Part 33: Journey to the Magic College

Part 33: Journey to the Magic College

After thinking it over, our band of "heroes" has decided, it's time to go to College! Sadly, much like the taverns in this game, the College will suffer from an alarming lack of both people and booze. To get to the College, first, we'll have to set sail for Rustic.



Okay, where to now?



No, not there...



Ah yes! Because if there's anything this game needed, clearly it was another bridge.

Paragraph 48 posted:

A wall of rock stands athwart your path. Massive bronze doors guard a way through the rock; fearsome beasts guard the way to the door.

Two creatures guard the way through the rock. They are half scorpion and half dragon, but in some ways they look like men. Their eyes glow with balesome fury. They glow with an inner light, bathing the ground at their feet in glory. They appear to be a man and a woman, and thus doubly dangerous for the bond they must share.

Yes, because OF COURSE, you know, since it's a man and a woman... never mind, nope, not going there.



Piers: Not for us to pass? Wanna bet? CHARGE!
Dolph: We all remember what happened the last time we followed that dumbass over a bridge, right?



I've read an FAQ saying that these scorpions are a really difficult fight. Maybe they're really difficult in the Apple version or something? By the time you're this far in the game, they're not too tough. At worst, they might stun a few characters and you might need to throw some spells at them, but they're not a major concern.



Kill Ray doesn't really live up to its name, sadly. It does deal 10-80 damage, but for a whopping 15 MP. Sun Stroke can do that for 10 MP. Fire Light and Rage of Mithras are also more efficient. However, if you don't have a lot of skill points invested in a given magic class, it might be the only thing in your arsenal capable of dealing 80 damage.

Anyway, we can beat them without much trouble, but there is a "better" way to pass them without a fight. This will take some backtracking.




Mystic Wood is actually the exact place we want to go right now.



Remember this place? We can use the Golden Boots to jump onto the island, much like we did to get to Irkalla in the Underworld.




And we can use Arcane Lore to learn more about the shrine.

Paragraph 72 posted:

This shrine is formed from rocks and wood and moss - it seems a profoundly natural thing, more an outgrowth of this enchanted wood than a thing built by man. The divinity worshiped here is none you recognize, but the feeling of theplace is one of harmony with nature.

Upon closer inspection, you see dried bloodstains on the rock. The stains are not large - this shrine is not used for sacrifice - but perhaps its resident god is awakened by a token gift of life.

Now, even with the clue, this is a bit tricky. The solution? Use a weapon to cut yourself.





So for our troubles, we get the Enkidu Totem. Showing it to the scorpions causes them to let us through...



How would you know this, without looking it up in the official cluebook or an FAQ? Well if you paid attention to this LP about eight months ago, you'll know exactly why this makes sense...



Remember, any time you play an RPG this old, you write down everything anyone tells you, and I mean fucking everything. Or play with a guide in your lap. They could tell you that Lanac'toor liked potato chips and it could be the secret to defeating Namtar.

That said, getting the scorpions to step aside doesn't actually matter that much. It saves us a fight, but we were more than prepared for that fight. And one step beyond the scorpions...



These guys worry me a bit at first, because they look like wraiths (FUCK WRAITHS) but they don't have a ranged AoE attack like wraiths do. Instead, they have this:



That's cute. My turn.





You can encounter more than 3 of those Spirits, but even if you encounter 7 they're not much of a threat at this point. Mage Fire is all they have, and it just doesn't hit very hard.

Taking another step forward, we encounter Bridge Wolves. Well maybe they're more of a threa-



-oh, okay.



Now, that gets us across the bridge, but if we deviate from the straight path, there are even more enemies to fight. Are any of them hard?



Holy shit, bears! With new sprites and everything! These guys look tough!



They are not tough, but they sure looked like they were!




After taking out one more Bridge Wolf, we get this. No locked chest or description or anything, just a "Who will get loot?" prompt and some items. The Magic Shield gives an extra point of AC, but otherwise there's not much here. The Barbed Flail is pretty obsolete by now and the gold doesn't matter much. This whole bridge area is kind of underwhelming, aside from seeing two new pieces of enemy art.

What do the Bones do? I have no idea. Maybe a shopowner can tell us?



Nope, that was fucking useless. As far as I know, they do nothing, just like the flotsam you find in Sunken Ruins. I guess it's just to mess with people who think every item must have a purpose. Anyway, we're done with the bridge, let's move on.



To Be Continued...