Part 83: The Monastery

Chapter 15: The Monastery


You haunt my dreams at night. You are like one of my own children, that I see images of your life before me. Last night, I saw you approach a building of great Darkness. Things reached for you in the doorway, yet you moved to the door. You held something in your hand and touched it to the door. It opened, and you stepped inside. It was dark inside the building, cold and dangerous. You stepped towards a cabinet. You took something from your backpack, and poured it upon an object there. I felt as if something good was happening, and then the vision faded. I do not understand what this means. It is not the future; it is only something that might come to pass.
I know what it means. It means I finally have something to rewater. By the way, can you give me any more readings?
Not right now. At the moment, every card I draw is the Void, and I can get no clear answers.
Why do you have so many Voids in your deck?
I don’t.
Ooh.


Hey doc, it turns out I need that rewatering stuff after all.
The wha—oh, you mean my Rehydration Solution. It’s all ready; I will be happy to exchange it for a flask of Grue Goo.
I got some goo right here. Hope it’s the right kind.
Ah yes, that is terrific! It is just what I need for my experiments! As promised, here is your Rehydration Solution.
Thanks, doc. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got an old building to explore.

The entire Monastery sequence is the same for all classes, except for the thief, who gets a couple bonus objectives. With that in mind…




I must have dreamed about breaking into here a hundred different times. But there was always that freaky door to worry about, and I couldn’t exactly climb up the frescoes on the side.


Not like I can now.

As some of you may have guessed by now, assuming you didn’t forget about it entirely, the Dark One’s Sign I picked up just outside of the cave in chapter 1 is the key to open this door. In fact, I could have done this entire thing right from the start, since all you need to finish off the monastery is Dr. Cranium’s Rehydration Solution; you don’t even need to talk to the domovoi first. Also, as you can see, you can climb up the side of the wall if you don’t have/don’t want to use the Sign, although you do have to use the same exit what with the door locked and all.


The Monastery. The second part is “The Monastery Basement.”


Let’s see, looks like there’s a mouth, some crossed bones, a drop of…let’s say blood, a cloud…breath? and a very squiggly heart. Wait, what’s that dark thing above the door mantel?

There’s something dark in the alcove. Could it be, at last, the fabled Black Bird for which so many have been searching?

There’s only one way to find out.




Another fake. Should have figured.


What the heck? Some kind of domovoi doll? Well, this is a cabinet, so I guess you must be the dude I’m looking for.


Better make sure you’ve got some room. Well, here goes.


Damn!


Unlike the one in the inn, this domovoi appears to be headed away from us. And if you get that joke, you should probably head away from astronomy. Man, that is a nerdy joke.

“Glad am I to be alive. Happy thanks, I give you. Careful you should be here. Dangerous very it is. Feed the guard, or destroy it, to find the secret passage down. Luck to you.”

Secret passage? The Chief mentioned something about a secret passage, too. I wonder where it is?

You can also break the cabinet open with your fist if your strength is high enough, though all you get is a healing potion. As for the secret passage, this is another spot where looking at everything pays off with clues. Look at the fireplace to get this:

The fireplace looks as though it hasn’t been used in years. There are no logs on the log holders, nor is there any sign of ashes or other debris.

Then look at the closer log holder to find this:

There are some small scratches on the stone underneath this brass log holder.

Aha!


Whoa, what the hell?

That’s funny, the strange six-tentacled creature is moving! It looked like another wall decoration at first.

That’s right, you get one free chance if you move too close to the fireplace before the hexapod eats you. It’s almost as if Quest for Glory doesn’t want to randomly kill players for being curious! But don't worry, the basement will clear that doubt right up in just a minute. Oh, and if you ignore the warning:



As the domovoi said, there are two ways past the hexapod. You can throw daggers or spells at it until it dies, or you can give it some garlic, like the TRAP recommended. Either way, it only has to be dealt with once to get unlimited access to the basement.

Hector the hexapod happily gorges itself on the garlic. Hector looks much less hungry (and perhaps a little less dangerous) now.


Got it.


There is a cold feeling down here that chills your bones and sets the hairs on the nape of your neck on end. There is a musty odor of mold and mildew mingling with the sickeningly sweet smell of decaying flesh. Welcome to your nightmare.


I knew there had to be someplace where they stashed all the good stuff. What’s in the giant cask, I wonder?

The huge barrel is labeled “Cask of Amon Tillado.” This must be the fabled spirit that provided most of the income (and fame) of the monastic order here. It is rumored to provide strange and mystical visions to those who taste freely of its contents.

Oh boy. Now I have to try it.

You tap the huge cask of Amon Tillado. This is the strongest stuff you’ve ever tasted (assuming that you’re not an aficionado of Dragon’s Breath). Bottoms up!



Death of a Hero


The sky darkens, and the mountain splits in waves of lightning.


A great, destructive beast straight out of Night on Bald Mountain emerges and screams his triumph to the world. All hope has been lost.


Wow, what hit me?

Man, have you got a headache! Fortunately, the Dark One Rising seems to have been just a vision, not the reality…yet.


A scroll has formed from the cask’s wine droplets.


How the hell does this work?

You pick up the rolled paper on the floor. It has the symbol of a drop of blood at the top, and the inscription, “Ritual of Blood.” You can’t read any of the other writing on it.

Great, another ritual to go with the Heart. What do these things even do? I guess I’ll figure it out later. Now what’s in this little alcove? Some kind of tiny statue?


You feel a funny tingling sensation, then a slimy one, as you reach out to touch the statue. This is not good.

