Part 19: The Fortress, part 1

Y'know what? I'm not satisfied. Sure, I rescued the Krick family right out from under the Dark Being's nose, and even stole back the blueprints in the process... but the machine itself is still intact, and the Dark Being is still out there. I don't know why he's so dangerous, but the priests saw him as an existential threat, one that they died trying to stop.

Lyral, our friend, owes her life to those priests. Now I owe it to them, and to her, to finish the job they started, and make this world safe (and eco-friendly) once more.


Let's do this thing right. REWIND!




Farther.




Farther!




FARTHER!!




...was it this far back? I don't quite remember.




OH GOD TOO FAR TOO FAR




*phew* Here's where I wanted to be: the submarine. If I recall correctly, I just arrived here from the temple via teleporter.

Last time I was here... now?... I climbed out and went back into the volcano.




This time I'm going for a cruise. My destination? The island in the center of the map. ^{(Starburst not visible because I'm a moron.)}




Onward to adventure!









Lyral called this place the "island fortress." Its walls are certainly impressive.




Hey, somebody left a fishing pole set up over there.




> Got Fish.

Great, now I'll never get the smell out of my inventory.




Come on, let's go inside.






Looks like I'm in some kind of workshop.




There's a saw over here, but it's not working because... drum roll please... it has no power!




Maybe there's a generator down this passage.






Hmm. There's a gap here. I can't jump it, because... the ceiling's too low? Maybe? I guess that's as good an explanation as any.

I'd question how the people living here got past this corridor, but... now that I think about it, Lyral said the people here were all driven off by the Dark Being. Somehow. Maybe he capered at them and they all died laughing.

Anyway, I'll come back here when I've found a way to bridge the gap.




Back in the workshop, I notice there's a window to the fortress's "courtyard".




This fortress doesn't have walls. This fortress is walls!

Seriously, this is all there is to the courtyard. The entire fortress is the outer wall. Why bother? What were they trying to keep out?




The doorway next to the window leads in here.

Say, didn't Lyral have something else to say about this place? I thought she did, but I can't remember what it was. Hopefully nothing important.




Levers! Let's investigate. By which I mean, let's pull them at random and see what they do.




Hurray, power is restored!




Power is not restored. Okay, what did I miss?




Ah, the gears aren't hooked up properly. No problem, I'll just pull the lever there, and...






H'okay, we got spares anywhere?




> Got Gearshaft

Thank goodness, there's some in that crate on the floor.




Replace the broken gearshaft, switch the turbines off, mesh the gears togethers, and then start everything up again. Now there should be power.

With the power on, that black band starts moving. I guess that's one way to transfer energy without wires? I dunno, seems inefficient.




I noticed this ladder while I was searching for that replacement part. Before I go and play around in the workshop, I want to see what's up here.

(Dammit, I wish I could remember what else Lyral said about this place. The more I think about it, the more I think it was important.)






I see. The ladder gives access to the tower's outer wall. Convenient!




To the left is... pretty much the entire fortress. Seriously, this place is tiny.

(Sharp-eyed readers may notice something veeeery interesting in this picture.)




The wind turbines are over there. I don't know what that onion-dome is about - if there's another tower in that direction, there's no way to reach it.

Enough sight-seeing. Let's head inside.




A statuary room. Neat! Nothing I can use, though. I spy two ways to continue.




The ladder gives me access to the top of the tower, but... there's nothing here.




So let's try the door. If I understand the layout of this place, it leads to the tower directly opposite where I came in.









run run run run run run run run




Haa... haa... haa...

Gimme a second to pull myself together.

...Now I remember what Lyral had to say. After the Dark Being chased everyone off the island, he left a monster so nobody could come back.

Let's just stay away from that part of the Fortress for now, okay?




I've got an idea for how to cross that gap. I'm not much of a carpenter, but I think I can shave off a few planks without losing any fingers.

> Got Long Plank.
> Got Long Plank.

I don't think the individual planks can bear my entire weight, so I'll need some kind of cross pieces to distribute the load.




There's another workstation over here which deals in smaller pieces. That'll be perfect.




> Got Short Planks.

This is a little tedious - the other saw was much more efficient. Oh well.

> Got Short Planks.
> Got Short Planks.
> Got Short Planks.




Okay! Now I just need to put my improvised bridge together, and I'll be on the other side before you can say "monster!"