Part 13: You Think I’d have Noticed the Giant Castle Sooner

Aw man…what was I on last night? Did I post an update? I can’t remember. Oh well, Nike had just killed a kobold, right?

Chapter 12: You Think I’d have Noticed the Giant Castle Sooner


Well, that was a nice rest. Now it’s time for action!


Alright, ogre, I’m fully rested, fully healed, and fully ready to kick your ass; it’s go time!


Hey, no fair using your reach against me! Get closer so I can hit you!


Aha! So I can hit you when you step closer to smack me!


Still hurts, though.


You need to be careful about when you decide to kill the ogre. Up until now, certain monsters would only appear at night, being larger and more dangerous than the ones we’ve seen before. Once the ogre dies, however, the game script decides that you’re tough enough to handle them, and they start appearing during the day. In fact, the only monster that won’t appear in the daytime now is the troll, and that’s because he specifically can’t stand the sun.

I am a badass. Now where is that chest I’ve heard about?


Opening his chest makes killing the ogre the most money making monster murder in the valley.


Nice farm you’ve got here. I’m guessing that you’re Heinrich?
Ja, Heinrich Pferdefedern, at your service. I assume you’ve met my daughter, then? A fine filly, she is.

According to Babelfish, “pferdefedern” means “horse feathers” in German, which means that the Coles got their swordfish references straight from the source. Go watch it on Youtube or something, it’s hilarious.

Why yes, I met your daughter. In fact, that’s all I did with her, in spite of what some townsfolk might tell you. Hey Heinrich, I noticed while I was walking around that there weren’t any farms around except yours. Do you have to feed the whole valley or what?
Well, we had quite the tourist industry until recently (they come to see the semi-enchanted forest), so we imported a lot of our food. When the brigands came and shut that down, though, I had to pick up the slack.
Yeah, nasty business about the brigands. Your daughter said you encountered them yourself recently?
The brigands attacked me a few months ago. I am a strong fighter and my hooves are deadly, but there were too many of them. My right leg was broken, and there is no pride for a Centaur who cannot run. If it had not been for the unlikely intervention of their leader, I would be dead.
Wait, the brigand leader saved you from his own brigands? Why?
He did not say. He came up after the brigands attacked me and forced them to stop, ordering them not to hurt people from the town. Then, to my amazement, the leader gave me a healing potion and had me carried to the Healer’s house.
Very strange, but I suppose it’s consistent with what I’ve heard before. Did you get a good look at him?
No, his face was obscured by a large helm. You know, it was hard for me to judge the leader; there was compassion unlike what one expects from a brigand.
Well, thanks for telling me what you know. Where is the Healer from here, by the way?
Just follow the path in front of me.


What, so she’s just up the road from the town? Man, I should have come hear sooner! Say, was that a glint of something in the nest? I’d better find out.

The tree puzzle is solved with the exact same methods as the sporia seed, minus the “hacking with the sword” part: climb up the tree, throw rocks until the nest falls down, or use fetch to grab it. Technically I should have done this first, since this puzzle requires less skill in any method than the sporia seed.



Hey, it’s a ring! Maybe this is the one the Healer lost?


*Knock knock knock*

Come in!


Morning, ma’am. You’re the Healer, right?
Well, my name is Amelia Appleberry, but yes, most folks around here just call me the Healer. My, but you look very healthy for an adventurer. You must be new.
Yeah, I am new. Oh yeah, the dryad told me that you could make a dispel potion for me, but that you’d need—what was it?—a magic acorn, green fur, flowers from Erana’s Peace, fairy dust, and Flying water.
So you helped the dryad; that’s nice. She does keep the forest around here healthy. So that’s how to make a dispel potion, is it? Thanks for letting me know. Just get me the ingredients and I’ll whip one up for you.
Your ad at the guild also said you were looking for some spell ingredients and a lost ring. Mind elaborating?
My ring is shaped in gold like a braid of the herb Athelas with entwined leaves. I don’t know how I lost it; I hardly ever take it off. I’ll give you six golds if you find my ring. It was a gift when I graduated from the College of Healing.
What, the golds?
The ring, silly! Oh, and as for the ingredients: right now, I need some of Erana’s flowers, magic mushrooms, troll beard, and, let me think…oh yes, cheetaur claws. I use flowers from Erana’s Peace to the north in nearly all my potions. They have some of the magic of the place even when they are dried. I will pay you five silvers for a flask’s worth of flowers. I need the mushrooms from a fairy ring to make power potions. I will pay you one gold for some. The trolls around here are very tough monsters who live in caves. They are very difficult to kill, but I will pay two healing potions for the beard of a troll. As for the cheetaur, well, unless you are a very tough fighter, you had best get away from it. If you do manage to kill it, though, then I will pay you five silvers for each claw.
Sounds great. So you sell potions too? Zara in town has some for sale.
Hah! She gets hers from me, didn’t you know? I sell Vigor for 20, Healing for 40, and Power for 60. I also have Undead Unguent at 100 silver.

