Quest for Glory 1-5 Part #32 - I’ve Been Through the Desert on a Saurus with No Name

Part 32: I’ve Been Through the Desert on a Saurus with No Name

Chapter 11: I’ve Been Through the Desert on a Saurus with No Name

QfG2 Manual posted:

Advanced Fighting
Now that you've mastered the basics of combat - the trusty thrust, the brash
slash, the ordinary parry, and the hodge-podge dodge - it's time to discuss
the backbone of battle, the essence of the fracas, the gist of the joust,
the peanut butter and jelly of true pugnacity - Strategy and Tactics. As the
Old Adventurer would put it:

"You got to know when to fight 'em
Know when to be polite to 'em,
Know when to dodge away and know when to run
You've got to practice fighting
Any time you're able,
'Cause there ain't (sic) no time for practice,
When the monsters come. "

Now it is true that some people confuse strategy with tactics, and vice versa.
Here is a simple mnemonic to help you keep straight which one is which:

"If it is prophylactic and emphatically didactic, then it's not tactic."

Ah, not enough sleep, but still nice to…DAMN, Ali, what happened out here?

Fire sale today! I sella you real wood burned by real Fire Elemental. Be the first on your block to owna this.

An elemental?! …Wait, what’s an elemental?

You take-a something and you make it alive. Then you make-a the something dig a ditch. Thatsa Elementary Canal.

No, no, what about the fire?

It’s hot, it’s red, it’s something you cook with, it burned my stand down.

Argh! Just tell me what a fire elemental is!

Oh, thatsa easy. The Fire Elemental, he burna down this place. I guess maybe he no like-a souvenirs.

That’s it! I hope your stand b—oh right, it has. Well, good riddance. I’m going into the desert.

Wait, dervish? Oasis? You actually know something about the desert?

It is my job to guard this gate from all who would approach. I also find myself speaking to many who enter, so I have picked up much knowledge of the surroundings. As I was saying, the dervish lives in the oasis to the south. I may know some things, but he knows everything that goes on in the desert.

Really? So how can I reach the oasis?

It is five skareen lengths to the south and three skareen lengths to the east from the town outlook.

Skareens, huh? You guys sure have odd measurement standards.

You might chuckle, but it works.

I’ll take your word for it. Oh, and thanks for putting my saurus back in the stable the other day. Hey, I know it’s kind of silly asking like this, but I kind of got caught up in that Fakir guy’s pitch; what good is riding a saurus out here?

Sauruses are intelligent and brave creatures, willing to obey the slightest command from their master. They will take you wherever you wish, and come to your aid against monsters. Best of all, they can always find their way back to where they are stabled, so you need never get lost.

How does that work?

Simply order your saurus to GO HOME and you shall return to Shapier in what will seem like an instant.

Hey, now that sound useful! Come on, green dude, we’re going for a walk.

_{Still can’t help but feel silly somehow…}

The second reference to Conquests of Camelot, along with the Merlyn picture back at WIT. The rapidly disappearing figure here is one of the many, many failed Arthurs from that game.

_{Dah de de da, do doo da,

Doo doo doo do, do da da dee dee,}

Whoa, is it me or did the perspective change just then?

The Dervish.

Ah, so this is what an oasis looks like.

If fire burns too bright, put damper on lamp.

So you’re a dervish? Hey, that’s right, Keapon had a note asking for the “whirling part of a dervish.” Mind if I take some of your beard?

Many are they that can speak the words, but few follow with action.

…I’ll just take that as a yes. Thanks. So you know a lot about the desert, huh?

Wise man learn much by saying little.

_{You got that right.} So I’m looking for some sort of plant that can make the…what was it? Crap, I forgot.

Beggar in street happier than prisoner in palace.

Well yeah, ‘cause the beggar isn’t about to be executed. What about the wandering monsters? Do you know much about them?

Monster is as monster does.

Great. Guess I’m just wasting my time here.

A wise man can survive where a fool will perish.

Ah, go home, what a useful command. Not only do you instantly warp back to the Shapier overlook, but zero time passes when you do. As such, you can feel free to explore the desert to your heart’s content, just so long as you have your saurus with you.

Maybe I should do my own exploring at this point. I bet I could find something if I wandered west.

Hey, it’s a griffin! I need a feather for the dispel potion, don’t I? Now how do I get a hold of one?

Want to know a secret? Determining whether or not a character becomes a paladin isn’t based directly on honor (though that does need to be high), but on the hidden stat, “paladin points.” Points are gained and lost based on the player’s actions: in general, showing mercy, declining rewards, and remaining honest gain you points, while robbing houses and pissing off the griffin are how they are lost. Most importantly, attacking the griffin here is a good way to guarantee not getting paladinhood; either because of a programming error or because the developers REALLY don’t want you attacking him, rousing the griffin will deal enough negative points that it becomes completely impossible to become a paladin afterwards. In contrast, robbing one of the two houses still leaves you with enough to potentially squeak by.

Man, this rope sure is handy. I can just climb up to the nest…

Once again, this is the thief’s way of solving this puzzle, and once again the magic user can duplicate the results with a Levitate spell. As for the fighter, while he can throw rocks at the griffin until it wakes up and starts flying around (you have to fight it a good 3-5 times before it will go down permanently), he can also right click on one specific rock.

The remake goes a step farther and makes the feather much more apparent to view. Moving the rock is a Strength exercise, but not a particularly hard one, and the reward is getting the much needed feather without a disturbed beast. Wizards and thieves can get this feather too, but it’s just not as cool as the alternatives.