Part 51: Lennus and Squiggus

Update 045 – Lennus and Squiggus

“Riding Horses time!”



“But first, we camp.”



“Much better.”

“Heading south then?”

“Until we reach familiar territory, I think.”



“Yeah, but who knows how far out that will be?”



“Or there could be a small channel keeping that Island from us.”

“I think it's a river.”

“You sure?”

“Yes!”

“Doesn't matter, using my precious!”





“At least he did that over the river.”

“I can heal him! My turn!”

“Thanks. Your studies are coming along well.”

“We should head south, as we'll see if this is a channel or not that way.”



“Good enough for me.”





“I WAS RIGHT!”

“pft.”




“We should be able to squeeze through here.”



There is a river that divides the north and south sections of this vast and desolate region, and the only way to walk past it is through this 'totally under a waterfall honest!' passage. You can also take horses through here, thankfully.



Also, looking at this screenshot, I really need to find a place to try out that Wand of Unusual Results....



“Yay! Horses back!”

“At least we don't have to worry about Sass' complaints about leaving them behind, or needing to circle all the way around to get them.”



“But that is the ocean.”

“That's the word for 'big lake', right?”

“Close enough.”



“Agriculture to the south east.”



“And a road. I think we're close to those towns.”



“These might be useful.”

“Take some, but not a lot, then we follow the road.”



“And here we are.”

“I wonder what sort of reception we'll get.”

“A nice one!”



“As long as we don't, you know, try to hide our approach.”




“Yeah, I can see cobwebs through the cracks. This place is abandoned.”



“You sure about that?”

“What? Maybe they lost their keys, or this could be someone who is interested in their privacy, but never came back?”



“Door's unlocked.”



“ouch!”

“Why are we here again?”



“To talk to this guy, of course!”

You meet a dark, hunched over, slightly deranged looking man. He holds a hammer in one hand, and a pair of tongs in the other. “I'm Carmine. This better be good!”

“Art, Unspecified Services. Exile.”

He snarls. “I bet you come to purchase weapons, huh?”

“Well forget it! I don't make stuff much anymore! I'm just too good. My skills are wasted!”

“No skill is ever wasted!”

“Oh, I can see a little bit of healthy pride is alien to you! Well, I stay out here and plan, and I'm proud of it!”

“What are you planning?”

“I plan the truly great weapon I'm going to make. The problem is, I need truly great material. You got any quality metal?”

“No.”

“Well, at least you're honest about it. I long for a challenge. I'm desperate for it. If you ever find a piece of truly unusual, exceptional metal, bring it to me. I'll make a sword for you, a truly great sword! I ask only 1000 gold for the labor.”

What Carmine is asking for is the same metal that got us attacked way back in update 21, north of the Inn of Blades. There are three pieces of that metal in the game that I know of, and two uses for them. There might be a third use, but I don't know at this time. Well, I'll burn that bridge when I get to it.




“Why is there a line under the second B?”

Why is it even underlined at all? I don't remember seeing any previous signs having underlines like that, though italics have been used. It could just be a random editing mistake. Not the first, not the last.



“Afternoon.”

You meet an aging woman with curly hair and a winning smile. “I'm Laverne. How are ya'?”

“Well, thank you. You are a guest here?”

“Oh, no! I run this little boarding house here, for people in town for a bit.”

“No words to diminish your business sense, but this town is very much isolated.”

“Well, there's been a downturn lately due to all the problems, but I hear things are getting better! You can have a room for the night for only 5 gold. Though most of our visitors are the odd types who want to see Carmine.”

“Yes, we've already talked to Carmine.”

“He's a blacksmith, but bit of a touchy fella'. His doors are locked, but the people who come to see him all swear high and low he's the best! Go fig.”

And that is literally everything to this town. One Inn, and one special event that we can't finish off for a long while yet.



“That can't be the place. There was no one to deal with the trade route.”

“More horse riding then!”



“I think this is the eastern edge of the continent. Again.”

“Massive forest to the south though. I'd almost call it primordial.”



“Hold on...”



“Hello the camp!”



“...”

“We just got suckered, didn't we?”



“Yes.”



“On the bright side, we get to kill Gremlins!”

“YAY!”



“And Gorgons too.”



“Only way to go is forward.”




“Even I know this is a trap.”

“Might as well set it off.”



“You really enjoy this, don't you?”

“What? Killing Gremlins? What's not to appreciate?”



“Well for starters, there are quite a lot of them.”

I think Art still has the Helm of Alertness, which makes her sleep proof. Handy!




“Waiting for something else to happen?”

“Not really. I mean, aside from the monsters, this is actually a nice forest.”



“Good views too.”



I'm cutting out fights with Gorgons and Gremlins. We've seen them before, and they're not really interesting.




“Looks like our way out here.”

“And stay out!”



“HA!”



“Well, that was entertaining. And gems acquired.”

“I'll hold onto those until they are appraised, thank you.”



“Well, that's nice, because here's the other town we were told to expect up here.”

“Why no sailing up the coast?”

“We could ask?”



“Afternoon. Welcome to Squiggus. Keep your weapons sheathed please.”

“Understood.”



“Moo.”

“Moo!”





“Hello there! You lack a sign outside.”

