Part 11: Nice Place, But the Neighbors Are All Dicks
Chapter 11: Nice Place, But the Neighbors Are All Dicks
QfG1 Manual posted:
What is a Fighter?
The fighter is the most popular of the adventurer vocations. Simple and
straightforward, he views the world as an opportunity to test his strength
and courage against the universe. A fighter is one who, when faced with a
foe, takes arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, ends them. He
is the artist whose body is his palette. Exercise is his daily bread. The
fighter relishes every battle with any foe, for though he is beaten and
blackened and bruised and blemished beyond all recognition, he knows that
he is the better for it all.
*A monster just wandered by. You hid in the bushes until it passed.*
Man, I should have thought of this sooner. Who knew monsters can’t see slouchers?
Directions: 4 north and 1 east from the centaur farm. To the east is the ogre, but to the north…
*A large, carved stone lies flat on the ground. You feel as though someone gentle was watching over you. You feel that you are safe here. The air has the fresh, clean scent of the mountains, accompanied by numerous perfume-like fragrances. The large stone appears to be ancient and deliberately placed. The stone has the words “Erana’s Peace” carved upon the top. The runes on the side read “If thy Will is Magic, so shall I share. Open this Stone and claim what is there.”*
The piece of music that accompanies Erana’s Peace is the best theme in the game, and arguably the entire series. This would explain why the composer Mark Seibert, when remastering several of his works for Quest Studios, wrote the following:
Mark Seibert posted:
Of all the music I've written for Sierra over the last few years, "The Magic Meadow" is the one I've received the most mail concerning. So with all of the requests for it, how could I leave if off. Besides, this is my dad's favorite and if it wasn't included on this recording, he'd probably write me out of the will.
Nice place. It feels even more peaceful than the town did. “Open the Stone,” huh? Let’s see what the spell does.
Aha!QfG1 Manual posted:
Calm
This spell is used to prevent a combat situation. The 'Calm' spell is cast
when first a monster is spotted. The monster is bathed in an aura of
'Mellowness' and pauses for a moment to contemplate the universe and its
belly button. The Magic User may thus beat a hasty retreat. It affects only
one non-magical creature at a time and is limited at first to minor monsters.
With experience, more aggressive creatures can be 'Calmed'. However, do not
try this on dragons. It is not practical to cast this in close combat or
where aggressive actions have already taken place. For example, if you cast
a 'Calm' against a Saurus Rex about to take a bite out of you, the monster
generally just calmly eats you.
Now, the dryad said I needed some flowers, so I’ll just grab a bunch.
*The sweet, juicy fruit of the tree is amazingly satisfying and refreshing.*
The fruit restores some health and stamina when eaten, and counts as a meal for an added bonus.
Well, I’d love to stick around, but I’ve got some adventuring to do.
We’re about to use magic for the first time, so here are the currently available spells. The door handle is Open, the snapping fingers is Trigger, the open palm is Calm, the fire is Flame Dart, and the hand grabbing an object is Fetch. Magic users also start the game with Zap, which charges a dagger for added damage, but we’ll have to get it later. There are also two more spells we have yet to find.
Just one screen south and east and already Calm is proving useful. The ogre can be fought or evaded (make sure you set speed high if you try it), but using calm is the most effective when you’re as low on health and stamina as Nike here.
The Kobold’s Cave
Hm, a bear with purple eyes, chained to a post, and which rears up when I approach? Pah, it’s harmless!
*Hack*
Giving him any sort of food also works.
Oh good. Now what’s behind him, I wonder?
QfG1 Manual posted:
Kobolds
Kobolds are distant relatives of dwarves, although neither will admit it.
They live in caves deep underground and shun sunlight and outsiders. Small
and spindly, they do not fight very well. However, they can be powerful
magic users and enchanters, so it best to be cautious around them.
A kobold, great. Good thing he’s sleeping. You know, I bet that key around his neck opens the bear’s shackle. If I can just…reach it…*VERY carefully, you remove the key from around the Kobold’s neck.*
Now if I can just sneak…wait, why even bother? I bet I could get even more if I kill this guy!
Every time he’s hit, the kobold teleports between two locations and tries to kill you with Force Bolts, a spell we won’t have access to until the next game. Additionally, if you cast spells and leave him alone for long enough, he will also cast Reversal, which hits you with any Flame Darts you might fire at him. In typical fashion, there are three different ways to kill the kobold: as a fighter, use your sword on him to enter combat, then stab him a few times; as a magic user, cast Flame Dart at him until he dies; and as a thief, just gather up a ton of rocks and chuck them at his head. The trick to defeating him safely is to keep up the attacks so that he’s too busy teleporting around to cast anything else. Also, as you just saw, sneaking up to the kobold and stealing the key from around his neck is also a viable option.
Is he gone? He’s not appearing anywhere, so I guess he’s gone. Well, now what? Maybe if I search the cavern inch by inch...
Found something! But wait, what if it's trapped? Let's see, didn't Henry make his ladder's invisibility activate with Trigger?
*BOOM*
Man, good thing I thought of that. That explosion looks like it would have hurt if I was right next to it.This is really a “second play-through” sort of puzzle. Casting Detect Magic is the only way you could ever even realize that there’s a chest in this room, and Trigger is needed to open it without taking damage (the lockpick also works, but not the toolkit for some reason). It can be found by walking into it, but since you need almost pixel-perfect aim to get it to appear (simply clicking past it isn't good enough), and since you'd normally have no reason to randomly walk around the south end of the screen, it's still unlikely that you'd find it as a first-run fighter or thief. Also, assuming you didn’t take an extra skill like Nike did, you can still pry the chest open with a dagger or sword (and take that extra damage). Amusingly, the dagger has a wider margin for use than walking into the chest, so it is entirely possible to use it on empty air and get a result. Finally, the box's explosion wakes up the kobold, so make sure you take care of him first.
Now, let’s see why the kobold thought locking you up was a good idea.
You have the honor of meeting the Baronet Barnard von Spielburg. We are pleased that you broke our enchantment. Perhaps our father the Baron will reward you should you ever visit our castle.
*The arrogance of the Baronet astonishes you. Perchance the kobold Magic User had a reason for changing him into a bear.*
I think I liked him better when all he could do was growl.
Something to note is that it is entirely possible to kill the baronet as a bear. He’s got a ton and a half of hit points, but it is entirely possible. It even serves as a clue about what’s going on:
Since all you need to do to beat the game is to eliminate the Bandit Leader, it is entirely possible (though not "canon") to win while killing the baronet. You don't even get negative points for doing it.
Dang, how long was I in that cave? Well, I sure hope Erana’s Peace is safe enough to sleep in.
I wonder if the baron is going to be happy I found his kid? Well, I guess “we” is going to find out.