Umaro?"

"No, Umaru."
"But -- ah, whatever. Advice?"

"Search Crezimas throughly."
"Crezimas?"

"I counted three enemy parties waiting in ambush at level 1."
"Rumors?"

"I hear of a very valuable stolen 'item' hidden down below."
"Item?"

"I heard that from Edromir."

Ah, he must be talking about Trebor's treasure. But we already know about that.

"Advice?"

"There are two 'stairs' from level 1 of Crezimas."
"Stairs?"

"They go to levels 2 and 3."
"Rumors?"

"I hear the only way to Vo is from Sumruna."

(Yes, I forgot to ask him about Crezimas. But it's all fine, we'll be back eventually.)

"Advice?"

"You can use the castle's 'guest room' to rest."
"Already doing that. Rumors?"

"I hear there is no more dust!"

Well, we're done here. Now it's time to leave the castle and resume our quest.

Our goal is to make it to Fubernel. This can be achieved in two ways: using a teleportal, or reach a town and sail from there. Now, according to the map, the town of Sumruna is to the west, across the deserts of Kherbel. We also know that there's a teleportal in Kherbel, and that it could teleport us to Fubernel as well. So what's the plan?

We'll try to cross the deserts of Kherbel. I'll aim to reach Sumruna, but in the highly unlikely case that we stumbled upon the teleportal in Kherbel, I'll just use that.

We met Donak on the road again. I've no intention of buying more gems from him, however.

This dwarf, on the other hand, does interest us in his offer.

Damn, now that's a real bargain! With a gem cutter in our party, we'll be able to sell diamonds at Delkona for ~770 coins each. I actually hesitated here because I'm afraid that the dwarf's trying to trick us with fake gems, but in the end, I decided to buy two anyway (that's all we could offer). It's too tempting. Besides, has anyone ever seen a dwarf lie?

Monsters on the bridge ahead!

Time to try out our new Teleport spell.

WTF? Apparently teleportation is impossible if there's monsters in the way.

We'll have to do it the old-fashioned way, then. Note that bridge guardians are much weaker than average monsters in the area for some reasons.

During the battle, Kodex got to try out his Fireball spell.

FIREBALL changes the very air to fire, and propels it toward your chosen opponent. Like Shatter, its strength depends on the caster's magic skill. Unlike Shatter, its power is always predictable.

Fireball is like Shatter, but much more reliable. A Shatter from Kodex might deal anywhere between 1 and 35 points of damage, but a Fireball will always deal exactly 25 points -- until Kodex's magic skill got modified that is.

The battle was easily won.

Searching all the corpses netted us about 400 coins. Now I hope we meet Koton again.

"Advice?"

"Seek Hissen in Crezimas."
"Hissen?"

"He is the snake god."
"Crezimas?"

"It is now infested by demon spawn."
"Rumors?"

"I hear of treasure chests stashed in enemy headquarters."

On another note, the road leads to south, into the mountains. I wonder if there's anything interesting?

It's a temple!

Interesting. We don't know whose temple this is, though. Maybe Hissen?

Later, we met another dwarf on the road.

"Advice?"

"You may buy 'Methreal' armor in Kharin."
"Methreal?"

"Gives the wearer the best possible protection."

Nice to know, but we aren't going to visit Kharin anytime soon.

Vadik also has some diamonds to sell, at a slightly higher price than Koton. We bought two more of these.

Another bridge fight. We didn't actually have to fight here -- I could've had Kodex cast a Teleport to get us straight into Kherbel, but I decided to pick the fight anyway, since bridge guardians tend to carry lots of cash and are easy to kill.

Or rather, are supposed to be easy to kill.

Still, we can handle this. Ziyx will shut down the jerrahs with Fear, and Kodex will kill the cyclops with Fireballs.

The jerrahs here are ridiculously well-protected, with 10 points of armor and 50 points of shield. They're pretty much impossible to kill with arrows, but given enough time, our spells will take them out eventually.

That was a tough fight, but at least the loots were still great.

I wanted to follow the roads to Sumruna, but I changed my mind. The monsters in this region are too tough. Not tough enough that we can't handle them, but fighting them would take too much real-life time. So I'll have Kodex cast a Teleport to get us into the deserts of Kherbel, then make a beeline for Sumruna.