A mage sits behind the counter, polishing a dark crystal. “I am Voltok. I collect and prepare crystals. It's an ideal place for it.”

“Just crystals?”

“Crystals and herbs – the main products out here. You can get herbs next door. You can purchase crystals here.”



“You know these are only worthwhile for the Mind Duel spell, right?”

“This region is unspoiled. All the stone collectors haven't been all over here yet. The only real problem is the Gremlins.”

“Oh, do tell us about the Gremlins.”

“There are plenty of spooky creatures out there. The worst are the gremlins. Fortunately, we can deal with them. We leave them milk and cookies in one of our buildings, and they eat them and leave us alone.”

“Are you sure that will keep working?”

He looks nervous. “Just don't ask too much about it. And don't poke around too much. You aren't from around here. Just leave things be.”

“Too late for that.”




“Ah, here we go!”



“Hello there.”

This woman has soft clothes, soft hands and a piercing, calculating gaze. She was doing a bit of accounting, but when you approach, she sets down her pen. “I'm Shirley. I am the town merchant, looking after trade in the area. And you must be the rumoured adventurers.” Her calm, implacable, businesslike demeanour is somewhat intimidating after so many weeks out in the wild.

The timeline for this game is a little wonky at times. The game actually says 'months' here, but that clearly can't be the case. Even though I'm well ahead of the curve in terms of time, the 'official' count has the events of the game take place over approximately 270 days. Yes, there are wide stretches of wilderness, but there are also plenty of towns and cities dotting them. Calling the time spent 'months' isn't doing anyone any favours.

“Being a merchant out here must be tough.”

“Why. Yes. Totally. Trading up and down this coast has been increasing at a highly profitable rate. Are you interested in making some money?”

“I've talked with your counterpart down south. He already gave us the spiel. We're not interested as we have more important things to do.”

“Ah, yes. I can understand that. You make things safer for other couriers. Thank you for addressing that undead problem.”

“It was no problem at all.”




“No one wants to talk to me.”




“It would be nice to get real food instead of depending on Art's Manna spell.”



“Odd, I can see the sign, but I can't seem to get into this building. And that wind is really picking up.”

Something that doesn't really come up all that often, but the plain grass tiles are actually affected by a randomizer to add little bits of detail to them, to break things up. Here is a different picture I took after poking at this building for a while:



If any of you know how to get in there, please tell me.



“So, we're leaving before telling them we did harm to their Gremlin problem?”

“Seems that way.”



“Ice slimes?”

“Worth investigating.”




“Assuming we even find their source.”



“You know, I think these islands are the ones to the east of the undead tower.”

“We should fly over and check them out!”

“I LIKE how you think!”



“Except there's nowhere to land on this side of the island.”

“We should look around some more then.”



“We have no reason to visit this tower again.”



“Still no access.”



“There are shallows here.”

“I can't tell.”

“I can. I'll lead the way.”

These islands are deliberately obtuse to get to. You can't fly to them, there are no boats. The only way is to stumble on this secret path over the water. And stumble I did.



“Ugh. There's something on this island that doesn't agree with me.”



“Careful! We have to move along this sandbar.”



“Then around the edge of this cliff...”



“And here we are!”



“I think it's the pollen...”




“Sure. We came out all this way. We'll have a look.”



Behold. The hardest to reach Alchemy Shop in Valorim. This ingredient is used for the single most powerful and useful potion in the game. Even more than the Graymold Salve, or the Medium Energy Potion. I'll have to come back later when I'm ready to exploit it.

* * *



“And back to the mainland!”



“And this is the path back down to Libras.”

“So, want to go back to the random shop there and see what he's come up with this?”

“Sure. It'll probably be junk. You never know.”



... I think the Random Number God loves me. GIANT GAUNTLETS, MAGIC PLATE, MITHRAL CHAIN, MAGIC BREASTPLATE and an EMERALD HELM.


More damage for Sass!


Poison may not be useful, but the defence is respectable.

* * *


“I would like to check out this region behind the Nephil Valley, if you don't mind.”

“Not at all. Away, my precious!”



“Hello?”



“Mining!”



“We have no more room to carry anything.”

Seriously, you can get all the money you want here as long as you can carry it out.

“Yeah, let's get back to Lorelei, drop this stuff off, and do the next thing.”

“Report to Anaximander?”

“Hell no. Find the Dragons.”

* * *
I also went through and identified all the stuff we've picked up, to see if there was anything interesting in the loot. Here's what I got:


Honestly, cold isn't a problem. All the high end damage spells are either Fire or Energy type.


Useful, but I don't intend to die ever.


No idea where I picked this up. But the damage isn't good, and the spell is already outclassed.


Why use when I can cast Major Blessing again?


Oh right, picked those up. Should sell them off in Libras the next time I roll the Random Store Random Number Generator.


Don't drink. The EXP loss isn't worth it.


Oooh! Keep this. I don't know who would use it, but it's still a good shield.


I mentioned that stone had to be special due to its weight, and I was right. It can cast Flame 9 times, and I sold it right off with no guilt.


Damned useful. Whoever gets this isn't taking it off, ever.

* * *


“Time to find the dragons!”

“Which direction do we go.... North or West?”

“I don't know...”