Part 4: Not-So-Deadly Towers

Update 3: Not-So-Deadly Towers

When we left off King Sword had given up his gear and his life. Now the only person left with an item is King Shield, and he wasn't giving that up for anything.



Luckily for us, his steward has murdered him so we don't actually have to argue about it. He talks about framing us for the regicide, but who on this continent is actually going to be able to arrest us?



It's kind of funny that in death the king looks human. He was a jerk, but that is a pretty bad way to go out.



The steward runs off through a false wall and we follow. He doesn't complete his escape, however, but hangs around wandering back and forth until you talk to him.



He pleads for his life, but that doesn't move the party in the least.



Disco-fabulous. It's vaguely possible that he might use the King Shield to prevent you from attacking him, but it's been a long time since I've played and against this group he goes down within about two attacks.



Cupi expresses its opinion of Disco Stu. Between this and ripping on the Bandit, it seems like kind of a jerkass. Now that we've got all the items, it's time to see about getting out of this crapsack world.




This is what we're working with before going in to restore the statue. Cupi hasn't changed, and won't for some time.



Standing in front of the statue and using the 3 King items restores the statue and gets you the sphere. It's kind of a problem if you've been depending on the power of those items to get through, especially if you haven't bothered to buy any weapons as replacements.



As soon as you try to cross one of the bridges Gen-Bu, who we were warned about earlier, appears in a flash of light. Evidently this kind of thing happens often enough that he's just annoyed by it?

Gen-Bu

Known as the Black Warrior of the North, Gen-Bu is one of the four symbols of the Chinese Constellations. He represents Winter and the North, and although called a turtle, is often depicted with snakelike characteristics or with a snake wrapped around his shell. He appears in Journey to the West, and in Taoist legend is the son of a Chinese Emperor who became a deity. If you're a fan of older anime, depictions of him can be found in Yu Yu Hakusho and in Fushigi Yuugi.



He doesn't last very long at all, for all his bluster.



This is very true, but it's empty talk coming from someone who went down after two attacks.



I head to the door and am rather puzzled to find it still lock. I'd forgotten that the game puts the Sphere below the trashcan of all places and you actually have to scroll down to find it.



The inside of the tower isn't terribly exciting for the most part. Floors like this one are fairly common.



That is NOT a Wolf!



The tower loves dick moves like having pathways that go off to nowhere, with constant random encounters.



There are also doors that lead into subworlds within the tower.



The first one is a nice sunny paradise with a "town" in it. I use quotes because there are no buildings.



I think this is the first mention of a Creator in the game.



On the other end of the scale we have this place, where the floor is covered with spikes and people believe they have to suffer to reach paradise. As a note, the spikes here cause damage if you cross them.



The only treasure in the first five floors of the tower is the Colt, which isn't really impressive with our juiced up stats.



Going through the door above the Colt we step into what I'd call a landing in the tower.



Another locked door. If you know your Chinese symbology this should give you a clue as to who the boss of the next world is.



How did you... is it the same... what old man!?



Stepping out into the world we can see a town and a cave in close proximity. To the town first!


rous because of pirates!

Unfortunately, we do not get to fight these pirates en-masse.



Remember kids, all rumors are 100% true, even if they sound like an acid trip.



More names that mean nothing to us now, but will shortly. I'll talk about them as they come up.



And this is how we're going to be getting around for a bit.



Is this a reference to the two names we saw above? Or something else? I still don't know.



New gear in the store, with the Battle Sword as the most outstanding at this shop. I buy two.



As far as the item shop goes we now have access to the HP400, which our humans can use to continue increasing their HP. Strength and Agility potions stay the same price, which makes it very stupid to spend much time grinding for Strength and Agility in the first world. Battles there give an average of 40 gold, while battles here usually give at least 3 times as much.

Next time: Scavenger Hunt!