Okay, not really a beeline. See the castle to our southwest? That's the fort of Berbezza, inside which is the Magic Candle. Let's have a look there. Note that the keep is located in the Hidden Vale, and (AFAIK) the only way in and out is through the Teleport spell.

Look -- that's the Magic Candle there. We have to fix the Candle, but unfortunately we don't know how to do that yet.

Incidentally, the image of Dreax sometimes appears in the candle flame for a split second. I had to lower the framerate in DOSBox to capture this screenshot.

By the way, there're actually monsters wandering in the Hidden Vale. Suffice to say, the elves weren't particularly successful at sealing off the Vale.

Time to get back on our way.

There's another cliff in Kherbel.

But fortunately Rexor still has two ropes on him, so we used one to cross the rift.

There're also merchants here, who sell teleportal stuff for a much higher price than the ones in Pheron. We'll pass.

Sometimes Teleport may also be used to avoid enemy patrols.

Then, with one last Teleport spell, we were able to reach the city of Sumruna.

The city gates are closed now, though, so let's rest until morning.

New city, more NPCs, and more information to gain.

"Advice?"

"Seek Rumba the wise."
"Rumba?"

"Rumba is out around 15:00."
"Rumors?"

"Mizekske and Numan don't get along, they say."
"Mizekske?"

"Mizekske is out around 01:00."
"Numan?"

"Numan is out around 10:00."

"Basko?"

"Basko is out around 14:00."
"Murkaza?"

"Murkaza is out around 15:00."

Hey, the gems we bought from the dwarves were real! The shop offers to buy them at a decent price, but still, we'll hold onto them for now. Better sell them in Delkona, where they'll fetch even higher price.

Incidentally, Sumruna also has a bullshit building in the city with monsters inside. Now how does that make sense?

Whatever. It's not like we can't handle them.

"Advice?"

"Seek Mikemira at the King's Castle."
"Dude, we've already done that like, eight updates ago. How about you just tell us some rumors?"

"I hear Pupin survived Khazan."
"Pupin?"

"Guards must have seen Pupin leave."

Huh. Did we meet anyone called Pupin back when we were in Delkona? I seriously can't remember, I'm terrible at memorizing names. Guess I'll have to look at the previous updates to find out. But let's leave that for when we're in Delkona again.

Meanwhile, Alhan got employed.

"Advice?"

"You may have to enter the 'furnace'."
"Furnace?"

"All elden artifacts found by the enemy are thrown into furnace of Hades."

The tavern is mostly empty at this hour.

"Advice?"

"Speak to Patras about passage."
"Patras?"

"Captain Patras is usually here in the evenings."
"Rumors?"

"They say Gourney knows about a dust."
"Gourney?"

"He is usually here in the mornings."

7 coins for a night in a seaside hotel? Deal!

"Advice?"

"Seek Efenor the elf."
"Efenor?"

"He is a wood elf. Ask him about the 'unicorn'."

"Advice?"

"Knock on my friend Koldan's door at Kharin."
"Rumors?"

"Dessen is friendly with a witch, they say."
"Dessen?"

"At Crystal Castle."

Sumruna has a magic school, but the price here is ridiculously expensive. We'll pass.

"Advice?"

"Knock on Hubbo's door at Bondell."
"Rumors?"

"I hear of a loka field in south Udar."

"Advice?"

"Guards must have seen Pupin leave."
"Yes, they have. And they have told us where we went. Rumors?"

"The brew at the tavern is cursed, they say."

"Advice?"

"Demren and I pray at different temples."
"Demren?"

"He is here in the evenings."
"I heard you know about dusts."

"Ask specifically please."

Well, no, there aren't any specific dust that we want to know about. Still, we'll keep this person in mind.

"Advice?"

"Halflings once dwelled where ogres now roam. Seek guidance from halflings about Shadrum."
"Rumors?"

"I hear of deadly halls in Shadrum."

"Advice?"

"Seek my kin around Kherbel and Yberton."
"Rumors?"

"I hear mining in Yberton is good."

Apparently it is, yes.

"Advice?"

"The mad wizard has the blue one, the unicorn carries the green one."

The mad wizard? Hmm, he's obviously talking about the blue ring. But I didn't know there's a green ring as well.

"Advice?"

"You must have many pierce and repel spells memorized to conquer Shadrum."