*Flashback*
…In addition, I sell healing potions at fifty silver, mana potions at seventy five, and vigor for twenty five.
*End Flashback*

She marks hers up! Good thing I didn’t get anything from her. Could I get, oh, three of each? Oh, and what’s that unguent do?
For as long as it lasts, undead of every sort cannot see you. Very useful if you plan on visiting the graveyard at night.
Ghost troubles?
Like you wouldn’t believe. I think there are some vacationing here from somewhere else.
Strange. Oh, here’s the acorn and some flowers for the potion. I also found your ring.
Oh, thank you for finding my ring! How I’ve missed this. Here, let me throw in two more healing potions and something special.


*Smooch*


Before we leave the Healer for now, I thought I should add a couple things. First of all, you should know that, for some odd reason, potions don’t appear in your inventory immediately after you buy them, so take your time when purchasing, or else you might end up with one potion where you paid for two, and definitely don’t leave until they’ve all appeared. Second, the blue and red potions on the table can be stolen when the Healer turns her back. It’s inadvisable, though, because she will never let you back in the hut after you take them. If you do try it, make certain that you never have another reason to come back.



Sweet. Now this is the kind of reception a Hero deserves.



The Baron’s Castle




I wish to thank you, adventurer from afar. Not only have you freed the Baronet from enchantment and allowed my son to return to me, but you have renewed my hope that the curse may be lifted. My son, Baronet Barnard von Spielburg, also desires to acknowledge his indebtedness.
…
Barnard.
We, er, that is, I, am appreciative of your efforts on my behalf.
Someday in the near future, I can envision holding a ceremony in your honor and bestowing upon you the title, “Hero of Spielburg.”

Barnard.
It would be nice if someone could finally defeat the brigands and claim the title.
As you leave the castle tomorrow, you will receive the reward money I long ago posted for the safe return of my son, as a token of my thanks. You will, of course, be expected to dine with us and be our guest in the castle tonight. But until then, did you have any questions you wished to ask of me?
Well actually, I did. I’ve already heard about your failed attack on Baba Yaga and about what happened to your kids from Wolfgang in the town, but I was wondering if you could elaborate any more on what I heard.
Wolfgang, eh? It’s nice to know that he’s still doing alright. Did he tell you about Yorick? Yorick was my court jester, a man of infinite jest. He went off to find my daughter. But alas, poor Yorick never returned.
Hm. Did Yorick know much about magic?
He would be a poor jester if he did not. I myself know very little about magic, much to my sorrow. Perhaps you should talk to the wizards Zara in town or Erasmus on Zauberberg.
Zara’s not much help, and I really don’t feel like climbing Zauberberg again. Don’t you know anything that could help?
Well, there is a prophecy.
“Comes a Hero from the East,
Free the man from in the beast;
Bring the child from out the band;
Drive the curser from the land.”
You entered the valley from the east, and freed my son from a bestial form. I have faith that you will be able to fulfill the rest of it.
Wait, prophecy? Where did this come from?
I don’t fully understand it myself. You’ll have to ask a mage about it.
Damn it. Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask, Baronet, how did you end up being captured and transformed?
I rode off one morning with my men in search of monsters to fight. I got separated from my men when I came across the entrance to the cave. As I entered, the Kobold ordered ME to get out. I informed him that I was Baronet Barnard von Spielburg and heir to the land and all within. I ordered it to bow before me. Then it cast a spell upon me and I remember very little after that.
So what, you just walked up to a hostile kobold wizard and demanded its subservience? What did you think would happen?
That it would wisely bow to its superior.
Sigh. Well, I think I’ll be off to save the day.
A servant is awaiting you outside to show you to your quarters. We will see you at supper later.


Hey, gang, want to know how much the Baronet’s life was worth?


Before,


After. For those of you keeping store, that means that, aside from the giant payoff at the end of the game, the old lady is the biggest money-maker in the game. There is only one other way to get more money at once, but since it’s an exploit, it doesn’t count.

You know, for the first time since I entered this valley, I think I might just be able to pull this thing off.