Part 52: Bonus Update 27.5: Castleview

Bonus Update 27.5: Castleview

The sewers have taken a commanding lead, so it looks like the party's next journey will be a dark and unpleasant one. Until then, enjoy a bonus update covering their exploration of Castleview.



Like Clouds, Darkside has two big towns full of shops and quests, and three smaller ones with more limited facilities: Castleview is one of the big ones. The quests in town are good for easy experience and some cash, and many can be done with little or no combat. Just clearing out the first town in Darkside will leave your party overpowered for half of Clouds.



When you do start getting into fights, the monsters are scary for a level-1 party but less so once you're around level 5. Fighting Gettlewaithe is totally optional: if you choose to intimidate him into surrendering instead of fighting, he still gives you the energy discs, although you do miss out on his other treasure.

The World of Xeen manual includes a short introductory story for Darkside, much like it does for Clouds. I've reproduced it below. A lot of it is pretty opaque at this point in the game and will remain so for a while, but it gives us some idea of who the major NPCs are and the problems facing Darkside.





Sounds pretty grim, huh? Well, the more that's wrong with the world, the more work there is for the party to do. See you next update!