Part 59: Approach to the Golem Spire

Update 053 – The Approach to the Golem Spire

“So, we're supposed to go south-east for this?”

Don't do what I did, and go south west. That way lies other things.



“What are you doing?”

“Practising my spells!”

“Good to hear.”

“If you need any help, let me know.

“Curious though.”

“What is?”

“How much we've grown in the past few months.”

“Several life-or-death battles will tend to do that to you.”

“I wonder how many times this sort of thing fails?”

“Far too often. Remember, we're out here since the last team vanished.”

“We haven't found any other leads since that one guy, right?”

“Nope.”



“Regardless, this appears to be the mountains that the General was talking about. I hope.”



“He did also mention that the wizard flew down to meet him. We may have to do the same.”

“Logical.”



“Just have to find a place to start.”

“It was on the other side.”

So... all those mountains that have been impassable this entire game? Yeah, they hold secret passages on occasion, some of which you can only fly over. There is a debug room that can only be reached this way – except the trigger for it prevents you from landing.

“FLY, MY PRECIOUS! LEAD US TO THE WIZARD WHO THINKS HE'S A BETTER FLYER THAN YOU!”

“... Have we even seen someone who sells the Flight spell?”

“Wheeee!”



“Found you!”



“That was remarkably easy.”



“Beautiful, too.”

“Not as much as the place with the flower.”



“Not much here either. Man likes his privacy.”



“At least we have a name now. Zalifar.”



“Hello?”



“Hello?”

“Maybe he's out?”

“No, I am here.”



“You're here. Our saviours at last.”

“I wouldn't call us that. Other people are doing the same, if not more.”

“That matters not. You are who you are.” You meet a wizard, currently living a hermetical existence in the mountains of eastern Valorim. However, he doesn't seem reclusive or unhappy to see you. In fact, he seems very pleased. And relieved.

“I am Zalifar, though you know that already. Welcome to my home. I know who you are, there is no need to introduce yourselves.”

“Thank you for the hospitality. You sent for us?”

“I live up here, experiencing my wizardry and the joys of flying. Alas, I see many of this land's troubles.”

“I can only assume you chose this place because you had to fly to and from it?”

“That too. I live here because it is an easy place from which I can fly about. I could rhapsodize for hours about the joys of the wind, of the heights, of soaring above the land. However, that is not why I'm glad you're here. I have been waiting for your arrival so I can discuss the land's troubles.”

“We know of the troubles, both near and far. What is it that you offer?”

“This land is being overrun by golems. Nobody knows where they come from.”

“I do.”

“If you assist me, I will give you the location of their lair.”

“What is your condition for your assistance?”

“I wish you to assist me in dealing with a drake.”

“A Drake.”

“An enormous drake lives in the mountains southwest of Greendale. You can only get there by flying. It is west of a large field of rubble which is itself south of Greendale. We saw each other frequently when flying, but had a sort of truce. Until recently.”

“What happened?”

“Recently, it has started to chase me, actually trying to kill me! It seemed maddened. Go find it, and ensure it will never attack me again. Then you will have my assistance.”

“Done.”

“Thank you.”

“But before you go, if I may have a moment of your time?”

“Sure?”

“We'll be outside.”

“... They are gone.”

“Are you sure this is the path you wish to walk further on? I am no fool.”

“I promised.”

“Then I will abide your decision.”

* * *

“What was that about?”

“He thought he knew me. From before my Exile. Turns out, that wasn't the case.”

“I wonder though, how many families will be reunited if Exile gets its way?”

“... I don't know. Not enough.”



“We should cross the river here, see if the rubble is on that side of the river or not.”



“Halt!”



“Polite.”



“This is the place!”

“Alright, let's find this drake. GO FORTH, MY PRECIOUS!”




“There!”



“That looks like a lair to me.”




“Oh wow. Cheery.”




“Of course!”

You could reject his request, get into fight, kill Dalakros, and complete the quest that way. But not so much here!



“Thank you.”



You come face to face with Dalakros the drake. You can see he is a thinning creature, and his scales are beginning to lose their sheen. It is slowly starving. “I am Dalakros.” He looks at you with naked hunger. “And I hunt.”

“Surely you are a mighty hunter!”

“I hunt for sustenance, not for the joy of the hunt. I have done so for a long time in the woods. But the Golems have taken my food away!”

