The Let's Play Archive

Lure of the Temptress

by ProfessorClumsy

Part 6: The Magician




Chapter 6: The Magician

Last time, we joined the laziest revolutionary group in history and we met a homeless man named Grub. He gave us a lockpick and sent us off to find Taidgh, the magician.



You'd better start being useful, Ratpouch. What am I not paying you for?


No mysteries here. Grub told us where the house was and he gave us a lockpick, so here we are.

There is a keyhole in the lock.

Let's try the obvious thing.


Damn! I'm all thumbs. I need some help with this.

We'll give the lockpick to Ratpouch. It's time for him to start pulling his weight.



Ratpouch: Thank you, sir.

And we'll tell him to unlock the door.



Diermot: Follow these instructions...

Ratpouch: Certainly, sir.


Let's try and be discrete about it shall we?

In we go.



TAIDGH'S HOUSE. The room seems to have been ransacked. All that remains is some strange looking Alchemist's apparatus. The air is damp and musty.

The first thing we need to do is close the door, otherwise the Skorl will march right in here and punch us into next week.


Examining the apparatus leads us nowhere. We're going to need some help. We'll have to ask around about Taidgh.


Uh oh! If the Skorl sees the door open, he walks straight in there. That's why you should close it when you're inside.


He leaves shortly afterwards, locking the door behind him. Luckily, he isn't in the least bit suspicious about the two people standing right outside.

Seeing as you're all such huge Ewan fans, let's ask him about Taidgh first.




Maybe we should have a drink and think it over?


Gwyn is always a well of useless information.

Gwyn: No, I haven't. But I noticed that the Skorl have boarded up his house! Do you know why that is?



Gwyn: They're frightended, sir! Scared of silly old Taidgh's magic. There's a joke for you. Magic! Every year at the Castle he'd do his tricks, and the children would laugh.



Gwyn: Mind you, I never could work out how he did the trick with the chicken and the candlestick.



Gwyn: Well I never!



Thank you, Morkus, for brightening up my day!

Let's ask Nellie. She's the most reasonable person in the whole town.

Diermot: Have you seen Taidgh?


Thanks, Nellie. That was really useful information.

Let's try the other pub then.


Of course, Gereint won't talk to us unless we buy a drink first.

Gereint: That's one groat.

Diermot: Have you seen Taidgh?



Diermot: How dare you speak to me like that!


Fuck you, Gereint!

Ultar, you're up next. Convince the Ewan lovers who the real best character is.

Diermot: Have you seen Taidgh?


I used to rely on you, Ultar! You used to be dependable! All you had to do was say something funny. Trust me, Ultar shines later on.

That just leaves Edwina. Surely she won't know anything?

Diermot: Have you seen Taidgh?



Diermot: Er... what?

Edwina: Anyway, there was nothing there except this old book, and there's nothing important in it anyway, I expect.

Diermot: B.. but...



She thrusts a leather bound book into your hands, ignoring your startled face.

I'm not entirely sure what just happened. I think we just... interrogated Edwina?



That's what they all say.

So let's check out this book we just had forced upon us.


It's Taidgh's diary. Just what we were hoping for!

Gwyn gave me a recipe today. Chop an onion and fry it in oil. Add a red pepper and an aubergine, three apples and some tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and a little sugar then cook for twenty minutes. It was excellent!

Now I am ready to distill the potion. The application of heat will extract the essences...

I have already constructed the distilling apparatus and prepared the basic ingredients. The process begins with the ignition of the oil burner to heat the mixture.

Using one of her toenails I was able to distill the vital juices which hopefully will allow me to impersonate Selena. But the effect was short-lived, and I hear footsteps in the street and a knocking at the door...!

What on earth would I want wi' that?


So there you have it. Taidgh's potion should allow us to temporarily impersonate Selena. That's all kinds of useful.

We'll just send Ratty to re-open that door.



And take another look at that apparatus.



The oil burner consists of a canister from which a metal tube projects.

Here's where we need that glitchy tinderbox, so this is as far as most people could get without knowing about the bug.



The liquid shoots up the tube and cools, letting out a puff of steam.


And the finished potion drops down into the bowl.

Now for a really obscure puzzle. We need something to put the potion into. We have that flask that Nellie gave us with the super-booze inside. We can't use it here unless it is empty. We can't drink it ourselves and we can't just pour it away. There's only one way to empty it. I'll save you the agony of trying to give it to everyone and just cut to the solution.




He raises the flask to his lips, closes his eyes, throws back his head, and drinks the entire contents of the flask down in one. A momentous shudder racks his body.

For a while he stands motionless, his eyes glazed and his breathing shallow. A deep red flush spreads from his neck across his face, and his mouth falls open in a vacuous grin. He hands the empty flask back to you without a word.


There you have it, that was a frustrating puzzle to solve first time around.

We get Ratpouch to open the door one last time...



...and we finally get that potion!



Cautiously, we drink the potion. I hope this works.



Find out the effects of the potion next time!