Part 9: Cedric and the Mountain

Hello and welcome to the second half of King's Quest V. Let's not waste any time and move on to new stuff.



The next couple updates take place in the snowcaps of the mountains bordering Serenia.



Move a few steps and Graham starts to shiver.

: Graham begins to shiver at the sudden drop in temperature.

A temperature drop isn't sudden. Especially if you're high up enough on a mountain to be in the snow cap. I understand it's for the benefit of an obvious puzzle, but there's no way Graham didn't feel the cold before now.



: Even Cedric looks cold as he watches Graham traverse the icy path.



: Ooooh I've never been here before, but I think this is the way over the mountains.
: I hope so, Cedric. I really do.



Trying to navigate the screen, I learned if you click in this specific spot...

: No! Stay away from the edge!





: Uh oh. That last step was a doozy!



Anyway, the screen is linear, so continuing along the only path, and not falling off...

northeast



This screen is where two previously mentioned DMW scenarios terminate. Did you forget to go in the inn? This is where your game ends.

root



Graham will freeze to death when you try to do something on this screen and haven't equipped the cloak for whatever reason.



: Well, Graham, how does it feel to be a POPsicle?





: Graham dons his warm cloak for protection against the freezing mountain air.



So let's try that again.

root

: Oh! Be careful, Graham!





: Thanks for playing King's Quest V.



The tree root looks like the object to attach the rope to, but it's naturally a trap. Instead we need to use the rope on something that looks like background scenery. Do you see that brown rock outcropping just to the right of the tree root? The one that looks like it's covered with snow?

rock

: Graham notices his stomach beginning to rumble with hunger from the exertion of the mountain climb.



This warning is another invisible sword dangling over our heads, but we don't have to worry about it just yet. We've got, oh, one more screen before it becomes relevant.



First we've got to deal with this screen. Those tiny floating rock platforms in front of the frozen waterfall are unstable. Jump on the wrong one and down Graham goes.

floating rock

: Ooooh do be careful, Graham.



Click on the closest one first and you can more or less figure out the route from there.





Just avoid the fourth platform from the left and you're fine. Again, this is a linear path, so exit is to the east.

east



: Graham, help me!
: Cedric!

This game has some great moments. Cedric being carried off by a wolf is near top of the list.



: Graham's hunger grows acute. Without food, he may soon die.

This is your 5 step warning. Eat food now or die.





: Well Graham, remember when you turned down that last meal at home?



So as a reminder, here's our inventory. We've got two items we can eat right now to not die: a pie and a leg of lamb. Which do you pick? This is another of those infamous puzzles in the game, by the way. Pick the wrong item to eat and you fail a puzzle down the road.

There's no way to tell that you made the right choice. There's no diegetic way to figure this out. You just have to make a blind guess and hope you were right.



The answer, by the way, was the leg of lamb. The pie has a special use that we'll cover probably next time.

: Graham finds the leg of lamb a bit tough, but tasty enough. Filling up quickly, he saves the other half for later.

You know, this is actually a good place to call it for now. We're about halfway done with the mountains, and coming up is another story section along with one of the dumbest puzzles in the game.

NEXT TIME: The queen, the wolf, and the crystal cave.

List of Points

+4 - Equipped cloak to not freeze to death
+5 - Climbed rope
+2 - Actual platforming
+4 - Ate the lamb and not the pie

Total

128/260

Register of Deaths

Taking a shortcut off a cliff
POPsicle
Tree roots aren't sturdy
Actual platforming
Starving to death