“...?”

“They kill all, all the deer, all the bears, and I have little choice to sometimes hunt human meat!”

“About that. There is a certain human...”

“Yes, I have even hunted the wizard who sometimes flies over the woods to the east. It is not something I wish to do, but I have no choice. That is why I have hoped you humans would approach to speak to me.”

“I will resist my urges for your meat, and leave the humans alone. But if, and only if you adventurers personally swear to do all you can do to destroy the golems. Agree or disagree?”

Disagreeing only gets you into a fight.

“I swear.”
“As do I.”
“Same.”
“Of course.”
“And I.”
“Hurray!”



“Thank you for your time.”

* * *

“Oh Mother-of-us-all!”

“What?”



“This spell exists!”

On the way back...




Nice to see the game admit to the things we learned from the General.



At least it wasn't Matthias. This time.



“Well, that was nice and easy.”

You tell Zalifar of your encounter with Dalakros. He nods. “All right then. I will aid you. When I was flying over certain area, I saw a large spire. I must give you information about it.”

“Any information would be helpful.”

“The Golem's spire is directly northwest of Tevrono. It is magically hidden – it's in a large meadow, and you'll need to look at it and concentrate for several minutes before you can see it. Also of interest are the stone circles.”

“What is so interesting about these circles?”



“Thank you for your time.”

* * *

“So, North-west of Tevrono? That's still a wide area to examine. Lots of forest between there and the mountain spine the divides Valorim from the rest of the world by land.”



“That's still a lot of ground to cover.”

“But if we reach the mountains first, we will know we have gone too far.”

“And we should investigate those circles as well.”




“I guess that must have been an aberration in the south with the deer we saw.”

* * *



* * *



“Too far.”



“And in the other direction.”



“These trees are impassable.”



“But it seems like the right spot.”



“Well, there are un-slain golems. We must be going the right way!”



“...”

“CHARGE!”

These fights are typical. Nothing unusual happens.




“This is .. new.”



“Matthias?”






“Alright, we poke a hoe in the barrier, then draw the Golems into it. Standard kill-box.”



“My part is done.”



“And they saw us!”



“And now we wait.”



“Animals would be more cunning than this.”

“Still dangerous!”



“Hrm, that's a lot of them.”

“Allow me!”



Ah, Wall of Blades. So useful!

“And that's all of them. What about that crystal in the middle?”

“You mean this one?”




“Just beat on it, and it will go down. Eventually.”





“That's nice. But what did we just do?”

“Who cares?”

“Anything to set them back is good enough.”



“More gems for the final count.”



“Alright, that one looked like it was east. The next one should be to the south.”

“And from there, we can confirm that the central spire is indeed in that large forest.”




“FOUND IT!”

... Holy shit, Bronwyn reached Level 41 in that screenshot. Art is still ahead of her though.



“And another repeat.”



“Curious. The previous one was guarded by just Flame Golems. This one by just Blades. You would think a mixed group would be more effective?”



“Less talking, more smashing!”





“Is anyone else concerned by how easy this appears to be?”

“No.”

“It's like it's a secret! As long as no one knows, no one can find out, so it doesn't matter how fragile things are!”

“What he said.”

“Good for you.”



“That means the west location is to our west.”

“There is a valley to the north. Maybe there?”



“Most likely.”



“COME FORTH MY PRECIOUS!”

“NOO! THE HORSIES!”



“So, 50/50. Ice or Acid golems?”



“Ice.”




“Not much of a challenge.”

Not when I've got Art holding the breach point after casting Avatar. The Invincibility does wonders for her survivability.



“There's no way over. The rocks are above the Orb's height level.”

“And no tunnels either.”

“Three of four isn't bad. And perhaps there might be something in the central spire that we could use to get in, or at least find out what he have done.”

“Agreed.”



“This looks like the place.”



“Yeah. Really.”



And the Woodsman's Trait allows you to bypass a huge fight! Huh. I had forgotten Matthias even had that.










“ugh..”

“What monstrosity is this?”







“It is huge. No doubt about it. And only one way in.”







“Oh. There's a fifth type of Golem.”

And next time, I enter the single worst dungeon in the history of Exile. Worse than even the blind, mapless teleporter maze. There are no words for the horror I am about to put myself through for your benefit.