Part 65: Building Alliances
Chapter 17: Building Alliances
QfG3 Manual posted:
Larcenous, Light-fingered, Lock-Picking Explorers
As Explorers, thieves are rather out of their element. In villages,
lock-picking is a lost art, since there are no doors to unlock and very
few things worth stealing. In remote and ancient cities strangers are
rather obvious and a prime suspect when things are missing. Punishment
can be swift and deadly. Thieves' Guilds seldom survive in the savanna
since there is nothing to swipe. Thus, most self-respecting practitioners
of purloining pursue pilferage elsewhere or prepare a new profession.
Thoughts for the Thief
Sneak frequently. Unlike many of your other skills, sneaking is actually
useful when exploring. The less noise you make, the less encounters you
take.
Throw thoroughly. The more you practice your pitching, the fewer monsters
you'll be missing.
Avoid direct confrontation. Sneak, hide, do anything to keep from being
noticed. The longer you stay out of sight, the longer you stay out of
fights.
Contact your confederates. Everybody needs somebody sometime, but only
make the Thief Sign to those you suspect perform your own profession. The
Thief Sign may have a disquieting effect upon strangers. To make the Thief
Sign, place your right hand perpendicular to your face with the thumb
resting upon your nose and wiggle your fingers. With your left hand, rub
your belly. Practice before a mirror before attempting this in public.
After all, you wouldn't want to look foolish.
Remember: make the Thief Sign when you want to find crime.
You know, all this fighting over a couple stupid items makes me think back to some of my fights with Al. Maybe I’ll just use my mother’s solution: “Stop fighting or I’ll take that thing away!”
The Drum theft can occur at any time after you’ve been brought to the Simbani village, probably because they have no concept of suspicion or investigation. I believe it can even be done after stealing the Spear from the Leopardmen, though there’s no particular reason to wait that long.
A crack in the wall? Maybe I can work it open with my dagger.
Perfect. Now let’s see what’s behind here.
Well that was an uncomfortable couple of steps, but I’m in. Now I just need to grab that stupid drum.
Strange, it’s actually a lot smaller than it looks. Oh hey, now what could this be?
A closed chest? With a LOCK? Man, I am feeling nostalgic suddenly. Right, just the usual stuff: pick the lock, oil the hinges.*You quietly open the chest. Inside you find a fine dagger, 700 commons and 60 royals. You place them in your pack.*
Damn, Laibon, you’ve been holding out on me! I think I’ll just take these. Call it my peacemaker’s fee. Now, to figure out how to climb back over the dude.There are several ways to die in the Laibon’s hut, although most of them are rather stupid mistakes. All involve getting speared by the man himself.
You can die by clicking on the Laibon himself with the hand icon,
leaving stealth mode,
or opening the chest without oiling it. This last one is stupid for a number of reasons: one, it was thoroughly explained in the last game how oil works; two, the chest is completely optional (you don’t even get points for doing it); and three, the chest creaks once in warning before you die.
Well now that’s over with, maybe I can make some progress with that Leopardman prisoner.*One dispelling, bridal purchase, and lots of talking later…*
Eluding the Guard
Are you sure you need to do this? You have the Drum of Magic already, shouldn’t we just present it to my father and get the Spear of Death that way? There’s no guarantee that he would, so we’re better safe than sorry. Besides, you told me that this is where your father keeps all his valuables, right? Yes, and the Spear among them, but I don’t see what that has to do with this. It has everything to do with my decision, trust me. What’s that moving in the dark down there? That’s Chui, our pet black leopard, wandering down there. He is trained to eat strangers and he is always very hungry. You need to be very careful or he will attack you.
Grip! No worries, I’ll just go over his head. Make sure the rope is taut, okay?
There are several ways to deal with Chui, who can and will knock you off the rope.
The simplest is to throw him some meat so he’s distracted. Casting Calm also works, but if you don’t have either or can’t be bothered…
You can be so goddamn awesome that you do a flip over his head. Just remember to jump when you hear him growl.
Good luck.
In spite of their differences, the Leopardman leader and the Laibon have a lot in common, at least when you’re trying to rob them. All the same things will kill you, plus you have to deal with a very much awake and noisy monkey before you can do much of anything else. Although the Leopardman leader doesn’t do anything so crass as throw a spear at you:
Not when Dazzle works so well. Here are the death screens:
Alerting the monkey,
touching the chieftain,
leaving stealth mode,
and opening the squeaky chest.
I’d better let you go before you give everything away. Mind the panther, though.
And here is the fabled “Spear of Death.” Not much to look at, if you ask me.
Ooh, the Leopardman leader has his own locked chest, too! Amazing.*You find some strange-looking, glowing skulls, a necklace made from claws covered with a slimy, green goo, and a throwing dagger. There are also eight royals strung onto a necklace. You take the dagger and the royals.*
Not quite the haul I got from the Laibon, but I’ll take it.
*You journey back to the Simbani village.*
A stranger once came to the Simbani. This stranger spoke of peace. There can be no peace, said the Simbani. The stranger came back to the Simbani village. He spoke of peace again. There can be no peace while there is an enemy, said the Simbani. The stranger went to the enemy. The stranger then came back to the Simbani. Come forward, stranger. Show us the symbol of your peace!
Behold, the Simbani Spear of Death! Behold, the stranger has brought the Simbani the promise of peace! Now the Simbani can speak again in Tarna. Now the Simbani can speak again the words of peace! Here is the sign of the Simbani peace. Return to the enemy the Drum of Magic. Show them that the Simbani will speak with them of peace.
Nike, only the return of the Drum of Magic stands in the way of peace between our friends, the Simbani and the Leopardmen. As I travel to Tarna to prepare for the peace conference, you must travel to the Leopardmen’s village to return the Drum of Magic. Kreesha will sense when you have returned the Drum of Magic to the Leopardmen and will send the magic portal for your journey back to Tarna. Peace be with you. Thank you, Rakeesh. I’m glad someone is finally looking out for my poor feet.*You return to the Leopardmen village with the Drum of Magic.*
Behold! The Drum of Magic! Now that the Drum of Magic is returned, I can speak of peace with the cow people.*Kreesha senses the return of the Drum of Magic and sends the magic portal for your journey back to Tarna, where Rakeesh anxiously awaits the peace conference.*
*You have been watching the conference for some time as they introduce everyone. It has been rather boring.*
The Council of Judgment of the land of Tarna now calls forth the Laibon of the Simbani to speak before us. I, Laibon of the Simbani, am speaking before you as leader of my people. The Simbani and the Leopardmen have always been enemies. The Leopardmen steal our cattle by night. They use magic against our warriors. They are sneaky and not to be trusted. The Leopardmen stole from the Simbani the symbol of Simbani power, the Spear of Death! Something is not right here. I feel that something terrible is about to happen.
*Shrug*
*Spell*
*Slump*
*Spear*
*Shimmer*
*Stare*
My friend, can’t you see the sign of the demon leaving the body of the Leopardmen leader? King Rajah is furious at these actions! This is terrible! Nike, you must leave Tarna immediately before Rajah declares a state of war and the gates of Tarna are shut. Seek out the demons in the Lost City and I will join you if I can. Go quickly!
Oh shit oh shit oh shit
Well, fuck. I guess I was a piece in the war game after all. But now, I think, it’s time for me to find the enemy’s domain and upgrade to a queen. Wow, Rakeesh was right, that does sound wrong somehow.