Why is that silly squid-thing glowing? And why am I feeling drawn to it?




Looks more like he decided to quit his job as hero and go hang out with Earthworm Jim.


Hey, this must be the statue the Chief told me about, the one that turned him into a cockroach. Maybe it’d help if I brought it to him again? I probably shouldn’t touch it myself, though. Good thing I coincidentally happened to buy a shopping bag from Mother that’s just big enough to hold this thing.

The statue glows briefly as it slips into the bag, then subsides.


Looks like this stuff is important.

There is a huge book on the altar. The binding looks like stretched human skin with letters and markings written in dried blood. The letters spell out “Necrophilicon.” Now what could that mean?

Oh, that’s it, something like Silmarian for “Of the love of death.” There is something very deeply wrong about this book.

Above the altar is the Sign of the Dark One surrounded by arcane letters. A notch next to the “A” makes you think that perhaps that is some sort of “starting point” for the letters.

I guess that makes it either “Avoozl” or “Alzoov.” Neither one sounds very appealing. But I wonder how much I could get for this book?

The huge book on the altar looks fascinating. You could almost swear you saw it move.



Even in the grand scheme of things, you’d have to admit that being crushed to death by a book is pretty low on the “dignified ways to die” list.


Next to all this other crap, a rolltop desk is downright sane. Still, I’d better check for traps first.


The wizard can open the desk from a distance with Open, while the warrior simply has to bust the thing open and deal with the poison gas trap.

Good. Now what was worth hiding away behind a trap?

You rifle through the Mad Monk’s desk and find the diary of Amon Tillado. Boy, was this guy whacko! Reading this makes your head hurt. However, it does give you some information about the Dark One Rituals. It says something about the first ritual being “placed within the Mad Monk’s Tombstone, there to be forever guarded by followers.” The second ritual shall be placed in the “Stone of Squids” and revealed only by the light of a dead child’s soul. The next ritual shall be placed in the hollow of the Hangman’s Tree, and guarded by the spirit of the dead which remains there. The Blood Ritual shall be concealed magically within the Monastery, and only he who willingly seeks dark visions shall find it. The Mouth Ritual shall be placed in the Great Arch itself, under the Dark One’s Sign. And the Heart Ritual shall be given to someone named Gregor for safe keeping. There is another note on this page in another’s handwriting—“Gregor is missing in the forest and probably dead—yet where is the Heart Ritual?”

The wraiths got him. So now I know I’ve got two of six, and I know where to find the other four, but I still don’t know what they do or why I shouldn’t just burn them up and be done with it. Well…there is something here I could probably burn.


Kill it with fire! [You can also set the fire in the main room with the carpet, but I think this is far more appropriate.]

The ancient book catches fire instantly and burns far brighter than you would have imagined. You high-tail it out of the monastery basement.


Uh oh.


Gotta hurry.


Not only is this building so evil that it lets you get away with burning it, you also get Honor points from doing it. I suppose the giant stone edifice helps keep the fire from spreading into the town, after all, so nothing of value is lost. Oh, and the game only lets you light the book after you’ve done everything you need to, so there’s no worries about unwinnable scenarios.

Man, look at that sucker burn. I wonder what Igor would say if he were here?
Wow, if being hero lets you be pyromaniac, Igor want to be hero, too!
Probably some graveyard joke about fire/stone fatalities. What a nut.


Hey chief, I just got back from the Monastery.
You made it in and got out alive? You are much more cunning than I thought. What did you find?
I found the little statue that changed you. Don’t worry, I put it in a paper bag so I wouldn’t have to touch it. Now I’m not sure how this enchanting stuff works, but I figured you might change back if you touched it again.
Well, it’s worth a shot.


*Kerzap*


Man, glad I didn’t need a dispel potion. I don’t think doc would have known where to begin.
Yes, I suppose that would have been unfortunate. Now that I think about it, I might have transformed into something even more hideous. I am glad we were right.
So what are you going to do now?
Well, I will probably have to get used to walking on two legs again. After that, I’m not sure. I think I will rebuild the guild, but I will have to wait for the pass to clear before I can expect any new recruits.
By the way, have I proven myself to you now? What’s this secret you didn’t want to tell me?
You have survived the Monastery where even I fell victim to its traps, so I suppose you are worthy. There is a secret passage to the castle from the Boyar’s Crypt in the graveyard. There is a special way to open the secret door, something involving colors and the Borgov family crest, I think.
You don’t know?
I’ve never been. I know nothing of the people who now live in the castle, only that the last thieves to break in never returned. You have proven your ability to avoid danger, however, which is why I tell you this now.
Great. I think I’ll make a little trip soon. Oh, and one last thing.
What’s that?


*Stab*

It’s been said that there’s no honor among thieves. Well, you’ve certainly proven that true in your own case. The Chief Thief, recently recovered from his shapechanging ordeal, dies instantly beneath your onslaught.

That’s right, for once the game lets you murder someone in cold blood and get away with it.


It still manages to express its disapproval, however. Let’s pretend this never happened.



The sounds of battle rage around you. You hear once again the death screams of a hundred brave warriors and friends. The Darkness reaches for you. The tendrils of twisted magic writhe around you, sucking at your very soul. Your staff is torn away. Your magic is sheared from you, and you lie defenseless before the all-devouring blackness. You are swallowed by the Darkness. Now you draw forth the last of your power—your very life force. With your final spell, you bind the Darkness from within, and send it back to the Chaos from which it came. It takes you with it.


Poor Erana. So she had to give…everything. I don’t think I could have done that.