Part 11: Now Your Nightmare Comes To Life

With the Mermaid Boots in hand, there's a couple of things that are obtainable now. By "a couple" I mean three or four Gilded Falcons and a Life Vessel.



This is Nava's house, that I mentioned last time. It's hard to see, but there's a chest behind it which is only accessible with the Mermaid Boots. It looks like you might be able to jump over the railing to get to it, but you can't.



Surprising approximately no one, it contains a Gilded Falcon. The next few are quite a ways off from here, so it's lucky that we'll be able to reach them pretty easily. How?



With the teleporting archways of course. The next few things are all by Lurvy's home in some fashion, so this just makes the most sense. By heading far to the left, there's a stretch of land just past a waterfall. Naturally, before now this area was inaccessible.



That's not the only thing here though. Getting the next one requires going the long way around since you can't reach it from here. It's not a Gilded Falcon this time. No, it's...



The only newly accessible Life Vessel. By heading back to Lurvy's shack, and using the archway there it's easy to reach the next two Falcons by teleporting to Torla Mountain.



That's this one which is on pretty much the other side of map compared to Lurvy's location. The Falcon's accessible from here are quite difficult to portray without just showing it the easier way.





The last available Falcon is in this cave. If it's hard to recognise it from here, it's the one where the first Wonder Essence can be found, just east of the Sanctuary/Lars' Crypt.



By using the mini-teleporter type thing there, you're sent to three chests. Well, two and a Mimic. Mimics aren't that hard, but they take a while to kill at the moment (no surprises there). They are guaranteed to drop gilder though, both as they take damage and as they die.



By my count, that makes 24 which is just under half of them all. Not bad to say we're not even halfway through yet, but it won't stay this easy for much longer...



Cephas has this to say following the Coastal Cave. Sounds kind of dickish, but he's just interested in protecting his job which makes sense. No idea who that "strange woman" is but she must be important. Why do I say that?



: I imagine the same would happen to me if I suffered such a tragic loss. But, alas, that's not the end of it. A young girl came to the village, claiming to have the same powers as you... This is stating the obvious, but you should go there and find out who she is and verify if she does possess the powers she claims...

That's part of why she's clearly important. The other part is that nearly everyone mentions her right now, so you know this is kind of a big deal.



Kisha: He's been mumbling something about "Alundra's tragic fate." Something's happened to him... He's not the brother I loved anymore. He's become obsessed with the gods...and with you. I'm scared...

Yeah, we kinda knew already that Giles had become a cockbag for some arbitrary reason. Didn't expect him to consider acting on it at any point though. That is kinda ominous and creepy. Speaking of people turning on Alundra for no reason...



: Maybe if you'd noticed sooner, Nadia wouldn't have suffered her most heinous death! I'm still bent at you!

Oh fuck you too, you ungrateful dick. I mean, he only saved your life which is clearly no big deal. Even the reasoning there is complete bullshit.



Meia, huh? That's a pretty weird way of spelling "Maya." Or, at least I'd presume it is since I can't think of any other way that name could even be pronounced.

Since there's a fair bit of talking in there, let's go see if anyone else has anything remotely interesting to say.



Wendell: Yesterday, while I was taking a walk, I saw Kline hunting with his bow. He shot a bird out of a tree, picked it up, and...bit into it like a big, ripe, juicy orange. Ugh...

That's definitely disgusting. It also sounds awesome in a twisted way, though. Not the kind of thing I'd expect anyone to brag about, except for maybe the shooting a bird down without trying. Guess he was just too hungry to bother cooking it?

...There's nothing else remotely interesting, unfortunately, so enough procrastination. Time for lots of talking (pretty much all from one person at that).



There's the new girl, Meia... you only need to talk to her to continue. No one else really says anything of note, aside from Myra who just bitches at you as you'd probably expect at this point.

Oh and talking to Meia causes the aforementioned scene.