"Advice?"

"Find luffin fields in Kherbel desert."

No thanks. We've got plenty of luffins, and I don't like going around in Kherbel one bit.

"Advice?"

"Visit Nimmet when you visit Bondell."

"Advice?"

"Pick precious sermins in Fisestar."

Sermins are like, 1 coin each in supply shops. "Precious" my ass.

"What do you know about Teleportals?"

"Cube, sphere, sphere from Crezimas ports to Fubernel."

:takenotes:

"Advice?"

"I found a brick building with a iron lever within, in western Piyan."
"An iron lever."

"Fuck you, who are you to accuse me for a minor typo?"
"Rumors?"

"I heard of another lever up in Darvale."

"Advice?"

"Seek advice from Kabuck the dwarf."
"Kabuck?"

"He lives in Kharin."

"Advice?"

"You can pick mirgets in Piyan."
"Rumors?"

"I hear Pupin knows how to enter Khazan."

"Advice?"

"You may visit two temples in Kherbel."
"Temples?"

"I follow Hissen, the snake god."
"Hissen?"

"His temple is in southwest Kherbel."

Huh? So the temple we stumbled upon earlier was not the temple of Hissen. Also, it occured to me that I should be asking every monk we come across about temples, similiar to how we ask every wizard about teleportals.

"Advice?"

"Knock on Koldan's door at Kharin."

"Advice?"

"Sea air will do you good!"
"Rumors?"

"Sirens caused Garlin to go down, they say."

I don't know, Garlin seemed pretty normal the last time we saw him.

Anyway, we hired the captain for a trip to Fubernel.

That's a terrible name if I've ever seen one.

"Advice?"

"Read about 'the sunken isle' at the Delkona library."
"The sunken isle?"

"Must be raised."
"Rumors?"

"They say gonshi fields are drying up."
"Teleportals?"

"Sphere, pyramid, cube from Dermagud gets you to Pheron."

:takenotes:

"Advice?"

"Jagamer can teach you to learn faster."
"Jagamer?"

"He lives in Theldair."
"Teleportals?"

"Pyramid, cube, pyramid from Khazan gets you to Shendy."

Okay, time to set sail for Fubernel!

We landed on the southeastern coasts of Fubernel. Delkona is a bit northwest of here, not far away, but we'll have to detour a little because there's mountains between us and Delkona.

We get to beat up some bridge guardians though, so it's all fine.

Mmm, delicious loots...

We explored southern Fubernel a little in hopes finding the drelin field someone in Delkona mentioned. We weren't able to locate the field, but we did stumble upon a temple.

Well. Once again, we don't know whose temple this is, but if that sword icon is any indication, this is probably the temple of Heru, the god of war. Also, Heru is known to sleep in Khazan, which is geographically close to where we're now.

After beating up another group of bridge guardians, we made our way to Delkona.

First off, we'll follow Fagharn's advice and read about the sunken isle in the library.

Interesting information. Now if only we know how to raise this isle.

Ah well, we'll worry about that later. Right now we have more important things to do. Such as selling gems.

I feel kind of sorry for the dwarves, actually. But then again, it's not my fault that they would rather sell their gems to random travellers at ridiculously low prices than selling in a town.

Also, I managed to find Pupin. Took me quite a while, actually, and I had to look at the previous updates to find out that he's in the tavern around 16:00.

"I heard you know how to enter Khazan."

"Do you seriously consider entering Khazan?! Well, I wish you good luck. The words are: 'eksam', 'rattabl', 'gangamurt'."

:takenotes:

Kodex then went to the magic school to get a lesson.

Meanwhile, other party members went to Bondell. We've still got a few things to do here, plus I want to boost their learning score as well.

Inside the village, we ran into a halfling with whom we never talked to.

"Advice?"

"A learning skill lesson costs 140 coins at Lymeric."
"Rumors?"

"Demonic powers are at work!"

Time to pay the residents here a visit.

"Advice?"

"Seek the temple of Heru on this isle before you enter Khazan."

So the temple we stumbled upon earlier was indeed the temple of Heru. Good to know.

"Rumors?"

"Some say it is already too late!"

Fozimar next. I heard this guy could boost our learning score as well.

Well, he could, but he charges a large amount of money for his service. We'll pass -- according to Shinshu, the teacher at Lymeric offers the same service, at a much cheaper price. And we'll be visiting Lymeric soon anyway.

