Part 20: The Three Tests

Update 017 – The Three Tests



"I'm trying to figure this out."

"What confuzzess you?"

"The notion of thessee Tessstsss."

"I think it's obvious."

"But what if we're missing something?"

"Like what?"

"Let's just go over what we know, alright? Make sure we're all on the same page when it comes to what we're doing."

"Following you. That is quite obvious."



"{The cutlure of the Vahnatai is quite interesting. They recognize the existence of outsiders, and have rituals in place to acknowledge and admit them into their tribe. That they call themselves the Vahnatai-Olgai, and that there is a pace by that name tells me that there are multiple tribes of Vahnatai.}"

"You're doing that 'speaking in Vahnatai thing again."

“It's a good thing to learn. The Empire has instituted a common language, so many local dialects are dying out.”

“But having a common language is a good thing!”

“I agree, but you have to remember that there is a difference between picking up a common tongue and having one forced on you to the exclusion of all else.”

“{Anyways, from what Bon-Ihrno and the other Ponders told us, we are utilizing a legal loophole in their laws and customs to be able to plead our case before their Council.}”

“But before we can do that, we need to pass their initiation tests.”

“I'm betting that someone will interfere.”

“But would they?”

“Initiation ceremonies tend to be quite sacrosanct.”

“You're putting Human cultural norms onto these Vahnatai. Which, I have to add, we have known exist as a living culture for less than a week.”



“Perhaps there will be someone at these Tests.”

“Ssshould we not head back to Avit to learn more from the Captain?”

“Maybe. Or we could follow the road.”



“Crystals, not tests.”

“Perhaps this is where the Empire raided?”

“Or Exile.”



“We're leaving! We're leaving! Can at least one of you tell us which way to the Tests? No one has told us!”

“{Back the way you came. Behind Olgai.}”

“And a random soldier has been of more help than half a dozen Ponders.”





“Are you ever going to stop opening random doors?”

“NO!”



These set-piece battles are the only difficult things in this chapter. Well, that and the Test of Speed, as you will see later. After winning the fight...



“There iz no meanss to activate thesse Cryssstalsss.”

“Then we should leave them be.”





Wandering around the Vahnatai Lands, you can encounter patrols, like so:



If you haven't done the Ritual of Welcoming, then you wind up in combat with a large group of Vahnatai. But they're not fun fights. Just do the Ritual, and they turn from combat into this:



“The Ritual worksss.”






“Are these... hills?”



The implication being that the Vahnatai built a city so large it would take multiple tiles on the world-map. And now it's in ruins thanks to time and the elements.











“What do you want?”

“Information about the Tests.”

“There are three of them. Being Strength, Speed and Mind. You need to complete only one to make your case before the Council.”

“Any further information? Like where they are?”

“No. Begone.”












“Behind Olgai...”





“Well, we have three options.”

“I'm out.”

“Why?”

“It wants strength.”

“You are strong!”

“Wrong Ssstrength.”

“Think about it. The tree tests. Strength, Speed and Mind. They're not asking for mental fortitude here. But physical prowess. And that's you or Chester.”

“What would be the point of this test? For people who want to join the Vahnatai?”

“Duties of Strength? Like, say, Guard?”

“Oh. That makes sense. But still, why not you, Sir Ma'am?”

“Asss you and I are physssically sstronger in our bonesss.”

“Correct. Chesster sshould go.”

“Why? Why not Aarth-Tss?”

“Three tests, three species.”

“You mean for Dmurr to go through Speed, and yourself through Mind.”

“That iz my intention. Yesss.”

“Um... what?”

“You are the fastest one, your kind has a natural agility the rest of us lack.”

“...”

“Chester, your choice.”

“I'll go. But I want to gear up first.”

“Of course.”





Welcome to the Test of Strength. As you may have already guessed, it's probably the simplest and easiest test to pass. Just put your best fighter in and get going. Very important though is that whoever goes in has a source of healing. Be it Priest Spells, or, like Chester here, Healing Potions.

“So I teleport into a hallway. Man, thanks Kai-Lyss for that map. It made things so much easier.”

“You are welcome.”



“Weird thing, that first room. All those Statues.”



“Of course, they make for nice choke points to deal with the Larva.”

“Larvae is the plural.”

“Either way, pretty easy.”




“Oh, Dmurr. Found these for you.”

“Thanks.”



“I'm serious about those thanks, Kai-Lyss.”





“Although I can't say much for what's in there.”

“At least they aren't mobile.”



“I don't think they were supposed to be in there in the first place.”



“They thought they were sneaky.”




“I think this is a healing potion, but I didn't want to drink it when I had my own supplies, which I hadn't tapped into yet.”



“I think the hardest fight was against that Skeleton that threw out Fire.”

I love Ruby Skeletons. I always will.



“Although I had to use one of those Potions during the fight.”

At this point I notice Chester's Level. He's 11. Art is 18. I'm going to be doing some off-screen grinding before the next update to balance things out.



“The slime was easy.”



“Although I'm sad to say I used the potion when there was healing right there.”

“Do not fret.”



“Last room was just a bunch of undead. Nothing serious.”



“And then I was done.”




And that is the Test of Strength. You can go back to Olgai now, but I'm going to finish off all of them for you guys!





“Maybe the road east will be better?”




“Are the Tests on this island?”

“No.”

“Thank you.”



“Not swimming over there.”

“I could.”








“Kai-Lyss, you're up.”





“<Let's see if you are worth my time.>”



For those of you reading in the Archives, the Test of Mind was actually performed in the thread. I posted the various questions on the forums and asked that those who answered to provide proof of their answers. What you see next is the relevant Q&A.

TEST ONE




TEST TWO






“<I suppose those would be challenging to a child.>”

“<I see no method of getting into that corridor. Perhaps some back-tracking is required?>



“<Interesting. After mapping out the effects of the floor tiles, I have determined that their is no combination to open all three doors at the same time.>”



“<Therefore there must be an alternative exit.>”




“<Prudent.>”




“<Interesting. You can use this path to lower the two wall sections, but there is no method here to lower the third.>”

“<What I need to do is find a way into that northern segment, as I suspect the required pressure plate is in that small corridor hidden away.>”





“<That took far too long.>”



“<That was more a Test of Patience, than one of Mind.>”





“<One last series.>”

TEST THREE

... I wish I was making that one up.




(N1+1)*2=N2 is also an acceptable method of writing the sequence.

TEST FOUR
ROUND 4





And some interesting commentary I got from the thread:




“<I wonder if there is some degree of cultural translation involved?>”



“How did it go?”

“I will tell you the riddlessss I encountered.”







“Can we pick someone else?”





“Don't worry? How bad can it be?”





“How bad could it be, he asks?”



“Hrm?”

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING IMAGE FOR A VIDEO!



That was my third attempt. The previous two both resulted in Dmurr dying to Quickfire. The issue isn't the combat, but the locked door in the way. Take too long, and the fire will kill you. Now, there are two tricks to survival. First is that Quickfire only moves in the four cardinal directions. It doesn't directly expand on the diagonal. Second, you can bar the path of Quickfire either through the use of (semi)permanent fields, or, as Dmurr demonstrated...

CLOSING A DAMNED DOOR.

Guys, Quickfire scares me as very little has done in the decades I've played RPGs. There's just something so insidious about how it moves, and it's used to great effect in this game because it's used so sparingly. This is the Test of Speed, and for the most part, it's behind you, or you have a way to escape.

I will avoid using it for the most part in this LP simply because I respect it too much, and want to keep the moments where it is used more spectacular for it.




“I hate you all.”