: You must prevent yourself from dreaming at all costs...

And look where th- no, that's way too low. Not going to be disrespectful towards the dead. That's just cold.

Since Septimus has the best damn hearing ever, he managed to hear Meia and walk in at the perfect moment to argue incessently.



: What are you babbling about this time, Septimus? Meia just saved the life of Myra, and yet you doubt her. Why?
: You and I have lost the power of creation, Beaumont. Yet Jess is able to craft wondreous weapons. Because he's been moved to make them by the spirits of the deceased. A person who dies is soon forgotten... Unless they leave a mark, a record of their existence. The weapons Jess makes are a constant reminder of Olen and Nadia. They do not want us to forget them. They want to live on in our hearts and minds. When we create something, we turn a dream into reality. Creation and invention are part of being human...and so is dreaming. If we deny ourself the right to dream, we deny our own humanity!
: I...understand much of what you say, Septimus. But if you die, you cannot create. You can't dream. You can only decay into nothing. If I must choose between dreaming and surviving...I choose life.
: As would I, Beaumont. But...what if there was a way to stop our nightmares? To turn them back into wonderful dreams again? I know it can be done. I know we can end these nightmares now and forever.



: You speak of humanity...and yet ask to put all of humanity in grave danger! Your idea is merely foolhardy and simplistic, nothing more.



Meia storms off because, um, because. This brings an end to the second in-game day, which was far shorter than the first, for whatever reason. Since the dungeons are longer, it can be rationalised like that but details. This time, things happen at night...



That was... yeah.

Septimus actually had a good idea, though, so the next morning is a good time to act on it.



: Whatever it is, we cannot leave him like that, Alundra! No one in this village is safe... Can you save him, son?

What kind of hero would he be if he couldn't. Let's go do this shit. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?



Good thing Alundra isn't Meia, so this should be no problem. It's hardly his first time doing it. Myra's must've been a cinch if some newbie could handle it.



That's, uh, something. Kinda killed the momentum of awesome there. Let's try this again; maybe Meia's stopped being something of a bitch after getting some sleep.



: There's nothing I can do. And certainly nothing you can do, either. Do you understand? It's hopeless...

Or, maybe not. Gotta love how she thinks she's better than Alundra when he has adventuring and dreamwalking experience and the only thing she can say she's done is save an old woman.



: Let's show everyone that these nightmares can be turned back into dreams.
: I don't think you understand...... Kline's nightmare has devoured his soul. The man who once lived in this body no longer exists.
: To enter Kline's dream is to risk one's life...
: If you were to merely enter his nightmare, nothing would happen. But if you restored his humanity...
: Yet, it is the only way that Kline stands a chance at cheating death!



I think it's been thoroughly established at this point that Kline is too awesome a character to die at such an early stage to something as pathetic as a nightmere when even an old guy was able to hold out for three days until Alundra saved his arse.

: Are you listening to me Alundra? I don't think you are! You nod at my words, but you refuse to believe. You think anything remains possible, yet you tempt fate.
: Meia...answer me this. Can you save our good friend, Kline?



Oh that does it. Time to prove your theory completely wrong. Kline is the best NPC; he will not die!



This is yet-another-fake-choice. Choosing "no" just causes it to loop back here. Even when you choose yes, you can leave to grab supplies and stuff though if you really need them. I don't, so let's do this shit!


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And, in what is the shortest day, today comes to a close following that...



He ultimately lost his life to the evil which had infiltrated his body. One after another, the villagers were dying. Even more worrisome is the fact that Meia continues to speak of a great evil orchestrating it all...



Just to hammer home how awesome Kline was, we get a replica of his bow. Kline must've been even more amazing with this thing than we're led to believe, since it's damage output is roughly on par with the Dagger's... if not even worse. The only thing the Hunter's Bow is good for, is entering one dungeon and solving the occasional puzzle.

Next time: Reptilicus Maximus