Nimmet next.

Halflings are supposed to be sociable!

Seems like Kodex will have to come here himself, once he's finished his training.

Which happened sooner than expected. Apparently schools can't raise an attribute past a certain threshold (which, I suspect, is 50). I was planning on maxing out everyone's learning, then use schools to max out their weapon and magic skills, but I guess that would be too easy. Ah well, Kodex's current magic skill is 57, which is certainly not bad. From now on, he'll have to rely on casting lots of spells to boost his magic skill further.

Kodex then went to Bondell to interrogate Nimmet (and a few others).

"Sargoz?"

"Four levels of hell!"
"Rumors?"

"I hear the 'furnace' of Hades burns in Sargoz."
"Furnace?"

"You must find the portal in Lake Kumalis to reach the furnace."
"Lake Kumalis?"

"They say it is at the bottom at Sargoz."

Another halfling is around in the evening.

"Advice?"

"A learning skill lesson costs 120 coins at Shiran."

That's even cheaper than Lymeric. But I don't think it's very practical, since Shiran is too far away.

"Rumors?"

"They say enemy patrols the area west of here!"

Well duh, enemy patrols pretty much everywhere.

Enough with the halflings. We went back to Delkona and bought a ticket to Shendy.

The time aboard was not wasted, as our spellcasters utilized the time to learn spells. Incidentally, I don't think Ziyx and Eflun have got any sleep at all since our quest started -- I'd just feed them a sermin whenever they got tired. Hilariously unrealistic.

We met a wizard just outside Keof.

"Advice?"

"Pyramid, pyramid, cube from Shendy ports to Uberion."
"Rumors?"

"There is a sermin patch nearby, they say!"
"Teleportals?"

"Three spheres to escape from Shadrum!"

At the Keof armory, I bought two suits of steel plate armor for Alhan and Ziyx. Nifts are probably better at protecting someone from physical attacks, but still, a better armor should help a bit.

Now, we're going to Vocha to retrive Thorin's hammer. But first, we'll take a trip to Kuskunn -- someone told us to do so, and we already know that there's a temple on Kuskunn, so why not?

Whew! That has been a long update. See you next time!


Bonus content: Fragments of Zirvanad

Fragments of the Zirvanad

Our loyal servant Chilek has found a scrap of parchment in a storage room. It might be a fragment of the lost Zirvanad. Some parts are illegible.

Chapter V. Should the candle start to melt.

In the event that the candle starts to melt, the following steps must be taken to prevent Dreax's escape. Three magic users must enter the hall and locate the three lighting stones. Each magic user must possess one of the following items: The white amulet of light; The green ring of order; The blue ring of power. The holder of each item must stand on the stone of its color: blue on blue, white on white, and green on green. The holder of the ................................ starts the process by chanting the "Ritual of ......................" It is essential that the steps described herein be executed in the exact order specified. (Three of the following spells must be cast immediately after using magical dusts and ashes. Do not allow the dust to settle before chanting the magic words.)

Next, the wearer of the .................. must throw ............................ into the air and conjure a "Bubble of Captivity." The bubble will cage Dreax while the candle is being repaired. Once the bubble is formed, it is time to transfer
Dreax from the flame of the candle into the bubble.

This is done by the ................... holder, who sprinkles ..................... dust in the air and chants the "Three ............................." while the dust floats around the candle. Without the effect ..........................., Dreax cannot be contained within the bubble for more than a few seconds. Following the transfer, the ....................... chants "Ude", "S..." and "D............" to prepare the candle for repair. Immediately, ....................... holder must fling a pinch of ................... into the air and change "Exi...........to", "H.................." and "Behsaim" before it settles. At this point, if all was done properly, the candle will be whole again. There now remains one last step, the task of transferring Dreax back into the candle's flame. This operation is performed by .................. chanting "E................", "Hox" and, finally, "Begone".

As you can see, some of the critical parts of the Zirvanad are amiss. Don't worry, though; if all goes well, we might be able to retrive the Zirvanad soon.

 

[Azira]

Don't fret too much about realism in a game with magic.

Possible explanation: Those sermins are like magic coffee, that not only removes drowsiness, but actually works as if you've slept a good eight hours. I mean, why not?